If you’ve never used canned pumpkin as a lower fat/calorie baking swap, I’m about to rock your world. Applesauce, mashed bananas, and other fruit purees get all the love when it comes to healthier baking substitutions, but I find canned pumpkin to be the top swap for brownies, carrot cake, and spice cake.
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through how to make amazing canned pumpkin brownie bites, plus the best ingredients/brands to use. Are you hungry yet? Check it out!
I take no prisoners when it comes to donut muffins.
There’s a lot to love about Healdsburg, California. From great restaurants, to adorable shops and a variety of wine tasting rooms, it’s a great home base away from more touristy wine country towns. That’s lovely and all, but the real reason why I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Healdsburg is because it’s where the donut muffin and I were first introduced.
Located off Healdsburg’s quaint town center park, the donut muffin is made by the Downtown Bakery & Creamery. Not quite a donut and not quite a muffin, this treat is indulgent without being overly sweet. The flavor is inspired by that of a traditional cake donut with a cinnamon/sugar topping.
Donut muffin magic in progress.
After leaving Healdsburg, I had the brilliant thought to google the Downtown Bakery & Creamery’s donut muffin recipe. Through the magic that is internet search, I found the recipe online and quickly went to work in my tiny Boston kitchen.
The end result? Pretty darn good. I couldn’t figure out how to replicate the crisp outer crust to match the donut muffin from the Downtown Barkery & Creamery, but all of my taste testers seemed very pleased. While the recipe is a little labor intensive, mostly because I wanted to make them as mini muffins, versus large muffins, I found the process worthwhile.
The finished product: mini donut muffins!
Tip: Instead of dipping my mini muffins in melted butter, I used a pastry brush and brushed it on. I also gingerly sprinkled the cinnamon/sugar topping instead of rolling. I initially made them this way to make them lighter, but the end result still tasted indulgent, so I’ll continue to do this going forward.
To view the recipe for the Downtown Bakery & Creamery’s Donut Muffin, click here. Buon Appetito!
For more of my recipes, click here.
Let's Make a Heart by thefleeg From Flickr
Overly expensive pre-fixe meals? Ridiculously huge heart-shaped boxes of chocolates? Unnecessary amounts of red roses? I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the hoopla surrounding Valentine’s Day. Therefore, in the spirit of celebrating Boston’s simple pleasures, I’ve decided to share a few of my top picks for quality vendors, nibbles, and more that will brighten up your Valentine’s Day in the city, without costing too much. From romantic, to indulgent, to DIY, these places, treats and ideas are special throughout the year, but are also Valentine’s Day appropiate. Please consider this my Valentine’s Day gift to you. Mwah!
Cranberries & Sugar by Jessica Gioglio
This Thanksgiving, I’m introducing a delicious new side dish to our menu: homemade cranberry-apple chutney. Sweet yet tangy with hints of cinnamon and ginger, this chutney is fantastic when paired with turkey. It’s also a lovely addition to a turkey sandwich – think Iggy’s whole grain bread, dijon mustard, spinach, leftover turkey and chutney.
To make the chutney, you’ll need the following:
– 1 lb cranberries
– 1 cup water
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 2 green apples, peeled, diced in 1/2 inch pieces
– 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
– 1/4 cup lemon juice (e.g. one to two lemons)
– 1/3 cup sugar
– 1 tbsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp ground cloves
-1 tbsp fresh ginger
Start by combining the cranberries, one cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for ten minutes. After ten minutes, remove from heat, but keep the saucepan on the stove.
While the cranberry and sugar mix is boiling, chop two green apples and toss with red wine vinegar, juice of two lemons, 1/3 cup of sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and fresh ginger. Pour mix into another medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat until the apples are soft.
Once the apples are soft, combine with cranberry mix and heat until the chutney forms. You’ll want it to be the texture of a thick cranberry sauce with chunks of apples. Allow to cool and then pour into three empty jam jars (I hoard jars of Bonne Maman preserves for this very reason).
Buon Appetito!
For more of my recipes, click here.
Homemade Sugar-Free Granola, by Jessica Gioglio
Feel free to call me crunchy, but I love making my own granola. Making it at home is incredibly easy and allows you to tailor the amount of sweetness, crunch and spice to your preference. Inspired by one of my favorite cookbooks Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, I customized their famous sugar-free granola recipe to suit my preferences. Because let’s face it, when you’re cooking, it’s all about you, my friend! You’ve gotta like the final product before you can possibly fathom serving it up to another person…
With only seven ingredients, this recipe can be whipped up in a flash and makes four cups of granola. Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Then, pour two cups of old fashioned oats, one cup of raw sliced almonds, one cup of pepitas and one tablespoon of wheat germ in a medium sized bowl. Add in two tablespoons of sunflower oil and 1/4 cup of apple juice. Finish by topping with a hearty amount of spice. I personally enjoy tons of cinnamon, but combinations of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg are also delicious.
Pour onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every fifteen minutes to enhance the amount of toasty, crunchy-ness. The result is a hearty, aromatic granola that’s the perfect topping for plain Liberte yogurt, berries and a light drizzle of honey. Buon Appetito!
For more of my recipes, click here.