Blog ~ two sugar bugs

Cherry Nectarine Crostata

This easy cherry nectarine crostata is the perfect way to celebrate summer's fresh stone fruit. It's a rustic, simple and downright delicious dessert!

It's hard to beat summer in the Pacific Northwest! The sun shines more than it rains. It is typically warm, but not crazy hot, and the daylight lingers well into late evening.

We frequent several of our local farmer's markets; which are filled to the brim with local fruits and vegetables. We also love to visit some of the local farms to pick our own berries. Greenbluff, in Eastern Washington is one of our favorite places in the summer. It's become a tradition to go cherry picking every year, which has driven me to create lots of cherry centric recipes.

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Cherry Bourbon Crumble No-Churn Ice Cream

This cherry bourbon crumble no churn ice cream is an easy vanilla base that is studded with a bourbon crumble and swirled with a cherry bourbon reduction. You are going to fall in love with this creamy homemade recipe that requires no ice cream machine!

ice cream cone laying melted on it's side

I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my ice cream maker.

I professed my love for ice cream when I shared my favorite homemade cinnamon ice cream recipe. That love hasn't changed at all!! Mr. two sugar bugs and I often have a bowl of ice cream in the evenings. I'm pretty sure I finish every bowl and proclaim, "I really, really love ice cream".

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Butterscotch Mixed Nut Bars

Butterscotch mixed nut bars use butterscotch chips, nuts and sweetened condensed milk. This EASY recipe makes the best sweet and salty cookie bars!

close up of nut bars with chocolate drizzled over the tops.

Do desserts with butterscotch chips make you nostalgic? It seems that chocolate, peanut butter and caramel tend to take the spotlight in treat recipes. In all honesty, I don't use butterscotch all that frequently. When I do, it takes me straight back to childhood!

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Homemade Cookie Butter Caramel Sauce

This is an easy homemade COOKIE BUTTER caramel sauce! A perfect topping for ice cream, brownies, and all kinds of desserts! If you love that Biscoff and speculoos flavor and are looking for other ways to use it, this recipe is for you!

cookie butter caramel in a jar on a plate

From my first taste of cookie butter, I've been obsessed! It's essentially cookies (Biscoff or Speculoos) ground to a paste that you can use like peanut butter. It has hints of gingersnaps, cinnamon and brown sugar and it is downright addicting!!

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SunButter Crunch Brownies

SunButter crunch brownies are an easy triple layer brownie dessert for your recipe box! Chocolate, marshmallow and a crunchy sweet topping create three distinct layers of flavors and textures.

This nut-free recipe makes the most scrumptious bars!! Homemade brownies on the bottom, stuffed with a marshmallow meringue and topped with a crispy, SunButter white chocolate crunch.

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Flourless Monster Cookies

These flourless monster cookies create soft, chocolate and candy loaded, oatmeal cookies! Made with peanut butter (or easily substitute SunButter) and naturally gluten free.

monster cookies and milk with m&m's and chocolate chips

Oatmeal cookies are always high on my list of favorite cookies. Seriously, oatmeal cookie dough is hands down the best cookie dough, ever!! Since flour is still an elusive ingredient in many grocery stores, I wanted to create a flour free cookie recipe. So..... allow me to introduce you to flourless monster cookies!

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Margarita Pie with a Pretzel Crust

This margarita pie with a pretzel crust has a creamy and tart, no bake filling; flavored with lime, tequila, triple sec, sweetened condensed milk and lime zest. The pie is chilled, not frozen and sits in an easy, graham pretzel crust.

Disclosure | This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cocktails in pie form? Yes please!

Those who know me well, know I enjoy a cocktail from time to time. Warm days and sunshine make me think of margaritas (and margarita cookies)! Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, a margarita pie recipe.

I first learned about this pie when my brother-in-law and his family were visiting and it was my nephew's birthday. Margarita pie was his request for a birthday cake. I had also made homemade s'mores that week and my brother-in-law said that the graham crackers needed to be made into some other sort of dessert as well. It only took me seven years, but I finally made that happen!

what is margarita pie with a pretzel crust?

Margarita pie has a creamy and tart filling, not quite as dense as a cheesecake, but somewhat similar in texture. Lime juice, lime zest, tequila, triple sec and a little salt give the filling the margarita flavor. Sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream and gelatin are what give the filling the sweetness and creamy texture.

The pretzel crust is made from scratch. It starts with an adaptation from my homemade s'mores graham crackers and uses some ground pretzels to give that pretzel crunch and taste.

is the pretzel crust no bake?

No. The pretzel crust is essentially homemade graham crackers with some ground pretzels incorporated into the dough. It does need to bake for about 12 minutes, but it's the only baking required in this pie recipe.

If making a graham pretzel crust from scratch isn't your thing, or you prefer not to turn on the oven; use the graham pretzel crust from my peanut butter pie recipe.

Slice of margarita pie with a pretzel graham crust on a plate with lime slices

how to make a graham pretzel crust

Start by crushing your pretzels. Pretzel sticks are the pretzel of choice at my house, but any variety will work. I break the pretzels into small pieces to measure them, but I also give you ounce measurements in the recipe card. You can use a food processor to grind the pretzels. Or place the pretzels in a zip top bag and crush them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. You will want to leave a few small chunks of pretzels.

Dry ingredients for pretzel graham crust

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Then beat together the butter, brown sugar and honey.

Pretzel graham batter in a bowl with the paddle attachment

Once the mixture is fluffy, slowly add the dry ingredients in three additions.

Then, you will roll out the dough and place it in your pie plate before chilling it.

Unformed pretzel graham crust in a pie plate

The pretzel crust rolls out much easier when the dough is still warm. Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, wax paper or plastic wrap. Don't skip this step as the dough is sticky and you need the paper to flip the dough into the pie pan.

Next chill the dough for one hour.

Then line the dough with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (you can also use coins or dried beans if you don't have pie weights). Bake the crust for 10-14 minutes. Do not be tempted to bake it longer. If you do, the crust will be incredibly crisp and hard to get out of the pie plate.

You can bake the crust up to a day ahead. Cover it tightly and leave at room temperature until ready to make the no bake margarita filling.

how to make the easy margarita pie filling

Start by making your whipped cream. You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer (gosh even go with just a whisk, if you want an arm work out!). You want to whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks.

Then zest and juice the limes. I also like to have all the ingredients measured and ready to go.

Next combine the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, tequila, triple sec, lime zest and salt. Stir until well combined.

Then prepare the gelatin. Add 2 tablespoons boiling water to 1 packet (just shy of 1 tablespoon) of gelatin. Mix until gelatin has dissolved. You may need to use your clean fingers to work the final bits of gelatin into the water to be fully dissolved. DO NOT let the gelatin set up.

Working quickly, whisk the gelatin into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Follow by folding in the prepared whipped cream. The gelatin is what allows this pie to stay firm while chilled, without it having to be frozen.

whipped cream being folded into margarita pie filling

Finally, spread the filling into the prepared crust and chill for a minimum of three hours.

Top with additional whipped cream, lime slices, lime zest and a sprinkle of salt, if desired.

Full margarita pie with a pretzel graham crust in a pie plate

other pie and tart recipes to enjoy

If you make this recipe {or any recipe!} from two sugar bugs please come back and leave a review and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating. I read every comment, and I LOVE hearing from you!

Remember to snap a picture and tag me @twosugarbugs on Instagram if you make this margarita pie with a pretzel crust! It warms my heart to see you bring these recipes to life! Thank you for being here and happy baking!

Yield: One 9" pie, 8-10 servings

Margarita Pie

This margarita pie recipe has a creamy and tart, no bake filling; flavored with lime, tequila, triple sec and sweetened condensed milk and lime zest. The pie is chilled, not frozen and sits in an easy, pretzel graham crust.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Bake Time 14 minutes

Chill Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 44 minutes

Ingredients

Graham Pretzel Crust

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup (1.5 ounces) pretzels, ground/crushed*
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey

Margarita Pie Filling

1 cup heavy whipping cream
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
⅓ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons silver tequila
1 tablespoon triple sec or orange liqueur
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon gelatin**
2 tablespoons boiling water

Whipped Cream Garnish

½ cup whipping cream
Lime zest
Lime slices
Coarse salt, if desired

Instructions

In medium bowl, combine the flour, ground pretzels, whole wheat flour and salt and set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and honey on medium-high until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape up and down sides of the bowl.
With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.
Place the graham pretzel crust dough between two sheets of parchment paper/wax paper or plastic wrap. Roll the dough into about a 12 inch circle. You may have to rearrange the paper a few times during the rolling process and some of the completed circle will not all fit under the paper.
Once the crust is rolled into about a 12 inch circle, remove the top piece of paper. Butter your pie plate well. Lay the pie plate over the crust and then flip the whole thing over so the crust has flipped into the pie plate. Press the dough into the sides and bottom of the pie plate and then gently remove the paper. If the crust breaks in any areas, just press it back together. Trim any excess crust and use it to fix any broken areas. Chill the crust for a minimum of 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the pie crust with aluminum foil and pie weights. Bake for about 10 - 14 minutes. The crust will look a little under done, but do not over bake it.
Allow the crust to cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Crust can be baked up to a day ahead, cover tightly and keep at room temperature.
Margarita Filling
With a hand-held or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the whip cream until stiff peaks, about 3-4 minutes. Set in the refrigerator.
In a medium to large bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, tequila, triple sec, salt and lime zest.
Add 2 tablespoons boiling water to 1 packet (just shy of 1 tablespoon) of gelatin. Mix until gelatin has dissolved. You may need to use your clean fingers to work the final bits of gelatin into the water to be fully dissolved. DO NOT let the gelatin set up. Once the gelatin is fully dissolved, quickly whisk it into the margarita base. Then gently fold in the whipped cream. Work quickly as the gelatin will start to thicken the margarita pie base.
Spoon the filling into the prepared graham pretzel crust and top with additional lime zest, if desired. Chill for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.
If you want to decorate the top of the pie, whip another ½ cup of whipping cream and spoon or pipe the whipped cream on top of the chilled pie. Garnish with additional lime zest and lime slices. Sprinkle with a few pinches of coarse salt, if desired.

Notes

*You can use a food processor or you can place pretzels in a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin or mallet. The pretzels should be mostly ground with a few small chunks left.

**If using Knox gelatin, just use one packet.

Store covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 457Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 193mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 38gProtein: 7g

The nutrition information is an estimate and may not be entirely accurate.

Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Frosting

Dairy free chocolate cupcakes are also egg free and topped with a dairy free frosting. An easy, one bowl, chocolate cupcake recipe. Also known as crazy cake, depression cake or wacky cake. It's chocolate peanut butter at it's finest!

up close photo of chocolate peanut butter cupcake with the liner off

I haven't been to the grocery store much these last six weeks. Which still feels a bit strange considering I used to go to the market 2-3 times a week! My last two trips have shown a very empty baking aisle and next to no eggs available.

The good news: everyone is baking. Yay! The bad news: some baking ingredients are hard to find. Boo hoo! So what's a die-hard baking girl going to do? Well, for some needed inspiration, I reached out to my dear aunt in Ohio who shared this great idea...

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Easy Treats with Minimal Ingredients

Can I make cookies or sweet treats with minimal ingredients? You bet you can! Today I'm sharing easy cookies and dessert recipes made with just a few ingredients.

pinterest graphic for easy treats made with minimal ingredients

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Homemade Vanilla Snack Cake

This simple homemade vanilla snack cake is perfect for a small family! Makes a moist 8x8 sheet cake OR a small 2-layer 6-inch cake.

slice of vanilla snack cake on parchment paper

Disclosure | This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Do you wake up craving cake? A big, fluffy slice of cake with your morning coffee? No? Just me? Please tell me I'm not the only one! 🙈 {this Italian almond cake and ricotta bundt cake are two of my breakfast faves}

Maybe it's the state of the current times {hello week four of our "stay home, stay healthy" initiative in Washington}. Or maybe it's just me with a crazy addiction to cake. Any way you slice it {sorry! the kids puns and jokes are consuming me right now!}; this homemade vanilla snack cake is perfect for when a cake craving hits.

simply decorated snack cake with yellow frosting and sprinkles

what exactly is a simple homemade vanilla snack cake?

To be honest, I don't think there is a true definition. I was highly entertained reading this article by Food & Wine. It discusses the difference between a snacking cake and a snack cake. To me, a snack cake is a smaller, basic and easy to make cake. One that's prepared in a square baking pan and doesn't feed a small army.

ingredients for a homemade vanilla cake

This simple homemade cake uses basic ingredients from your pantry and refrigerator. All-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar and pure vanilla extract from your pantry. You will need butter, buttermilk, one large egg and one large egg white from your refrigerator.

let's bake this cake!

Start by preheating the oven and preparing an 8x8 baking pan. I like to butter my pan, line it with parchment paper, and then butter the paper. The parchment paper isn't a necessity. I like to use it so I can easily pull the cake out of the pan to slice and serve it. If you are not using parchment paper be sure to butter your pan well.

Next, you will sift all the dry ingredients together. I added cornstarch to this recipe to add some softness to the cake. Sifting the ingredients helps to make sure the cornstarch is well distributed in the dry ingredients.

overhead shot of shifter with dry ingredients

Then you will cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg, egg white and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

creamed butter and sugar with eggs and vanilla added

butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla creamed together in mixing bowl

Next you will add the dry ingredients and buttermilk; alternating the flour mixture and buttermilk. Start with ⅓ of the flour mixture, then add ½ of the buttermilk followed by the next ⅓ of the flour mixture. Once this has started to incorporate, stop and scrape up and down the mixer bowl. Then add the second ½ of the buttermilk followed by the final ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix until the flour is mostly incorporated and only a streak or two of flour remain. You can fold the last couple streaks of flour in with a spatula.

cake batter mid mixing in mixer bowl with mixing paddle

finished cake batter in mixing bowl with a spatula

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. The edges will be lightly browned and be starting to pull away from the edges of the pan.

how do you decorate a snack cake?

The decorating is my favorite part! If you want an easy, simple design, just use an offset spatula and smooth the buttercream over the cake. Add some sprinkles if you wish!

If you want to make this moist, homemade vanilla cake a little fancier, grab some piping tips and create away. I used a Wilton 1M for the rosettes, a Wilton 104 for the squiggles, a Wilton 4B, Wilton 32 and Wilton 21. I also added a few Sweetapolita sprinkles. This is a design that I love because there are no rules and it's great piping practice!

overhead shot of piped snack cake with forks next to it

Here's a little video to show you how this style came together.

Personally, Swiss meringue buttercream is my favorite for cakes. It's light and not overly sweet, but it does take longer to prepare and is more technique sensitive. You can find my recipe for vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream here.

I've been on a quest to create a less sweet American buttercream and am providing that recipe with this cake. Please let me know how you like it!

How to make this recipe into a small two layer cake

This basic vanilla snack cake can also be baked into a simple layer cake. Use two 6-inch baking pans. Prep them the same way, except the parchment paper isn't optional. Butter the pans, line with a parchment round and butter again. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for about 25 minutes. This small layer cake is just shy of 3 inches tall and has about 8 servings.

I decorated this one with a semi-naked look and spiral on the top. To create the spiral use an off-set spatula and a turntable (this is the updated version of the one I use). Use light pressure on the tip of the spatula and turn the turntable while you lightly drag the spatula in a circular pattern moving all the way to the outside edge. This is one of my all time favorite looks for a cake! It's also a great technique for beginners.

Stay safe and healthy my friends! xoxo

more cake recipes to enjoy!

To pin this recipe, you can use the button on the recipe card or the share buttons on the side or bottom of the page. Remember to snap a picture and tag me @twosugarbugs on Instagram if you make this homemade vanilla snack cake! It warms my heart to see you bring these recipes to life! Thank you for being here and happy baking!

Yield: 9 servings