• 22Oct

    Autumn Apple Cobbler

    A favorite apple dessert, we’ve talked about eating leftovers for breakfast. After all, it’s oatmeal and apples – and what better breakfast?

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    Ingredients:

    8 apples (or 5 apples and 3-4 pears)

    2-4 Tbsp Fruit Sweet or honey, depending on sweetness of apples (Granny Smith’s need some sweetener, but the Galas needed none)

    1 1/4 cup quick oatmeal

    1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

    1/4 cup brown sugar

    2 tsp cinnamon

    1/2 tsp salt

    8 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery sticks

    Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core and slice fruit to fill a 9 x 13” baking dish.

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    2. Drizzle sweetener evenly over the sliced fruit.

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    3. Blend oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt together; cut in buttery sticks with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

    4. Spread crumbly mixture evenly over fruit.

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    5. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until apples/pears are tender when pricked with a fork. Serve warm.

    Filed under: Autumn Apple Cobbler, Desserts
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  • 04Oct

    Country Applesauce

    I posted this applesauce recipe under Desserts, because nothing beats warm-out-of-the-pot, chunky applesauce to satisfy this sweet tooth.

    Ingredients:

    Apples
    Fruit Sweet, to taste
    1-2 Tbsp lemon juice, depending on amount of apples
    1-2 tsp cinnamon
    Salt, to taste

    Instructions:

    1. Pick apples, preferably from your bro- and sis-in-law’s orchard.

    2. Let them set in a large bowl on your kitchen counter or dining room table for a week because they’re that pretty.

    3. Peel, core and slice apples.

    4. Place in large heavy duty pot; add enough water to not quite cover the apples (they’ll produce juice as they cook down).

    5. Bring to boil; turn heat down to let apples gently simmer. Every five minutes or so, check the tenderness of the apples; add more water, if needed.

    6. When tender enough, mash the apples into sauce using a potato masher.

    7. Add Fruit Sweet, lemon juice, cinnamon and a smidgeon of salt. Serve warm to rave reviews.

    Filed under: Country Applesauce, Desserts
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  • 05Sep

    Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

    Chocolate is hubby’s favorite food group, and I love strawberries – so you see, the perfect marriage.

    Ingredients:

    16 oz fresh strawberries
    3/4 cup chocolate chips (look for a high cacao content)

    Directions:

    1. Wash strawberries, leaving the stems intact; pat dry with paper towel. Line a small pizza pan or plate with foil.

    2. Partially melt chocolate chips in the microwave; stir until completely smooth.

    3. Dip strawberries in melted chocolate and place on foil-lined pan. If chocolate begins to harden, re-heat.

    4. Place strawberries in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened. (If you like your chocolate slightly softened, leave strawberries on counter for 20 minutes just before serving.)

    Makes approx 20 strawberries, depending on size of berries. Serve to the rave reviews of your family and friends.

    Filed under: Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries, Desserts
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  • 04Sep

    Pumpkin Pecan Bars

    Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I’m practicing pumpkin desserts. (Also, because of recent braces, my list of palatable foods is short – baked potatoes, yogurt, applesauce, scrambled eggs … you get the picture. So, I’m looking for some variety.)

    Ingredients:

    1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
    1/2 cup maple sugar or brown sugar
    1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery sticks (1 stick)
    1 (29-oz) can pumpkin
    4 eggs
    1 cup Fruit Sweet
    3/4 cup canned milk (I use soy or coconut milk)
    1 Tbsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp nutmeg
    1/4 tsp ginger
    1/4 tsp ground cloves
    1/2 tsp salt
    3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13″ baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.

    2. In medium bowl, blend together flour and sugar; cut in buttery sticks with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

    3. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture; press remaining mix into bottom of baking dish.

    4. In a large bowl, whip pumpkin, eggs, Fruit Sweet, milk and spices with wire whisk until well blended.

    5. Pour pumpkin mixture onto crumb crust in baking dish.

    6. Mix reserved 1 cup of crumb mixture with chopped pecans; sprinkle evenly over pumpkin mixture (this photo without the pecans; unfortunately against the *braces rules*).

    (This photo with pecans.)

    7. Bake for 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

    8. Let rest for 10 minutes; cut into 12-15 bars and serve warm.

    Filed under: Desserts, Pumpkin Pecan Bars
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  • 19Jul

    Berry Peach Cobbler

    We love the combination of fruit in this cobbler with its spoonfuls of soft dough plopped on top to form the crust. I’ve used a combination of blueberries, marionberries and raspberries, all frozen. Frozen peaches also work, but fresh peaches make the cobbler juicier.

    The original recipe comes from a Cooking Light magazine, a gift subscription from our daughter, and called for granulated sugar and butter. I made a few substitutions that worked well – a healthier sweetener and butter, and a whole grain flour.

    The cobbler is best served warm, topped with a vanilla-flavored non-dairy frozen dessert – our favorites are Rice Dream, Coconut Bliss and So Delicious made with coconut milk.

    Ingredients:

    4 cups berries, fresh or frozen
    3 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
    1/2 cup Fruit Sweet
    2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
    2 Tbsp cornstarch
    1/8 tsp salt

    Dough Topping:
    1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
    1/4 cup maple sugar
    2 Tbsp cornstarch
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/8 tsp salt
    6 Tbsp chilled Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, cut into small pieces
    1/2 cup canned milk

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13″ baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.

    2. In a large bowl, gently toss fruit with Fruit Sweet, lemon juice, cornstarch and salt.

    3. Spread fruit mixture in prepared 9×13″ baking dish.

    4. To make the dough topping, combine flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Stir in buttery pieces.

    5. Add canned milk and stir to make a soft, sticky dough.

    6. Drop dough by spoonfuls evenly over fruit filling.

    7. Bake for 50 minutes or until crust is golden browned. Let stand 10 minutes.

    Makes 8-10 servings.

    Filed under: Berry Peach Cobbler, Desserts
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  • 24Jan

    Peanut Butter Maple Cookies

    Second only to chocolate, hubby’s favorite food is peanut butter (we buy the kind that lists only peanuts and salt in the ingredients). He came across this recipe for PB cookies from 101 Cookbooks with only 8 ingredients. Actually the original recipe lists 7 ingredients, but hubby added almond extract … and he used whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat flour.

    There’s a little boy in every man, and my little boy loves cookies. I came home from work one day and a stack of these chewy PB cookies was cooling on the counter. Good job, hubby.

    Ingredients:

    1 cup chunky peanut butter
    1 cup real maple syrup
    1/3 cup olive oil
    1 tsp vanilla extract
    1 tsp almond extract
    2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
    1 tsp baking soda
    3/4 tsp sea salt

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (racks should be in the top third of the oven).

    2. In a large mixing bowl, blend peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla and almond extracts with a wire whip.

    3. Add flour, soda and salt to the mix; stir until just blended.

    4.Let batter set for 5 minutes. Drop by tablespoons onto cooking sheets. Dip fork into glass of cold water and press down gently on each to make a criss-cross pattern. (The original recipe indicates that since the batter is soft, it should be chilled for an hour to get good criss-crosses, but I had already pre-heated the oven and found that I could use the cold water dip before each fork press.)

    5. Bake for 10 minutes. We live at 3,700′ elevation and have always set the timer to rotate the pans halfway through baking. These cookies were perfectly done at exactly 10 minutes, but you may need to adjust depending on your elevation and oven accuracy.

    6. Let cool 3-5 minutes before transferring to aluminum foil … and then you can stack them in any pattern you’d like.

    Makes 2 dozen large very good and very chewy cookies … or you can make 2-1/2 dozen medium-sized cookies, but where’s the fun in that?

    Filed under: Desserts, Peanut Butter Maple Cookies
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