Updated Apple-Walnut Coffee Cake

Hello Fall. It's wonderful to see you again. This cooler weather (60s in the mornings and 90s in the afternoon) is completely wonderful! I have grilled outside every other evening and we've been having family walks after dinner. I love this season and football but lets not go there or I will really get derailed. (Go Seattle Seahawks!) 

Lets celebrate fall by pulling out a old recipe from the archives and make it fit my new healthier perspective. Ditch the 1/2 cup of veg oil and use avocado a healthy non processed fat instead. Trade the all purpose flour for in some additional whole grains and whole wheat white flour. Increase the fruit. Lets use some moderation with one of my fav things... nuts by cutting out a entire cup just leaving enough for texture and taste. If you want the original version its right here. Just click on the link.  But I hope you try this updated one first. I pulled off the ultimate culinary bait-and-switch: wholesome food that's just as delish, and my avocado-phobe husband was totally clueless!

Incase you're wondering about the numbers... 

The original coffee cake made 8-10 servings. Each good size serving = 600 calories, 88g carbs, 25g fat, 9 g protein, 34g sodium, 59g sugar. 

The new recipe has only per serving (if you are doing the 8 large pieces): 400 calories, 81g carbs, 6g fat, 8 protein, 33 sodium, and 48g sugar. 

Crazy numbers aren't they? I had no idea that you can drop from 25g of fat to 6 only from switching the vegetable oil to a half of an avocado. Its still a bit high in sugar but its really a cake without a glaze for frosting. But pairing the sweet apple flavor with a large amount of nuts and good fats and whole grains is a good way to have moderation. 

Enjoy Fall! Thanks for stopping by.
Stephanie 

Ingredients for cake batter: 
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups whole wheat white flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, heaping
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 ripe avocado
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 heaping cup homemade or store bought no sugar added applesauce
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp honey
2 Tbs apple juice 

Ingredients for topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Easy Directions:
1. Use some unsalted butter or nonstick spray in a very large rectangle baking dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Mix the ingredients for the batter. I used a stand mixer and did the wet ingredients first to make sure the egg had time to really mix up first. But it really doesn't matter. Its a very forgiving recipe. 

3. Mix the ingredients for the topping and set it aside. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepped baking dish. Its not as thick as the original batter (thank goodness but you will need a rubber spatula or a spoon to make it easier) 

5. Top the batter with the topping - just sprinkle it randomly so it covers the batter. 

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. It will be done when you test it with a toothpick and it comes out clean. 

7. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes to firm up before cutting into it. It might be hard to wait as your whole house smells like a awesome fall cinnamon candle - but you can do it. After diving into it. You can wrap it up with plastic wrap and store it on the counter. I would recommend eating it within 1-3 days. Mine never lasts more than 2. 

Peach & Apple Cobbler

Happy (early) July 4th Independence Day weekend. I hope you are planning some fun things like picnics, swimming, camping, nice good ol' bbq and of course fireworks. We have some fun things planned too, but until we get there I just need to get through today. I have the perfect summer dessert for you to try. 

Think....tender but not mushy sweet ripe summer fruit topped with a perfectly seasoned crust with sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and earthy rolled oats.

Today has been very l-o-n-g. I think I managed 4 hours of sleep total last night. Today, the moment my son's doctors office opened I was on the phone getting him an early appointment. He was in so much pain all night, and it just seemed to get worse. By morning he had a low grade fever and just wouldn't or couldn't get comfortable. I felt so bad for my little blued eye one. 

I am not much of a "sweets" person, but sugar in moderation can be a very soothing, stress reducing, and helpful thing. I don't encourage eating because you are stressed but if you have a newborn or a very sick child I think keeping yourself in the game via coffee or sugar is a valid option. So by dinner time I was craving some delicious warm fresh out of the oven fruit cobbler probably because all the things I mentioned previously - exhaustion, stress, not eating enough regular food, or doing it so fast while standing up rocking a baby that my body was in shock, ect.... A couple reassuring words and a nice hug from my hubby and a few scoops of this delicious cobbler with vanilla ice cream did a world of good for the nitty gritty hard motherhood moments I was dealing with in the trenches. It was a satisfying treat. 

So we've got infant Tylenol for the fever and teething, antibiotics for the ear infection, and a decent cobbler recipe for the sanity of the exhausted parents. There's a lot more to the story, but I am too tired to type anymore so here's a nice little fruit cobbler recipe adapted from allrecipes.com - I simplified a few steps and gave it some much needed texture. 

Enjoy something sweet from my Az Kitchen. 

Stephanie

P.S. This would be a great EASY dessert to have ready to celebrate over the long weekend!
P.P.S.S. Eating the leftovers cold straight from the fridge with a glass milk after a 2am feeding of the baby isn't too shabby either. It totally reminded me of an old fashioned slice of apple pie without all the work involved! If I just happened to be up at 2am......

Peach & Apple Cobbler

Ingredients

for the filling:
5 Peaches, skin on, cut around the pit into chunks
3 Apples, skin on, cored, cut into chunks
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch

for the crust:
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of hot water
6 tsp of cold butter

topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 & 1/2 tsp turbinado sugar (or regular white sugar)


Directions: 
1. In a buttered baking dish (I used a small rectangle) combine all the filling ingredients. Use your hands to mix it throughly to save on washing a spoon but also to make sure each piece of fruit is coated. Bake it at 425 for 10 minutes. 

2. While the fruit is baking combine all ingredients in a small bowl except the water and butter. Use a fork or pastry tool to work the butter into the flour - doesn't have to be all incorporated like you are making biscuits but mostly. Add the water in just until its moist. (the water will make it very sticky and clumpy which is why the butter doesn't have to be perfectly worked in)

3. Pull the fruit out of the oven when finished and drop small amounts of the crust on top all over the top of the fruit. 

4. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar topping over the fruit next and put it back in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Top should be crunchy and golden just like the picture below.  

Easy Dreamy Roasted Cinnamon Apple Dessert

I hope you had a good safe halloween. I am so glad Fall is here. I know I have said it a zillion times but I am honestly very grateful for all the cool stuff that fall means to so many people, and all the fun memories that accompany this time of the year. 

Fall means many things... lately its been carrying a fruit-filled meaning: apples. This might explain the abundance of apple recipes in my blog either that or I need to switch grocery stores. Some of my favorite apple recipes are: crockpot chipotle apple turkey chili, apple pancakes, and apple walnut coffee cake. I love the smell of applesauce cooking away on the stove, and drinking hot apple cider when the weather starts to get cooler. And you know that commercial with the guy who gets stuck apple picking on a sunday and is upset about missing kickoff? I love football but that would make my fall. I haven't ever gone apple picking and would love it. 

So I have this apple dessert. Its not really a recipe just a couple steps to apple taste-bud heaven. The vanilla bean ice cream doesn't hurt either, right? Enjoy fall! Recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart Living magazine Jan 2013 issue. 

Easy Dreamy Cinnamon Apple Dessert

serves 4

cook + prep time =  30-35 minutes


Directions & Ingredient List

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 

Step 2: Clean and core 3 or 4 apples (averaging 1 per person for adult or 1/2 for kid sized)

Step 3: Cut 1 1/2 Tbs cold unsalted butter into small chunks and put them into the cored apples. 

Step 4: Put 1/2 tsp of cinnamon inside each apple

Step 5: Bake each apple on a baking sheet for 30 minutes or until they are soft but not falling apart. I used Gala apples and they are great at holding their shape.  

Step 6: Serve immediately with ice cream and/or walnuts, and or whipped cream or all of the above. 

Please note: It looks prettiest serving the apple whole with ice cream beside or on top of it - but being family friendly thats not the best way to eat it. Without burning your fingers, chop up apples into bite sized pieces and then top it with sweet cold ice cream. It will be less messy for kids and husbands I promise (wink). 

Delish & Easy :) 

Its nice when the fruit is the star of the dessert. 

From my kitchen to yours!

Harvest Apple Pie Pancakes

One thing I enjoy about fall is apples. I wasn't ever roped into picking them as a kid or teen (thankfully), but I loved eating all the Washington apples that I could get my hands on. With school starting, it is even more important that breakfast is done, and done well. Incorporating healthy into breakfast is easy with whole wheat white flour and this easy pancake recipe that is WAY better than anything that comes out of a box. By making it with milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt you can be sure you and your kiddos get the calcium they need to have a good start to their day. You can even make it ahead of time and throw it on your griddle or in a nonstick skillet the morning you wish you eat it. Enjoy breakfast and my recipe featuring my favorite fall fruit.

P.S. This will make your house smell AMAZING! 

Harvest Apple Pie Pancakes 

Makes approx 8-10 pancakes (using 1/4- 1/2 measuring cups)

Prep time is about 5 minutes

Cook time is 7-10 minutes for the entire batch

Recipe adapted from Apple Blintz Pancakes. Click on the title to see the original recipe. 

Ingredient List:

1 cup whole wheat white flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbs white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp cinnamon (divided)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 Tbs baking powder

1 egg

1/4 cup of cottage cheese

1 cup of milk

1 apple, sliced thinly, peel left on

1/4 cup of yogurt, plain organic

Directions:

1. Mix all the wet ingredients together. 

2. Add the dry ingredients into the wet. 

3. Let the pancake mixture set for a 5 minutes to let the flavors blend

4. In a small nonstick saucepan put the apple slices and 1/4 tsp cinnamon on over medium heat. Let the apples soften and cook for 5-10 minutes to your liking. 

5. Spray your skillet or pan or griddle with nonstick spray. 

6. Heat your pan or griddle to medium. To start your pancakes use 1/2 or 1/3 cup of pancake mix and spread it out a little to make a big circle for each one. I was able to fit 3 on a griddle. 

7. Wait to flip the pancakes until the edges look done and there are some bubbles on the top side. You can also check the doneness and adjust the temperature by peeking at the other side with a corner of your spatula to see how dark the other side is getting. 

8. Serve the finished pancakes with the apple cinnamon pieces and syrup or powdered sugar. 

Enjoy this wonderfully fall breakfast

from my kitchen to yours

Crockpot Chipotle Apple Turkey Chili & Honey Cornbread: A harvest Cafe Style Speciality Stew

Think about sitting at a cafe with tables, chairs, and music. If that means someplace with pictures on the walls,or tables outside in the late summer sun, with fall breezes... think of that. This is a chili that would be served there... it is distinctive, memorable, and amazing! 

Confession: I made this chili like over a month ago but am still catching my breath from the holidays. Was your Christmas good? I hope so. Ours was actually pretty low-key and relaxed since we didn't travel anywhere to see family. It was filled with gifts, Christmas music and movies, and lots of coffee. I love the flavors of coffee that come out this time of year (gingerbread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, peppermint) but that's another whole addiction, back to food. I had no idea that fruit, specifically apples would taste good with beans and meat but heck yes it does. It doesn't even sort of taste good, it tastes WONDERFUL. My son really liked it too even though he looked at me really really strange when I chopped up extra apple for the top of his bowl. I can imagine he finally thought his mommy had lost it, which may be the case, but that's another story. hahaha. 

I adapted the chili recipe from this one here. The original is a good recipe. I just can't make chili without beans. I know this may spark a debate the whole beans versus no beans in chili but I am not from Texas so yeah I make it with beans because that's how my momma does. I learned to love cooking from her. I made the adjacent recipe in the other blog (the honey cornbread) with only 2 changes. They are listed below. It was amazing too. I recommend doing both! 


Ingredients for chili:
1 cup (6 oz) dried black beans, soaked in water 12 hrs
4 cups of water
1 lb 2 oz of ground lean turkey,
2-3 chopped chipotles in adobe sauce (1 1/4 oz)
1/4 -1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup apple juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 Tbs ground coriander
1/2 Tbs ground cumin
1/2 Tbs smoked paprika
2 green apples, washed, peeled and diced
1/2 of a lemon juiced
1 cup of chicken stock store bought or homemade
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 oz of tomato paste (approx half a can)

best eaten garnished with: shredded or grated sharp white cheddar cheese, oyster crackers or saltines, & a bit of green tart apple on the top for color, contrasting flavor, and crunch

Directions for chili:

1. Soak the beans for 12-24 hrs before cooking.

2. The morning of cooking the chili rinse the beans, and remove anything suspicious looking.

3. Put the beans in crock pot on low with 4 cups of water.

4. Cook for 5 hrs

5. Cook ground turkey in a skillet over medium high heat with 1 cup of water and the finely diced red onion. When water has decreased by half, add in the salt, pepper, minced garlic, and all remaining dried spices. Continue cooking until mixture is thick and majority of the water has cooked out. 

6. If you are using a nonstick skillet skip this part. If you are using a cast-iron skillet or something else, deglaze the skillet with apple juice. Scrape all the flavorful meat bits off the bottom.

7. Add the meat mixture to the crock pot with the beans

8. Add all the other ingredients (including apple juice if you didn't need it in step 6) to the crock pot. Stir once to combine. 

9. Cook for another 5 hours on low to let flavors develop and hang out.

10. Garnish each bowl with a sliced green apple & handful shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I chopped green apple up instead since I was serving it to kiddos).

11. Serve with Cornbread

Ingredients for Honey Cornbread:

1 cup of buttermilk
2/3 cup of honey
4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of all purpose flour *
1 1/4 cup cornmeal * 
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs

* I starred the changes above from the original. It originally called for 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour and only 1 cup of cornmeal and I switched the amounts. 

Directions for cornbread: 

1. preheat the oven to 375

2. In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together starting with the eggs so you can catch any shells that fall in. Continue adding the rest of the wet ingredients. Stir until well combined. Then add the dry ingredients to the bowl. Stir again well combined. 

3. pour into a greased pan. I used my cast iron with a small amount (less than 1 Tbs) of butter melted inside to ensure non sticking... but an 8 x 8 baking dish would work well too

4. Bake for 30 or 35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack until ready to serve. 

5. Serve with in cubes or wedges with Chili or Stew, and extra honey or butter (but not really needed). 


Cornbread & Stew serves 6-8 people comfortably. Since there is only 3 in my family we had leftovers for awhile. It was wonderful! Every time I reheated it I added another half of apple in it. This truly tasted like a bowl of late summer harvest. The sweet from the apple, the spice from the chipotles, and meaty bean spoonfuls were a delight. The extra apple also gave a nice contrasting crunch flavor that my toddler enjoyed! 

Enjoy!

from my kitchen to yours!