Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies / Mince-Apple Tarts

FILLED OATMEAL COOKIES – The only thing better than an oatmeal cookie is a filled oatmeal cookie, right! It seems they were one of those cookies traditionally baked at Christmas time, probably due to the cost of dates and the time consuming process to make them.

Whenever my mother was doing her Christmas baking, she gradually filled every cookie tin she owned and then started using empty ‘Rodger’s Golden Syrup’ pails to store them in. These pails were good for the purpose because they were airtight. To keep us ‘kids’ from nibbling on them before Christmas had actually arrived, the pails were discretely placed among her jars of canning downstairs. Somehow a pail got missed, so that year we enjoyed some very tasty cookies in about February.

I personally just love dates but Brion, not so much. As an alternative I decided to make half the recipe with Cranberry filling so it would work for both of us.

MINCE-APPLE TARTS – Mince(meat) pies, like Christmas puddings, were originally filled with meat, such as lamb, rather than dried mixed fruit as they are today. The shape was an oval to represent the manager that the baby Jesus slept in, with the tops representing his swaddling clothes.

A custom from the middle ages was that if you eat mince pie on everyday from Christmas until the 5th of January (12 days) you will have happiness for the next 12 months. At one time in the UK, mince pies were a status symbol at Christmas. Having pies like this, made in various shapes, meant you could afford to employ the best pastry cooks.

It seems mincemeat is one of those things that people either really like or they want nothing to do with it. Brion and I always enjoy to have a few (fruit)  mincemeat tarts at Christmas time. Tossing in a bit of apple, walnuts and some extra rum or brandy doesn’t hurt either.

 

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Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies / Mincemeat-Apple Tarts
The hint of citrus in the filled oatmeal cookies elevates them to a whole new level.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course dessert
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Date or Cranberry Filled Cookies
  1. In a large bowl, cream margarine & sugar; beat in milk & vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, baking powder & salt; gradually stir into creamed mixture until blended. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or longer.
Filling
  1. In a double boiler over medium heat, bring dates (cranberries), sugar, water, juice & zest to a boil; stirring often. Reduce heat to low, cover & simmer, stirring occasionally, until fruit is very soft. Uncover & cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until mixture forms a thick paste. Let cool completely.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured surface, roll out cookie dough to about 1/8 - 1/4" thickness & cut into 1 1/2 - 2" circles. Place on baking sheet & bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden edge is crispy & center is still soft. Transfer immediately to rack & allow to cool completely. Spread filling evenly over smooth side of half of the cookies; sandwich with remaining cookies.
Mince - Apple Tarts (24)
  1. On a floured surface, roll out pastry. Using a 2 1/2" cookie cutter, cut 24 circles. With a canape cutter, cut out 24 various shapes such as stars, trees, bells etc. for the top of tarts. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place shapes on an ungreased baking sheet; sprinkle with sugar. Bake cutouts for a few minutes until light golden. remove from sheet & cool.
  2. Press tart pastry sheels into bottom & up the sides of miniature muffin cups. In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Spoon into tart shells. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until filling is bubbly & crust is light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from pans. Top each tart with a cutout.
Recipe Notes
  • Due to the fact that the filled cookies will get quite soft after a few days, I like to keep them in the freezer & eat them while they are still slightly frozen.
  • For the tarts, you can either buy frozen tart shells or I do have my favorite pastry recipe posted on the Thanksgiving blog in October 2016.

Chia Chicken Meatballs with Linguine

Chia — the little seed with the huge nutritional profile. Known as a great source of healthy omega-3 fats and fiber as well as positive health effects such as boosting energy, stabilizing blood sugar, aiding digestion and lowering cholesterol.

In the early eighties, when the terracotta ‘Chia Pet’ figurines were first marketed, I really didn’t pay much attention to them. I just thought they were a cute way to grow a ‘houseplant’ never checking out their true potential.

Chia seeds have a fascinating and long history of use in several cultures. The word chia means ‘strength’ in the Mayan language. The Aztecs, Mayans and Incas, supposedly all used chia as a staple of their diets as well as an energy food.

There seem to be endless ways to use these naturally gluten free little seeds. Just to name a few would be, as an egg substitute, in puddings, as a thickener in soups and gravy, in meatballs, sprouted in salads or for breading fish or chicken.

One of the recipes I have featured in my ebook is Chia Chicken Meatballs  served with a fresh zucchini sauce over linguine pasta.

My husband, Brion is all about anything that promotes good health so this meal works for him. The chia seeds definitely give these little chicken meatballs some extra ‘pizzazz’. Hope you enjoy.

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Chia Chicken Meatballs with Linguine
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Fresh Zucchini Sauce
Course Main Dish
Servings
Ingredients
Fresh Zucchini Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Chia-Chicken Meatballs
  1. In a small bowl, combine chia seeds with water; let stand for about 20 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, use your hands to evenly combine the chia gel with the remaining meatball ingredients. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with foil; coat lightly with baking spray. Scoop meatball mixture into 50 servings onto baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes; remove from oven. Cool half of the meatballs & freeze for another meal.
Fresh Zucchini Sauce
  1. In a saucepan, melt margarine; saute zucchini & green onion until tender. Sprinkle with flour & seasonings. Add milk/broth & cook, stirring until slightly thickened. Fold in baked chicken balls.
Linguine
  1. Cook linguine about 14 minutes in salted boiling water to which 1 Tbsp of olive oil has been added. Drain & combine with meatball/sauce mixture.

Fresh Cherry Almond Scones

What’s not to love about fresh cherries?! Besides having a wonderful taste, they have many health benefits as well. In Alberta, we start seeing cherries in the grocery stores about early June. For most part they come from British Columbia, Canada. Of course, ‘Bing’ is probably the most widely known variety because of it’s size and sweetness. As the ‘season’ rolls along, the price comes down somewhat but what fruit lover could resist them?

In an earlier blog, I mentioned that Brion and I had spent three months in Cuenca, Ecuador in 2015. At some point, during that time, the street vendors chants rang through Cuenca’s streets encouraging passersby to purchase their in-season, pick-of-the-crop  fresh cherries. A half of a kilo (a little over a pound) sold for 1 to 2 dollars, depending on the vendor and the time of day. CERAZAS! CERAZAS! CERAZAS! was the mantra as they navigated ‘wheel borrows’through Cuenca’s streets broad and narrow. As long as they were available, we always made sure we would buy some on our way back from our daily walks.

About four years ago we planted a northern cherry tree, called ‘Cupid’ in our back yard. It would be classed as a sour or semi-sweet cherry. Although it is very young and doing well, it will be a while before we will have a wheel borrow full of cherries from it.

There are lots of great fresh cherry scone recipes it seems. Even so, why not try to tweek the recipe yet again. Hope you enjoy this version with some of those fresh cherries.

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Fresh Cherry Almond Scones
Fresh cherry scones with almond-anise flavor.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a blender or food processor, pulse almonds until coarsely ground. Add oatmeal & anise seed; repeat process for a few more seconds. Add flour, sugar, baking powder & salt; whirl only until combined. Add margarine & pulse slightly, transfer to a large bowl.
  3. In a small bowl, beat together yogurt, egg & almond flavoring. Combine wet & dry ingredients, mixing only until just mixed.
  4. On a sheet of parchment paper, pat or roll the dough into a 12" square. Place cherry halves evenly over the dough, pressing in gently. Using the parchment, fold 1/3 of dough over, then repeat with opposite side of dough. Pinch seams together. Place log seam side down and flatten into a long rectangle using your palms, approximately 12" x 4". Using a sharp knife cut 14 wedges.
  5. Space out on parchment paper or transfer to a new sheet on baking pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until test done.
Recipe Notes
  • Cherries can be carefully folded into batter and then scooped onto baking sheet instead of making wedges if you prefer.

Fresh Fruit Pizza

The quintessential summer BBQ dessert! Fruit pizza is like a giant cookie, covered with luscious cream, layered with colorful fresh fruit, topped with glaze and a drizzle of chocolate, if you please.

If you have been following my blogs, you have probably already noticed, choice is something I’m big on. Fruit pizza is a classic dessert with so many possibilities. I have always enjoyed to start with the original idea of a recipe and see how many ways I can vary it without getting too involved or requiring a lot of extra ingredients and time.

Since CANADA DAY celebrations are right around the corner I thought it was a good time to enjoy Fruit Pizza personalized’Here are some ideas to mix and match to your liking.

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Fresh Fruit Pizza
Personalize not only with ingredient choices but the design as well
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Servings
Ingredients
Classic Shortbread or Pecan Shortbread Crust
Oatmeal Crust
Frozen Puff Pastry OR Crescent Roll Dough
Cream Cheese Topping
Cool Whip / Custard Topping
Honey - Yogurt Topping
Citrus Glaze
Pineapple Glaze
Fresh Fruit (use whatever fruit you prefer)
Chocolate Drizzle (optional)
Servings
Ingredients
Classic Shortbread or Pecan Shortbread Crust
Oatmeal Crust
Frozen Puff Pastry OR Crescent Roll Dough
Cream Cheese Topping
Cool Whip / Custard Topping
Honey - Yogurt Topping
Citrus Glaze
Pineapple Glaze
Fresh Fruit (use whatever fruit you prefer)
Chocolate Drizzle (optional)
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
For Shortbread & Oatmeal Crusts
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 12-inch pizza pan or cookie sheet. In a large bowl, cream butter & sugar until light. Add any flavorings. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or hand mixer until well blended. Press dough into pan & prick with a fork. Bake 10-15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool completely.
Frozen Puff Pastry
  1. Follow package directions. Cool completely & place on serving tray.
Crescent Roll Dough
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Pinch together crescent roll dough as you press into a 12-inch pizza pan. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
Cream Cheese Topping
  1. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, lime juice concentrate & sugar until smooth.
Cool Whip/Custard Topping
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry pudding mix & milk for 2 minutes. Fold in Cool Whip.
Honey - Yogurt Topping
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt & honey.
Citrus & Pineapple Glaze
  1. In a small saucepan, combine ingredients. Cook over medium heat until thickens. Remove from heat & cool slightly. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the fruit with glaze. FOR PRESERVE GLAZE: mix preserves with water & brush onto fruit.
TO ASSEMBLE FRUIT PIZZA
  1. Spread topping of choice onto cooled crust & arrange fruit onto. Brush with glaze of choice. Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. Dip a large spoon into chocolate; drizzle, quickly letting the chocolate fall in thin ribbons from the end of the spoon. If chocolate seems to stiff, add a drop of vegetable oil. Let pizza stand until chocolate is firm.

Oatmeal Spice Cake with Broiled Topping

In about 1956, Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut (General Mills) came up with the idea of ‘cut-up cakes’. My mother always had a love for cake decorating and this idea just added a whole new dimension. The company printed a little booklet with a year’s worth of cut-up cake directions.

The cakes were popular because no special tools or pans were needed. Cakes were baked from your own recipe or from cake mixes, usually in either a 13 x 9″ pan or two 8 or 9″ layers. After the cake was cooled, you followed a pattern given in the recipe booklet and cut the cake as directed with a knife, then put the pieces together to form the desired shape. The cake pieces were then covered with frosting, making it appear as one solid cake.

Most of the designs usually incorporated coconut into the decoration. It looked great and of course we loved it. This was the forerunner to the baking industry developing ‘character’ cake pans in shapes of anything imaginable.

Although this old fashioned oatmeal cake came from that time period, it was not used for one of these cut-up cakes. I just thought it would be nice to include it in this blog since it had that wonderful tasting broiled topping made with the well known ‘Angel Flake‘ coconut. This cake was so good but one minute too long under that broiler could destroy it!

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Oatmeal Spice Cake with Broiled Topping
A dense, moist, classic oatmeal cake that has stood the test of time.
Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 38 minutes
Passive Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
cake
Frosting
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 38 minutes
Passive Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
cake
Frosting
Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, pour boiling water over oatmeal & margarine; let stand for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 9" baking dish. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla & oat mixture, blend well. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg & cinnamon. Combine flour mixture to creamed mixture, blending carefully. Pour into prepared baking pan; bake 35 minutes or until tests done. Cool for 10 minutes. Do not remove from pan. For Frosting: Combine all ingredients. Spread evenly over cake. Broil until frosting becomes bubbly. WATCH CAREFULLY! Let cake cool enough for the topping to be absorbed into the cake.