Snacko Backo

This is a holdover from summer. It was my go-to crisp — I must have made more than half a dozen times. Now, don’t get me wrong. I still stand loyal to my apple crisp recipe and will continue to make for every Rosh, Thanksgiving etc. But… this is more of an everyday crisp because it contains way less sugar, butter etc. It is great with ice cream for dessert or yogurt for breakfast. For serious. And it is infinitely adaptable. The original Bon Appetit recipe was all strawberries. My fave was strawberry peach combo pictured here. I’ve also done strawberry rhubarb (for which you’d want to slightly up your sugar). Play around. My most recent incantation for fall was to do apples + 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Because of the pectin in apples, don’t need the cornstarch.

2 lb strawberries (hulled, halved, quartered if large). Or whatever combo of fruit you like.

3 Tbsp. raw sugar (can add more if your chosen fruit is less sweet)

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch (this is necessary for the berry dominant combo. don’t need for apples. and can reduce if berries are well balanced w another firmer or pectin fruit like stone fruit or rhubarb)

1/4 olive oil

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds (I omit)

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 all-purpose flour

Plain yogurt, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream for serving.

Preheat 350. Toss strawberries, raw sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Transfer to a 9″ pie pan or 1 qt baking dish.

Stir olive oil and maple syrup in medium bowl to combine. Add oats, (almonds if using), coconut, flour, and 2 (good) pinches of salt and work until mixture comes together in loose clumps. Scatter over pie filling.

Place crisp on baking sheet (in case spill over. can foil line, but I don’t). Bake 35-45 min until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling. (Original recipe reccs that you cool at least 30 min before serving.) Serve w yogurt, ice cream etc.

Can also be baked 1 day ahead. Cooled. Covered. And chilled in fridge.

And for a taste of fall…

Flour Bakery Mulled Cider 

This recipe exceeded expectations. The orange makes all the difference. I’d go for the whole spices, as the recipe was written – but ya know, sometimes you gotta work with what’s on hand so I used some dashes of ground allspice and nutmeg as subs.

1 half-gallon fresh cider

2 cinnamon stick

8 allspice berries

1 orange, scrubbed clean, unpeeled, sliced thin

1 tsp whole cloves

1 inch fresh ginger, rough chopped

1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg.

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat, cover, and let steep for an hour. Strain through a sieve and reheat. Pour into mugs. Can store leftovers and reheat.

I have a lot to say about Corn muffins. (No, I’m not going to go on about how long it’s been since the last post or promise that i’ll be better. Rather, I’ll just stick to the topic at hand). Sam & I ate a lot of corn muffins as kids with huge pats of butter, which we referred to as Sammie Sandwiches. You’d take a bite – then in a game we called Batteries- you’d move your arms around like a robot until you swallowed it and then you had to freeze. And could only be unfrozen when the other person said your full name. Which inevitably led to the same jokes of feigned ignorance… “Wait, what’s your middle name again?”

Childhood stories aside I’ve always found corn bread and corn muffin recipes to be a bit disappointing. Especially when you can just make a box of Jiffy – which let’s face it, is delicious. But these are so good they are motivating me out of Snacko Backo retirement. The picture and story should serve as a friendly reminder to always slather with butter. And if you are feeling bold, drizzle with maple syrup, mmmmm…..

These are delicious anytime but ’tis the season, so think about enjoying w a warm bowl of chili or even a thanksgiving dinner…? (Made this Veg chili the other day, still so delicious)

This recipe comes from the New York Times. Tiny rant – I hate how they put up a paywall to see recipes. I just.. ugh.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (plus more for butter pan and eating)

2 cups coarse or stone ground cornmeal (this is important – you just aren’t going to get that satisfying texture w. fine ground)(another tip – brands like Bob’s Red Mill label it as Corn grits/Polenta. And you find it in grocery store with grains, not with baking flours etc. And apparently you are supposed to any leftovers in fridge).

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1 tsp fine sea salt (i did more like a heaping tsp of kosher salt)

1 cup sour cream or whole milk yogurt

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs, at room temp

Demerara sugar (or sugar in the raw), as needed

(note I am moving the butter the pan stage down after mixing. NYT reviews says some wait time after mixing ingredients gives some time for the baking powder to activate. Not sure if that’s true… but does seem to hold when I make pancakes…)

Heat oven to 400.

In large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In separate bowl, whisk together melter butter, sour cream, milk and eggs. Fold butter mix into dry ingredients.

Generously butter the cups and tops of muffin tins (these muffins will overflow). (I made some w paper baking cups and surprisingly preferred those without. It’s like you get all this additional crispy surface area without).

Then scoop (cookie or ice cream scoop work well) batter into tins. This made 12 muffins filled to the brim. Sprinkle each muffin top w Demerara sugar.

Bake until golden on the edges, 18-22 mins. Cool on wire rack for 10 mins, remove from muffin tin and cool to room temp. Serve w even more softened butter.