Banana Lentil Muffins

Do you ever make a recipe and forget an ingredient?  You only realize the ingredient is missing after the recipe has come out of the oven and think CRAP,  I forgot something.    But, do you ever make a recipe and forget an ingredient and the recipe still comes out good.    The funny thing is this is the second time I have done this to a Banana recipe.   I went to make these muffins and forgot the sugar.  I did the same thing with a banana bread in the summer.   The interesting this is the bread turned out terribly, these muffins did not.   I actually almost didn't notice I forgot the sugar, it was just in a second thought that I realized I didn't add it.

Canadian Lentils were a sponsor at the Blissdom Conference and they were giving away chocolate chip cookies made with lentils,  a recipe created by Michael Smith.   These cookies were actually insanely tasty. Although in my opinion loaded with too much sugar, which may explain the good flavour.   They also gave us a cookbook of recipes that used lentils, I of course went straight to the desserts at that back of the book and found these banana muffins.   There were also brownies that I will be making soon enough.   I made a few tweaks, some on purpose and some not.

Banana Lentil Muffins

(adapted from Canadian Lentils)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup green lentil puree  (1 cup of drained canned lentils + 1/4 cup water pureed together)
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 egg
• 1/4 unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar ( I forgot this and they are still good)
• 1 cup whole grain bread flour
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 400F. Smash or puree the bananas.  I pureed them with my hand blender until they resembled a sauce.

2) Combine lentil puree, banana puree, apple sauce, egg, oil and sugar (if you remember).   Whisk together. 

3) In a small bowl combine flours, baking soda/powder, salt, cinnamon.  Add chocolate and walnuts and blend in. 

4) Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold in until just combined. 

5) Line 12 muffin tin with paper liners,  fill evenly with the batter.   Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool in pan for a few minutes.   Store in air tight container.

Easy to put together, healthy and moist.   Good with or without sugar.  ;-)

MEG'S RATING : D-EEEE-LICIOUS!

Five Friday Pin Up and my first Blogging Conference - Blissdom Canada.

In my last post I mentioned the last week was very busy which is why I was late in it out.  Here is my run down of what happened Thursday-Sunday.

Thursday - Work in the day, met my friend downtown right after work for dinner, then crashed at her house for an early Friday morning

Friday - Went to the Marilyn Denis show, Thanks to Blissdom Canada.  The entire show was bloggers who were attending the conference.   Then in the afternoon I got a prenatal massage, (Amazing) and then made cupcakes for my baby shower on Sunday, then a family dinner in the evening. 

Saturday - Went to the Blissdom Canada Conference from about 7am-6pm,  then went out for dinner and since I am now almost 36 weeks pregnant I crashed and went to bed quite early.   Not that I slept well but I was in bed. 

Sunday - Went for a pre-baby shower manicure/pedicure, then baby shower and then had some friends hang out afterwards for some games.   

So clearly very little time for writing and posting. This Monday started conference #2 with Online BlogCon. At least with this one I don't have to read everything right away and I can come back to those posts.   I can barely keep up with the facebook posts let alone the BlogCon posts. 

Here are my thoughts on Blissdom starting with the Marilyn Denis show.  It was very cool to see how the show operates.   The timing, moving things around, getting people ready, it was all very quick.  The hour flew by,  started and then it was done, just like that.    It was exciting to get some gift cards and a book as some giveaways as well.   It was pretty fun,  although it wasn't to then see myself on TV later on when I watched it.

The conference started Friday night with a small event I didn't attend.  When I first booked the tickets to go to Blissdom Canada,  I did not know I would be 36 weeks pregnant at the same time so I had to pick and choose what I felt I could attend.   My focus was obviously the main conference day.   It started with a newcomers meet and greet, which was quick but great to meet a few new comers as well.   After that there was breakfast, which was a little disappointing as it only consisted of granola, fruit and yogurt and then a presentation by Dove which was simply their commercial on TV done in person. After the opening remarks, the morning consisted of mircosessions, which sounded promising as the topics were very relevant and interesting.  Unfortunately with only a half an hour each there wasn't really enough time it seemed to get into any great detail,  I would have loved some more in depth content. We also only had time to attend three mircosessions out of about 25 that all had the potential for great information.  The afternoon consisted of 5 speakers with Jian Gomeshi being the first and best.   Not that he talked a lot about blogging, he is just a great speaker and was very funny.   I am very interested to get his book now.
  

I did meet a lot of really great people at the conference which is obviously one of the key reasons to go.  Blissdom is full of really fun, passionate people and that was probably the best part for me as I still left thriving for some more content when I left.  The other bonus was leaving with a great amount of free products and swag from the sponsors, that is always a nice perk.

Sunday was my baby shower so I did skip out on the Blissdom excursions day.  I am not upset however as my baby shower was fantastic.  My family did an amazing job at putting it all together.  Pink and green turtles were everywhere,  with tons of games, crafts and lots of delicious food.  I got to see lots of friends and family, got some great advice and the baby got spoiled.  Hubby and I are now pretty much set for baby's upcoming arrival, now we anxiously wait for the next 4 weeks.  It was really an overwhelming day full of a lot of love.

A few of my favorite things... Sea turtle cupcakes decorated by my sister and a create your own onesie craft that my sister in law planned.

With Blissdom last weekend and Online Blogcon earlier this week I have met so many new bloggers and been exposed to tons and tons of great new blogs.   For this reason I need to get back into my Five Friday Pin Up.   Here are some great things I pinned over the last little while.

1) Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup by We pass the time of day to forget how time passes : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331466585/     I have been addicted to tomato soup lately. I have to make this.

2) Grandma's Lasagna by Wishes N Dishes : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331553426/
Seriously, just look at this.

3) Broccoli and Cheese Muffins by It all tastes Greek to Me : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331623841/     I want these for breakfast tomorrow.

4) Pumpkin Caramel Kiss Cookies by Something Swanky : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331551969/     Oh pumpkin you do us right in so many ways.

5) Peanut Butter Glazed Chocolate Chip Donuts by A Kitchen Addiction : http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756331624341/   


I am still behind on the Online Blogcon posts and catching up with all the attendees blogs/pages/twitter/pinterest so my debrief on that will be in the next couple days.

Have a SWEET weekend!

Millionaires Espresso Shortbread

Okay so I completely dropped the ball this week. AGAIN.  It took me way to long to get this post out.  In fairness the last week was very busy, I tried to get the post out before Wednesday because from Thursday - Sunday I was barely home or had a house full of guests.  All of which I will get into in the next post.  For now, get gooey.

Do you ever get so excited about wanting to do a recipe that you don't properly read the ingredients.  This happened with these bars.  I turned a single batch into a double batch due to lack of reading,  oops!


Millionaires Espresso Shortbread
(Adapted from Nigella Lawson's - Domestic Goddess)

INGREDIENTS:

• 325g unsalted butter (for shortbread)
• 2/3 cup fine granulated sugar
• 400g unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tsp espresso powder
• 500g sweetened condensed milk
• 6 tbsp corn syrup
• 300g unsalted butter (caramel sauce)
• 300g dark chocolate pieces. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the flour, espresso powder and sugar in a large bowl.  

2) Blend in butter with your hands until incorporated and slightly crumbly.  Press into a 9x13 pan.

3) Bake shortbread for 5 minutes. then reduce oven temp to 300F and bake for approx. 40 min.  Edges will be golden and no longer doughy. Remove from oven and let cool. 

4) Melt butter in a large bowl, mix in corn syrup and condensed milk and whisk together well.  

The original recipe called for microwaving the mixture for 6-7 minutes, stirring every minute or so to prevent burning.  This did not work for me.  I recommend this....

5) Place the bowl over a pot with simmering water, using the double boiler method.  This method will take about 2 hours for the condensed milk to thicken and darken.   Let cool and sit once darkened. 

6) Pour this mixture over the shortbread and allow to set, in fridge or counter. 

7) Melt the chocolate in a large bowl also over a double boiler and pour this mixture over the caramel layer.  Spread with an offset spatula and let set and cool.   

8) Slice into squares.   

These are very gooey.  Although insanely yummy I would want to use a different caramel filling so that it would be harder and not so gooey as serving these can become tricky.    I did love the addition of the espresso in the shortbread,  it paired so well with the caramel and chocolate.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEE-LICIOUS!

This post was added to Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesdays!

Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake

So apparently I am so out of it.   I didn't even realize it has been over a week since I last posted.  Not that I have done nothing the last week,  I have almost been non stop.    My birthday was Friday, so I spent the day over the border shopping with my sister and her friend.  I managed to pick up some baby clothes, some clothes for me and a playpen.   I have yet to find Biscoff spread,  what aisle does that normally sit in?  Do they sell it at Target?

The rest of the weekend involved multiple family dinners for Thanksgiving, cleaning and finishing up the nursery.  I got all my decals and photos up on the walls so now I just need to add a few small accessories and buy some drapes.  It's all coming together...just a few more weeks until baby.

This week also involved my yearly addiction to check out Cirque du Solieli.   This years show was called Amaluna.   This was the 6th Cirque show I have seen.  I find them hard to pass up when they are in town.  The shows are always so creative and unique and the performers are quite simply amazing.  I can't even imagine the training they must go through.   Just crazy.  Unfortunately this one was not my favorite or close to it. . Given my wide comparison range I just felt the acts in this one, although still impressive were not a big as I have seen at others.  The clowns were also more annoying than funny.   I think my favorite so far was either La Nouba, (Disney World) or Mystere (Las Vegas).   I highly recommend both if you are ever in either of these places, although Vegas as several others that I hear are quite cool.   Anyone have any favorite cirques they would recommend?

With all the family dinners that were going on this weekend I did manage to get some baking done.   One great one and one fail.  The great one would be this post, the fail would be a bubble bread loaf that rose beautifully and then somehow just died in the oven.  Frustrating!


Apple Crumble Caramel Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 2 cups vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Cheesecake

• 4 large apples
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Your favorite caramel sauce

Crumble

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/3 cup butter,  cool but slightly softened

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.   Combine crumbs and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Add melted butter and mix to combine and coat the crumbs.  Press into a 9 inch springform pan, lined with parchment.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Set aside and let cool.
2) Peel and core the apples. Chop into slices.  Toss with lemon juice.  In a medium saute pan, on medium heat at butter.  Once melted add apples, brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for about 5-8 minutes until apples sofften but are not mush.   Remove from heat and set aside.

3) Make the crumble :   In a large bowl combine all the crumble ingredients except the butter.  Mix together.  Then cut in the butter with your hands.  The mixture will darken and be slightly combined and clumped together in small pieces.

4) In a food processor, add cream cheese (in chunks) and granulated sugar.  Process until almost smooth, chunks are broken down.   Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla and process until well combined. Scraping down the sides as needed.
5) Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease the sides of the pan with butter, 3/4 of the way up.  Take 2/3 of the apples and put on top of the crust.   Drizzle with caramel sauce.  Top with 1/4 cup of crumble.
6) Cover the apples with the cheesecake mixture and smooth out.
7) Bake the cheesecake on the middle rack for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300F and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit for 20 minutes in the oven.  It is okay if the cheesecake cracks, it get completely covered.  Remove from oven to cool further.
8)  Preheat the oven to 400F. When the cheesecake has come back to room temperature.  Top with remaining apples in the center, drizzle with more caramel sauce and cover with the crumble.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crumble has started browning.
9) Let cool before slicing.  Drizzle with more caramel sauce when serving.

I honestly was a little worried about how this would turn out but I was so pleasantly surprised.   Even my Dad thought it was quite good and he is a hard dessert person to impress.   The process to get this done can be a little lengthy but well worth it.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS.

Check out Sweet Bella Roos link up party for other "Pin" worthy recipes.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Blondies with White Chocolate & Cherries

So I am nesting.  I did some serious cleaning and organizing this weekend and I am not done.  My list of items to get organized is still about 3 or 4 long but I am happy with the progress.  This past weekend I cleaned out my pantry and cleaned out my car.   I really should have taken some before and after pics to show you.   Even the hubby couldn't believe the pantry cupboard,  all organized in nice little rows.  The only sad thing was the amount of stale items that hit the garbage.  And my car feels like new again, I dusted, vacuumed and shampooed the seats and mats.  I was a machine this weekend.
Funny leave it to a new baby to force a clean and purge considering the amount of new baby stuff will probably be twice what I threw out but could you imagine the madness if you didn't go through nesting.

My next stop will be closets, clothes and the dreaded office. A dumping ground for papers, books and anything else we don't know where to put.  Scary!  This won't be the first time we have tackled this room but after a year it just makes its way back to madness.   I will keep you posted on that madness.

I will continue with the fall blogger pumpkin obsession because frankly pumpkin desserts are so delicious.  I can honestly say this won't be my last pumpkin item this year.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Blondies with White Chocolate Chips and Dried Cherries. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries

Icing:

• 1/4 cup butter, room temp.
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temp
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar (give or take)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter a 8 inch square pan. 

2) In a medium bowl, add flour, cornstarch, baking powder/soda, cinnamon and salt. 

3) Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl or mixer bowl and beat until creamed together.

4) Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. 

5) Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix on low until almost combined.

6) Fold in chocolate chips and dried cherries.

7) Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 30 minutes,  outside will be starting to brown on edges and tooth pick will come out clean. 

8) Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Cut into squares and serve.
9) Make the icing : In a large bowl or mixer bowl beat together butter and cream cheese.  Add sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and beat together until just combined.  Adding more sugar if you want a stiffer icing.

This post is also on the Have the Cake blog with a lot more wonderful pumpkin recipes.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEE-LICOUS