Cranberry-Orange Baked Apples

I realize that Hallowe’en is big business. I’ve said it before — I don’t mind the business of costumes and fun but I don’t like the tons of candy that come with it.

I’ve also written about how it was back in the day — when I was a kid, when we did some minimal trick or treating and spent most of the evening playing games and bobbing for apples.

Before the fun and games my mother would give us dinner (typically macaroni and cheese with a buttered rice krispies crust) followed by either apple pie or baked apples.

My Dad always ended the festivities with a feast of hot chocolate.

To me, macaroni and cheese, baked apples and hot chocolate bring back happy memories and, to this day, I would prefer to enjoy the day the way it used to be for me.

Cranberry-Orange Baked Apples

• 4 large baking apples

• half a lemon

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (or plain sugar)

• 1 tablespoon butter or solid coconut oil, cut into 4 pieces

• 1 cup orange juice, apple juice or cider

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples, then remove the core and seeds, leaving about 1/2-inch on the bottom. Peel the apples 1/2 of the way down from the stem end on top, then rub the cut surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the cranberries and orange peel and stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon sugar. Dot the tops with the butter or solid coconut oil. Bake the apples for 10 minutes then pour the juice over the apples. Continue to bake, basting occasionally with the pan juices, for about 35-40 minutes or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 

Peach Streusel Cake

Peaches/nectarines are in my top #5 foods of all time. One of the items I would choose if I had to “live on a desert island with only 5 foods.” So I get excited when they are ripe, ready and in season.

But I overdid it on the peach order recently.

Really, there are just so many I can eat in one day.

After a few days some were softening quicker than I planned and I had to use them. So I baked this cake — based on one that I usually make with apple slices and applesauce. Only I used peach slices and pureed peaches.

Perfect.

Peach Streusel Cake

Streusel:

• 1/3 cup quick oats

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Mix the oats, flour, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs (food processor on pulse is fine). Set aside.

Cake:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/2 cup pureed peaches

• 1/3 cup plain yogurt

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8” square cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel and set aside. Beat the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer or electric mixer at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the peaches, yogurt, egg and vanilla extract and beat for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Add half the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until well blended. Add half the milk and beat until well blended. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan 10 minutes then invert onto a cake rack. Turn the cake right side up to cool completely.

 Makes 8-10 servings

Crumb Cake

Recently I bought a whole load of apples and have almost completed my yearly activity of making all sorts of apple desserts to put away in the freezer. I made pie, crisp, cake, my mother’s recipe for Raisin Bran crusted apples.

I also wanted to make apple sauce, but when I looked around I realized that in addition to all those apples, I had several plums and nectarines that were past their prime.

I hate to throw out food, so I made sauce, but only used two apples. The rest: 5 nectarines, 5 plums. A teaspoon of cinnamon. A tablespoon or two of sugar. All boiled down, just like applesauce, which we ate with roasted chicken.

But I had some left so I decided to use it to bake one of the recipes I have for applesauce coffee cake. I changed the formula a bit so that the seasonings would go better with mixed fruit, and I changed the streusel top to be nut-free (I used old fashioned oats).

The result: tender, moist, delicious coffee cake.

FRUIT SAUCE Crumb Cake:

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/2 cup applesauce or other fruit sauce

• 1/3 cup sour cream

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/3 cup milk

• streusel topping

 streusel topping: 

• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons cold butter cut into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 9-inch cake pan. Beat the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer or electric mixer set at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the applesauce, sour cream, egg and orange peel and beat the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger into a bowl. Add half the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until well blended. Add half the milk and beat until well blended. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been used up. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan 10 minutes then carefully invert the cake twice onto a cake rack to cool completely. Turn the cake right side up to cool completely.

To make the streusel: mix the flour, oats, brown sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl until they are well combined. Add the butter and mix the pieces into the dry ingredients with your fingers, a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is mealy.

Makes 8-10 servings

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

I love September. I love seeing bins of fresh pumpkins at the market. The pumpkins remind me that we’re in the midst of the Jewish holidays, which signal a new year and new beginnings, so that even while the trees will soon be bare and it will get cold and snowy and nighttime will come more quickly and the long sunshiny days of summer are ending, there’s a new harvest, a new season. Life continues and thrives and I know that in Connecticut, where I live, we will soon see nature’s spectacular colors along the roads, fields and highways.

In case I wasn’t clear —I love this time of year.

I also love using fresh pumpkin for recipes. Ravioli filling. Soup. Sauce. Pie. Cake. Quickbread. Even ice cream.

This is my latest pumpkin special: muffins that are perfect for Sukkot as breakfast (or snack) or to tote to a Sukkah to eat with dinner. I add raisins but you can leave them out or substitute any dried fruit or chopped nuts.

P.S. These muffins would also be a nice treat for Thanksgiving dinner.

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine; NOT pumpkin pie mix)

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup milk (non-dairy or dairy)

• 2 large eggs

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 cup raisins (or use dried cranberries or chopped nuts)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tin cups. Combine the pumpkin puree, sugar, vegetable oil and milk in a large bowl and whisk the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Whisk in the eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and add them to the pumpkin mixture. Whisk the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Fold in the raisins. Spoon equal amounts of the batter into the prepared cups. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Makes 10 muffins

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Before my cousins came for a long visit over the Memorial Day weekend I stocked up on all the foods they loved. We ate most of it, but Leslie told me that Neil also needed foods with potassium so I bought several bananas.

He ate a few.

Still. I bought too many. As usual. There were 3 left over.

So, banana muffins. These, with chocolate because, why not?

banana chocolate Muffins

• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

• 3/4 cup water

• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 10 muffin tins. Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set it aside. Beat the sugar and vegetable oil together in an electric mixer at medium speed for a minute or so or until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the bananas and mix them in. Add the dry ingredients and beat for 1-2 minutes to blend them in thoroughly. Combine the water and cider vinegar, pour into the batter and beat the ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Fill muffin tins with equal amounts of the batter. Spoon equal amounts of chocolate on top of each and use a knife to swirl some chocolate into each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 15 minutes before removing them.

Makes 10

Blueberry Granola Crisp

In my neck of the woods the blueberries are fabulous.

Just in time for a dessert trying out a new riff on my usual granola crust.

It went well…..

Blueberry Granola Crisp

Crust:

• 1 cup granola

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup raisins, optional

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 5 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into chunks

Place the granola, flour, raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and pulse the ingredients 2-3 times to distribute them evenly. Add the butter and pulse several times until the butter pieces become tiny and distributed evenly within the dry ingredients. Set aside.

Filling:

• 4 cups blueberries

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the ingredients in a baking dish, toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cover the fruit with the granola mixture. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the crust is brown and crunchy.

Makes 4-6 servings

Banana Muffins with Oat Streusel

It may be a new year but some things never change.

I bought too many bananas again and I cannot bring myself to throw away good, usable food.

So I made Banana Muffins with Oat Streusel.

Bringing them to a friend.

Remember these — not just a good breakfast, brunch or nosh — they make perfect mishoach manot for Purim (begins at sundown on February 25th).

BANANA MUFFINS WITH OAT STREUSEL

Muffins: 

• 1-3/4 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

• 3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

• 1/4 cup honey

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• streusel

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tins. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the bananas, buttermilk, honey, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix only long enough to combine thoroughly. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Scatter the streusel evenly on top of each muffin. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 10

Streusel: 

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 2 tablespoons old fashioned oats

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon butter

In a bowl, mix the flour, oats and sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces and work into the flour mixture with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Hallowe'en Baked Apple

I’m not expecting too many — maybe no — trick-or-treaters this year. In an ordinary year the whole notion of going out in what usually turns out to be the first of yucky weather of the season to get an overload of junky candy always seemed preposterous to me, but maybe I’m just the Ebenezer Scrooge of Hallowe’en.

This year, during a pandemic, trick-or-treating sounds absolutely nuts.

I am hoping that parents throughout the country will at least take a year off and do something different this Hallowe’en.

Here’s one suggestion — what my parents did, back in the day when trick-or-treating wasn’t a thing.

First, we carved a pumpkin. My mother untangled the inside mess, separated the seeds and roasted them. It’s easy: rinse off the seeds, let them dry (use paper towels to dry them), place them in a small amount of olive or vegetable oil and toss them around, then put them single layer on a cookie sheet (parchment or foil lined helps with cleanup). Sprinkle with salt (herbs or blends such as curry powder or za’atar if you like) and roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are dry and crispy.

Second, my Dad placed coins in three apples (for three kids): one with a quarter, one with a dime and one with a nickel. He put them in a basin of water and we had to dunk our faces in the water and grab an apple with our teeth. One year he didn’t do the apple bobbing thing, he tied apples on strings on a line that he set up in our living room and we had to jump up and grab the apple with our teeth. Obviously the one who got the quarter was overjoyed and I realize that for today’s youngsters a nickel, dime or even a quarter may seem not worth it, but the bobbing or jumping is worth it. Good stuff for the memory bank.

Then we ate. I don’t remember any particular dish but I know it was likely to be baked macaroni. My mother always topped her mac-and-cheese with rice krispies. I tried that on my kids, who gave it a thumbs down, but I’m putting it out there for you anyway (click on the link).

My dad always made his famous hot chocolate.

Boy would I love some of that today.

Dessert? It was likely to be some apple thing my mother cooked up. So. How about some baked apples?

Baked Apples with Orange and Spices

• 4 large baking apples

• half a lemon

• 1/3-1/2 cup raisins

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 3/4 cup orange juice, apple juice or cider

• 6 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or coconut oil, cut into 4 pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples, then remove the core and seeds, leaving about 1/2-inch on the bottom. Peel the apples 1/2 of the way down from the stem end on top, then rub the cut surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the raisins, orange peel, 3 tablespoons of the juice and 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix the remaining juice, maple syrup and water and pour over the apples. Bake the apples for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 

Back to School? Maybe. But there’s always Milk and Cookies, right?

Back in the day, when I was a young girl, I walked home from school and before I did any homework or piano practice I had a snack. My Mother was a cookie baker so invariably, the snack was milk and cookies. We didn’t have little bags of chips or puffs or granola bars back then.

I remember one time my mother veered away from her usual Fannies, peanut butter cookies and kichels. That was the day I brought my friend Joseph Lieberman (no, not that Joseph Lieberman) home to do homework together. I was happy my Mom had baked something new because Joseph had been to the house several times and maybe he was bored with the same old stuff. I had asked her if, sometime, she could bake something else. And so she did.

She made sugar cookies.

They were a great success. She made them occasionally after that but usually went back to the old favorites.

I’ve made my Mom’s recipe a few times over the years. Depending on the time of year I cut them into different shapes with cookie cutters (Hearts for Valentine’s Day usually).

This isn’t my Mom’s recipe though. I fiddled with it because hers included butter and I wanted to make it non-dairy. Also, I just bought some new jars of date honey (silan) and wanted to use that instead of the regular honey. She also added citrus peel and I didn’t.

But it is more or less her recipe.

Whether or not our children actually go back to school this season, milk and cookies is always a good treat.

In addition, these cookies, with the traditional holiday dates and honey, are a delicious choice for Rosh Hashanah (whether you use old fashioned honey or silan).

Shanah Tovah.

Date Honey Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

• 1/2 cup solid coconut oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup date honey

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine the shortening, coconut oil, sugar, honey and vanilla extract and beat at medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms. Roll the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with 2-inch round or heart-shaped cookie cutters. Place the cookies prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown. Let cool. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 36

Coconut Cookies

Almost everyone I know is baking more these days.

Me too.

Also, everyone I know is complaining about gaining weight from all the stuff they are baking.

Me too.

But, okay, this Covid thing will be over one day and I can go on a diet then.

In the meantime I am baking more.

Because of all the extra baking I needed to branch out a little. I was overloaded with my usual Grand Finale cookies, Fanny cookies and peanut butter cookies. It’s like watching Casablanca or Tree Grows in Brooklyn again. I love those movies and have seen them a zillion times and will watch them again. But enough is enough — for a while anyway.

So I decided on coconut cookies. These are really really good. One of the grandkids said they are better than all the others.

That is a huge endorsement!

The recipe calls for shredded coconut but I actually used Bob’s Red Mill coconut flakes instead, because I happened to have some. But I’ve made them with shredded coconut too. Good either way.

Glass of milk — iced tea — iced coffee. Your choice.

Coconut Cookies

• 1 cup butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup quick cooking oats

• 1 cup shredded coconut

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• confectioners’ sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes or until well blended. Place blobs of dough about 1-inch in diameter (heaping tablespoon) on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving space between dough for the cookies to spread. Gently tap the tops of the dough blobs to flatten them slightly. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and decorate with sifted confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Makes about 30