Cherry Green Tea Muffins

Full disclosure -- I lifted this recipe in its entirety from the September 2008 issue of MORE Magazine. The best part about it is that Sean actually likes them as an after school snack.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose white flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Green tea leaves from 1 tea bag

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/8 cup canola oil

6 tablespoons ground flax meal

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cups dried cherries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Put muffin cups in a 12-cup tin

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Combine all wet ingredients plus cherries in a small bowl.

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry; mix just until combined. (Overmixing will make the muffins tough.)

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, bake for approximately 17 - 20 minutes.

NOTE: I used a combination of dried cherries and raisins because I didn't have a cup and a half of cherries laying around. Also, I used orange juice and orange zest because I didn't have any lemons. Both substitutions worked out just fine!

Cranberry Nut Bread

I just adore cranberry bread and this recipe is my particular favorite. I've discovered that it can be made in a bread maker with no discernible loss of flavor or texture, so it couldn't be simpler. Just throw everything in the breadmaker, set it to "Cake" or "Loaf" and away you go. (Note: I've found it works best if you pour in the liquids first and throw the dry ingredients on top.)


CLASSIC CRANBERRY NUT BREAD
(possibly lifted from the Ocean Spray website, but I'm no longer sure.)

3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg, well beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon grated orange peel (please, use organic oranges! You can't imagine the wax and pesticides you'll be ingesting otherwise.)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons ground flax meal (optional)
1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS (for the breadmaker):

1. Pour orange juice and beaten egg into breadmaker

2. Add the rest of the ingredients. I like to chop my cranberries so coarsely that there are still whole cranberries amongst the choppy bits. (I use a manual food chopper for this.)

3. Start the breadmaker.

4. Sit back and make a whiskey sour using the de-zested organic orange. Give half of the slices to your child to assuage any guilt you might have.

PER SERVING (1 slice): Cal. 211, Fat Cal. 54, Protein 3grams, Carb. 37grams, Fat 6grams, Chol. 18mg., Sodium 313mg


NOTE: If you don't use a breadmaker, this will make one 9 x 5 inch loaf. Bake it for approximately 55 minutes at 350*.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Fudge Crunch

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

2 sticks unsalted butter

16 oz (1 jar) creamy peanut butter

3 cups Rice Krispies

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1. Line an 8" square baking pan with wax paper.  Melt half of the chocolate chips and 1 TBSP of butter over medium heat.  Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup peanut butter, then 2 cups Rice Krispies.  Spread mixture evenly in pan and let cool for 15 minutes.

2. Melt the rest of the butter and salt.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining peanut butter and confectioner's sugar.  Spread half over cereal layer in pan.  Top with remaining 1 cup Rice Krispies.

3. Microwave remaining chocolate chips until almost melted.  Stir melted chocolate into peanut butter mixture.  Spread over last Rice Krispy layer, chill about an hour until set.

4. Cut into 16 pieces