Blackberry Pie / Cobbler

Fourth of July in Arkansas means sweet corn, watermelon, and blackberries.  We have great fruit farms here in NW Arkansas and I have been to the blueberry farm this summer. However, we have blackberries growing wild here and so I have a hard time paying $3 or $4 a pint for something I can get for free. A couple of months ago I started keeping my eye out for blooming blackberry bushes as I ran and biked around the trails in our area. This last week I went for my first picking. I am not going to say exactly where because I plan to go back for more. And because I already have someone scoping the same bushes as they didn't have as many as I was expecting and the grass around was trampled down. I am hoping that person got as many as they wanted so that I can get enough to put in the freezer. I only got enough this time for one pie, but it was a good pie. Also, I can't really complain, because they were free!

Wild blackberries are much smaller and quite a bit more tart than cultivated ones. No worries... just a little more Splenda will do the trick. This recipe is a  No Sugar Added  recipe as the blackberries do have natural sugars.

This recipe is for a small pie/cobbler. Now we have had the discussion before about the difference between pie and cobbler. If you want to revisit that discussion you can read it here.

4 cups blackberries
1 cup Splenda
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Cinnamon and nutmeg may seem a strange addition to blackberries, but I add them to any of my fruit pies and cobbler. If it is not your favorite, you can certainly leave it out.

 

Since I was only making a small pie, I only made a single recipe of pie crust. I used about 2/3 on the bottom and 1/3 on the top.

1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of vegetable shortening
3-4 tablespoons water

Add the flour and salt to a bowl.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or a fork. Add water and stir with a fork to incorporate flour into dough. You may need to work it with your hands at the end.

 Use about 2/3 of dough for the bottom crust. Put a little flour on your counter or board. Roll the dough out fairly thin. Think about the shape of your dish to determine the shape of your dough. Since I was going the cobbler route, I left the edges rustic not worrying about finished edges.

After lining your dish with the dough add in the fruit mixture. Add in three or four pats of butter. Roll out the last part of the dough to top your cobbler. No need for it to reach the edges. You really want some of the fruit peaking out.  Don't forget to cut a few slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. I also usually sprinkle the top with just a little more Splenda to make the top sparkle.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Just watch for the crust to begin to turn golden brown.  I don't know about you bit I want to eat my cobbler warm...

... and a little ice cream can only make it better. To keep your sugar down, don't forget to use a no sugar added variety or a low-fat or no sugar frozen yogurt.

Well, that didn't last long, so I will be off in a couple of days to check the bushes again... just hope I beat that other person this time.

Strawberry Shortcake

I can't believe that it's June!  Looking back I haven't posted since the middle of April. One thing my husband has always said, "Don't bother her in August or in May". So the end of the school year was pretty hectic. Not so hectic that I haven't been baking, but hectic enough that I haven't had time to post. So I will try to make several posts in the next couple of weeks (now that I am on vacation) and get you caught up on what I have been doing.

May is traditionally strawberry month here in Arkansas. Over the last couple of years we have been getting wonderful strawberries year round from California. I do love this but I still think about eating strawberries more during the month of May. This May was no different and I was able to get some nice, small, sweet strawberries at the Farmer's Market. I was very busy so I also took some help from the grocery store for some yummy strawberry shortcake.

This was a no bake way to have a tasty spring or summer dessert. First I de-stemmed and sliced up a quart of fresh strawberries.

These berries were pretty sweet so I only added about a 1/3 cup of Splenda. You can always adjust this amount depending upon the sweetness of your berries.  Let this sit for a little while-30-45 minutes-to allow the berries to get a little juicy. Stir occasionally.

Here's my shortcut secret. This isn't technically shortcake but it is a great substitute when you are short on time.  You can pick up a Sugar-free angel food cake in the bakery section of your local supermarket.

Slice the cake and add one to each bowl. Spoon strawberries over the cake. Don't forget to get some of that great juice to soak into the cake.

Add a couple of squirts of some light whipped cream and you are set!!  Fast, easy and delicious!


If you have a little more time and want a true Oklahoma/Arkansas shortcake, you can mix up a batch of your favorite biscuit dough. I add just about a 1/4 cup of Splenda to make it slightly sweet. Just before you put them in the oven, sprinkle just a tad more on top of each biscuit and it will be pretty and sparkly.

Split the warm biscuit, add some strawberries-and juice-then top with the other half of the biscuit, some more strawberries and finally the whipped cream!  Both versions are amazing; it just depends on how much time you have.

A special note: One Saturday I got some strawberry pecan goat cheese at the Farmer's Market. Talk about decadence!!  I made the biscuit version of this dessert and added a spread of this amazing goat cheese to the inside of the warm biscuit before labeling on the strawberries. Well, I'm not sure I can even describe this dessert to you. Maybe you had better give it a try!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

This last weekend I had a hankerin' for some peanut butter cookies.  I found a recipe in my own cookbook and decided to give it try.  There is some brown sugar so this is a  Low Sugar  recipe.

This is a pretty simple recipe:

• 1/2 c. Splenda
• 1/4 c. Splenda Blend brown sugar
• 1/2 c. shortening/butter
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 3/4 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt

 Mix the first 5 ingredients.  Beat until well combined.

 Next, add the dry ingredients.  Mix on the lowest or "stir" setting.  This will prevent the flour from going all over you and your counter.  Stop once during mixing and use a spatula to scrape down sides and combine well.

 Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 3 hours.  This is always the hard part for me.  I want to eat the dough... lucky if I have any to make cookies out of.

 Once the dough is firm, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll dough into balls and place on a sprayed cookie sheet.  It's not necessary, but I just don't think they are peanut butter cookies if they aren't criss-crossed with a fork.  What can I say; I'm a traditionalist.

Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Cookies will be a little soft when you take them out of the oven.  Allow them to sit on the pan for just a few minutes before you remove to a cooling rack.

These are not quite as moist as a regular peanut butter cookie, but the taste is good and when you have a hankerin'... well they are just pretty good!

Raspberry Cupcakes

It has been a while since I have made some cupcakes.  A colleague of mine recently retired and so as most people do, we had a small retirement lunch in his honor.  I asked him what his favorite flavor was and he said "garlic".  I just didn't think that garlic cupcakes sounded very good, so I asked him for an alternate flavor; this time he responded "raspberry".

Once you understand about using sugar-free flavorings, like gelatin powder or drink mix powder, it really is just left up to your imagination to combine them in any number of ways to create new flavors.

 The first step is to enhance the sugar-free cake mix:

• yellow sugar-free cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. 2% milk
• 1/2 c. non-fat yogurt
• 1 box of sugar-free raspberry flavored gelatin powder

Add in the box of flavored gelatin.  This is of course where you have the option of using any flavor you or your guests might like.

Mix together well.

 For these cupcakes, I decided to add a filling of raspberry jam.  So to start with, I added about a half of a scoop of batter to the cupcake liners in my muffin tin.

You can coordinate your jam flavor to your cupcake flavor.  Mix and match; there are a lot of flavor combinations.

 Put about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar-free raspberry jam in the center of each cupcake.  Next fill up the cupcake liner.  I know that most recipes only tell you to fill the liner 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full.  But if you would like a full, almost overflowing cupcake, you need to fill the liner almost to the top.  You won't get a full 2 dozen cupcakes, but those you have will be big and beautiful.

Bake according to the package directions.  After removing from the oven, cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin.  After a few minutes, remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Now comes the fun part; the icing/frosting.  What do you think is the difference between icing and frosting?  I guess that I have always just used them interchangeably.

I wanted to make the frosting raspberry as well.  It just so happened that I had a half a can of chocolate and a half a can of vanilla sugar-free frostings left from some other desserts.  So, I mixed them together and added another box of sugar-free raspberry gelatin powder and beat them together well.

I used a piping bag and a pretty tip to swirl the frosting on, but I didn't go all the way to the edge since I wanted the pretty deep pink color of the cupcakes to show.

The lunch was wonderful and everyone enjoyed the cupcakes...even if they weren't garlic flavored!

Cake Sugar Cookies

You know those amazing, soft, pillowey, cakey, sugar cookies that you can get at your local superstore?  When the different holidays roll around, they always have them out with the appropriate colored frosting.  As I strolled through a few days before St. Patrick's Day, those luscious cookies with the beautiful green icing were calling me.  I resisted and made some of my own when I got home.

 So you get those cakey cookies by using a cake mix.  All you need to do is follow the package directions:

• sugar-free cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c. oil

All you need to do is eliminate the water.

 You will notice that the batter will be obviously thick; although it won't quite be as stiff as regular cookie dough.  My daughter and I wanted to get into the St. Patrick's day spirit and added some green food coloring to the batter -- about 3 or 4 drops did it.

 Spray your cookie sheets and preheat your oven to 365 degrees.  In order to handle this sticky dough, you should wet your hands.  This will allow you to roll the dough into balls.








Once you have the dough in balls, use your fingers to flatten them out to around 1/4" thick.  Bake for 7 minutes.  Cookies will be pretty soft.  Allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for a few more minutes before you move them to a cooling rack.

 To frost the cookies, I used a half of a can of sugar-free vanilla frosting.  Again, in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, we added about 10 drops of green food coloring to the frosting.

(FYI:  since the sugar-free cake mix only comes in yellow and not white, we had to add some yellow food coloring to our icing to make the greens compatible)

Enjoy these soft cookies for any holiday or season with the coloring of your choice.  It's the perfect irony...Sugar-free  sugar cookies!

No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

Have you ever wanted some warm, gooey, sweet bread, but just didn't want to wait... and wait... and wait... for the dough to rise and then to prepare the filling, roll out the dough, and then wait... for it to rise one more time... and then to cook!!!  You get my drift... by the time they are ready you have already eaten something else.

So I got really excited when this recipe came across my Facebook Feed.  Unfortunately, I forgot to write down who initially posted it.  I did do a little search through our magic friend Google, and I found several recipes that were very similar, but couldn't find this exact one.  So, whoever's recipe this is THANK YOU!!  Because I really love the ease of this recipe and the true deliciousness of it, even in my altered  Low-Sugar  version.

This recipe has 3 sets of ingredients:  the dough, the filling, and the glaze.

 The Filling:

• 1/3 c. Splenda Blend brown sugar
• 1/4 c. Splenda granulated
• 3 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. salt

Mix these ingredients in a small bowl and set them aside.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Grease/Spray a 9" pan:  round or square.

 The Dough:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 3 T. Splenda granulated
• 1 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk  (if you don't have any buttermilk, simply pour the milk just shy of the amount you need, and add a splash of white vinegar to complete the amount--let it set for 5-10 minutes before using to allow to curdle)
• 6 T. butter, divided into 3 parts of 2 T. each, melted

Add the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl.  Use a whisk attachment if you have one.  Slowly add in the buttermilk and the first 2 T. of melted butter. 

 Dough will be quite sticky.  Flour your counter and knead dough 1-2 minutes until smooth.

 Press/Roll dough out to a rectangle of approximately 9 x 12 inches.

 Brush the second 2 T. of melted butter all over the dough.  Then, sprinkle the filling you mixed up all over the rectangle.

(A couple of the recipes I came across when searching for this one also called for raisins.  I love raisins, and think I will add some here in the filling the next time I make them.)

 Starting on the short side, roll the dough tightly.  You may have a little bit of filling squish out towards the end, but it won't be a problem.

Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 8 even pieces.

 Place the rolls in your prepared pan.  Using your last 2 T. butter, brush the tops of the rolls, allowing the butter to run down the sides and into the layers.

Bake rolls for 20 minutes.

 The Icing/Glaze:

The original icing recipe called for:  2 T. butter, 1 t. vanilla, 1 T. milk... and you guessed it... 1 c. powdered sugar.

So of course I tried to come up with something that would allow me to avoid the powdered sugar.  So here is what I used:

• 4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/4 c. Splenda granulated
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 % milk as needed

Beat the cream cheese until smooth; add Splenda and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add milk a little at a time until icing is thin and pour-able.  Pour/Spread icing over warm rolls.

You will be enjoying these cinnamon rolls before you know it.  None of that wait time involved.

Cocoa Cream Pie

My mom makes a great cream pie.  I remember eating warm coconut cream pie as a kid... amazing!  My husband is always talking about the cream pies that his grandma Rebecca used to make.  I wish I would have been able to try them.  I guess that cream pies are just something that I have never tackled for fear that they wouldn't come out.  I have always just taken the instant pudding mix way out and made non-cook pies that way, and they are good... just not amazing.

As with so many of my new recipes, this one came across my Facebook Feed, from someone named Andrea Green in Love Yourself Healthy:  Granny's Cocoa Cream Pie    So I thought I would give it a try.  It came out pretty good if I do say so myself, although I am not sure I will put it in the amazing category yet...  maybe I need to "practice" a few more times.  I'm sure that my husband would not complain, he mostly enjoys being the guinea pig.

• 1 refrigerator, prepared pie crust  or 1 recipe for a 9" pie crust
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 c. Splenda granulated
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2 c. milk (2%)
• 1 t. vanilla

 I know that we have discussed pie crusts before.  And I love to make my own pie crust, it really isn't that hard.  But there is nothing wrong with using a refrigerator, roll-out pie crust from time to time to speed things up a little.  Even when using a prepared crust, you can take just a couple of minutes and fancy it up a bit by fluting the edges.  Fold under the edge so that the pie crust is a little thicker along the edge.  Just press your thumb between your thumb and forefinger of the other hand.  Work your way around the entire pie and ...  voila!

 Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork to allow the steam to escape and bake according to the package directions, or according to your pie crust recipe.  Set the cooked pie shell on a cooling rack while you prepare the cream filling.

 Separate eggs.  Save the whites if you would like to make a meringue for the top of your pie, or if you would like an egg white omelette for breakfast tomorrow.
Beat egg yolks and add to a heavy-bottomed saucepan along with Splenda.  I decided that it was most helpful to mix these with a whisk.

 Add the cornstarch, cocoa and salt, then whisk together.  Begin to heat over medium-high heat.

 While stirring, gradually add milk.  Continue to stir constantly, cooking until thick, beating it smooth.  The recipe said that this might take from 10-15 minutes.  It didn't take that long, and it thickened rapidly, so don't walk away!  Don't quit stirring!
As soon as it thickens, remove from heat and pour into the pie shell.

Put in the fridge to chill.  One of things that I remember from my mom, making cooked puddings, etc., was that she was always trying to prevent a "skin" from forming.  So I used some plastic wrap and gently pressed it on the top of the filling before I set it in the fridge.  It will take an hour or so for the pie to chill.  Then just gently pull the plastic off.

You can serve this with whipped cream, either homemade or store bought or as previously mentioned, you can make a meringue from your egg whites and top the pie.

I think this is a great easy recipe and my husband didn't even know it was one of my  Sugar Free  recipes!

Apple Dumplings

Are you just hankering for something sweet after dinner, but you didn't plan for anything?  The other night, my husband and I were thinking just that.  I found that I had a couple of apples in my fridge and a prepared pie crust left over as I had made a quiche a couple of days before and only used one in the package.  You can throw this in the oven quickly and it will make your house smell wonderful!

•  1 apple per person
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• Splenda brown sugar Blend
• cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• prepared pie crust

Start by coring the apples.  Clean all of the seeds and core through the entire middle.  Next, find a shallow baking dish.  A 9 x 9 works great if you have 4 or 6 apples... I have this small one, that worked perfect for two apples.
I used about 1/3 of the pie crust for each apple.  It doesn't have to fit around the apple perfectly, but put the crust down in the bottom of the dish.  Add 2 or 3 T. of butter into the core of each apple and then a couple of spoonfuls of the brown sugar blend.  This makes the recipe a  Low Sugar  recipe.  If desired, give a sprinkle of cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Wrap the pie crust around the apples.  No worries if it doesn't wrap up nice and neat... trim and patch.
Bake the apples at 350 degrees for 45 to 1 hour.  Just check it occasionally.  You want the crust to become a beautiful golden brown.

You can serve these apples with a little half-n-half or a small scoop of no sugar added ice cream or frozen yoghurt.  The apple inside is going to be warm, sweet and soft.

Sorry there isn't a picture of the finished apples.  They smelled so good, that we dove in and ate them right away and I forgot to take the picture... the smell went straight to my brain!

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

There is not a single word in that name that doesn't excite me!  My never-ending sweet tooth jumps for joy at the thought of combining chocolate and peanut butter.  This recipe comes from the Facebook Group:  High Protein Foods.  So that makes me feel even better!  High Protein...  that has to be good for me.

This recipe does have a couple of ingredients that I don't regularly keep in my pantry, so I did have to plan ahead  and be sure that I had all of the ingredients.

• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2/3 c. honey
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 2 c. old fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 c. (8 oz.) sugar-free chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. reduced-sugar, dried cranberries 

This was a super simple recipe to make.  You can reduce the sugar in this  Low Sugar  recipe a little more if you chose to use a non-processed peanut butter.  Of course, there are obviously natural sugars in the honey and the cranberries.

 Start with a medium saucepan on medium heat.  Add the peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.  This was the first time that I had worked with coconut oil.  So I was surprised when I opened the container and found out that it was not a liquid.  Wonder why they don't call it coconut shortening??
Heat these three ingredients  and stir occasionally until melted together.

 Meanwhile measure out the remaining 3 ingredients.  I found out that 1 1/4 c. of the sugar-free chocolate chips were exactly the 8 oz. bag.

Once the first 3 ingredients have become completely smooth, remove the pan from the heat and stir in your last ingredients.  Stir until the chocolate is completely melted.

Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 pan and spread out into an even layer.  Put the pan into the fridge for an hour or so until the chocolate is set up.  This will make it much easier to cut into squares.
That is not to say that you can't sneek a bit with a spoon if you just can't wait.
Once you have cut into squares, these need to be stored in the refrigerator to maintain their firmness.
This would be a great snack for your lunch box!