The Perfectly Perfect Chewy Gingersnap Cookie

My favourite cookie is the gingersnap. Not the crunchy kind but the kind that is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. The below recipe makes the perfectly perfect chewy gingersnap cookie. If it was anymore perfect, we'd have to name them Mary Poppins;)

What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 large room-temperature eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbps wet ginger (I like to use the wet ginger in a jar rather than powdered dry ginger. If you do use powdered ginger, cut back the amount to 2 tsp)
• Additional sugar, for rolling

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
• In your large bowl and using your hand mixer (or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the sugar and butter on high speed until light and creamy
• Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each
• Add the molasses and mix until incorporated (a trick I use to ensure the molasses doesn't stick to my measuring cup is to lightly spray the measuring cup with oil. This way the molasses just slides right out)
• In your smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon
• Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture
• Add in your wet ginger
• Mix on low until combined
• Portion your dough using a tablespoon and roll each amount into a perfect ball
• Roll the dough ball in white sugar
• Place the cookie dough on the prepared sheet pan
• Place the sheet pan in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill
• Bake until puffed and edges are set, 9-10 minutes. You do not want to overcook these beauties!
• Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely
• Enjoy!

These are also great for freezing. This recipe yields a large batch, so I like to freeze portions of them. They are also fabulous cookies for Cookie Swaps and holiday hostess gifts.

The STEWART SCORE:

Appearance: 2

Taste: 2+

Ease: 1.5 (they can be time consuming to make them all the same size and shape, but being meticulous on this step leads to the absolutely perfect little cookie)

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

I have always wanted to try making biscotti. I'm a dunker and there is no more an ultimate dunking cookie than the biscotti.
I had some almonds and cranberries in the house, so this is what I came up with - the Cranberry Almond Biscotti.
They turned out lovely and worked out to be perfect holiday party hostess gifts!

 What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• 1 baking tray
• Hand mixer
• 1 large, sharp knife
• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose, sifted flour
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 room temperature egg whites
• 2 room temperature medium-sized eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg - optional
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate (for melting over top) - optional
• 1/4 cup flour (for rolling out your dough with)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 325 F
• Combine all your dry ingredients into your large bowl
• In your small bowl, whisk your egg whites and eggs, vanilla extract and spices until just frothy
• Using your hand mixer at a low to medium speed, add your egg mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until just combined, this will create a large batter ball that will be slightly tacky
• Stir in your almonds and cranberries until evenly distributed in the batter
• On a floured surface, divide your mixed batter into two equal parts
• Pat each half into the shape of a log, ideally a 10-14" log
• Place each batter log onto your baking tray (I cover mine with parchment paper, but this isn't necessary though it does provide easy clean-up!)
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Remove from the oven and let cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the baked batter log is cool enough to handle
• Reduce the oven heat to 300F
• Using our large knife, cut the baked log into 1/2" slices
• Once the oven has cooled, place the cut pieces back onto the baking tray, standing up, and spacing them about 1 inch apart

• Bake for an additional 20 minutes
• While they are finishing being baked, melt your dark chocolate
• Prepare a plastic bag to use to drizzle the melted chocolate onto your biscotti by cutting a small hole in the corner of your bag
• Once the chocolate has melted, spoon it into the bag
• Remove your cookies from the oven and drizzle the melted chocolate on top
• Move your cookies to a cooling rack and let sit and cool

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (they are not really that hard to make, but cutting them without them crumbling is hard to do at first and they take a while to prepare and dress)

Skinny Spaghetti Squash and Spinach Cheese Bake

I have started following the extremely talented Skinnytaste blog - I love her ideas on how to cut down on fats while still keeping flavour.

I just tried her 'Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese and my mind, let alone my taste buds were blown.

Here is her recipe.

It was amazing and totally the perfect dish on a crisp Fall day.

The only alterations I made was to cut the skim milk back from two cups to just one, and I eliminated the parmesan topping.

Delicious!

Pumpkin Banana Bread

Fall is in the air, pumpkin is in my belly!

Last year I created a low-fat pumpkin bread recipe that was easy and tasty but this year I thought I would throw in a twist by adding banana!

I just tried a slice of this bread and was so excited by how it turned out, I immediately needed to share it with you all!

What You'll Need:

• Loaf pan
• One medium bowl and one large bowl
• Electric hand mixer
• Light baking spray
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 2 tbsp room-temperature butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, unpacked
• 1 large egg white
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 325°
• Spray your loaf pan with oil
• In a medium-sized bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt with a wire whisk and set aside 
• In your large bowl, cream the room-temperature butter and sugar with an electric mixer
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg white, whole egg, ripe bananas, pumpkin puree and vanilla
• Beat at medium speed until fully combined
• Scrape down sides of the bowl then add the flour mix
• Stir in until combined
• Pour your mixture into your greased loaf pan and bake on the center rack for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean 
• Let the pan cool at least 20 minutes before you remove the bread from the pan
• Slice and enjoy! I topped my slice with a non-fat cream cheese spread...delicious!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 (nothing too exciting to be seen here)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Down Home Cornbread

Fall is here and I love making a good, spicy chili to keep things toasty. What is the perfect accoutrement to chili - cornbread!

This is a family recipe we got from a distinguished Southern gal nearly 20 years ago, whilst camping in the US.

I love this recipe as it is easy, fool proof, light and airy, and you can mix it up by adding spices or cheese making it the piece de resistance, if you aren't pairing it with a spicy chili.

What You'll Need:

• One small bowl, one medium bowl 
• One 9 x9 square pan (or a 12-seater muffin tin)
• 3/4 cup of cornmeal (I like using the grainy version so the bread has some nice texture)
• 1 1/4 cup of skim milk
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour (you can also sub for whole wheat flour for a denser bread)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup of sugar (I substitute this for a xylitol-based product, like Ideal, to cut back the calories)
• 1 slightly beaten egg
• 1/4 cup of oil (not olive oil;)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 if you are making a pan of bread, 400 if you are making muffins
• Grease your pan of choice (I do this with butter as it gives the bread that extra 'down home' taste)
• In your small bowl, mix together your cornmeal and milk and set aside to saturate
• In your larger bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, salt and sugar (if you were spicing this recipe up, this is where you would add your chili powder, cayenne pepper, etc)
• Stir a slightly beaten egg and your oil into the wet, cornmeal mixture
• Add your wet mixture into your sifted, dry mixture and stir until just combined - don't beat it
• Bake your pan of cornbread for 25 minutes - or until the edges are a golden colour and the centre springs back when you lightly touch it
• Bake your tray of muffins for 15-20 minutes, using the same visual indicators as above

If you are wanting some cheese added to the bread, what I like to do is grate my cheese (a nice spicy havarti is great) and, when pouring your batter into its tray, fill it only halfway. Then, sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over top and continue to top up the tray with the rest of the batter. This gives the bread a nice, cheese infusion. Delicious!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2 (such a lovely yellow colour)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2 (for a quick bread, this cornbread couldn't be quicker)

Cilantro Lime Dressing With A Sweet Kick

I love Mexican and dinner tonight is pulled chicken tacos. To make them a bit more interesting, I created a tangy multi-purpose dressing sauce. It was so easy and it so super tasty I want to eat it with a spoon. But I won't for fear of judgement from my Martha.

What You'll Need:

• Food processor or blender
• 1 healthy, fresh bunch of cilantro
• 2 Tbps of honey (always nice to use local honey - support your local producers!)
• 2 Tbps extra virgin olive oil
• Juice from one fresh lime
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tsp of your favourite chili sauce
• 2 Tbps fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbps of tahini (this is optional, but it adds a nice, nutty depth to the flavour)
• Salt and twists of fresh black pepper to taste

What You'll Do

• Take the bottom of the stems off your cilantro, add to your processor
• Add in all the other ingredients
• Blend until combined

That's it! Super easy.

You can also use this dressing as a dip for a veggie tray, or try it on grilled white fish. I think the tangy kick of this cilantro lime dressing with go with so many things!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 (its green...nothing special)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Sweet Potato Hummus

I am on a hummus kick. This paired with an excess of the most delicious little sweet potatoes, I created a delicious, easy, tasty, healthy sweet potato hummus I will definitely make again!

What You'll Need:

• Blender (or food processor)
• Large pot
• 3-4 small sweet potatoes
• 1/2 large lemon (or one small one)
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup of tahini
• 1 crushed clove of garlic
• 1/4 tsp of sea salt
• Plenty twists of fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 cup filtered water

What You'll Do:

• Boil your water
• Peel your potatoes
• Chop your potatoes into smaller cubes so they boil quickly
• Once boiling, place your potato pieces into the boiling water and cook until very tender
• When the potatoes are boiling, get your blender (or food processor) ready
• Rinse and drain your chickpeas then add into your blender
• Squeeze the juice of your lemon into the chickpeas
• Pour in the tahini and extra virgin olive oil
• Add in your crushed garlic 
• Sprinkle in your tumeric, coriander powder, chili powder, sea salt and ground pepper
• Your boiling potatoes should be ready by now
• Drain them and then add into your blender
• Blend until smooth
• I had to add a little filtered water to ensure it had a nice and creamy texture
• That's it!

Hummus doesn't just act as a dip, though a delicious one, you can also use it as a sandwich spread.
If you are a dipper, I love to dip raw veggies into hummus, corn chips, and whole-wheat pitas.

If you like things with a kick - add more chili and make this hummus nice and spicy.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 (it looks like orange sludge...not overly attractive, but you can fancy it up by topping it with fresh basil or chopped green onions)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Low Fat Greek Yogurt and Apple Sauce Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love this recipe for low-fat banana chocolate chip muffins for so many reasons:

1) I saw it on Pinterest and for once, it didn't suck!
2) It is low-fat but actually tastes delicious
3) It uses both apple sauce and low fat Greek yogurt in place of butters and oils
4) It is moist (I hate that word, too;) and springy

What You'll Need:

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp soy butter (or regular butter if you don't have this handy)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Ideal white sugar substitute (or white sugar substitute, like Splenda)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (you can cut back according to your taste)

What You'll Do (for about 24 muffins):

• Pre-heat your oven to 190C (370F)
• Line your muffin tins with muffin cups (cuter the better!)
• In a small bowl, mash your three bananas
• In your mix master, or using your hand blender and a larger bowl, mix together your apple sauce, dollop of soy butter, low-fat Greek yogurt, brown sugar, Ideal (or other white sugar alternative, like Splenda) and vanilla
• Blend well - for about 2 minutes or until very smooth
• In a separate bowl, add in your whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda
• Mix thoroughly
• Separate your eggs, keeping the egg whites and adding them into your banana mixture
• Pour your banana mixture into your wet mixture and blend until mixed
• Add your wet mixture into your dry mixture, stirring until combined but not smooth, leaving some lumps for good measure!
• Fold in your chocolate chips
• Fill each muffin cup just over 1/2 way full 
• Bake for around 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly brown and when you stick a toothpick in, it comes out clean
• Place on a wire cooling rack and enjoy!

 If you are more of a loaf over muffin fan, this recipe can easily be turned into two lovely banana chocolate chip loaves. Just bake for around 35-40 minutes instead.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 - nothing to write home about
Taste: 2 - for a low-fat baked good, this is the stuff!
Ease: 2

French-Inspired Apple Tart with Rhubarb Compote

I love making desserts and having recently found puff-pastry here in Holland, I was quite excited to make a lovely French-inspired apple tart, using a rhubarb compote base.

This is a simple recipe that yields delicious results (especially when served hot with icecream).

What You'll Need:

• Base of a large spring form pan or very shallow pie pan
• One roll of puff pastry, from the fridge, not freezer
• 2 Tbsp rhubarb compote (you can also use apple sauce). You can buy this pre-made and it is often found in the jams and jelly aisles. The brand I used was 'Bonne Mama' from France
• 4 apples (I used some sweet, red apples, but you can also opt for a more tart variety like a Granny Smith)
• 2 Tbsp of caster sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter

What You'll Do:

• Roll out your puff pastry over top of your greased base of your spring form pan
• Trim the pastry so it just overlaps the base
• Crimp the pastry so there is a slight edge
• Chill in the fridge to re-set
• After about ten minutes, spoon the rhubarb compote onto the pastry, ensuring it is evenly spread
• Chill in the fridge until your apples are ready for placement

• Slice the apples to a very thin width (you can choose to peel your apples, I chose to keep the peels on to maintain some of their natural vitamins...making dessert a health food;)

• Pre-heat your oven to 190C (375F)
• Now, place your apples onto the compote-covered pastry base. This is tricky. You want them to fan out, starting from the inside and working your way inside - using the smaller pieces on the inside
• Once you are happy with the apple placement, sprinkle your sugar on the apples, then dot the pastry with your cubed butter slices

• Place in the oven and bake until lightly brown - around 25 minutes
• Serve hot with vanilla icecream. A delicious and light dessert!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2 (you can also mix this up by adding cinnamon, or apple cinnamon sauce instead of rhubarb compote)
Ease: 2

Tex-Mex Stuffed Sweet Potato

I don't love cooking meat in the summer unless I BBQ. Living in Amsterdam makes it tough to BBQ, so we have been going 'meat-free' for much of this month.

I loved this fun, tasty and fresh Tex-Mex inspired stuffed sweet potato recipe that is meat-free, sugar-free and gluten-free.

What You'll Need (serves four):

• 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes. I know these can come large in North America, so if they are monstrous, just use two (1/2 per person)
• 1 baking tray lined in tinfoil
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 white onion
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Green onion
• 1 cup black beans
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 package of your favourite, gluten-free taco seasoning
• Shredded cheese (I used a spicy hard cheese that I grated very thinly using a Parmesan grater - this way it looks like you have more cheese when you actually eat less!)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 210C (375F)
• Poke your sweet potatoes so steam can be released when cooking
• Bake for 45 minutes or until really tender (You can also microwave your potatoes for around 10 minutes, ensuring you puncture them before cooking to release steam. I prefer baking as they come out with a much nicer texture)
• While the potatoes are baking, prep your veggies!
• Dice your red pepper and 1/2 your onion and saute using your olive oil until lightly browned
• Mix your taco seasoning into your fat-free Greek yogurt and set aside in the fridge
• Dice your avocado and set aside 
• Dice your green onion and set aside
• Shred your cheese and set aside (keep cool so your cheese doesn't stick together)
• Dice your tomato, other half of your onion, cilantro and add together with some salt and pepper to make a salsa fresca (dry salsa)
• Rinse your black beans and set aside
• Once your potatoes are nice and soft, cut them in half (watch your hands as they are hot!) and load on the toppings!

 
This is a fairly quick, super tasty alternative to tacos or baked potatoes. I hope you like them as much as we do!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2 (so colourful!)
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5 (if you microwave your taters, this would also be a 2)

Avocado Chickpea Salad

Summer is finally here and nothing beats a fresh, healthy salad using all the lovely summer-ready ingredients!

This avocado chickpea salad is quick, easy and very filling.

What You'll Need (serves 4):

• 1/2 large avocado
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (or you could use black beans)
• 1 cup cooked corn
• 1/4 white (or red) onion
• 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp drizzle of your nicest extra virgin olive oil
• fresh cilantro
• Sprinkle of salt
• Twist of fresh black pepper
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes

What You'll Do:

• Dice your avocado and set aside - as you won't add this in until you are ready to serve your salad
• Dice your cherry tomatoes in half
• Rinse and drain your chickpeas and canned corn
• In a separate bowl, squeeze your lime juice and drizzle in your olive oil
• Twist in your pepper and salt
• Twist in your chili flakes
• Dice up your cilantro leaves into small pieces and add into your bowl of liquids
• Mix and pour onto your bowl of chickpeas, tomato and corn
• When you are ready to serve, top with your chopped avocado
• That's it!

This will pair nicely with BBQ'd chicken, my lemony dill baked salmon or my healthy Dukan polenta oatbran chicken nuggets. It will also store in your fridge for a day or two.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Spinach Chicken Bake

My husband and I are currently on the Wild Rose Cleanse after much vacationing and summer-weather indulgences.

We love how they Wild Rose Cleanse is making us feel so far - not bloated, full of energy and without our usual sugar cravings! It's easy to follow and you can eat pretty much everything you should be eating anyway.

This spinach chicken bake recipe is super tasty, fast and can go on top of brown rice or quinoa.

The Wild Rose Cleanse calls to use organic products where available.

What You'll Need: Serves 2

• Tinfoil-lined baking tray, lightly oiled with vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 250 grams of fresh, washed spinach
• 1 large, firm tomato
• 1 cup brown rice (or quinoa)
• 4 stalks of spring onion
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp of your favourite poultry rub - I wanted some kick, so I used The Silk Road Spice Merchant's 'Saltwater chili-lime seasoning' and a couple twists of chili flakes
• Twist of salt and pepper
• Tinfoil to cover the baking tray

What You'll Do:

• Line and grease your baking tray
• Turn your oven on to 350
• Start cooking your brown rice (or quinoa). I use 2 cups of water to one cup of rice, but this varies according to how firm you like it. I find cooking it this way provides a non-mushy texture and takes about 25-30 minutes to cook
• Place your spinach leaves evenly on the baking tray
• Twist on your salt and pepper
• Pour your chicken broth over top of the spinach
• Place your washed and dried chicken breasts on top of the spinach
• Rub your chicken breasts with your selected spices 
• Dice your tomatoes and onion and spread over top of your chicken

• Cover the baking tray with tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes
• Uncover the baking tray after 25 minutes and bake for another 10 minutes (or until cooked through)

By the time your chicken is cooked, your rice or quinoa should also be done and there you have a deliciously healthy, fast and Wild Rose Cleanse friendly dinner that even Martha would be proud of!

The STEWART SCORE
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2 (you can make this dish as spicy as you want, or substitute the spiced rub with something like lemon pepper!) 
Ease: 2

How to Make White Asparagus

White asparagus in Europe is plentiful right now. Having just taken a road trip through Eastern France and Western Germany - you see it being harvested everywhere. The true herald of Spring!

I love how delicate and silky white asparagus can be when cooked correctly...but never having made it before (because it costs an arm and a leg and your first born child in North America) I did some research on various French sites and came up with the below cooking instructions.

Enjoy this amazing vegetable while it lasts - its availability is so very fleeting!

What You'll Need:

• Heavy-bottomed deep pan
• Carrot peeler
• Fresh white asparagus 
• 1 lemon
• Dash of salt

What You'll Do:

• Going from base to tip, peel off all the harder outer bits of the skin
• Gently hold the stalk in each hand and push up lightly with your thumbs, where the stalk naturally snaps indicates the portion of the stalk that is the best to eat (from tip downwards). Though this may seem like a waste of asparagus, the bit that has snapped off will taste bitter - you can always save these bits and use them in asparagus soup!
• Add water to your pan and let boil
• Squeeze the juice of your lemon into the water and sprinkle in your dash of salt
• Wrap your asparagus bundles up with twine - depending on their length, you may want to tie them twice - once at the bottom and once near their tops
• Place your asparagus bundles into the boiling water and let boil for 30 minutes
• Yes - this amount of time may seem crazy as a lot of recipes say boil for just five minutes - but, trust me, the French research says 30 minutes
• Once boiled, they will be extremely hot and soft - remove them very carefully and let drain
• Serve immediately with some form of fat - the French often use Hollandaise sauce with lemon, or drizzles of olive oil and salted butter with a twist of fresh pepper. I choose Hollandaise sauce every time!

Rhubarb, Strawberry, Raspberry Crumble

Nothing beats rhubarb crumble...except rhubard, strawberry and raspberry crumble!
Those three tastes combined with a dollop of vanilla icecream is a symphony.
Summer in your mouth. A Rhuberry Crumble!!

This recipe is easy, super tasty and something I know Martha would be proud of.

What You'll Need: The filling

• 1 large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid
• 6 medium-sized stalks of rhubarb
• 1 cup strawberries (I used frozen as that is what I had on hand, but fresh or frozen work perfectly well)
• 1 cup raspberries (either fresh or frozen)
• 3 Tbsp whiskey (optional)
• 1/2 cup of golden caster sugar

What You'll Need: The Crumble

• 1 medium-sized corningware dish (either round or square)
• 1 cup of white flour
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1.5 cups quick rolled oats
• 1/3 cup of un-salted, room temperature butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional, but highly recommended)

What You'll Do: The Filling

• Chop the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces
• Add the rhubarb pieces, strawberries and raspberries into your saucepan 
• Add in your sugar and whiskey, stir 

• Cover and simmer on a very low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
• When soft (but still holding its shape), pour the rhubarb into your medium-sized baking dish

What You'll Do: The Crumble

• Pre-heat your oven to 200C (325)
• To make the crumble topping, rub the flour, oatmeal and butter together with your fingers until you have a soft, crumbly topping

• Now add the sugar and cinnamon, mixing together with your hands until combined
• Loosely spoon the topping over the rhubarb mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. I like to gently shake a little cinnamon for good measure over the top before I place in the oven
• Let cool for five minutes
• Serve hot with a lovely dollop of vanilla icecream (or custard, if that is your thing).

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2 (My husband said this is my best dessert ever made. No joke).
Ease: 1.5

No Bake Chocolate Haystacks

A great recipe for summer picnics or Christmas cookie sales, these no-bake chocolate haystacks are versatile, tasty and hit the mark when you have a chocolate craving.

The below recipe makes around 3 dozen table spoon sized portions but is easily doubled or tripled. Below you can read how to add a peanut buttery kick!

What You'll Need:

• 1 medium saucepan
• Wax paper/tin foil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup un-salted butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 -2 cups rolled quick oats
• 1 cup flaked coconut (I liked mine un-sweetened)

What You'll Do:

• Spread a large sheet of either wax paper or tinfoil out on your work surface
• Add in your sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa into your saucepan
• Heat until it is gently boiling, stirring frequently
• When it has reached a gentle boil, cook for five minutes - don't stop stirring
• Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in your vanilla
• Stir in your oats and coconut
• You don't want the mixture too runny - if you feel it is, shake is some more of your oatmeal until it is a dense consistency
• Working quickly, drop tablespoon-sized amounts of hot mixture onto your paper-lined work top. Try to make the mixture dense by squishing it into the spoon so, when cooled, the haystack does not crumble apart
• Let cool and enjoy

This recipe is super easy and a great treat for summer picnics or if you have a chocolate craving.
Some people use Chinese noodles in place of the oatmeal, but I like the oatmeal version. You can also add in peanut butter, if that is your type of thing (stir in 1/4 cup once the mixture has been removed from the heat). Lately I have been adding in flaked quinoa in place of 1/2 cup of the oatmeal - delicious and hardly noticeable.
 

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Easy Chocolate Brownies

This recipe couldn't be easier, or tastier! These chocolate brownies turn out exactly how brownies should be - soft in the centre with a crispy crust on top. This recipe is definitely not low fat but they are super chocolatey, so a little goes a long way! I usually half this recipe as there is just two of us and a full batch is a lot of brownies!

What You'll Need:

• Cake tin - 12 x 9
• Electric mixture or hand mixture and medium-sized bowl
• 1 cup softened un-salted butter
• 1.5 cups white sugar
• 4 Large room-temperature eggs 
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup self-raising white flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (this is optional, but I find it makes this recipe go above and beyond...the way Martha likes it)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350F
• Grease your cake tin with butter or oil
• Using a large bowl and hand mixer (or ideally a mix-master) combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined
• Spread the mixture evenly in your baking tin
• Bake for 30
• Do not over bake as you want the centre to be ever-so-slightly soft and under-baked
• Let cool a little bit (as nothing beats a warm brownie) and serve with ice cream or whipped cream

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2 - the easiest recipe! Trust me.

Low Fat Apple and Blueberry Tart

There are lots of apples at the market these days at a really good price, so, with a guest in town, I thought I would make something special for our dessert. Something tart but sweet and low fat!

Using phyllo pastry, a handful of blueberries and four fresh, sharp apples - this tart came out so light and delicious...and it was not hard to make!

What You'll Need:

• Pie pan
• Small pot
• Blender or hand mixer
• Butter to grease your pie pan
• 6 sheets of phyllo pastry
• 4 tart apples
• 1/2 lemon for its juice
• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup of room temperature butter
• 1 Tbps cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar (you can also swap real sugar for your favourite sugar-substitute - like Splenda or Ideal)
• 1 Tbps honey
• 1/2 cup water (1/4 cup of boiling and 1/4 cup of room temperature)

What You'll Do:

• Take the phyllo pastry out of the freezer and let thaw for at least one hour
• Lightly butter your pie pan
• Peel and thinly slice three of your four apples - place in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over top. Stir the juice through your apple slices so they don't brown as you prep the rest of your tart
• With your fourth apple, peel and core then dice into small chunks
• Add into a small pot with 1 Tbsp of cinnamon and half of your 1/4 cup of sugar
• Gently pour 1/4 cup of room temperature water over top
• Let this mixture boil for 10-15 minutes or until totally soft - you have essentially made an apple sauce!

• When the apples are very very soft, pour your mixture into your blender and blend until smooth (if you don't have a blender, you can use a hand mixer here as well)
• Let cool
• Take your phyllo pastry out of its wrapping and unfold onto your counter-top
• Using a damp paper towel, cover the pastry as it dries out extremely quickly  
• Mix together in a small bowl your honey and the 1/4 cup of boiling water until the honey has dissolved

• Take one sheet of the pastry and lay it into the pie pan
• Brush the pastry sheet with the honey water and then lay another sheet on top, at an angle to the first sheet. Do this four times so the base of your pastry shell is four layers thick
• Using a spoon, spread your apple cinnamon mixture onto the base of the pie pan

• Now the fun begins - assembling your thinly sliced apples! You can do this however you like, I tried to make mine spiral around the center
• Add in your blueberries - if you like berries a lot, use more and make a whole layer of them over top the apples (you can also use raspberries, blackberries or strawberries - all would be delicious)
• Use most of the rest of your sugar and sprinkle the apples and berries with a light layer of sugar

• Using your room temperature butter, cut small, thin pieces and add to the top of your tart filling. I placed one in the middle and four pieces around the centre of the apple pieces (let's say Noon, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock;). You do not need a lot of butter!
• Once you are happy with your filling, take another sheet of phyllo and layer over top, brush with your honey mixture then add the final phyllo layer
• Try to close the sides of the pie up by pushing the top phyllo layers into the phyllo that makes the side of the shell - to do this use the honey mixture and your brush
• Sprinkle the rest of your sugar on top of the pie

• Bake for around 30 minutes or until your apples are nice and soft
• Let cool and serve with whipped cream or a fat-free Greek yogurt for a little more zing

Ta da! A deliciously low fat apple berry tart that even Martha would be proud of!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Dukan Tea Biscuits

These are lovely little Dukan-friendly treats that can be made savoury or sweet.
Easy and quick to make - they are a new favourite!

What You'll Need:

• Muffin tray - I used a cute one that is molded so the muffins come out with pretty little shapes
• Hand mixer
• 6 Tbps oat Bran
• 4 Tbps skimmed milk powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 Tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C (375F)
• Using your hand mixer, beat your two egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff
• In a separate bowl, mix all of your remaining dry ingredients together
• Inside your peaked egg white mixture, gently mix in your egg yolk and Greek yogurt
• Then slowly add in the dry ingredient mixture - trying to not flatten all the air bubbles you created from whipping the egg whites
• Pour your mixture into your tins - if you do not have non-stick tins, use muffin cups so your muffins don't stick
• Bake until lightly browned around the edges - around 12 minutes

Tip alert! To make these little babies savoury - try adding in your favourite curry powder, or dill with lemon zest!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Dukan Curried Chicken, Eggplant and Squash Stew

It has been cold in Amsterdam and I was wanting to make a nice, warm, filling winter dish - a stew!
This recipe has pulled chicken, eggplant, tomatoes, and butternut squash with a curried kick.

It was a hit!

What You'll Need:

• Large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid 
• 2 Medium-sized pots
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 plum tomatoes
• 1 peeled butternut squash, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 small firm eggplant, diced into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons of your favourite curry powder - I love The Silk Road Spice Merchant's Madras Curry Powder. It has such a lovely and non-overpowering taste.
• 1 tablespoon chile powder 
• 1 cup chicken stock

What You'll Do: Pulled Chicken

• Fill one of your medium-sized pots half-way up with water to boil
• When the water is boiling add in your two chicken breasts
• Boil for 30 minutes
• Drain the water and let cool
• Shred the chicken and place in a bowl until you are ready to combine into your stew

What You'll Do: Stewed Tomatoes

• Cut an 'X' into the end of your tomato, so when the tomatoes are soft, you can easily peel the skin off
• Fill one of your medium-sized pots half-way with water to boil
• Add in your tomatoes and let boil gently for twenty minutes
• Immediately remove the boiled tomatoes and place into a bowl of ice water
• Let cool. Once cooled, the skins will easily peel away
• Peel the skins and dice

What You'll Do: Butternut Squash

• Pre-heat your oven to 200F (375C)
• Line a baking tray with tinfoil
• Peel, remove seeds and chop your squash into bite-sized pieces
• Bake for 15 minutes, you want the squash soft, but not mushy or it will fall apart in the stew

What You'll Do: Stew Assembly!

• Ideally as your chicken and tomatoes are boiling and your squash is in the oven, you will want to chop your onion and red peppers
• In your heavy-bottomed pot, add in your onions and peppers
• Crush your garlic and add into the pot
• Add in enough water to just cover
• Gently boil until soft

• When soft, dice your eggplant and add into the pan
• Pour in your chicken stock
• By now, your chicken and tomatoes should be ready to add into the pot
• Cover in your curry powder and shake in your chile pepper
• When the mix looks nice and thick and the stock has boiled down into the mix, add in your squash
• Gently stir until everything looks soft 
• That's it! Enjoy!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (it is not a quick recipe - you will need a good couple of hours to make)

Dukan Chocolate Cake

This cake is an easy, tasty and quick to make, Dukan-friendly treat.

What You'll Need:

• Round cake pan, or two small ramekins (as shown in the above picture)
• Two medium-sized mixing bowls
• 8 Tbsp of oatbran
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup sugar substitute, like Ideal - a xylitol-based sweetener
• 3 Tbsp of sugar-free chocolate powder (I use the Ghirardelli kind you can get in the Netherlands)
• 1 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt (you can also sub in non-fat quark, or vanilla-flavoured non-fat yogurt. I use non-fat Greek yogurt as it is usually thicker and makes the cake more moist...yes, I hate that word, too ;)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs 

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 180C (or 350F)
• Get two medium-sized bowls ready
• In one bowl, mix together your dry ingredients until fully combined - oatbran, baking powder, sweetener, chocolate powder
• In the other bowl, mix in your yogurt/quark, vanilla then your 4 eggs (I will usually crack them one by one in a separate little container, like the measuring cup I just used, to ensure each egg is good before I add them into the larger mixture)
• Mix the liquid mixture thoroughly until it is a consistent colour and texture
• Add the liquid mix into the dry mix and stir until smooth 
• Pour the combined mix into the chosen containers, filling to about 3/4 full
• Let bake for 12-18 minutes, or until cooked through - my oven runs hot, so 15 minutes works for me, but start checking in on them at the 12 minute mark
• I think these taste the nicest hot - as the middle is still a little gooey...yum!

You can serve these with a dollop of fat-free cream cheese on top, or a fat free vanilla yogurt. Delicious!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Easy Vegan Black Forest Cake

For my husband's birthday this year I made him a black forest cake to take into work.
Using my Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe (and doubling it), combined with my easy Cherry Sauce recipe you have a delicious Vegan, lower fat version of this decadent German dessert.
I added whipped cream to cover it - which of course you can skip if if you are sticking to a vegan diet.

I am pretty darn pleased at how it turned out and it was a hit at my husband's office!


What You'll Need: Vegan Chocolate Cake

• 2 round cake pans 
• 1 large bowl, 1 small bowl
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar (I used Ideal instead)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use the extra dark kind that is virtually sugar-free)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp vinegar (plain, not cider or rice, etc)
• 2 cups room temperature water

What You'll Need: Easy Cherry Sauce

• Heavy-bottomed sauce pan
• 2 cups of seedless frozen cherries
• 1/3 cup of sugar (I used Ideal, a xylitol-based sweetener instead)
• 2/3 cup water and 1/4 cup of water
• 2 Tbps cornstarch
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

What You'll Need: Whipped Cream Topping

• Electric mixer or hand mixer
• 1 large container of whipping cream
• 1/3 cup of sugar (I used xylitol-based Ideal sweetener)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Now you have assembled everything you need - let's get baking!

What You'll Do: Vegan Chocolate Cake

• Pre-heat your oven
• Lightly grease your baking pans
• In your large bowl sift your flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda and salt together until fully combined
• In your small bowl pour in your oil, vanilla, vinegar then water
• Quickly whisk up until combined and bubbly
• Pour your liquid mixture into your flour mixture and stir until smooth
• Pour half of the batter into each of your baking pans
• Depending on the depth of your pans, cooking times vary. For me it took around 25 minutes. I could tell it was done when the centre was no longer wiggly when moved about and when I could stick in a toothpick and it came out 'clean' (not gooey)
• Let cool completely before removing from your pans

What You'll Do: Easy Cherry Sauce

• Ensure your cherries are pitted
• Place your thawed berries into your saucepan
• Pour in 2/3 cups of water
• Stir until boiling
• In a small measuring cup, pour in your 1/4 cup of water and stir in your cornstarch
• Pour your cornstarch and water mixture into the boiling cherries
• Stir rapidly as the sauce will thicken instantly
• Pour in your lemon juice
• Reduce the heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved
• Let cool

What You'll Do: Whipped Cream Topping

• Using your electric mixer, pour the whipping cream into your bowl
• As your are whipping, pour in your sugar, cinnamon and vanilla
• Whip until you have very stiff peaks. As this will be used as an 'icing' for your cake, you do not want this to be runny
• Chill in the fridge until your cakes are prepared

What You'll Do: Assembly!

• Once your two cakes are completely cooled, use a large knife and gently cut each cake in half, horizontally
• Gently remove the top half and turn upside down, so the top is now resting on your counter
• Stir your cheery sauce until it has loosened up a bit, as it may have become quite gelatinous as it cooled
• Using a flat back spoon, portion out the cherry sauce and place one dollop at a time onto one side of the split cake

• Make sure cherry sauce covers the complete half and then, gently, take the other half of the cake and place it back onto its partner, 'top' side up
• Repeat this with the other baked cake
• You will now have two cakes with cherry middles. You are not done yet! Using the remainder of your cherry sauce, cover the top of one of the cakes completely then place the other cake on top - you will now have three layers of cherry sauce to four layers of cake

• Now - take your whipped cream and smooth all over the cake until completely covered
• Then, as a final touch and something I know Martha would do, I grated dark chocolate over top
• That is it - your delicious, moist, chocolatey Black Forest cake is all ready to be eaten! Enjoy!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2 (you can also pimp your cake out and add some whole cherries on the top, or even another layer of cherry sauce if you have extra)
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (there are a lot of steps, this is not a fast cake to make as you must let it cool before you assemble it)

Easy Cherry Sauce

This is a super simple and tasty recipe for an easy cherry sauce.
Cherry sauce is great for a cake topping (especially for chocolate cakes, like this vegan chocolate cake), ice-cream sauce or, if you are feeling daring - a lovely tangy accompaniment to pork tenderloin (for this I would remove the sugar in the below recipe).

What You'll Need:

• Heavy-bottomed sauce pan
• 2 cups of seedless frozen cherries
• 1/3 cup of sugar (I used a xylitol-based sweetener instead)
• 2/3 cup water and 1/4 cup of water
• 2 Tbps cornstarch
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

What You'll Do:

• Ensure your cherries are pitted
• Place your thawed berries into your saucepan
• Pour in 2/3 cups of water
• Stir until boiling
• In a small measuring cup, pour in your 1/4 cup of water and stir in your cornstarch
• Pour your cornstarch and water mixture into the boiling cherries
• Stir rapidly as the sauce will thicken instantly
• Pour in your lemon juice
• Reduce the heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved
• Let cool
• Easy as that

The STEWART SCORE
Appearance: 1 - it looks like a crime scene
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I ran out of butter and am making my husband his birthday cake.
I remembered making a Vegan chocolate cake once for a colleague's birthday (who was Vegan) and I dug out an old and trusty recipe I thought I would share with you all for days you want cake and have no butter.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cake pan - you can make this a square or round cake, or even cupcakes if you fancy - I chose a medium-sized round pan
• 1 large bowl, 1 small bowl
• 1/5 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use the extra dark kind that is virtually sugar-free)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp vinegar (plain, not cider or rice, etc)
• 1 cup room temperature water

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven
• Lightly grease your baking pan
• In your large bowl sift your flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda and salt together until fully combined
• In your small bowl pour in your oil, vanilla, vinegar then water
• Quickly whisk up until combined and bubbly
• Pour into your flour mixture and stir until smooth
• Pour into your baking pan
• Depending on the depth of your pan, or if you decided to make cupcakes, cooking times varies. For me it took around 25 minutes. I could tell it was done when the centre was no longer wiggly when moved about and when I could stick in a toothpick and it came out 'clean' (not gooey)
• Let cool and serve with your favourite ice cream or fruit topping - here is a link to a super simple cherry topping that is really easy to make and adds a nice zing

The STEWART SCORE
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Low Fat 'Chipits' Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

You can't find bags of chocolate chips in the Netherlands like you can in North America, so last time I was home for a visit, I picked up an extra large bag of 'Chipits' milk chocolate chips.

On the back of the package is a recipe for their 'Original Chipits Cookies' that I thought I would try today.

The original recipe has a lot of butter in it and so I thought I would practice what I preach and substitute half the butter for 1/4 cup of low fat Greek yogurt - like I posted a couple weeks ago, here.

The cookies turned out marvelously and were really easy to make. They are lower fat than the original recipe - but they still contain quite a bit sugar, I chose to use a xylitol-based sweetener to substitute out some of the sugar as well.

What You'll Need:

• Cookie sheets
• Hand mixer or electric mixer
• 1 large bowl (or your electric mixer's bowl) and one medium bowl
• Baking paper/parchment paper
• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 room temperature medium-sized eggs
• 1.5 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I also substituted this for my xylitol-based sweetener, called Ideal)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups 'Chipits' chocolate chips (or your favourite kind that is available where you live)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 375F (190C)
• Cover your baking trays with baking paper
• In your mixer's bowl (large bowl) cream together your butter, yogurt and sugars. To read more about the fine art of butter creaming, feel free to read this
• When fully creamed, add in your two, room-temperature eggs (having them room temperature is important - here is why!)
• Beat until mixed
• Pour in your vanilla extract and mix in completely
• In your medium-sized bowl, add in your flour, baking soda and salt
• Using a fork, stir until fully combined
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture into the butter mixture
• Ensure you scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice while you are mixing to ensure everything is totally combined
• Once combined, pour in your two cups of chocolate chips and hand blend until combined
• One your covered baking sheets, roll out tablespoon full amounts of batter onto the tray, well spaced apart as these cookies spread
• Bake in your pre-heated oven for 8-12 minutes or until just lightly browning on the outside edges - you will want these cookies to be a little gooey in the middle still
• Enjoy with a glass of milk...or wine, your choice...Martha doesn't judge and neither do I

The STEWART SCORE
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Substituting Fat Free Yogurt for Fats in a Recipe

 

Just follow this easy chart in your recipes - love it - thanks Chobani! I usually use Total Fat Free Greek Yogurt, so use your favourite and let me know how it works out!

Dukan Cruise-Phase Omelette

A quick, easy, tasty and healthy Dukan-friendly, gluten-free breakfast (or anytime!) omelette recipe. If you are on the Dukan diet - you can have this meal on your pure protein + vegetable Cruise phase days, Consolidation or Stabilization days.

What You'll Need (serves 2-3):

• Large, non-stick frying pan
• Large mixing bowl
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1/2 large red pepper 
• 1/4 head broccoli
• 3 reduced fat ham, pre-cooked ham (or chicken) slices
• 4 medium-sized eggs

What You'll Do:

• Dice your small onion (here is a link to how I do it)
• Water sautee your onion (Cover your diced onions in water, not all the way, but just enough so they have enough to gently boil in. Let them boil until almost transparent and soft. This technique is a very helpful trick on the Dukan diet. We are used to sauteing onions in butter or oils, but with water you get none of the fat and all of the taste! To be honest, heck yeah I miss the taste of butter sauteed onions...but my butt doesn't)
• Finely chop your red pepper, broccoli and ham slices
• In a large bowl toss in your chopped vegetables and ham
• Crack your eggs into the same bowl
• Mix thoroughly until frothy
• Turn your stove top onto its lowest setting and place your non-stick pan on top
• Gently pour your egg mixture into the pan
• Let cook until the edges of the egg start to look cooked
• Using your large spatula, gently lift half of your omelette, placing it downwards and onto the top half of the other side. Your omelette now looks like a half circle
• Cook until the centre is no longer runny
• Remove from your pan and enjoy!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5 (this 'flipping' of the omelette can be tricky if you try to flip too soon. If your omelette breaks, don't worry - it will still taste the same!)

The Art of Creaming Butter

I love to bake and when I first started was often frustrated by flat cakes and sunken cookies.
The trick to achieving Martha-worthy results lies in how successfully you cream your butter and sugar.

This post I hope will help you all become Masters in the Art of Creaming Butter.

Often recipes start with the infamous words "cream your butter and sugar".
Well...what does that even mean and how do I do it while still behaving like the lady Martha expects me to be?

Firstly - the success of your creaming ventures does rely on the temperature of your butter.
You can not cream frozen, hard or recently refrigerated butter. If it too cold, it will not whip up.
If it is too warm, it does not retain air. Air creates bubbles. Bubbles are very important for expansion in your baking. Expansion creates fluffy, airy, lovely textured baked goods.
Your butter must be the temperature of the room you are baking in (let's hope this room is not a deep freeze or a sauna).

Secondly - I don't know how you will successfully participate in the act of creaming without a mix master or a hand held mixer of some sort. (This often leaves me wondering how our great grandmothers mother's made cakes successfully, pre-electricity!).

Thirdly - how long is long enough?
You want to beat your butter and sugar together until the mixture is lighter in colour (almost pale looking) and texture. It visually looks softer, fluffier.
The beating aerates the butter, adding in those valuable bubbles that expand when baked - making cookies lighter, cakes fluffier and more tender.

When you master this you will notice your cakes seem more delicate, your cookies and muffins brag-worthy.

Good luck with your Mastery and in the words of Devo - "Whip it real good"!

Why Egg Temperature Matters

I mention 'room temperature' eggs and butter when I create my baking recipes for you not because I prefer to be wordy, but because temperature of ingredients matters!

Always bring your baking ingredients to the temperature called for in the recipe you are following. If you follow that golden rule of baking, trust Martha, your results will be the better because of it.
If it reads 'melted butter' - melt that butter good!

Why Eggs Need to Be Room Temperature:
Eggs that are too cold, when added to your creamed butter base will make that creamy butter seize up. This then deflates any air bubbles that you created, inhibiting them from expanding when baked. Air bubbles are a great thing as they are what makes cakes fluffy.

We are busy people.
In North America, we keep our eggs in the fridge so waiting for your little eggs to become one with your room's temperature can seem like an eternity you don't have.
Here is a trick - fill a small bowl with hot water (not boiling as you don't want to cook your eggs). One by one, add your eggs and turn them in the water for around one minute. Careful not to crack their shells! They will warm up nicely.

Ham Breakfast Muffin Cups

How to make breakfast the way Martha would?
Try easy, fancy ham muffin cups.
Perfect for any sort of eggy delight to bake within.

I used these cute little guys to fancy up my Gluten-Free Quinoa Breakfast Muffins. 

What You'll Need:

• Ham slices (I use a lower fat, thicker cut slice)
• Muffin tins
• Oil

What You'll Do:

• If your ham slices are round, cut in half. You cut them so they are able to be manipulated inside the tin, making a nicer cup shape. It is hard to make a round piece of ham fit nicely into a round tin shape, but, when you cut them - you can position them easily.
• Lightly oil your muffin tins
• Place the cut ham slices into your tins, making sure there are no gaps where your filling of choice could ooze out of. I usually end up using three to four half slices of ham per tin
• Depending on what you decide to fill these with, you can pre-cook or not

Easy and fancy. Kinda like Martha and I.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 (its ham...not Picasso)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Gluten-Free Quinoa Breakfast Muffins

We had friends over for brunch today and instead of the standard waffles/bacon/eggs/ I wanted to try something healthier and gluten-free.

I had some left over, frozen quinoa from my Gluten-Free Curried Quinoa Salad and that was my base. Adding some eggs, fresh diced veggies and spices turned into delicious, filling and healthy Gluten-Free Quinoa Breakfast Muffins.

Easy. Tasty. Healthy and hearty.

What You'll Need (makes one dozen muffins):

• Muffin tins
• Large bowl
• 2.5 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup cooked bacon cubes or diced, pre-cooked low fat ham (pre-cooked, low fat ham would be preferred, but you can't find that in this country - so, I pre-cooked bacon cubes instead. I pre-cooked them so I could drain the bacon fat out first)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used gouda...as I live in Holland)
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper (can be your favourite colour pepper, I find red and orange the nicest)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup diced green onion
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp your favourite chicken or bbq rub - I used The Silk Road Spice Merchant's Saltwater Chili-Lime Seasoning as it has just the right amount of zing

What You'll Do:

• Cook your quinoa - let cool
• Cook your bacon cubes - drain all fat and let cool
• Dice your red pepper, green onions and cilantro
• Pre-heat your oven to 350C (175F)
• In your large bowl - add in your eggs and egg whites, cooked bacon or ham cubes, shredded cheese of choice, diced cilantro, pepper of choice and green onion
• Twist in your pepper

• With a fork, whisk until fully combined
• Add in your pre-cooked, cooled quinoa (you don't want this to be hot because when you add it to the egg mixture, it will start to cook the raw egg)
• Mix thoroughly until all quinoa is covered 
• Lightly oil your muffin tins
• Spoon in the quinoa mixture into the muffin tins - pressing down on the mixture to ensure the mixture is firmly packed in

• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges start to look brown
• Remove and let cool for 5 minutes or until firm enough to remove from the tins
• Enjoy!

This recipe is a good quinoa breakfast muffin 'base' recipe.
Not a fan of pepper - try diced, pre-cooked broccoli, grated zucchini or tomatoes instead.
You really can add whatever vegetable into these as you wish or have in the fridge.
To make these fancier - you can cook them inside 'ham breakfast muffin cups'.
Want to make them spicy - toss in some hot sauce and spicy BBQ rub seasoning.
They are also excellent to freeze and will keep in the fridge two-three days.

Practical little buggers! Martha would like that.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (this would be a 2 if you have pre-cooked quinoa and pre-cooked ham at hand)