Holiday Hybread: Pumpkin Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Filling

Two breads in one, with a tasty filling. C’mon, who’s better than you at this party?

Ok my pretties (and I know you are bringing your A-game tonight), this is going to be a quick one. Quick because I left posting this until New Year’s Eve on an airplane and quick because you have places to go, things to do and fun people to see! So, go ahead and read this recipe tomorrow when you are reclined on the couch. But before you go, please do three things for me:

Review this party trick just in case. Your A Game, remember?
If you happen to find yourself with leftover champagne (imagine?), SAVE IT! Here are 16 uses for leftover champagne and one of them surely will sound good tomorrow, even if it’s the ice cubes for your oj. If you can only manage to pour it into a mason jar, then do that and you’ll have awesome vinegar by Valentines Day.
Get fancy and celebrate New Years however the heck you want, whether that means ditching champagne entirely or crawling into your new flannel jammies at 9.

Now, go have fun and be safe out there! When you come back…

Slacker bakers unite for Round 2. We’re in the home stretch. You’ve got one more weekend of planned and spontaneous get-togethers, of late nights and chocolate for breakfast, of “how-long-does-that-stuff-in-the-foil-keep?” What you need here is something edible that is easy to throw together, widely appreciated, mostly homemade and somewhat more impressive than a regifted box of chocolates (not that there is one single thing wrong with that!)

You can get on your pomegranate game, and it never hurts to have fondue fixin’s at the ready, but if you’re still up for baking, here is a little slice of brilliance which involves boxed bread mixes. Now you’re with me, right? This comes from Sister B, who has made it more times than she can count in the past few weeks. The original version combines gingerbread with pumpkin bread, but she prefers it with banana bread (and includes a recipe for that below, so keep your scrolling skills up).

This Holiday Hybread is nothing gourmet, but it’s yummy, and it can say a lot about you. Like… “I’ve still got some holiday swagger in me,” or, “I know exactly what to get at Trader Joe’s,” or “See what I can do with all that cream cheese I never used for the shrimp dip?” My only note is that this recipe calls for half boxes of both breads. My suggestion is to double it, make two loaves and do away your need for higher math.

And now, I turn it entirely over to sister B, AKA Beatie the Artiste, who took the edible peppermint plate to an entirely new level. More on that later.

Holiday Hybread: Pumpkin Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Filling

Easy, yummy, and holiday-ish! A crowd pleaser.

Note: If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s Betty Crocker mixes work too, but TJ’s (or an upscale boxed version) is way better.

Makes one loaf

Ingredients:

½ package Trader Joe’s pumpkin bread mix plus what the box asks for (egg, water, oil)
½ package Trader Joe’s gingerbread mix (plus, egg, water oil)
12-oz cream cheese (1 ½ 8 oz. packages)
3/8 cup sugar
a few drops vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease the bottom of a 9” x 5” ish bread pan or spray with cooking spray.

Make your gingerbread and pumpkin bread batters, according to package directions.

Make cream cheese filling: place cream cheese in microwave safe bowl and zap for
40 seconds. Stir in sugar and few drops of vanilla until smooth. Set aside.

SCRAPE pumpkin bread mixture into loaf pan. Level it as best you can.

PLOP the cream cheese mixture all over the top of the pumpkin bread batter, covering it. It may be lumpy and uneven…that’s ok, so are some of the best of us. If you care, level it carefully with a knife…but try to let it go.

Now TOP that with your gingerbread batter.

Bake for about an hour…maybe a little more. Check it with a toothpick to know for sure. Cool on a wire rack and then remove from pan. Slice, impress and enjoy!

And now for Sister B’s sister recipe to the above. This was discovered by happy accident, some overripe bananas in the freezer and a WHAT IF inspiration. As in, WHAT IF I tried the same thing but with a layer or banana bread instead of pumpkin this time? Insane, right? And yet, banana/gingerbread bumped pumpkin/gingerbread off the top of the podium and into the silver medal position.

This recipe uses a proper (and awesome) banana bread recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It’s not out of a box, but it’s already halved for your convenience.

Banana Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Filling

Proceed exactly as above, but for the pumpkin bread part substitute this:

Banana Bread (this is the half recipe. Double it for two loaves of Holiday Hybread or one loaf of straight banana bread)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
3/8 cup sugar
3/8 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed well (3/4 cup)
1/8 cup plain yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ tsp vanilla

Method:

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, vanilla in a medium bowl.
Lightly fold banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.

Crackle 2.0—Toffee meets dark chocolate pretzels and beer

Just when you thought you had covered everyone on your list…surprise! That’s why it makes darned good sense to cook up obscene quantities food gifts, put them in jars and cute boxes and have them at the ready.

My faves are salted caramel Cholliesauce, roasted and glazed nuts and of course, a constantly replenished stash of crackle. We’ve learned to love Crackle over the years, but it’s time to shake it up a little. It’s time to go to the Dark Side. Behold Crackle 2.0, a more grown up version of decadence from a favorite site: thebeeroness.com.

I love the idea of cooking with beer, and the whole consequence of recipes only calling for half a can (at most) of some shmancy beer, making it perfectly ok—even responsible—to finish the rest. There are lots of things I love about this, including of course the taste, which really isn’t beer-like or even alcoholic after all that boiling.

This recipe lets you decide on the thickness of both the toffee and the chocolate layers. Also, it does not require oven time, leaving your oven free for baking things like these and these and these. No baking means also no urgency between steps, which is nice. You can make the toffee part and then come back to slay the rest.

Extra points if you make the edible peppermint plate.

Finally, the dark chocolate is a more sophisticated touch (even if you hedge and add some milk chocolate chips when you run out of the good stuff).

I have made this with Guinness and most recently with Lagunitas Little Sumpin ale, subscribing once again to the “love the one you’re with” method of ingredient selection. Do keep it to craft beer or something more complex than Bud. If you want to really experiment, read up on the Beeroness wisdom. Alternatively, just wing it, and try a new beer with each batch. Oh, and for presentation points, make this edible plate out of peppermint candies. You’re soooo Martha!

Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee

Adapted from The Beeroness

Ingredients:

Toffee:

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Butter (2 sticks)
1/2 Cup Amber Ale

Topping:

2 Cups Pretzels, Smashed
2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips (60% cacao content)
1/4 Cup Amber Ale or Chocolate Stout
1 Tbsp or so coconut oil (optional but it gives the chocolate a nice gloss)

Method:

In a large pot over high heat add the sugar, butter and 1/2 cup amber ale, it will triple in volume during the cooking process so make sure to use a large pot. Stir until the mixture starts to boil. Allow to boil untouched until the mixture starts to darken and thicken at about 230 degrees. Stir continuously until it turns a very dark amber and hits 290 degrees. (Use the color as your guide. Too light means less caramel flavor. Be patient but vigilant!) This process will take between 15 and 20 minutes from start to finish. Pour onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat. Immediately spread to desired thickness before it starts to harden. Allow to cool.

Add the chocolate to a large bowl. Heat the beer until hot but not boiling. You can heat it on a pot on the stove or microwave it in a microwave safe bowl. If you use the microwave, know that the beer will foam up once it reaches it’s boiling point. Pour the hot beer over the chocolate chips and stir until well combined and melted. (Alternatively, and preferably to SOME, do the whole shebang in a double boiler. See Edie notes below.)

Pour the chocolate over the toffee and smooth out in an even layer. Sprinkle the crushed pretzels over the chocolate and chill until the chocolate has set. Cut into pieces.

Beeroness Notes: If you use a chocolate with less than 60% cocoa content, it will have higher levels of milk solids, because of this it will have a more difficult time hardening once the beer is added. Try to find 60% and chill it to set.

Edie Notes: In my microwave-deprived house I made this as directed a few times but could not get the chocolate to be as glossy as I wanted. I had better results melting the chocolate and beer over water in a double boiler, and adding a bit of coconut oil. For chocolate I used a combo of 2 Ghirardelli Intense Dark 72 % Cacao bars, and enough milk chocolate chips to get to the right amount.

Why are you looking at this? Aren’t you at the store yet?

Sugar and Spice Squash Soup

Tick Tick Tick. It’s happening, snow or no snow. A certain person in our house wore an elf suit for an entire weekend, the Christmas music on the radio is running 1:1 with Adele, and I’m pretty sure I’ve had at least some chocolate by 10 am for the past five days. Oh yeah…’tis the season.

This sweet, spicy, ginger squash soup is another fabulous contribution from Steamboat Tania, who holds the bar so much higher than me that I almost just posted this without trying it. Almost. But the whole candied ginger thing was intriguing, and I figured before descending into holiday carb overload I owed it to my people to produce one last healthy, unique, yet broadly appealing dish.

It’s a more sophisticated version of Halloween Soup, with creaminess from coconut milk, spice from red curry paste and sweet holiday sparkle from the candied ginger. (You know you were wondering how to use up the tub of candied ginger you got for fruitcake or ginger libations or various gingery creations.)

If I have not sold you on this soup yet, it’s also pretty hard to screw up. I didn’t have a full jar of red curry paste, used bouillon cubes instead of broth and misread the recipe, using only one butternut squash. It was still incredible, and an acorn squash out there lives for another day. Oh, and Tania’s tip on heating the squash in the oven first is sheer brilliance.

I urge you to make this, as a gift to yourself or to share with your holiday squad. Extra points if you enjoy it in your elf suit.

Ingredients:

1 large acorn squash
1 large butternut squash
3 Tbsp olive oil (plus more to rub on squash)
2 T butter
1 large onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
32 oz chicken stock
1 jar red curry paste
1 can coconut milk (Full fat tastes best. Hide the can if you must)
1/3 cup candied ginger
salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Put uncut squash on baking tray while the oven is preheating (do this so the squash cuts easily and you don’t lose fingers), 10 minutes or so.
Cut squash in half, discard seeds, rub cut side with olive oil and place cut side down on baking sheet. Cook until soft, half an hour or so depending on size.
While squash is cooking warm 3T olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion, cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Remove squash from oven and scoop flesh into onion/garlic mixture. Add chicken stock, curry paste, coconut milk and candied ginger. Stir over low-med heat until blended.

Ladle lumpy soup into vitamix/blender (or use an immersion blender). You will need two pots because this was 2 vitamix loads. Blend until smooth. Return to stovetop to warm. Add salt and pepper to taste. Warm and serve. (P.S. It’s also really good cold)

Kiss My Crust Christmas Cookies

Kiss meets crust. Angels sing.

Welcome to Part 1 of Slacker’s Delight Holiday Baking.

These cookies are brilliant: they’re like Mexican wedding cookies without the work and with a big fat Hershey’s kiss in the middle. They come from Averie Cooks, and though I don’t know Averie I think she needs to be worshipped. Why? Because holiday baking is WAY OVERRATED. I mean, like we need one more thing to do? But the thing is, baking just seems like the right instinct at this crazy time of year. And so we bake. And it makes our people happy which makes us happy. When we can all be happy with next to no effort, well, that’s the real miracle of Christmas.

So enough talk. I give you three-ingredient cookies that require no mixing or creaming and, best of all, no thank-you note. Happy Baking and you slackers—stay tuned for Part 2!

Kiss My Crust Cookies

Very slightly amended from Averie Cooks

Makes about 16 cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: about 15 to 17 minutes
Total Time: about 45 minutes, for cooling

Ingredients:

1 roll out refrigerated or frozen pie crust for a 9-inch pie, thawed.
16 or so chocolate kisses (or Mini Peanut Butter Cups or Rolos or Andes Mints)
confectioners’ sugar (about 3/4 cup), for dredging

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
Place pie crust on a piece of parchment paper or lightly floured surface and roll it it out just a bit with a rolling pin or hefty bottle. Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel, slice into approximately 16 sections, about 2-inch squares. If you cut your circle into 4 rows of 4, a couple sections may be a bit skimpy. Do some cutting and smooshing to make those sections big enough to contain a Kiss. It won’t be perfect. Stay calm. Channel John Tesh.
Place one chocolate kiss in the center of each section.
Using your fingertips, seal the dough at the top to fully contain the kiss. Pat smooth with your palms and flatten slightly into a mound; repeat with remaining crust sections and kisses until gone. Transfer mounds to prepared baking sheet or, if working on parchment, scootch the whole piece onto the baking sheet and rearrange the cookies so they look happy.
Bake for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is just set and done; cookies firm up as they cool. The tops will appear fairly pale while the undersides will be more golden; don’t overbake or the undersides could burn. Watch cookies closely starting at about 13 minutes and use your good judgement.
Allow cookies to cool on baking tray for about 15 minutes, or until cool enough to handle before dredging each one liberally in confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately. Cookies will keep airtight for up to 1 week at room temp or in the freezer for up to 4 months.

Thanksgiving Samosas

A twist on Thanksgiving leftovers

Thanksgiving was so great this year. My mom, my sister and my brother-in-law came to visit from Connecticut. The three of them combined with my small family made for a total of six at the table. It was a small, quality group. My mom is very traditional and she was front and center when I created the Thanksgiving menu. It consisted of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce, rolls, pickles, and olives. All followed up by the standard apple and pumpkin pie. We busted a move from tradition with a side of quinoa for the vegetarians in the group (running with scissors, I know!). We had a wonderful meal, great conversation and a nice, cozy time together. One of my favorite parts to the meal was the Gratitude Game we played at the end (Google “Gratitude Questions” and you can play too!).

The next day, I started thinking about what I could make with the leftovers that is non-traditional. Since I didn’t play the “non-traditional card” on Thanksgiving Day, I figured I could do something fun with the leftovers. I pulled out my cookbooks for inspiration and found it right away. Samosas with turkey leftovers inside! That was it. I hesitated for just a split second thinking, “this borders on pie” (given that Samosas are essentially savory food inside pie shell). But then I realized, dare I say, I’m getting pretty good with the pastry shell. And so, I forged ahead, making the pastry dough and gathering my leftovers to assemble these tasty nuggets.

Oh, one last thing…. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not BRING these Samosas anywhere. My boys scarfed them down in what seemed like nanoseconds. Every now and then they would take a small breath and utter, “these are killer”! Enjoy and happy holidays.

Ingredients

Dough:
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp paprika
2/3 cup cold butter, cubed
2/3 cup cold water

Egg wash:
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk

Filling:
Leftovers! This can include anything in your fridge. I used turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. I wished I had more leftover veggies, because I definitely would have stuffed a few of these with veggies! Have gravy on the side for dipping!

Method

To make the dough, place flour, salt, baking powder, turmeric, and paprika in a food processor. Add butter and process until sand-like, approximate 10 seconds. Add water and pulse until mixture just comes together. Wrap dough in saran wrap and allow it to rest in refrigerator for at least an hour.

When ready, line up leftovers and take dough out of fridge and preheat the oven to 350. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough and cut into circles approximately 5 inches in diameter (I used the top of a large yogurt container to make the cut outs). Place approximately ¼ cup of filling on half of the circle of dough. Fold the dough over to make a half moon. Seal the edges well by pinching dough together. I used a folk to push down the edges and make little ridges.

Place samosas on parchment lined baking sheet. Mix 1 egg with 1 Tbsp of milk to make egg wash. Brush each samosas with the egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. They can be shallow fried if you prefer in 2 inches of vegetable oil until golden brown.

Gobble, gobble!

Knock-Out Vegan Pumpkin Pie

V stands for Very Tasty

This pie was a revelation. The pie itself is fantastic, and is a stand-alone favorite, V or no V. It comes from the November issue of Self, the one with UFC star Ronda Rousey on the cover. That’s where the revelation comes in. I’ve been staring at that cover for a solid two weeks, flipping to the pie occasionally to remind myself of what ingredients not to forget this time I go to the store. Each time I flipped past the story on Ronda, looking at the pictures but not tempted to read a word of it (or to even google UFC. It’s Ultimate Fight Championship. Pretend you knew that—I won’t tell.

Then she got knocked out. Suddenly I heard her name pop up a lot. Even my husband commented on the great Ronda Rousey losing a match. Now, give me a loser and you have my interest. It’s not schadenfreude, but a strong aversion to packaged success stories…especially when they double as fashion spreads.

Anyway, I finally read the article (in which she is interviewed by a comedian) and it was hugely compelling: revealing, honest, unusual. She did talk about leaving a legacy as an undefeated champ. So much for that, but by losing she got at least one person who was only interested in pie to read her story and now care about her. I am still not sure I could actually watch a UFC match—way too much blood, guaranteed—but go Ronda.

Now, on to pie. This is awesome. I made it with kabocha squash that I had baked. You could also use fresh pumpkin or butternut squash or the canned stuff. I can’t use the canned stuff, having recently been burned by a legacy can in the pantry. Oops.

With pumpkin pie the Vegan situation means no eggs, milk or cream in the pie and no butter in the crust. Coconut milk subs for the liquid and somehow enough squash just makes the egg factor go away. The crust—where you can really do some dietary damage with pies—is pretty darned healthy, and even easier to put together than a graham cracker crust. It’s a total win. Top it with whipped coconut cream for the full V experience, or with regular whipped cream from happy cows. It’s time to get your pomegranate game on, so you can get fancy and sprinkle some of those on top too. Either way, you’re going to wish you had room for seconds.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 Pecan-Coconut Crust, frozen
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1 can (13 oz) coconut milk

Method:

Heat oven to 375°. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add vanilla, pumpkin puree and coconut milk and mix until well combined. Place frozen shell on a baking sheet and slowly pour in filling. Bake on center rack of oven 25 minutes. Rotate 180 degrees and continue baking until filling is set and no longer looks wet at center, 20 to 30 minutes more. (Mine took longer. No eggs means it won’t set as firmly but it will set more as it cools.) Cool 2 to 3 hours. Serve lightly chilled.

Pecan Coconut Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

In a medium skillet over medium heat, toast pecans until fragrant; set aside and cool. Reduce heat to medium-low and toast coconut, stirring, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes; cool. In a food processor, process pecans, coconut, sugar and salt until mixture is fine and sticks together slightly. Pour into an ungreased 9″ pie pan. Press into bottom and sides of pan. Freeze until solid. Makes 1 crust.

Fry Your Grains Out Apple Fennel Salad

Get your ancient on: Apple Fennel Salad with Roasted Buckwheat, and a side of Crunchy Spelt.

I am not trendy. The Dansko Clogs I wear 360 days a year make this clear. But as your liaison between the glut of food blogs out there, it is my responsibility to stay a bit on top of food trends, which brings us face to face with fried grains. Like the ones in crispy brown rice “kabbouleh.” Let’s all take a moment to say… DUH. Frying grains makes them taste even better. Doubling down on trendiness let’s consider fried ancient grains. Among others I’m looking at you, spelt.

Frying grains requires cooking them first, spreading them out to dry, and then deep frying them. I’ve done it a few times now, because it turns out fried grains are just as addictive as fried anything. That said, it’s a bit of a pain if you don’t happen to have an Ancient Grains Fry Baby on hand. It was enough to seek a slacker alternative.

This recipe came to me from Rocky Mountain correspondent Tania (ahem, cranberry chutney, get on it!), who got it from the Bitten Word who got it from Cooking Light. The provenance should assure you that it has been thoroughly vetted and approved. It is delicious, refreshing, colorful, different and—aside from frying the spelt— incredibly easy. It would make an excellent Thanksgiving side for non-traditionalists, and the red and green colors take it the distance through the holidays.

As for the slacker alternative, on a hunch Tania and I decided to steal from our new favorite weird recipe and use roasted buckwheat instead of the spelt. The result was awesome— it was way easier than deep frying and the buckwheat lent a satisfying earthy crunch that requires less jaw strength than the fried spelt. That said, one of us had an issue with soggy leftovers the next day. The solution: if you go the buckwheat route, sprinkle it on each serving so you can store the leftover salad and grains separately. I’ve included the original recipe as well as the (gluten free I swear) roasted buckwheat option. People, it’s time to start your Thanksgiving engines!

Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad with Crunchy Spelt

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 fennel bulb, halved and cored
1 small green apple, quartered and cored
1 small red apple, quartered and cored
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup Crunchy Fried Spelt or roasted buckwheat (recipes below)

Method:

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Cut fennel and apples into 1/16-inch slices using a mandoline (or a good sharp knife). Add fennel, apples, parsley leaves, and Crunchy Fried Spelt to vinaigrette; toss well to combine.

Crunchy Fried Spelt

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked spelt (about 1 cup uncooked grains)
6 cups canola oil or peanut oil

Method:

Line a jelly-roll pan with several layers of paper towels. Spread spelt out into a thin layer on paper towels. Let stand 1 to 2 hours to dry out surface moisture, stirring grains occasionally.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until a thermometer submerged in oil registers 375°. (Do not use a smaller pot; moisture in the grains will cause the oil to bubble up vigorously.) Add 1/2 cup spelt to hot oil; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until grains are browned and crisp. (Maintain oil temperature at 375°, and fry in small batches.) Remove fried spelt from pan with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining spelt, 1/2 cup at a time.

Slacker Roasted Buckwheat

Ingredients:

1 cup Buckwheat groats
1 Tbsp olive oil
a healthy pinch or two of kosher salt

Method:

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Combine buckwheat and olive oil. Stir to coat. Spread on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until browned, stirring at least once along the way. Cool. Store in airtight container.

Pumping up Breakfast— no PSL required

The look of fall, without the latte.

Pumpkin, what have they done to you? They’ve made your name synonymous with every fall food creation, from the ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte (now known simply as PSL) to pumpkin spiced popcorn, bagels, pop-tarts, waffles, yogurt, truffles, ice cream and even Oreo’s. For the savory minded there are pumpkin spiced tortilla chips, crackers, cheese dip, hummus…and at the end of the day you can unwind with a pumpkin spiced ale or tea or stir up a martini made with pumpkin spiced vodka.

Enough already! All these processed pumpkin things make me crave food made with the earthy flavor and texture of actual pumpkin and butternut squash.

I looked no further than the Bring It! archives to satisfy my craving, and used the excuse to do some experimenting. First, there is the ridiculously easy—Halloween Soup, which you may want to make for sustenance tonight. For apps, my fall fave is squash on toast featuring spicy roasted squash and maple caramelized onion. Deconstructed, the elements of this make amazing pizzas, quesadillas, grilled cheeses and, with a little more tweaking, a rustic bread pudding (ready for prime time soon I hope). Until then, get your casserole fix with butternut squash casserole or commit to butternut squash lasagne. Pumpkin rosemary hummus has the flavors of fall without the cloying PSL signature, and by subbing pumpkin or squash for banana in buckwheat granola, you’ve got a new, weird classic.

But let’s revisit that PSL. Its popularity underscores our need for something a little more substantial in our cups and on our plates for breakfast this time of year. Wrangling a good breakfast—that can be portable, reheatable, and versatile—into the household every morning can take you down! Crustless breakfast quiches to the rescue. They make a brilliant go-to for any meal or snack and can be made in mini or regular muffin tins (though mini versions seem a little bit mean). The cornstarch keep the texture silky even through freezing and reheating, and the filling can be tweaked with whatever you have on hand (hello roasted butternut squash and caramelized onion!) I meant to stage a proper photo shoot with them, but in one of those ironies of food blogging, the best things disappear before they can be properly photographed. So just trust me—these are man-, boy- and mom-tested and approved. Girls? Please report!

Before. Add whatever filling makes you happy.

After. Fully self contained–no utensils required.

Crustless Zucchini and Basil (or whatever) Mini-Quiches

Makes 48 mini quiches or 14 ish muffin sized quiches; adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream (if no cream, a combo of milk and sour cream works too)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Oil, for the pan

Filling*

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
2 small zucchini, grated (or chopped vegetable of choice)
1/2 cup or more grated Gruyere or Parmesan cheese (it has to be a hard cheese to make a crust. You can add other cheese on top if desired)
Fresh basil, finely chopped (or herb of choice, all optional)

* filling can be adapted to use anything you like. Try chopped up ham and broccoli, apples and walnuts, sautéed corn and peppers, spinach and mushrooms, or of course roasted squash and caramelized onions.

Method:

Heat oven to 450°F.

Prepare Batter: Put the cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisking steadily, slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the milk, mixing until quite smooth. Whisk in the whole eggs and egg yolks, mixing again until smooth, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk, the cream, salt, and nutmeg. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to one day. If using the next day, be sure to re-whisk.

Prepare Zucchini/Veggie Mixture: In a nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add grated zucchini, and stir until just softened, another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. (This is where you can freelance with other vegetables, herbs, meat, dollops of soft cheese or whatever you like)

Oil mini muffin tins well. Put a pinch grated cheese into each muffin cup, a teaspoon of zucchini mixture, and pinch of chopped fresh basil. Pour 1 tablespoon of the batter into each muffin cup. (adjust amounts for regular muffin cups, making sure there is enough cheese to cover the bottom of the pan.)

Bake until the quiches puff and start to turn golden, 15-18 minutes (a bit longer for regular muffin cups) Let cool for 10 minutes and then carefully run a paring knife around the rim of each muffin cup. Carefully lift each quiche out of its cup.

Mini quiches freeze very well. Let cool, then freeze in a single layer in a covered container. Reheat on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes. They will also keep a few days in the fridge, to be reheated as needed.

Pear Tarte Tatin

The branches practically touching the ground they are so pear laden.

When it comes to fruit, I rarely pick the pear as my first, second, third, or even tenth choice. I don’t know why, but they are just not high on my list of fruit. Pears are really good, don’t get me wrong, but there are so many other fruits that trump the pear (in my book anyway)….especially right now with apples falling off almost every tree you pass. Having said this, I recently found myself with a bag full of pears from a neighbor’s pear tree so I was in a situation where pears suddenly moved to the #1 spot on my list. This was fortuituous because pears don’t get nearly enough play in my house. And so I went to my stand by cookbooks and websites and found Pear Tarte Tatin. What a fun idea – make a pie-like dessert (NOTE: this is not a pie but pie-like….for those of you who know me you know I don’t make pies) and then flip it upside down. I was all in.

As an aside, I learned that a tatin is an upside-down pasty in which the fruit is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tarte is baked. It is gooey and yummy and great for this time of year. I would even suggest this as a Thanksgiving dessert to go along with your pumpkin pie!

Enjoy and happy Fall season!

Ingredients

1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 firm, slightly under ripe pears, peeled, cored, and rubbed with lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
9 oz. frozen pastry puff, defrosted and brought to room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp milk

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put sugar, vanilla, and 1/2 cup water into an 8 inch ovenproof, heavy bottom fry pan and bring to a boil. Simmer this syrup until it thickens to become a deep brown caramel (when making caramel, do not be tempted to stir the sugar, as it will impact the process of making the caramel).

Cut each pear into 6 wedges. Put pears in the caramel and gently toss until coated. Stir in butter and continue to reduce until you have a thick, buttery, caramel sauce. Carefully take off the heat and sprinkle on the ginger and walnuts.

Next, roll out the puff pastry until it’s the thickness of a 1/2 dollar and cut into a circle that it is about the size of your fry pan. You will want to tuck the edges down into the pan so leave a little extra. Mix the egg with the milk, then lay the pastry on top of the pears and tuck in around the edges. Brush the top of the pastry with the milk/egg mixture. Put the pan in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until the puff pastry is nicely browned on top.

Once the pear tarte is cooked, now comes the super fun part – you have to flip it upside down for it to be a tatin! To do this flipping, place a plate on top of your fry pan and using an oven mitt (or maybe two), flip the pan upside down and give it a little jiggle. With any luck, the pear tarte will fall out onto the plate. Voila, pear tarte tatin! Way to go. If it doesn’t slide out easily, get creative and ask others in the house to help. They will all want to be a part of this success.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy the fall and make pears a top choice. They are really good.

Classic Champion Chip Cookies

Pro move: Lila’s got the tools of the trade—parchment paper and high tech oven mitts.

Honestly, do you really need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Apparently, yes! These come to you from US Ski Team rising star Lila Lapanja, who contributed mightily to my condo survival guide in Ski Racing. Lila’s mom Margie is the baking legend behind Margie’s Cowboy Cookies and the author of four cookbooks that meld life and kitchen wisdom with soul-satisfying recipes. Margie is all about comfort food, so of course her chocolate chip cookies would be good.

I am not sure what makes these so fool-proof, but they are. Maybe it’s the combo of margarine and butter, or the nice round numbers that make the proportions easy to remember even if you cut the recipe in half or in quarters; or the way dough stays soft and easy to scoop even if it’s in the fridge for a while; or the way they cook evenly and stay just soft enough when cool. I’m not sure what the magic is, but it just is. The next time you’re making a care package (surely someone you know needs a boost!) try baking these and you won’t go wrong.

According to Margie and Lila, these cookies will bring you good luck if you eat them the night before your ski races or at lunch between runs.

Champion Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 cups unbleached flour
4 cups chocolate chips*

(You can cut this recipe in half to make it more manageable. No calculator required!)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large (at least 13-quart) mixing bowl, whip up margarine, butter, and sugars until fluffy with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and mix well. (Slackers note—if a fork is all you’ve got just make sure the butter and margarine are soft and whip it good!)

Blend the baking soda and baking powder into the flour and tap into the creamed mixture on low speed. Mix until it comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips with a strong wooden spoon.

Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment and scoop the dough with a small (1- to 2-ounce) ice cream scoop or with a large spoon. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes (depending on your stove…), until lightly golden in color with tiny cracks on top of the cookies. Note your baking time for the rest of the batch. Makes about 4 dozen 2-ounce (Mrs. Fields’-size) cookies.

* Yes, there is a secret to this recipe: the chocolate chips. My favorite baking chips are, have been, and will always be Hershey‘s…or Trader Joe’s. I like to use half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate. On festive occasions, try tossing in white chocolate chips, a few toffee chips, or mini-kisses.