Rhubarb Apple Crisp

And we're back! Sorry for the little break in posting there!

Made this yummy, in season dessert TWO times last week....and forgot to take a picture!! Crazy I know, but I guarantee it was a hit each time with every guest:) Rhubarb is in abundance this time of year...so I thought this would make for a useful post! I just planted our first rhubarb plant in the garden this year...and apparently they spread like fire...so in about 5 years I'll likely be begging some of you to take stocks off my hands!

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did! It goes without saying that vanilla ice-cream compliments this dessert well:)

This dessert is so healthy, the leftovers make for a great breakfast the next morning!

Rhubarb Apple Crisp

makes enough for one average size casserole/pyrex pan

Filling:

8 cups coarsely chopped rhubarb
5 cups coarsely chopped apples
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp cinnamon

Topping:
6-8 cups of quick cooking oats (depending on how much you like the topping!)
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup slivered almonds (optional...but so good!)

Coat the dish with about 2 Tbsp of melted butter. Add the filling and mix together. In a separate bowl, mix the topping together and sprinkle over the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the fruit is softened. Serve warm from the oven.

ENJOY!

...I think shredded coconut would also be great in the topping...maybe I'll try that next time!

**I'm worried that altitude may be effecting this recipe...a reader had hers turn out very dry...if this is a concern try adding about a cup of unsweetened applesauce to the apple/rhubarb mixture before baking:)

Cinnamon Buns

Alright...seeing as I ate one (okay...two!!) of the last few of these this afternoon...sipping a fresh Americano...sitting in the sun...reading while the boys nap...I figured I better post them!

Sorry for the horrible photos...kinda a messy recipe...equals messy hands...makes taking photos tough! I need a baking partner!

Having mennonite roots we grew up on cinnamon buns...yum yum yum...lucky us! My mom and aunts all have the greatest stand-by recipe that is a favourite to many...this isn't that recipe:) I thought I'd venture out and try something different...and was happy with the results! I will definitely bake these again...although there's nothing better than coming home to my mom's homemade baking:) A friend had given me a bag of oat flour...so I was interested in experimenting with it...hence the cinnamon buns! I will definitely continue to bake these with the oat flour in them...it gave them a very light consistency...didn't leave you feeling heavy and blah...infact it made you want to eat more!! My mom's recipe has oats in it...so this taste is a familiar one to me in cinnamon buns. They were great to have on hand for Easter...and are awesome because this one batch made 7 round pans...they freeze great!

Of course there is nothing better than a little cream cheese frosting on top...that is how I served them on the weekend...but we were raised with a little peanut butter on top...that's my favourite:) Want to go on a little adventure...spread some peanut butter on the dough before rolling it up...with the cinnamon...AMAZING! Even made them once with Nutella in them...wow wow wow!!

Alright...here's the step by step. They take a little time...but are so worth it!!

Cinnamon Buns

Start by making the dough. Mix 4 cups of milk (I used almond), 1 cup of olive oil and 1 cup of cane sugar in a large pot. Heat this mixture until JUST before it reaches boiling point (that's called 'scalding'). Turn off heat and leave to cool for about an hour.


When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in 2 packages Active Dry Yeast.




Let this mixture sit for a minute or two...you'll see the yeast starting to get fizzy and bubbly.




Then add 8 cups of flour of choice. I used 3 cups oat flour, 3 cups spelt and 2 cups whole wheat. Oat flour on it's own wouldn't hold the dough together well...so that's why I added spelt. Spelt also doesn't have as much gluten as other flours, which is what works as a 'glue' for the dough...so that's why I added in the bit of whole wheat.



Stir mixture together. Cover and let sit for at least an hour. I use a tea towel...that's the mennonite way:)




After an hour, the dough will hopefully look like this.




Now add 1 more cup of flour…



1 heaping teaspoon baking powder…




And just under a teaspoon of baking soda and 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. At this point I wondered why you don't put cinnamon right into the dough...you know, add flavour to it??!! So I tried it...and REALLY liked the results! I sprinkled probably about 3 tablespoons full on top and then mixed everything in.

At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it—overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to splurge out of the pan, just punch it down. Or, of course, you can just go ahead and make the rolls...that's what I did!

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle.



Now drizzle about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of butter over the dough. I know for sure my mom skips this step! Organic pure butter actually has some health benefits...so if you're using the real stuff, then go ahead and indulge yourself!



Now sprinkle about 1 cup of cane sugar over the butter…I know you're wondering if honey or maple syrup would work instead! Both of those options would just run out of the rolls while baking and leave a burnt edge...not good...if there's ever a time for cane sugar, this is it!

…followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.



Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Some of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture may ooze out toward the end, but that’s no big deal.

Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it.



Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in seven round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. This recipe makes approximately seven pans of rolls. I use the disposable aluminum tins purely so I can give them as a gift and not need to worry about the dish!



Let the rolls sit for 20 to 30 minutes to rise (covered again with your lovely clean tea towel), then bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown, about 20-22 minutes.





Ingredients

4 cups Almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 cup olive oil
1 cup cane sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (plus 1 cup extra, separated) flour of choice
1 tsp (heaping) baking powder
1 tsp (scant) baking soda
1 tbsp(heaping) salt
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup (or more) of melted butter
2 cups cane sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon


Instructions

Mix the milk, oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool forq 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise, covered for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown, about 20-22 minutes.

Freeze amazing!

ENJOY!!!!...with friends:)

Chicken Pot Pie

We had the honour of hosting the Wiebe family...minus Darren...at our house this year for Easter! Lots of fun times and LOTS of food!! Mom and Dad Wiebe brought amazing chicken...organic/free range/hormone free/antibiotic free...for us to roast on Sunday for dinner. It was SO good! Take one bite of this quality of chicken and you know it's the real deal...nothing beats it! And...like all good parents...they brought enough chicken to feed a small village! We did our best to work through it as a family...then tucked the leftovers in the fridge. Well...I soon realized after two meals of left-over chicken...that we had barely made a dent it in!! Then I saw parsnips in my fridge and knew right away what I would turn the left-overs into...chicken pot pie! Chicken that is roasted has such amazing flavour...so it adds an element to dishes like this that other meat doesn't.

This recipe of course could be made with any type of chicken...roasted, grilled, boiled...it's all the same!

Also...after shredding all the meat off the bones to prep it for the pie (I made 3...one for dinner and 2 for our freezer!!)...I realized that there was still enough to place into a medium size ziploc and keep on hand in the freezer to throw on pizza or add to any last minute supper...LOVE having that on hand!

This recipe, including the topping, should make an equivalent to two pie plates or one larger baking dish. Freezes VERY well!


Chicken Pot Pie

4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour (I use spelt)
1/2 cup white wine (optional...but really compliments the flavours)
1 cup milk (I use almond)
2 cup chicken stock
5-6 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves picked and chopped (2 Tbsp dried)
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup frozen peas

Preheat the oven to 375.

Heat olive oil in large pan or dutch oven. Add the chopped onion, carrots, celery and parsnips to the pan, then season with salt and pepper and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 7-8 minutes

When the veggies are tender, push them over to the side of the pan and add the butter to the center of the pot. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the white wine, if using, milk, chicken stock. Bring up to a simmer, then add the tarragon, Dijon mustard, peas and shredded chicken. Bring back up to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and cook until the sauce has thickened, 2-3 minutes.

Pastry Topping

Of course you can just buy some puffed pastry and add it on top...sometimes I even just use a few layers phyllo pastry on top to give it a light crispy finish. This time I tried something new...and it was awesome...here it is...

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup milk (I used almond)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix just until a soft dough forms. Dot the biscuit dough over the chicken mixture. (I do a little layer of fresh ground pepper on top at this point!)

Bake 25 minutes, uncovered, until the biscuit is cooked through and golden on top. Serve & enjoy!

Breakfast Cookies

I don't know about you...but I love the fact that I could eat these for breakfast everyday, and still feel great! I'm always tempted by those other 'Breakfast Cookies' that you see for sale in coffee shops...but I also know that they aren't actually good for me, so I stay away:)

So that's what the inspiration for these was. These are amazing...they feel like a treat...and can really be eaten anytime of day. They freeze amazingly...and even taste best straight from the freezer!

It's possible to make a ton of variations on this recipe, depending on your taste buds. Today I used a mix of dried blueberries, raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips. I wanted to add pecans, but forgot! I cut back on the almond flour, and add in oats...we like oats and it saves a little on the almond flour...but you can feel free to make them only with the flour (just add the extra 1/2 cup) and they will turn out great!

Enjoy!...I hope our house guests this weekend will!!!

Breakfast Cookies

2 cups of almond flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of coconut oil or melted butter
1/2 cup of maple syrup or honey
1 egg
1 tablespoon of vanilla
2 cups of nuts, dried fruit, seeds (or anything else your heart desires)

Directions

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients and blend it well with a spoon.
3. Drop a golf ball size portion onto the cookie sheet, flatten slightly.
4. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes depending on the size. I make these quite large so that they are a complete breakfast!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake!

Now that's a mouthful!! Don't you just love Levi's cheeky look in this photo??!! He totally dipped his finger in the cake!! I wonder who taught him that one:)

We celebrated my wonderful husband's birthday on Friday...yes...he's an April Fool baby...gotta love that!! You can't go wrong when making a dessert for Jay...he loves anything involving cake and ice-cream...so I thought I'd combine the two this year for him! I've made ice-cream cakes before...but kept them a little more on the simple side. I'm not even sure where the idea for this one came...but it was AMAZING...and SO simple to make! It got 5 gold stars all around in this house, and needless to say we rolled ourselves to bed afterwards! The leftovers got put in the freezer...and I don't think they'll last long!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice-Cream Cake

Bake this cake...or any chocolate cake. This is a GREAT one though!

Freeze so it's easier to cut into layers.

Take frozen layers apart.

Start with one layer of cake...

Add one container of this...

Another layer of frozen cake...

Melt half a jar of this...pour over top...

Whip half a container of this until softened...smooth out on top! (note: you could use coconut milk vanilla here instead and this would be dairy free! Jay just happens to be a huge fan of this vanilla)

Voila!

Return to freezer until about 15 minutes before serving.

Ideally I would have melted some chocolate...thickened it a bit...put it in a piping bag and did some pretty designs on top...or wrote his name...but in the moment I just didn't think these 3 cake-hungry boys would care:) We'll save the pretty designs for another time!

Oatmeal Blender Pancakes

Not sure about you...but our house is filled with the aroma of pancakes ATLEAST once a week...if not more. If you've been to our house for pancakes lately, then you also know that with pancakes, comes not only syrup and many other yummy things, but The Beach Boys!! Not sure how that tradition got started...but both our boys are VERY aware that if they hear "barb barb barb...barb barbara ann" coming from the kitchen, they are getting PANCAKES!! Pure craziness I know:) We love it!!

We have a small stock of different pancake recipes that we choose from each time...depending what we're feeling like...but this is one simple, very healthy, home made recipe that we had kinda forgotten about until the other day...so I thought I'd share it with you!

It calls for Oat Flour, which you can buy, or just make in your blender like we do. It's important to do this step first...or else your blender will get wet from the other ingredients and it won't work. Other than that it's a fool-proof recipe...and quick!

Other than all the obvious toppings...we personally love peanut butter, almond butter or bananas on our pancakes!

ENJOY!

Oatmeal Blender Pancakes

1/2 cup oat flour (or blended oats in your blender)
1/2 cup spelt flour (or flour of choice)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pour oats into blender and blend on high until you have oat flour.

Add all other ingredients. Blend until well mixed.

Preheat your skillet and oil lightly. Cook as you would any other pancake!

*I try to use Quick-Cooking oats...I find the traditional ones don't get enough time to cook on the pan, leaving your pancakes doughy and heavy.

**Not sure if we've ever tried to make this one into waffles...I'll keep you posted on that!

Almond Banana Chip Muffins

At this very moment...our boys are both napping...Jay just left for work...and I'm enjoying a fresh Americano and one of these!! I was planning on doing some reading...but I was so anxious to share this recipe with you ASAP!

Notice a little trend with me lately? Almonds?! Have always loved them...as well as other nuts and seeds. We have just realized they are such a great alternative to many or all grains...we feel great eating them...and we love the taste!

I was a little skeptical whipping these guys up...I kept changing and adding to the recipe as I went along...and was VERY happy with the results! Honestly I expected quite a dense and heavy muffin...but these are so not like that! I realized quickly that this recipe is one that can be added too quite a bit (ex...nuts, seeds, dried fruit) and played around with...and would still turn out amazing!! These were a HUGE hit in our house today for all 4 of us! You can honestly actually HEAR how moist they are when you bite into them...yum!

Case in point.....

Fresh from the oven...


Five minutes after cooling...


Needless to say, they taste amazing! Easily one of the best muffins I've ever had.

Our official taste-testers in action!


Almond Banana Chip Muffins

1 c almond butter
1 c almond flour
3 medium brown RIPE bananas (the browner the better...makes them naturally sweet!)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp maple syrup...or sweetener of choice (optional)
1/4 c mini chocolate chips (optional)

Mash all ingredients (except chocolate chips) together in one bowl...stir until well combined. Add in chocolate chips.




Pour into muffin tin and bake at 350 for approx 22 minutes. You don't want to under bake these or they will sink in the middle, so lightly touch the center to test that they are fully baked.


Enjoy! Now I have to wait for the rest of my bananas to brown so I can make some more!

Thought I'd share too my Almond Flour of choice! Just went in with a few friends on a bulk order...huge savings by buying direct from the company! Their flour is super fine...bakes up like any other flour would:) Check them out!