Baking My Way: Cherry Poppy Seed Twinks

These cookies are good! They are a melt in your mouth short bread and are on so tasty. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup cherry preserves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C ).
2. Cream together butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, salt, and poppy seeds until well blended. Drop dough from a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Make an indention in the middle of each cookie with your finger. If the dough is too sticky, dip your finger in water first. Fill each hole with about 1/2 teaspoon of cherry preserves.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. 

Recipe Source

Baking Goal: Snickerdoodle Blondies

If you love snickerdoodle cookies I bet you would love these! My husband loves these cookies so I can't wait to try making it into a brownie!

Check out the recipe at Arctic Garden Studio

Health Tip of the Week: The Benefits of Fibre Pt.2

Preventing Certain Diseases

Getting enough fibre in the diet can lower the risk of developing certain conditions:

Heart disease. Evidence is now growing to support the notion that foods containing soluble fibre (such as oats, rye barley, and beans) can have a positive influence on cholesterol, triglycerides, and other particles in the blood that affect the development of heart disease. Some fruits and vegetables (such as citrus fruits and carrots) have been shown to have the same effect.

Cancer. The passage of food through the body is speed up when fibre is eaten. Some experts believe this may prevent harmful substances found in some foods from affecting the colon and may protect against colon cancer. (However, a recent study conducted by Harvard University concluded that eating high-fibre food did not appear to protect people from colon cancer.) Other types of cancer that are linked with overnutrition and may be prevented by a fibre-rich diet include breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and uterine cancer.

Diabetes. Adding fibre to the diet helps regulate blood sugar levels, which is important in avoiding diabetes. In addition, some people with diabetes can achieve a significant reduction in their blood sugar levels and may find they can reduce their medication.

Diverticular disease. Diverticular disease is a condition in which small pouches, called diverticula, develop in the wall of the colon. In a small percentage of people, these diverticula become inflamed or infected, a condition known as diverticulitis. Diverticular disease can cause pain, diarrhoea, constipation, and other problems.

Gallstones and kidney stones. Rapid digestion leads to a rapid release of glucose (sugar) into the bloodstream. To cope with this, the body has to release large amounts of insulin into the bloodstream, and this can make a person more likely to develop gallstones and kidney stones (in addition to diabetes and high cholesterol).

For further information about diverticular disease, go to Diverticular Disease.

For further information about gallstones, go to Gallstones.
For further information about kidney stones, go to Kidney Stones.

Come back next week for part 3 and the completion of this series!

Amanda's Sauce Pan Brownie

I love chewy, soft, fudgy brownies.  I never seem to find the right combination so I played around and created my own! This brownie is so decadent, sweet, very chocolatey. It's rich and wonderful! It's like fudge but so so much better!! (no sweetened condensed milk, ick!)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons almond extract
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

PREPARATION:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9" baking pan. In medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add sugar, almond extract and eggs; blend well. Add flour, cocoa and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate. Pour into greased pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until set. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Cut into bars.


Frosting:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting Instructions:
- In a saucepan combine white and brown sugars, salt, milk, butter and chocolate chips.
- Bring to a boil and stir constantly
- Reduce heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes
- Remove from heat
- In in icing sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.
Frost cooled brownie 

Chocolate Indulge: Tallgrass Bakery

I don't think I've ever had a pound cake before and if so I have never had one that has tasted this good!! It has the perfect amount of chocolate and mint and then the chocolate layer on the outside-wow. Between the three of us and the two desserts we had we didn't finish this one so half of it is still in the freezer and I can't wait to have more.

Health Tip of the Week: The Benefits of Fibre Pt. 1

Fibre is helpful to the body in many ways:

- Relieving constipation and haemorrhoids
- Preventing certain diseases
- Keeping weight under control

Avoiding and Relieving Constipation
Fibre can absorb large amounts of water in the bowels, and this makes stools softer and easier to pass. Anyone starting a higher-fibre diet will notice the difference in stool bulk.
In almost all cases, increasing fibre in the diet will relieve constipation within hours or days.
Because stools are easier to pass, less straining is necessary, and this can help relieve haemorrhoids.

Digestion Fact:
On average, it takes 39 hours in women and 31 hours in men for food to pass through the colon and out of the body. This time varies a lot from person to person, depending on personality, state of mind, and fibre intake. Usually, the effect of fibre is to speed up this process.

Come back next week for part 2!

Baking My Way: Triple Chocolate Strip Cookies

These cookies are seriously decadent and ultra chocolatey. They are a wonderful cookie. I could eat so many of them but they are so rich I try to just keep it to one at a time! They bake flat (or at least mine did!) similar to biscotti but at not double baked so they are still very soft and chewy.


Cookies
2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa; unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown sugar; firmly packed
3/4 cup Margarine; softened
2 Eggs
2 cups Chocolate chips

White Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Dark Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 teaspoon butter


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.

In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar and margarine until light and fluffy.

Add eggs; blend well. Stir in flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide dough into four equal portions. Shape each portion into a 12 x 1-1/2 inch roll. Place 2 rolls, 2 inches apart a prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of roll comes out almost clean. Remove from cookie sheets; cool on wire rack 10 minutes.

Melt white chocolate, drizzle over rolls. Repeat with the dark chocolate.

Cut rolls on the diagonal into 1 inch wide strips. Makes 4 dozen.