CategoriesSpreads

Balsamic Apple Butter

It’s apple season and that means it’s a good time to make apple butter. This apple butter recipe is great to make over the weekend since it requires about 8 hours in a slow cooker. I like to start the process early Sunday morning and just let it be, so that way I can catch-up on whatever tasks that I didn’t get to during the week. Three apple varieties are in this apple butter: Gala, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp, but any apple variety may used. The cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar gives it a nice, subtle cinnamon balsamic flavor without it tasting like vinegar. You may also substitute any type of balsamic.

What you’ll need:

6 pounds of apples (I used Gala, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup So Olive Cinnamon Pear Balsamic Vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Here’s how:

Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples in medium sized cubes, and then toss them in a slow cooker. In a bowl, whisk balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Then pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix. Place lid on the slow cooker and set it on low. In between, check on the apples and stir it a bit, allowing it to cook for about 8 hours or until apples are softened. After the apples are soft, grab an immersion blender, and blend the apples until smooth. If needed, cook for another half an hour. Then turn the slow cooker off and allow the apple butter to cool. Once cooled, put it in a container to freeze or refrigerate it to be consumed within a week. Enjoy with a warm buttery biscuit.

CategoriesBaking

Blueberry-Coconut Lime Muffins

Make these tasty Blueberry-Coconut Lime Muffins! Persian Lime olive oil and flaked coconut add a nice tropical twist to standard blueberry muffins. If you are not a fan of coconut, you may exclude the flaked coconut in this recipe. You may also add fresh blueberries when they are in season but frozen blueberries work just as great .

These muffins are whole grain, made with white whole wheat flour, which is simply a softer wheat variety and our preferred type of whole wheat for sweet baked goods. Substituting one part with All-purpose flour will work just as great. We chose coconut palm sugar for its lower glycemic properties. The Persian lime olive oil makes these blueberry-coconut lime muffins wonderfully moist.

What you’ll need:

2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour or 1 part All-purpose flour and 1 part White Whole Wheat Flour

2/3 Cups Coconut Palm Sugar

1/2 Cup Coconut Flakes, unsweetened

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 cup So Olive Persian Lime Olive Oil

2 large Eggs or 2 tablespoons Flax Meal with 6 tablespoons water, soaked

One Cup Plant-based Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Blueberries, frozen or fresh

Here’s how:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups. Combine flour, sugar, coconut flakes, baking powder, sea salt in a bowl and mix it well.

In another bowl, mix Persian Lime Olive Oil, eggs (or egg substitute), milk, and vanilla extract very well. Mixing them in a mixer or using a handheld electric mix is recommended.

In the bowl with dry ingredients, form a well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients into the center and use a spoon to gently mix the wet ingredients with the dry for about 20 seconds.  Make sure you do not over mix even when you feel the urge to do so. Gently, fold the blueberries in the muffin batter.  Spoon the batter in each muffin cup and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Serving: Makes 12 Muffins