Growing up my mom would make apple turnovers as a treat. Never for breakfast, but as a dessert. We probably had them at least once a month or at least that is what my childhood memory believes to be. I know my mom won’t like me outing her but it was always from a box. Not that there is anything wrong with the frozen variety but the homemade turnover version is just a smidge better.
As an adult, my husband and I will indulge on Apple & Pear Turnovers as a breakfast treat. Typically it would be on a leisurely Sunday morning, we listen to our acoustic music on the radio, brew piping hot cups of coffee, read the paper via iPad because you know technology these days, and I bake turnovers. We read emails, check social media, and then the apple & pear turnovers are complete! Nothing else completes a lazy Sunday morning than coffee and turnovers.
Going back to how I ate these as a kid. I think my husband might look at me funny if I served him a turnover for dessert! But maybe if I gave it a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top he might by in.
Making your own turnovers is actually easier than you may think. And the best part is that not only do they taste amazing freshly baked out of the oven but your home smells to die for! I love making the apple and pear combo, but I also love switching it up and making other fruit filled fillings. So whether you want a sweet treat for breakfast or an after dinner pastry I would highly suggest you give these Apple & Pear Turnovers a try!
In a bowl, combine diced apple, pear, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond extract, and cornstarch. Mix well until incorporated.
Roll out puff pastry, using a bench knife cut the puff pastry at a diagonal (you'll have to large triangles), then cut it again so you'll have 4 triangles. Add 1/4 cup filling to one triangle. Carefully fold the triangle over, seal with water, then press the tines of the fork to close the dough. Repeat until all the turnovers are created.
Carefully, move the turnovers to a baking sheet. Brush with remaining apple/pear liquid, and make a slit in each of the turnovers so they can breathe while cooking!
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Notes
*You will have extra apple/pear mixture leftover. You can eat it as is or cook it on the stove top on low for 15 minutes to create an apple-pear applesauce! Either way this mixture will not be wasted!
Pound Cake. A dense flavorful cake that can be served for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! That is not the official definition but the definition that I go by! This Cherry Almond Pound Cake is a fancy version of its sibling…. the traditional pound cake. I’m a sucker for almond extract and if your like me and love the stuff then you’ll love the pound cake. Pound cakes are dense. Partly thanks to the 5 eggs and two sticks of butter. They really do weight over a pound once you bake it in the oven for a good hour or so. I never understood the name until I baked a pound cake and then wrapped it in aluminum foil. I lifted it and realized “wow this really is a pound cake”. I know… those little ah-ha moments in life. You have to love them.
My mom loves pound cakes. It’s typically what she request for dessert if she happens to be eating over at my home. Of course that and homemade whipped cream with some fresh berries on top. But I’m happy to say that with this Cherry Almond Pound Cake you don’t need any additional toppings to bring it to life. The dried cherries paired with the almond extract is all you need! Whether you are eating this for breakfast or serving this up as filling dessert, your family and friends will love this pound cake!
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), sifted, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
5 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup dried cherries
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
While the oven is preheating soak cherries in water for 15 minutes.
Lightly butter and flour a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pan and set to the side. In a stand mixer beat butter and sugar on medium-high until very light and fluffy (about 7 minutes). Scrape down bowl and beat for 1 additional minute more. Add almond extract, and add eggs one at a time (beating well and scraping down bowl as needed). With the mixer on low add the salt and gradually add flour, beating well to combine and scraping down bowl as needed. Lastly, drain the cherries and add them to the mixture, mix for 30 seconds until incorporated.
Transfer the pound cake batter to pan and bake for 65 minutes (insert tooth pick in the center to ensure cake is cooked). Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 1 hour then remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack before slicing.
Wow, day 4 of brunch week. I hope you have been following along with all the amazing brunch week recipes! Today, I’m sharing a granola recipe. Not just any granola… This is my coconut cherry granola that made its debut at the Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale this past weekend.
Granola is a great make-ahead food. I love to make granola every other week. I typically mix it in with my morning greek yogurt and fruit. If you were entertaining for brunch I would suggest making one or two varieties of granola and creating a granola bar. Chopped fresh fruit, plain or vanilla greek yogurt, granola…. you get the idea. Let your guest build yogurt parfaits! You also won’t have to stress over who likes to eat what… when you give your guest the option it takes the stress off the hostess-with-the-mostess… yah I totally just said that.
Like I mentioned above, I sold this coconut cherry granola at our annual food blogger bake sale. I happened to be the only granola recipes contributed this year. You know–I try to balance out all the unhealthy and fattening baked goods with a little healthy. A nice breakfast treat. While we are on the topic let’s talk about the Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale for a minute. This was my second year co-organizing the bake-sale with my good friend Julie from The Little Kitchen (and third year particiapting). I’m always amazed by the generosity of our fellow food blogging community.
This year we were at The Winter Garden Harvest Festival. With that being said all participants needed to attend the entire day. No one complained… even though it was raining, we all just enjoyed the presence of one another. We talked about food, and baking, blogging, and our personal lives. Despite our rainy weather we all had a great time. I’m sad to say we didn’t raise half the amount of money that we did last year (I know a big part was weather and the other part was that so many of us had pre-sales and other fundraisers outside of our one-day bake sale). However, even though we didn’t raise as much as we wanted I know that all of the money is going to a great cause. We all are fighting to end childhood hunger in America. 1 out of 5 kids in America struggle with childhood hunger! That’s over 16 million children! According to the No Kid Hungry site we helped feed 14 children for an entire year!
I must also give a big special shout-out to the amazing sponsors who donated to our raffle. Without them we wouldn’t have raised half the amount that we did!
KitchenAid donated a $300 Food Processor which our friend over at Droolius.com happened to win!
In a sauce pan on low heat, melt 1/4 cup of coconut oil. Once the coconut oil is melted (do not let it boil) add the coconut extract. Mix well and set to the side.
In a large bowl add quick cooking oats, brown sugar, and sliced almonds. Mix well, then pour the coconut oil on top. Mix some more until well incorporated. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven, carefully mix and add 1-1/2 cups coconut flakes. Mix well and then place the pan back in the oven for 30 additional minutes. Remove from the oven, mix, and bake 20 minutes longer. Pour the baked granola back into the large bowl and add dried cherries. Mix and let the granola cool. Package in sealed containers and store for up to one week.
Scones are one of those delectable brunch items that are super fancy sounding and people think they are so hard to make. Let’s get this straight… they are so easy to make. I’ll be the first one to admit that over the past few years I’ve been intimidated to make scones. The first time I ever tried making scones was from a box mix. On the back of the mix there was a recipe for ramping up the recipe from muffins and making them into scones. I was up for the challenge… with a few additional steps I had made scones.
It wasn’t until last year that I tried tackling scones from scratch. Seriously, what was I waiting for? I made these orange-poppy scones for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tea party we had at work. We shopped at the only British store in town and purchased a wide-variety of teas, biscuits (which are really cookies), clotted cream, and store-bought scones. Of course I decided to bring some homemade scones to the celebration. Of course not only were my co-workers impressed but they are were so thankful for the homemade variety. Scones are so incredibly easy to make!
Now, back to these blueberry scones with lemon glaze. The other weekend I didn’t have any eggs on hand for breakfast. I also knew that we would not go out to eat that morning. Breakfast in our house is one that typically is done leisurely on the weekend with eggs, potatoes, a breakfast meat, and on occasion will start with a bowl of chopped fruit or a pastry! Weekend breakfast is truly an experience that we look forward to. So what was I to do with no eggs… well make scones (of course after . Luckily, I had a pint of local blueberries in the refrigerator, so at that point I knew I was destined to make blueberry scones. The lemon glaze was a no brainer since I typically like a sweeter scone and I knew that the powdered sugar from the glaze would sweeten these babies right up. Dense like a typical scone yet moist in the center. Nothing worst to me than eating a rock-hard scone.
Make these scones for mom (or someone who is close to you) this mother’s day!
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones
Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 lemon, zest finely grated
Directions
For the Blueberry Scones:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and coat the pieces with the flour mixture (the mixture should look like coarse crumbs). Fold the blueberries into the batter (make sure not to mash the blueberries because the coloring will bleed into the dough). Make a well in the center of the blueberry dough mixture and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough.
On a lightly floured surface lay the dough out into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.
For the Glaze:
In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and lemon zest for 30 seconds. Mix the lemon juice with the confectioners' sugar until dissolved and whisk in the butter and lemon zest. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the lemon glaze over the top of the scones. Let the scones set a minute before serving.
Let’s talk about bread today. To be exact, homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Ever since I took the plunge in working with yeast earlier this year I’ve been expanding my bread making horizons. We love to eat Cinnamon Raisin Bread in our home and I knew that two homemade loaves were really going to hit the spot. Growing up as a kid I loved to eat Cinnamon Raisin Bread toasted smeared with butter and sprinkled with additional sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. If we didn’t have Cinnamon Raisin Bread on hand my mom would just toast white bread for me. Seriously, when I wasn’t eating soup for breakfast (yes, that’s a true story) I was eating cinnamon sugar toast or for a real delicacy Cinnamon Raisin Bread with butter and cinnamon-sugar.
I was shocked at how easy this recipe was. This was my first full loaf bread baked in 8×8 bread loaf pans. I was a bit nervous as I always am when baking bread. After a few hours of rising and then baking I knew that my bread was a success! After it cooled I sliced a thick piece of the Cinnamon Raisin Bread to give it a taste test. It was amazing. More than I could have ever dreamed of. Full of cinnamon and plump raisins. Although, the next time I think I’ll make it a little sweeter. But other than that… its amazing!
So whether you are baking Cinnamon Raisin Bread for an every day breakfast or plan on hosting a brunch this Mother’s day. You may just want to include baking some fresh homemade Cinnamon Raisin bread and adding this to the spread!
Ok, who is ready for an epic cookie recipe? I had been dreaming up the idea of Blueberry Oatmeal Marshmallow Cookiesfor a while now. And then I finally acted on my dreams and made them come true. I told my husband about them and he wasn’t too enthused. But I assured him that he had to have at least one bite. He’s not a fan of oatmeal cookies (nor sweets which I think I’ve mentioned that over and over again on the blog).
After my husband took just one bite… he was hooked. I couldn’t stop him from consuming these cookies. I was happy for that, but not gonna lie I was tired of fighting him for the Blueberry Oatmeal Marshmallow Cookies. Little by little the cookies in our cookie jar started to disappear. At one point he referenced these cookies to a drug and a baby (you can figure out where I’m going). He proclaimed these were the second best cookies I’ve ever made (first of course, is the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie). Then, I snuck a few Blueberry Oatmeal Marshmallow Cookies into work… l wanted a few of my friends to try them. I even persuaded the ones who don’t care for Oatmeal Cookies to give them a try… they all were head over heals for them as well. So, the moral to this story is if you aren’t a fan of oatmeal cookies you need to give this recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Marshmallow Cookies a try. I’m pretty sure you’ll be swooning over these cookies as well!
1 cup mini marshmallows, plus extra for topping cookies
Directions
Using a stand mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together for one minute. Then add eggs into the mixture one at a time, mixing on low. Add vanilla to the bowl and then begin adding flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well, then add oats, dried blueberries, and mini marshmallows. Mix until just incorporated and chill for one hour in the refrigerator
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the baking sheet. Then, using a medium cookie scoop (holds about 1.5 tbsp of dough) begin scooping the cookie dough and placing it on the baking sheet (keeping them about 2-inches spaced apart). Once all the cookies are placed on the baking sheet begin to add 2-3 mini marshmallows per cookie--flattening them into the cookie. Place the remaining dough in the refrigerator while the first batch of cookies bake.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until just golden brown. Then remove from the oven, let them sit for an additional 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet (they will continue to cook on the sheet even after leaving the oven). Lastly, place them on a cookie cooling rack. Repeat the step above, until all of your cookie dough has been made.
Last year, during the first-ever Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap I received a lovely box of Rocky Road Cookies from Think Tran. Between my husband and I we gobbled these babies up and they never made it into my office to be shared! Those cookies have been in my thoughts lately, so I knew when I was baking for coworkers that I needed to finally make the recipe Tran made!
My husband is the worlds biggest chocolate chip cookie fan, so I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to these cookies (even though he ate them with no problem last year). He LOVED these cookies, of course he asked where the marshmallow was, and I had to explain that in the baking process the marshmallow melts into the cookie. The amount of slivered almonds is just right in this cookie.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both brown and white sugars, and beat until well combined (about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy). *Periodically, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the vanilla extract then the eggs one at a time, continue to scrape the bowl as necessary.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Then, mix in the chocolate, almonds, followed by the marshmallows. Mix just enough to incorporate – do not over mix!
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Using a medium cookie scoop begin to scoop cookie dough on to baking trays (keeping them at least 2 inches a part). *I used my Silpat mat and parchment paper (no need to grease the pans either).
*Make sure your oven racks are in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
Bake for 13.5 minutes. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet (to firm up) about 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Seal in airtight containers for up to 5 days.
I’ve seen these cookies all over blog land for the past month. I had no idea what all the rage was about, so I felt the need to bake up a batch a few days ago! Typically, by the two weeks before Christmas mark I’ve baked up a storm; however, not this year. I’ve been too busy to bake. So after work the other day I whipped up two different batches of cookies to be handed out to co-workers. Note, I still need to whip up a few more treats for all my lucky neighbors.
I checked out a dozen or so recipes for Monster Cookies, but found that I liked Ree Drummond’s recipe the best. Since I didn’t alter one thing I figure you can head over to her site for the full recipe. Just so you know–these monster cookies should really be called everything in the kitchen pantry cookies. I had every single item for these cookies minus the festive holiday M&M’s! My husband who “isn’t a fan of sweets” loved these cookies. Then I told him everything that was in them and he was shocked. Yah, rice krispies, oats, peanut butter chips, and the list goes on. So, if you’ve yet to try these amazingly famous cookies… I highly suggest you get trying! They are delicious and a big crowd pleaser!
Today is the big cookie-swap reveal day for the second annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap organized by the amazing Julie of The Little Kitchen and Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil! These ladies worked their butts off to ensure that food bloggers all over the world could exchange cookies. A big thank you to them for all the hard work on this much appreciated event! This year, the ladies added an extra step to the cookie swap. Everyone who participated donated $4 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. According to Julie’s (personal) Facebook page over $2200 was raised this year and my friends at OXO matched it so that means over $4400 in total was raised by the Great Food Blogger Cookie swap!!!
I made these Chewy Chocolate-Cherry Cookies back in August, and then made them again in September, and then when I signed up for the Cookie Swap, I remembered that I had yet to blog about these cookies I instantly knew that these would be the cookies I would send out to my three lucky recipients! Plus these cookies are only 80 calories a cookie–a plus in my book (although you would never know because they are super moist and decadent)!
Who were my lucky recipients for the 2012 Food Blogger Cookie Swap?
Go and visit their blogs and show them some love!!!
I also made a cute recipe card for my three recipients. I found a photoshop file from Plucky Momo and I adapted the file to fit my needs. Download the PDF version of my recipe card here: Chewy Chocolate-Cherry Cookies Template
These chewy chocolate cookies are sure to please anyone who craves chocolate. Best of all, they are just 80 calories a cookie!
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2/3 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
cooking spray
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, then lightly fill measuring cup and level off. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (stir).
In a large bowl, place sugar and butter in bowl and beat using a mixer on high until well combined. Then add vanilla and egg and beat. Place the mixer on a low speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl; beat just until well combined. Then, fold in dried cherries and mini chocolate chips.
Spray a cookie tray with cooking spray. Then drop a tablespoon-ful of batter on to the cookie
sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees (or just until set). Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
I’ve partnered up with OXO Good Grips and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to to raise awareness by joining the mission to find a cure for pediatric cancer. I helped by ”Baking a Difference”. I created a video that walks you through step-by-step on how to make these tasty and easy-to-make Creme de Menthe Chunk Cookies.
Are you interested in helping? You can Be a Good Cookie, too!
Make a difference by joining the mission to find a cure for pediatric cancer. There are many ways to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Hosting a bake sale is a sweet and simple way for people everywhere to get involved in the fight against pediatric cancer. Send our cookies for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. Our cookies taste as good to eat as they feel to give.
I hope you enjoyed my video! For those who are interested in baking this minty cookie recipe at home below you’ll find the printable recipe. I really do love that Andes has taken all the work out of chopping the mint pieces! This cookie recipes make 48 cookies. That can be a lot of cookies if you are just looking for a few to snack on. Whenever I have a sweet tooth and make cookies. I typically just bake one batch and then form the dough into a log and place in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If I haven’t used it by that point I’ll place it in a freezer ziplock bag for up to 3 months. If I do the freezer option I’ll try to divide my dough accordingly so I don’t have to thaw out all the dough at once. For this type of recipe I would go ahead and pre-make the dough balls so that way you can take them out of the freezer and let them thaw out on the cookie sheet and then bake! Never feel obligated to bake the whole batch. That is unless you are baking for a bake sale or feeding a hungry crowd!
Raise oven rack one level above the middle and bake on non-stick baking pans.Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on pan for at least 5 minutes once out of the oven then place on a wire rack.
Notes
*Your cookie dough will need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Plan accordingly.
*You can refrigerate part of the dough for up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 minutes. Form the dough into a log--this makes for best freezing and refrigerating options.
This set is valued at $150, and is everything you’ll need to get started and baking up your own cookies for a great cause! Please wait for the rafflecopter widget to load and enter at least the mandatory entry for a chance to be entered to win!
Disclaimer:I received a box of OXO products; however, I was not compensated to create this blog post and video. I also received $150 worth of product to giveaway on KatiesCucina.com. As always, all opinions are my own.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
