Banana Craisin Bread

I guess that it has officially been summer break!  I just realized how long it has been since I last posted!  I sincerely apologize!  Apparently I need to get caught up. :)  I've been on the lookout for some new breakfast ideas for my kids.  It seems that we fall into our cereal rut and don't frequently stray from that routine during the week.  For some reason their little internal clocks are okay with venturing out on the weekend, but not at all during the week.  When I am home for the summer, I haven't quite figured out how they differentiate between the two.  I guess everyone can sense a good weekend!

One of our local grocery stores recently had Ocean Spray Craisins on sale.  I picked up a variety of bags (they had several infused with different fruits like blueberry or pomegranate which I would highly recommend) and headed over to the Ocean Spray website to see if they posted any recipes for a breakfast style quick bread.  Their recipe search feature is actually pretty advanced-- so check it out if you haven't already played there.  I was able to search by category, and then for recipes that specifically included the ingredients I had purchased.  They then give you all of the nutritional facts for the recipe.  This particular bread was very highly rated on their site, was easy to make, and was very quickly consumed by my little ones-- even on a Wednesday morning! :)

I went ahead and used the pomegranate infused Craisins to make this one.  They gave a little extra sweetness to each bite.  I would add that this is a great banana bread for people looking for more of a subtle banana flavor.  You can see from the color of the bread in the picture above that the banana was not an overpowering ingredient.  I think that I might even play with increasing the amount of mashed banana next time I make it.  Overall, it is definitely one that will be made again in the very near future.

(As a side note, I was able to easily make this into a dairy free item for my kiddo with allergies by substituting soy milk and soy margarine.)


Banana Craisin Bread
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I omitted)
1 6-ounce package Craisins

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 -inch loaf pan.   Mix sugar and butter together in a medium mixing bowl until completely blended. Add banana, milk and eggs, mixing well. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until moist. Stir in nuts and dried cranberries. Spread batter evenly in a loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool. 


Source: Ocean Spray

Chewy Granola Bars

This is the first recipe I tried from a book that has since become a life-saver.  If you are cooking for children with any sort of food allergy, this book is a must-have!  It is called the "Kid Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook" and the nice thing about it is that it offers different recipes, then gives you the appropriate variations depending on the allergy you are working with.  Even for non-allergy kids, there are lots of great kid friendly meals, snacks, and desserts offered.   It was recommended to me by a friend who has been navigating allergies for far longer than I have.  She lent me her copy and I went out to buy my own after the first night.  These granola bars are perfect for anyone!  I found myself addicted to them and I helped my little one polish off the batch we made!  The recipe makes a nice amount of bars and they really do last for a long time.  As long as they are covered well, we can eat them well over a week.  The other nice thing about the recipe is that you can use any combination of add-ins that you have on hand.  It's a nice pantry cleaner! :)  I have made ours with dried apricots, dried cranberries, dried cherries, raisins, soy chocolate chips, etc.  If not working with an allergy, I would love to try cranberries with white chocolate chips.  I think they'd be heavenly!  As a final side note-- I tend to be hesitant to make anything with a lot of coconut because I really am not a huge fan.  The coconut is a must in this one though.  The flavor is incredible, even to a non-fan like me!

Chewy Granola Bars
1 cup butter (If going dairy-free, use soy margarine)
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
4 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chocolate chips and your favorite dried fruits (If going dairy free, be sure to use specific soy based chocolate chips)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 12 x 9 inch cookie sheet.  In a large pan, heat the butter, sugars, and syrup until melted.  Stir in remaining ingredients until evenly combined.  Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and press down, making sure the surface is smooth and even.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.  I will cut some 'adult sized' bars and then some mini-bars for my children.  Once cut, transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Source: The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook, by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger

Blueberry Pancakes

The kids are in bed, my lesson plans are done, papers are half-way graded, and I needed a blogging break! I missed my blogging buddies! :)

One of the hardest things about going back to work full time is that I now miss out on morning cuddle time. Luckily, both of my little ones are big cuddlers and we would start every morning cuddling up, having a nice breakfast together, and starting our day. In my effort to be an optimist, I've decided that we will just have to make the most of our lazy weekend mornings. I saw this recipe on allrecipes.com and decided that it would be a great variation on our normal pancakes. It didn't hurt that blueberries were on sale and I had a pint ready to go in the fridge. I will warn that it does take a little bit of planning ahead as the batter needs to sit for about an hour before the pancakes are made. The final product was light and fluffy, and well worth the wait!

Blueberry Pancakes
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, plus more for serving


In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. Stir milk and egg into flour mixture. Mix in the butter and fold in the blueberries. Set aside for 1 hour. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Source: www.allrecipes.com

Chocolate Glazed Cherry Turnovers

My little ones and I made a special Father's Day breakfast for my husband this morning, and I wanted to make some sort of pastry to go along with his meal. When we had our girls' baking day a while back, I left some of my apple turnovers at my friend Christy's house. Her husband commented on how good he thought they would be with cherry filling also. . . so I really need to say, "Thanks, Marty!" for this idea. I kept the crust as is because it had such a nice, flakey texture the first time through and I was really happy with the final product. I used a can of cherry pie filling for these and decided that instead of using the traditional sugar glaze on top, I would play with a chocolate ganache-- using some of the pie filling glaze to give it a hint of cherry flavor. My husband and I both really loved these (my son did, too, though he really only ate the chocolate off the top)!

Chocolate Glazed Cherry Turnovers
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 large can cherry pie filling
1 large egg

For chocolate glaze:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cherry glaze (from pie filling-- do not add the actual cherries)

Prepare pastry dough: In medium bowl, with fork, stir flour and salt. With pastry blender, cut 1/2 cup butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cold water, a tablespoon at a time, into the mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until the dough is just moist enough to hold together. With hands, shape dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into thin slices. Starting at one of the 8" sides, place butter slices over two-thirds of the rectangle to about 1/2 inch from the edge of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third of the dough over the middle third. Fold the opposite end of the dough over to make a 8" by 6" rectangle. Roll out the dough again into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Slice the remaining butter; place slices on dough and fold as before. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll out the folded dough into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Fold rectangle lengthwise then crosswise; wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut dough crosswise in half. On a lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll out half into a 12 inch square. Keep the remaining dough refrigerated. Cut the square into 6 inch squares. In cup, with fork, beat egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the egg mixture over the dough squares. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of cherry pie filling in the center of each square. Fold diagonally in half and press edges to seal. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Refrigerate. Repeat with remaining dough and cherry pie filling. Brush the turnovers with the egg mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Cool on wire rack.

To prepare the chocolate, heat the semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream in a double boiler over medium heat. Once melted, add the butter and cherry glaze, stirring until shiny and smooth. Let cool slightly before drizzling on top of the cooled turnovers.

Strawberry Muffins

I knew I'd be making these the moment I saw them on Donna's blog. My little boy loves strawberries and will eat them by the handful. I'm always looking for healthy breakfast options for him-- and these certainly fit the bill. With strawberries on sale everywhere at the moment, they were really inexpensive to make and they seriously came together within 15 minutes. They were incredibly moist and he (as well as the rest of us) loved them. These will certainly be made often through the coming months!

Strawberry Muffins
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
6 teaspoons sugar
2 cups chopped strawberries
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and one cup of sugar in a medium bowl. Toss the strawberries into the dry ingredients, set aside. Beat together eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins lined with paper liners. (Fill 2/3 of the way.) Sprinkle a small amount of sugar on the top of each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Source: My Tasty Treasures

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

I've joked before that we either cannot keep enough bananas in the house or we have a pile of black ones waiting to be baked! There's no middle ground with my son-- either all or none! I've been playing with different types of banana bread and muffins, but was looking for something new for a change. I've added chocolate chips to my banana bread before, but never thought to do a chocolate base bread, much less a double chocolate bread! I wasn't sure how much of the banana flavor would actually come through with the amount of chocolate in the recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it really held its own. There is a definite banana flavor to the bread and it goes so well with the chocolate foundation. This might be my new 'go to' recipe for ripe bananas.

**Melanie, at Sister's Cafe, stated that she preferred to use a Dutch Process cocoa when making her bread. I followed her advice and it really did make a big difference. You can use either, but if you have the Dutch Process available, I'd second her recommendation.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (about 3)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom of 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Beat sugar, eggs, and oil in large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in banana and vanilla at low speed. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; beat into banana mixture at low speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Source: The Sister's Cafe

Homemade Waffles

I have to admit that my waffle routine normally consists of opening up my box of Hungry Jack and mixing with milk and eggs! I am not much of a morning person and this makes for a tasty, quick breakfast for my family. The other day, however, I found that my box had maybe a tablespoon of mix left in it. We're not huge eaters in the morning, but this obviously wasn't going to do anything for me. I quickly pulled up Allrecipes.com and found this recipe with 569 positive reviews on it. Good enough for me! A definite plus is that you probably have all of the required ingredients on hand, so this doesn't require much planning ahead. I also liked that it says you can keep this batter in the fridge, covered, for up to a week. This will definitely make a good option for fresh breakfast during the week as well, without requiring a whole lot of time. I did note that on one review, the person said that they would recommend whipping the egg whites before adding them to the batter. I have found, in the past, that this does make for a lighter, fluffier waffle. I would highly recommend taking the time to do so when you make these, and I have noted the change in my directions.

Homemade Waffles
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat waffle iron. Beat egg whites in large bowl with beater until fluffy. Set aside. In another bowl, beat flour, milk, vegetable oil, egg yolks, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth. Fold in the whipped egg whites.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Source: AllRecipes.com

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Since so much of our week is filled with rushed mornings, our tradition is to take advantage of lazy Sunday mornings to create nice family breakfasts shared around the kitchen table. My son has been a bit obsessed with chocolate chip pancakes for a while now (completely my fault for introducing them in the first place!) and I decided to mix it up a bit and attempt to switch him to waffles for a change. I used my belgium waffle maker for these and he actually ate a good half of one of them-- a stellar amount for my little man! They were actually a hit with the grown man in my life as well! :) The batter was nice and light and had a really nice consistency when cooked. They were rich with the mini-chocolate chips included, so they actually went further than I had expected. One batch made 6 large belgium waffles.

Chocolate Chip Waffles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing the iron
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup mini-chocolate chips

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Separate the 2 eggs and put all of the egg whites (3 total) in a large bowl. In a large liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup melted butter. Whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture until a batter is formed. Take care not to over-mix the batter. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until they just begin to hold a loose peak. Scatter the sugar over the whites and continue beating until they hold a soft peak. Fold a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten the base, then fold in the remaining whites. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Preheat a waffle iron to medium high. Brush the inside surface of the waffle iron with melted butter. Pour in enough batter to barely fill each hole of the waffle iron (keeping in mind that the batter will spread once the lid is closed). Close the iron and cook until crisp and the waffle iron stops steaming, about 5 minutes. Serve as the waffles come off the iron or transfer to a dish in the oven heated to 200 degrees F. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from the Food Network Kitchens

Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread

Ever since seeing the Cinnamon Coffee Cake on Christy's Kitchen Creations, I have been craving it with a nice hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Since my kiddos have been sick, I haven't had much time to spend in the kitchen doing a lot of baking. When I saw this quick bread, I knew I had found a great, fast alternative! I especially loved that the ingredients were all pantry staples, so it could be made without much prior planning. The recipe only took about 15 minutes to put together, so I was able to mix it up one night while waiting for our dinner to finish cooking. I baked it the night before and then waited to add the glaze until right before serving.

Before you bake the bread, you use a knife to swirl the cinnamon/sugar mixture into the batter. When I added the glaze the next day, it followed the knife lines into the bread to give a bit of extra sweetness throughout each slice. It presented well and was enjoyed by my entire family. The bread was moist and stayed that way as we ate on it through the week.

Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Glaze:
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1.5 - 2 teaspoons milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt. Combine the buttermilk, egg and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and remaining sugar. Grease the bottom only of a loaf pan. Pour half of the batter into the pan; sprinkle with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Carefully spread the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon/sugar. Swirl a knife through the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners sugar and enough milk to achieve drizzling consistency. Drizzle over bread.

Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

After reading my blog entry about traditional banana bread, my friend Kelly mentioned that she loves to add chocolate chips to her version. This seems like such an obvious pairing and I'm so upset that I haven't played with it before now! (Thanks, Kelly!) Any time that I can play the chocolate card, I'm much more likely to get a favorable response from my little boy... and this recipe was no exception. The thing that I liked most about this recipe was that the muffin itself had much more of a cupcake texture and was very light and easy to enjoy. These are a definite 'make again' for our household.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a bit more than this!)
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup mashed bananas

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips into a large mixing bowl. Mix well and make a well in the center of the bowl. Beat the egg in a small bowl until frothy. Mix in cooking oil, milk, and bananas. Pour the mixture in the well and mix only to moisten. The batter will be lumpy. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Source: AllRecipes.com

Baked Apple Doughnuts

As we've been working on our cookie bouquets for Valentine's Day, my friend Christy and I have been spending a lot of time together planning, rolling, baking, decorating, etc. What better way is there to spend our downtime while the cookies were in the oven than to bake something else? :) Christy had mentioned that she found this great breakfast option and we decided to play together to make this for the first time. These doughnuts came together quickly and baked right in the oven (providing a slightly healthier option-- at least until we rolled them in the butter, cinnamon, and sugar). We did make one change with the directions. The recipe calls for rolling each baked doughnut in the butter before the cinnamon/sugar mixture. We decided that this would be a bit excessive, so we instead brushed each with the melted butter before rolling in the sugar. This worked just fine and is definitely the way to go in the future. These little doughnuts had a great texture and a wonderfully simple apple flavor. They even passed the picky toddler test in our home!

Baked Apple Doughnuts

1 1/2 cup flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup peeled and grated apple
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter

Stir the first four ingredients and 1/2 cup sugar together in a bowl. Cut in the shortening until crumbly. Stir in egg, milk, and apple, mixing well. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Remove the doughnuts from the pan and brush with the melted butter, then roll in the sugar mixture.

Source: Adapted from A View of America - Recipes

Traditional Banana Bread

As mentioned in the previous post, we can't seem to use our bananas fast enough before they get too ripe to eat on their own. Banana bread is one of those old stand-bys that bring me right back to my childhood. This is one recipe that always turns out perfectly moist and has just the right amount of banana flavor. It is a great breakfast option, but my little boy also loves to eat it as an afternoon snack. It comes together very quickly and smells wonderful while baking!

Banana Bread

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired (I left these out due to allergy issues.)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom only of a 9 x 5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter. Beat until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Add bananas, milk, and vanilla, blending well. In a small bowl, combine flour, nuts, baking soda and salt, mixing well. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the greased pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely before wrapping. Store in the refrigerator.

Source: Pillsbury: Best Muffins and Quick Breads

Banana-Blueberry Mini Loaves

My little one loves bananas, so they are restocked with each visit to the grocery store. No matter how many we buy, it never fails that there are a few left that don't get eaten before they get too ripe. I'm embarrased to say how often these simply get pitched, but whenever I can I try to make a loaf of banana bread with them. (The recipe for my traditional banana bread will be posted next!) I was searching for something a little different to do this time around, and came across this recipe for banana-blueberry mini loaves. I didn't have any mini loaf pans available so mine was made in a 9 x 5 loaf pan instead. The bread was incredibly moist and the blueberries gave it a really nice, unique punch. This is definitely a variety that I would try again!

(My friend Christy, from Christy's Kitchen Creations, suggested adding powdered sugar to the top of the bread and it was a great addition! I would highly recommend this before serving.)

Banana-Blueberry Mini Loaves

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

1 cup (2 medium) mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom only of three mini-loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil beating well. Add bananas, appleasauce, vanilla and eggs-- beating well again. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until the dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour into the greased and floured pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from the pans. Cool completely before wrapping. Store in the refrigerator.

(For the 9 x 5 loaf pan, I followed all directions, only baked for 60-70 minutes instead.)

Source: Adapted from Pillsbury: Best Muffins and Quick Breads

Orange Juice Cake

My mom has talked about this cake for as long as I can remember, but I was not able to try it myself until recently. Right after my little girl was born, I was lucky enough to have my mother come down to spend a week with us. We didn't get to all of the baking/cooking that we had originally planned, but we did finally get this cake made. We had so much fun playing with the kids that not much of anything else got accomplished! :)

This cake is a very simple cake, and is one that I would think of as more of a breakfast cake. It was great served with a nice cup of coffee. The orange flavoring is nice and mild, not at all overwhelming. It is easy to put together and definitely is one that I would make again. From what I understand, it was my grandmother's "signature cake" and I look forward to keeping the recipe going in our family!

Orange Juice Cake

1/4 pound butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raisins (optional-- I did not include these)
1 orange rind

For glaze:
juice from one orange
1/2 cup sugar

Cream the butter and one cup of sugar. Add the eggs and sour cream. Mix well. Agg eggs, sour cream, flour, baking soda, raisins, and orange rind. Pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the cake is almost done, boil orange juice with 1/2 cup of sugar. Pour slowly over hot cake. When the cake is cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Source: Millie Hult

Apple Turnovers

Many of the recipes that I have found for Apple Turnovers use Puff Pastry as the crust. I've been looking for one made completely from scratch, but was a bit intimidated by the process involved. With this particular one, while I did plenty of complaining during the time-consuming dough making process, I have to say that it was well worth every minute spent! The only thing better than the taste of this pastry was the smell as they came out of the oven. I've already been thinking about all of the great options for different fillings that I can't wait to try! Each recipe does make eight turnovers, but if you choose to make more than that, they do reheat well as long as you keep them in the refrigerator.

Apple Turnovers

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 large cooking apples

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg

For glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon water

Prepare pastry dough: In medium bowl, with fork, stir flour and salt. With pastry blender, cut 1/2 cup butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cold water, a tablespoon at a time, into the mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until the dough is just moist enough to hold together. With hands, shape dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into thin slices. Starting at one of the 8" sides, place butter slices over two-thirds of the rectangle to about 1/2 inch from the edge of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third of the dough over the middle third. Fold the opposite end of the dough over to make a 8" by 6" rectangle. Roll out the dough again into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Slice the remaining butter; place slices on dough and fold as before. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll out the folded dough into an 18" by 8" rectangle. Fold rectangle lengthwise then crosswise; wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Peel, core, and slice apples. In a one quart saucepan over low heat, cook apples with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon, stirring frequently, until apples are tender. Refrigerate until cool.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut dough crosswise in half. On a lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll out half into a 12 inch square. Keep the remaining dough refrigerated. Cut the square into 6 inch squares. In cup, with fork, beat egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the egg mixture over the dough squares. Spoon one-eighth of the apple mixture in the center of each square. Fold diagonally in half and press edges to seal. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Refrigerate. Repeat with remaining dough and apple mixture. Brush the turnovers with the egg mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Cool on wire rack.

Prepare glaze, mixing the confectioners sugar with the water. With a spoon, drizzle it over the turnovers. Allow the glaze to set before serving.