Oatmeal and Apple Muffins

Maybe I have said before, I really can't remember, I am diabetic. Type 2. My blood sugars tend to run higher than they should. So when my friend Beth announced that she too was a "denyabetic" and that new changes were going to be made, that motivated me to make changes as well. I have 2 sons. My oldest one, Shane, is tall and skinny as a pencil. With his shirt off, you can count his ribs. My second son, Blake, is a little shorter and chunkier. He is my total foodie kid. Will eat anything, or at least try it. He told me last week that he was embarrassed by his body image and wanted to slim down. This is the other reason to get me thinking of a more healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. I worry about eating disorders, and know that it doesn't just choose females.

In between doing our daily "check ins" with each other, Beth sent me this link for these muffins. They use very little sugar..1/4 cup for 12 muffins! And I think that next time I will sub in honey instead of the sugar. This recipe only uses 1 cup of flour..next, maybe wheat flour. But the one thing that I liked about this recipe is that she gave us add in combo's and the amounts to use. I chose to chop up a granny smith apple and throw it in. These muffins are really, really good. They have been good for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Basic Recipe
Adapted from: Simple Bites

Be sure to read the recipe all the way through before getting started. You will note that the oats soak in the milk 1 hour prior to assembling the rest of the ingredients, so take that into consideration before starting out.
Makes 12 medium muffins

1 cup milk*
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 large egg, at room temperature
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, freshly ground
add-ins of your choosing (see above suggestions)

Combine milk, vinegar and oats in a large bowl and let stand one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a twelve-cup muffin tin and line with cupcake papers.
Crack the egg into the oat and milk mixture; add brown sugar and mix to combine. Stir in melted butter.

Sift remaining ingredients into the bowl: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, & spices. Gently fold into batter, taking care not to over mix.

Sprinkle add-in and flavorings of your choice and combine muffin batter gently.

Use a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop batter into muffin tins. Bake until light brown and tops spring back when gently touched, about 10-12 minutes. Note: Muffins will take slightly longer to bake if you are adding fresh fruit such as blueberries or rhubarb.
Remove from oven and cool in tins. To remove, run a sharp knife around the edges and pop muffins out. Enjoy!

*You may also substitute 1 cup buttermilk, and then omit the vinegar from the recipe.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Flavor Combinations
1 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen & ½ cup Dark Chocolate, chunks or chips
¾ cup Diced Apple (Granny Smith or Russet) and ½ cup toasted Walnuts, roughly chopped
¾ cup Dried Cranberries & ½ cup toasted Pecans, roughly chopped
¾ cup White Chocolate, chopped or chips & 1 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup toasted unsweetened Coconut & ¾ cup Peanut-Butter Chips
1 cup diced Rhubarb, fresh or frozen & ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom, freshly ground
¾ cup Dates, pitted and chopped & ½ cup Pistachios
¾ cup Golden Raisins & ¾ cup grated Carrot

Daring Bakers go French!

I am back from a 3 month hiatus from the Daring Bakers. If you haven't heard of them, you really should check them out. It is a great way to learn new things, such as this month....puff pastry!!! I really didn't expect it to turn out, but it did, and I am a giddy little girl!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I was surprised at how easy this really was. A few basic ingredients and a little bit of time and there you go. I did break mine up into 2 days. The first day, I mixed the dough, beat the butter, rolled and folded the dough a total of 6 turns, while tweeting with Megan and Barbara. These 2 girlies were a blast to bake along with. Then, I let the dough chill over night. The next day, gave it a good roll out, cut into shapes and baked.
The next step was to decide on a filling. This was the hardest part! I decided that I would go with a cinnamon pastry cream with sauteed apples. Fall is finally here and thought this is a great way to celebrate! Well, I had a little issue with the pastry cream...it clumped,but it still stated good. So, I let it chill overnight and when I came back the next day, it was hard as a rock!!! I probably cooked it too long and didn't temper the eggs good enough...so...plan B. Cinnamon whipped cream with sauteed apples, just as good!

Here it is...Vols-Au-Vent with Cinnamon Whipped Cream topped with Sauteed Apples!

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients:2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour

1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)

1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water

1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.
Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Cinnamon whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream

3 TBSP sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Whip the whipping cream on medium speed, gradually add in the sugar and then add in the cinnamon. Whip until stiff peaks form.

Sauteed Apples (I could eat these by themselves!)

1/4 cup butter

4 large tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples and cook stirring constantly until apples are almost tender, 6-7 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to skillet. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve.

Deep Dish Crumb Topped Caramel Apple Pie

I think that I will just let the title of this speak for itself on this one! Remember the stack of recipes that I had talked about before, you know, the ones that you just print off, or rip out of a magazine? Well, this is one of them and the date is 1/03!!! I can't believe that I haven't made it before now!!

Deep Dish Crumb Topped Caramel Apple Pie

Crust:
2 cups pecans, chopped and divided--I used Walnuts
2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 pkg (18 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

Filling:
3 lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
8 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped and quartered

Crumb Topping:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread pecans on ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes, cool.

Crust: Coat bottom and inside of 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. In food processor process 1 cup pecans until finely ground, or finely chop with a knife. At medium -low speed beat flour into dough until combined. Stir in ground pecans. Press dough onto side and bottom of pan, creating scant 1/4 inch thick crust, refrigerate 20 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. Bake crust 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Filling: Toss apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon and remaining pecans; spoon into pan. Sprinkle with chopped caramels. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Crumb Topping: Meanwhile, at low speed combine flour, sugars(except confectioner's sugar) and cinnamon. Increase speed to medium; gradually add butter and vanilla, beating until wet crumbs form. Remove pie from oven; uncover. Using hands press tablespoonfuls of crumb mixture together to form large crumbs; place over filling, covering the entire surface. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on rack, remove sides from pan.

Stir together confectioner's sugar and 4 tsp. water until smooth. Drizzle over top of pie.

TWD- Parisian Apple Tartlet

This weeks TWD recipe was chose by Jessica of My Baking Heart. This little tart was very simple, but honestly, I thought it was a little bland. I think that if I added a little cinnamon to it I would have liked it better. Will I make these little treats again, probably, I will just make a few little changes.

Next week is ice cream! I am super excited!!

Apple Strudel for the Daring Bakers

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was not one that turned out for me. Strudel has been on my wanting to make list for a really long time and I was eager to try it. I didn't have any problems with stretching the dough paper thin, it didn't get as big as it should have, but stretching went just fine. Put it in the oven to bake, let it sit for 30 minutes..sliced it. My dough was really tough. It didn't want to slice and couldn't really chew it. My kids threw theirs in the garbage. But, hey, I tried it, know how to stretch this dough and hopefully it will turn out better on the next try. This is the reason that I stay with the Daring Bakers, to push myself to try things that are difficult, and some that are not so much. Now, bring on June!

Apple Crumb Top Pie with Whole Wheat Crust

I love aprons. I love the designs, I love how they make you feel when you put them on. I love the nostalgia of them. I almost feel like June Cleaver when I wear them. Today was one of those days. It was cloudy and a little chilly, I needed something warming, something to warm the soul. So, I came home and donned my newest apron that was given to me by a good friend. So, my apron and I set out to make apple pie.

This is just not some regular pie. This pie is a little healthier, made with a whole wheat crust and a whole wheat crumb topping, I didn't feel so bad with a scoop of caramel swirl ice cream on top.

I saw this recipe over at Fun Foods on a Budget and have been wanting to make this ever since. The instructions on the crust are different from pie crusts that I have made before. This crust is mixed right in the pie plate. I loved it, one less bowl to clean!

Apple Crumble Pie with Whole Wheat Crust

Crust:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cooking oil

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. cold water or milk

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp. flour

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 cup butter or margarine

To make crust: Dump flour in an ungreased pie plate. Add the oil, salt, and sugar, and stir well. Pour in the water or milk, and mix with a fork into a stiff dough. Press into shape in the pie plate. Set aside (or if you need a baked crust for an unbaked pie: bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes).

In a mixing bowl stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbsp. flour; set aside. Sprinkle apple slices with lemon juice. Toss apples with sugar mixture to coat. Turn apples into pastry-lined pie plate.

Combine the crumb topping dry ingredients. Cut in the butter or margarine till crumbly; sprinkle atop the apple slices.Bake pie at 375 for 1 hour or till topping is golden. Serve pie warm with vanilla ice cream!

Starting off the school year....

Yesterday was the first day of school for my kids. Shane went on to 7th, Blake 5th and Abby in the 3rd. When I really stop to think about how fast time is going, it depresses me a little. To think that this past year flew by, and it seems like the kids just got out of school and now, they are a year older and starting back to school.

To me, when school starts back I think fall, even though it is still near 90 degrees here. Buying schools supplies, high school football, then labor day. The leaves start changing and the darkness of night comes earlier. So one of the first things that I think of when I think of fall is apples. I love going apple picking, making apple butter or whatever...but that is what I think of.

A coworker brought me these little green apples from her apple tree in her yard. Luckily, there were no worms! I had a ton of things that I wanted to make with them, so I halved them and made half apple butter and the other half jam.


The recipe that I used called it Caramel Apple Jam, but really I think that I will call it Apple Pie Jam. I really don't taste any caramel, but it does taste like a great fried apple pie filling. The hardest part of this was peeling and slicing those tiny little apples, but it was well worth it!

Apple Pie Jam

6 cups peeled and diced apples
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp butter
3 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix all of the ingredients into a large pot. Stir them until all combined. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Cook the jam until it reached 220 degrees. (see my note at the bottom) Pour into jars and top with lid. Flip the jars on their lids to cool. The jars should be sealed when completely cooled.

Some of my jams have been really thick when I cook to this degree, so with this jam I cooked for 20 minutes then I used the frozen plate method. You freeze a plate, then put a little bit on the plate, stick it back in the freezer for a few seconds then check the consistency of it. If it is not as thick as you want continue to cook the jam in 5 minute increments until you get it the consistency you want. I cooked this jam for 20-25 minutes.

Dutch Apple Pancake

I had never had a Dutch Apple Pancake before and always wanted to try it. I still have granny smith apples that I had bought at the Asheville Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago, and thought that this would be the perfect time to try it. My kids loved it. It is not too sweet and the apples give you just enough sweetness that it needs.

Where is the time going? I can't believe that we are into our 2nd week of November and less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, which then puts me to less than 3 weeks until my husband leaves for Haiti for a week on a missionary trip...and then we all know what is in less than 2 months! yep....the big day that kids live for, and if you are like me...adults too. Too many things that need to be baked and posted about, but not enough time. Hopefully, I can organize myself to get it all done. The one thing that I liked about this pancake was that it was quick and easy, and that is definitely what I need right now to make sure that I can get all of the other things done.

Apple Dutch Pancake

6 eggs

1 1/2 Cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temp

4 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 Tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine eggs, milk and vanilla, mix until well combined. Add flour, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated, set aside.

Place butter in a 9X13 inch baking dish. Transfer dish to oven and heat until butter has just melted. Carefully remove from oven and place apples in a single layer in a baking dish. Return to oven and cook until butter begins to bubble, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven and pour batter over apples, sprinkle with brown sugar and continue baking until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

*The pancake will puff in the last 5 minutes of baking.

Apple Cream Tart

A little brown on the top, but don't let that scare you...it is really yummy! This tart is originally made with peaches, but when you have tart granny smith apples and it feels like fall, I think that apple will go well in anything. This doesn't take long at all to put together and you have the tartness of the apples with the sweetness of the filling...almost like an apple cobbler, only in tart form.

Crust:

1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup (1 stick)butter, softened

2 Tbsp sour cream

Filling:

About 3 medium apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced

3 large egg yolks

3/4 Cup sour cream

3/4 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:

1/2 Cup apple jelly, warmed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crust, place the flour, butter and sour cream in food processor and pulse to combine. When the dough has formed a ball, pat with lightly floured hands into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and 1/2 inch sides. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Let cool while preparing the filling.

To make filling, arrange the apple slices in overlapping circles on top of the crust, until it;s completely covered. Overfill the crust, as apples will draw up during baking. Combine the yolks, sour cream, sugar and flour and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples.

Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until the custard sets and is pale golden in color. Cover with an aluminum foil tent if the crust gets too dark. (I forgot this part!ha!)

Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, remove the side wall of the pan. Spread the apple jelly with a pastry brush over the top of the tart.