DANIELLE AT HOME

Holiday Recipes

Poisoned Apple Cocktail

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I feel like people either love or hate Halloween. My husband, Calvin falls into the later camp. Always has and always will (even as a kid!). There are some aspects of the holiday he does enjoy… carving pumpkins, watching scary movies and of course the candy.

I grew up loving Halloween. I loved dressing up and trick or treating with my friends. As an adult I am not as big of a fan. Maybe because I’m not into crazy parties? I am more into pumpkins, candy and corn mazes. Also is 25 too old to go trick or treating? Asking for a friend.

One thing we both love regardless of the holiday is a festive cocktail!

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So today I’m sharing the perfect cocktail for your Halloween celebrations. This cocktail is right up my ally because it sweet, but not too sweet and has a nice warming spice for fall. It is also a deep red colour which looks spooky for Halloween. If you really want to up the spook factor add a drop or two of black food colouring to really deepen the colour of your drink!

This recipe is really simple, but I like it because it’s not fussy like some cocktails. You can make a big pitcher in advance of your guests arrival. As always I have the measurements for one drink and a full pitcher listed below.

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Poison Apple Cocktail

Yields: 1 Serving or Pitcher

Ingredients:

Single Serving:

  • 2 Ounces Spiced Apple Cider
  • 1 Ounce Pomegranate Juice
  • 2 Ounces Vodka or Apple Vodka

Pitcher (12 Servings):

  • 3 Cups Spiced Apple Cider
  • 1 1/2 Cups Pomegranate Juice
  • 3 Cups Vodka or Apple Vodka

Directions:

For a single serving fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour apple cider, pomegranate juice and vodka into shaker. Shake cocktail until cold. Pour into stemware of choice.

For pitcher add apple cider, pomegranate juice and vodka into a large pitcher. Chill in your fridge until ready to serve. Pour into stemware of your choice.

Adapted from Julep.

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Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes with Brûlée Bananas

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I have had that Jack Johnson song Banana Pancakes stuck in my head all week, so on Saturday when I woke up early and had nothing on the agenda for the day I thought I’d make a special breakfast of Banana Pancakes. I decided to switch things up a bit and add brûlée bananas to the top…. Yum!

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I like to use whole wheat four whenever I can since it has added fibre. I also love the nutty flavour which compliments banana really well. The problem with whole wheat flour is that it can create tough pancakes that sit in your belly like a rock! So I’ve added extra moisture to keep these pancakes light and fluffy!

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Now the brûlée bananas are an extra special touch that really doesn’t take much effort at all. The banana caramelize and sweeten which is a nice addition to the soft fluffy pancakes. I like to top my pancakes with butter and a little maple syrup, but next time I’m adding walnuts for some extra crunch!

These were so good, I hope you give them a try!

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Whole Wheat Bananas with Brûlée Bananas

Yields: 8-10 Pancakes (depending on size)

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

  • 1 1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 1/4 cup Milk (any kind)
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
  • 1 Ripe Banana, mashed
  • 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Brûlée Bananas

  • 2 Tablespoons Turbinado Sugar (raw brown sugar) or White Sugar
  • 1 Large Banana, Sliced

Directions:

Move the rack in your oven to the top position closest to the element. Preheat your oven to broil (500°F). Place Turbinado or white sugar in a small bowl. Dip one side of the banana slices into sugar and place on cookie sheet. Broil bananas until sugar crystallizes and starts to brown. This will take 2-5 minutes depending on your oven. DO NOT walk away from oven, check on bananas every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not let bananas burn.

Once caramelized set bananas aside to cool.

In a large bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk banana, butter and egg together. Add milk, brown sugar and vanilla extract to wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry and fold together using a spatula or wooden spoon. Mix until just combined. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat a skillet or grilled over medium heat. Once warm grease pan with a small amount of butter or oil. Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto skillet. Cook until bubbles form on surface of the pancake, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the second side until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve pancakes with butter, broiled bananas and maple syrup.

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction and Entertaining with Beth.

 

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Apple Cinnamon Scones with Maple Glaze

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I remember when I was a little girl helping my Grandma prepare for her Y’s Menette meeting’s. We would make tea sandwiches and treats together and prep the living room for the meeting. She would let me hang around the meetings for a few minutes to have a snack and then I would go off to help Grandpa in the garden or play some cards. I thought she was so fancy making her afternoon tea.

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Afternoon tea is never complete without scones. I have been making scones with my Grandma almost as long as I have been making pies. My Grandma used a recipe passed down to her from her mother. My mom uses the same recipe and at my bridal shower my Grandma gave me a copy of the recipe. Now the original recipe has gotten rave reviews from family and friends for years, they really are the best, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to share the family secret just yet.

Today I am sharing a variation of the original recipe, Apple Cinnamon Scones with Maple Glaze. Perfect for fall and I think Grandma would approve. I made these scones with some whole wheat flour because I like the nutty flavour it has which compliments the cinnamon and apple. I also added the glaze to the scones, because everything is better with maple glaze.

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Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Scones with Maple Glaze

Yields: 8 Scones

Ingredients:

Scones:

  • 1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed
  • 1 Apple, diced
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 3/4 Cup Milk ( I use 2%, but any dairy milk will work)

Glaze

  • 2 Cups Confectioner (Icing) Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
  • 3 Tablespoons Half and Half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Using two forks or a pastry cutter cut butter into flour. Stir in the diced apple.

In a liquid measuring cup whisk together milk and egg. Pour 3/4 of a cup of the mixture into the dry ingredients, set the remaining mixture aside. Using your hands or a wooden spoon gently mix the wet and dry ingredients until just combined (some flour may still show).

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and form into a disk. Flatten the dough with your hands until it is 2 inches tall (do not use a rolling pin). Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Lay the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the scones with the reserved milk and egg mixture. Bake scones for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

In a small bowl whisk confectioner sugar, maple syrup and half and half together. Glaze should be opaque, thick and pourable.

Drizzle glaze onto cooled scones. Allow glaze to set before serving.

Adapted from, Granny Robinson’s Scones

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Happy Belated Canadian Thanksgiving! I spent the whole weekend spending quality time with family, enjoying delicious food and drinks. It was great to disconnect from my phone and just hangout all weekend. Now that I’m back home it’s back into the kitchen, and today I am sharing a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These cookies are so easy and get gobbled up (Thanksgiving Joke!) so fast! And they are the perfect way to use up any left over canned pumpkin from making pumpkin pies and breads.

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These cookies are soft and chewy, slightly spiced, deliciously sweet and chocolatey (is that a word?). I was very sceptical for the pumpkin chocolate combo and resisted it for quite awhile, but now that I know what I’ve been missing I’ll be making these every fall.

These cookies are actually eggless which is great for feeding a crowd since so many people have allergies. You could also sub non dairy butter and dairy free chocolate chips to make these cookies vegan. I love the versatility.

Have I convinced you to add these to your fall baking list yet?

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: 18 Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, partially melted
  • 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
  • 1/2 Cup White Sugar
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 6 Tbsp Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 and 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Tsp Salt
  • 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Microwave the butter for 30-60 seconds until butter is half melted. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet and slightly flatten. The cookies will only spread minimally. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Press more chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a cooling rack.

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Healthier Pumpkin Bread

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Now that it is officially October I feel it is acceptable to post all things pumpkin. As much as I love pumpkin I just think September is too early. But with Canadian Thanksgiving coming up on Sunday I have pumpkin on the brain.

This recipe is perfect because it has whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup making it much better for you and more nutritious then a lot of the more indulgent recipes out there. Since this bread is healthier then some of the other pumpkin treats out there you’re free to enjoy all season long.

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The texture of this bread is AMAZING! I actually can’t believe how well it turned out, its soft and dense while still being light and airy. The best way to achieve this texture is to hand mix the batter. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

This bread would also be great with some mix ins or other toppings. I topped mine with a few handfuls of pumpkin seeds, but you could just leave it plain. You could also mix in nuts or chocolate chips. you could even ice the top with cream cheese frosting and serve it as a dessert.. not so healthy but defiantly delicious. however you make it you won’t be disappointed.

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Healthier Pumpkin Bread

Yields: 1 Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, melted
  • 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Cup Pumpkin Purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1/4 Cup Milk (I used 2%, but any milk even non dairy will work)
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • Optional: 1/4-1/2 Cup mix-ins or toppings, pumpkin seeds, nuts, chocolate chips etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl whisk flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together coconut oil, maple syrup until completely combined.  Add eggs, pumpkin purée, milk and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients and whisk together to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold the mixture together with a spatula or wooden spoon. Continue to fold until the flour is just combined. Gently fold in any mix-in’s if using.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the loaf with toppings if desired.

Bake the loaf for 50-60 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Adapted from, Cookie and Kate

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili

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I’ve been trying to cook less during the week. Life is just so busy and there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished. So I’ve been cooking big batches of food and reheating leftovers. Making up pans of lasagna and enchiladas to get us though busy weeknights. Of course another great time saver is the slow cooker. I will admit I don’t utilize mine as much as I should. I mostly use mine to batch cook soups, stews and sauces. It really is satisfying to come home from work and smell dinner cooking away.

One of my favourite recipes for the slow cooker is vegetarian chili. I love this recipe because it’s cheap, it’s easy and it’s flavourful. This recipe doesn’t require browning or sautéing. You can literally just dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do it’s thing.

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For this chili recipe all you have to do is chop your vegetables, blend one can of tomatoes and add everything to the slow cooker. It really is crazy how simple that is.

Once your chili is ready it’s time to add toppings! I like sour cream, cheddar cheese and green onion. Tortilla chips or Fritos (YUM!) are also great on top. I also like to serve my chili with a bun or some cornbread to round out the meal.

It’s seriously so delicious and couldn’t be easier! It also screams fall and football Sundays. I love throwing all the ingredients in the slow cooker running my Sunday errands, going on our weekly walk and coming home to a perfect Sunday dinner. A perfect Sunday dinner that makes enough leftovers for Monday and even more for your freezer! I mean isn’t that what we all need?

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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili

Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 White Onion, diced
  • 2 Carrots, diced
  • 2 Stalks of Celery, diced
  • 1 Red Pepper, chopped
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
  • 1 Chipotle in Adobo Sauce, chopped
  • 2 Tsp Adobo Sauce
  • 2 15 oz Cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes
  • 1 15 oz Can Red Kidney Beans, rinsed
  • 1 15 oz Can Black Beans, rinsed
  • 1 15 oz Can Pinto Beans, rinsed
  • 1 Cup Frozen Corn
  • 1 Cup Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
  • 3 Tbsp Chili Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop onion, carrots, celery, red pepper, garlic and chipotle pepper. Add to the slow cooker. Pulse one can of the tomatoes in a food processor or blender until tomatoes break down and the mixture is thick. Add the pulsed tomatoes and the can of un pulsed tomatoes to slow cooker. Drain and rinse kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans. Add beans and corn to the slow cooker. Add vegetable broth, adobe sauce, chili powder and cumin to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. Before serving add salt and pepper if needed.

 

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