Quick Desserts for Quick Lifestyles

Happy Tuesday everyone! I've been frantically packing to move this week (don't worry, I'm not going far - Lizzy Bee's desserts are still deliverable locally), so scouring for recipes has been tricky! However it did make me wonder - what are some quick desserts I can make easily pre-move? Here we go...

Quick Shortbread
 Rosemary M. Wyman: Bakersfield, California

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon aniseed, chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Directions

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Combine flour, sugar, cornstarch and aniseed in medium bowl. Pour butter over dry ingredients and stir to combine well. Press dough evenly onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
2. Bake until golden brown, piercing with toothpick if dough puffs up, about 30 minutes. Cut hot shortbread into 8 wedges. Cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Quick Apple Crumble with Lebneh 

Grace Parisi

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large Granny Smith apples—peeled, halved, cored and thinly sliced (see Note)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups lebneh (16 ounces)
• 1 cup granola

Directions

1. Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the apple slices and cook them over high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are just tender and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice and cook, stirring and shaking the skillet, until the sugar is melted and the apples are lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes longer. Add the water and stir gently until a sauce forms.
2. Spoon the lebneh into bowls and scrape the apples and sauce on top. Sprinkle the apples with the granola and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The recipe can be prepared through Step 1 up to 6 hours ahead. Rewarm before assembling. 

NOTES: 

1. Firm, ripe peaches, nectarines and plums, cut into wedges, would be delicious in place of the apples.
2. Instead of Lebneh Fromage blanc, Greek yogurt or quark.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Kellie Evans

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside. Beat sugars and butter together in a bowl with a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
2. Using a tablespoon, portion out dough and roll into balls; place 2″ apart on parchment paper—lined baking sheets. Using a fork, press tines over balls in a crosshatch pattern to flatten. Bake, rotating baking sheets halfway through cooking, until golden brown, about 12 minutes. 

Happy baking!