I used to hate Brussels sprouts. Nothing against the Belgians, but I always found these little cabbages to be mushy and bitter. Then I met J, and realized I had better find a way to like them.
Continue reading Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts, Cranberries, and Caramelized Onions
It’s amazing when a recipe inspires you to come up with another recipe…
It’s not that the inspiration recipe isn’t worthy in and of itself, but it helps to get the wheels turning in your head and it turns into something else!
I find that I’m trying to make excuses to turn on the oven these days. I may as well bake something while trying to heat the apartment.
That, and baking stuff always smells good and wins me brownie points with J. Luckily, he’s happy with a bowl of warm apple crisp.
I don’t know if apple crisp even counts as baking. The only reason I can pull it off is because it’s more like cooking than baking. Measurements don’t have to be precise, you can add other ingredients and it won’t destroy everything. It’s brilliant, and satisfying. It’s also a great way to use up all of the apples starting to pile up on my counter.
This time around, I used a mix of Cortland and Granny Smith apples. Granny Smith are my very favourite kind of apple for snacking on.
I also decided to throw in a handful of dried cranberries. These were a really great addition, because they are sweet and tart and take on the spiced apple juices really well.
This recipe is the result of years of trial and error with different recipes, different techniques, different spices. I think it has a lot to do with how much liquid you add to the cooking container. Previous recipes had me adding way too much water to the bottom, leaving a mushy mess of apple. I prefer the apple to be soft, but still able to keep its shape until it reaches my mouth.
I think I also prefer making these in their own individual ramekins, rather than in one big dish. It cooks faster, and looks cute.
Recipe after the jump!
To start things off, I’d like to share a recipe from my now defunct recipe database, that I found many years ago. I’ve pretty much stuck to the original recipe, except that I use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and I often add things like quinoa flakes, hemp seeds, flax seeds, etc. to the mix.
I can’t say I’ve ever been able to cut them into 24, as the recipe suggests, but I probably make them too big.
These are yummy and filling, so go easy!
Original Source: Allrecipes.com – Playgroup Granola Bars
(actually, I first got this from someone on Live Journal, but I can’t seem to find the original recipe… It’s basically the same, except the wheatgerm wasn’t in the first one I tried.)
Ingredients:
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, wheat germ, cranberries (or raisins), chocolate chips and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges.
4. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be to hard to cut.
Servings: 24 (depends how you cut them)
