Cooking in Pajamas

Inspired by Joy of Baking . Muffins 1 c. All-purpose flour 1 c. Whole wheat flour 1/4 c. Ground flax seeds (optional) 1/4 tsp Salt 3/4 tsp Baking soda 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 c. Vegetable oil 1/2 c. White sugar 1 large egg 1/2 c. Milk (3.5%) 1 can (14 fl. oz) Crushed pineapple Zest from one large navel orange 1/2 c. Almonds Pineapple Glaze 1/4 c. White sugar 1/4 c. Pineapple juice Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the almonds until lightly browned, about 8 min.  Cool and chop into small pieces.  Set aside. Line muffin pan with paper liners or grease with nonstick spray. Whisk together the flour, ground flax seed, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Strain the pineapple and collect the juice. Transfer about 2/3 cup of the pineapple juice to a measuring cup and top up to 3/4 cup with milk.  Stir to mix.  The milk may start to curdle a little but it's ok. In another bowl, beat the oil and sugar together. Add the egg and beat until incorporated....

Adapted from  Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits  by  Two Peas and their Pod . Biscuits 2 cup All-purpose flour 2/3 cup Rolled oats 1 tbsp Brown sugar 2 tsp Baking powder 1tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Salt 2 cup Heavy cream (or 1/4 cup unsalted butter + 1 3/4 cup whole milk) 2 Apples, medium size, cut into 1 cm cubes Filling 6 tbsp Brown sugar 2 tsp Cinnamon Toppings 1 Apple, medium size, cut into thin slices 1/3 cup Confectioner's sugar 1tsp Vanilla extract Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly greased a 9x9" baking pan or use a silicone mold. For the filling, combine brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork. Mix well. Take 1-1.5 tbsp of this mixture and sprinkle over the sliced apples; toss to coat. Set aside the remaining sugar mixture aside. For the biscuit, mix together the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Break up any clumps of brown sugar. Make a well with the flour mixture and pour in the heavy cream. (Al...

Adapted from AllRecipes 's To Die For Blueberry Muffins Muffin 1 c. All-purpose flour 1/2 c. Rolled oats 2/3 c. Brown sugar 1/2 tsp Salt 2 tsp Baking powder 1/3 cup Vegetable oil 1 Egg ~1/3 c. Milk 1 c. Blueberries, fresh or frozen Streusel Toppings 1/3 c. Brown sugar 1/6 c. All-purpose flour 1/6 c. Rolled oats 1/4 c. Unsalted butter, cubed 1.5 tsp Ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 400 ° F.  Line muffin pan with paper liners. For the streusel topping, combine the ingredients in a bowl.  Smush the ingredients around with the finger tips but do not over-handle the butter.  Cold butter is necessary for great streusel toppings.  Set this aside while making muffin batter. For the muffin batter, whisk together the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, salt and baking powder. Measure the vegetable oil into a large measuring cup.  Whisk in the egg.  Then, add enough milk to make the volume up to 1 cup.  (I used 1 large egg and I used a litt...

Adapted from Kitchen of Friends . 3-4 riped Bosc pears, peeled but do not remove the stems 2 c. Red wine (your choice) 1/4 c. Grand Marnier 2 Cinnamon Sticks 3 Tbsp Sugar 2-3 slices Mandarin orange (or 1-2 slices Navel orange) [ Note: I used Bartlet pears because it's what I have at home.  But when they are perfectly ripe (like mine was), they are very soft to handle once they are poached.  Therefore, I highly recommend using the Bosc pears (as most recipes do) for a firmer flesh that will make it easier to work with and gives a better texture when they are consumed.] Arrange the pears in a sauce pan. Combine the red wine, Grand Marnier, cinnamon sticks, sugar and orange slices.  Pour over the pears.  Bring to a simmer. Allow the pears to simmer in the wine sauce for approximately 30 min.  Rotate or bast the pears occasionally with the sauce. Carefully transfer the poached pears to another dish and allow the pears to cool to room temperature....

8-9 c. Apples, peeled, cored and cubed 3-4 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice 1 Cinnamon stick 1/4 - 1/2 c. Brown sugar 1.5 c. Water 4 strips Lemon peel Place the apples in a large sauce pan. Add water, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, cinnamon stick, 1/4 c. brown sugar and lemon peel. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 min. Adjust the amount of lemon juice and brown sugar according to your taste. Remove the lemon peels and cinnamon stick.  Mash the apples with a potato masher. My comment: My friend and I took our boys to a local apple orchard a few weekends ago and we came home with way too many MacIntosh apples for us to eat by themselves.  So I decided to make some applesauce and I found this wonderful recipe on Simply Recipe  that promised a hint of citrus flavour in the applesauce.  My family loves lemony treats, so I was rather excited about this recipe. As always, I didn't follow the recipe to the dot.  I ended up with a lemon-flavoured a...

1 pkg (8 oz. ; 250 g) Cream cheese (light), softened to room temperature 1 container (1 L) Whipped topping (light), thawed in fridge 1/2 c. Sugar 24 Tart shells ( frozen or homemade) 2-3 c. Wild blueberries Several hours before tart assembly, wash the blueberries, lightly pat dry with paper towel and then air-dry as much as possible. Bake tart shells as instructed on the box or your recipe until the edges are slightly brown. Set aside and allow to cool. Using an electric beater, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Beat in the whipped topping until just blended. To assemble the tarts, you have 2 options: Fold the washed blueberries into the cream cheese filling and divide them into the tart shells. Cover the bottom of the tart with berries.  Drop a large spoonful of cream cheese filling on the blueberries.  Place more blueberries on top of the filling.  (This works best with wild blueberries because they are smaller.) My comments: When I saw t...

3 c. Fresh berries (I used 2 c. Blueberries + 1 c. Strawberries) 3 tbsp Sugar 1/3 c. Orange juice 1/2 c. Rolled oats Dash of cinnamon 2/3 c. All-purpose flour 1/4 tsp Baking powder 1 pinch salt Dash of cinnamon 1/4 c. Butter, softened 1/4 c. Applesauce, unsweetened 1/2 c. Sugar 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 375°F. If you are using large berries, cut them into smaller size (approximately 1.5 cm big). In an 8" square baking dish, mix together the berries, 3 tbsp of sugar and orange juice.  Add the rolled oats and cinnamon.  Set aside. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Set aside. In another bowl, cream the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar together until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, stirring until ingredients are just combined.  Drop batter over the berry mixture using a rounded teaspoon. Try to cover as much of filling as possible, spread the batter with...

1/4 - 1/2 c. Your favourite fruits (bananas, mangoes, blackberries, strawberries, etc.) 2-3 Tbsp Plain yogurt 2 Tbsp Special K cereal Honey Combine the fruits, yogurt and Special K cereal in a bowl. Drizzle some honey on top for taste. Mix and serve immediately. My comments: I love yogurt but a small 100 g of flavoured yogurt contains 15 g of sugar. Although the sugar is supposed to be "natural", from the fruits, 15 g is equivalent to approximately 1.4 Tbsp of sugar and it tastes quite sweet. So I've decided that if I'm going to be eating that much sugar, I might as well get it straight from the source, especially summer time is the best time to stuff ourselves with fresh fruits. I tried this without adding the honey but the plain yogurt was a bit bland for my palette. But I think drizzling a small amount of honey is still better than eating flavoured yogurt because it is definitely less sugary and I can also control the level of sweetness better th...

Vanilla Cream 1/4 c. Sugar 4 tsp Cornstarch 1/8 tsp Salt 1 c. Light cream 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean) 2 Egg yolks, beaten In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt together. Slowly stir in the light cream. (If using, split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrap out the seed into the mixture and then add the whole vanilla bean.) Cook the cream mixture over medium heat, whisking often until thickened and bubbly. Cook for 1 more minute. Gradually whisk approximately half of the cream mixture into the egg yolk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 2 more minutes, whisking constantly. Remove the cream from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (Or discard the vanilla bean.) Place the bowl of cream in ice water and chill for approximately 5 minutes, stirring often to allow the cream to chill evenly. Cover the cream with plastic wrap and continue to chill in the fridge until cold. Strawberry Sauce 1.5 c....

1 pkg (8 oz. ; 250 g) Cream cheese (light), softened to room temperature 1 container (1 L) Whipped topping (light), thawed in fridge 1/2 c. Sugar 1/2 pint Fresh raspberries 1 1/2 c. Oreo baking crumbs 1/4 c. Butter, melted Alternative: Instead of fresh raspberries, use 1 can (400 mL) crushed pineapple and press the pineapples into the strainer to squeeze out as much juice as possible.  Reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup. Combine the oreo crumbs with the butter. Press it onto the bottom of a 9" pie plate. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth using a electric mixer. Blend in the whipped topping until smooth. Mash the raspberries with a fork and fold into the cream cheese mixture. Pour the mixture onto the oreo pie crust and refrigerate until set. My comment: This was a super easy no-bake cheesecake recipe with super tasting results. The cream cheese filling is smooth and creamy. It is lightly sweetened and the fresh fruity ta...

1/2 c. Fresh raspberries 2-3 tsp Sugar Juice from 1/4 of a lemon Mash the raspberries with a fork. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste. This raspberry coulis is delicious with a slice of citrus pound cake . It can be stored for 3 days in the refrigerator. My comments: Raspberries were on sale this week and I bought 3 half-pint boxes. Unfortunately, the quality of these berries were poor and I already had to throw away one box because of mold. I needed to use up my raspberries very quickly or the rest of them will go to waste as well. Since I was making a pound cake for dessert anyway, I thought a raspberry sauce would go very nicely it! I found this raspberry coulis recipe on Epicurious . I was only making a small amount of sauce so I couldn't use my blender. I don't own a small handheld one nor do I have any sieve at home. Therefore, I decided to skip to purée part and make a "chunky" version of it. Also, I had just washed all the bakeware I used for the po...

1/2 c. Sugar 1/2 c. Butter, unsalted, room temperature 1 Egg, room temperature 1 tbsp Orange zest (from 1 large orange) 1 1/4 c. Flour 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1 tbsp Poppy seeds Pinch of salt Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the orange zest. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add into the butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in the poppy seeds. Place little mounds of cookie batter on a Silpat (or parchment paper or greased cookie sheet). Flatten slightly slightly with a fork. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges turn a little brown. Be careful not to over cook and burn the bottoms. Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. My comments: When I saw the pictures on Elise's Simply Recipes , I knew I just had to try these cookies. It's easy to do and her cookies jus...

Crust 1 Tenderflake deep dish crust Filling 4 Apples (I used 2 Mcintosh and 2 Granny Smith) 1 c. Sour cream 3/4 c. Sugar 1/3 c. All purpose flour 1 Egg 2 tsp Vanilla 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Cinnamon Topping 2 c. Oats (I used instant) 1 c. Brown sugar 3/4 c. All purpose flour 1 tsp Cinnamon 3/4 c. Chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes Preheat oven to 450°F. Thaw the frozen crust at room temperature for 10 min. Topping: Mix the oats, sugar and flour in a bowl. Add butter and knead the ingredients together until well mixed. Chill in fridge until ready to use. Filling: Peel, core and slice apples into half moons. Combine the sour cream, sugar, flour, egg, vanilla, and salt in large bowl and mix well. Stir in the apples. Spoon the apple mixture into crust. Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for about 40 min. The filling should be slightly puffed and golden brown. Flatten small chunks of the topping and evenly lay them over the apple f...

1/2 c. Vegetable oil 1/2 c. White sugar 3 Large eggs 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract 2 c. Flour 1/2 tsp Baking powder 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1/4 tsp Salt 1 tsp Ground cinnamon 3/4 c. Sour cream (or plain yogurt) 3/4 c. Fresh blueberries 3/4 c. Fresh ripe mangos 1 c. Walnut pieces, chopped Preheat oven to 350˚F. Toast walnut pieces for 8 minute on a baking sheet. Set aside and let cool. Cut the mangoes into cubes and set aside with the blueberries. (If you don't know how to cut a mango, check out Elise's instructions on her Simply Recipes blog. She gave detailed instructions with fantastic photos to follow along.) Beat the oil and sugar together for about 1 minute. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Fold in the blueberries, mango and walnuts. Spray the insides of two 9x5x3" loaf pans. Di...