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Recipe Category: Sweets & Treats


Paleo Lemon Blueberry Scones

These scones have a nice balance of the moist denseness of almond flour and light, airy dryness of coconut flour. You can get away with one less Tbsp of honey, but the little extra adds nice moisture that only liquid sweetener can bring.

It’s better to use fresh blueberries or ones you’ve fresh-frozen yourself, as the pre-frozen store-bought blueberries can have too much frozen juice in them that can make the recipe too soggy. And, if you do use raspberries, halving them before mixing in will spread their color and flavor throughout the batter more easily. 

Remember to zest that lemon before you juice it!

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups fine-ground almond flour, like Bob’s Red Mill 
  • ½ cup coconut flour 
  • 1 tsp baking soda 
  • 1/8 tsp salt 
  • Zest and juice from 1 lemon 
  • 3 Tbsp honey 
  • 2 eggs 
  • ¾ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen-fresh (if you froze them yourself, not bought frozen) 
  • Optional: 12-14 raspberries, halved 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients and lemon zest.  
  3. In a small bowl, mix together eggs, honey and lemon juice. 
  4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix ingredients together with a spatula. Fold in berries until fully incorporated. 
  5. Divide into six equal portions and one-by-one pat into burger-shaped discs about an inch thick.  
  6. Bake 15 minutes and then rotate tray front-to-back. Bake another 15 minutes or so until turning golden brown.  
  7. Remove from oven, wait a few minutes and then gently transfer to cooling rack.

Moroccan-Inspired Charoset Balls

Pyramid of truffle-like fruit and nut charoset balls. White plate on wood surface with dates and nuts on the side.

Charoset is one part of the Passover seder, and it comes in different forms that might look similar to fruit and nut relish, a thick spread, or a pliable sweet truffle like you see here. Its name come from the Hebrew word for “clay,” and it’s meant to recall the mortar Jews used to construct the Egyptian pharaoh’s buildings.

Along with fruit and nuts, charoset is made with spices, wine or fruit juice and often a binder like honey. Ingredients depend on what’s abundant in the area where it’s made, like this Moroccan-inspired version that relies on dates and other dried fruit. 

Ingredients

  • ¾ – 1 cup Turkish dried apricots, cut into ¼’s  
  • 6 – 9 dates, pitted and crowns removed, roughly chopped 
  • ¼ cup golden raisins 
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
  • ½ cup almonds and shelled pistachios, mixed 
  • 2-4 Tbsp raw honey 
  • 2-3 Tbsp grape juice, kosher wine or pomegranate molasses (reserve for end) 
  • Optional: Additional finely ground almond flour or shredded coconut, for rolling balls in 

Directions

  1. Make sure there are no crowns/pits/stems in dried fruit. 
  2. Pre-chop nuts in food processor so they’re close to the size you’d like. Remove from food processor and set aside. Separate and save any dust/crumbs for rolling the balls in.  
  3. Add dried fruit, cinnamon, honey to food processor. Blend everything together completely. If texture is too thick, add grape juice/wine/pomegranate molasses, to thin it out.  
  4. Add chopped nuts (minus dust) back into food processor along with fruit mixture. Pulse several times to incorporate into fruit mixture but not chop nut pieces too much smaller. 
  5. Roll mixture into balls about 1” inch diameter. Roll these in reserved nut dust, as well as additional ground almond flour and/or shredded coconut as desired. 
  6. Store in a cool place in a tightly sealed container. 

Sigara Boregi

Rolled, baked phyllo dough with herbs and cheese inside. Dip of yogurt and herbs on the side. All in a wooden tray lined with paper.

These Turkish rolls are filled with herbed feta filling. This recipe calls for baking them, although you could shallow-fry them in olive oil for a more traditional preparation. Feel free to get creative with the cheese/herbs depending on what you’ve got on hand. No salt is needed if you’re using feta; if you use something else, adjust seasonings to your taste.

Ingredients

  • 6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 4 scallions, both white and green parts, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped parsley
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely minced
  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • Optional: 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° and put one rack in the middle of the oven. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine cheeses, parsley, scallions and thyme. Add pepper flakes (if using) and a drizzle of olive oil.

Lay phyllo sheets flat on cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut into four equal strips along the long edge of the dough. Working with one strip at a time, spoon about 1 ½ Tbsp cheese mixture onto phyllo along bottom edge closest to you. Leave a little room on either side for filling to expand. Roll tightly away from you (4-5 times) so filling is encased in the roll. Repeat until strips/filling are used up and brush outside of rolls with olive oil.

Place rolls on sheet pans in a single layer. Bake on center rack of the oven for about 10 minutes; turn them over halfway through cooking, until golden brown and crispy on all sides.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Apple-Bacon-Onion Marmalade

This recipe is a great intro to Jazz apples, and perfect for topping burgers, mashed potatoes, pork chops, pancakes and grilled cheese. Other firm-fleshed apples will also work well.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz. bacon, diced
  • ½ yellow onion, diced small
  • 3 Jazz apples, peeled/cored and diced small
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup & 2 Tbsp maple sugar

Directions

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add bacon and render until golden brown.

Add diced onion and sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add diced apples and sauté/stir 2 minutes more.

Add vinegar and maple sugar and simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Eat immediately or spread evenly on a tray to cool. Can keep in the fridge for several days.

Chocolate Silk Pie

Slice of chocolate pudding pie, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. On white plate, on white wood-grain table.

This is the perfect filling for a pretzel pie crust (get the recipe here).

Salty, crunchy pretzels and smooth and silky chocolate are a great combination. 

Ingredients

  • 1 pretzel pie crust, baked and cooled completely 
  • Filling 
  • 3 large eggs 
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • 8 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), finely chopped 
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 1 cup heavy cream 
  • Topping 
  • 1 ¼ cups heavy cream 
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar 
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (or other flavor, see note) 
  • ¼ tsp salt 
  • Extra pretzels, berries, dried rose buds or mint sprigs for garnish/serving

Directions

In a medium heatproof bowl set over a large saucepan of lightly simmering water, whisk together eggs and sugar (bowl shouldn’t touch water). Whisking often, heat until sugar is almost completely dissolved and mixture is pale yellow and slightly aerated, about 5 minutes.  

Add chocolate and flavoring, and stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate is melted and mixture is thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cool about 30 minutes. 

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter in a large bowl until light/fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a medium bowl, beat 1 cup heavy cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.  

Fold the whipped butter into the cooled chocolate, and then fold in the whipped cream. Scrape filling into the crust and smooth into an even layer. Chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator at least 4 hours. 

Just before serving, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat 1 ¼ cups heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl until light/fluffy, about 2 minutes. Dollop whipped cream over pie filling and spread out to crust in an even layer using a spoon or offset spatula.  

Notes: For a twist, use orange, almond or mint extract in place of vanilla to flavor pie filling. Pie (without toppings) can be assembled 1 day ahead. Cover/keep chilled. 

Pretzel Pie Crust

Pie crust in dark gray metal pie pan, made of pretzel crumbs pressed into the pan. On white table.

Got extra pretzels, potato chips, crackers, breakfast cereal? Then you’ve got what it takes to make a pie crust for a no-bake pie recipe.

Just swap out the pretzel crumbs for whatever you’ve got, adjusting salt/sugar to taste depending on what you’re making the crust out of (the pretzels have enough salt so we didn’t include it in the ingredients).  

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (5 oz) mini pretzels  
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted 
  • 3 ½ Tbsp light brown sugar 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°.  

In a food processor, pulse pretzels until finely ground (about 1 ¼ cups ground pretzels). Pulse in melted butter and brown sugar until combined. 

Press evenly into 10-inch buttered pie dish. Bake 12-15 minutes, until firm. Let cool completely, refrigerating it once the dish is cool to the touch to speed process.