what's shakin', bacon?

So now that you have digested the turkey and have vowed to avoid poultry for at least a month, why not make room for another farm fresh friend? Bacon has been riding the trendy train for the last couple years or so.  It has made appearances in everything from vodka to chocolate bars to band-aids (yes, Mommy Dearest, I will order these for you). The peanut butter bacon combo has seen a resurgence as a result. I have had it on "Skippy's Dare" pizza, "The King" burger and of course, the Elvis sandwich.  Various cookie, fudge and cupcake recipes have been popping up as well.  I felt that one tasty ingredient lacking, however: maple syrup.  As you know, I have it sitting around my house, but I felt like it was the finishing touch to the cookies (with a few small chocolate bits, naturally) and I beg you to suck it up and test these out.  I could see this working with fakey bacon, too, for all of the veggies.

Peanut Butter Maple Bacon Cookies

Yield: 20-24 cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 C reduced fat peanut butter
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted and browned
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C pure maple syrup
1 egg
1/2 T vanilla
2 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
7 pieces maple-flavored bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled
1 oz. bacon drippings
1/4 C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
1. In a large bowl, stir browned butter, bacon drippings, brown sugar, maple syrup, egg and vanilla together with a spoon.  Let sit for a few minutes.
2. Slowly stir in flour and baking soda until just incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and cooled crumbled bacon. Drop by rounded tablespoon two inches apart on baking sheet (twelve to a sheet). Bake for 7-9 min, remove from oven and let cool on sheet for two minutes before transferring to a drying rack to cool fully.

Nutrition: 170 cal, 9g fat, 119mg sod, 20g carb, 9g sugar, .3g fiber, 3.5g protein

gobble this up

Happy Turkey Day! We began today, the day after "Hors D'oeuvre Day" with this Pumpkin Pear Strudel recipe from Libby's®. This was awesomely easy to make and I had it sitting in my freezer for the past month (unbaked) so I could whip it out at my parentals' without having to slave away in the kitchen and miss fam time. I am so thankful for an amazing first year of marriage, a healthy and recovering Aunt Potty and a forever wondrous family who is always there for me. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and please go savor some pie. In addition to the five pies I mentioned before, we are having a cheddar apple torte courtesy of my brilliantly talented cousin Em and a chocolate mayonnaise cake from Aunt Potty. Cure the turkey lethargy with a slice of sugar high.

put some egg in your noggin

Discussing Christmas in November practically sacrilege in my family, where Thanksgiving rules all holidays. As most people recognize and comment on, Turkey Day is hardly observed in the stores as consumer wares shift from Halloween to Christmas in less than twenty-four hours after trick-or-treating has ceased. Maybe that is why we laud it as the best celebration of the year- we are forever cheering on the underdog or the weirdo around here, from tearing up over the ugliest dog in the kennel to promoting a public display of wearing nightgowns on our heads as a substitute for real hair (long story).

The obsession over making this holiday fully appreciated has turned Thanksgiving into a three day affair at my parentals' house. It began six years ago when they moved away from our extended family and went from hosting a celebration of at least twenty people to five or six. It was inconceivable to them to cut back on any of our usual foods (from hors d'oeuvres through dessert) and they even managed to add more to menu. There was no way that we could stomach eating three rounds in one day (well, we probably could but you would have to roll us out the door on a stretcher) so we made three. The day before Thanksgiving is now dubbed "Hors D'oeuvres Day" (my personal fave) where we are pretty creative and lenient with the options. The day of Thanksgiving is a traditional dinner with all of the usual players: turkey, sweet and mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (blech), five kinds of pie, etc. Day three is "Turkey Sandwich Day" where we consume massive amounts of white bread mayo sandwiches (Mommy Dearest claims that wheat would ruin the effect, can't have an ounce of health, here!) with little slivers of the pie we could barely eat the day before. Thanksgiving is not a holiday, it is an event.

That is why consuming and now baking something with eggnog before the "event of the year" takes place could likely get me ousted from the turkey table. Torren had to have the nog when it hit the shelves, however, and I just couldn't handle having is presence around without giving it a little try. That is where these little nutmegalicious cookies come into play. Hopefully they won't get me banned from the lemon meringue pie (my annual offbeat request) that is calling to me.

Nutmeg Nibbles: Eggnog Cookies

Yield: 18 large cookies or 3 dozen small

INGREDIENTS
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup eggnog
1 t vanilla extract
1 T bourbon, optional
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1 t ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
3/4 C white chocolate chips
3/4 C of Hershey's© Cinnamon Chips
1/2 C pecan halves, optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper.
1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla and bourbon; beat at medium speed until smooth.
3. Alternate adding flour mixture and eggnog until just combined.
4. Stir in chips and nuts with a wooden spoon.
5. For large cookies, drop three rounded tablespoons per cookie. Space three inches apart (I fit about eight cookies per sheet) on parchment-lined cookie sheet. For smaller cookies, drop one heaping tablespoon and leave two inches between each cookie. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg and cinnamon. Bake 12-14 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown.

Nutrition (large cookies): 298 cal, 17g fat, 90mg sod, 33g carb, 18g sugar, 2g fiber, 4g protein

tapping into maple

Once the apples and pumpkins have done us many favors, I find the longest lasting fall flavor is maple. Who couldn't nosh on pancakes or french toast smothered in local maple syrup through all of the cold weekends of winter? I, unsurprisingly, am also the type to keep chowing down on those warm, filling breakfasts through the spring and summer, but that is besides the point.

Torren thought it would be a good idea to purchase an entire gallon of Grade B (dark and robust in flavor) maple syrup so he could extend his brewing hobby to making maple wine. Well, I cracked open the jug in hopes of spurring him on and it has continued to sit in the fridge, taking up prime real estate from our milk and my obsession with Polar Seltzers (don't get me started on the weird drink concoctions I make with those). I decided that the jug was fair game and went on to bake various maple blondies and pumpkin cookies with the stuff and was happy with the moist, chewy outcome of these.

Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Big Fat Cookies
Yield: 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/3 C packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 C maple syrup (I used Grade B for a deeper flavor)
2 t vanilla
1 3/4 C oats, not instant
1 bag Hershey's© Cinnamon Chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
1. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth. 3. On low speed, add the eggs, maple syrup and vanilla and mix until blended.
4. Blend in the flour mixture, until incorporated. Mix in the oatmeal.
5. Stir in the the chips with a spoon or spatula.
6. By rounded tablespoon, space twelve balls of dough on sheet, spacing them at least 21/2-inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. After a minute or two, move cookies from sheet to a rack to further cool.

Nutrition: 106 cal, 4g fat, 33mg sod, 16g carb, 11g sugar, 1g fiber, 2g protein

pairing autumn with peanut butter

Peanut butter and its bff's chocolate and banana have been executed often in this house. This is mostly because many of my loves have a soft spot for peanut butter. Actually, obsession is probably a better way to describe it.   I am always trying to think of combos with peanut butter to meet their standards while simultaneously feeding my need to experiment with new recipes in the kitchen.  I was wracking my brain for a twist on PB while using what I had stored up at home.   The pile of this season's apples and a gallon of maple syrup were calling. I thought the combo of peanut butter and apple slices as a diet mainstay for picky children all the way up through adults on the run could work in a baked good.  Who doesn't enjoy this combo?  Throw in some oats and perhaps this can even be considered a breakfast bite.

Peanut Butter Apple Crumble Bars

adapted from Foodologie, this recipe can also be made vegan with substitutions noted.
Yield: 32 bars

INGREDIENTS
base
1/2 C reduced fat peanut butter
1/2 C maple syrup
1 C flour, whole wheat or all-purpose
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 T unsalted butter or coconut oil at room temp.
1/2 t vanilla

apple filling
5 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1/3 C flour
1/2 C dark brown sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 T cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t nutmeg

topping
1/3 C flour
1/3 C oats
1/2 C dark brown sugar
3 T reduced fat peanut butter
2 T unsalted butter or coconut oil

DIRECTIONS
apple filling
1.Combine all ingredients for apples, let sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the base and topping.

base
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil
1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream butter and peanut butter until uniform in color. Add vanilla and maple syrup.
2. Add in flour, baking soda and salt and beat until a dough forms.
3. Press dough into base of pan and chill in the freezer while making the topping.

topping
1. Melt together butter in a saucepan or in the microwave for 30 seconds. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in peanut butter until combined.
2. Add in sugar, flour and oats.

assembly
1. Remove dish from freezer, spread apple filling evenly over peanut butter base.
2. Sprinkle crumble topping over apples.
3. Bake for 30-35 min. Can be served immediately with ice cream or allow to cool and store in an airtight container at room temp. for four days.

Nutrition: 112 cal, 4g fat, 96mg sod, 19g carb, 13g sugar, 2g fiber, 2g protein