Rebecca Davis 10/30/17 Rebecca Davis 10/30/17

Boneyard bark

This last minute, easy, Halloween treat is sure to delight even the smallest ghouls and goblins.

Take me to the recipe!

For the pretzel bones:
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 tsp coconut oil
Thin pretzel sticks
Mini marshmallows

Melt the white chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds and then 10 seconds at a time, stopping and mixing after each 10-second burst, until melted.

Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper and clean out space in your fridge to chill the bones.

Cut the pretzel sticks and mini marshmallows in half.

Dip one end of the 1/2 pretzel stick into the melted chocolate and carefully stick two of the 1/2 marshmallows onto the chocolate and hold for a few seconds to set. Repeat on the other side of the pretzel stick.

Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Reheat your chocolate slightly (for about 5 seconds) and stir.

Dip the whole pretzel and marshmallow bone into the white chocolate with a fork and gently tap on the side of your bowl to let the extra chocolate drip off. Place back on the parchment sheet and return to the fridge and chill for 10-15 minutes.

For the ribs and skeleton bones:
Yogurt covered pretzels (whatever you think you'll need and then extras because they break in the cutting)

Saw the yogurt pretzels in half with a sharp knife and take off a little bit of the middle nubbin that's left between the pretzel's two arches. These arches will be the ribs. The bottom half of the pretzel can be the pelvis and any pieces that break off (and lots will, don't worry about it) can be used to make the arms or legs.

Set aside the cut pretzels.

For the bark:
2 cups chocolate chips (any combination of semi-sweet, milk, and dark chocolate)
1 tsp coconut oil
Candy eyes (optional)
Candy bones (optional)

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave, stirring after each 10-second burst until everything is melted.

Gather your toppings.

Pour the melted chocolate onto a fresh piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread into a thin layer (but not too thin). Place your pretzel bones, pretzel ribs, candy eyes, and candy bones onto the warm chocolate. Once you’re satisfied with your arrangement, chill for at least an hour in the fridge.

Rebecca Davis 10/24/17 Rebecca Davis 10/24/17

Apple almond bread

Use up a few of those abundant fall apples in this quick, easy loaf that you can make in one bowl!

Take me to the recipe!

Apple and almond might be one of my favorite combinations and luckily, M thinks so too. Because we’ve eaten a lot of these breads in the past few weeks. And I mean…a lot.

Why have I tested this recipe so much, you might ask? Well, I thought my first try was pretty darn close to perfect, but my husband thought it was too dry. I thought he was crazy, but his comment stuck in my craw. I tried this quick bread with more butter, more yogurt, more butter and yogurt, etc, but the end results, to me, never seemed as good as the original and it spoiled faster the wetter I made the batter.

If you like a wetter crumb, feel free to throw in another 1/4 cup of yogurt, but remember that you probably shave off a day from the life of your loaf. (Without the extra yogurt, you get about 4-5 days loosely wrapped at room temperature from this bad boy- not that you'll need it).

A couple of notes:

No need to toast the almonds in the topping because they'll toast while the bread cooks.
If you want the apples to disappear into the bread, chop them into tiny pieces. If you like to see and taste the apples more emphatically, leave them in 1/2-inch chunks. Larger chunks of apple make the bread a bit more crumbly, so choose whichever method better suits your tastes.

Also great about this bread? You only need one bowl for the base! (The topping uses another small bowl, but you could wipe out the large bowl and use it again to make the topping once you pour the batter into the loaf pan.)

Apple almond bread

Time: about 1 hour, mostly hands off
Yield: 8-10 slices

For the topping:
1 ½ Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup sliced almonds (not toasted)
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
pinch of salt

For the bread:
2.5 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup whole milk yogurt (non-Greek)
¾ cup maple syrup
2 eggs
½ tsp almond extract
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup almond flour
2 heaping Tbsp flax seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
3 cups diced apples (about 2 large apples, not peeled)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5 or 10x5 loaf pan with olive oil and set aside.

Make the topping: In small bowl, melt the butter. Add the almonds, 3 Tbsp of whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt and mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, melt the rest of the butter and let cool slightly. (Or, melt the butter halfway and stir to melt the rest. This usually results in warm, not hot, butter.)

Add the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk to incorporate .

Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined and no streaks remain. Set aside.

Chop the apples and add to the batter. Stir a few times to combine, but don’t over mix.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Check the bread after about 30 minutes or if you start to smell the almond too strongly. Cover with foil if the topping browns too quickly and continue to bake until the tester comes out clean.

Rebecca Davis 8/1/17 Rebecca Davis 8/1/17

DIY Stonefruit crumble

Chopped fresh fruit, a simple buttery cookie crumble that bakes quickly, and a honey-sweetened whipped cream result in a perfect summer crumble that is quick, fresh, and delicious. Me & The moose | DIY Stonefruit crumble #meandthemoose #crumble #peaches #nectarines #plums #fruit #summerbaking #dessert

The easiest, make-ahead, assemble-yourself dessert that celebrates summer produce and lets guests (or picky kids) customize it to their liking.

Take me to the recipe!

What's better than a summer crumble, amiright? It's the easiest dessert because you don't have to deal with a finicky pie crust or fish out any special kitchen gadgets (or even non-special ones like the mixer). However, the downside of a crumble is that it often requires 40-50 minutes in the oven, which means 40-50 minutes of heating up your house. No thanks!

This "crumble" lets the ripe seasonal fruit be the star— it's just chopped and mixed with a little lemon juice to prevent browning— while a quick bake of the crumble topping adds crunch and a fresh honey whipped cream adds a little decadence. And ALL of this is toddler approved, especially the part where you get to DIY the toppings.

The crumble topping was a bit of an experiment. I started with a recipe from King Arthur Flour. Initially, I used all coconut sugar and tried to sub in coconut oil for the butter, but it burned almost every time and tasted burned even when it wasn't quite baked yet. Gross. The proportions I landed on are buttery and caramel-y and form a crispy cookie that’s easy to break once it cools. But, if you don’t have coconut sugar, using all brown sugar works well too!

DIY stone fruit crumble

3.5-4 lbs mixed stone fruit (I used 6 peaches, 6 plums, 5 nectarines, and 6 apricots)
1 large lemon or 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Chop the fruit (leave the skins on) and cover with lemon juice to prevent browning. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the crumble:
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

½ cup melted butter
½ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, loosely packed (or, use 3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar if you don’t have coconut sugar)
¾ cup whole wheat or AP flour
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300.

Melt the butter in a large bowl. Add the dry crumble ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Spread onto a baking sheet in a thin, even layer.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking every 5 minutes to prevent burning.

Let cool for about 30 minutes or until the cookie can be easily snapped into pieces.

Yield: 3.5 cups crumble

For the honey whipped cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, about 5-6 minutes. Add the honey, vanilla, and salt and whip for 3-4 more minutes, until the cream has reached your desired consistency. Don’t overmix or the cream will turn into butter.

Yield: 3 cups

Serves: 6-8