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 Apple Ginger Muffcakes Total time: 40 minutes.
Original by Tried & Tasted’s Paper Chef September: Apple Ginger Cupcakes
Two apples, diced
1 stick of butter
3 inches fresh ginger root, minced
1 T cinnamon
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c plain yogurt
1/4 c milk
1 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Makes 12.
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large nonstick frying pan, melt one stick of butter on medium-high heat. Add ginger root and cook 3-5 minutes until slightly softened. Stir in cinnamon and apples until well coated. Turn off heat and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together egg and all wet ingredients. Stir in sugar until well adapted (about 10 strokes). Add dry mix and stir until just damp (about 40 strokes). Fold in apples and ginger.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
 Apple Oat Bread Total time: 35 minutes.
1 cup chopped apple pieces
1 c flour
1/2 c oats
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together dry ingredients, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add dry mix and stir until evenly coated (about 40 strokes). Fold in apple pieces.
Bake in a greased bread pan for 20-25 minutes, until edges are dark brown.
That has to be the worst picture ever. 🙂
 Chocolate Pecan Biscotti Total time: 1 hour.
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup pecans
2 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350.
Set aside your melted chocolate to cool slightly. It should be a little above room temperature before you add it to the dough.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, cocoa and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix until just blended. Fold in pecans.
Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes or until dark brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.
With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen.
I used quartered pecans.
 Apple Ginger Pierogi Total time: Approximately 1.5 hours.
The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale. My go-to solution for dessert is always apples and ginger.
Dough Ingredients
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp ground coriander
1/2 to 1 cup lukewarm water
Filling Ingredients
1 cup finely chopped apple
1/2 cup minced ginger
1 Tbsp plain or vanilla yogurt
2 tsps cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
Mix together filling ingredients and chill completely before use.
 Apple ginger pierogi with fruit dip Sift together seasonings and 2 cups of flour into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add a little water at a time (in my situation 1/2 cup was enough). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough and let it rest 20 minutes.
On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or as thin as you can go) cut with a 4-inch round or glass. Spoon a portion (tablespoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi, in a single layer in the pan. Return to the boil and reduce heat to medium. When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more (usually about 5 minutes), until they’ve started to puff out.
Toast in a toaster oven at 375F for 10 minutes or until puffy and light brown.
Shown here served with a fruit dip (2 parts yogurt, 2 parts cream cheese, 1 part confectioner’s sugar.
Just. Wow. Yum. Apples and ginger always win for me.
 Gluten Free Indecision Dessert Total time: 3-4 hours.
When tasked with creating a gluten free dessert, I immediately turned to the Celiac Teen for assistance and inspiration. What I found was this yummo looking Lemon Cheesecake Brownie Pie she calls the “indecision dessert”. I altered it to meet what I had in stock.
1 pre-baked gluten free pie crust
1/2 c almonds, ground to just over 1/4 cup
Cheesecake Layer (see below)
Brownie Layer (see below)
Cheesecake Layer
8 oz cream cheese (one block), softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c gluten free sour cream (read the label, check the websites)
2 eggs
1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract (read the label, check the websites)
Completely combine or blend all of the cheesecake layer ingredients. Cover and chill for 1-4 hours.
 Cheesecake Brownie Pie Brownie Layer
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate
6 T butter
1/2 c rice flour
1 T gluten free potato flour
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
In a small microwave safe bowl, combine and heat butter and chocolate for 30 seconds. Stir well. Heat again for 30 seconds, stir well, and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Mix, blend, or whisk it up until the sugar is completely incorporated and the egg mix appears “airy”. Add chocolate mix to the egg mixture, stir completely. Add flours and mix well.
Assembly
Spread cheesecake layer over the bottom of the pie crust. Sprinkle ground almonds over the top of the cheesecake layer as evenly as possible. Spread brownie mix over the top of the almonds.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted through just the brownie layer comes back clean.
Want step by step instructions? Click the link to Lauren’s website above.
The sideview picture of the slice is a bit misleading. If you don’t spread your brownie out evenly, you get these great big hills and valleys in the final product. The other side of the slice was almost oppositely striped, with the cheesecake appearing thick and the brownie appearing thin.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d have no idea this was gluten free. The crust is amazing, and I might just replace my regular graham cracker crust with this one; it’s perfect for cheesecake.
 Gluten Free Pie Crust Total time: 20 minutes.
1 1/4 c rice flour
2 T gluten free potato flour
2 T ground almonds
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
7 T gluten free vegetable shortening (read the label, check the websites)
1/2 c milk
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
Cut in shortening with pastry blender, or the double-knife trick that no one I have ever met has been able to master, until the mixture is similar to cornmeal.
Add milk and incorporate completely. This will give you a really soft dough.
Press dough into a 9 inch pie pan. It helps to create a ball, and start to flatten/spread the ball out with your hands above the pie pan before placing the flattened disc into the dish. Spread dough from the inside outward.
Poke several fork holes into the bottom of the crust.
Bake 10 minutes.
Cool completely before using.
 Banana Bread (with walnuts) Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of allspice
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional!)
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 4 x 8 loaf pan.
Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla. Add flour mix and stir until just combined. If you’re including walnut pieces, fold them in now.
Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for one hour.
What worked for me last time was to bake it for 45 minutes on 350 and then drop the temperature to 300 for the last 15 minutes. It smelled burned, but I was unable to find any burned bits.
 Fan-tans, for guests (made 16) Total time: 4 hours.
Adapted from Buttermilk Rolls in the Joy of Cooking.
Makes 12-24, depending on how you want to rock it.
4 c cheap all purpose flour
3/4 c plain yogurt
3/4 c milk
1/4 c sugar
2 T melted butter
1 T active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
4-8 T softened, spreadable butter at room temperature
Combine yogurt and milk, mix well. Spoon out 1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk mixture and heat to about 110 F. Stir well and often.
Remove from heat and add yeast, stir well. Let set 3-5 minutes or until frothy.
Stir yeast mix into original yogurt mix. Add baking soda, salt, and sugar, and mix well. Add 2 cups of flour and 2 T melted butter. Stir or mix until incorporated, then add remaining 2 cups of flour.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover (with a towel or greased saran wrap). Let rise until more than doubled in bulk, about 3 hours.
Punch down dough and knead lightly in the bowl. Separate the dough into 2 parts. Roll each part into a square about 1/8 inch think. Let sit 2-3 minutes.
Spread softened butter in a thin layer over both pieces. Cut into strips 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Stack them into 6 or 8 layers. Using an extremely sharp knife or kitchen string, cut pieces off the stacks 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Place cut stack pieces into greased muffin tins, with the cut edges facing up. Cover with towel or greased saran wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size again. (Click here for a great example on how to do this, plus another great fan-tan recipe.)
Bake 15-20 minutes, in a preheated 425 F oven, until well browned.
Most often when I make these, I only make 12 rolls, and the rolls look like stay-puffed marshmallows trying to fit into a thimble. They’re pretty epic, and sometimes they stick together completely, and I can just dump the whole pan upside down to get them out.
 Pecan Biscotti Total time: 1 hour, plus “frosting” time
3 cups cheap all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 cups of King Arthur flour)
1 cup sugar
1 cup raw pecans, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp hazelnut syrup
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt*
optional spread
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp brown sugar
* Only use 1/2 tsp salt if you’re skipping the butterscotch spread.
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, syrup and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix just until just blended. Fold in pecans.
 Pecan Biscotti with Butterscotch Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.
With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Melt butterscotch chips, brown sugar and butter on low in a double boiler on the stove or on low heat in the microwave, stirring frequently. Spread warm butterscotch mix across the side or bottom of biscotti. Transfer to wax paper to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen.
The butterscotch chips were apparently more packed with sugar than I anticipated. This makes for an incredibly sweet and somewhat “thick” spread instead of what I’m used to with chocolate. Next time, I’ll not be using any brown sugar. It still cooled and became solid, but I’d much prefer to dip or drizzle it over the top of the biscotti instead of having to spread it on like peanut butter.
The biscotti tastes pretty darn good without the butterscotch.
 Cinnamon Rolls Warning: Cinnamon rolls take time – lots of time. The following recipe is 4-5 hours or overnight. This recipe is supposed to make 12, but I always end up with 16-20 rolls.
5 cups cheap all purpose flour (or 4.5 cups of King Arthur AP flour)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup seedless raisins (optional)
3 eggs, beaten
7 T shortening
7 T white granulated sugar, plus 2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 T warm water (105-115F)
1 T ground cinnamon
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
4 T – 8 T melted butter, or as much or less as you want
Scald 1 cup of milk (I like to put it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, on high for a minute, stir, then on high again for 30 seconds). Add shortening, stir well. Set aside to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
In a small bowl, combine yeast, water, and 2 tsp sugar. Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, combine white sugar, eggs, and salt. Add cooled milk mixture, mix well. Add yeast mixture, mix well. Add flour, mix well for 3-5 minutes, until all the flour is completely incorporated.
Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled (3-4 hours).
Lightly flour the surface of the dough and your hands. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. You might want to lightly flour your rolling pin, as well. Roll dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch, rectangle optional.
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon until the color becomes a uniform brown.
Spread the surface of the rolled dough generously with melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture as evenly as possible across the surface. Follow suit with pecans and/or raisins.
Starting at one side of your dough, fold dough in tightly and roll as snugly as you can to the opposite side. Cut into 1 inch slices and place directly into lightly greased baking tin. Place rolls 1/4 inch to 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise 30 minutes, or cover and store in the refrigerator up to 48 hours. (Remove from refrigerator and let rise 30 minutes before baking.)
Bake 15-30 minutes in a 375F oven, until tops are golden brown (eggwash optional). Just keep an eye on them after the 15 minute mark. I use the middle rack.
When I bake 4 in my 8 inch brownie pan, I only bake them for 15 minutes. Same thing if I squeeze them into a circle on my cookie sheet. When I put 8 in my lasagna pan, I have to bake them quite a bit longer, hence the “15-30” minute range on baking times.
Check out Joy the Baker’s photos here for step by step instructions on how to roll, sprinkle, and prepare cinnamon rolls (not to mention a much sweeter recipe).
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