Apple Cherry Crumble Bars

Last night I had so much fun when my good friend and I decided to spend the evening baking up some goodies. One of our successes was this recipe for apple cherry crumble bars - which I highly recommend serving warm with some vanilla ice cream or a cool glass of milk.



Ingredients

3 C dried apples (no sugar)
1 C dried cherries (no sugar)
1/4 C dried cranberries (no sugar)
1 3/4 C apple cider
3/4 C + 2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 C almonds / walnuts
2 C almond meal
10 tbsps coconut flour
1 C coconut oil
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Recipe

In a saucepan, simmer cherries, apples, cranberries and apple cider. Bring to boil and simmer for approximately 5 minutes - you want to liquid to begin to rehydrate and soften the fruit. Then, drain the fruit and reserve 2 tbsps of the cooking liquid.

Chop the fruit and toss with 1 tsp of cinnamon, cooking liquid and 2 tbsps of maple syrup and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse almond meal, coconut flour, nuts, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and the remainder of the cinnamon. Once you've broken up the nuts, add in the coconut oil and pulse until the dough comes together.

Take 3 cups of the dough and press into a casarole dish, spread until it covers the base of the dish in an even layer. Place in a 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to brown. Take out the dish and the fruit - spread evenly over the dough layer. Then crumble the remaining batter over the top of the fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the crumble browns. Cut out the bars with knife.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Celebrating Wednesday night with a little something chocolate.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C almond meal
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 C maple syrup
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C all natural butter

In a large bowl sift the almond meal, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Then in a mixer, cream the maple syrup and butter until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the creamed butter with the mixer on low. Fold in the chocolate chips and using a large spoon, spoon even cookies and place on a greased cookie sheet. Use the bottom of a 1C measuring cup to press the cookie dough balls down evenly. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Almond Honey Muffins

A quick, simple muffin -- that makes the house smell pretty awesome!

Recipe:

Ingredients
2 C almond meal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 C unsweetened, all natural applesauce
1/2 C honey
pinch of salt, nutmeg and all spice

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor pulse the almond meal, salt, nutmeg, all spice and baking soda. Then add the vanilla, eggs, applesauce and honey. Pulse until the batter is smooth. Spoon into a muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes; until a toothpick comes out clean the tops of the muffins become golden. enjoy! This is a great muffin to nibble on with a cup of tea before bed, or a go to for a quick and healthy breakfast.

Marbled Muffins

Tonight I was inspired to put a twist on a classic. I can't tell you how many mornings I took my sister to grab a slice of a marble loaf for breakfast and snacks. Tonight, I decided to try the marble batter in another form, a muffin, and just for fun I threw in some chocolate chips.

Recipe for Chocolate Batter

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 C almond meal
1/4 C + 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C unsweetened, all natural applesauce
3/8 C maple syrup (1/4 C and then 1/2 of a 1/4 C)

In a food processor pulse the almond meal, cocoa powder and baking soda until smooth (almond meal can get clumpy). Then add the eggs, vanilla, applesauce and maple syrup and pulse until smooth. Set aside.


Recipe for Vanilla Batter

Ingredients
2 eggs
3/4 C almond meal
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C unsweetened, all natural applesauce

3/8 C maple syrup (1/4 C and then 1/2 of a 1/4 C)

In a large bowl whisk the almond meal and baking soda until smooth. Add in the eggs, vanilla, applesauce and maple syrup and whisk until smooth. 

the view while in my oven...they smelled so good!

Assembling the muffins...

note: you will need chocolate chips for this part

Spoon the batter into a muffin tin alternating the batters (use two separate spoons for the vanilla and chocolate batter). Sprinkle in a few chocolate chips between layers. Have fun with this, there is not wrong way to do it - worse case scenario you end up with chocolate, chocolate chip muffins. Bake in the oven at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (try not to aim for a chocolate chip...those will be nice a gooey!). Cool (optional) and enjoy!

Lemon blueberry muffins

While the food in New York was absolutely delicious, the access to fresh, local ingredients in my new neighborhood has really made my recipes better. This morning I stopped at our local fruit stand and picked up some fresh blueberries and lemons and decided to build a breakfast from this ingredients. These muffins came out tasting so fresh and yummy. 

Recipe:

2 1/2 C almond meal + 3 tbsp for dusting the blueberries

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 C all natural applesauce

zest and juice from 2 lemons

2 eggs

1/4 C maple syrup

1 quart fresh blueberries 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, add the almond meal and baking soda and whisk until there are no lumps in the almond meal. In a separate bowl, whisk the applesauce, lemons, eggs, and maple syrup until everything is well combined. While the mixer with the almond meal and baking soda is on low, slowly incorporate the wet ingredients. Mix until everything is just combined (be careful not to over mix). Toss the blueberries in the 3 tbsps of almond meal. This will keep the blueberries from bleeding into the muffins too much and will help them from sinking to the bottom of the mixture. Then, using a rubber spatula, fold the blueberries into the batter. Using a quarter cup measuring cup, spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin. Using a measuring cup will ensure that the muffins are all the same size and will therefore bake evenly. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (don't poke the blueberries - they will dirty the toothpick!). Cool and enjoy!

Making a house feel like a home

Over the past few weeks, in addition to unpacking, I've been collecting little things here and there to make this new apartment feel homier. Here are a few things that are really making me happy!

New oven mits - from Target! 

New spoon rest - also, Target! 

Amazing local sunflowers that brighten up the room

Hot Cocoa on a chilly night

I am loving this California weather. Even more so, I am loving the ample opportunities it is giving me to try out homemade hot cocoa (given how delightfully chilly it is outside). I made this mix last night and it really hit the spot and warmed my soul.

Recipe:

4 C Milk
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
3/4 C maple syrup
3 ounces 60% chocolate squares
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour all the ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Such a wonderful simple way to have a bit of sweet before bed, or anytime of day.