Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars

A happy new month to everyone! I love May as it usually means warmer temperatures and everything is starting to grow and bloom. The grass is finally looking green and my Daffodils are blooming.

These raspberry oat crumble bars are a great snack to bring to school!

Made with whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, oats and almonds.

 

Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
• 1 cup raw almonds, finely chopped
• 300 g raspberry jam

– Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F/180C (convection setting).

-In a large bowl, mix together the butter and coconut sugar. Add all other ingredients except the raspberry jam, and stir until well combined.

-Save 3/4 cup and set aside. Fill remaining mix into prepared baking dish, press down evenly.

-Spread raspberry jam evenly over crust, sprinkle top with remaining crumble.

-Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

-Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

 

This recipe is adapted from Healthy Hands Cooking Blog, “Raspberry Cookie Bars”.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

You can find me on Instagram:littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Blueberry Coconut and Granola Jars

This is a simple but so yummy treat! Using my coconut milk custard recipe, crunchy granola and blueberries! That’s it! A lovely dessert or a fancy breakfast!

Served in a glass or in a jar.

 

Blueberry Coconut and Granola Jars

Coconut custard:

You can find the recipe here: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries

-Prepare in advance as the custard needs some time in the refrigerator to set.

Tip: Instead of the canned coconut milk I used 500 ml coconut milk from a tetra pak that only contains coconut milk.

-Using your favorite homemade or store bought granola, fill into jar or glass, top with some coconut custard and finish with blueberries, as much of each layer as desired.

-Tip: use fresh or frozen blueberries.

 

My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and everyone involved in the Toronto tragedy last Monday.

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maple Walnut Oat Muffins

Happy Friday everyone!

I am finally able to do some baking again! We’ve had an ice storm last weekend that left us with power outages, especially Sunday almost all day and on Monday the power went on and off all afternoon and then it just continued for the last few days. So annoying!

Now I am looking forward to some warmer and sunnier days!

We’ve been munching on these scrumptious muffins this week! My kids put one in their lunch bags for school every day! They are lovely just plain or you can eat them warm or cold with some maple butter.

Try to get your hands on some real Maple Butter from your local maple producer! Which does not contain any butter!! 🙂

 

Maple Walnut Oat Muffins

Yields: 14 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 cups spelt flour
• 2 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups milk, room temp., I used cashew milk
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

-Grease or line your muffin cups. Preheat oven to 385F (convection setting).

-In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt and baking powder.

-Whisk together the eggs, add the butter, milk and maple syrup.

-Add the milk mixture and walnuts to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, do not overmix.

-Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until tester inserted into middle comes out clean.

Optional, Maple Butter: 1/2 cup butter softened and 1/3 maple syrup, room temp. Beat together until smooth.

-Serve muffins warm with Maple Butter

 

Enjoy! And happy, almost, weekend!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Happy weekend everyone! Today was the first day of March Break for my kids. Nothing interesting happening so far, just relaxing a bit at home. It is still snowing and cold, just a little jealous of those heading somewhere south;)

Having some kind of snack around while the kids are at at home this week is always a good idea. I was craving something with lemon flavor and why not add some blueberries. These cookies are so delicious, soft, lemony…

Sweetened with honey and I used white spelt flour.

 

Lemon Blueberry Cookies 

Yields: 34 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted butter, soft
• 4 eggs
• 2 organic lemons, zest and juice
• 2 x 3/4 cups honey
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 cups white spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh

-In a large bowl mix together the butter, eggs, lemon juice and zest, honey and vanilla extract.

-Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix well. Gently fold in the frozen or fresh blueberries. Let dough chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or longer.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

-Using a tablespoon, place rounded balls of dough, leaving some space in between cookies, on prepared cookie sheets.

-Bake for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Tip: This recipe makes a lot of cookies, you can easily divide it by two. Also feel free to make smaller sized cookies. I brushed the baked cookies with a mix of lemon juice and honey.

 

 

Happy March Break!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

Apple Rose Tart

Happy Family Day!

So nice to have an extra day off! Family day is a statutory holiday in Ontario and other provinces in Canada. It has been a sunny weekend, unfortunately it is raining and foggy today. Perfect for relaxing at home, I’ve had an earache for most of last week, but I think it is starting to get better now.

I finely took the time to make an apple rose cake, it is so pretty and it was really delicious with the walnut and maple crust. It would also be delicious with hazelnut or almonds.

 

 

Apple Rose Tart

Walnut Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups ground walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp butter, soft
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Filling:

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar

Apple roses:

• 4 medium red and/or yellow apples, thinly sliced

 

-Line a 9-inch tart/pie form with parchment paper, grease the sides.

-Whisk together the butter, egg and maple syrup, add vanilla and a pinch of salt. Fold in the nuts and spelt flour until well combined. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

-Place the thinly sliced apples in a medium saucepan, cover with water and lemon juice and let simmer for a few minutes until pliable.

-Roll dough out directly on tart form, if you have a removable bottom. Cover sides evenly by hand.

-For the filling: whisk together all ingredients and pour into tart form.

-For the roses: on a large plate or cutting board take a few, five for example, apple slices and lay them slightly overlapping in a straight line, then from the opposite side start rolling up tightly. Place into tart form. The more apple slices you take, the bigger the roses get. Have fun making different sizes, as you like.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Bake for about 30 minutes.

 

Enjoy! Have a great week!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alsatian Kugelhopf/Elsaesser Gugelhopf

Happy Friday!

I was thinking of making a Gugelhopf for quiet a while, one with a yeast dough and only raisins in it. I used the recipe for a Alsatian Kugelhopf from my Betty Bossi’s Backstube book. Even though Gugelhopf has its origin in Austria, this seems to be a very traditional cake in Alsace, France. One small village even has a festival each summer to celebrate the Kugelhopf:)

 

I slightly adapted the recipe, using instant yeast, because I can not find fresh yeast here. And I sweetened it with honey.

 

 

Alsatian Kugelhopf / Elsaesser Gugelhopf

Ingredients:

• 500 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp instant yeast
• 120 g honey or sugar
• 180 ml milk (200 ml if using sugar)
• 1 tsp salt
• 200 g butter, soft, cut in small pieces
• 2 eggs
• 125 g raisins
• 2 tbsp Rum or Kirsch

-In a small bowl, mix together the raisins and the Rum. Set aside.

-In a large bowl mix together the flour, yeast and salt.

-In a small saucepan heat up the milk on medium/low heat, do not boil. Remove from heat. Stir in the honey. Making sure the milk is only lukewarm before adding to the flour. Add the butter. Whisk the eggs before adding to the flour mixture. Knead until soft dough forms.

-Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, for about an hour.

-Grease and flour a 2 l bundt/Gugelhopf form.

-Incorporate the raisins, knead the dough again, then fill into the prepared bundt form. Let rise again. The dough should “spill” slightly over the top.

-Bake in a 350F/180C preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Let cool before taking out of form.

-Dust with icing sugar.

-Serve freshly baked, but also tastes amazing the following days!

 

 

This would make a perfect treat for Sunday brunch or afternoon tea!

Enjoy! Have a wonderful weekend!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheesecake with Apples and Streusel / Quarkkuchen mit Streusel

In Switzerland you traditionally make a cheesecake using Quark not cream cheese. That is the only way I knew it. The first time I had a New York style cheesecake was when I came to Canada, I did not really like it back then, I found it very “cheese” tasting;) But as with many things, you get used to new flavors and tastes and you start loving it.

I don’t eat so much dairy anymore, also my husband and kids have some problems with dairy, that’s why I haven’t made this in a long time. It’s a recipe from my 1982 Betty Bossi book: Kuchen, Cakes and Torten

This is a very rich, delicious cake. Tastes best after 2 -3 days.

 

Cheesecake with Apples and Streusel

Quarkkuchen mit Streusel

• 250 g butter, soft
• 125 g sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 375 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder

-Line the bottom of a Springform with parchment paper. Grease the sides.

-In a large bowl stir the butter. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla sugar. Add the egg yolks and mix until lighter in color.

– Mix the flour and baking powder and sift into the butter mixture. Stir until well combined. It will be a soft dough. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

-Take 1/4 of the dough, it will be used as the streusel, and set aside.

-Roll out half of the remaining dough directly on the Springform base. Close the form and use the rest of the dough to form the side crust, all the way to the top.

-Prick the bottom evenly with a fork and refrigerate for another 15 minutes.

 

Quark-filling  

• 3 x 350 g Quark
• 200-250 g sugar
• 1 pk vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 50 g corn starch

-In a large bowl mix all ingredients together.

• 2-3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced

-layer apples evenly onto prepared crust. Cover with the filling. It will be very full. Cover with streusel (crumble the remaining dough).

-I put the form onto a baking sheet, there was some liquid coming out while baking.

-Bake in preheated oven 350F/180C for about 85 minutes. You might have to cover it with aluminum foil to prevent to much browning. The filling might seem a bit wiggly still, but it will firm up while cooling. Let cool in form, before releasing.

-Dust with some icing sugar.

-Cover and keep in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Make the cake at least 1 day in advance, it will taste even better after a few days.

 

 

*Quark is available in larger grocery stores here in Canada. In 350 g cups. There is only the 0% fat available. If you are in Europe you can get different kinds, use a full fat and lower fat quark in the mix.

*I sweetened the whole cake with only honey, same amount as the sugar.

 

I hope you try this wonderful cake!

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

I got the inspiration for these sticky buns from the October 2017 edition of the Canadian Living magazine. I’ve been waiting impatiently to try them. A pretty sticky bun situation, with an apple and pecan filling and sticky caramel made with apple juice and sugar.

As always I’ve made these completely refined sugar free, but I will write down the original ingredients as well. These are best enjoyed freshly baked and still warm.

 

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

Yields: 12 buns

Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, I used white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar, I used honey
• 11/2 tsp quick-rising (instant) dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Glaze and Filling:

• 4 apples
• 1 cup brown sugar, I used coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup apple butter*
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger

To make the dough:

-In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, add milk and heat until warm, (not hot). Pour milk mixture into flour mixture, add egg. Stir until combined. Turn onto floured work surface and knead dough until soft and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over then cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Glaze and Filling: Line a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with parchment paper.

-Meanwhile (optional peel) grate apples to measure 4 cups; strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pressing on solids with back of spoon to extract juice. Reserve grated apple.

-In a small saucepan, bring apple juice and brown sugar to boil over medium-high heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add butter; cook, stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Reserving 3 tbsp, spread remaining glaze evenly over bottom of prepared pan; sprinkle with 1 cup of the pecans, In a bowl stir together apple butter, reserved 3 tbsp glaze, cinnamon and ginger.

Assembly:

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

-On a slightly floured surface roll out dough to a 16-x 12-inch rectangle. Leaving 1/2-inch border on 1 long edge, spread apple butter mixture evenly over dough; sprinkle reserved apple and pecans over top. Starting at the long edge opposite border, tightly roll up dough, pinching seams to seal.

-With a serrated knife, cut into 12 buns; arrange, cut side up, in prepared pan. Cover with a damp tea towel; let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

-Bake until golden brown and buns sound hollow when gently tapped, 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before serving.

 

*I’ve made these without the apple butter, because I did not have any at the time.

-Also I found the sticky buns were not really sticky after baking, maybe it depends how much juice you’ll get from the apples. I’ve made an additional simple maple glaze: In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of maple syrup and 1 tsp cinnamon to a boil, then reduce to low heat, stirring until slightly thickens; add the butter, stir until melted, remove from heat and pour over baked buns.

 

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

This is just a simple sweet yeastbread filled with pumpkin and spices and glazed generously with spiced maple syrup. I just love the smell and taste of this. I usually make babkas (Nussstriezel) filled with ground hazelnuts or almonds, I was surprised how good it was with a pumpkin filling.

Nothing complicated for the filling, just pumpkin puree sweetened with coconut sugar, spiced it up with cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix. For the dough I used my sweet yeastbread recipe that you can find here: Almond Croissants just changed the flour ingredients to 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour and 100 g spelt flour and spiced it up a bit by adding 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp cinnamon:)

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

Dough:

• Almond Croissants
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

 

Pumpkin Spice filling:

• 200 g pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

Spiced Maple Syrup Glaze

• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

-Prepare dough in advance, it needs at least 1 hour to rise. In the meanwhile prepare your pumpkin filling by mixing together pumpkin puree, coconut sugar and spices.

-Whisk together maple syrup, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice mix, set aside.

-Line a loaf pan or a baking sheet with parchment paper

-When doubled in size, roll out dough into a rectangular shape. Then spread pumpkin filling evenly all over. Start rolling dough up from the longest side, like you would for a cinnamon bun and gently pinch ends together. Cut log lengthwise in half so filling is exposed, pinch one end. Twist both pieces, pinch the other end to secure.

-Place in prepared loaf pan or baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven for 40 minutes.

-About 25 minute into baking brush some of the syrup onto babka. Bake until golden brown. Remove from stove and brush with remaining syrup. Let cool before cutting.

 

–Make sure your spice mixes are not old, it looses its flavor over time.–

 

Wishing everyone a happy weekend and to all my Canadian friends a happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple & Plum Crumble Bites

Now that the kids are back to school I really like to have some healthier treats on hand. The weekend is perfect to take some time and prepare all sorts of snacks, like cookies, muffins or these apple or plum crumble bites. The apple bites are from last week. We bought our first local apples for this season and there are still plums available. Even though the weather has been exceptionally warm, you can already see the first sings of fall. But for now I am enjoying these beautiful warm temperatures:)

 

 

Apple Crumble

Plum Crumble

 

Apple or Plum Crumble Bites

Yields: 12

Crumbs:

• 3 cups oat flour
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• dash of sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Apple Filling:

• 5 small apples, peeled and cut into small thin pieces
• 1/4  cup honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

 

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners.

-For the apple filling combine all ingredients and set aside.

-In a medium bowl mix together the oat flour, spelt flour, salt and cinnamon, then add the coconut oil and maple syrup, stir until well combined.

-Fill muffin tins with about 1-2 tbsp of crumb mix, pressing down to cover bottom. Add about 1 tbsp of apple or plum filling, then cover the fruit with crumb mix, gently pressing down a bit.

-Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely. Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week.

–The recipe is only intended to make either the apple or plum bites, double only the crumb mix ingredients if you like to make both.–

Plum Filling:

• 2 large plums cut into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

–I just use regular oats and grind them into flour. Measure after grinding.–

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian