Stawberry Almond Cheesecake Bites

For so many of us, a large portion of Valentine's Day includes the whole family.  Ever since my kids were small, we've made this fun and healthy treat to celebrate the national day of Love.

Kids love to help pulverize the graham crackers, and they do a fantastic job.  Simply place the crackers in a ziploc bag and give them a rolling pin; they seem to know exactly what to do.  Even though my kids are teenagers now, this is still a favorite job.

While they are having fun beating the blazes out of the graham crackers, you can get the cheesecake dip together.  In a matter of minutes, you have a "build your own" sort of strawberry cheesecake bunch of love going on.

Strawberry Almond Cheesecake Bites
Makes about 1 cup dip

• 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulls in tact, washed and patted dry
• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 c plain yogurt
• 1 Tbs heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp raw  honey
• 1/3 tsp pure almond extract
• 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (preferably home made)
• 1/4 finely chopped almonds

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, yogurt, whipping cream, honey, and almond extract with a hand held mixer until smooth and creamy; about 2 minutes.

Place the cream cheese mixture into a bowl.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and almonds in another bowl.

Grab the strawberries by the hull, dip them into the cream cheese mixture, then roll in the graham cracker mixture, and enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Apples and Oranges Frozen Yogurt - Citrus Blog Hop

For the most part, I'm not a "gadget gal".  I prefer to work with a few key tools (knives, an assortment of pots and pans, a few utensils, an oven, my hands...).  The reasons I have for this include the fact that I have very little storage space in my kitchen, not a lot of counter space to place a large gadget, and I hate having to disassemble and hand-wash things with many parts.  I do have a food processor, but I don't use it for chopping (in fact, I don't use it much at all, except to make nut butters, bean dips, and a few other things).  I have a blender that I haven't used more than once or twice in fifteen years.  Beyond that, my gadgets include a slow cooker (okay, I have two of those), a $10 hand held electric mixer and a garlic press.  And an electric ice cream maker (because I'm not willing to haul out a bucket of salt to work that cream).  I secretly want a KitchenAid mixer, but I haven't taken the plunge yet; the food processor took me almost five years of justification before I finally bought one, so with my ability to over-think myself out of purchases, I may never actually get one.

My husband, however, is a "gadget guy".  He's the one who bought the griddle, the waffle maker, the (now deceased) microwave, the toaster, the meat thermometer, the injector, the ice cream scoop, etc.  For Christmas, he bought a juicer, and he has been using it faithfully every day (sometimes more than once).  In fact, our son has been using it daily, also.  While I would never have bought one of my own accord, the juice made from it is so fresh, so tasty, and so healthy, I think I'm okay with the purchase.

Here is the simple smoothie that inspired the frozen yogurt:

It includes only two green apples, two oranges, and 1/4 c plain Greek  yogurt.  It reminded me of an Orange Julius (remember those?  I haven't had one since 8th grade, so it likely doesn't taste exactly like one, but it's the first thing I thought of when I tasted it).

We decided to add another 1/4 c of the Greek yogurt (for a total of 1/2 cup), and toss it all into the ice cream maker.  Twenty minutes later, we had the dessert (or, in our case, breakfast) you see in the main photo.  My kids think ice cream for breakfast is pretty cool.  And I kind of do, too.

Strawberries, bananas, mint, or vanilla would all be great additions.  I wanted to share the basic idea with you to show you how tasty something so simple can be.  What you do from there is entirely up to you.

If you don't currently own either a juicer or ice cream maker, you can find the ones that I have in my Amazon store (off to the left of the page, under "other items"). I am not endorsing any of the companies; I'm sure there are better ones, I'm sure there are worse ones, more expensive ones, and cheaper ones, so if you are looking for either of these products, do your homework. I am pretty happy with the quality and cost of the ones we have, though.  The image of the ice cream maker is the newer version of the same one I have, which I've had for about seven or eight years.

Apple and Orange Frozen Yogurt
makes 3 scoops (how many servings that makes is completely up to you)

• 2 Granny Smith apples, core removed
• 2 navel oranges, peeled
• 1/2 c Greek yogurt, plain or vanilla
• 1/2 tsp vanilla, optional (only if you are using plain yogurt)

Put the fruit through the juicer according to manufacturers instructions.

Stir the yogurt (and vanilla, if using) into the juice.  Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. (Mine took 20 minutes)

Eat.


Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up any citrus recipe from the month of January 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to stop by the #citruslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #citruslove.


Citruslove Blog Hop Co-Hosts

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Astig Vegan ~ Richgail ~ @AstigVegan

Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Easily Good Eats

Elephant Eats ~ Amy

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives ~ Lisa ~ @parsleynsage

Peaches and Donuts ~ Sylvia ~ @PeachesandDonut

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Serena ~ @tspcurry
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF

The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd  

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Cookie Blog Hop - Chocolate Cranberry Nut Cookies

These yummy little cookies taste like chocolaty brownies packed with tart cranberries and crunchy walnuts.  Chocolate Cranberry Nut Cookies are as quick and easy to make as other drop style cookies and are free of processed sugar.

This recipe for a naturally sweetened chocolate cookie is a versatile one; we can add the cranberries and walnuts, or we can forego those ingredients and customize it by adding coconut, grain sweetened chocolate chips, raisins, cherries, or anything else that might taste good inside a chocolate cookie.  If aesthetics are important for your cookie tray,  and you don't like the way drop cookies look, you can always flatten them a bit after they are placed on the baking sheet.  I personally don't care all that much because it all tastes the same to me when they are done, so I just drop, and pop them into the oven.  Based on the outcome of the tender texture, I think the main recipe might also work as a brownie if a few tablespoons of milk is added to the dough/batter - I'll try it out and get back to you.

A tip about using natural sweeteners: when it is not desirable to have one prominent flavor in a cookie that needs to have several flavors working in synergy, it is a good idea to combine two different natural sweeteners rather than just using one or another.  Because I added cocoa to this simple drop cookie, neither honey nor maple syrup (the two sweeteners upon which I most rely) is a flavor I really wanted to be prominent to overshadow the chocolate.  By combining the two sweeteners in about a 2:1 ratio, neither the maple nor the honey flavors stand out in this cookie, but the sweetness all there, turning the cocoa into a chocolaty bunch of goodness that does a fantastic job of enveloping the tart "pop" from cranberries.

As with all naturally sweetened baked goods, allow enough time for them to cool and rest so the natural sweetener can do it's naturally sweet thing (one hour, at the very least).

Now that my holiday cookie tray is amply and beautifully filled with lovely cookies from the recipes posted to the #cookielove blog hop, I'm working on some great appetizers to share with you all in the upcoming weeks!

Chocolate Cranberry Nut Cookies
makes about 3 1/2 dozen

• 2/3 c butter (1 stick plus 3 Tbs)
• 1/2 c raw honey
• 1/3 c pure maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (such as Simply Organic Vanilla Extract)
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 c high quality natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c raw cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1 c raw walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy (about 20-30 seconds).  Add honey, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Stir in the wheat flour, unbleached all purpose flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until combined.

Fold in the cranberries and walnuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until done.  Cool completely on wire racks.

Please join in on the #cookielove fun by linking up any cookie recipe from the month of December 2011.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to stop by the #cookielove event!  The twitter hashtag is #cookielove.

CookieLove Blog Hop Co-Hosts
Badger Girl Learns to Cook
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves
Big Fat Baker
Bloc de recetas
Bon a croquer
Cafe TerraBlog
Cake Duchess
Creative Cooking Corner
Easily Good Eats
Georgiecakes
Hobby and More
Knitstamatic
Mike's Baking
Mis Pensmientos
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
Oh Cake
Queen's Notebook
Savoring Every Bite
Simply Reem
Soni's Food For Thought
Teaspoon of Spice
That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!
The Art of Cooking Real Food
The Spicy RD
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Vegetarian Tastebuds
Vegan Yack Attack

Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake

Some days I'm so glad I did all that work during the summer months to stash goodies while they were in season so I can eat them when they are not.  Yesterday was one of those days.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, all I can think about is pumpkin, apples, stuffing, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and squash, all while wearing my wool socks, slippers, and two sweaters...it's just kind of nice to have a somewhat summery diversion right about now.

So, instead of making an apple cranberry coffee cake, I decided to make a blueberry one.  And it was great because yesterday was one of the few recent days where the sun was shining and 49 degrees (F) felt positively balmy.  Not quite summer, but it tasted like it, and that counts.

As with all my desserts, there is no processed sugar in this coffee cake (or is it a buckle?  I'm not really sure, to be honest).  I used raw honey to sweeten both the cake and the topping.  The thing to remember when using natural sweeteners, especially honey, is that after it is baked into something, that something needs to rest so the honey can do its sweetening thing.  That means this: don't eat this cake warm right out of the oven because it won't be very sweet just then.  Wait at least 30 minutes or until it has cooled completely.  Or better yet, make it in the evening and wait to eat it until breakfast the next day. It's even better topped with vanilla spiked Greek yogurt or whipped cream.

For those of you just beginning to cook, or are just learning how to manipulate recipes, this coffee cake is a basic alteration of a classic coffee cake recipe.  Feel free to use it as a base, but alter the fruits and flavorings.  For instance, for an apple coffee cake, simply replace the blueberries with the same amount of finely diced apples, swap the raw honey for pure maple syrup, replace the almonds with pecans or walnuts, use vanilla extract instead of almond, and add a little cinnamon to the batter.  Or, you could also use cranberries or raspberries instead of blueberries, and orange zest instead of lemon. It's pretty much fool proof; you'd have to try really hard to mess it up.  For as much as I love trying new recipes, I often come back to this one (with variations) when I'm looking for an easy, healthy coffee cake to just whip up without having to think too terribly hard about it, and I know it'll always turn out just right.

Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake

serves 9

Almond Topping:

• 1/2 c sliced or chopped raw almonds
• 2 Tbs raw honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cake:

• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel (preferably from an organic lemon)
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder (such as Rumford)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c raw honey
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract (such as Simply Organic Almond Extract)
• 2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F.  Oil and flour a 9 inch baking pan.

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, lemon peel, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and honey until smooth.  

Blend in the egg, buttermilk, and almond extract until just mixed.

Pour the honey and buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture.  Mix well.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. 

Sprinkle the almond topping evenly over the batter.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool.  Serve topped with whipped cream or vanilla yogurt.

Hearth & Soul Tuesday Blog Hop

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Cinnamon Pear Topping

At the beginning of October Unprocessed one of our biggest hurdles was going to be breakfast cereal (which, I'm proud to say is no longer a sore spot after a month of forced alternate breakfast choices).  These pancakes, and numerous others of various flavors, were made en mass to help ease my poor son's pain of having to endure the entire month without commercial cereal.  They freeze well and warm nicely in the toaster.  The fruit and nut topping is quick and easy to make, even first thing in the morning.


All of the pictures I took of these pancakes turned out blurry (and worse than my usual pictures) for some reason, so I just want to mention to you that by the time I captured this particular picture, enough time had gone by that the syrup had soaked into the already very cold pancakes.  And I was hungry, so I ate them.  And by the time I saw the only picture that turned out and noticed that there was no buttery, syrupy topping glistening on top of these super moist, flavorful pancakes, they were gone.

At any rate, they were quite delicious even cold; I'm not sure if it was the richness of the buttermilk, or the pumpkin and pecan combination, or the pears and maple syrup...or a combination of all of those things.

This recipe makes quite a few pancakes, so if you'd like to freeze them like we did, simply cool them on a wire rack, transfer them in a single layer to trays lined with waxed paper, and put them in the freezer.  Once frozen, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the freezer.  When ready to eat, pop them in the toaster or warm them in the oven while you make the fruit and nut topping (which can also be made in larger batches and stored in the refrigerator and warms nicely in a small saucepan on the stove).  I suppose all of the rewarming could be done in a microwave, too, but I don't own one, so I can't say for certain.  If you choose to make them and reheat them in a microwave, please come back and let us know how it turns out.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Cinnamon Pear Topping
makes 20 4-inch pancakes

• 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 c buttermilk
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup
• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 2 Tbs oil (extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil, or melted butter)
• 1 c chopped pecans (or 1/2 c chopped pecans and 1/2 c chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy.  Add the buttermilk, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and oil and whisk until well mixed.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.  Whisk until smooth.

Fold the nuts (and chocolate chips, if using) into the batter.

Oil a griddle or large skillet set to medium heat.  Drop batter by 1/4 c onto hot griddle or skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until small bubbles surface on the top of the cake.  Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, or until bottom is golden.

For the topping:
2 servings

• 2 tsp butter
• 1 large pear or apple, peeled and diced
• few good pinches cinnamon
• 2 Tbs chopped pecans
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup

Heat butter over medium low heat.  Stir in the pears or apples and cinnamon.  Saute until tender - about 4-5 minutes, depending the size of the cut.

Stir in the pecans and maple syrup.

Serve immediately over pancakes.

Pear Studded Pumpkin Bread

I spent the day roasting pumpkin and making puree.  If you haven't done it yourself, this is the year you must!  It's practically effortless, and much, much less expensive than buying the prepared solid packed pumpkin in the stores; I picked up pie pumpkins as the farmer's market for 75 cents each.  Use homemade puree the same as you would the canned puree.

To make your own puree, simply cut your pie pumpkin in half, and scoop out the pulp and seeds (save the seeds for roasting later). Cut each half into 2 chunks (now you have 4 pieces per pumpkin),  place the quarters in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and bake at 325F for about 45 minutes (or until tender).  Remove the pumpkin meat from the shell with a spoon, place it in a food processor and puree.  It's as easy as that.  I freeze mine in 1 and 2 cup portions.

Along with pancakes, waffles, muffins, pies, and soups, homemade pumpkin puree works beautifully in this healthy, hearty, breakfast-worthy quick bread. The bread remains moist because of the pumpkin and the fresh pears.  The sweetness comes from the pears and raw honey, but if you want your bread a little sweeter, you can safely add another 1/4 c honey without compromising the loaf.  Personally, I find it sweet enough (especially once the bread is cooled completely), but often, when people go from white flour and white sugar to whole grain flour and natural sweeteners, they get discouraged because the sweetness is more subtle than it is with refined sugars.  If this is you, I'd like you not to be discouraged, so go ahead and add the extra 1/4 cup of honey.  If this is not you, and your taste buds are already used to the difference, keep the measurements just how they are.

Pear Studded Pumpkin Bread
makes 1 loaf

• 1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder, such as Rumford
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 1/2 c raw honey
• 1/4 c oil (coconut, olive, canola, butter, etc...)
• 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract, such as Simply Organic Pure Vanilla Extract, or homemade
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 medium pears, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 c walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil and flour an 8x4 loaf pan.

With a paper towel or pastry brush, smear the oil or butter all over the inside of the pan

Add about 1 Tbs flour to pan and shake it around until it coats the oil; discard any loose flour

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, honey, oil (be sure to warm your oil to a liquid state if using butter or coconut), vanilla, and egg until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined (batter will be thick).

Fold in the nuts and pears.

Spread into prepared baking pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Run a butter knife around the edges and carefully turn the bread out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before cutting.