Homemade Cranberry Pear Applesauce

I met with my nutritionist a couple days ago and our diet will be changing slightly. We’ve pretty much got on the right start when we gave up gluten. However, I will now be eliminating all grains, dairy, eggs and gluten. I will be adding healthy fats and oils, supplements and cooking everything I eat. Basically, we are starting the baby food diet until my body has time to heal. Luckily, my 15 month old daughter and I will be able to eat the same foods! Ha! This is my first recipe with this approach. In all honesty, we use applesauce a lot anyway. I use it as a replacement for many of my baked goods, sauces, pancakes, etc. I do like a little variety though so I decided to throw some pears and cranberries in the cooker for extra flavor. This makes about a quart of applesauce. 

Homemade Cranberry Pear Applesauce

Cranberry Currant Persimmon Bars

Sometimes I go to the store and see something weird. And then I think, “I want to try that!” I don’t know why but I decided I was going to buy some persimmons at the store. I’ve never had them, had to clue what they tasted like or how to cook them. I let one get really ripe and knew it was going to be really mushy so I decided to make these bars with them. The almond-date crust is really easy to make and is a great alternative to grain crusts. The fruit mixture is very similar to a jam and the crumble topping kind of ties it all together. These are a great little treat that is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, low fat, kid friendly! It’s just great and pretty easy to make! The flours can be easily substituted to whatever you have on hand. Makes a 9x13 pan of bars.

Crust

1 cup dates (10 regular dates, pits removed)

1 cup plain almonds

½ cup water

½ cup coconut flour

¼ cup coconut sugar or stevia

Fruit Filling

2 medium persimmons, chopped (about ½-3/4 cup)

½ cup chopped cranberries

1/3 cup dried currants or raisins

¼ cup water

½ cup coconut sugar or stevia

Crumb Topping

½ cup almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

¼ cup coconut sugar or stevia

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter or coconut oil (I used dairy free)

1 tsp almond milk or water

• In a blender, puree almonds, water and dates together until smooth. In a bowl, add in date mixture and remaining crust ingredients and mix until well combined. 
• Spread into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
• In a saucepan, combine fruit filling and bring to boil over medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken. Pour fruit mixture over crust. 
• In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients and blend together with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle crumb mixture over fruit filling. 
• Return bars to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crumb topping starts to brown. Let cool about 15 minutes and cut into bars. 

Cranberry Sweet Rolls - Gluten Free

I used to be a sucker for Hostess or Little Debbie snack cakes. It’s not something I’m real proud of now but I LOVED them. My favorites had to be the Oatmeal Cream Pies and those Cherry Sweet Rolls. Oh my gosh – so good! I don’t need to tell you about their nutritional values I’m sure. These Cranberry Rolls are my Christmas version of my old favorite breakfast treat! Plus a lot healthier… These can easily be made ahead and baked Christmas morning. This makes about 12 rolls. 

1 cup white rice flour

½ cup white sorghum flour
¾ cup tapioca starch
½ cup arrowroot starch
¼ cup stevia or sugar
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 pkt active dry yeast
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
¼ cup applesauce
½ cup water, warm
½ cup milk, warm
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Filling
1 Tbsp coconut oil
½ cup cranberry sauce (Here’s my homemade recipe)
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
3 tsp almond milk

• In a small bowl, combine yeast, milk and water and set aside for about 5 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining dry dough ingredients. Add in egg, applesauce, oil, vanilla and yeast mixture.
• Blend over medium speed for about 2 minutes.
• Place dough onto a clean, floured surface and roll out into a ¼” thick rectangle.
• Spread coconut oil over dough and top with sugar, cinnamon and cranberry sauce. Roll up dough lengthwise and cut into about 1” thick slices.
• Place rolls cut side down  in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Let rise for about 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
• While rolls are baking, mix together icing ingredients. Let rolls cool about 10 minutes  and drizzle icing over tops and serve.

White Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies

I love cranberries! In the coming weeks, you will probably see a lot of recipes featuring this tart little berry. I’ve posted a few already, Cranberry Orange Spread, Turkey Cranberry Sandwich, etc. These little gems are delicious – not to mention gluten free and low carb! This makes about 2.5 dozen cookies.

 

1 cup of coconut flour

¼ cup of tapioca starch
½ cup of soy flour
½ cup of white sorghum flour
½ cup of almond flour
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp salt
½ cup milk (I used almond)
½ tsp vanilla
¼ cup butter (I used soy)
1 cup white chocolate chips (Trader Joe’s has some healthy versions out there)
1 cup fresh cranberries, finely chopped
½ cup walnuts, chopped

• In a large mixing bowl, combine all flours, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Mix until well combined. Add in egg, milk, vanilla and butter.
• Blend until you get a crumbly mixture. Slowly stir in cranberries, chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Using a cookie scoop, place cookie balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Cranberry Dump Cake

If you’ve never had a “dump” cake, you are missing out. This simple and quick technique delivers a unique tasting dessert that you can customize to your desires. All you have to do is figure out your base and “dump” a box of dry cake mix on top (hence the name, dump). I traditionally see it made with cherry pie type filling or pineapple. I wanted a winter version of the dish so I decided to add in pumpkin and cranberry with a cinnamon walnut topping. It’s a little more work than a typical dump cake but it’s so good and so easy to make!

1 can pumpkin puree

1 cup fresh cranberries
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup apple juice
1 banana
½ cup almond milk
1 pkg of GF vanilla cake mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
¼ cup butter, coconut oil or shortening, cut into very small chunks
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

• In a small saucepan, combine cranberries, coconut sugar and apple juice. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat until berries start to pop and soften.
• In a small blender (I used my Magic Bullet), puree banana with almond milk. In a large bowl, stir together banana mixture with pumpkin.
• Fold in cranberry mixture and carefully swirl together.
• Pour pumpkin mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan.
• Pour dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin until covered. Place the small chunks of butter or shortening over the cake mixture.
• Sprinkle over cinnamon and walnuts.
• Bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes or until the topping starts to brown. Let cool about 15 minutes before serving.

Cranberry Pear Crisp with Lavender Crumble

If I could bottle the smell of this dish, I could make millions! This dessert smells absolutely wonderful cooking and tastes even better! I love a good fruit crisp. They are so easy to make and very versatile. I’ve already posted a couple crisp recipes – Cherry Rhubarb is one of my favorites also! I haven’t made a pear crisp before but I needed a quick dessert one evening and my mother-in-law brought over TONS of fresh Asian pears so I thought I would try. I love the combination of pears and cranberries. I also like adding just a little something extra and I thought that lavender would complement the fruits nicely. It turned out great! This would be a perfect addition to your holiday menu!

6 pears, peeled and sliced into ¼” slices

½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 Tbsp GF all purpose flour
1/3 cup fresh pear juice (or apple juice)
Topping
1 cup GF oats
¼ cup potato starch
¼ cup rice flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup butter or coconut oil
1 tbsp fresh lavender, finely chopped

• In a large bowl, mix together pear slices, cranberries, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coconut sugar and flour. Carefully mix with your hands until fruit is coated with dry mixture.
• Pour fruit mixture into a greased 3 qt baking pan or a 9x13 pan and drizzle fruit with juice.
• In a separate bowl, combine oats, potato starch, rice flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter or coconut oil.
• Blend butter and flour mixture with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in lavender.
• Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over fruit.
• Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until crumb topping is slightly brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Red Wine Cranberry Sauce

So if you want to have a cranberry sauce that doesn’t come out of a can this holiday season, try this recipe! You can even leave out the wine, but it does give it an extra flavor (don’t worry, you cook out all of the alcohol). This has just the right combination of sweet and tart plus it is made with natural ingredients – no high fructose anything, preservatives, etc. We served this over some chicken and it was delicious. It would also be good on a turkey sandwich or just as a small side dish to your Thanksgiving feast. Who cares how you eat it, just as long as you give it a try! This makes about 2 cups of sauce.

12 oz fresh cranberries

1 cup fresh grapes
2 cups red wine (I used some leftovers from an already opened bottle – no need to waste wine!)
¼ cup orange juice
1/3 cup stevia or sugar or honey
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp roasted garlic

• In a large saucepan, combine cranberries, grapes, wine and juice. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until berries and grapes start to pop. 
• Add in sweetener and seasonings.
• Using an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth. Add more or less sweetener/spices to taste.
• This recipe gives  a slightly tart flavor with just a hint of spice (not much at all!). Store any leftovers in a sealed container in fridge.

Cranberry Orange Spread

I usually create this spread over Christmas time. I love cranberries during the holidays but I always get too many. They freeze really well but I had some extra leftover that I thought I’d use up. While this spread is great for the holidays (especially to give as gifts), it is also good any time of the year. I love it on a turkey sandwich with lettuce and Dijon mustard. Serve it over cream cheese with crackers or even eat on toast.

1 20oz bag of fresh cranberries

2 whole oranges
¾ cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon

• In a food processor or blender, blend cranberries and oranges until desired consistency. We like ours with a few small chunks so we blended ours quite a bit.
• Pour fruit into a large stock pot or sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in cinnamon and honey.
• Bring to boiling and cook at a slow boil for about 5 more minutes, stirring constantly.
• Ladle spread into prepared glass jars and finish preparing jars as desired.