Sweets

(Healthier) No-Bake Granola Bars

By in Cookies & Bars, GF Sweets, Gluten Free, Kids, Snacks 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , ,

healthier no bake granola bars

It has been HOT here this week. We all tend to lose our appetites when it’s so hot out so we’ve been keeping mealtimes really simple by having lot’s of salads, fruits and veggies with a little side of grilled meat. I didn’t turn on my oven once this week, but in preparation for our camping trip coming up, I wanted to prepare some “baked goods”. Enter the delight of the “no-bake goods”.

I really like my original no-bake granola bars, but I didn’t make them too often because I started feeling guilty about the amount of sugar in them. Fine for dessert, but for a mid-day snack that I’m going to be feeding my children? Not so much. So, I tried out a new version, a healthier version, added a few more things to make it more nutritious and now I’ve got a no-bake granola bar without the guilt.

These granola bars are chewy and sweet, with the taste of honey, toasted oats and nuts and little bites of sweet, plump raisins. Package them up and bring them along on your picnics or trips to the beach. Who needs those wimpy store-bought granola bars when you can have such delicious ones, so simply, at home?

No-Bake Granola Bars

To make these gluten-free use gluten-free certified oats.

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
  • 1/2 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium-sized skillet, toast oats and nuts over medium heat until fragrant. Remove to a bowl, along with dried fruit and set aside.

In the same skillet add butter, honey, brown sugar and salt. Cook until bubbling and then continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture; stir well until evenly coated.

Press into a 8×8 inch baking pan, lined with parchment paper. Wet fingers to keep from sticking. You want the pack to be quite firm.

Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove from pan. Using a serrated knife cut the bars in half and then into 6, creating 12 granola bars. Store, covered, at room temperature. Separate with pieces of parchment or wax paper, if stacking on top of each other.

Makes: 12

Adapted from Lauren’s Latest. Originally from Rachael Ray.

Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

By in Cookies & Bars, Sweets 6 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

maple walnut cookies

Happy Canada Day weekend! I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day off, and hopefully some fabulous weather to go with it! Every time Canada Day comes around I can’t help but make something with maple. Give me any excuse to cook or bake with maple and I’ll jump at the chance.

These cookies are put together a bit differently than your average cookie. They don’t have any eggs, for one, and the dough starts out with melted butter and boiling water. It may sound strange, but the results are a thick, chewy cookie with a lightly crisp outer crust. They’re not overly sweet, with some crunch from the walnuts and a light maple flavour. I found them quite addicting. I usually don’t care for jumbo cookies, but in this case I was very happy to have a giant cookie all to myself.

These would be so delicious warm from the oven with a scoop of Maple Brown Butter Semifreddo. Next time I might make them half the size just so I can sandwich some semifreddo in between.

P.S. Please make these for your next camping trip. They’re the perfect cookie for the job.

Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

  • 1.5 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon pure maple extract
  • 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Mix together oats, coconut, flour, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

Place butter and maple syrup in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Cook and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Stir together baking soda and boiling water and add it to the melted butter along with the maple extract. Stir the butter mixture into the oats. Fold in walnuts.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces (about 3 tablespoons each), place them about 3 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets, 6 to a sheet. Flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake at 300ºF for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and set. Transfer to wire racks or paper towel, to cool. Store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 1 week.

Makes: 12 jumbo cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Dino Party: Red Dino Cake

By in Cakes, How-to's 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , ,

Dino Party: Red Dino Cake

This post is part of a series for a Dino themed birthday party.  To view the rest of the series head on over to the Dino Birthday Party post.

This was the most important aspect of the party to me. If I got nothing else done I knew I just had to make this dinosaur cake because it was what Max was the most excited about. Anytime anyone would ask him about his birthday his first response was to tell them about his “red dinosaur cake”!

He knew from the very beginning that he wanted a red dinosaur cake. So one day, we went online to Cake Central to look for some inspiration. He would say, “no, don”t like it” to every one, until he saw this one. The moment he saw it, it was decided – it had to be that cake. I did my best to recreate it and he would come over to check up on me and make sure I was making it “zactly the same” (so cute!). Of course you can never make something exactly the same, nor would I want to. That”s the beauty of making it your own.

Here”s how I made mine.

Baking

I split the batter between all of the pans – 2 cups for each half of the ball pan, the remainder in the 9×13 pan. Bake at 350ºF until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire wracks to cool completely. Wrap one half of the ball cake in plastic wrap and freeze.

Preparing

Prepare a double batch of Whipped Vanilla Frosting; tint green.

Color fondant to desired colours by kneading gel colourings into the prepared fondant. I made my own using this recipe, but you could also buy it pre-made.

Take the frozen half-ball cake and gently carve it into a dino head shape by taking it in slightly at the top and sides to form a nose. Working with a frozen cake helps it to not fall apart while you carve it. Once you get the look you want, let it thaw.

Cut two cardboard cutouts to match the bottom of the half-ball cakes; wrap them in plastic wrap. Use a small bit of frosting to stick the cake to the appropriate board. This will help later when you want to cut the cake into servings. It also makes transferring the cakes much easier.

Frosting

Lightly coat the half-ball cakes in Whipped Vanilla Frosting. Roll out the desired colour of fondant and drape over. Smooth and trim to fit the cake perfectly.

Frost the 9×13 pan with Whipped Vanilla Frosting. Place the half-ball cakes on top in desired placement. If at any time the frosting seems to be getting too soft or starts to melt, refrigerate before continuing.

Decorating the Dinosaur

I used this wilton kit to help me with the decorating

  • I flattened two white pieces of oval fondant for the eyes. Shaped and flattened some red fondant to cover part of the eyes, for the eyelids. Shaped and flattened two half circles out of black fondant for the pupils.

  • I rolled one large piece of fondant to make the neck and connect the back to the head

  • I rolled another larger piece of fondant, rolling it thinner on one end, to make the tail. I attached it to the end of the dinosaur and curled it to fit on the base cake.

  • I rolled out some blue fondant and cut out triangles to make the spikes on his back. I drug lines through, to add dimension. I made them differing sizes and shapes. They stuck on easy on their own but you could also use a bit of water, if needed.

  • I put lines along the nose to look like it”s crinkling

  • I made indents with a ball tool to look like nostrils

  • I rolled out the blue fondant and cut out circles to add to the body and head

Decorating the Base

  • I rolled thin strings of brown fondant and placed them in a vine-like fashion around the cake.

  • I rolled out green fondant and cut out leaf-like shapes in differing sizes and shapes. I drug lines to make the veins and placed them around the vines and the dinosaur.

  • I rolled small thin pieces of fondant into grass-like shapes and used them to fill up any empty spaces.

And, that”s it. I didn”t use many special tools, I personally like to form most of it myself with my own hands just using a paring knife to cut unique shapes. Hopefully my description is actually helpful and not confusing. I may not be the best instructor via writing, but hopefully you get the gist. :)

 

Dino Party: Fossil Cookies

By in Cookies & Bars, Kids, Sweets 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , ,

Dino Party: Fossil Cookies

This post is part of a series for a Dino themed birthday party.  To view the rest of the series head on over to the Dino Birthday Party post.

To kick-start the party once all the kids had arrived we gave them each a kite to play with and let them loose on the yard. This was one of the best ideas ever (thanks to my mom, for her brilliance), it kept the kids busy for a very long time and it doubled as a fun favour for them to bring home with them.

I still wanted to make something dinosaur-themed, for them to take home, so on their way out the door they each got a small stretchy dinosaur and a little parcel containing these fossil cookies (a.k.a. whipped shortbread with dinosaur footprints).

They were so easy to make and since I already had a dinosaur, that just happened to be laying around waiting to be gifted to the birthday boy, I had everything on hand to whip them up. And, I loved the way they turned out.

I think cookies are always a hit when given as favours and when they”re this easy (and cute to boot) it makes for a delicious, fun and stress-free way to work the theme into the favours. Plus for any savings savvy mom”s, it is definitely one of the cheaper options! ;)

Fossil Cookies

The dinosaur foot I used to make the impressions was approximately one inch across.

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature (no substitutes)

  • 1/2 cup icing (confectioners) sugar

  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour and beat on medium speed for 10 minutes. Using a tablespoon, scoop out dough and drop onto parchment paper line baking sheets. Chill in the fridge until firm (about 30 minutes).

Roll each scoop into a ball, flatten into a disk with the palm of your hand. Dip the foot of a clean dinosaur toy into some flour before pressing it into the flattened dough. We”re not going for perfection here, these are fossils after all, so embrace any cracks and imperfections that form. Make sure you make a good impression because the cookies will puff up a bit as they bake.

Bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are a light golden brown. Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before moving to wire wracks to cool completely.

Makes approximately: 28 cookies

Fudge Brownies with Salt Roasted Pecans

By in Chocolate, Cookies & Bars, Sweets 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , ,

Fudge Brownies with Salt Roasted Pecans

Hi friends! I hope you didn”t think I”d forgotten about you!

After what feels like forever, we”re finally settled in our new place. We didn”t have any internet for most of last week, which is why the blog was rather quiet. But, I did get my first ever garden planted – I even have the bright red sun burn to prove it!

I can”t believe how much our lives have changed over the last little while. We went from a view like this:

To a view like this:

Only a little change…

To make up for my week of silence, I made you brownies. Fudgy, gooey, rich brownies. With little pockets of salt roasted pecans to help offset the uber chocolatey-ness. It is one delicious combination.

To ensure fudgy brownies every time it”s important to do two things 1) Don”t over-bake the brownies. A toothpick inserted in the centre should have a few fudgy crumbs stuck to it. If it comes out clean it”s been in the oven too long. To avoid this, check on the brownies well before the recommended time. 2) Don”t over-beat the batter. If you beat the batter too much it incorporates too much air and you”ll have a cakey brownie instead of a fudgy one. To avoid this, mix the batter by hand just until the ingredients are incorporated.

This is one brownie that gets better with age, so if you can bear the wait, make it the day before you plan on serving it.

Fudge Brownies with Salt Roasted Pecans

Salt Roasted Pecans

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  • 1 cup pecans

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the pecans and salt. Cook, stirring often until the pecans have a toasted aroma. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Brownies

  • 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

  • 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cut up

  • 1 cup white sugar

  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Melt together chocolate and butter in a medium sized saucepan, over medium heat. Remove from heat; whisk in sugars. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until evenly mixed. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour and cocoa powder.

Remove 12 pecans from the skillet and set aside. Chop remaining pecans and stir into brownie batter. Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 inch baking pan. Top with the reserved pecans.

Bake at 350º for 25 minutes, or until the top looses it”s shine and a toothpick inserted in the centre produces fudgy crumbs. Let cool at least one hour before serving. Store covered, at room temperature, for up to 5 days.

Makes: 12 servings

Adapted from Bake with Anna Olson.

(Classic) Vanilla Ice Cream

By in Cool, Sweets 5 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

vanilla ice cream

Everyone needs classic recipes in their lives. This vanilla ice cream is definitely a must and worthy of the classic title. As my 16 month old daughter looks at this picture she’s humming “mmmm…. mmmm” with a tiny smile on her face. She knows a good thing when she sees it. My mother in law deemed this one of the best ice creams she’s ever eaten. I agree, it is so much better than anything you will ever get in the freezer section.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, no fear. David Lebovitz (the king of ice cream) has a great tutorial on making it by hand. I’ve done it this way and, while it takes more work, it’s a fun project when you’re in the mood.

I got an ice cream maker for my birthday this year. It’s one of my all time favourite presents. I love ice cream but have always found the store-bought ice creams make me feel a little sick after. Not so with homemade ice cream. I know exactly what’s going in, so there’s no aching teeth or tummy aches.

With the hot weather approaching (or already here) vanilla ice cream is a great thing to have on hand in the freezer. It goes well with virtually every dessert and can cool off your day in an instant. We enjoyed sandwiching ours with ginger crinkle cookies. They were bliss.

Get this classic in your life. It’s more than worth it.

Vanilla Ice Cream

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 cups heavy cream, divided
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put milk, sugar, salt, 1 cup cream and vanilla bean (with seeds) into a medium saucepan. Heat through just until steaming. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a medium-sized bowl. Set a fine mesh strainer over top. Set aside.

Fill a large bowl, or your sink, partway with ice water. This will be to cool down the custard quickly once it’s cooked.

To make the custard: Whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour warm milk into the eggs, whisking constantly, until smooth. Pour mixture back into the saucepan. Set over medium heat, cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spatula (you should be able to draw a visible line with your finger). Remove from heat and pour through the sieve that you set over the cream. Put the bowl into the ice bath (making sure the ice water only goes partway up the sides of the bowl) and allow to cool, stirring often. Once cooled, stir in the vanilla extract and place the vanilla bean back into the mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Once your ready to make the ice cream, remove the vanilla bean from the custard and freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Makes approximately: 1 quart

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop.

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