When I saw this recipe for chipotle cranberry sauce in Bon Appetit I was somewhat skeptical. But I made some adjustments to it, and made it and you know what?

It was good. Not just like..mmm..yeah..good...But more like...WHOA, now that’s GOOD!

This would be great warmed up over a brick of cream cheese and served with gingersnaps or Carrs Water Crackers. I am thinking it would make incredible phyllo appetizers as well. You get the tart-sweet tastes of the cranberry and cinnamon and then the smoky heat from the chipotle..and a little whisper of garlic at the end – like the smell of perfume in the house the morning after a party. Faint…but there.

If you love your traditional orange- cranberry sauce you may not like this as a substitute. To me it was more of an appetizer, something to be eaten with cheese, apples, and crackers. Give it a try, if you like southwestern flavor you are gonna love this.

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

• 2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce, mashed
• 1 lb cranberries
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cumin

1. Combine chipotles, sugar, cider, garlic, and cranberries in a pan.
2. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar melts and cranberries pop. You may need to add a little more cider.
3. Add cinnamon and cumin and simmer about five minutes.
4. Let cool.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I put a layer of streusel on the bottom as well as on the top for added texture and sweetness. I really like the result.

This is a great, comfort food type dessert but would also work well on the Thanksgiving dessert buffet. It is just different enough to be awesome but familiar enough to  make you feel cozy.

Vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream would be great with this. It is so easy to make, takes very little time…and is amazing. How can you resist?

Cooking the berries before adding them to the crisp allows the juices to thicken and so the bottom layer doesn’t turn to mush. In every bite you have the contrast between crunchy, chewy, tart, sweet, and tender. Every bite gives you intense flavor. This is a new favorite. I loved it.

Cranberry Crisp

• 2 bags cranberries
• 2 cups of sugar or to taste
• 1/2 cup fruity red wine
• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• Water if needed

Cook the ingredients together, stirring, until cranberries pop open and liquid thickens. You may need to add water to keep it from sticking. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add butter.  Set aside.

Streusel

• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 half cup unsalted butter

Mix together with fingers until crumbly.

Assemble and Bake

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Grease a 9 inch square pan and sprinkle half the crumbs in the bottom
3. Spoon the cranberry on top
4. Sprinkle the rest of the streusel over the top
5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until done.

serves 6-8

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

O.k..so..yeah.

It’s just bread with cranberries and walnuts. But, I love naming things so humor me.  I do not go as far as one of my favorite characters, Anne Shirley,naming trees and woods but I like to give my recipes cool names.  Especially for bake sales.

One of the things that I found out when I had the tearoom was that the more exotic the name the better the item sold…Unless we had a lot of good old boys come in (and yeah, that did happen…what they thought they were going ot get in a tearoom I don’t know) European sounding things worked well.

So..we were having a bake sale at church for the JBQ, one of the kids programs.  My best friend runs it (an does a great job, the kids love her) and so I wanted to do something that would be a little different.  A little autumn, a little exotic…

This bread is great. The secret is to have a really flavorful maple syrup and to toast the walnuts to bring out the flavors there.  Give it a good, long rising time for the ingredients to blend and you will end up with a delicious breakfast bread or ..if you are especially daring, it makes an excellent bread for smoked turkey sandwiches.

The crust is crisp with that artisian chewiness.  Slightly sweet, but not overly so, with the occasional tang from the cranberry.

Shape the loaves into a freeform oval, and then make slashes as if you were adding veins to a leaf that you had sketched.  Rub the top with flour so it has a good layer.  It gives a nice presentation to the bread.

The sides on this are soft because I made 4 or 5 loaves and then baked them in a row on the baking sheet.  It was a time issue.

Pain d’Automne de Provence

or

Artisian Cranberry Bread with Toasted Walnuts

Step One

1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 tablespoons maple syrup

allow to stand until foamy.

Step 2

Stir in:

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 cups organic white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour (fresh ground if possible)

1/2 cup maple syrup

Mix well and allow to sponge for 30 minutes.  Stir down.

Step 3

Add:

1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/2 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted in the oven or microwave until golden

3 cups whole wheat flour

Enough organic white flour to make the dough leave the sides of the bowl, and ” feel right”.

Knead for 15 to 20 minutes by hand, or about 5 minutes in a Bosch.  If you knead in the mixer then knead it for a few minutes by hand just to make sure it feels right.  It needs to be a good stiff, elastic dough without being dry.

Form into a ball and oil.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Step 4

Punch down.  Form into ovals and slash tops.  Rub flour into the tops.  Cover and let rise about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.  Pour one cup of water on the oven floor when you put the bread in and close the door quickly.

After 15 minutes pour another cup of water on the oven floor.

4 loaves.  (these freeze well)

Image:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I didn’t used to like bread pudding until I had it one time, eons ago, at a smallish restaurant at North Park Center in Dallas, Texas. The restaurant was called Churchills and why it went out of business is anyone’s guess. It was there I was introduced to quiche and infatuatingly edible bread pudding.

The way this was different from the usual is that it was made with plenty of eggs and cream. Yep, heavy cream, which doesn’t soak into the bread so much as it cuddles around it as it cooks creating an ambiance of creamy custard with french toast suspended throughout. Warm and creamy on the plate, a buttered whiskey sauce was added, puddling around the base of the pudding invitingly.

I have used a heavy custard with this bread pudding, and the clove and orange cupcake crumbles. You can also use leftover croissants in this with excellent results..which reminds me, I need to post my recipe for lemon bread pudding made with croissants.

In any case, try this as a step up from comfort food. I think you will like it. I have added dried cranberries and decided to enter this in:

The tartness of the cranberries, the spiciness of the cake, the creaminess of the custard really make this dish amazing.

Warm Orange Spice Bread Pudding

Batter from cupcakes made in a jelly roll pan and cubed in 1″ cubes. Toast in a greased 13x 9″ pan in a 325 oven while you prepare the custard. Check on them and stir occasionally.

8 eggs

1 pint heavy cream (not ultra pasturized if possible)

1 c milk

1/2 c sugar

1 tbs vanilla

Beat together until foamy.

Pour over cubed cake, stir in 1 c dried cranberries and bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

About 8 servings

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Nope…I didn’t forget at all. I have a busy day today, but at some point I am going to make time to do these. I will make the dough and freeze it unbaked in teaspoon size balls. After it is frozen I will put all of the balls into a ziploc to wait patiently until needed. If you freeze the cookies unbaked it also helps keep the kids out of it.

These are awesome. My husband’s favorite cookie as he was growing up. I like to dip half the cookie in melted white chocolate and add red and green sprinkles.

Cranberry Cookies

Makes about 72

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tbs grated orange peel
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2-1/2 cups coarsely chopped frozen or fresh
cranberries
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease baking sheets. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Stir in milk, orange juice and egg. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in nuts and cranberries.
Drop dough by tablespoons about 2″ apart on greased baking sheet.
<———————flash freeze and add to freezer bags——————>

Bake 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet, then remove to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Post from: Baking Delights