I made rugelach for the first time a few months ago. Since then I haven’t  been able to stop thinking of  all the delicious fillings you could make them with. This time I used pumpkin, spices, pepitas and raisins. They were so good. Not overly sweet….although if that’s what you are going for you could easily toss in some extra sugar.

The Dough

• 4oz cold cream cheese, cut into tbsp sized pats
• 1/2 cup of cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp sized pats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• confectioners sugar for dusting table

The Filling

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2tbsp sugar
• 2tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup pepitas, whole or chopped

Egg Wash

• 1 egg, beaten + 1 tbsp water

To make the dough-

1. remove the butter and cream cheese from the fridge. Let stand for 10-15 minutes or so.
2. add the flour and salt to your for processor and give a quick pulse.
3. add the cream cheese and butter. Pulse just enough to incorporate the ingredients, you want large crumbly chunks. Do not over do it!
4. divide the dough into 2 balls. flatten into disks, wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper.
5. refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

To assemble-

1. when the dough has chilled, remove the first disk from the refrigerator and let sit for a few minutes.
2. dust the work area with confectioners sugar then roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle.
3. spread half of the pumpkin mixture evenly over the dough.
4. mix together the sugar, spices and salt.
5. sprinkle with a little less than half of the sugar/spice mixture.
6. top with half of the raisins and pepitas.
7. using a knife or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 16 triangles.
8. roll up each triangle, starting with the wide end of the triangle.
9. place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
10. refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
11. repeat with the second disk of dough.
12. preheat the oven to 350.
13. brush the cookies with the egg wash.
14. sprinkle with the remaining sugar/spice mixture.
15. bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

*tip-to prevent the bottoms from browning too quickly I like to double up my baking sheets!

Alternative fillings-

• favourite jam(not too runny),nuts of choice
• caramel, chocolate chips and shredded coconut
• chocolate hazelnut spread and toasted nuts
• apricot jam, almonds and mixed dried fruit
• butterscotch, raisins and pecans

I went up to my Dad’s for the week. While I was there he asked if I could try and make him a healthier version of one of his favourite snacks. Brownies. This is what I came up with.

1/3 cup of cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dates + 3tbsp water

1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp vanilla

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 eggs

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl sift together the cocoa and baking powder. In a food processor add the dates + water, blackbeans, vanilla and coconut oil. Mix until smooth ( if the mixture is too thick add a bit more water ). Add the eggs and pulse until combined. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Stir in the chocolate chips, feel free to save a few to sprinkle on top. Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch squair baking pan. Bake for 50 to 55 min. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Refrigorate for a few hours and serve.

*note: These brownies are best served cold. The texture is smooth almost like a truffle when served this way.

3 cups self-rising flour ( or 3 cups all purpose or whole wheat + 1 tbsp baking powder + 3/4 tsp salt )

3 tbsp sugar

1 12oz bottle beer of choice, I used guinness

1 stick (8 tbsp) of butter, melted and divided – trying to be healthy?….you can use 1/2 stick of butter (4tbsp) instead.

*if you want to dress this bread up a bit, try some herbs like rosemary and thyme or some crumbled bacon and 1/2 cup or so of cheese. You could also add a little heat to it with sriracha or some jalapeno peppers…..the options are endless and it’s so easy. Have fun and enjoy!

preheat oven to 350. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour and sugar. Add the beer. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Pour in half of the melted butter. Spoon the batter into the pan. Pour the remaining butter over the batter. Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

*note: This tastes amazing with a good slather of honey or served alongside your favourite soup or stew.

This is how Poppy and I spent our morning…..Enjoy!

for the cookies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature

1 cup organic granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 orange, 1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

1 tsp organic vanilla extract

2 cups self rising flour, (if you don’t have self rising flour on hand you can use  all purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt)

preheat oven to 350. In a stand mixer on medium-high, cream together the butter slowly adding the sugar. Add the egg then the orange juice and vanilla. Reduce speed to med-low and gradually add the flour. Mix until combined ( do not over mix ); separate the dough into two disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a well floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch in thickness. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as you can! Place the hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet and toss in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Remove from th freezer and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms and edges are begining to brown slightly.

For the Icing:

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tbsp meringue powder

1/4 cup water, room temp

1/2 tsp oil free vanilla extract, make sure there is no oil or it will ruin the icing!

pinch of cream of tartar

In the bowl of your stand mixer add the sugar, meringue powder and cream of tartar. Mix together using the paddle attachment. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients. Mix on medium speed for about 5-6 minutes ( it should at this point be thick like pudding ) then up the speed to high for another 3-4 minutes or until stiff and fluffy like meringue (make sure you do not over mix! Regardless of how long you have been mixing STOP as soon the peaks form or in other words it becomes stiff)

*note: if this all seems like far more time and effort than you wanted to spend making valentine cookies,  you can alway buy pre-made white cookie icing it’s super easy to use, you don’t need a piping bag….way less clean up annnd you don’t have to let them set overnight! hmmmm that sounds pretty good lol

To decorate:

pipe the outline of a heart inside each cookie then flood with icing; if you don’t know how to flood cookies with icing check out this tutorial on sweetsugarbelle. Once you have flooded your cookies, let them set overnight. Using a food marker decorate the iced parts of the hearts. These make the perfect little valentine. Share the love! x0

makes about 30 macaroons

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey

1/2 tsp organic vanilla

1/8 tsp organic almond extract

2 cups organic unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract. Add the coconut and stir until combined.

Using a tablespoon as a scooper, spoon out the mixture onto a parchment lined tray ( or 2 ) leaving about an inch of space between the macaroons. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms and sides are golden brown and the tops are begining to brown. Once you have removed the macaroons from the oven let rest for a min of 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Enjoy

*note: these would be amazing with a little chocolate drizzled on top!

These are perfect as a quick on the go breakfast or snack. Pair them with a handful of berries or warm them up with a little butter or, for a sweet treat, try them with a smear of date paste…soooo good.

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 super ripe banana, mashed

2 pear, mashed

1/2 cup date paste + 1 tbsp water

1 cup gluten free flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup ground oats

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp psyllium husk powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 carrots, shredded

1 small zucchini, shredded

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

*date paste- Place about a cup of dates into a mason jar and cover with water. Let soak for a few hours or over night. Empty the dates into a food processor with about a tablespoon of the soaking water. Pulse until you have a beautifully smooth paste.

Preheat oven to 350

In a food processor pulse together the zucchini and carrot until nicely shredded. In a medium bowl mix together the yogurt, applesauce, banana, pear, zucchini, carrots, date paste, coconut oil and egg until combined. In a separate bowl add the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, psyllium husk powder and cinnamon; whisk together. Dump the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon stir until well combined. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan with a little coconut oil. Evenly spread the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 1 hour/ 1 hour 10 min. To tell if they are done insert a toothpick into the center of the pan, if it comes out clean the squares are done! Enjoy.

I love baking but this year I am tired. I am so tired I didn’t even bake a cake or make donuts for my twin sister Danie on her birthday! I honestly can’t remember the last time I didn’t bake for her. I feel awful but I honestly did not have the time or energy this year to bake for Danie annnd my Husband (whose birthday happens to be the day after ours) sooo I had to choose. I chose to make a cake for Kegan with the promise to Dan that I would make her the donuts and the tart she had asked for on a later date.. just not on her birthday. I will make them on a weekend when I have nothing to do but to take my time baking for Dan. This year Kegan’s Birthday was on a Monday so I spent the day with Poppy on my hip baking this strawberry and cream cake for Daddy. The batter may have been a little overmixed making the cake about half the height it was meant to be but I swear it was still delicious.  It definitely was not my best cake but I think given the fact that I had a very cranky babe glued to me I would say it was pretty darn good!

*Recipe from gracessweetlife

BUTTER CAKE:

- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract

- 2 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks

- 1/2 cup whole milk

- preheat the oven to 350.

- Grease 8 inch round cake tin ( you can also use pam baking spray )

- In a med bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a whisk. Set aside.

- In the bowl of your stand mixer , using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until fluffy.

- One at a time add the eggs and yolks, mixing well after each.

- Turn mixer to low and add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk in 2 additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Mix until just combined ( do not overmix!!! )

- Pour the batter into cake pan making sure it is evenly distributed.

- Bake, alternating half way through, for 30-35 min (until when poked with a toothpick it comes out clean)

- let cool for 10 min then transfer to a wire rack until it has finished cooling.

SIMPLE SYRUP:

3 tbsp honey and 1/4 cup water. Over high heat whisk until honey has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.

STRAWBERRY CREAM TOPPING:

- 20 0unces fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

- 1/2 cup white sugar, divided

- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

- 1 tsp unflavoured gelatin

- In a med sized bowl mix together your strawberries and  1/4 cup of sugar. Set aside.

- Place 2 tbsp of cold water in a small saucepan, add the gelatin and let soften for 5 min. Over low heat whisk gelatin until it has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool (keep a close eye on it or it will set and you will have to do this step all over again…which is not so easy to do if you have a baby on your hip but hey, now I know and I will try my best not to make that mistake again)

- In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment whip together the cream and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks begin to form.

- Continue to whisk and gradually add the gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks have formed.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:

- Using a serrated knife cut the cake in half horizontally.

- Cut side facing up place the bottom half of the cake on a cake plate or cake stand.

- Brush cake with some simple syrup then add a layer of berries and a layer of whip cream. Repeat on second half of cake only first add the whipped cream and then top with berries.

* I spread the cream around the sides of the cake but next time I would definitely double the whipped cream recipe so I had enough to properly cover the cake and have a thicker layer of the cream in the middle layer. I might also use some homemade strawberry jam instead of simple syrup.