Hello 2017, and Sticky Upside Down Apple Gingerbread Cake

It's January.

Which means I've been pinning all of the detoxifying salads and cleansing smoothies.  I've joined photography challenges and seven day juicing challenges, and even looked at fitness challenges.

I bought a new planner.

And I've been eating Ferrero Rochers and pizza, and crackers with Brie and fig jam, and Eggs Benedict and smoked salmon and burgers with fries.

I've had zero smoothies.  I made a salad with dinner one night, but reached for the fresh baguette and butter instead.  I've walked back and forth to my car.  My planner is still blank.  I did manage to go through a closet and put a few bags of clothes together to donate, so there's that.

The mind is willing.  It's so ready.

Yet today, the second day back to school, we're having another snow day.  I think that makes five so far, and winter has only just begun.  So I made myself coffee with Bailey's and egg nog, and contemplated taking down the Christmas tree.

And I looked at the apples in the fruit basket, almost past their prime, and thought about baking.  Not muffins this time.  Gingerbread.  I should have posted this recipe in December, because it's amazing, but gingerbread is something that goes well with winter, not just Christmas.  And there's always apples waiting to be baked into something good.

Sticky Upside Down Apple Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients:

Butter for greasing pan

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup molasses
1 cup buttermilk*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Grease a high sided 9" cake pan.

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add brown sugar and simmer over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in salt, remove from heat, and pour into bottom of cake pan.
Overlap apple slices in a circular pattern on top of the caramel.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and spices.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together with the brown sugar.  Add the molasses, then the melted butter and combine well.  Stir in buttermilk, then flour mixture.  Stir together and pour over apples in prepared cake pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes until centre of cake is set.  Mine cracked...that's OK :)  Let cool in pan on cooling rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto plate large enough to catch any caramel spills or wayward apples.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.  Tastes just as good once it has cooled.

*If you don't keep buttermilk on hand, make your own buttermilk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of milk. Put the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in your measuring cup, then add the milk to measure one cup of buttermilk. Allow to sit for a few minutes before combining with the other ingredients.

Happy New Year!

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Apple Walnut Banana Breakfast Muffins

Baking success!  For the first time in months, I've created a keeper!  

These Apple Walnut Banana Breakfast Muffins are all kinds of amazing.

The day after we returned home from Ireland, we went apple picking.

And I got my baking mojo back.  Over the weekend I made apple pie and apple crisp, and last night I made these muffins.  Apples, bananas, flax, oats, walnuts, molasses, buttermilk....and no added fat.

These muffins are incredibly moist and flavourful, and I'll be whipping up another batch tomorrow because they didn't last long!

I'm still working on getting all of our Ireland photos uploaded.  Will be sharing the highlights soon!

Apple Walnut Banana Breakfast Muffins

Makes 18 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1 cup oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 large or 2 small apples, chopped

1 cup buttermilk*

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 large or 2 small bananas, mashed

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.  Grease a muffin pan, or use paper liners.  In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, then stir in the apples.  Do not overmix.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick inserted into centre of muffin comes out almost clean.  Cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes, then move to cooling rack.

*If you don't keep buttermilk on hand, make your own buttermilk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of milk. Put the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in your measuring cup, then add the milk to measure one cup of buttermilk. Allow to sit for a few minutes before combining with the other ingredients.

Loosely adapted from this recipe from the Pioneer Woman.

Looking for more wholesome muffin recipes?  Try these!

  

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Friday, it's Friday!

In keeping with my focus on gratitude for the rest of the year...

I'm grateful for lakes on beautiful fall days.

New books.

Growing kids, even if it means more new clothes.

Time in my kitchen to try new recipes.

Apples, fresh and crisp, right off the tree.

Puppies.

Hockey.

Time for coffee with friends.

I'm also thankful for my hard working husband, who's turning 50 today :)

We went apple picking last weekend, and we've already eaten our way through almost one bag of apples.  There's nothing like a freshly picked apple, and I've got a few ideas on how to put them to good use.

I made this Buffalo Chicken Dip again, I think we're addicted.

I think my cabbage roll loving hubby might like this dish.

I love hard boiled eggs, I hate peeling them.  Easy to Peel Eggs - thank you.

I love these DIY Fabric and Burlap Pumpkins!

THIS twisty pumpkin pastry, awesome!

Our daughter wants to go to Ireland.  I think I need to go with her.

How cool is this Black and White Halloween Topiary?  And how is it that Halloween is only three weeks away??

This is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.  I haven't planned or prepared a thing, so tomorrow will be a busy day for me.  See my old Thanksgiving posts here.

And I've created a Facebook page for this blog.  I tried resisting the commitment to more social media, but what can I say, I gave in to peer pressure.  

*Sigh*  

Likes appreciated.

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend, Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Apple Orchard

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

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Apple Pie Smoothie

I'm on a smoothie kick.  I make them for my kids all the time, as nutritional supplements after their sports, but I rarely have them myself.  That all changed when it was time to put away the capris and break out the full length pants, because I had to LAY DOWN ON MY BED TO ZIP THEM UP.  Ugh.  I refuse to buy new ones, so I'm using my blender for meal replacements until I can wear my clothes and breathe at the same time.

A meal in a blender is so simple, and it's an easy way to get some healthy foods in every day.  Most of the time my smoothies start off the same - banana, yogurt, milk.  Then I top it off with different seeds, fruits or greens.  Last week I made a tasty Green Power Smoothie,  and today I made an Apple Pie Smoothie.  I think this week may end up being all about apples...we brought two bags home from the apple orchard yesterday.

Apple Pie Smoothie

1 frozen sliced banana

2 apples, cored and quartered

½ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened almond milk, or milk of choice

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

2 pitted dates or prunes, to sweeten, or 2 tsp honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  I use a Blentec blender and it mixes things up beautifully.  If your blender is less powerful, you may want to process your oats and flax in a mill or food processor first.

This is a filling smoothie, but you can add a scoop of vanilla protein powder if you want to boost the nutritional value and stay full until your next meal!

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Spiced Apple Sweet Potato Muffins

A couple years ago (wait, what?  Cue all of the time-goes-by-too-fast feelings...) I shared a recipe with you.  It was a fruity quinoa loaf, inspired by a pathetic looking fruit basket.

This weekend I was inspired to make Spiced Apple Sweet Potato Muffins.

There is never a shortage of over-ripe fruit around here.  Bananas that are past their prime get frozen for smoothies, as do berries and grapes.  Apples, pears, and peaches usually end up in baked goods.  I don't even want to talk about avocados.

The slightest hint of a bruise, and an apple around here is no longer fit for human consumption.  So I often end up slicing them for dipping, or chopping them up for muffins.

These muffins turned out perfectly tender, sweet, and fruity.  The sweet potato is cooked and mashed,  the apples are finely chopped for maximum flavour, and the spices are just right.

Got apples?  Make muffins.  Specifically, these muffins.

Spiced Apple Sweet Potato Muffins

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cooked, mashed, and cooled.

3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 cups sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, approx. 3 cups total

1/2 lemon, zested and juiced

The sweet potato can be cooked in the oven, 1 hour at 400°F, or in the microwave, on high for 5 minutes.  Don't boil it.  It will retain to much moisture and you'll end up with mushy muffins.

Peel and chop your apples.  Toss with the lemon juice and zest.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  I have a convection oven so I set it on 375°F.  Grease your muffin tin or line with paper liners.

Combine the sweet potato, milk, coconut oil, sugar and egg.  Stir until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients until well combined.  Add the wet ingredients and stir until just barely combined.  You don't want to overmix muffin batter or you'll end up with hard muffins.  A few streaks of flour is OK.   

Stir in the apples and spoon into the muffin cups, filling almost to the top.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 18 muffins.

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Quinoa Love and a Fruity Quinoa Loaf

We're on the quinoa bandwagon.  I bought a bag at Costco, not long ago after reading about how healthy these pearly little grains are.  I had hoped that it would be a nice alternative to rice.  As it happens, quinoa is incredibly nutritious and versatile.  I've discovered it works equally well as a savoury side-dish, a cooked breakfast cereal, and a cold salad ingredient.  As if that wasn't enough to declare quinoa a winner in our house, I was further amazed by what it contributes to baked goods.  I teased you with a photo of this loaf a couple of weeks ago, and today I'm sharing the recipe with you.

As I've become more comfortable in the kitchen, I've also become more adventurous with recipes and ingredient substitutions.  I mean, if we can hide avocados in brownies and spinach in smoothies, what's a bit of quinoa in a loaf?  Turns out some plain cooked quinoa can replace part of the flour in a recipe, not only boosting the nutritional value but also creating a loaf that's moist and dense.

Some of the inspiration behind this loaf was a rather pathetic looking fruit basket.  By the end of the week, most of the fruit was past it's prime... bruised, over-ripe, and blemished.  It was still edible but the kids would have no part of it.  The easy solution was to chop it up and bake something.  Like a Quinoa Banana Yogurt Apple Nectarine Loaf.  Yep, all that needs to be in the name ... there's just so much goodness going on in here :)

Quinoa Banana Yogurt Apple Nectarine Loaf

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

2 large, ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup Greek vanilla yogurt

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 egg, room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups chopped fruit – I used apples and nectarine because that’s what I had, but any combination of apples, peaches and pears would be good too.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a loaf pan.  I like to put a strip of parchment paper in the bottom to help the loaf release easily after it's baked.

Combine the quinoa with the bananas, yogurt, oil, egg and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine until just incorporated.
Fold in chopped fruit.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 min until toothpick inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean.  Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool before slicing.

 

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