Raspberry Brie Pastries

I know, I know.  I have a lot of posts that involve berries but I cannot help it.  Berries are my favorite fruits.  One of my coworkers opened up his awesome boat to us for a team-building trip.  It just happened to be the perfect weather day as well.  This is how perfect it was...isn't the sky just absolutely gorgeous? 

The summer sky's blush reminds me of raspberries so I took inspiration from that & made raspberry brie pastries for our boat trip.  Yuuuuum!

Raspberry Brie Pastries

8 slices of brie

1 tube of croissant dough (mine came from Trader Joe's)

2 tb sugar

40 fresh raspberries

- Preheat oven according to the dough's instructions.

- Divide the dough into 8 triangles.

- Place a slice of brie on the widest section of each piece of dough.

- Place 5 raspberries on top of the brie.

- Sprinkle 1/4 tb of sugar on top of raspberries.

- Roll dough like a croissant & bake according to the dough's instructions.

Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

One of my most popular requests is my blueberry cheesecake tart so I decided to share the goodness with everyone here.  The blueberries can easily be replaced with any other fruit.  I made red, white & blue versions this time around in honor of Independence Day. 

Here's an individual strawberry cheesecake tart.

Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 & 1/2 ts vanilla extract

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup sliced almonds

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Lightly coat a 9" tart pan with butter or oil.

- Combine the flour, powdered sugar & butter in a bowl.  Mash butter into the flour & sugar with your fingers until pea-sized chunks of butter, sugar & flour form.  Press the mixture onto the bottom & sides of the pan.

- Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, egg & vanilla extract until smooth.  Pour cheese mixture over the crust & spread evenly.

- Toss blueberries & remaining sugar (1/4 cup) in a bowl until blueberries are coated with the sugar.  Pour the blueberries over the cheese mixture.

- Sprinkle sliced almonds over blueberries.

- Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is almost set.

Here's an individual raspberry cheesecake tart.

Vegan Raspberry or Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are super simple to make & turned out delicious!  I made a small batch with blueberries & another small batch with raspberries.  Both turned out equally yummy.  I hope you try them out!

Raspberry or Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/4 cup Earth Balance butter or any other vegan butter

1/2 cup crushed berries

1/3 cup white sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tb white flour

1 ts baking powder

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Makes about two dozen cookies.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Melt butter in a large bowl.

- Mix berries & sugar into the melted butter until thoroughly combined.

- Mix remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate) until thoroughly combined.

- Fold chocolate chips into the dough.

- Scoop about 2 tb of dough per cookie onto cookie sheets & bake for 14 minutes.

Leftover Easter Candy Equals Cookies

What to do with leftover Easter candy?  What to do?  Oh, I know!  Cookies!  Yum, right?  I was perusing the aisles at Target around Easter time when I came across white chocolate M&Ms.  I do not particularly care for white chocolate (I mean it's not even real chocolate!) but I never knew they existed in M&M form so I bought a bag to try out.  As suspected, they were too sweet for my liking so I used decided to turn them into cookies - white chocolate raspberry cookies, to be exact, & what an excellent decision that was.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

2 & 1/4 cups white flour
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
5/8 cup unsalted butter, cold
5/8 cup light brown sugar
5/8 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ts vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried raspberries

1 cup white chocolate M&Ms 

- Combine flour, baking soda & powder, & salt into a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat butter & sugars until creamy and fluffy. 
- Add egg & incorporate well.
- Add vanilla extract & mix.
- On low speed, add flour mixture & mix until just combined.
- Carefully add dried raspberries & white chocolate without breaking them.
- Chill dough for 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grab a spoonful of dough, roll into a golf-sized ball & place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.