Sweet Things Archives | Serving Tonight

End of August Menu + Macadamia Rum Bars

Sending silent thanks to the universe that it’s almost September and we’re quickly approaching the absolute best time of year on the OBX. Finally! But, while it’s still August, let’s recap this week’s dinners:

*This post contains affiliate links to some of my favorite cookbooks. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission.

end of august dinners

What we made this week, with notes:

Saturday 8/20/22: Brothy fregola, broccoli rabe, and prosciutto with grilled cheese. Hot soup in August is totally fine by me and this one was fun. At first, my taste buds were like, “NO!” because the broth became pretty bitter, thanks to the broccoli rabe. But… I also could not stop eating it. I think the salty prosciutto, the parmesan, the tiny pasta, and the rich broth just made it all alright. I would not have liked it as much without the bitterness. It all works. This recipe came from Colu Henry’s book, “Colu Cooks“, from which everything I’ve cooked so far has been fab. Here’s a pic of this meal, which has me frustratedly sighing at how much better the picture would be had I put a couple of spoons in the dang bowls. Oh well.

bowls of soup and a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches

Sunday 8/21/22: Frozen pizza and salad!

Monday 8/22/22: Giant Dinner Salad. A Serving Tonight staple. This time I made it with kale, brown rice, roasted carrots and chickpeas, smoked almonds, golden raisins, feta, and chicken. So goooood.

Tuesday 8/23/22: Scallion feta dip; corn, zucchini, and shrimp salad; steak and tuna with romesco sauce; roasted potatoes; and pistachio cake. Our good friends Tara and Jamie (of the lovely blog and YouTube channel Savory Saver) were in town and came for dinner! I barely remember how good the food was because it was so nice to see them and catch up (and there was more than one bottle of wine involved), but I know it was indeed good. My favorite part was the romesco sauce, which I need to document with a full recipe at a later date, but is roasted red pepps, smoked almonds, sherry vinegar, honey, and olive oil all blended in a food processor. Can literally eat it by the spoonful, all by itself. We had it with a seared sirloin steak (was very nervous about this cut being tough but Tara has a sixth sense for when to flip a piece of meat and she nailed it).

Wednesday 8/24/22: Trader Joe’s sweet corn, burrata, and basil ravioli with fresh tomato butter sauce and salad. The menu board said miso harissa noodles for this night but it wasn’t in the cards. This ravioli was in our freezer and felt much easier. The sauce was pretty much this Fresh Tomato Butter Sauce recipe, which I should make more often than I do.

Thursday 8/25/22: Grilled wings and salad. Should we talk about why we eat wings so often? Sure. It’s because we messed up our CrowdCow order twice in a row and now have enough wings to feed a football stadium. It’s fine, we’re fine. For this, we once again used the Buffalo Wild Wings thai curry sauce. It’s addictive!

Friday 8/26/22: Steak al limon with roasted potatoes and creamed kale. Big steakhouse vibes over here! This steak was interesting — the marinade/sauce was lemon juice, sugar, chiles, and fish sauce and I’m glad we tried it but not sure I’d make it again. The creamed kale on the other hand… holy cow. I used the Greatest Creamed Greens recipe from Alison Roman’s book “Nothing Fancy“. I want more RIGHT NOW.

plates of steak, potatoes, and greens with a glass of red wine

I mean… I’m pretty proud of this week of food. High fives. For the recipe this time around, I’m sharing the baked good that’s been most successful with the guests at the inn I bake for each week: Macadamia Rum Bars. It’s a version of my mother-in-law’s recipe and I believe she got it from a cookbook, sorry I don’t know which one. But these bars are foolproof and so sweet and gooey and crunchy, and just a little boozy. Love!

Macadamia Rum Bars

A sweet cookie crust topped with a lightly boozy, gooey coconut and macadamia nut filling.

Author: Megan
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 16 squares 1x
Category: dessert, snack

Ingredients

Scale

Cookie crust:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C sugar
1 C flour
pinch of kosher salt

filling:

2 eggs
1 1/4 C light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 TBS flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 C flaked, unsweetened coconut
1 C macadamia nuts, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS rum

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 cake pan and line it with parchment (leave some parchment hanging over the edges for easy removal).
Make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar, and flour and mix until thoroughly blended. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom of the cake pan (no need to wash out the bowl, you can reuse it for the filling). Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until beginning to brown.
Make the filling: In the same bowl you used for the crust, combine all of the filling ingredients and mix until thoroughly blended. Spread this mixture evenly over the baked crust. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the filling is firm and golden brown on top.

Notes

*The cooking times and nutritional info noted in this recipe are approximate.

A stand mixer is not necessary — you can make this recipe stirring by hand or using a hand mixer.

In the photo, I cut these into smaller-than-usual squares because I was making them for a group that requests bite-sized servings.

Keywords: macadamia recipe, macadamia rum cookie bars, coconut recipe

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Bread

There is certainly no lack of banana-based recipes on the interwebs and it’s safe to say a zillion of them probably contain peanut butter and chocolate chips. But, at the risk of overburdening Google with yet another banana recipe search result, I’m still posting this Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Bread for you to add to your arsenal of ways to use up overripe bananas. This recipe is really a cross between banana bread, a peanut butter cake, and just a really good excuse to eat chocolate chips. But today, for all intents and purposes, we’re calling it bread.

peanut butter banana bread on parchment paper

Brown Butter Gingersnap Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie Treats are back on this blog again… for many reasons. First, they are a no-bake dessert (read: perfect for lazy people, like me). Second, they are undeniably good. And third, they are an excellent vehicle for other yummy things, like brown butter and gingersnapssssss! Yuh. Oh, and I’ve thrown a big scoop of white chocolate chips in the mix, too, because, why not?

Brown Sugar Peach Crumble

I don’t know how else to say goodbye to summer other than by posting a peach crumble recipe full of rich, brown sugar flavor and lots of struesel-y crumble topping. It’s an overripe, fruity ode to sunshine and warm breezes that I’ll be sorry to see go away. But also, not that sorry because FALL is almost here. Yeeesss, right? Well, this crumble is the perfect transition dessert to carry you from juicy-fruit summer into sugar and spice fall.

Brown Sugar Pecan Banana Bread

Guaranteed worth getting out of bed for: a slice of Brown Sugar Pecan Banana Bread, toasted in the toaster, spread with butter, and sprinkled with flaky sea salt. Sigh… I love it. I’ve been plating this up for breakfast all week and, really, it’s the best. Can we talk about that dark brown, toasty crust on the exterior? Thank you, brown sugar. The only downside to this banana bread? I don’t think dogs are supposed to eat pecans and Bear desperately wants Joey and me to share.

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

Can we get a high five for one more peanut butter recipe in life? And another indulgent use for overripe bananas? I know I’m not alone when I say I could live off of peanut butter. And, bananas really become their best selves in peanut butter’s company. So, why not give them both a home in some sweet, creamy homemade ice cream?

Chocolate Beet Cake

When life gives you beets… turn them into chocolate cake. Specifically, a deeply flavored, mouth-wateringly chocolately cake with a delicious sweetness from sugary roasted beets. Not saying this cake is “healthy” – there is plenty of sugar, flour, sour cream, etc. in there, too. But, I am saying this is an excellent thing to do with a bunch of roasted beets, and it’s so, so good! Somehow, even though it doesn’t have the cream filling, this cake tastes just like Hostess HoHo’s to me. It puts me right back in the elementary school cafeteria, circa 1990, in the best way.

Golden Oreo Rice Krispie Treats with Salted Tahini Drizzle

Typing this with marshmallowy fingers and I don’t care! Big, chunky, Rice Krispie treats speckled with little vanilla-y pops of Golden Oreos and the occasional hit of salty tahini. Where have you been all my life😱 !

Dessert is a once-a-week endeavor for me and we have been snacking on these little monsters ever since I made them last Sunday. I remember Rice Krispie treats back in the day used to become cement blocks after the first day, right? I’m not sure if things have actually changed or if it’s the slick little trick this recipe includes that makes them still completely chewy and tasty a week later. Either way, they last as long as you can resist eating them.

Golden Oreo Rice Krispie Treats with Salted Tahini Drizzle sliced and arranged on a wooden board

Peanut Butter Miso Ice Cream

Sweet and salty lovebirds, this one’s for you! This recipe is like magic, somehow transforming salty, super-umami-y miso into a deep, dark caramel flavor, bouncing around with peanut butter goodness. Also amazing? The texture! Again, there is miso magic happening here making the custard part of this ice cream – before you even churn it – incredibly thick and almost fluffy. Peanut Butter Miso Ice Cream, I can’t with you. You’re too perfect.

Do you guys have an ice cream machine yet? I’m telling you, it is one of my most used appliances. My ice cream/gelato recipes are generally pretty simple and this machine just makes it that much easier. I think the price has dropped on this since I got mine so it’s an even better deal now. Get one and you, too, can have ice cream in your life at all times, like every good human should.

Scoops of Peanut Butter Miso Ice Cream in a white bowl with a spoon

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Oh heeeeyyyy, sweet, creamy, pumpkin-y dessert! Other than my brain not fetching a better word than pumpkin-y, there is nothing wrong and everything right about this Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. I’m not always a huge dessert person because… there’s wine for that. But I am weak for this ice cream, specifically for its super smooth and perfectly thick texture. We’re not messing around: there are 6 egg yolks and 2 cups of cream in here – please don’t try to sub milk or leave a yolk out. You deserve all the fatty richness this ice cream provides, I promise. It’s good stuff. It also offers some bonus texture of crushed ginger snaps. I highly recommend this Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream for your Thanksgiving dessert if you’re not in the mood to make a pie. Or, whatever, serve it ON your pie. No judgement here.