Baked Apples - No Added Sugar

Serves 5

5 apples
1 C unsweetened applesauce
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 C water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peel the apple from the stem out about 1 inch. Scoop out the core from the top of the apple, leaving a well, without cutting through the bottom. Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon in each apple's well, then fill with applesauce.

Arrange apples in a 9x9 pan and put the water in the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover it. Cover loosely with tinfoil and bake about 30 min. Remove tinfoil and bake another 15 min, or until apples are soft and tender.

Fruit Pizza

From AllRecipes.com
Serves 10

1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 t cream of tartar
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 C white sugar
2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Press dough into an ungreased pizza pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 12/ cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.

Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, and chill.

Bananas Foster Style

Bananas Foster Style

From Eating for Life

Serves 1

1 banana, sliced
2 T sugar-free maple syrup
1 portion low-fat cottage cheese (about 1/2 C)

Lightly coat a small nonstick skillet with butter-flavored cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add sliced bananas and fry for about 1 minute.

Add maple syrup to the skillet and gently stir to coat the banana slices; continue to cook for another minute.

Place cottage cheese on a small serving plate and microwave on high until heated through, about 20 seconds.

Top cottage cheese with maple-glazed banana slices. Serve and enjoy!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

 

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

From AllRecipes.com

Makes 8-12 muffins

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C white sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 C milk
1 C fresh blueberries (frozen can be used)
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C butter, cubed
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners

Combine 1 1/2 C flour, 3/4 C sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To make crumb topping: mix together 1/2 C sugar, 1/3 C flour, 1/4 C butter and 1 1/2 t cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

**Notes from Em**
- This makes a very THICK batter, almost cookie dough consistency. I had to add another 2T of milk or so in order to get everything to incorporate, I'll blame that on high altitude.
- The recipe calls for 8 large muffins, I chose to do 12 normal sized muffins instead, which means baking for about 18 minutes instead.
- If you choose to use frozen blueberries, drop your heat down to 325 and bake a little bit
longer.
- I only did half of the crumb topping mixture and had WAY more than I needed.

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread

Recipe from Allrecipes.com
Makes 1 loaf

1/3 C oil or unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C honey
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 C mashed ripe banana
1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 C hot water
1/2 C walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat honey and oil/applesauce together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts. spread batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1/2 hour before serving.

**Notes from Em**
The original recipe said nothing about using applesauce, I got that from the comments on the recipe. If you choose to do the applesauce, you'll need to bake it an extra 5-10 minutes.

It's a lot better if you add 1 tsp of cinnamon.

Instead of a loaf, you can do 18 muffins and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp

From Lion House Classics

Makes 12 to 15 servings

Topping:
1 C butter, cold
1 C brown sugar
1 C flour
1 C oatmeal
1/4 t baking powder

Filling:
6 C canned apples or 6-8 fresh apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 C sugar
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and baking powder just until butter is broken up and ingredients are mixed. Mixture should be crumbly. Set aside.

Place apples in a 9x13-inch pan. SPrinkle with sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Crumble crisp topping on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. (If fresh apples are used, bake 45 minutes.) Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or ice cream.

**Notes from Em**
I made this recipe a couple of times this last summer, and I used melted butter instead of cutting in cold butter. It made it easier in preparation, and still turned out well, though you will get a more crumbly crumb topping if you use the cold butter.

Apple Pancakes

Flavored with warm spices, these apple pancakes are ideal for an autumn or winter brunch. Grated apple is blended into the batter, then a thing apple slice is cooked inside each pancake. Serve with warm maple syrup, if desired.

Apple Pancakes

From Williams-Sonoma

Makes about 12 pancakes

2 eggs
2 C all-purpose flour, sifted
1/3 C plus 2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
2 C plus 2 T buttermilk
4 T unsalted butter, melted
2 t vanilla extract
2 peeled Granny Smith apples, 1 cored and finely grated, 1 thinly sliced on a mandoline

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until frothy. Add the flour, the 1/3 C sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Stir just until smooth and no lumps of flour remain; do not over-mix. Add the grated apple and stir just until combined.

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat until a few drops of water flicked onto the surface skitter across it. Lightly spray the griddle with nonstick cooking spray.

For each pancake sprinkle 1/2 t sugar on 1 apple slice and place on the griddle. Using a batter dispenser, dispense about 1/3 C of the batter on top of the apple slice. Cook until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, about 2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 2 minutes more. Keep warm until all the pancakes are cooked.