Pumpkin pie is a staple at most Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.

Cookies are a global treat, with each country enjoying their favorite variety. Italians love their biscotti, gaufrettes are a favorite in France, and nothing says America better than chocolate chip cookies.

With over 1,000 varieties, Dunkin’ Donuts sells more than 900 million doughnuts each year in the United States alone.

Cupcakes enjoy such popularity that television series, competitions and even cupcake camps are dedicated to the sweet treat.

Americans love their bagels so much, they celebrate National Bagel Day each year on February 9th.

Low Fat Baking & Weight Watching

By • April 26, 2012 • Cakes • Comments Off

I’m on a health kick. And no, it’s not ‘another one’, this is the first time I’ve purposely put myself on a diet. Unfortunately I’m a big lover of home baking and that was a huge consideration when it came to the ‘shall I/shan’t I?’ moment. I remember standing on the threshold of the (virtual) entrance to the website that lists all the weight watchers diet plans (and coupon, products, recipes and uhuhuh … the cost of it all) and thinking ‘but what about cupcakes??’!

Yeah ... what about the cupcakes?

Because that’s how I roll. Not literally, I’m not that big. It’s just that I’ve been an avid home-baker since I hit my teens. And I’ve never lost my love for creating home made pastries, cakes and cookies. If there’s a reason to bake, I do. If there is no reason, I make one. Joining weight watchers (I looked at three or four healthy lifestyle options, weight watchers won) a few months ago meant that I was having to rethink everything that incorporated my diet.

Cupcakes - nom nom. Nom.

However … I then discovered something that I now call ‘sneaky baking’. There is a whole world of low-fat baking to be had, you just have to look for it. Ok, I know that sugar is still sugar, and fat is still fat but the last few months have allowed me to gain a whole new level of experience in the creation (and sometimes the invention) of low-calorie baking recipes. And believe you mean, there are plenty of ways in which you can substitute this for that, or that for those. It’s great.

I got started on my journey to no-fat cupcake heaven the second week after I joined the weight watchers party. I found out who my local representatives were and got in contact. One of the things they wanted to know was ‘do you have any questions?’ – and fact was, yes, I did. That’s how I discovered a site called the ‘post punk kitchen‘ – and from there a fab recipe book called ‘Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World’.

OMG - the best book EVER.

None of the recipes are designed to be low in fat – they just are. Vegan baking avoids sugar, dairy products and ‘bad fats’. Baking the vegan way has been quite the eye opener for me and that’s why it’s become a real voyage of discovery, albeit in the kitchen. So, now we’re near the bottom of my enthusiastic little post, listen up: if you’re on a weight watchers type of diet, you’re calorie counting and yet missing out on the fun stuff – check out both the website (the post punk kitchen one) and consider investing in one of their books. Especially the cupcake one!

Learn How To Make Gluten Free Bagels

By • April 24, 2012 • Bagels • Comments Off

Bagels can provide a base for a versatile and fun meal.  In the morning they can provide a quick breakfast that you can take to work or eat on the go.  In the afternoon they can be used for a quick but filling lunch.  They are especially good in the summer when you don’t want a hot breakfast or lunch.  Or they can be made into bagel chips and eaten as a side dish or a snack.  But for people who are suffering from celiac disease symptoms or a wheat allergy traditional bagels aren’t an option anymore because they need to avoid all grains containing gluten and this means the vast majority of bagels.

As more and more people are following gluten free diets it is becoming easier to find gluten free bagels in grocery stores.  The only problem with some store bought bagels is that they tend to be high in refined grains and carbohydrates.  This makes them a less than healthy choice for breakfast, or lunch.  The same is true for many traditional bagels too, but it is much easier to find a healthier whole grain bagel made with gluten in your local grocery store than it is to find a whole grain gluten free bagel.  But if you learn how to make them yourself, you can have them on hand for quick meals and snacks.  

Learning how to make your own bagels means you have more control over the ingredients used so you can make a healthier gluten free bagel that you can feel good about eating.  If you spend some time making a big batch of your favorite healthy bagels you can freeze them and have them on hand whenever you want them.  It isn’t as difficult as you may think to make bagels, even gluten free bagels.  This video helps step you through a basic recipe to give you an idea how easy it can be to make them yourself.  

Choosing A Healthy Bagel For Breakfast

By • March 27, 2012 • Bagels • Comments Off

If you are in a rush to go to work every morning, then you may not be able to spare enough time to make yourself even a quick breakfast. However, since breakfast is a very important meal, you should never skip it. While there are many different options for you to choose from in the world of “quick breakfast foods”, one of the best that you can select is a bagel. Yup, you read that right – a bagel is a good choice.

While there are many different kinds of bagels which are available, there are some pretty important things that you should take note of when you are trying to pick the best – and the most healthy one.

It is important that you eat a healthy bagel, along with an all-round healthy diet, so that you won’t have to worry about the how long you will have to spend on the treadmills and rowing machines (or whatever you favor) that are down your local gym- in order for you to get rid of  the nasty calories that eating an unhealthy diet can cause.

  • An average bagel has just 300 calories and are typically low fat.
  • Some good low sugar and low fat options are onion, sun dried tomato, and everything bagels.
  • Some low sugar options that have a bit of fat are sesame, sugar, cheese, and egg bagels.

 

Sometimes Simple is Best with Homemade Desserts

By • March 5, 2012 • Dessert recipes • Comments Off

People take pride in every step of the cooking process, and especially with desserts. After a perfectly cooked meal there’s no better way to finish things off. When you take out a freshly baked dessert that comes straight from the oven, you know you’re in for a treat. And when you’re number one ingredient is love, it will taste unbelievable. In recent times many types of desserts have garnered a lot of attention from cooking fanatics. There seems to be a trend with people going towards complex and confusing dessert recipes. This might be because people have grown tired of eating old standards and they want to try something new. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to break the mold when it comes to classic desserts. In other words, if it’s not broken then don’t try to fix it.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a simple and basic dessert idea. It’s all in how you implement the recipe anyways. Sometimes when you concentrate on something simple, you can actually take it to extraordinary levels. That’s because there aren’t all kinds of distractions with extra ingredients that you simply don’t need. Take a look at apple pie for example, and you’ll see one of the most basic desserts around. With minimal fuss and maybe a touch of homemade ice cream, you got yourself the perfect dessert right there.

Rather than concentrating on making one dessert extra fancy, it might be worthwhile to make two desserts that are simple. For example, a very basic chocolate cake would work wonderfully with homemade ice cream. In fact, ice cream is probably the perfect dessert that goes with anything else while enhancing it at the same time. There are many sites that will teach you recipes in addition to giving you an idea of the best products out there (like this one http://icecreamakers.com/). You’ll begin to see that you never have to get too fancy and your results can be 100 times better than getting ice cream at a restaurant.

Taking this multi-dessert approach into account, you can incorporate your family as well. While you prepare one element, your kids or significant other can make another dish. Then all you have to do is combine them for the perfect combination of a wonderfully sweet treat. You get to spend quality time doing something that results in a delicious way to end every meal, and there’s really nothing better than that.

It’s All About the Bagel

By • March 4, 2012 • Bagels • Comments Off

Bagels are in my blood. Really.

Growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, was a lesson in European heritage. The bulk of the residents were Italian or Irish, with tight pockets of Polish and Lithuanian immigrants. Just north of the city in the Woodbridge and Amity area, a large Jewish population had settled in.

Like its neighbor, New York City, the area around New Haven was a very ethnic community where the various cultures sampled each others’ traditional foods and learned a few words of their native language. The Irish showed their love of meat and potatoes and gave us green beer and corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. The Italians introduced us to pizza, calzones and all types of pastas and pastries. The Jewish community shared their matzoh balls, rye bread and bagels.

Bagels were foreign to most of the United States until the 1950s when Family Circle magazine introduced a recipe for “bageles” served with cream cheese and smoked salmon. But those in the New Haven area had been living in bagel heaven since Polish immigrant Murray Lender opened a wholesale bagel bakery there in the late 1920s.

Family Circle’s endorsement of these once-ethnic treats started an enormous bagel craze that swept the country, and Lender was determined to be at the heart of it. He discovered that freezing bagels did not destroy any of their flavor, freshness or texture, which allowed him to transport them greater distances and to a wider audience. Lender was also the first to package multiple bagels in polyethylene bags, which opened the door for mass distribution via grocery stores.

In a nod to their heritage, early bagels were available predominantly in egg, rye and pumpernickel flavors, but Lender wasn’t satisfied and was determined to expand his customers’ palates. Today’s bagels come in a variety of flavors, including cinnamon and raisin, blueberry, onion, poppy seed and the very popular “everything” bagel.