Blake Makes

© photo copyright Carrie Boyko

Although, a bag of muffins makes a nice gift for that friend who has everything, I especially like this recipe for my own family. It makes great comfort food for a kid after a tough math test at school, and is a welcome addition to the lunchbox for the days to come. Lucky for me, my husband is only home in the evening, or he would eat it all. If you decide to keep, rather than share both halves of the recipe, I recommend you make a dozen muffins to freeze. You can thaw them one by one, or all at once; they are terrific as a snack, breakfast or dessert. If you come up short packing a school lunch, you can wrap a frozen one in a paper towel and allow it to thaw right in the lunch box. The paper towel will soak up any moisture and the muffin will taste freshly made.

Made with organic whole wheat flour, these muffins pack a good amount of protein and fiber into a small package, and to top that off they only have about 2-1/2 grams of fat per slice or medium sized muffin. You may have trouble giving them away when you smell your kitchen while they are baking. Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned, Low Fat Organic Whole Wheat Banana Bread and Muffins

• 5 organic bananas, very ripe and mashed (thawed, frozen bananas work equally well)
• 4 organic eggs
• 1/3 cup organic apple sauce
• 1/3 cup organic canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups organic sugar
• 3 cups organic whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons aluminum free baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons organic honey

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans with organic cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together mashed bananas, eggs, oil and apple sauce.
3. Combine dry ingredients and add to banana mixture, stirring until well-mixed.
4. Spoon mixture into muffin pans (about 2/3 full for each) and/or pour into loaf pan(s).
5. Bake the muffins first for 20-25 minutes.
6. Then bake the loave(s) for 50-60 minutes, checking with a toothpick to determine when done.
7. Baste the top of the bread with honey for an extra-special dessert that even us big kids can’t resist.
8. After out of the oven for a few minutes, remove from pans to a cooling rack.
9. If you like the crust on the bread to remain somewhat crisp, like I do, don’t wrap in plastic. Once you slice off one end, store in a flat-bottomed container or plate, setting it on the sliced end. This will do the trick.
10. For storing muffins, use paper bags, rather than plastic, to keep them from getting too soft and maintain that crispy top. Paper lunch bags can be placed inside of a gift bag for a festive holiday surprise.

Of course, many people like to add nuts, cranberries or even chunks of bananas to their banana bread, so go ahead and have fun with it. Let me know if you come up with any real winners. I’d love to share your ideas with our readers. Happy holidays from my kitchen to yours.

Carrie of Organic Journey Online

Finding a good gluten-free bread is hard. Baking one doesn’t have to be though. This recipe for Gluten-Free Flax Bread is relatively simple to follow and gives a great loaf of bread. The bread is baked in a standard size loaf pan, and the result is a light, tasty, and even squishy loaf of nutrient-filled bread.

Source: Based on a recipe at Recipezaar

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 2 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp unflavoured gelatin
• 1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp liquid honey
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Yeast Mixture:

• 1 cup warm water or milk
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar

Flax Seed Mixture:

• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 3 Tbsp water

Optional Topping:

• flax seeds & sesame seeds to sprinkle on the top of the loaf

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup water, sugar and instant yeast. Stir & let sit while preparing the other ingredients (should get bubbly).
2. In another small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp water and 3 Tbsp ground flax seed (this is used as an egg replacer, the original recipe calls for addition egg whites). Mix together & let it sit while preparing the other ingredients. It will become the consistency of egg whites.
3. In a mixer, combine all dry ingredients. Mix to evenly distribute.
4. In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients. Add water/yeast mixture, as well as the water/ground flax seed mixture. Add to dry ingredients in the mixer.
5. Scrape the sides and mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes.
6. Pour into a 9×5-inch pan, sprinkle optional toppings on the bread, and let rise to top of pan (takes about 30 minutes). I always let my bread rise in a turned off oven, with the oven light on.
7. Leave bread in the oven, and turn the temperature up to 350 degrees F. Once that temperature is reached, bake for approximately 30-35 minutes.
8. Leave in pan for 10 minutes, then remove & cool completely.

Jeanine has been cooking and baking regularly ever since moving out of her parents’ house in the late ’90’s. Now, with her own home, which she shares with her husband and two children, Jeanine is committed to putting food on the table that excites everyone in her family. Shortly after she began blogging about food, she was diagnosed with Celiacs disease. Determined to not let the restrictions of a gluten-free diet ruin her enjoyment of good food, Jeanine has been actively experimenting with new recipes that challenge her culinary ability, with some amazing results. You can find her posting regularly at The Baking Beauties blog.

© photo copyright Carrie Boyko

It’s hard to believe that until last Fall I had never eaten fresh homemade applesauce. What a difference there is between the canned stuff and what you make at home. I was instantly in love. By accident, I left some of the peel in the mixture. It added color and texture that I found both aesthetically pleasing and tasty, too. Enough of that, let’s get on with it.

To make applesauce my way, you’ll need a juicer. I know; I know. They’re a bit pricey. Funny thing is you can often find them at garage sales or on places like Ebay for practically nothing. People get them for wedding gifts or whatever and don’t use them, so they end up being sold for what a toaster might bring. I’ll clue you in. A brand new Champion juicer with a 10-year warranty will cost about $200, so if you’re on a budget, shop the way college students do–Craig’s List and Ebay. If you don’t find one there, the garage sales should pan out with a little effort.

Now for more good news. The way I make applesauce is easier than Grandma’s way and you get a bonus–fresh organic apple juice. This special occasion juice is a nice change from the usual orange juice, and will delight any breakfast guests you are hosting during the holidays.

Ingredients:

• 1 large bag (at least 8 pounds) of organic baking or eating apples; I prefer Red Delicious or Gala for juice and sauce
• 1 Tablespoon organic butter
• 1 teaspoon organic cinnamon, optional
• organic sugar, optional (add to taste)

Instructions:

1. While you set up the juicer, bowls, strainers, funnel and containers, etc., put the apples in a clean sink full of water to soak.
2. Dry them as you take them out to cut them up. Remember, there is no need to peel apples for juice, unless you prefer it that way. The juicer does all that work for you; that’s one reason it is so fast. I juiced the apples, cooked the sauce and cleaned up in a little over an hour.
3. Following your juicers instructions, go ahead and juice all the apples, straining the juice into a pitcher as you go. When done, you’ll have a bowl full of pulp and a pitcher of juice, as well as the last of what drained into the bowl.
4. Work with the pulp first, since it tends to discolor if left to sit too long. After you get the sauce cooking, you can deal with the juice. Place the pulp in a microwave-proof bowl; add a teaspoon of organic cinnamon, if you like. Sugar is optional, as well. If you have used the apples I recommended, you won’t need sugar. Other variations are good too, such as raspberries, raisins or small minced chunks of apples. Remember, it is variety we are shooting for here, so change it up a bit each time you make apple sauce.
5. Dot the pulp with the butter. Stir and cover. Microwave on high until the pulp is soft, then cool. If you juiced 8 pounds of apples like I did, it will take about 10 minutes. Check after 7 and go from there. Microwave ovens vary. Warm apple sauce is wonderful with dinner or as a dessert, but it does heat up well later on also.
6. While the sauce cooks and cools, use the finest strainer you have to strain the foam off the apple juice. You can strain it as many times as you like, rinsing the strainer each time. Or you can leave the foam and shake the juice each time you pour a glass. If you plan to send it to school, pour it into the lunchbox drink containers and store it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, put it in a pitcher with a secure lid. This stuff is like gold, so we don’t want it absorbing any flavors from the refrigerator, like, say, garlic. Yuck!
7. Spoon some of the leftover apple sauce into a container for another family meal or dessert. Save this in the refrigerator to eat in the next day or two. If you have some really small containers (3-5 oz.) that you trust in the freezer and in lunchboxes, use these for lunches. If not, an ice cube tray works fine. Once frozen, remove the cubes and store in a suitable larger container. The apple sauce will need to go in smaller containers for lunches (probably 2-4 cubes for most kids), so wait till you have a small container that works. Remove the apple sauce from the freezer when you are packing lunches and place it in the lunchbox frozen. By lunchtime, it will still be cool. One final tip: Don’t forget the spoon.

© photo copyright Carrie Boyko

Clean up is a snap, as my juicer recommends using the dishwasher, and all the aluminum or glass bowls and funnels also go in the dishwasher. Let me know what you think about your applesauce. I’d love to hear other ideas for changing up your apple sauce.

One last note. If you prefer, you can always peel the apples first, perhaps using a peeler like the one from Williams-Sonoma. This is a fabulous tool for speeding up the time consuming chore of apple peeling for making pies and such. It takes a whopping 3 seconds per apple to peel one. As for me, though, I like the texture and nutrition that the peel adds to apple sauce. Enjoy it your way!

Carrie of Organic Journey Online

Tom's Organic Old Fashioned Pound Cake

© Carrie Boyko

One of my trademarks in cooking is preparing things in advance, so I can enjoy the social time with company and family. This is a dessert which fits right in to my goal of preparing as much in advance as possible. This rich pound cake is best made 2-3 days before you plan to eat it. The passage of time helps the flavors blend and the moist texture become the best it can be. I think it is great to create my dessert for an event a few days ahead, since I’m always crazed the 2 days before the big day taking care of last minute details.

This pound cake has a thin, crispy crust on the top that remains even when you freeze the extra loaf. Surprise! The recipe makes 2 loaves, so you can freeze one for later, or give one to a friend. You can even eat them both and I won’t tell. Try it with a little fruit compote drizzled over the top for an added flavor boost. Like cheesecake, pound cake is a classic that always tastes good plain, but is delightful when you add a surprise topping. Enjoy it however you like it.

Tom’s Organic Old Fashioned Pound Cake

• 3 cups organic flour
• 3 cups organic sugar
• 6 organic eggs
• 1/2 pound organic butter
• 8 ounces organic sour cream (not low fat)
• 1 tablespoon organic almond or vanilla extract (or both–this is awesome!)
• 1/4 teaspoon aluminum free or organic baking soda

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar well, followed by the eggs and then the sour cream.
2. Combine the dry ingredients and blend in thoroughly.
3. Pour into 2 prepared bread pans and bake 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours.
4. Test with a toothpick to determine when done.
5. Cool for a few minutes on a rack, loosening the cake from the pan with a knife, and then remove to finish cooling in 10-15 minutes.
6. When completely cool, wrap twice in plastic or wax paper, very securely. Loaves can be frozen, if desired, but are best left out to reach full flavor for 2-3 days before freezing or eating.

Baking for Blake Bakes is really making me popular at my house right now. Since my focus on my daily blog is totally on healthy and organic, I find myself enjoying the opportunity to create desserts which also fit these criteria. The result is I’m definitely not bored with fruits and vegetables, since I’m squeezing decadent desserts in between. I’ll be back next month with something less traditional, but I’ll keep it a surprise for now. Thanks for reading, and for giving organic a try.

Carrie Boyko of Organic Journey Online

The calendar may say it’s September, but here in New Jersey last week it was a sweltering 94 degrees on Sunday. So that makes it perfectly acceptable for me to bring you this light and cool Pineapple Pudding Cake!

This recipe comes from Taste of Home’s Healthy Cooking magazine. This was my first time looking through this magazine and I fell in love with it instantly. There are so many good for you recipes in it - I can’t wait to make more. But first on my list was this cake. It sounded so light and cool and refreshing that I knew it would be perfect to serve for dessert when I had my in-laws over on such a sticky Sunday, plus it had the added bonus of being low fat. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I used regular instant pudding instead of sugar free (I hate the chemical taste of sugar-free pudding!). Next time I may mix some of the pineapple juice into the cake for a little added flavor. But as is, this dessert was a hit! Everyone loved this sweet and creamy treat - it makes me wish for a long Indian summer so I can make it again soon!

Pineapple Pudding Cake

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 1/2 cups fat free milk
• 1 package sugar-free instant pudding mix
• 1 package (8 ounces) fat free cream cheese
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen fat free whipped topping, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• Maraschino cherries

1. Prepare and bake cake according to package directions in a 9 x 13″ pan coated with cooking spray. Cool completely on wire rack.
2. In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.
3. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in pudding until blended.
4. Spread evenly over cake. Sprinkle with pineapple; spread with whipped topping. Sprinkle with walnuts and garnish with cherries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutrition: 1 piece - 131 calories, 2 grams fat. Makes 20 servings.

Brooke is a food lover (desserts in particular!) from Hamilton, NJ who enjoys trying out new recipes and treating her friends, family and co-workers to nice fattening baked goods whenever possible. She always has plenty of help in the kitchen - her two cats, Roy and Roger, are only too happy to supervise her chopping, mixing and stirring while her husband Joe and dog Tucker are perfect taste-testers. Brooke can be found at …and a cookie for dessert.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

YAY! This is my first post for Blake Bakes! I’ve been wanting to be part of BB for quite some time now. You see, all my baking peeps are here and I felt quite left out! So, what do I make for my debut, my grand entrance, my BIG first impression? Something with zucchini! I can see that look on your face. You’re hiding behind your computer screen saying, “WHAT? Not another zucchini recipe! What the heck is she thinking?”
There’s a method behind the madness…I think…Yes, I’m sure of it! I used to grow tons of zucchini when we lived in a square house and had a square garden. I made loads of zucchini bread, muffins and cupcakes for the bakery we owned. My customers waited all year for the zucchini harvest to arrive. OK, so I’m exaggerating a little. They probably never gave it a second thought, that is until I lined them all up on the counters to cool in front of an open window.

The smells of cinnamon, brown sugar and chocolate chips all mingled together made everyone’s mouths water. I added some cream cheese frosting to the top and it was party time! Back then, it was hard to keep the kid’s fingers out of the frosting. Cupcakes would mysteriously disappear. Many years later, I still have trouble, this time keeping my husband’s fingers out of the frosting!

Things have changed since then as I no longer live on land. Baking is a little more complicated now. My oven is always moving and taking photographs of my successes and flops is a challenge to say the least. I now live, bake, cook and blog about it all on a sailboat! I can only fit 12 cupcakes in my Easy-Bake-Oven at a time, so everything I make takes twice as long. I’ve heard some people say, “I can’t bake, my kitchen is too small, and I don’t have a KitchenAid mixer.” Well, I’m here to say, “Yes, you can. If I can do it in a space smaller than your bathroom, you can too!”

Anyway…to get back to zucchini! These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes have been a family favorite for evah! Our kids loved chocolate chips in almost everything and it just seemed natural to throw a handful or two into these cupcakes! But they were still missing something. Cream Cheese Frosting with a touch of cinnamon did the trick! Then I went overboard (pun intended) with other ingredients. Coconut, walnuts and raisins were common add-ins. Sprinkles, non-pariels and dragees showed up on top of the mile-high frosting. Then lightening struck my brain! I was low on shortening, but I did have some marshmallow fluff! It took me (hhmm) years to discover the secret ingredient? Not telling, but it really does make an awesome frosting!

That really is a duck in the background!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(an original recipe by Donna Diegel @ Spatulas & Corkscrews)

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups peeled and grated zucchini
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks, semi sweet or milk chocolate
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. This recipe makes 24 regular size cupcakes, so line muffin pans with paper or silicone liners and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. In another large mixing bowl with a hand-held or stand mixer, beat eggs and sugars together. Add oil, vanilla and zucchini and blend well. Scrape bowl.
5. With mixer on low speed, add 1/2 the flour mixture and mix. Scrape down bowl and add the remaining flour. Beat on low just until blended and the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients.
6. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut if desired.
7. Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes, turning once half way through baking, until pick comes out clean.
8. Let sit on cooling racks for 5 minutes before removing cupcakes from pans.
9. Cool completely before frosting.
10. At this point, the cupcakes can be wrapped in Ziploc Bags and frozen for up to 2 months.
11. Makes 24 regular size cupcakes.

I love these Wilton silicone pans!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 cup Crisco shortening
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter
• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1/4 cup marshmallow fluff
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pound (3 1/2 cups) 10X confectioners’ sugar
• 1 Tablespoon water, more or less

Directions:

You can skip the shortening and increase the butter to 1/2 cup (whole stick) if you’d like.
With electric mixer, beat shortening, butter, cream cheese and marshmallow fluff together in a large bowl until creamy. Scrape bowl.
Add vanilla and cinnamon and beat again. Scrape bowl.
On low speed, beat in half the confectioners’ sugar. Scrape and beat in the remaining 10X sugar, adding water as needed until frosting is nice and fluffy.
Decorate cupcakes any way you like!
Cover and refrigerate any leftovers if there are any!

This is Me!

Donna is an ex-caterer and pastry chef from Vermont that got tired of the rat race and sailed off into the sunset. That’s not just a metaphor, she really did! Donna had her own wholesale bakery and catering business for over 15 years when she finally got tired and bored with it and said to her husband, “Let’s get in the boat and sail away!” Their 4 adult children and four grandchildren were given 2 years notice that they were running away from home. She gave the inn-keeper 10 months notice to find another chef. Donna says, “They all thought we were nuts and would never follow through with it. Well, we did, and here I am, 4 years later living, cooking, baking, photographing and blogging about it all on a sailboat in RI. I do this all on a rocking, rolling boat with a 2-3 burner stove and mini oven that I affectionately call my Easy-Bake-Oven!” Gone are her 30 quart Hobart mixer, 10 burner stove and cheesecake slicer! Her plan was to eventually end up in the Bahamas sipping Pina Coladas with little umbrellas and her toes in the hot sand. Instead, they got “stuck” on the East coast of the USA with ice around their boat every winter. It makes for a great story though, and she wouldn’t change it for anything. But, if you ask her about the location she’ll say, “Yup, I would definitely go to the islands for the winter!” Read about her culinary and sailboat adventures on her blog, Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. She’s also the Baking & Desserts Feature Writer for Suite101 which keeps her on an even keel and out of trouble!

Fall is just around the corner, and what a better way to celebrate than with candy corn and chocolate. So isn’t it great to see that Hershey put the two together to make Candy Corn Kisses? Sadly, I’ve had a bag of them, which I couldn’t eat since I’m on Atkins right now. The smell of them is so tempting as it comes right through the bag (YUM!). They also smell amazing in the chocolate thumbprint cookies I made.

Since our friend Matthew had just celebrated his 31st birthday, Carlo and I decided to bake a batch of cookies for him using the kisses. To find a recipe that would easily incorporate them, I went to the source, Hersheys.com. The thumbprint cookies were an easy choice. The recipe was simple and fun to make, especially rolling the dough into balls and making the thumbprints in them.

I was concerned about the cookies not holding up their shape while baking. They did pretty well. Out of the batch I made, there were only 2 cookie casualties (not bad). Then again, if I could eat the cookies myself, then I wouldn’t consider them that…just extra treats for me!

One thing I do have to say is that you should let the cookies cool completely before filling them with the vanilla icing and topping them with the kisses. The recipe suggested 5 minutes on the wire rack, but that was not enough. The icing started to melt and spread immediately. To ”save” them, I threw them in the freezer for a few minutes with the kisses on top. That definitely worked.

Though I couldn’t try one myself, the cookies turned out nicely. If they tasted as great as they smelled, I bet they were awesome. If not for anything, they looked pretty too! 

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Source: Hersheys.com

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Beat butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla in medium bowl until fluffy. Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.
2. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. With fork, beat egg white slightly. Dip each ball into egg white; roll in nuts. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Press thumb gently in center of each cookie. 
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Meanwhile, prepare VANILLA FILLING. Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces. Remove cookies from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool 5 minutes. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon filling into each thumbprint. Gently press chocolate piece in center of each cookie. Cool completely. About 2 dozen cookies.

VANILLA FILLING: Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon softened butter or margarine, 2 teaspoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl; beat until smooth.

VARIATION: Omit egg white and chopped nuts. Roll balls in granulated sugar. Bake as directed. Top with VANILLA FILLING and pecan or walnut half.

Guess who’s back with another mouth watering muffin?

Yep, you guessed it. These muffins are pure heaven. Seriously, I have eaten four. As in, four today. Yes, they are THAT GOOD. Your butt will never forgive you, but these muffins are so worth it. Full of sweet cream cheese, moist, gooey jam, and bits of fresh fruit, what’s not to love? Give them a try an let me know what you think!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

An Original DoughMessTic Recipe - Makes 6 Texas size or 13 Standard Muffins

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp Strawberry Extract
• 1 cup diced fresh strawberries
• 2/3 cup Strawberry Jam

Cream Cheese Center

• 4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
• 3 Tbsp. Sugar

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In stand mixer, combine eggs, milk, melted butter and extract. Whip on medium for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. On low, add dry mixture until just combined.
4. Fold in berries and jam.
5. In separate bowl, stir sugar and cream cheese together until well combined.
6. Pour muffin batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Spoon cream cheese mixture into each tin equally, pressing it into the center of the batter.
7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes (regular muffins) or 25 minutes for the large size.
8. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Susan is the Susie Homemaker behind She’s Becoming DoughMessTic, a blog about her journey to have it all…a happy family, a clean house, and a kitchen full of things worth eating. Married to a great husband and Mom to a beautiful baby boy, Susan does her best to juggle the little things…and a few big ones. Since her debut in blogging, she has created the cooking group My Kitchen, My World, as well as the Troop supporting Operation Baking GALS. But if you just want to know more about plain old Sus, you can visit her site here.

Where I live, snacks are abundant! Less than a block from my home, one will find 3 candy stores and a CVS. Go one more block and you’ll find four more stores full of sugary sodas, cheap candy and chips. Now, if I hadn’t changed the way I eat, I’d tell you I was in heaven. However, since being on Atkins, I don’t crave that junk anymore with the help of healthy alternatives, such as these “chips.”

The support group online that I joined has been such a valuable resource when it comes to recipes. One of those recipes was called “Cheese Crisps,” which has to be the next best thing to a cheddar cheese-sour cream potato chip. The recipe is so versatile that you can whatever cheese you wish and make them as big as you want. You can even use them to make an edible salad bowl, similar to the fried tortilla bowls found at some restaurants.

I’ve tried these so far with American, Cheddar and Fontina. Fontina has been my fave, thus far. I also like making them smaller, like the size of actual potato chips.

Cheese Crisps
Source: Linda’s Low Carb Menus & Recipes

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounce bag shredded cheese, any flavor

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place a square of parchment paper (do NOT use wax paper) on a microwaveable dinner plate.
2. Place a generous tablespoon of cheese in center of plate and, with your fingers, gently spread into a circle about 3 1/2-4″ in diameter and not too thick in the middle.
3. Microwave on HIGH about 30-40 seconds or until a toasty color and they sound crisp when tapped with your fingernail.
4. Lift it off the paper with tongs and set on paper towel to cool. You can use the same piece of parchment over and over for the current crisp-making session.

Makes about 18-20 crisps
Can be frozen

Carmella is the female half of The Food Duo, a blog started in March 2008 with her husband, Carlo. While growing up in New York City, her South Carolinian mother was the baker of her family with her specialties involving traditional Low Country and Southern desserts with fruit and/or nuts. Now, that her mom has retired from work and baking, Carmella has stepped up to become the baker for her now larger family, often experimenting and making treats for everyone to enjoy – many being sugar-free variations.