Spiced Shredded Apple Loaf for #WorldBreadDay

It's fall - and that means warming spices and apples! This loaf is packed with shredded apples and laced with stong-brewed @adagioteas Masala Chai and Vanilla Roobois teas. It is a perfect pairing for strong cheeses or apple butter!

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 It's the middle of October, and I for one love this time of year. Despite needing a light jacket (or a sweatshirt if, unlike me, you don't feel the cold), the aromas and colours of the season are by far some of the best of the year. 

On Thanksgiving weekend, my sister and I spent an hour or so at the orchard picking local apples, and when I came home and brewed myself a mug of apple-chai tea I was inspired to try and make a loaf of bread encapsulating all the spices and fruit of the season. A few hours (and a lot of flour) later I had some delicious low-rising loaves cooling on the rack waiting to be sampled. Had I thought more ahead I would have broken out my makeshift French bread moulds to keep them a little taller, but the flavour was perfect regardless!

I have to say I am spoiled for choice with teas this Autumn - the lovely folks at Aadagio Teas sent me a decadent selection of Autumn and Chai teas, each filled with warming flavors and spices. A mug (or two) is a perfect addition to the colder, rainy days of October and November here. To achieve the perfect brew for one, the company also has an adorable line of porcelain infuser mugs which are perfect (especially when working from home).
You can find the Autumn Tea Ssampler, Chai Sampler and infuser mugs all on adagio's site, and stay tuned since I've caught wind of an exclusive release tea for Black Friday!

Today is also World Bread Day and I am so glad to be able to submit my entry into the roundup at kochtopf.me this year. Zorra has been compiling World Bread Day roundups since 2006 (longer than this little project of mine has been around!) and I love seeing the entries from around the world.

 

Plum Yogurt Cake

This delicious yogurt cake is topped with plums and a sprinkle of sugar, while the batter gets a hint of fall flavour from @nakednutrition Pumpkin Spice Naked Shake. Moist and beautiful to look at, it's a perfect dessert for any fall table.

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! For the first time in what feels like forever, we are actually hosting dinner on the holiday Monday and not the Sunday (the joys of retired and student life here, I suppose), and while there isn't as many people over this year we do have quite the spread of food! 

One of the things I love to do over the holidays is making the dessert. This year I made two - a batch of chocolate chip cinnamon cookies (for the littles) and this delicious cake topped with sparkling plums. Luckily, I got the chance to add a bit of pep and nutrition by adding some of the brand new protein shake powder the folks at Naked Shake sent to me - pumpkin spice! Like the other Naked Shake products, the new flavour combines pea protein, adds MCT oil, fermented cane sugar, and natural plant-based flavours and adds a dash of cinnamon for that irresistible flavour profile. A serving contains 20g of protein and 4g of sugar, and paired with a scoop of their other new product, baobab-sourced Naked Fiber, it's a great addition to your day when you're running non-stop or working out.

The flavour was subtle but a perfect accent to the roasted fruit, and since the tester batch I made (albeit in muffin form) was a hit here, I can only imagine what it's like in full scale glory!

Peanut Butter Blueberry Cookies

These cookies are boosted with Naked Shake Peanut Butter Blueberry powder and made with peanut flour - lightly sweet and melt in your mouth with a hint of fruit!

I'm a peanut butter fan (as if you couldn't tell!) and my mom and grandma used to make those standard three ingredient, cross-hatched cookies on the regular when I was a kid. They're a classic for a reason - perfectly sweet and the right size for little (or big) hands! Looking at my pantry staples the other day, I wondered if I could use the powdered peanut butter and peanut butter blueberry shake powders I had to recreate my childhood favourites, and I have to say it worked out perfectly!

Because these are powders and not a creamy spread we're dealing with, you do need to add some moisture in the form of oil and a good binder like flaxseed (you can use an egg, however I would toggle the dry mix to account for the extra liquid). Otherwise it is a simple mix, wait, bake technique! The blueberry powder in the Naked Shake lets the baked cookies taste a little bit like a peanut butter and jam sandwich, though I would absolutely up the ante and make these sandwich cookies with jam if I was serving to company (and not transporting - like your normal PB cookies, these are tender and crumbly!). I gave a bag of these to TurkeyBoots who was passing through town on a road trip, and they apparently disappeared before they left the province! 

Bella Luna Spritzer with Adagio Teas' #bellalunablue

It's Friday! Why not kick off the weekend with this Bella Luna Spritzer - a blend of limoncello, lemon lime soda and Adagio Teas Bella Luna Blue loose leaf tea is irresistibly summery and a perfect beverage on the porch or at the cottage.

 

Now that the rules about gatherings are somewhat less stringent around here, people are beginning to gather on patios and each other's backyards. While it's easy to haul out a cooler with canned or bottled beverages when company is over, it's always fun to bring out something a little more fun when it's a close group of friends or a special occasion! When Adagio Teas sent me a pouch of their loose leaf tea sold exclusively on the blue moon - aptly named Bella Luna Blue - I couldn't wait to taste it and experience the colour change (made by the butterfly pea flowers) myself by adding just a hint of acid. Check out the video here.

The tea itself has a lovely mix of blueberry and lemongrass flavours, and the lemon juice accents both perfectly. A squeeze of honey adds a good balance, but it isn't super necessary unless you like sweet tea! I knew I wanted to try making something with this when it was cold, and then the idea for a bubbly cocktail popped into my head. Why not? 

I started by brewing a small measuring cup of the Butterfly Pea Flower Tea following their instructions (1 tsp tea leaves in a tea ball, steeped at 212°F for 10 minutes). Once brewed, I popped it in the fridge along with the bottle of Limoncello and the Sprite and let them chill overnight. The next afternoon it was a simple mix and enjoy. I made a quadruple batch since I had company that day and everyone loved the flavour and hint of sparkle it had!

I highly recommend you get your hands on some Bella Luna Blue when it goes on sale on August 22, 2021. It's only available on that day, so don't wait!

Fruit & Nut Muffins

Fruit & Nut Muffins are packed with trail mix and cranberries while the whole wheat batter gets a protein boost from @nakednutrition Naked Rice. Easy to pack and eat, they're perfect any time of the day!

 

Muffins are a food that has so much memory attached to it for me. When I would take swimming lessons as a child, every so often my dad would spring for a giant (think Costco-sized) muffin as a morning treat. Somehow, they made the endless laps and 7AM start worthwhile! Over the years, muffins were always my go-to snack over things like doughnuts or cookies, because who doesn't like a individual cake in the middle of the day?

These days the muffins I make tend to be more manageable in size, and lean away from the super sweet "cake" ones of my youth. Because they're such a handy snack or breakfast and you can add almost anything to them, I decided to whip up a batch of trail-mix packed, protein infused muffins for my sister's boyfriend. The whole grains and protein keep you full for longer while the yogurt adds a hint of tang that offsets the sweetness of the batter and dried fruit.