Hallowe'en Apple Treats

 I made these with the kids.  They enjoyed making them and it is a healthy snack or dessert for Hallowe'en time.

Ingredients

One Crips Apple (I used Honeycrisp)

1 Tsp Lemon Juice

1 Pkg blanched slivered Almonds

Directions

1. Quarter and Core the Apple.
2. With a small sharp knife cut a lengthwise wedge from the skin side of each apple quarter, leaving the peel around the wedge edge for lips.
3. Rub the cut portions (all the white parts ie front and back) with lemon juice to prevent browning.
4. Poke 5 or 6 slivered almonds into the top and bottom of the cut out area to make snaggly teeth.

Scones

Sorry I didn't take a better photo of these, but they didn't last long.  I made these scones for my Summer Garden Tea Party and as you can see, served them with fresh fruit and Devonshire custard.  They can also served with Clotted Cream (if you know what that is and where to purchase it!?!)  

I made scones once before and they turned out like bricks.  One must have scones for a Tea Party, so I was a bit nervous about making them again.  I found a recipe on-line and they were easy to make and turned out perfectly.  These are a bit different than the scones you buy in the stores here.  Instead of being hard (and a bit dry) then are soft and quite fluffy in comparison.  They also bake tall with a clear line in which you can easily pull them apart in half to eat.

The scones pictured above are small.  They were dessert rather than the main food so I did make them much smaller.  

The good thing about this recipe is:

1.  You can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it.  Then just bake before you wish to serve them.  

I cut the dough into scones, placed them on the baking tray which I had lined with parchment paper, covered with Saran Wrap and froze.  The next day, I just moved them from freezer to oven.  Her recommendation was to bake 5 minutes longer.  As mine were about half the size of regular scones, I found baking for about 7 minutes was all that I needed.  For regular size scones, the Plus 5 Minutes probably works fine.  Just keep an eye on them and remove before they get too brown.

2.  It is easy.

Here is an excellent video on how to make these scones:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4G2pBUGa4g

INGREDIENTS:

2      Cups All-purpose flour (10 ounces by weight)

4      tsp Baking Powder (use fresh powder, opened less than 6 months)

1/2   tsp Salt

1/4   Cup Sugar

6      Tbsp unsalted butter, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE (85.2 grams; 3 ounces)

2/3   Cup Milk

1      Large Egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 425°F.

2.  In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar a couple of times to combine.

3.  Add the room temperature butter and pulse 7-10 times until the butter is completely distributed.  You shouldn't see any chunks of butter and the mixture should have a sandy texture to it. 

4.  Transfer this to a large mixing bowl.

NOTE:  If you don't have a food processor, using a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together and mix in the butter with a hand mixer to a sandy texture with NO butter chunks left..  Proceed with the recipe as follows.

5.  In a small bowl, whisk to combine the milk and egg.  Save 2 Tbsp of this for the egg wash later. (I forgot the egg wash and they still turned out nice and brown but would try to remember to use it next time!)

6.  Pour the rest of the liquid mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.

7.  Stir to combine with a spatula, until a rough dough forms.

8.  Transfer to a lightly floured countertop and knead about 10 times until the dough comes together into a relatively smooth ball.  Take care not to knead too much or the dough will be tougher and not rise as high.

9.  Roll the dough about an inch thick and use a 2.5" cutter to cut circles.  USE AS LITTLE EXTRA FLOUR AS POSSIBLE AS TOO MUCH FLOUR WILL MAKE THE SCONES TOUGH.  Re-roll the scraps and continue to cut circles.  Push down with the cookie cutter, then straight up.  DO NOT TURN to loosen the dough or the scones WILL NOT rise as they should.

10.  Place the scones on a parchment or silicone line baking sheet.  (This is the point at which I put my scones, baking sheet and all, in the freezer).

11.  Brush the tops with the reserved egg wash. 

12.  Bake the scones for about 13-15 minutes, until about tripled in height and golden brown on the tops and bottoms.  If frozen bake for about an extra 5 minutes until baked through.

Enjoy!

If you made them ahead and wanted to re-heat them put them in  a 300°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

To freeze baked scones, put them in an air tight bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

Scones will keep at room temperature for a couple of days, in the fridge for a couple of weeks, in the freezer for a couple of months.

Healthy Date-Nut Balls

Sorry, again, even though I made two batches on two separate occasions, we ate them all before I took a photo.  This is similar to those Larabars I purchase regularly.  Not many Ingredients and all healthy.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup Dates (this is about 7 dates)

1/2 Cup Walnuts

1 Scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (I used Vanilla, I am not that chocolatey)

2 TBSP Cocoa Powder

2 TBSP Applesauce

1 TBSP Honey

Cumbed nuts to coat

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a food processor blend the dates and walnuts to a crumb consistency.  
2. In a bowl mix together the Protein Powder and Cocoa Powder.
3. Stir in the date/nut mixture, then stir in the Applesauce and Honey.
4. Roll into bite-sized balls (your hand will become very gooey) and roll these balls in the crumbed nuts to coat.
5. Serve.

Easy Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Whew!  Took this photo with the last muffin sitting there waiting to be eaten.  Funny how many gluten free recipes that are made with banana, and most of them so tasty.  This one is super easy and you don't have to think about flour or a flour substitute at all.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Yogurt

2 Eggs

2 Ripe Bananas

2 Cups Gluten Free Rolled Oats (I used large flake oats as I am wheat free, not totally gluten free)

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips (Optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F and grease muffin pan well or use parchment paper muffin cups.

2.  Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips to your blender or food processor (which I used) and

     blend until smooth.

3.  Stir in chocolate chips if using. (I used, yummy!)

4.  Pour into muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes.

5.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes then enjoy!

Meringue Kisses

It's Christmas and I've tried a new recipe - a twist on an old recipe.  They are tiny meringues with colourful stripes and flavours and no flour, yeah.  Pictured are the Mint Meringues I made.  I also made Almond Meringues with a green stripe.  Red and Green - great combo for Christmas.

Ingredients

         3 large egg whites

                  Pinch salt

                  1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

                  1/2 c. sugar

                  1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For Almond

                  1/4 tsp. almond extract

                  Green food colouring

For Lemon

                  2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

                  Yellow food colouring

For Mint

                  1/4 tsp. mint extract

                  red food colouring

Directions

1   Arrange oven racks in top and bottom thirds of oven. Preheat to 225 degrees F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2   In medium bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat egg white and salt until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until meringue stands in stiff, glossy peaks. Beat in vanilla and flavor of choice.  Taste the meringue to test the strength of the flavour added.  You may want a drop or two more flavouring.

3   For each color desired, using small brush, lightly paint 3 to 4 stripes of food coloring inside large piping bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain tip. Divided meringue among piping bags. Pipe meringue into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch rounds onto cookie sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Bake 1 hour.

4   Turn oven off. Leave meringues in oven 1 hour with oven door closed. Remove from oven; cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. 

EACH MERINGUE About 5 cals, 2 g carbs, 10 mg sodium.