Autumn is almost here! I can feel it in my bones, and unfortunately in my eyes and sinuses (darn allergies!). The air is crisp, the sunlight at dawn and dusk are soothing, and nature seems to be perking up a bit. Autumn to me, means Starbucks pumpkin lattés, pumpkin patches, pumpkin-everything, apple orchards, and APPLE SEASON! I make this filling to top ice cream, yogurt, to be eaten alone, or added to pillowy empanadas. It’s a huge hit in my family! Enjoy. 🙂
Ingredients
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons light brown sugar, packede
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 of a large lemon)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
In a large pot, thoroughly coat the apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add apple mixture and coat with melted butter.
Cover lid, allow to simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the mix doesn’t stick to the pot.
Remove from heat and transfer to heatproof bowl.
Set aside as you make the empanada dough.
Be sure the apple filling has cooled to room temperature when it’s time to start making the empanadas.
I hope everyone had a wonderful FROZEN Valentines weekend! And a Happy Presidents Day to you, on yet ANOTHER frozen day. I don’t know about anyone else, but COVID, coupled with arctic weather conditions is enough to make anyone go stir crazy. I find that all I’ve been doing is BAKING, EATING, more BAKING and EATING, well, OK, truth be told, I do also try to paint here and there (if you get bored enough during these dire living conditions, you can check out some of them on my Instagram page.). If you’ve scrolled through my site, you may have noticed lots and lots of baking posts. HA. Yes, that is how bad it has been.
All thing considered, it truly is not all that bad. I appreciate all this time I get to spend at home, with no social obligations, traffic, or crowds, and getting to focus on all my hobbies. I’ve never had this much time to paint, garden, bake, cook, walk my two precious puppies, read, binge-watch shows…and share all the recipes I’ve been testing out since March 2020!
I am a huge fan of old-fashioned apple pies. No bells and whistles, just the delish dichotomy of sweet-salty with a touch of tart, wrapped in flakey dough. What’s even better is making them into little pockets that are freezer-friendly and great for when we can all finally get together again and have friends and family over! The photos you see here are empanadas made with whole wheat flour. I try to be healthy. 😉 I’ll post again when I make a more keto-friendly empanada. I found some recipes that use almond flour, which sounds promising to me! I also made savory empanada with a black-bean and veggie sauté (black beans, kale, arugula, yellow onion, celery, garlic, purple cabbage).
Apple Pie Filling
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons light brown sugar, packede
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 of a large lemon)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
In a large pot, thoroughly coat the apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add apple mixture and coat with melted butter.
Cover lid, allow to simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the mix doesn’t stick to the pot.
Remove from heat and transfer to heatproof bowl.
Set aside as you make the empanada dough.
Be sure the apple filling has cooled to room temperature when it’s time to start making the empanadas.
Dough Ingredients
Makes about 8 large empanadas
2 1/4 cups organic unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes ~ I LOVE Kerry Gold unsalted butter. Add another stick of butter if you want this extra flaky.
1 large organic egg
2 tablespoons organic milk
1 tablespoon distilled vinegar
1 glass of ice water ~ you will only use 1/3 cup
Instructions
Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add butter and blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork.
Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. Your dough will look shaggy.
Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Do not overmix and over knead.
Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour.
Form Empanadas
Preheat oven to 400°F. Position an oven rack at the top.
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Gently roll out the dough into a log. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and form each into a ball. I find that it’s easier to roll the dough ball on a hard surface, using the center of my palm. They do not have to be perfect.
>Roll out 1 piece on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 8″ circle. Keep remaining pieces covered with a cheesecloth, chilled if possible.
Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons filling to the center and fold dough in half, enclosing filling.
Press edges together with your finger tips, press a fork around edges to seal.
Transfer empanada to a large freezer-proof plate. Repeat to make the remaining 7 empanadas.
Freeze until just firm, about 15-20 minutes.
Lightly brush empanadas with some of egg wash and bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with some hot tea. YUM!
I don’t even recall how many failed attempts I’ve had in all my years of baking and searching for the “Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie.” I eventually—I am ashamed to admit this—bought store-bought baked cookies (always a great disappointment) or the Pillsbury or Tollhouse packages that you just pop in the oven. Folks, I am happy to say my search is over and this recipe is JUST.SO.DARN.DELISH. to not share it with the world…and *SHHH*, this stays between us “health nuts” and adults…I am using organic whole wheat flour! YES. Mwahahahahaha -insert purple smiley devil face emoji-.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup brown sugar
1 TSP sea salt
1/2 cup (one 4oz stick) unsalted butter ~ soft, room temperature (iIMPORTANT: NOT hot or melted)
1 large free range organic egg
1 TSP vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour
1/2 TSP baking soda
1 1/2 cup (12oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
INSTRUCTIONS
Leave the wrapped butter in a dish, at room temperature, for a few hours.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, and soft butter, until you get a smooth light yellow paste.
Whisk in the egg and vanilla.
Sift in the flour and baking soda, then very gently fold the mixture with a spatula. Do not overmix the dough, as this will result in cakey cookies.
Fold in the chips and gently distribute evenly with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop out 12 cookie dough balls and place them on parchment, allowing about 4″ between each cookie and 2″ from the edges.
Bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges start to turn light golden brown.
Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving with a nice tall glass of cold milk OR a cup of hot tea. ENJOY!
One of my absolute favorite desserts ever since I discovered its existence in college (YES, can you believe my mom never baked cheesecake for us?!) is NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE. Yum, yum, and YUM. I remember my first few cheesecake flops years ago. The process seemed so daunting and foreign to me. Fast forward many moons and seasons…I now know why my cheesecake endeavors all tasted like “quichecakes” rather than cheesecake. Meh, live and learn. 🙂
I found a recipe on the side of a bulk cheesecake box purchased from Costco and thought I’d give it a try. I thought it was perfectly creamy and easy. The following recipe is the one I modified ~ making a crustless cheesecake, with a hint of lemon. If you’d like to try the original recipe found on the box, scroll all the way to the bottom.
INGREDIENTS
3 (8 ounce) packages full fat cream cheese ~ room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
4 eggs
1/4 TSP salt
2 TBSP+ orange zest ~ adding more is better!
1 TBSP lemon zest
Instructions
Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil to make it waterproof.
In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese. Add sugar and mix.
Scrape down the bowl; add Greek yogurt, mixing thoroughly.
Add eggs to mixer one at a time, mixing thoroughly on low speed.
Scrape down the bowl add salt and lemon zest.
Mix on low until well combined.
Pour cheesecake batter into pan.
Bake in a water bath at 325°F for 60-90 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Original “New York Style Cheesecake” Recipe
CRUST
1 cup graham crackers crumbs
2 1/2 TBSP unsalted butter. ~ melted
1 1/2 TBSP sugar
FILLING
6 (8 ounces) packages full fat cream cheese ~ room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
7 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 TSP salt
2 TBSP lemon zest
INSTRUCTIONS
Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil to make it waterproof.
Butter the bottom of pan.
In mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar and mix well. Press into bottom of pan.
In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese. Add sugar and mix.
Scrape down the bowl; add sour cream, mixing thoroughly.
Add eggs to mixer one at a time, mixing thoroughly on low speed.
Scrape down the bowl add rest of ingredients.
Mix on low until well combined.
Pour cheesecake batter into pan.
Bake in a water bath at 325°F for 60-90 minutes until the cake sets.
Remove from oven and chill completely before serving.
If you LOVE blueberries, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, etc., then you’re in for a treat! This dense-but-moist bread is packed with mouthfuls of bursting blueberries! I tested out a few recipes and modified through trial and error, omitting, replacing, and adding as I went. This final recipe has the perfect balance of density, moisture, and sweetness. The grated zucchini provides moisture and you wouldn’t even know that someone had the nerve to sneak in…*gasp* zucchini! 🙂
So—why on earth would someone want to put zucchini in a sweet bread? It’s a vegetable. I’m not a food expert so I will share the information I learned from research. It’s because once upon a time successful farmers and home gardeners would have pounds upon pounds of zucchini and did not know what to do with them all…so they added them to baked goods. Zucchini is very prolific once it starts to thrive (assuming your zucchini crop was spared by the sesiid moths, Melittia Satyriniformis, that lay their eggs on the base of young zucchini plants, thus producing vine-boring larvae that destroy the entire plant, living and growing inside the tubular vines). Zucchini has a mild flavor and is high in water content, providing moisture to baked goods. That’s the longer than necessary short answer. 🙂
NOTES
Always try to use organic ingredients when possible. The grocery bill can add up quickly and not all produce are covered in harmful pesticides. As a general rule, I follow the Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 list. I have been a loyal fan since 2004, when they first started. FYI, blueberries are listed as #15 and zucchini squash is #27. The lower the number, the higher the level of pesticides.
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar ~ can substitute with granulated white sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups finely grated or shredded zucchini ~ about 3 medium zucchini; I like to use an old-fashioned mandolin
2 pints fresh blueberries
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Lightly grease 2 large loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, oil, yogurt, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk in flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Do not overmix the batter.
Gently fold in zucchini and blueberries with a spatula. Pour into the prepared loaf pans.
Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool about 20 minutes on cooling racks. Serve warm with butter and a hot cup of tea. ENJOY! 🙂
Kefir is a cultured milk product, rich in probiotics. It is a great yogurt substitute for the lactose intolerant. It tastes slightly tart and looks a lot like drinkable yogurt. You can make it at home or buy it in various flavors. I especially love the raspberry, which is what I’m using as the base for this pudding. SIMPLE, HEALTHY, and DELICIOUS! It’s my kind of recipe! 🙂 It’s great as a breakfast or mid-morning/day snack.
These tiny mottled seeds are so much fun! And anytime I say or hear the word “chia,” I’m automatically picturing a terra cotta critter with green “chia fur.” Chia seeds are from the Saliva Hispanica plants that have been cultivated since the Mayan and Aztec days. These tiny seeds pack a giant punch of protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids!
Flax seeds are another great source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. However, unlike chia seeds, which can be eaten whole, flax seeds need to be ground in order for our bodies to digest and reap the health benefits. Left whole, they simply pass through. Both chia and flax seeds form a mucilaginous layer and expand when they are soaked in liquid. These seeds do go bad quickly, so it’s recommended you purchase these in small batches and refrigerate or freeze the remainder in airtight containers.
INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 cups kefir ~ flavor of choice
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/4 cup fresh organic blueberries
1/2 cup fresh organic strawberries ~ cut into small pieces
1-2 teaspoon organic agave nectar, to taste ~ optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Pour the kefir into a mason jar or container with a seal. Gently stir in the seeds.
Cover the mix and allow it to set for about 1 hour or overnight.
When ready to eat, add your fruit (fresh or dried) or oatmeal of choice. VOILA!
It is official. I am on a cranberry binge. In the past few weeks, I have made four (yes, 4!) batches of muffins, all containing cranberries. Although, in my defense, I have varied them a bit. 🙂
If you’re interested, here are a couple of the recent cranberry-related recipes:
Icing is one of those things you either love or love to hate. 😉 I suppose I’m the oddball that neither hates nor love it. I sometimes like it and sometimes dislike it, depending on how it’s made and what it’s enhancing.
The GREAT thing about this recipe is you can use lemon, lime (yes!), orange, grapefruit, tangelo, pomelo, or whatever heavenly citrus fruit you can get your culinary hands on!
TIP: Anytime you are using citrus juice, either in another recipe or your tea, and will not be using the zest, be sure to grate the zest before juicing the fruit. Zest freezes well in a tightly-sealed container.
INGREDIENTS:
1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons organic juice ~ citrus fruit of your choice
1 tablespoon organic zest ~ citrus fruit of your choice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients together until smooth.
Drizzle over your pastry of choice.
Allowing the glaze to harden is optional. I prefer my glaze to be thick, but not hard. 🙂
Plantains belong to the banana family and resemble large, sturdy bananas; however, they are quite different than their smaller cousins. You cannot eat plantains without cooking them. They are quite possibly the most versatile produce you may ever come across in terms of using it as a fruit or a vegetable. They also have a very lengthy shelf life, making it convenient to purchase ahead of time to keep until you are ready to cook.
Green plantains are treated much like a vegetable, a potato to be precise, because of its high starch and low sugar content. Plantains are very popular in Latin, Southern Asian, Western African and Caribbean cuisine, usually baked, fried, boiled, or steamed.
When ripened, you can treat the sweet plantains like a hearty dessert. I love pan frying ripe plantains and serving them with sunny-side-up eggs and fresh-squeezed orange juice! It’s the perfect breakfast.
It doesn’t matter what stage you purchase the plantains, but it’s best to have an idea how you want to cook it. If you need the plantains to be sweet, it will take about 3-5 days to turn this color (see image below). The blacker the skin turns, the sweeter the fruit inside, which is how I like my platanos. Perfection.
INGREDIENTS:
1-2 large plantains ~ let them ripen for about 3-7 days
cooking oil
PREPARATION:
Using a sharp paring knife, cut off both ends. Remove the skin by making a long slit down the side, then peel away the skin.
Slice the plantains about 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick. You can cut them lengthwise or into medallions like I did.
Heat some cooking oil in a large pan.
Lay the plantains flat in the pan, making sure they are not touching.
Fry them on both sides until they are golden. Some folks prefer them almost charred. Enjoy! 🙂
Luluesque 
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