Honey Lime Fruit Salad

If you're looking for a new way to make fruit salad, give this a try. The honey and lime juice add a great flavor while the fruits themselves offer something much more exciting that what is sometimes served as a fruit salad.

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Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

With the weather cooling down, I have been on a baking kick after my summer hiatus from the oven. I recently hosted a friends dinner and wanted to make a dessert that could be prepared the day prior, but still be just as good the following day. I also wanted to try something new. After looking through tons of recipes, I decided a mini cheesecake would be a great choice I already had blueberries at home so this recipe became my pick. I am so happy I gave this a try! It's delicious and even on day 3 the cheesecakes are delicious.

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Blueberry & Honey Overnight Oats

I recently went camping and was looking for some breakfast ideas for a quick and easy, yet filling option. I was planing on an early morning hike and didn't want to spend time setting up a camping stove, but also didn't just want a bagel and cream cheese (which is often my go to camping breakfast). I started looking in to overnight oat recipes, which I had never made before but have read about. I read through a few until I found this one. It's very simple and I already had all the ingredients at home. I loved that there was Greek yogurt in the mix. You can modify this with whatever fruits you have on hand. I added some sliced bananas on top right before I ate these. I also doubled the recipe to last multiple mornings. This got totally sloshed around in my cooler getting to a from the campsite and bear box and was still great!

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Blueberry Lemon Loaf Cake

I have been on a blueberry spree lately, only to realize that I had gone a bit overboard a needed to make something with them aside from smoothies. I looked at a few loaf and bread recipes and loved the simple ingredient list of this one. I have also had success with other Joy of Baking recipes, so I gave this one a try. The loaf cake had a great blueberry to cake ratio and a subtle lemon flavor. I decided to add a little more lemon the next time around, and loved the recipe even more. If you prefer a lighter lemon flavors, only use one tablespoon of lemon zest. For a more intense lemon flavor, add another 1/2 tablespoon (about 2 lemons). I love having a slice of this loaf cake with a cup of tea or coffee. The loaf cake will remain moist for at least 3 to 4 days (mine has never lasted beyond that). You can wrap this in foil and keep it at room temperature for storage.

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Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

I just got home from visiting my sister, where baking and cooking happens much more regularly than at my own home these days (though I probably shouldn't admit that). She has been making these blueberry muffins for a while and they were delicious. Moist and lemony, just the way I like them. If you want an extra lemon kick, you can use lemon yogurt instead of plain yogurt. 

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Lemon Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

Yup, another lemon dessert recipe to add to my blog. I actually made this froze yogurt a while ago, but it somehow got lost in all of my other recipes that I love. This frozen yogurt is the perfect, refreshing treat on a hot day. It was eaten in about 3 days the first time I made it. I also loved the blueberry sauce that gets mixed into the ice cream. It would be great with all sorts of other desserts, like pound cake, plain vanilla ice cream, or spread between cake layers. The texture is also great and it doesn't get too hard in the freezer, as some frozen yogurts do.

When you make this ice cream, my tip is to make large strips when you peel the lemon and to count how many strips you have. You don't want someone finding a piece of lemon peel in their frozen yogurt, and they're not the easiest things to find, especially when you think you've fished them all out, but you aren't quite sure. Also, be patient with the blueberry sauce. When I was first cooking it I didn't think it was going to work out, but then suddenly everything mixes together perfectly.

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Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

With berries coming into season, most summer parties will have some sort of berry dessert option. This past Memorial Day, after making way too many main courses and side dishes, I decided that for dessert there would be fresh fruit and these cheesecake bars. I also cheated and put out a few cute cookies from the bakery. I soon learned that there is no need for bakery items when you make these bars. They were a hit, even with the people who were "too full" to eat any more.

I cut my bars into 12 pieces, but you could have carefully cut these into smaller bite sized bars if you have the patience to carefully slice through the final product. I am not know for my delicate slicing skills, so I kept it a bit bigger. In the original recipe, they are cut into 10 rectangular bars, so you can really do whatever you like. I love that you get the satisfaction of eating cheesecake form the texture and flavor of these bars, but you don't end up eating as much as you would with a New York cheesecake. Which also means you don't end up as ridiculously stuffed. I had 2 squares left over and ate them 2 days later and they still tasted great, even though they were cold form the fridge.

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Blueberry Pound Cake

I bought some blueberries the other day, only to realize that they were not nearly sweet enough and weren't at all enjoyable as a snack. I hate when this happens with produce, but luckily there are recipes that can handle the less than perfect fruits and veggies. This pound cake recipe is one my mom has been making for years. The first time I ever had it, my mother's friend had made some and my mom brought home leftovers. It was an instant hit with everyone in my family and it's been in my mom's recipe binder ever since. And having recently bought some adorable mini cake forms, I quickly started whisking the ingredients together.

This recipe comes from a 1998 edition of Cooking Light magazine and asks for some low-fat ingredients. Half the time I use full fat ingredients since I'm not the biggest fan of things like light butter. I also just throw in whole eggs since I find it wasteful to throw out half an egg just to be healthy (and let's be honest, that egg yolk is the least of you worries when it comes to baking). But I also know this recipe tastes good either way. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, but keep in mind that the frozen ones can end up coloring your entire cake a blueish color.

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