CRANBERRY PEAR PIE/CRUMBLE

 A  few years after we moved to Kansas City, we planted a pear tree in our back yard. My husband wanted a pear tree because he loves pears and, I think, because that was one of the fruit trees that we did not have in our yard in Ventura. I wanted anything but ... like a peach tree, or apple tree, or plum tree, anything but a pear. 

When I was growing up my Aunt Corine had a pear tree in her yard and Mother and my grandma made the best pear preserves, but that was it. I don't have a lot of recipe that use pears so it was not on my list of fruit trees I wanted in my yard. But we planted a pear tree.

I tired one year to make pear preserves like my mother did but they didn't look at all as pretty as hers. It was probably because they were different pears, but as far as I was concerned, the tree was even more my husband's tree than mine. 

He has made some pear preserves himself that he eats and I pretty much turned the tree and its fruit over to him. Now he picks them all and peels them all. We do give some to friends which helps because the tree of course produces a lots of pears.

Last year I gave some to our neighbors Sara and Syl and she made a delicious pie. She shared the recipe with me not the pie. 😊

This year I found a recipe that sounded really good and had him peel some pairs for me to use in the recipe. I made it for the canasta group. It had a really delicious taste, but it fell apart when I tried to dish it out of the pie plate. (see picture below) Well, since I don't really like to share recipes with you that have problems, I didn't share the recipe at that time. I told them I was going to make it again but in a deep dish and serve it out with a big spoon like you would a cobbler or crisp.

Well, it has taken me a few weeks to get around to doing that, but the tree had so many pears, he still hasn't gotten all of them off the tree. In fact he has spent a lot of time the last few days peeling and cutting them up into slices, quick freezing them, and then storing them in a gallon freezer bag to eat later fresh or in a recipe I might find. (Actually I can see me making this recipe again. We really like it.)

The pears are a little crunchy even after baking for 50 minutes but I like that and the tartness of the fresh (frozen) cranberries makes a total delight.

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CRANBERRY PEAR PIE/CRUMBLE

5     cups cored, thinly sliced pears

1     cup fresh cranberries (I use fresh cranberries that I have frozen)

1/2  cup maple syrup

2     tablespoons flour

2     tablespoons melted butter

1     pie crust

Crumble Topping

1/2   cup flour

1/4   cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1      teaspoon cinnamon

1/3   cup cold butter or margarine, cut into thin slices

1/2   cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut a piece of the pie crust to fit in the bottom of a deep baking dish. (I used a 2 L size casserole dish that is about 8 inches square.)

 

Place in the bottom of the dish. If you are making a pie, use a 9 - inch pie plate.  Set aside.

Combine the pear, cranberries, and syrup in a large bowl.

Add the melted butter and

stir.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the flour over the top of the fruit and toss to coat. Then add the other tablespoon to top the fruit again and toss to coat. 

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish with a big spoon making sure the cranberries are spread around in the dish. (see the picture a few pictures down)

Make the crumb topping by first mixing the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Thinly slice the butter and break into smaller pieces and add to the dry ingredients a little at a time.

Cut in with your fingers or a pastry cutter.

Add the chopped walnuts.

Sprinkle/crumble the crumb topping over the fruit.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees without removing the dish and bake 35 minutes longer, until golden brown.

Let cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Hint...Since 5 cups of pear slices is a lot of slices, use a large bowl with cold water and lemon juice added...maybe a fourth of a cup, and the pear slices to it and leave until ready to mix them with the cranberries. This will keep them from turning brown. This works also with other fruit that will turn brown if left out like apples, peaches, bananas, etc.

Here what my pie looked like...

BROOKIES

 I'm so glad that other Cafe Treats Bakers are eagerly making treats that are gluten-free and maybe even dairy-free and/or egg free.  Cafe Treats Baker Charlotte has especially been offering her treats each week. 

She has made these Brookies twice now. The first time she used butter for the coconut oil so they were not dairy-free. For this past Sunday she used the coconut-oil so she could say they were also dairy-free in addition to gluten-free.

They are so delicious and a big hit with the people. But who doesn't like chocolate?

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BROOKIES

1       cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/4 cups white sugar or sugar substitute 

1/4    cup coconut oil, melted

4       eggs

1       teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour 

1-1/2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

1/8     teaspoon salt

powdered sugar 

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, sugar, cocoa, and salt - with a whisk. Set aside.

In another bowl, add all of the wet ingredients - coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla - mix well.

Slowly stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until fully mixed up.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. (Charlotte made hers the day before she baked them.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookies with parchment paper. Set aside.

Scoop chilled dough into small balls using a tablespoon scoop and roll in the powdered sugar.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

GINGERBEAD BISCOTTI

 I am so impressed when Cafe Treats Baker Kathy makes her biscotti. I knew what biscotti was, but I'm not sure if I had ever eaten any. I think I might have once but it was really hard and since I don't think coffee and am not a "dunker", I didn't really enjoy it. Kathy's biscotti is just the right amount of crunch for me. And the way everyone enjoys it at the Cafe, I think it is the right amount of crunch to our participants also.

I did a little bit of research and discovered that biscotti means twice baked so reading through the directions I understand it better. I won't be so hesitant to try a recipe I might find for biscotti now. I'm so glad Kathy likes to make it. The first time she made it, someone was surprised when she discovered they were "homemade" and not purchased. They really are delicious!

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GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI

1/2     cup unsalted butter

1/2     cup sugar

1/2     cup brown sugar

1/4     cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)

2        eggs

2-1/2  cups flour

1        teaspoon baking powder

1        teaspoon baking soda

2        teaspoons ground ginger

1        teaspoon cinnamon

1/2     teaspoon nutmeg

1/4     teaspoon cloves

1/4     teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugars, and molasses until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until blended. The dough will be moist and somewhat sticky - almost thick and batter like.

Spoon the dough into two piles on the baking sheets (Note: this will really, really spread so be sure you leave lots of space in between if you are using one sheet.) Using the back of a spoon to mold it, shape the dough into two 12 x 2 - inch logs. If you like you could wet your hands to form the logs

Bake in the oven until browed at the edges and firm, about 25 to 30 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness, but you want to cook it until it is cooked through and no longer doughy in the center. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F.

Let the loaves stand on the baking sheets until cool enough to touch, about 5 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 - inch thick slices. (Karen cuts the two loaves down the middle longways first and then across in the slices for the Cafe Treats so she has more servings. Otherwise, she would have 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide and 3 to 4 inch long slices.)

Place the slices on the baking sheets with the cut side down. Return to the oven and bake (at 300 degrees) for 4 - 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the biscotti over to expose the other cut side and bake 4 - 5 minutes more. 

Remove from the oven and transfer the biscotti to racks and let cool completely. Don't worry if they still seem soft, they will crisp up nicely as they cool. Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to a month or freeze for longer storage. If you'd like to dress them up, dust with powdered sugar icing or dip the bottom in white chocolate or an icing sugar glaze

(Karen drizzles the biscotti with a powdered sugar glaze.)

MAMA KELCE'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

 

Any friend of mine who shares a recipe with me knows that I'm going to be contacting them with questions if the recipe isn't specific. If I could have contacted Travis Kelce's mother, I would have. Since I couldn't though, I had to experiment or do what I would do. I shared these steps in italics inside parentheses so you would know that was personal notes because she didn't say in her recipe.

She did say that the pecans were optional so since I was making these for the Cafe Treats Nut-Free Zone, I left them out. Personally I would have added more chocolate chips because some cookies only had two or three and he cookies spread so much that that just didn't make as pretty of a cookie. 

I did leave the dough covered in the refrigerator overnight and admit I didn't read to allow the dough to warm to room temperature before baking them, so I had to wait at least an hour after I took the bowl out of the refrigerator and the dough was not at room temperature. I just pressed the dough into the cookie scoop to fill it. By the time I was baking the last pan full, I would say the dough was finally at room temperature. 

The dough spread so much that I only baked eight cookies at a time. At the end of the 10 minutes, the cookies were browning around the edges but puffy. I did take them out and realized they needed to cool on the pan at least 3 minutes. During this 3 minutes, the cookies flattened and were no longer soft in the middle. Not sure I had enough parchment paper, I did bake the last few pans without the paper and ungreased. They baked just as well. There is so much butter in the dough that the pan doesn't need any help.

Living in Kansas City and with so many Chiefs football fans, word got out at the Cafe at PWUMC yesterday, so the cookies didn't last long. Everyone wanted to see how they tasted. The young man that I have mentioned before who likes Oatmeal Cookies with chocolate chips instead of raisins, decided he would give them a try. When he came back for the third one, I did tell him that he needed to try a different cookie next time so there would be enough to go around. He said okay. I think Pastor Mat enjoyed two of them. They were definitely a hit!

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MAMA KELCE'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3       sticks sweet cream butter

1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1       cup white sugar

1       large egg

1       egg yolk

1       tablespoon vanilla extract

2       cups all-purpose flour

1       cup cake or pastry flour

1       teaspoon baking powder

1       teaspoon cinnamon

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1       teaspoon baking soda (dissolve in 2 tablespoons of hot water to activate; microwave water first then stir in baking soda to dissolve)

1       cup Ghirardelli white chocolate chips

1       cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

1       cup of pecans (optional)

Melt the butter in the microwave in 20 second increments (DO NOT overcook)

(I did three increments and two of the sticks had melted and part of the third

so I stirred until the third one completely melted.) Pour into a mixing bowl or mixer. Let cool for 15 - 20 minutes in the bowl.

Add the sugars to the butter and mix for 4 minutes. (I mixed on #4 setting.)

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and

add the eggs one at a time.

Add vanilla and mix for 30 seconds.

Add dissolved baking soda.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Slowly add 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients at a time to the mixture in the bowl,

scraping down the sides as you go.

Add both chocolate chips and nuts, if you are including them, with a wooden spoon.

Cover the bowl and put dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. (Mama Kelce's says overnight is the best.)

Allow the dough to warm to room temperature before baking.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Can line cookie sheets with parchment paper or use ungreased cookie sheets. Mama Kelce didn't give any specific directions. I did both.)

Using a tablespoon scoop, drop scoops at least 2 inches apart.

(Cookies do spread as they bake so I only baked 8 cookies at a time.)

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. (The cookies will be puffy but will drop as they cool.)

(Cool cookies for 3 minutes before removing from the cookie sheets.

Then finish cooling on a wire rack.)

BARB'S CARROT MINI-MUFFINS

 

Can you believe it? October is already here. Some leaves are turning even though the high temperatures are still above average. The mornings are cooler though so it makes it much more pleasant to walk in the neighborhood. I'm trying to walk around a mile and a half each morning during the week. By the end of the day then I have anywhere from two to three + miles depending on what I had going on that day.

This past weekend we drove down to Little Rock, AR to celebrate my aunt's 95th birthday. It was a quick trip going down on Friday and returning Sunday with the party on Saturday. That meant we missed church and I wasn't there for the Cafe Treats, but I had an awesome substitute and everything went well without me. Of course!

The few leftovers were bagged up for me so I was able to get them on Monday to bring home to freeze. One treat didn't have any leftovers so that meant I didn't get a picture of them or even more important taste one. The good news is that Cafe Baker Charlotte said she would make them again for this coming Sunday. Then I can share them with you.

There were five of Cafe Treats' Baker Barb's 96 mini-muffins left so I was able to eat one of them. OMG! They are so good. She omitted the nuts and raisins, but I didn't miss them. (The Cafe Treats is a nut-free zone.) I'm not surprised 91 of them were eaten. That's really a lot, isn't it?!

You will have to give them a try.

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CARROT MINI-MUFFINS

1/2     cup white sugar

1/2     cup light brown sugar

1        teaspoon cinnamon

1/2     teaspoon salt

1        teaspoon baking soda

1        teaspoon baking powder

2        eggs, slightly beaten

1        teaspoon vanilla

2/3     cup vegetable oil

1        cup grated carrots

1/2     cup crushed pineapple + 2 tablespoons pineapple juice

1-1/2  cup flour

1/2     cup coconut

1/2     cup chopped nuts (optional)

1        cup raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease mini-muffin tins. Set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients and then spoon into muffin tins.

Bake 10 minutes.

Doubled recipe produced 96 mini-muffins

FUNFETTI CHEESECAKE PUDDING COOKIES

 

This is the second time that I put out an urgent request to the Cafe Treats Bakers that we needed some people to sign up for the upcoming Sunday and Cafe Treats Baker Caroline's mother Mary brought something in. I didn't realize when Caroline volunteered for the group that she was bringing her mother along also. 

Since I had not been expecting them and had so much already out, Mary suggested I might want to freeze them until the next Sunday. After thinking for about 2 seconds, I decided she had a good idea and put them on the back counter. 

Imagine my surprise when I came down late from my Sunday school class and the hospitality volunteers who had stepped in to help out had put half of them out. They felt we were running out of cookies and didn't want to do that. I tell you we are getting so popular at the Cafe. Anyway I did save the other half and froze them for later. I also managed to grab one that they had set out so I would know how delicious they were. 

I was also surprised when I looked at her recipe and saw they were made from scratch. When she told me what they were called I figured she had used a cake mix like I have in my pantry for funfetti cake.

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FUNFETTI CHEESECAKE PUDDING COOKIES

3/4     cup light brown sugar

1/4     cup granulated sugar

1        cup salted butter, softened

1        box (3.4 ounces) instant cheesecake pudding mix

2        large eggs

2-1/4  cups flour

1        teaspoon baking soda

1/4     teaspoon salt

1        bag (11 ounces) white chocolate chips

1/3     cup rainbow sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add the pudding mix, eggs, and cake batter extract. Beat just until ingredients are combined.

In a different bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt with a whisk. Slowly blend the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients just until combined. Don't overmix. Stir in the white chocolate chips and sprinkles.

Scoop dough with a small cookie scoop that measures 1 tablespoon and drop on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets before removing to a wire rack.