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It's that time of year for nostalgic baking. In fact I just finished making the traditional english Christmas cake with my mum over the weekend. Something we do every year to continue the family tradition. That will give it lots of time to get all nice and boozed up with brandy before Christmas day. Yum!

Now I'm sure no one need's an extra excuse to bake since Christmas is a mere less than two weeks away, but I'm going to give you one anyway. It's time to turn on the oven and get the house all toasty warm with the sweet smell of apples and cinnamon.

You may remember when I made these healthy pumpkin spice scuffins.

I explained how they were a cross between a scone and a muffin. Perfect for an afternoon snack or breakfast especially when spread with some creamy nut butter. Well here is a version that I made using fresh cooked apples instead of pumpkin. You have to make sure you use a good baking apple such as a mcintosh, empire or cortland variety because they break down easily making them perfect for cooking. Just think applesauce. 

These aren't too sweet making them a wonderful treat without the sugar rush.

Apple Spice Scuffins {GF, Vegan} (makes 6)

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup of steel cuts oats, ground into flour (I like to use my coffee grinder)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 rounded tsp cinnamon +1tsp for the apples
• pinch fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 chia egg: 1 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water (let sit for 5 minutes)
• 2 large baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (mac's, empire and cortlands work best)
• (optional) any dried fruits or chocolate chips

  Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. In a small bowl mix the chia seeds with water and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and rolled oats.
2. Put the apple slices in a sauce pan with 1 tsp of cinnamon and 2-4 tbsp of water. Simmer on low until they are tender. Transfer the apples to a food processor and blend until you have a smooth puree or sauce.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the apple puree and thickend chia egg (the chia seed will have absorbed most of the water by now).
4. Now add the apple mix to the dry mix and stir until combined. If you are adding any dried fruits or chocolate stir them in next. Raisins and walnuts are a nice combination.
5. Scoop a 1/4 cup of the batter onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, until you end up with 6 scuffins. Shape and slightly flatten the dough into rounds.
6. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly golden.

 * Note * If you would like to make these a little sweeter (afterall it is the holiday season) you can add 1/2 cup of maple syrup and 1-2 tbsp brown sugar. 

I will definitely be making these again! This is the perfect recipe to accompany an afternoon cup of tea. And they have just the right balance of slow digesting carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar levels stable until dinner time. Let's hear it for a smooth running metabolism! Keep that fire burning.

Have an awesome day!

I love balsamic vinegar, as does the rest of my household. In fact, I just bought a fresh bottle from a local wine maker in Barrie last month and have been roasting my vegetables with it ever since. That's one of my favourite ways to use it. It adds so much flavour! They make their own and sell it at a very good price. This stuff is gold!

It's such a versatile ingredient and I love using it to make all kinds of salad dressings and vinaigrette's. It's also a great addition to warm toasty sandwiches. I have yet to be adventurous enough to try it on ice cream. Apparently it's to die for, but for now I think I'm just going to stick to making salad dressings and marinades with it. I bet it would be great in a reduction! Hmm, me thinks I'll have to come up with something. . .

Balsamic vinaigrette isn't very hard to make; all you have to do is mix some balsamic vinegar with olive oil right?

Well sort of, but not really. It's not set in stone, but it's important remember to use a 3 to 1 ratio of oil to vinegar. This is the sweet spot when it comes to making a salad dressing. Often people will use too much vinegar and it comes out tasting harsh or tart. If you use this ratio as a general guide next time you make a dressing then you'll never need a recipe again. And of course it's important to let your taste buds be the judge. Only you know what you like. Take a taste test by dipping a small leaf of lettuce in and give a try!

Now, Let's face it, store bought salad dressings can be pretty atrocious when it comes to long lists of strange ingredients that you can't pronounce. This vinaigrette will beat any store bought version hands down.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette (makes approx. 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. To make the dressing combine the mustard and vinegar in a large mixing bowl or blender. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify. Whisk in the maple syrup and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
2. Store in a jar with a lid or air tight container and keep refrigerated.

*Make sure your olive oil is at room temperature. If it is cold it will be more difficult to emulsify with  the  vinegar.

*If you let the dressing sit for an hour or so and then refrigerate, the flavours will meld together better.

I can't wait until apples are in-season and then I can start adding them to my salads along with this vinaigrette. Maybe some soft crumbled goat cheese and dried Bala cranberries too!

I'm getting ahead of myself. I shouldn't start wishing for fall when summer only just started, even though it's my favourite time of year.

Fall is far too short and winter is way too long. I should just buy an island with a small boat somewhere tropical and live there during winter.

Problem solved!

Happy Friday!

You're in for a real treat today.

This is something so special that it would be a crime not to share it with you.

As you might already know I'm obsessed with nut butter. And if you didn't. . . well now you do. I love making my own nut butters, so I pulled out my food processor yesterday and decided to try a spin-off of Ashley's roasted maple cinnamon almond butter. After the first time I ever made her almond butter I was hooked (she creates some of the best nut butters). Before then I don't think I even liked almond butter all that much (*gasp* Sacrilege). Well the rest is history. She inspired me to start creating some of my own nut buttery goodness.

Like this one. Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter.

Move over peanut butter, because there's a new favourite in town.

If you've never made your own before, then you're missing out. You may be a little intimidated at first like I was, but it couldn't be easier. Trust me. Once you make it you'll never want to go back to the store bought variety again. This stuff is so gourmet, you won't even believe you made it yourself. There's just a few ingredients involved including: almonds, maple syrup, maple butter, cinnamon, and sea salt.

It takes approximately 30 minutes in total to make and you want to make sure you've got a good powerful blender. Roasting the almonds will make them easier to process plus it enhances their taste.

Here's what it looks like when it's just getting going:

This is after about 10 minutes of blending:

And here it is nice beginning to smooth:

One of the wonderful things about living in Canada is being so close to pure maple syrup all the time. I got the maple butter at our farmers market last weekend (this stuff isn't cheap, but it's a real treat! And it's of course local). The syrup actually came from my brothers girlfriend's family maple bush here in Ontario. There's nothing like the real thing! It's always been a tradition in my family every Spring to go to a maple syrup bush. When I was growing we would go visit my grandparents and meet up with my aunt and uncle out in the country, and all go together for pancakes and then a horse ride through the bush. Oh, and the maple taffy that they make right on the snow was a special treat. 

I love eating this on my oatmeal, with apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon, on whole grain toast, and it also makes a killer sandwich! I have yet to still try this in this sandwich. You can store this in the fridge in a glass mason jar or a recycled nut butter jar. It should keep as long as store bought nut butters.

Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp pure maple butter
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325*F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl mix the almonds and 2 tbsp of maple syrup together to coat.
3. Roast for 15 minutes stirring once or twice and half way through to prevent burning.
4. Take them out and let them cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Then place them in the food processor and and start it up. It may seem a little intimidating but just let the processor do its job. You will want to scrape down the sides with a spatula every now and then once it starts to clump together. Don't worry it will begin to start smoothing out and turn creamy, you just need to be patient. It shouldn't take any longer than 15 minutes.
5. Once it begins to smooth out, add in the sea salt, cinnamon, 1 tbsp of maple butter. Give a whir in processor again until it mixes all together and is nice and smooth.

If you've never been to a maple bush before when the sap is flowing then I really suggest you do it. It's one of the coolest things I remember from growing up, and I still love going every Spring. You have to make sure you go while they're boiling the sap though. The smell is divine!

I've never been more excited for breakfast!

Shared at Fit and Fabulous Fridays and Fresh Bites Friday