Tag: Kid Friendly

Apple Crisp- Easy Fall Dessert

I am in the holiday/fall mood and all I want to do is cook with all the ingredients that remind me of cold weather. Apples is one of those ingredients that makes me think of cosy evenings in my house with a cup of hot apple cider or eating a delicious hot apple crisp with some ice cream.

I made this last weekend for a dinner at a friend’s house. I used my favorite apples- honey crisp but any kind of apples can be used-whatever you like.

I used a very typical crisp topping including flour- I used my usual white whole wheat flour and oats. I paired it with walnuts and cinnamon- and butter, of course. You can’t really go wrong with any of these ingredients.

The apples are mixed with orange and lemon zests giving the filling a wonderful citrusy, fresh taste. Everyone enjoyed the dessert. I served it with pumpkin gelato- which I made a few days ago. It came out really well- if I do say so myself.

The whole combination was a very successful one. This is another great idea for Thanksgiving. I will post the gelato recipe soon.

2 pounds variety of apples (about 4 – 5 medium), cut into 2 inch pieces
Zest and juice of one lemon
Zest and juice of one orange
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized baking dish. An 8 X 8 square or an oval shaped will be fine.

Topping

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts
½ cup toasted oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a mixer, add the flour, sugars, and butter. Using the paddle attachment, incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks mealy or crumbly. Stir in the oats and nuts.
Distribute the topping over the apples. Bake for an hour, or until the topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Pumpkin Duffins with Cream Cheese

Here is another version of our favorite healthy dessert- duffins. I wanted to make something for Halloween and the first thing I think of – is pumpkin. When I think of pumpkin, cream cheese frosting comes to mind- it really is a match made in heaven.

So, in order to make duffins, I decided to invert the two and use the cream cheese as a filling in the middle.

The result was delicious- well, eventually. I made one batch and had a few friends taste test for me and give me some critical analysis. My daughter is the most honest taste tester I have- she has no qualms about telling me when things are not right. She told me the duffins didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor and the filling tasted too much like cream cheese and not like a frosting. She was right- I had forgotten to add vanilla extract in the cream cheese mixture.

The second batch included more spiced including cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also included the missing vanilla extract. The result was delicious.

Make these for halloween…

1 cup raw sugar
1 large egg
1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup extra light olive oil
¾ cup 1% milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger

Filling

2 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Keep aside.

Topping

1 tablespoon butter, melted
½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Add a quarter cup batter in each cup. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese on top. Top each cup with the rest of the batter to cover the filling.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into another small bowl.

Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

Cherry Almond Duffins

Dessert number 3! Use fresh or frozen cherries for this one… yummy!

¾ cup raw sugar
1 large egg
1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup extra light olive oil
1 cup 1% milk
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup pitted fresh or frozen cherries, chopped

Topping

1 tablespoon butter, melted
½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix to combine.

In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well. Fold the cherries into the batter and mix to incorporate.

Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling about ½ full.

Bake for 15 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While duffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into a medium bowl.

Once the duffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

Almond Cake with Citrus- Gluten Free!

Dessert number 2!….I have been experimenting with gluten free desserts. This is a really good one. I bought some meyer lemons from Trader Joes (go ahead and substitute regular ones as meyer lemons are not in season any more) and wanted to use them in a delicious dessert. I looked up a bunch of recipes and really liked on one site. I tweaked the recipe and came up with this one. It is really yummy and easy to make…

4 large eggs
½ cup raw cane sugar
Zest of one meyer lemon and one clementine
Juice of 2 meyer lemons and 2 clementines
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cups almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Syrup

Juice of 2 meyer lemons and 2 clementines
2 tablespoons honey
Confectioner sugar to dust on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper and grease it as well. Combine the salt, almond meal, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside.

Add the eggs and sugar to an electric mixture with a whisk attachment. Beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, for a good 5 to 10 minutes. Add the citrus zest, citrus juice, olive oil and vanilla extract. Beat for another minute. Add the almond meal mixture and mix well. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

While the cake is baking transfer the citrus juice and honey to a small bowl. Microwave for 30 to 40 seconds and mix well making sure the honey has melted through. Once the cake comes out, drizzle the liquid covering the surface evenly. Cool and cake completely and sprinkle powdered sugar and serve!

Spiced Chocolate Banana Bread

I thought I would do a week of different desserts….

1¼ cups unbleached white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon clove powder
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
1 cup turbinado sugar
3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
½ cup milk or dark chocolate, chips or grated

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and nutmeg into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled), and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate pieces and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely before serving.

Roasted Broccoli with Blood Orange Juice and Pine Nuts

I served this with the pasta from yesterday instead of a salad. I used delicious blood orange juice and zest although regular oranges can be substituted… it was delicious!!

3 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the broccoli on a lined cookie sheet and roast for about 20 to 25 minutes or till the broccoli is golden brown. Take out.

Zest and juice of 2 blood oranges
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkle the zest and drizzle the blood orange juice on the warm broccoli. Add the pine nuts and olive oil. Mix well and serve warm.

Mushroom and Olive Meatballs

Here is another version of my delicious meatballs. Everyone loved them. I took two of my daughter’s favorite pizza toppings- mushrooms and olives, and added them to the turkey meat. I also added garlic and parsley. Of course the homemade tomato sauce helps with the taste factor. This is a good one!!

1 pound dark meat turkey
1 cup Cremini mushrooms, shredded
½ cup kalamata olives, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup parsley, chopped
1 egg, beaten
½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup panko bread crumbs soaked in ½ cup milk (for 10 minutes)
2 cups tomato sauce

Transfer the tomato sauce into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer.
Transfer the turkey, mushrooms, olives, garlic, parsley and cheese into a medium mixing bowl. Mix well and add the egg, salt and panko crumbs. Mix well and form meatballs and slide into the simmering sauce. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer and cook meatballs covered with a lid for 15 minutes. Taste for seasonings and serve with pasta.

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