Thursday Recipe - Jam Crumble Bars

My mom bought a microwave way back in 1979. It came with a cookbook that has since disappeared. Most of it wasn't that great, but it had one cookie bar recipe that was fantastic. It was an oatmeal bar, no flour or wheat, with a jam filling. They baked up soft and chewy and were perfect for using up homemade jam that didn't set up right. I loved it with my Tutti Frutti Jam. I had a copy of the recipe scribbled on a torn piece of graph paper, but it has also disappeared. Darn recipe eating gremlins have struck again!

I keep looking for the recipe and keep falling short. This version is adapted from one in an old Betty Crocker cookbook (or Betty Crapper Crockbook as it's called at my house, I still don't know why). It comes fairly close, but it still uses wheat flour. I'll have to keep experimenting. I made these with some very runny spiced pear jam. They turned out wonderful, soft and sticky and not too sweet. They're also fast to throw together.

(I'm pretty sure my version of Betty Crocker is this one, but since mine is missing the covers, it's hard to tell.)

Jam Crumble Bars

1/3 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. white flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats
1 c. jam

Heat oven to 375°. Mix butter, sugar, salt and baking soda. Mix in flours and oats. It will be crumbly. Grease a 9x13 pan (I just spray it with the spray stuff). Dump about 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the pan. Spread out and pat smooth. Don't worry about squishing it down or making it firm. Spoon the jam over the crumb stuff in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top of the jam.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into bars. These are great for a quick breakfast or just any time you want something sweet that isn't going to spike your blood sugar too much.

Thursday Recipe - Pumpkin, pumpkin and more pumpkin...

7yo daughter: Mom, is that Mr. Pumpkin? Are you going to chop him up? Are you putting him the oven?! Are you cooking Mr. Pumpkin?!?! Can I eat him now?

I had a 20+ lb pumpkin we bought for Halloween and never got around to carving. I finally got around to chopping it up and baking it the other day. Now, I've got pounds of pumpkin waiting to be used. I thought I'd share some pumpkin recipes for you. 'Tis the season and all that. Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

After chopping the pumpkin in half, use your fingers to scoop out the seeds. Try to remove as much of the stringy orange goop as you can. Put the seeds in a flat bottomed colander. Fill a sink half full of cold water. Set the colander in the sink. Rinse the seeds, picking out any remaining goop. Lift the colander. See how easy it is to wash the seeds this way? Set the colander on a towel so the seeds can drain and dry for a while.

Meanwhile, scoop out the rest of the inside stringy goop from the pumpkin. Chop it smaller if needed. Line a baking sheet with foil, you want one with sides because pumpkins release lots of water while baking. Set the pumpkin pieces chopped side up on the baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 1 - 2 hours, until pumpkin is soft. Set pumpkin aside to cool.

Heat 2 T. oil in a large frying pan. Add pumpkin seeds to the oil. Fry for 15 - 20 minutes. Dump seeds into a metal mixing bowl. Add 1 t. smoked paprika and 2 t. seasoned salt. Toss to coat.

Heat oven to 400°. Spread seasoned seeds on a baking sheet. Roast for 10-15 minutes. Seeds will start to make popping sounds and smell like popcorn. Watch closely when they start to do this, checking every minute or so. They burn easily. When they turn golden brown, remove from the oven and cool. They should be crispy.

Pumpkin Custard

1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
1 eggs
1 c. cooked pumpkin
1/2 c. orange juice or milk

Heat oven to 400°. Put everything in the blender. Whirl on high until smooth. Pour into a greased casserole - 2 quart for a single batch, 9x13 glass baking pan for double batch. Just use the blender twice and measure everything twice for a double batch. Don't try to double everything in the blender. It won't fit. Can you tell I tried once? Huge mess. And a hand mixer won't make it smooth enough.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Don't remove it from the oven. Turn heat down to 325° and bake for 45 - 60 minutes longer, until it begins to crack on the top and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream. It's like pumpkin pie without the crust.

Variations: Play with the spices or the liquid you add. Whatever you do, don't add bananas. Trust me on that one.
You can also use other orange squash like butternut (really sweet and creamy), banana squash, acorn squash, or even yams/sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 egg
1 c. pumpkin
1/4 c. orange juice
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
1 c. quick oatmeal
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Put pumpkin, egg, and orange juice in the blender. Run until smooth. Cream butter, shortening, sugar, and spices until smooth and light. Add baking powder, soda, and pumpkin mixture. Beat well. Add flours, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. Stir by hand until mixed. Drop onto greased cookie sheet by Tablespoonfuls. Bake in a 350° oven for 11 - 13 minutes, until set and not sticky on top. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes 5 - 6 dozen.

Enjoy the pumpkin goodies!

Thursday Recipe - Healthy Brownies and Toffee

I promised you something decadent and chocolate and wonderful this week. So I'm thinking. Hm. I'm trying to avoid decadent for weight and blood sugar reasons. How about a compromise? A lower fat, lower sugar version of a decadent dessert? Or you could just cut smaller pieces.

How about my healthy brownie recipe and a bonus toffee recipe? So you make toffee, then brownies, then top the brownies with lowfat whipped topping and crumbled toffee. Sounds like a good compromise to me. But then I'm a sucker for toffee.

A bit of family trivia for you: At our house we call the canned whipped topping snort. If you ask for snort, we give you a shot of whipped topping. We call food all sorts of weird names, though. My kids wouldn't touch shrimp. When I found shrimp poppers really cheap at the store, I loaded up. I called them breaded arthropods. They gobbled them up until one day, the breading fell off. My daughter, six at the time, glared at me and said, "These aren't arthropods, these are shrimp!" She wouldn't touch them after that. Technically, shrimp are arthropods, but she didn't want to argue semantics.

Here's the recipes:

Toffee (not recommended for anyone under age 12 to cook, it gets REALLY HOT)

1 T. butter, for greasing pan
1 c. sugar
1 c. butter (use the real stuff)
1/2 c. water
pinch salt
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Butter a baking sheet with a generous amount, about 1 T, set aside. Melt butter. Stir in sugar, water, and salt (use just a tiny pinch - less than 1/8 t.).  Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches hard crack stage. It will turn a darker color. Keep stirring. It's a fine line between crunchy and burnt. When it is a caramel color and a tiny bit dropped into ice water is crunchy, pour it out onto the buttered baking sheet. Careful, it is very hot. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Spread chocolate over the top. Set aside to cool for about 2 hours.


Healthy Brownies

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla
4 eggs
2/3 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour

Heat oven to 350°. Mix sugar and butter. Add vanilla, eggs, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Beat by hand until well mixed. Stir in flour. Spread in greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. If you use a mixer, the brownies will be more cake-like. If you stir by hand, they will be fudgier.

Thursday Recipe - Date Cake

My daughter recently got married. She's called me several times already for recipes. She's missing my cookbook collection. I've had fights with my second daughter. She does NOT get to take the cookbooks with her. This particular recipe comes from an LDS Ward cookbook from Idaho. It was a wedding present I received almost 25 years ago. It's got some great recipes that you just don't find in other cookbooks.

I love the Date Cake for several reasons. If you use whole wheat flour, it's a good high fiber treat. The flavor is better with whole wheat, too. You can cut down on the amount of sugar you put on top to make it a bit less sweet. This works as a dessert, a snack, or even breakfast. Enjoy!

Date Cake

1 c. chopped dates
1 1/2 c. water

3/4 c. butter (melted or softened)
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ginger

2 c. whole wheat flour

Topping: 1/2 c. brown sugar
            1 bag chocolate chips or candy bar chunks
            1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Put the dates and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and set it aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, soda, and spices. Cream until mixed. Add flour and hot date mixture. Stir just until blended. Pour into a greased 9x13 cake pan.
Sprinkle topping ingredients over the batter. Bake at 350° for 30 min. Let cool before serving.