Apple Maple Squash Puree

Apple Maple Squash Puree

Recipe courtesy of Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium acorn squash
• 1-2 tablespoons softened butter (I used olive oil.)
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 cups apple cider

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.
3. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds and stringy bits.
4. Place on baking sheet flesh side up. Spread butter/oil on squash, then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle maple syrup on top.
5. Bake for 1 hour, or until squash is soft and apple juice has caramelized. Scoop flesh from the skin and into a bowl. Scrape as much of the apple goop as you can up from the baking sheet and add to the bowl. Mix and mash it all together and serve.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
• 1 (14 oz.) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Banana Gingerbread

Banana Gingerbread

Adapted from Baking Bites

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup banana, mashed (about 2 large)
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup light plain soymilk
• 1/4 cup applesauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, banana, molasses, honey, soymilk and applesauce.
4. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (I used my Baker's Edge pan and baked for 20 minutes.)
7. Makes 1 loaf, 8-10 slices.

Triple Ginger Cookies

Triple Ginger Cookies

Recipe courtesy of Baking Obsession

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp salt
• 8 tbsp (1 stick; ¼-lb) unsalted butter, melted and just warm
• ¼ cup unsulfured mild or full-flavored molasses (I used organic blackstrap)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup (2.3 oz) firmly packed brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
• 2 tbsp finely minced or grated fresh ginger root
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup (4 oz) finely chopped crystallized ginger (1/4-inch dice)
• About ½ cup Demerara or turbinado sugar for rolling

DIRECTIONS

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. Combine the warm butter, molasses, both sugars, fresh ginger, and the egg in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and chopped candied ginger and stir until incorporated. The dough will be soft.
4. Form the dough into 1-inch balls (1/2 oz of dough for each). Roll the balls in the Demerara sugar and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake, in batches (form the rest of the balls while the first batch is baking ), for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they puff up and crack on the surface and then begin to deflate in the oven. For chewier cookies, remove them from the oven when at least half or more of the cookies have begun to deflate; for crunchier edges with chewy centers, bake a minute or so longer.
5. Slide the parchment sheets of cookies onto cooling racks or use an offset spatula to transfer the cookies, and cool completely. Stored in an airtight container, gingersnaps keep for several days.
   
   The baking method is slightly adapted from Alice Medrich’s.

Banana Cranberry Bread

Banana Cranberry Bread
Adapted from Joy the Baker

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flax meal
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 splash rum extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries, divided

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. With a spoon, mix applesauce into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and rum extract. Add the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
4. Add the flour and mix. Add 1 cup of cranberries and stir until just incorporated.
5. Pour mixture into a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining cranberries over top.
6. Bake for 1 hour.
7. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Applesauce

Pumpkin pancakes? Pumpkin anything? I'm there. The only thing I might change about this recipe next time would be to slightly reduce the spice so that the pumpkin flavor comes out more.

I usually do maple applesauce or fruit compote with pancakes because the sugar content and calories of maple syrup are a bit scary. I personally like my pancakes smothered with some sort of sauce, so it is best to use something I don't have to feel guilty about later.


Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes
Adapted from this recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon flax meal
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  

DIRECTIONS

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, flax and vinegar.
2. Combine the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.
4. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.
5. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
   

Maple Applesauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup REAL maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon rum extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan with a whisk.
2. Warm over medium heat until bubbly.
3. Serve hot over pancakes.

I can't get enough of these pictures!

I like how you can see where the pancakes have absorbed the applesauce in this pic. Yum...

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins

So I've had a lot of dairy products sitting in the fridge lately, as a result of organic cottage cheese and sour cream being on sale, and I knew that I would not be able to devour all of that cheese in its raw form. Too much, and I can get tired of it very quickly. So when I saw Cooking from A to Z's raspberry cottage cheese muffins on Tastespotting, I knew I had to make them. I also had some blueberries that were on their last leg, so this was perfect! These were extremely moist and flavorful, perfectly spiced and gushing with tart blueberries and the occasional speck of cheese curd. Yum...

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins
Adapted from this recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese (I had 2%, but I would normally prefer fat-free)
• 1/4 cup organic 1% milk
• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened soymilk (Silk brand)
• 3 tablespoons Smart Balance Light
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (out of necessity, I used dark brown)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-2 cups blueberries (I say the more, the better)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup muffin tray with paper cups.
2. Cream the Smart Balance and sugar in a bowl until well blended and smooth.
3. Add the cottage cheese and 1% milk and mix a bit more.
4. Stir in the cinnamon along with the vanilla extract and beat for 2-3 minutes till well blended.
5. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Mix the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mix, about 1/2 cup at a time.
6. Once the ingredients are well blended, stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tray and smoothen the surfaces. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 F.Stick a toothpick into the muffins to make sure they're baked before taking them out of the oven. Once removed, let them cool in the tray for 10 minutes before removing the muffins and setting them on a cooling rack. Once they're at room temperature, stick them into an airtight container or eat.

I chose this muffin to photograph specifically because you can clearly see the cheese curds and blueberries on the top of the muffin. Yum yum. By the way, those round little things are my ceramic pie weights. I had them out to air-dry and thought that they might make a nice display.