Cranberry Nut Bread

I was able to save the cranberries we received for our Thanksgiving box until now! I love cranberry nut bread and made some this morning. I juiced 2 oranges to make the 3/4 C of juice.
Recipes abound on the internet for this. I used a recipe I found on allrecipes as my base. Below is the recipe amended a bit.

2 cups spelt flour (half wholemeal, half white) 1 cup sugar (organic) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 6 T butter

1 egg 3/4 cup orange juice 1 t grated orange peel 2  cups fresh cranberries- coarsely chopped 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put into another bowl. Beat egg, orange juice and peel; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Pulse the cranberries ever so slightly. Add them and the chopped walnuts to the bowl and mix gently.

Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

 **Delicious! Crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. Great balance between the tartness of the cranberries, the crunch of the walnuts, and the orange juice and zest.

Pear Bread GF,DF

We are really concentrating on being gluten-free for the next few weeks. I found this recipe on a gluten-fee blog. I was trying to find something nice for breakfast and a way to use up a couple of pears from the box this week.

Ingredients

1½ cups superfine brown rice flour, plus more for dusting the pan
½ cup tapioca (or corn or potato) starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
½ cup grapeseed (or other neutral flavored) oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ripe pears, peeled cored and grated
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan with gluten-free non-stick cooking spray, add some brown rice flour and shift it back and forth in order to spread the flour evenly around the pan, tap out the excess flour.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the 1½ cups brown rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Add the pears and walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 – 70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

**of course, the house smelled amazing as it cooked. I cut the sugar back a bit (couldn't help myself- it seemed like sooo much), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It slipped out of the pan well. I cooked it for 60 minutes- but the middle seems a little wet- it could have gone for another 5-8 minutes. Delicious! I'll be making this again.

Green Tomato Cake

The web is full of recipes for green tomato cakes. They usually have lots of sugar. I got this recipe from a friend of mine.

1/3 C softened butter
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and beat till incorporated.

1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Sift above into butter mixture and beat well. Spoon batter in oiled(!) 9x9 cake pan.

Slice 2-3 green tomatoes into round slices, then chunk up the slices.
1/2 C chopped walnuts

Arrange tomato chunks on top of batter.
Sprinkle lightly with a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts.

Dot with butter (optional)

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until brown on top.

**Super easy to make. This is a picture of it before it went into the oven. Once out, it looks like a normal cake.

Carrot Bread

This is a savory bread, designed for your bread maker. You can find the recipe on a website dedicated to carrot recipes.


Carrot Bread for Bread Machine


Ingredients:
½ cup of water.
1 1/3 cups of white bread flour.
2/3 cup of wheat bread flour.
2 teaspoons of dry milk.
1 teaspoon of salt.
2/3 cup of grated carrots.
1 tablespoon of honey.
2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt.
1 tablespoon of molasses.
2 tablespoons of walnuts chopped.
1 teaspoon of fast rise yeast OR 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast.
Preparation:
Place all of the ingredients in your bread machine, in the order recommended in your bread machine manual; then press Start or On.

**I put the ingredients into the machine in the order above. This bread is delicious. Moist, a little sweet, and a bit chewy with the walnuts.

Lentil Walnut Burgers

This comes from Mollie Katzen's site. She indicates that they are good frozen (after cooking them first) and with our without cheese.

3/4 cup dry lentils (any kind)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for sautéing the patties
1 cup minced onion
4 large cloves garlic, minced
10 large mushrooms, minced
1/2 cup very finely minced walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound spinach, finely minced (optional)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs, wheat germ, or rolled oats

1. Place lentils and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and the liquid is gone. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl, add vinegar, and mash well.
2. Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add onion and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except the bread crumbs, wheat germ, or oats, and sauté 5 to 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the sautéed mixture and bread crumbs, wheat germ, or oats to the lentils and mix well. Chill for about 1 hour before forming patties.
3. Form 4-inch diameter patties. (It might be easiest to do this if you wet your hands.) Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet, and sauté the patties on both sides until heated through and crispy. You can also just broil them for about 5 to 8 minutes on each side.

 **These were easy to make. I used canned lentils and used my food processor to mince the mushrooms and walnuts. I didn't add spinach. I used rolled oats and sauteed rather than broiled the burgers. They kept their shape well. Keeper.

Cinnamon Walnut Cookies

This recipe came from Delicious Living. They are vegan and gluten free.

1 cup walnut halves and pieces
5 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Place walnuts and dates in a small food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Pulse in oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Continue to pulse until mixture begins to form a ball.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, onto prepared baking sheet, forming into balls with your hands; flatten slightly. Bake for 6–8 minutes, until firm. Cool on baking sheet.

PER SERVING (1): 95 cal, 8g fat (1g mono, 6g poly, 1g sat), 0mg chol, 2g protein, 5g carb, 1g fiber, 29mg sodium

**Watch the baking time. These are crumbly. Nice amount of sweetness. Fast and easy. Made 9 small cookies.