Peach cobbler was always my favorite dessert as a little girl, and my mom makes a great one. I’ve made her version too many times to count, but it uses Bisquick – and I really wanted a to come up with a homemade recipe for the cobbler portion. I tried a couple of different recipes, but they were too puffy and biscuit-like for my taste. I like my cobbler to ooze into the fruit and bake, almost making for a bread pudding type consistency. When I stumbled over this version and tried it, I knew I had found a winner.

With the all the oppressive dry heat we had during July, peaches are about coming to an end here in Maryland. But, I’m hoping to take one more trip to my local orchard for a peck or two before they’re gone for good. Aside from prepping the peaches, this comes together in minutes. Who doesn’t love that kind of dessert? More time to spend outside having fun!

While we’ve been enjoying every minute of summer thus far, I can’t help but look forward to the arrival of Fall. It’s my favorite season for sure – nothing makes a hot cup of coffee better than a crisp, cool Autumn morning. I made these carrot cupcakes for a friends birthday, it’s a recipe I’ve gone to time and time again, but just never managed to share with you guys.

Lots of shredded carrot (seriously, you’ll think “this much?”)and chopped walnuts are mixed in to a tender spice cake, for a taste that will definitely have you wanting more of cooler temperatures. For the garnish, I made candied carrot curls. Though they were a little bit time consuming, they were a totally awesome garnish that tasted great. Jon and I were munching on the leftovers all night.

Not that we’ve met a cupcake we didn’t like, everyone seemed to enjoy these more than usual. I had about 6 left after getting the birthday boy his order, and waited until the next day to take a photo. When I came downstairs with the plate of cupcakes, it was if a hoard of locusts had descended upon me. Crumbs, on a spinning plate, I tell ya. Enjoy these, guys!

Berries. Summer. The two words are synonymous with each other! I was so happy to find a pick-your-own blueberry patch in Salisbury, MD (Garden of Eden Orchards for all you locals folks) – which is about 30 minutes north of me. The boys and I went the week before last, and we had so much fun filling up our pail with blueberries. Hoping to get back up there this week to pick some berries for freezing!

These bars had been on my radar to make since they popped up on one of my favorite sites earlier in the month in a recipe roundup for the 4th of July. A sweet/tart lemon bar, studded with gorgeous raspberries? Sign me up! When I went to make them, some of my raspberries were not at their most pristine condition – so, I tossed in some blueberries to fill the holes left behind by the less desirable raspberries that I had to chunk.

These were super-duper easy, a quick bake time – which is wonderful in this “hotter than the hinges of Hell” weather we’ve been having. And, aren’t they pretty? I really do love bars for dessert. It’s more of an indulgence than a cookie, but lighter than a cake. Take advantage of the gorgeous summer berries while they are in season!

Cherries are flooding the supermarkets near me, for under $2 a pound. They’re one of the many things that I look forward to in summertime. Last weekend, we put a homebrewed sweet/sour cherry beer into secondary fermentation – should be ready next week. Made with 3 lbs of sweet roasted Bing cherries, and 3 lbs of sour Morello  cherries. Excited to try it is an understatement. I’ve also been baking up plenty of sweet treats in the kitchen with these little gems – including, but not limited to, this fabulous ice cream and these delectable brownies!

A rich, fudgy brownie studded with juicy roasted cherries? I was sold on these the day last August when Annie posted them – but, cherries were back up to $5/lb at that point, and I resolved to put it off until next summer. Well, here we are my friends. I can safely tell you that these brownies are worth the wait. Hell, they’re so good – it’s worth paying $5 per pound for the cherries! I made them for a girls night last weekend, and they were a hit. I originally planned to serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, but they were so rich and decadent – I didn’t even bother. Make these, now!