The smell of cinnamon makes my tummy hungry! It is one of my favourite spices and put that with apples and of course you have a winning combination for a pie. Apple pie is a lot of work as it would include the rolling of pie crust, which if you know me, is up there in the category of things I dread to do.
So when I was leafing through the Canadian Living Holiday Baking 2014 magazine and found a recipe for Dutch Apple Pie squares I said to myself – now that is a wonderful idea. Shortbread crust with apple pie filling topped with a crumble and every layer with cinnamon in it…can’t get much better than that.
When I was growing up in the small Northern Ontario town of Blind River there was a local bakery called Golden Bakery. They had the most amazing jelly filled doughnuts and if my memory serves me correctly we paid 12 cents for one! The bakery closed when I left to attend college, but the memory of those sugary jelly filled concoctions still lived on. Later on when we built our cottage the gentleman who had owned the bakery lived a few doors down, but by the time I got up the courage to ask for his recipe he had passed away. So the hunt was on to find a recipe that could bring back the jelly filled doughnut!
Brown Eyed Baker blog to the rescue!! She posted this recipe for Polish doughnuts called Paczki and they looked and sounded just like what I was looking for so I gave it a try and bingo that was the recipe I was looking for. So when it was time for a dessert for our Easter potluck this year, it was time to make Jelly Doughnuts again and I think these are even better than what I remember from the Golden Bakery.
What to do with all those ripe bananas sitting on the kitchen counter that no one will eat? Banana bread ! If by chance you don’t have any really ripe bananas you can speed up the ripening process with a simple little trick. Place bananas on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in a 300 degree F oven for about 15 minutes until they turn black. Let them cool and then peel and mash – instant ripe bananas for the times that the craving for banana bread strikes and you find yourself with only perfect bananas.
This version is a little healthier, less oil than most recipes call for. I have replaced some of the oil with yogurt and the result is a moist loaf that keeps well. If you don’t have yogurt you can substitute sour cream instead. But don’t use fat free yogurt or sour cream – the results just won’t be the same.
You can sweeten this loaf up with the addition of chocolate chips and then it becomes almost a dessert. Add cranberries or raisins and then you have a loaf with some texture and colour. With some nuts, add some crunch! Where ever your imagination takes you!
Plain with peanut butter spread nice and thick is my favourite way to have it for breakfast.
Morning Glory muffins are a hearty muffin, full of goodness – carrots, apple and raisins. So much goodness they could be labelled a healthy treat. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.
These muffins were inspired by a recipe from Butter Baked Goods, a beautiful Canadian bakery whose cookbook is the most beautiful I own. I received it as a gift at Christmas from my daughter Elizabeth and I think I have tried almost every recipe in it. If I were ever lucky enough to have my own little bake shop I would definitely want it to look just like that one. It is located in Vancouver so drop by if you are ever in the neighbourhood- I certainly will be when we visit the west coast some day.
Of course I changed the recipe up a little as I always do and I am always trying to cut down on the amount of sugar in it. Cutting down on the sugar lets the other flavours shine through.
The farm fresh eggs that I am soooo lucky to have also make the world of difference in my baking. Thanks to my friend Pam who supplies me with eggs each week. I keep hoping she will add a cow to her menagerie so we will someday have fresh cream – just think of the possibilities!
A craving for something sweet…with brown sugar and vanilla and butter….sounds like butter tarts are on the horizon.
I do love butter tarts because I love all things made with brown sugar, but making pie crust isn’t one of my favourite things to do. It’s not that I won’t make pie crust but it is the one baking thing that intimidates me, so if I can avoid it, I definitely will do it!
Buttertart squares are a much easier version with all of the taste and way less work. The base is shortbread, which is my favourite cookie and all of the same ingredients in the filling – brown sugar, eggs, vanilla but no rolling of dough – my idea of a perfect quick sweet treat. Can it get any better?
The first morning at camp after a long winter was sunny and warm. We had been anticipating this morning for weeks and it definitely lived up to our expectations. After spending the first day shovelling a path to the door from the road, unloading groceries and getting the water running in the sleet and snow, today is all about enjoying the sunshine,the view and of course baking something for sure.
Now the sun has some warmth and the snow is melting and dripping off the roof. A fantastic day for a walk with my friend Lisa and her dog Trooper. Trooper and Tia are the best of buds, even though Tia is much older she tries to keep up.
Chocolate Chip cookies are one of those things everyone has an opinion on. Do you like them chewy, crispy, or cakey? From all of the chocolate chip cookie recipes I have ever tried this one is by far my family’s favourite. My husband is of the opinion that the daily quota of 4 that I impose on him is just not enough!
Blueberry muffins, a little reminder of summer in March with snow still on the ground. Of course that would mean using frozen wild blueberries from the freezer, but that is better than no blueberries at all! Will this snow ever end? In our neck of the woods the sun is starting to feel a little warmer and the pavement is just starting to appear on the sidewalks, maybe spring will arrive some day.
Well I have finally done it! My first blog post! This is a very big day for me as I have been contemplating this venture for about a year now. I have loved baking for a very long time and making yummy treats for friends is my passion. The centre of my kitchen is my butcher block. It is used for prepping, rolling dough, cooling cookies and making peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
It is also the dropping place for lunch bags, the mail and dirty dishes for the kitchen fairy to take care of. I don’t know about your house, but the kitchen fairy is always busy when she comes home from her work day cleaning up after “not me”. I like to start with a clean slate so counters wiped, dirty dishes in the dishwasher and then the fun starts.
So I thought I would start with the centre of the kitchen chaos- the butcher block and see where we go from there! So stay tuned for more goodies and recipes to follow.
