Beet and Walnut Spice Muffins

I'm so ashamed - I totally forgot to write my post for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats! Luckily, the list is open for a few more hours, so I'll sneak this one in. These muffins came about after I harvested my garden plot of candy cane beets this year and was looking for something to do with the extras that my mom and I just couldn't get through. Like the last beet muffins I shared (also for this event!), these use the beets for moisture as well as a rich, somewhat earthy flavour that really plays well with the spices. I added a simple warmed Crab Apple Jelly glaze on each to add a bit of sweet tang and make them a bit more festive than your usual "coffee shop" fare.

Though I was inspired by a recipe I found in 500 of the Healthiest Recipes and Health Tips You’ll Ever Need, the original used xylitol which, though available in the local health food store, as a poor girl still squatting with her mom and stepdad I just couldn't afford to buy. I did have stevia for baking and honey on hand though, since I use both of them in my personal cooking, and so I opted for the combination. I also cut down the oil in the original (for a "healthiest" recipe there was a lot of it!), adding homemade applesauce instead. The spices and nuts were a nice rich element that helped them stand out at the office!

Schmee's Favourite Brownies

If I know a true chocoholic, it's my sister. Give her a 70% Aero bar or a bag of bittersweet chips for her pancakes and she's happy! But far from being content to simply nosh on solid bars of the stuff, she prefers her chocolate in baked form - namely cake, frosting, and especially brownies.

When it came time for her to box up her stuff and move back to university, she asked for a couple things to go in her food kit: pasta, boxed mac and cheese, Pringles, and brownie mix. While I can't speak for her taste in cuisine, I did know that there was a recipe in my copy of the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook that would blow any brownie mix out of the water. I wheedled her to let me please, make her real brownies for once, to trust that I wouldn't put "weird stuff" in them and that they'd be "normal". Finally, she caved - and I got my butt into the kitchen and fired up the oven before she could change her mind!

I broke out the good stuff for these guys, since I was cooking for the Queen of connoisseurs. Seriously - it doesn't matter what she's tasting, if there is the slightest off flavour or texture, it's a no-go. She'd make a killer sommelier, coffee cupper or taste tester if she liked wine, coffee or a variety of food! Callebeaut bittersweet chocolate and a Ghirardelli 100% cacao baking bar made up the base mixture with a good helping of cultured, salted butter, and got bound by Omega-3 organic eggs and just enough oat flour to stick together. Instead of nuts (which are definitely not on the "normal brownie" list), I tossed in some extra chocolate chips. It all came together beautifully, and I popped it in the pan, baked it and crossed my fingers that she would like it.

Well, Schmee (my pet name for her) left for school without tasting them, taking the cut pan with her to share with her housemates. Her first phone call home, though, she waxed poetic to my mom about how good the brownies were, and that I'd have better saved the recipe because she wanted them again! Given that she and her two friends polished off the lot in under a week, I told her to give her body a chance to recover first - they may be delicious, but boy are they rich!

Toast Topper #15: Spicy Peach Jam

I'm still getting around to showing off the goodies I canned over the Summer! While most of my jams and chutneys are going to make their way into Christmas baskets next month, we do save a few jars for "quality control". Honestly, I don't think I could have kept my mom away from this jam if I tried - peaches are her favourite fruit, and after she finished the Chunky Blueberry Peach Jam she started eyeing the jars of this spicy, all-peach concoction I adapted from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food.

One spoonful and she was hooked - and of course at the end of the season, good peaches were in short supply so I couldn't do a second round! Freestone peaches are the best for making jam since the fruit doesn't cling to the stone, which makes them easy to pit. However, I really lucked out at our local orchard / frozen food supplier - they had IQF, flash-frozen peaches on sale that were already peeled, pitted and chopped! Win. Since they were picked, peeled and frozen in season, they had that "ultimate sweetness" the fresh ones did, so I didn't need to add as much sugar!

Submitted to Gluten Free Mondays, Gluten Free Fridays, and Foodie Fridays

12 Grain Buttermilk Pancake Mix for a Helping Hands #SundaySupper

One of the things I remember fondly about growing up were Saturday morning pancakes. pretty much every Saturday saw us kids first mixing up the batter (we always fought about who got to break the egg yolks with a whisk), then waiting at the table with chocolate chips, maple syrup, pancake syrup (my sister doesn't like the real stuff) and margarine (butter was for Christmastime only) while mom did the cooking. Stacks of fluffy pancakes shaped like whatever my mom decided to do with the ladle (she would always do our initials, and was really skilled at getting dogs done and off the pan in one piece!) would be devoured greedily, and mom allowed us to eat our fill before dishing up her own portion.

Of course, mom took a little help from a certain Aunt when it came to Saturday breakfast. Since she was the main cook in the household (though my dad does make stellar pancakes, especially at our trailer!), as well as wife and mother to two constantly fighting girls and working full time and commuting 45 minutes minimum to and from work every day (does this sound familiar?), I think she's entitled to take a few shortcuts here and there. Whole grain options for "quick mixes" didn't exist back then, but I'm sure she would enjoy this one of mine - just as fast as good ol' Auntie's, but with 12 grain and whole wheat flour, a dash of spice, healthy stevia and a spoonful of the superfood maca!

If you live in the US, I'm sure that now, after the holiday feast (and extended weekend, if you're lucky enough to have it), the last thing you want to think about is something rich and heavy for breakfast. If your meals for Thanksgiving were anything like ours were at Christmas, you didn't want to see food for at least a week afterwards! But, sad glad but true, we all have to eat - and breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

This is also a special #SundaySupper, dedicated to help those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Whether this is your first time hearing about our movement to bring back mealtime around the family table, you're a long time fan or you're a contributor yourself, let's show what #SundaySupper Power is all about!!! You can join in the force to get everyone back on their feet and better than ever by checking and helping out the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund and Hope Force.

Here are our Helping Hands offerings this week:


Breakfast and Brunch:

• Orange Rolls from That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!
• 12-Grain Buttermilk Pancake Mix from What Smells So Good
• Cranberry Bread from Home Cooking Memories

 

Comforting Casseroles and Entrées:

• Pork Chop Casserole from In the Kitchen with Audrey
• Basic Lasagna from Fast Food 2 Fresh Food
• Italian Sausage and White Bean Bake from Girlichef
• Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes from Crispy Bits n Burnt Ends
• Turkey and Vegetable Pasta Bake from Gotta Get Baked
• Baked Salmon with Cucumber Salad from The Urban Mrs.
• Enchilada Pasta Casserole from Dinners Dishes and Desserts
• Spaghetti Pizza Bake from Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Gluten Free Spaghetti Squash with Pancetta from No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
• Cabbage Koftas from Soni's Food
• Bowtie Marinara with Goat Cheese from Family Foodie

Warming Soups and Sides:

• New England Clam Chowder from The Meltaways
• Italian Wedding Soup from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Soul Warming Butternut Squash Soup from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese "Croutons" from Damn Delicious
• Corn Basil Handpies from Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Manhattan Clam Chowder from Noshing with the Nolands
• Comforting Broccoli Cheese Soup from Juanita's Cocina
• San Antonio Chicken Tortilla Bake from The Weekend Gourmet
• Peruvian Steak and Potato Stir-fry from Hip Foodie Mom
• Simple Southern Red Potato Salad from Mama Mommy Mom
• Homemade Chicken Soup from Daddy Knows Less
• New Orleans Red Beans and Rice for Those in Need from The Catholic Foodie
• Sweet and Sassy Pineapple Stuffing from In the Kitchen with KP

Sweet Endings:

• Pound Cake Loaf from Magnolia Days
• Fall Apple Pie from Cravings of a Lunatic
• Dairy-free Marble Cake {Marmorkuchen} from Galactopdx
• Mini Dark Chocolate Cakes with Mint Chocolate Chip Icing from The Realistic Nutritionist
• Orange Pound Cake from Basic n Delicious
• Spicy Gingerbread with a Mocha Glaze from Daily Dish Recipes

Please join on us on Twitter for #SundaySupper on November 25, 2012, throughout the day. In the evening, we will meet at 7 PM EST for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat. All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag or you can follow us through TweetChat. 

We’d also love to feature your recipe ideas for #HelpingHands on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board so we can share them with all of our followers.

Chewy Chocolate Candies and Crispy Bars

I found myself with a sizeable bag of candy corn the other day. It was the result of an impulse purchase - marked down Hallowe'en candy (that was more or less shelf stable) was out and as soon as I saw "candy corn" I immediately remembered my Homemade Butterfinger Bars and was determined to make them. What can I say?

It is hard to mess with a good thing though, especially when that "thing" is candy! The original formula works so well that I wondered if a variation with a chocolate flavour would work, and for a while doubted any sort of success would come my way! Nevertheless, I made a small batch, using both peanut butter as well as rich Nutella and even chocolate frosting! The mixture wasn't quite as easy to form as I remembered, so I tossed in some butter and it all worked out! The resulting candy actually kind of looks like a red velvet confection too, thanks to all the colours swirling. 

After I made my successful "test" batch, I made another - but this time I jazzed it up a bit by kneading in some crispy rice cereal, which made the resulting mix too hard to form into the turtle mould I used for the smooth version. Instead, I pressed it into a square pan, and on cutting it I definitely got memories of the Crunch bars I'd eat as a kid, but better! As I was writing up the recipe, I did some quick fact checking and found out that not only were both versions of this new creation delectable, but they're gluten free too (double win!). Of course, that was dependent on the specific ingredients I had, but the Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting and the cereal I picked both are so the rest of the story followed suit. 

I coated them in a mix of (conveniently) GF milk and dark chocolate (I didn't have enough of either to do one kind) and then decorated them with melted green coating wafers and white chocolate so they'd look pretty enough for Christmas gifts - like the ones offered in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats (the roundups and Pins!)!

In the end, I think I even like this version of the chewy, nutty confections better than the originals, both because I love peanut butter and chocolate together and because I got to use my turtle chocolate moulds :-D.

I can't believe that Christmas really is just around the corner, it seems like Halloween was just yesterday!