Individual Berry Crisps

I love pies, crisps, crumbles, and cobblers.  In fact, I love them a little too much because they don't last very long around here.  We won't even discuss the brief lifespan of the last cherry pie I bought. 

Fortunately, I have found a way to continue enjoying crisps without overindulging.  I make the crisp mix, put it in a container in the fridge, and then I use what I need to make my husband and I each one 1/2 cup serving of dessert.  Not only does it keep us both from going back for seconds, but it also means that our dessert is always freshly baked.  Truly a win-win situation.

Another bonus with this recipe is that there isn't any sugar in with the fruit so the only sugar present comes from the crumb mix.  I know many people do sweeten their fruit, but I personally don't find it necessary and I would even go so far as to say that I prefer mine unsweetened.

Individual Berry Crisps
Yield: 6-4 oz crisps

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp butter, diced
2 3/4 cups fruit (e.g. mixed berries, cubed peaches, cubed nectarines, etc.)

1. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Rub butter into the flour mixture until the texture is that of coarse meal.
3. You can either store this in the fridge to be used as needed or you can use it all immediately.
4. When you are ready to bake crisps, preheat oven to 375.
5. Butter 4 oz ramekins and fill with fruit, leaving a little bit of space for the topping.
6. Spoon about 1/6th of the crumb mixture into each ramekin and pack it in lightly.
7. Place in oven on top of a cookie sheet so that any fruit leaking over doesn't fall onto the bottom of your oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes. 
8. Let cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Calories: 187 per serving (using blueberries)

Raisin Bran Muffins

I might have resolved to bake more challenging things such as tarts, breads, and pastries.  However, that does not mean that I have decided to abandon the world of quick breads, and cookies.  After all, how could anyone leave behind something as wonderful, yet as simple as a muffin?


For the past five or six years, I have begun nearly every week by baking up a batch of muffins or scones for my husband and I to enjoy for breakfast throughout the week.  As far as I am concerned, only a croissant makes a better coffee companion than a muffin.

Now, there is one caveat.  While I do love to bake and while I enjoy my breakfast pastries, I have always been a very health-conscious eater.  Most of my meals are loaded with vegetables and I snack only on fruit and yogurt.  In my mind, this is the only way that I can justify a morning muffin or an evening dessert.  That said, I try my best to use either bran, oats, or whole wheat flour in my breakfast recipes, I tend to cut back on the fat by using unsweetened apple sauce, and I usually reduce the sugar in most of these recipes.  I know a lot of people are skeptical when it comes to such substitutions and reductions, but if done carefully and in the right types of recipes, neither flavor nor texture are sacrificed.  The trick is that you have to accept that a muffin is not meant to be healthy and that all improvements are at the margins.  So, while you can replace some oil or butter with applesauce, you can't use apple sauce to replace all of it.  Some fat, refined flour, and sugar must remain.

This particular recipe is one of my favorites.  It yields a tender, sweet, and hearty muffin, which goes perfectly with that morning coffee--especially during the cold winter months.  While the alterations I have made to this recipe means that the muffins clock in at approximately 170 calories each, you would never know it from the way they taste or feel. Unlike many other bran muffins I have tried, these ones are soft and moist through and through.

Raisin Bran Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup of buttermilk
2 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce*
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour**
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease your muffin pan or line it with paper cups
3. Mix together the wheat bran and buttermilk in a large bowl.  Let it soak for at least ten minutes.
4. While the wheat bran is standing, whisk together the egg, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla extract.  In yet another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, with the exception of the raisins.
5. Add the egg mixture to the wheat bran mixture and stir until it is thoroughly combined.
6. Stir in the dry ingredients until just blended and fold in the raisins.  Be sure not to overwork the dough.
7. Scoop batter into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.

* You can always replace this with canola oil if you do not want to worry about cutting calories.
**I have replaced a third cup of the all purpose flour with white whole wheat flour and had good results.