These are so good. They are more of a treat than a healthy snack but that hasn’t stopped them from disappearing from my kitchen in less than 2 days! Every time I turn my head another muffin goes missing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Recipe adapted from Food52.

Makes 20 muffins

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk use just under 1/2 cup milk+1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice)
• 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp dark spiced rum
• 1/2 cup raisins, *soak in rum/vanilla for 1 hour before using
• 1/3 cup pepitas
• 1 tbsp brown sugar+1 tsp cinnamon for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. in a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
3. in a medium bowl whisk together the egg, pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, molasses and buttermilk.
4. combine the wet ingredients with the dry.
5. add the candied ginger and raisins.
6. stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
7. distribute the batter evenly amongst 2 muffin tins making 20 muffins.
8. sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
9. bake for 30-33 minutes.

*Note: If you want to make this recipe into a loaf simply add an extra 2 tbsp coconut oil and bake in a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Thanks to Antiques on Queen  for the beautiful dishes used in this post.

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 woke up this morning with the intention to make these for our “Pancake Tuesday” breakfast but due to Poppy’s urgent desire for 100% of mommy’s attention I wound up making them for lunch instead, giving me a bit more time for morning snuggles.

*Warning these are extremly addictive.

1 1/2 cups of flour-reg. or whole wheat

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tbsp melted coconut oil

In a medium sized bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Make a hole in the center and pour in the milk, oil and egg. Mix. Cut banana into 1/4 inch slices. Dip the banana pieces into the batter and fry for about 3 minutes per side. You want them to be nice and crispy. I topped mine with a little sun seed butter and some coconut spread. Beyond yummy…enjoy!

*note-these are also fantastic alone or with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar.

Tip- you can freeze the finished product. Simply pop them in the toaster oven and serve!

*adapted from Nigel Slater’s Tender volume 2- A Cake for Midsummer

This cake is so good. It is resilient and easy and tastes like heaven. I made it at the cottage where I was missing a few of the key ingredients and didn’t have a proper pan but it still ended up devine. This time I made it at home with the proper pan and swapped out the apricots for peaches and threw in a few blackberries to mix it up a bit. The bones of this cake are perfect to add on to. You can have fun with it. Next time I think I’ll try plums. I love this cake and so has everyone I have served it to. It will continue to be a regular at my table for years to come.

• 3/4 cup butter, softened to room temp
• 1 cup light brown sugar, no need to pack it when measuring
• 2 medium sized ripe peaches, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• 2 large eggs, room temp, slightly beaten
• 1 1/3 cup self-rising flour – you can make it or buy it
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch round baking pan ( springform if you have one ).

Cream together the butter and sugar using your stand mixer on med speed. You will know it is properly creamed when it has almost doubled in size and has turned a nice yellowish-white colour and little peaks start to form, 5-6 min. Add the lightly beaten eggs to the creamed butter and sugar a little at a time making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixer.

Mix together the flour and almonds, fold into the batter in three seperate batchs on low speed. Add the milk. Now fold in the fruit until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Scrape mixture into prepared pan and bake at 350 for one hour and ten minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out for the most part clean. Let the cake sit for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Sprinkle with icing sugar or serve as is. This cake is great as dessert or served with a cup of tea. Enjoy.

Last weekend was my little sister’s 29th Birthday! Emma has never been a dessert girl but since I was the one hosting her birthday dinner this year there was no way I was going to miss out on the opportunity to try and convert her to the sweet side. I gave her a call and had a lengthy discussion over what type of desserts she sometimes enjoys and what exactly it is that she dislikes about other desserts. What it came down to was that she doesn’t like plain old cake…she thinks it’s boring. She does like however: crumbles, pies and cheesecakes. I decided I would try to give her a bit of everything she loves in a dessert. This NY Cheesecake has it all, minus a pie crust.

FOR THE CAKE:

FOR THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE:

FOR THE CRUMBLE:

Make this ahead of time

• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup old fashioned or quick cooking oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 butter, cubed and softened

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, mix the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and butter with a fork or paddle attachment until crumbly. Spread mixture out on a baking sheet and bake for 7-10 min. Keep an eye on it as the sugar will burn quickly since the crumble is not on top of fruit while it is cooking like crumble normally is. When it is golden remove it from the oven and scrape it into a bowl. Once you have assembled the cheesecake top it off with as much crumble as your heart desires.

*Please note this crumble is quite crunchy, it’s more like a candy topping than a traditional crumble due to the fact that it is baked separately on a baking sheet.