Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries

When I first saw this recipe over at the Muffin Myth, I knew I just had to make them. The idea of maple oatmeal cookies wouldn't leave me alone-and although I know that I can't eat walnuts, I had pecans in the freezer and dried cherries lounging in my cupboard. These just screamed to be made.

In a bit of discussion with Katie, my finished cookies turned out a bit different from when she first made them. Mine were drier, and have a texture much like a granola bar. Still delicious, but they aren't the chewy and soft texture that she loved so much and talked about when she blogged about them. I'm wondering if using 1 cup of butter and perhaps another egg would combat this, but I'd have to tinker more.

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown muscovado sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup (room temperature)
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used maple to bump up the maple flavor)
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I used pecans)
1 cup raisins (I used dried cherries)

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the maple syrup and continue until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add in the egg and vanilla, beating until well blended.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, and combine on low with your mixer until it just comes together. Stir in the oatmeal by hand, then fold in the nuts and fruit. Drop batter on sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake at 325 F for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are set and golden. Remove to a cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen.

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Pumpkin Loaf

This sweet but not too sweet loaf is delicious with a slather of cream cheese mixed with a little maple syrup. I often make it to use up last bits of pumpkin left over from pies, or just as a nice treat to tuck into Kevin's lunchbox.

Adapted From Food To Grow On, by Rena and Susan Mendelson

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup shortening (I used butter)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl until combined. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter (or shortening) with the sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until blended. Stir in the pumpkin and milk.

Add the flour mixture and stir until just smooth, then pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top. Now, I like crunchy tops on my quick breads, so I sprinkle some sugar in the raw over the top, and then bake. This step is optional. It does add extra sugar and the loaf is already quite sweet, but I like the little extra sugary crunch.

Bake at 350 F for about an hour, until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan, and then remove and cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf

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Maple Pecan Caramel Corn

Perfect for fall, this tasty treat doesn't come from a store full of salt, preservatives, etc, but from your own kitchen. You don't need anything special to make it, except for a good deep saucepan, a large metal bowl (glass will crack) or roasting pan, and a candy thermometer. A few tips before you start:

1. Be organized. Read the recipe carefully and have all your ingredients set out ready to go before you begin cooking the caramel because once you get going, you must stand and stir it constantly-it's not a fix and forget kind of recipe.

2. Kids can't help with this one. As I found out the hard way, hot caramel is dangerous.

3. Have a bowl of ice water nearby just in case you get caramel on yourself.


On to the recipe!
Adapted from Canadian Living

10 cups of plain popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup unpopped kernels)
1 1/2 cups pecan halves (I used 1 cup pecans, 1/2 cup cashews)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp maple extract

First, to pop the popcorn I have a super easy method; get a brown lunch bag, put in about 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels, and microwave on high for about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. This makes the best popcorn without any oil! Just let it pop away until the popping sounds are about 2-3 seconds apart, then stop the microwave. Don't let it burn.

Grease a large metal mixing bowl (or a roasting pan-something that can withstand lots of heat) with butter. This keeps the caramel from sticking to it. Dump in the popcorn and the nuts. Set aside.

Measure the butter, sugar, maple syrup, salt and corn syrup into a large, deep saucepan. Over medium low to medium heat, bring to a boil while you stir. At this point, do NOT leave the caramel. You have to stand and stir it constantly so it doesn't burn. Have a candy thermometer handy so you can keep track of the temperature. Boil and stir, stir, stir (careful! It's hot!) until the candy reaches just under 300F, and then remove the pot from the heat. The candy will keep boiling and continue to get hotter, so don't wait until it's right at 300 F. Stir in the maple extract. It will boil up, but stir it in well. Get a wooden spoon handy.

Now at this point, you gotta be FAST. Pour the caramel over the popcorn, stirring it to coat. The caramel is going to start thickening up, and so you want to get as much as you can out of the pot and onto the popcorn to coat it, without getting any on yourself. This is where I burned myself, and I won't lie-it hurts like hell.

Once you have the caramel all over your popcorn and nuts, you've stirred it all up and it's coated, dump the hot caramel/nut mixture out onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper to let it cool. When it's cool, break into chunks and store in an airtight container and store for up to 1 week.

Makes 10 cups

*Variation: Try adding in different kinds of nuts like peanuts, pistachios, almonds, etc.

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Pesto Chicken Wraps

Over the weekend, a photographer from the Globe and Mail was here to take photos of Jake and I with a typical lunch

Photos! Me! Jake! Is the kitchen clean? What food do I make? How's my hair? Why didn't I make Jake get a haircut, even though he insists that his girlfriend says his longer hair is sexy?

There is nothing like your lunch packing skills being put on a national stage to make one wildly self conscious about their cooking/lunches. What do I make? Will it look okay? Taste okay? Photograph okay?

So like I normally do, I came up with a new lunch item, on the spot. No recipe, just something I made up the night before. Because I'm stupid adventurous like that.


We love wraps. They don't go soggy like sandwiches, are easy to eat, and we come up with all sorts of wild fillings. At Mimi's Cafe near Disneyland in California, they serve a really delicious pest chicken ciabatta sandwich that is like a zillion calories and the size of my dinner plates. (well not really, but close) Those flavors are what inspired this combination and ultimately, a really delicious wrap.

one boneless chicken breast half, cooked and chopped
jarred pesto
a bit of mayo
grated carrot
sliced sweet peppers
pea shoots
mashed avocado

In a bowl, mix the chicken breast with just a bit of mayo and pesto to give it a bit of sauce. I don't like really saucy items, but I wanted it to just have a little dressing in there. Zesting a lemon over it might be really delicious too.

Layer the ingredients on a whole wheat tortilla as pictured above. Fold over the sides and roll up. If you are packing this in a lunch, wrap it in cling film. Don't worry about the avocado, mine sat in the fridge all day and still didn't turn brown.

Makes 2 wraps.

See? Wasn't that easy?

Now I just hope I don't have pesto in my teeth in those pictures.

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