4th of July Recipe Round-up

I LOVE July!  Mostly because it’s my birthday month….(happy birthday to my fellow July babies!)

…but also because there are so many fun events!  Including July 4th.

Are you hosting a BBQ?  Having a party?  Going to a party and need to bring something to contribute?

Have no fear!  This post will save the day!  Think of this as your summer recipe hub if you would.
I’ve rounded up a couple of breakfast recipes, sweet recipes and savory recipes that I hope will help make your Independence Day special.

Breakfast:

Apple Butter Pancakes 

Pineapple Upside Down Oatmeal~  One of my favorites, by far!!

Savory:

Zucchini Chips~ Toss those potato chips!! These are flavorful and healthier.

Italian Green Beans~  a great side dish that everyone is sure to love!

Sweets:

There are more of these…duhh, you ARE on “Little Bit Sweet”! 🙂

Banana Pudding~ a family favorite for any occasion!

Coconut Macaroons~ Very easy to make.

Coconut Cream Pie~  My dad’s favorite.

Lightened up Apple Turnovers~  An American classic, made a little lighter.

Peach Cobbler~ One of my granny’s recipes.

What is your favorite activity on July 4th?

Have a safe holiday!!

Advertisement

Cuckoo for….Coconut (Cream Pie)

Remember last week’s post about how to make a perfect meringue?  (What?! You don’t?  Shame. But no worries, you can find it here.)

 

Well, now it’s time to put that meringue-making to the test.  Use it to top today’s recipe adventure:  Coconut Cream Pie.

My dad LOVES coconut cream pie.  So I recently made the drive home and made him one for his birthday. …Then said I’d take his birthday cake off his hands and leave him the pie.  Win-win.

 

So yes, coconut cream pie.  Custard-y, creamy, meringue-topped awesomeness in a pie pan.  If you’re from the south, you’ve most likely had this pie.  If not, now’s the time to try it people!!  The recipe is below, followed by some funny stories to go along with it.

Enjoy!

 

Coconut Cream Pie

Makes 8-10 servings.

• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) cornstarch
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp room temperature butter
• 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
• 1 baked 9-inch pie crust

Whisk together the milk, cream, and egg yolks.

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in the yolk mixture and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent the mixture from scorching.

Then, stir constantly until the mixture just comes to a boil, about 7 more minutes. Boil, stirring, one minute.

Remove mixture from heat and add in the vanilla and butter, stirring until well combined and smooth.

Stir in coconut.  Pour prepared filling into pre-baked pie crust.  Top with meringue, making sure to seal the edge of the pie filling and pie crust with meringue.  (This is an important step.  If the meringue doesn’t create a kind of seal around the pie crust, the filling tends to bubble up around the edge and the meringue shrinks a bit. Not pretty)

Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes, or until meringue is lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting to ensure filling is set.

Now for some fun stories:

• When making this pie, I tried to make it a little healthier by using half-and-half and low fat milk instead of whole milk and cream.  My mom was concerned it wouldn’t be thick enough so she dumped more coconut into the batter.  I said “I was trying to decrease the calories a little, but nevermind.” She then laughed and said “well, I bet I make it into your blog!”  (Yep, she was right. Hi, mom!!)
• I’ll confess that I scorched the yolk mixture when I was first bringing it to a boil.  This is when my mom entered the picture, because I said “eww Mom, I have lumpy stuff in my pie filling!!”
• We NEVER wait for the pie to cool completely before cutting it.  We just deal with the soupy mess of a filling.  Still tastes great.
• I’m totally the person that eats more meringue than pie filling.  My family gets a little ticked when I encroach on the meringue for the pieces next to mine when I cut the pie. Oh well 🙂

 

Have any fun stories from making this or any other recipe?  Share them in the “comments” below!  I love hearing about fun mishaps or baking confessions. 🙂

Simple ‘n Sweet Coconut Macaroons

I love coconut.  Confession:  I’ll eat it straight from the bag. (Shh don’t tell…)

 

I also love easy desserts.  So this recipe is definitely a win-win. It has 5 ingredients, takes 12 minutes to bake, and clean-up is a breeze. For the record, cleaning is my least favorite part of baking.  Matter-of-fact, every time I bake when I’m at my parents’ house, my mom nicely reminds me that she would like her kitchen put back into working order. (Yet somehow, I was able to get out of cleaning the bowl when I made these cookies. Score!)

 

These are pretty sweet, and very coconut-y.  If that’s your thing, you’ll love them.  If not, I’ll post another macaroon recipe at some point that uses egg whites instead of sweetened condensed milk that will probably be more your style.

Easy Coconut Macaroons

Makes about 20 cookies.

Tweaked from this recipe.

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 1/2 cups flaked coconut (mine was sweetened)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F and like cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and coconut until well combined. You don’t want any clumps of flour.

Stir in sweetened condensed milk and extract until well mixed. Drop golf ball or egg sized amounts onto cookie sheets. They don’t spread, so you can put them fairly close together.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden.

If you want to be extra sweet and sinful, you can drizzle them with Nutella or strawberry syrup. I like them plain. So yummy!!

 

What is your favorite simple sweets recipe?