Fix Me A Snack

Date butter is not something a lot of folks have probably made before. Turns out that it is super easy and has a surprisingly pleasant taste. It’s plenty sweet, but much more mellow than white sugar because there’s still so much of the date left in there. I assume that means a lot of the dates’ nutritional goodness has stuck around as well, which is a bonus.

You will need:

6 ounces pitted dried dates (about 15-16 medium dates)
2/3 cup boiling water

Place the dates in a small saucepan. Pour boiling water over them, cover, and allow to sit for one hour.

 

After an hour, they look about the same. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Allow to simmer for 5 – 7 minutes or until it starts to turn to mush.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Put mixture through a strainer placed over a bowl using the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to push it through.

Discard the dry bits that will not pass through the strainer. Store the date butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I think this date butter would work wonderfully in place of the apple butter in my granola bars. I’ve also enjoyed some Almond and Date Butter Sandwiches as of late.

Yield: 3/4 cup
Active prep-time: 10 minutes
Inactive prep-time: 1 hour

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A year ago I would have dismissed you completely if you told me I’d be making pastry dough from scratch and turning it into little turnovers full of dried fruit and nutty goodness. My mission is to make quick and easy snacks that are healthy too. But alas, it’s time to fess up to the fact that I’ve been playing around with pastry dough lately. I’ve been keeping it off the blog. I’ve been leading a double life.

These turnovers are made with a pastry dough that I’ve modified to include yogurt and white whole wheat flour. The innards include walnuts, pecans, dried fruits, and ground flaxseed. I had a lot of fun making them…and even more fun eating them.

I used to be really frightened by the thought of working with pastry dough. And I still sort of am. But I’m starting to think we should all make pie. I took a pastry class a while ago and it really helped to see a professional whip out a pie shell and see the consistency of the dough, etc. I’ve still got a lot to learn. Thank goodness I’ll need to practice practice practice.

The recipe for the filling is flexible. Don’t have ground flaxseed handy? Try replacing it with some wheat germ. Don’t have pecans? Just replace them with walnuts. Don’t have dried dates? Try replacing them with more dried apricots and raisins. Other than that, I’d try to stick to the recipe.

Turnover dough:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup plain Greek style yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together a few times. Evenly distribute the butter pieces over the flour mixture and pulse 5 or 10 times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with the occasional pea-sized chunk. Add the yogurt and vanilla and pulse until mixture starts to form into a ball.

Remove dough from processor. Form into a disk as best as you are able. Knead it a few times if necessary. The dough will be wetter and stickier than most pastry dough. Wrap the disk tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

Filling:

Make sure the walnuts and the pecans are minimally altered. They should not be salted or flavored - just nuts.

2 dried dates, pitted (preferably Medjool)
2 unsulfered dried apricots
2 tablespoons raisins
1/4 cup walnut pieces
6 pecans
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
2 teaspoons apricot preserves

On a cutting board, finely chop the dates, apricots, raisins, walnuts, and pecans together. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the flaxseed and salt. Stir to distribute. Add the agave nectar and preserves and stir to coat.

To Assemble:

1 egg
1 teaspoon milk
All-purpose flour

In a small bowl make an egg wash. Beat the egg and milk together. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare a work surface by dusting it with flour. Get out your rolling pin and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The dough gets unfriendly once it warms up, have everything ready to go and work as quickly as you can. Don’t make this on the hottest day of the summer.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap. Place on floured work surface and dust the top of the dough with additional flour. Beat on the dough with the rolling pin a few times in order to make it malleable while still cold. Roll it out to 1/4″ thickness, turning it occasionally (a quarter or half turn) and dusting with additional flour when it starts to stick.

Cut dough into four squares. Gently pick up with your hands or by resting it over the rolling pin. Dust off any excess flour with a pastry brush. Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Place 2-3 tablespoons of the dried fruit mixture on each square. Wet the edges of the squares with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Fold each square over into a rectangle or triangle. Gently press edges together with the tines of a fork. Cut a small hole in the top of each turnover to allow any steam to escape. Brush the tops with more egg wash.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack with a large spatula. Allow to cool 5 – 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 turnovers (I cut them in half to serve to the kids)
Prep-time: 30 minutes (not counting the time the dough rests in the refrigerator)
Bake-time: 13 minutes

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Apparently there are as many different ways to make Ambrosia as there are cooks who make it. If you’d like, add some banana, subtract the pineapple, subtract the marshmallows, and so on. The only consistent elements I found in my survey of Ambrosia recipes were citrus, sugar, and coconut. But even those are probably up for debate.

2 small blood oranges, peeled, skinned and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons shredded sweetened coconut

Place the oranges, pineapple, marshmallows, sugar, and coconut in a small bowl and stir to combine. Serve or store in airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 24 hours.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Prep-time: 15 minutes

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Here we have a chocolate meringue with fresh whipped cream and crushed strawberries – a mini pavlova. 

As I was preparing the meringues, my husband was kind enough to tell me they look like pertrified dog poop. So I guess this snack doesn’t score a 10 for presentation, but the kids didn’t seem bothered in the least.

This recipe is substantially lower in sugar than any other pavlova recipe I’ve seen.  It’s a relatively light snack all around, except for the whipped cream. But you can’t not have the whipped cream.

 For the meringue:

3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped very fine

For the whipped cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons sugar

For the strawberries:

6 frozen strawberries (about 1/3 cup), thawed
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a standing electric mixer, whip the egg whites, sugar, cocoa powder, and vinegar on medium-high speed until semi-stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the chocolate pieces with a rubber spatula. Spoon the meringue mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet about a 1/3 cup at a time. Create a heart shape, if desired.

Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until outer shell has formed and the meringues are not terribly difficult to remove from the parchment. Allow to cool on the pan.

Meanwhile, make your whipped cream by pouring the heavy cream and sugar into a bowl and beating it with an electric mixer until peaks form. If it’s an especially hot day, put the bowl in the freezer for a while before you begin. Store the whipped cream an airtight container in the refrigerator until the meringues are ready.

Meanwhile, drain any excess liquid off the strawberries. Crush the berries and sugar in a small bowl with a fork until they are broken down. Cover and keep at room temperature until the meringues are ready.

To assemble simply place a dollop of whipped cream on top of each meringue and top with 1-2 teaspoons of crushed strawberries. Serve immediately.

Yield: 10 mini heart-shaped pavlovas
Prep-time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 1 1/2 hours

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This is easy and delightfully yummy, especially if you are a fan of grapefruit. The inspiration for this particular flavor combination came from the Amateur Gourmet’s Grapefruit Granita which has some nice photos of the preparation process that might be helpful if you’ve never made Granita before.

I’m guessing that grapefruit might not be every kid’s favorite fruit. My kids liked it. But more and more I’m thinking they are being reprogrammed by my endless snack experiments – another unexpected benefit of blogging.

Juice from 3 red grapefruits
Juice from 1 blood orange
1/4 cup agave nectar

Pour the juices into a medium mixing bowl. Add the agave nectar and whisk vigorously for a minute or two in order to make sure the agave has dissolved.

Trasfer the grapefruit mixture to a baking pan somewhere around the 8 x 8-inch size. It can be metal or glass. Cover with plastic wrap and move to your freezer. Allow to freeze overnight.

Before serving, scrape and scratch the frozen grapefruit mixture with a fork, creating little flakes of ice in the process. Serve in cups or bowls.

Yield: 3-4 cups
Prep-time: 10 minutes
Freezer time: 8 hours

There’s nothing like a bag of inexpensive red grapefruits to brighten up these sometimes dreary winter days.

If your kids are younger, or if you just don’t feel like getting fancy with the skewers, you can serve the grapefruit on the side or simply on top of the yogurt parfait style.

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I have no love for Kale Chips. But I know all the super healthy beautiful people out there are making them and getting healthier and more beautiful with every bite.

I have been munching on them all morning simply because there is a big pile sitting on the counter. My kids, however, are not big fans. My youngest helped me make them and happily tasted one. But a minute later she was at the bathroom sink rinsing out her mouth. My oldest tried them a couple hours later and enjoyed the crispy saltiness, but not the bitter aftertaste. My husband’s assessment was “they taste better than they smell.”

Regardless, these are worth a try if you have a sad and lonely bunch of wilted kale hiding out at the bottom of your crisper drawer like I did. I originally ran across a recipe at The Kitchn which points to a recipe at ChowMama.

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Recently, my three-year-old grew tired of clementines (gasp!). She is a great lover of novelty.  Here are a few ways I’ve found to rekindle the magic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses.

 

2. Drizzle with warmed  (or not) honey. Warm 1 tablespoon of honey in a very small dish in the microwave for 5 – 10 seconds. This is enough honey for two whole peeled and segmented clementines (not just two segments as pictured above).

3. Drizzle with chocolate sauce or chocolate syrup.

4. Serve with Honey Vanilla Yogurt.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tiny dash of cardamom (optional)

Mix yogurt, agave, vanilla, and cardamom (if desired) in a small bowl. Serve topped with chopped clementine.

Yield: 1/2 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes

You are more than welcome to add your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

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I’ve got way too much applesauce taking up valuable real estate in my fridge. These muffins are deliciously moist and sweet out of the oven and well into the next couple days (that’s as long as they lasted here).

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