GourmAndrea

Awesome Apple Crisp

This is everything I want in an apple crisp. The apples are soft but have a bit of bite left, it is sooo sweet and the butter and sugar mix and make a sticky caramel around the edges. If you taste it by itself it is almost too rich but paired with vanilla ice cream; a match made in heaven. The only adaptation I may try next time is to reduce the flour by 1/3 of a cup in the crisp and increase the oats aby 1/3 because I like my crumble oaty and if I were to be really picky there is a tiny bit of a gritty mouthfeel. I got this recipe from Allrecipes the original can be found here.

 

White Chocolate Brownies

I have a "thing" for white choc brownies, it all started with the awesome one you can get at Moxies. I went with a recipe from a blog called La Mia Vita Dolce.  She based her recipe on one from Anna Olsen but reduced the sugar by half and added chocolate chips.  Check out her photo's they are amazing! my brownies browned much more than hers on top but they tasted moist and had a fudgy texture.

White Chocolate Brownies

Makes:16 squares

1/3 cup unsalted butter cut into pieces

8 oz white chocolate, chopped

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

heaping half cup choc chips (I used close to 3/4 cup)

1.) Preheat oven to 350F

2.) Butter, line then butter a 9 " square baking pan

3.) Place butter in medium size heat proof bowl. Place bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, melt butter halfway. Add 4 oz of white chocolate until chocolate has melted then take of heat and whisk in the rest of chocolate until completely melted and smooth.

4.) Place sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Using a hand held mixer on high speed beat sugar and eggs until pale about 3 min. Reduce to medium add vanilla and chocolate beat to just combine.

5.) In a seperate bowl using a fine mesh sieve sift flour,baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture beat until smooth.

6.) Gently fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 min. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack, when cool cut into squares.

Inside out carrot cake muffins- King Arthur Flour

I was on the fence about posting these muffins because I felt they were just ok. I am not sure if I over mixed or made a mistake but I felt they came out dry and tough. My batter didnt match the recipe pics their batter was more fluid and I found it odd because I cant figure out why I read then re read recipe?? Anyways who knows could be me or there is a typo. Here is the link. I took my pics just out of fridge but the cream cheese is much softer warm or at room temp. The amount they tell you to do the first layer (2 tbsp batter) before the cream cheese center is too much batter I would just do a thin layer covering the bottom. If you go with what they say you run out of room and end out with cream cheese popping out the top.

If anyone makes these in the future I would love to know what your batter consistency was ect.

Granola Bars

 

 

I had a craving for homemade granola bars so I found a recipe and made some small changes to it. These are pretty good but I prefer a bit more oat to flour ratio and a bit more nuts. I will keep searching but that's the fun part right?

Granola Bars

3/4 cup old fashioned or large flake oats

1/4 cup chopped nuts (your choice)

2 tbsp pumpkin or sunflower seeds

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried fruit (your choice)

1/4 cup chocolate chips; optional

1.) Preheat your oven to 350F

2.) Line an 8 x 8" pan with aluminum foil letting it overhang and 1" on each sides spray lightly with spray.

3.) Place the oats,nuts and seeds on a baking tray bake for 6-10 min stirring halfway until lightly golden and smelling nutty; set aside to cool completely.

4.) In a small bowl whisk together flax,flour,cinnamon and salt until well mixed.

5.) In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar,oil,egg and vanilla add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in nuts/oats and dried fruit/chocolate until just combined.

6.) Put into prepared pan and moisten fingers lightly with water and spread mixture evenly in pan.

7.) Bake for 25-30 min or until set and then put pan on cooling rack until completely cooled then slice into bars or squares. I made 8 fair sized bars but you could do 16 squares.

 

Eat Alberta 2012

Eat Alberta is here again! Unfortunately I wont be able to make it this year. Ivy is only 3 1/2 months and with still nursing you get the idea. I am disapointed because I had a great time last year you can read about it here.

Here are the details and the link to buy tickets :)

On April 14, 2012, the second annual Eat Alberta conference will take place at NAIT. Through a mix of hands-on and demonstration workshops, tasting sessions, and presentations from some of the leaders of our food community – farmers, chefs and local food advocates – we hope that participants will learn how to use and source local food as well as develop nurturing and ongoing relationships with one another and with those that produce our food. Our theme for this year is: Your Real Food Survival Guide.

Visit our website to see the schedule, sessions, and presenters for this year's event. Tickets are now available here for $135 - we hope to see you on April 14!

Cheers,

Eat Alberta Organizing Committee