Cookie Carnival: Toasted Almond Lemon Bars Recipe and Round-up

I am blown away by all the amazing bakers that joined in the fun with this month's Cookie Carnival! Lovely Kate at The Clean Plate Club invited me to be a guest host for this month and choose the recipe.

I chose the Toasted Almond Lemon Bars from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. Kate and I agreed that something spring-like and lemony would be perfect this month. I thought that Melissa Murphy's take on a classic would be interesting for all of us to try.

These lemon bars have a buttery shortbread crust that is complimented by the addition of toasted almonds in the dough and then, just to add a bit more to the flavor there is the addition of some almond extract to the filling as well.

The recipe was a bit more labor intensive than some lemon bar recipes, but I for one thought it was worth it for such delicious results. I do know that some Carnivalers had a little bit of an issue with the filling getting a white layer on top. From what I can tell from the recipe I think that issue probably happens if you over whisk/mix the filling and get too many air bubbles in the curd. I barely mixed my filling together until it came together and didn't have any issues with the filling.

My thanks go out to Kate for letting me host this month's Carnival and especially to all of you amazing bakers who joined in the fun this month! I really, really appreciate all of you and hope that you enjoyed making this recipe!

We have a fantastic roundup, so here we go!!! The photo is above each Carnivaler's link and I thought it would be fun to give a little snippet of what each baker had to say about this recipe in keeping with the way Kate usually puts the roundup together. Without further ado...

First up was Jackie at Food Wanderlust who said, " I LOVED this recipe, so delicious.
So much so, that I actually never go to take pictures of my lemon bars."

Cristine at Cooking with Cristine said, "What makes these lemon bars stand out from others is the ground almonds in the crust."

Kate at The Clean Plate Club our fearless Carnival leader and creator said,
"DELICIOUS. super lemony. but sweet enough."


Natalie at Snooky Doodle Cakes & More said,
"I know I only made a small amount and perhaps that is why they came so thin."
Ah. Smart girl. Portion control.


Aisha at Sugar-n-Sweets said, "This one was a winner!" -
I am glad since I believe it was her first Carnival! Welcome Aisha!


'Cookie" at Workout then Cook! said, "these Lemon Bars were AMAZING!"
- she also changed things up so you'll have to go check it out!


Anissa of Anissa’s Kitchen said, "I was a little sceptical about adding almonds to a lemon bar recipe....I love lemon bars and these were Yummy!"


Linda at Baking Foodie said, "A friend of mine brought me some lemons from her tree about a week ago." How lucky is that!


Martha at Best Ever Cookie Collection changed things up due to some allergies, so check it out, and said, "The nuts in the crust added interest and they had the perfect sweet-tart contrast I love."


Whitney at Celestial Confections said,
"This will go into the favorite recipe file and will definitely be made again."


Lesley at The Cherub’s Food & Craft said, "These bars are delicious."


Tessa at The Cookin' Chemist said,
"Overall, it was a great first go at the Cookie Carnival."
Welcome to the Carnival Tessa!


Susan at She’s Becoming DoughMessTic joined in the Carnival fun this month
for the first time and said, "these are in a league all their own." Yay for Susan! Welcome!


Sallie at My Sisters Kitchen said
"The shortbread crust is probably the best of it's kind that I have tasted."


Carol at No Reason Needed said,
"I just couldn't get past the thought of C-R-U-N-C-H-Y lemon bars."


Sucrose Obsession said, "I have no idea who Melissa is but I'm not a fan of her lemon bars." Hope you like the next challenge better! Welcome to the Carnival anyway!


Christine at Whimsical Bakery said,
"What a nice treat the lemon is very tangy and the almond shortbread crust
a new FAVOURITE."


Lauren at Fried Pickles and Ice Cream said, "I'm not the biggest fan of lemon bars..." I'm glad her husband's co-workers enjoyed them then!


Sihan at Fundamentally Flawed said, "The shortcrust base though... was a God-sent with the added frangrance of almonds pushing the entire dessert just over the border of satisfactory."


Juliana at horneAndo Algo writes in Spanish, so in my pathetic attempt
(sorry Juliana - feel free to correct me) said, "really they are worth while"
(at least that is what the free translator said it meant!)


Nilam at Just Regular Every Day Life said,
"I've never made lemon bars before, so this was a new experience for me."


Mary Ann at Meet Me in the Kitchen said,
"Lemon Bars were something I remember having as a kid and nothing
is as good as a homemade lemon bar."


Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy said,
"I am sure that there are lots of great recipes in the Sweet Melissa Baking book,
but for me, I wouldn’t make this one again."


Shelley at Playing with Tablespoons said "I LOVE almond flavoured things." Me too!!


Debbie at Let Them Eat Cake said, "I see more of these lemon bars in my baking future!"


Jacque at Daisy Lane Cakes said,
"I really enjoyed these lemon bars, they were tangy, lemony, and addictive."


Rachelle at Mommy I’m Hungry said,
"Yum! Perfect for the start of Spring."

Toasted Almond Lemon Bars
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
Makes 1 dozen bars

"Everyone loves lemon bars. I make mine extra special by adding toasted almonds to the shortbread crust."

For the Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 Tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

For the Lemon Filling:
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 7 lemons)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

To Toast the Almonds:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden and you can smell them. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Before You Start:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Make a parchment "sling" by cutting two pieces of parchment paper, measuring 16 1/2 inches long by 12 inches wide (you can also use aluminum foil). Place one piece across the length, and the other across the width of the pan, with the excess hanging over the edges. You will use this sling later to lift the finished bar from the pan. Spray the sling with the cooking spray.

To Make the Crust:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, almonds, and salt to combine. Add the cold butter in pieces and pulse until the dough comes together in a ball.

2. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom and 1 1/4 inches up the sides. (This crust, once it is baked, needs to act as a liner in which to pour the liquidy lemon filling. So be sure to do a good job of pressing the dough up the sides - no cracks!). Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights ( you can use dried beans or uncooked rice as pie weights as well). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden. Carefully remove the pie weights and the liner and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the whole crust is golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

To Make the Filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add the almond extract and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice, and whisk to combine.

To Complete the Bars:
1. Pour the lemon filling into the prepared crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is firm and lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

2. When cool use the parchment sling to lift the entire bar from the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice into twelve 3 x 3 1/2 - inch bars. Remove from the pan and, using a small sifter, dust with the confectioners' sugar.

The bars keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Do not unwrap before defrosting. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Blogging for Babies - Winners & Report

This past Saturday, my little family and I joined almost 2,000 other Utahns to March for Babies at Wheeler Farm (a historical park/farm owned by Salt Lake County). The day was not even close to as nice as I had hoped it would be, but at least it wasn't raining or snowing on us. Our day started out at about 6 AM when DH had to get up to get things ready to skydive in to the opening ceremonies of the event with the U.S.A. flag during the Star Spangled Banner.

After the skydive and anthem they officially started the walk and we made our way around the perimeter of the farm, through trees, trails, barnyard and next to a creek and pond with ducks and geese. The farm is a really great place for the walk and is really fun. Aidan went to play on the bounce slide they had set up for the kids with his Aunt and counsin while DH's parents and I walked. DH and his skydiving partner (Compulsive Flyers) manned their booth at the event and talked to people about skydiving, the indoor skydiving / wind tunnel where DH works, and MonaVie, their sponsor.

We had a really great day and it was, admittedly, good to be outside for the first time around so many people in almost seven months. It was still pretty surreal, but I wasn't as overwhelmed as I think I will be the next time we go somewhere crowded when we are inside. I don't particularly care for crowds in the first place, but after being so secluded, I'm pretty sure it is going to be difficult. In the meantime, I know that I am so blessed to have my boys. Speaking of which... (you knew I had to sneak in a couple of pictures, right?).

I think it helped to be in a crowd of people that I knew understood me, how I am feeling, and have been where I am now. There were so many amazing people and stories that were shared, the good, the bad, and the really bad. But, that is why we are all there and why we were doing this. So that others in the future hopefully don't have to go through this, or worse.

The round-up for the Blogging for Babies - Little Wonders Event was amazing. I got a lot of great feedback and so far have been able to raise $270 toward our $500 goal (you can see our progress on the little tracker bar at the top of the screen and still donate if you want). I owe it all to good friends, family and of course, this amazing food blogging community of incredible friends. Since January when I started this blog I can't begin to express how much being a small part of this community has meant to me. It has quite literally saved my sanity and given me something to look forward to.

This event has been amazing and I am so glad that people have enjoyed it. I look forward to continuing this next year. In the meantime, another huge thank you to everyone who participated. Please, if you haven't had the chance yet, go and check out the round-up so you can see everyone's amazing entries and check out their blogs.

The winning blogs of the event were Tartlette, Cannelle et Vanille and Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy. I am contacting these three lovely ladies to give them their choice of the prizes.

Now, you may recall from the round-up that I promised to post the recipe for the incredible Dulce de Leche Duos I pictured (and pictured again at the beginning of this post). You seriously have to make these to believe how good they are, here is the recipe with Dorie's notes included, and of course, my two cents is added as well.

Dulce de Leche Duos
Notes from Dorie: Just a few years ago, I would have had to give an explanation of what dulce de leche is and where to find it or, more likely, how to make it. Today the thick, butterscotchish, toffee-like spread made from slowly cooked sweetened milk can be found in ice cream and yogurt and, best of all, in jars - ready-to-use dulce de leche is now a supermarket staple. These cookies, flavored with ready-made filling, are round and flatish, crisp on the outside and soft, almost cakey and just a little chewy in their skinny centers. Sandwich them with more dulce de leche and you double the pleasure.

Notes from Holly: Though not technically from scratch, I boiled a can of sweetened condensed milk in a pressure cooker (yes, I know, I like to live dangerously but this has never scared me - I barely bring it to a boil and don't actually let the pressure ever build). I am still going to attempt actually making DDL from scratch soon, but the last time I tried was a dismal failure. Anyway, live and learn. I'm sure you can find it in the store to buy if you want to try these. However, if you don't want to brave the boiling can as I do, then you can always take a page from David Lebovitz and follow his directions which I have also had success with.

One more note, I really liked the cookies, but I think I underbaked mine (shown in the picture) and they weren't crisp at all on the outside, just soft and slightly chewy. So, take your pick, a little crisper sounds nice, but the soft was very nice, if not a bit messier, too. Also, while the DDL sandwiched in the middle was good, for me, the bittersweet chocolate ganache was heaven.

For the Cookies (Makes about 30 sandwich cookies)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup store-bought dulce de leche, plus more for filling
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar (I actually used dark brown)
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Getting Ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add the 3/4 cup dulce de leche and both sugars and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks a little curdled - it will smooth out when the flour mixture goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingedients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets, using a heaping teaspoon of dough for each cookie and leaving 2 inches between them.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be honey brown with a light sugar crush, but they will still be soft, so remove the sheets from the oven but don't touch the cookies for another minute or two. Then, using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure you cool the baking sheets before spooning the dough onto them.

When the cookies are completely cool, spread the flat bottoms of half the cookies with a small amount of dulce de leche, and sandwich with the flat sides of the remaining cookies.

Storing: Packed in a sealed container, the sandwich cookies will keep at room temperature for about 4 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

For the Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache:
8 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt 70%), chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the heavy cream barely to a boil. Remove from the stove and add the chopped chocolate to it. Let stand 2 minutes and then stir until fully combined and smooth. Let cool until firm enough to stir and spread on the cookies (or you can use a small piping bag).

EVENT ROUND-UP: Little Wonders Made By Lots of Wonderful People!!

Here it is! The Blogging for Babies - Little Wonders Event Round-up! Enjoy browsing the amazing little creations made by all the wonderful bloggers who were able to participate in this little event. These fabulous people are helping me spread the word and raise awareness about the March of Dimes and their March for Babies fundraiser. Their mission is all about research and advocacy for mom's and babies - they are working so that one day, every baby can be born healthy - but as they say, we have to walk to get there.

These wonderful friends below helped me spread the word about our family's participation in the March for Babies this coming Saturday and we are very excited. There are scheduled to be almost 2,000 people at the walk being held at Wheeler Farm here in Utah. To add to our excitement we have family coming from out of town to walk with us and my husband's skydiving team are going to be jumping in with the American flag at the opening ceremonies during the national anthem. We are excited that we can help make the event a little bit more exciting for all the wonderful participants that are coming to walk for this amazing cause.

Again, the whole purpose of this event was to get the word out about the March of Dimes and the work that they do. If you are able to donate to sponsor our family in the march, please just click on the banner at the top of the page (or click here) and donate any amount that you can. For the back story on why we are so passionate about this, you can read the full story or even check out our little family blog.

For my little contribution to the little wonders madness, here is a picture of the Dulce de Leche Duos out of BFMHTY. They are amazing! I will post the recipe with the announcement of the winners next week (just so I can get this roundup posted)!

I have some prizes for the top three "people's choice" winners of the event.
So, make sure to check out everyone's posts and then email me to tell me your favorites.
The top three will win their choice of three "prize packages" that I have.

Email your votes for your favorites to me at phemomenon AT gmail DOT com
Voting closes on April 30th.

Thank you again (and again and again) to everyone who participated for
your support of our little family and such a good cause!


LITTLE WONDERS ENTRIES!!!!



Eve from Berkeley, California in the Garden of Eating sent this
Tropical Fruit Baby Bib that looks good enough to eat.



Melissa from Atlanta, Georgia of the Mighty Muffin Blog made Mini Lemon Glazed Madeleines



Stephanie, at Dispensing Happiness who "Plays well with food" made these amazing and delicious looking little Bite-Sized Vanilla-Hazelnut French Toast, with Nutella. She has also very kindly donated a brand new copy of Small Bites, Big Nights as a prize for this event.






Angel, another Utahn, from American Fork and Angel's Bento Blog
made these cute little Heart and Star Shaped Cakes.



Libby, fabulous Mom of the Allergic Kid made these absolutely wonderful
Apple Baby Cakes as a special favor for all of us preemie Moms who wonder what
to give a one-year old who developmentally isn’t one yet, as a birthday cake.



Susan from Florida at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy made these
simply beautiful Lemon Yogurt Cakelets.



Smita from New York of Traveling Tummy made these yummy Mini Matza Pizzas.



Elly from Chicago at Elly Says Opa, after eating something similar at a restaurant, created her own version and made Baby Pistachio Cheesecakes with Cherries on top that look marvelous.



Lysy at Munchkin Mail made Tiny Turkish Delights which look like
such a tempting and lovely little treat.



Harini, aka the lovely Sunshinemom, blogging at Tongue Ticklers from India sent
two wonderful little creations she made, Mango Cream Shortcakes and Besan ka Chilla.






Rachel, another lovely blogger from India, at Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout
made this vibrant homemade Strawberry Jelly.




Chris from Atlanta, Georgia, at Mele Cotte made these darling little cannoli
Sweet Gondolas that look almost too cute to eat - almost.




Priya in California at 365 Days of Pure Vegetarian made the cutest little Lunchbox Mini-Sandwiches that anyone would be thrilled to find at lunch time or any other time.




Madhuram over at Eggless Cooking made these sweet treat little Mini Chocolate Pizzas.




Helen, the one and only, lovely and delightful Tartelette made these
simply perfect Ispahan Cupcakes in honor of a friend and her preemie baby.




Chriesi, from Zurich, Switzerland, and the beautiful, Almond Corner made
a delicious creation of Polenta and Feta with Baby Eggplants.



Arfi, of wonderful HomeMadeS made these darling little
Peanut Butter Cookies as “Biscuits for Cole.”




Barbara, blogging from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia, and of course,
the fabulous blog winos and foodies made Moroccan Haloua with Dates
that look like a perfect little confection to make, and share
(if you don’t eat them all yourself like I would).




Y in Sydney, Australia at Lemonpi made these fun and delicious
looking little cupcake called Lumberjack Cupcakes.




Aran from Florida, at the beautiful Cannelle Et Vanille made darling little
Mini Carrot Cupcakes as a great healthy snack for her darling
preschooler neighbor to share with her classmates. Lucky kids!




Melanie, my good friend and go-to gal for great ideas for dinner, at My Kitchen Cafe,
made these really neat and seriously delicious looking Solid Peanut Butter Cups.

Jen, blogging from one of my favorite cities, Boston, is the Beantown Baker.
She had me at mini cupcakes, but then she added chocolate - twice - and there are
even sweet surprises inside - check out her Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes.

Special Mentions:
Kate, at the Clean Plate Club, wasn’t able to make anything for the event, but she did make this absolutely adorable shirt which she has kindly and generously donated as one of the prizes for this event. You should check out her website to see all the other darling baby/toddler clothes she illustrates. Thanks again Kate!

Gabi, my food blogging friend and fellow Utahn, of The Feast Within, was also kind enough to help spread the word about the March as well.

Also, Michael, from Buttons of Hope, makes buttons for special causes. If you have need of his services, go check out his blog at Behind the Button.