Cookin’ with Condley

Published 3:23 pm Thursday, August 17, 2023

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By Sarah Condley

Columnist

The few weeks I was away went by fast, but it was a nice reprieve. Since I last wrote a column, our blueberries have quit producing, but before they were all gone, I had to try a recipe. We were heading to our daughter’s house for a pleasant visit and were going to order pizza. I, however, could not go without some dessert. The days before had been very hectic at our house, so I wanted to prepare something quick and easy. I started my quest for that type of recipe by searching through my folder of pie recipes. That folder includes recipes for almost anything made with fresh fruit, not necessarily pie. Those recipes are in that folder because pie is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of baking with fruit. How’s that for logic?

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The recipe I chose to make was found at www.littleleopardbook.com back in 2015. I’d been holding on to this recipe for quite some time. But now was the time to prepare it. The recipe called for items I had on hand and seemed like a breeze to put together.

I didn’t bother letting the cream cheese soften. I put it in a small bowl with the sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and used a handheld mixer to combine.

I rolled the crescent roll dough out on parchment paper and pinched the seams together before cutting the dough into eight equal size pieces. Since I figured I’d bake each Delight on the parchment, after cutting the dough, I just moved the pieces around a little and cut the parchment paper just a little bit bigger than each piece of dough. After placing each of the eight parchment-filled pieces onto a cookie sheet pan, I scooped out the cream cheese filling and divided it equally among the crescent roll dough. I was afraid a cup of blueberries would be too many for these little squares, but I kept piling them on until none were left in the container.

I folded the corners of the dough up over the berries but did not pinch the seams together.

Even though it isn’t part of the recipe, I decided to sprinkle 7 of the pastries with a little bit of sugar. I just thought the added sweetness would be good.

The little pastries baked at 375 degrees for 14 minutes until they were golden, and I removed them from the oven and let them cool while we got ready to leave our house.

After some playtime with our grandson and conversation with our daughter, it was time to order pizza. It arrived, and we sat down to eat. Brad prayed over the meal and for our family, and we all got our pizza fix, even our 1 1/2-year-old grandson. He just kept saying “more.” He is truly his mother’s son because she has always loved pizza.

Once the pizzas were gone, it was time for dessert.

I took the one that didn’t have added sugar on it (I left sugar off one so I could see how it tasted if you went precisely by the recipe directions). We all agreed these little treats were pretty good but not the greatest dessert we’ve ever had. I told them it was something that would be good if you are in a hurry or if you had crescent rolls in the refrigerator along with some berries that needed to be used up. Everyone agreed, and they told me that the sugar added a nice sweet flavor to the top of the pastries. Our grandson got to have a taste and even though he hasn’t been a fan of plain blueberries, he liked this treat.

I told our daughter I thought they would be good heated up, and since she was keeping the leftovers, to let me know how they were if she heated one the next morning. She did, and she said “they were a little tastier” and that the “cinnamon smell and flavor came through better.”

Chalk this up to another fast and easy “Nailed It” dessert – or breakfast.

Blueberry Pastry Delights

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cream cheese

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 can crescent rolls

• 1 cup blueberries

Instructions

• Begin by combining the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl.

• Roll the crescent roll dough out and press the perforations together.

• Slice the dough into 8 equal squares.

• Top each square with a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture.

• Pile the blueberries on top of the cream cheese.

• Fold the corner s of the dough into the middle and place each pastry on a baking stone or sheet.

• Place in the oven at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.