TWD – Cran Apple Crisps

I think I have a secret apparent love affair with all desserts with funny names. For those of you who need examples:

Crisp

Crumble

Fool

Grunt

Buckle

Slump… Get the picture??

Each incorporates fruits and makes them practically irresistible to me.  Now if only I can invent a fruit dish and call it a “Whoopsy” I think my life would be complete!!

So naturally I was all smiles and sunshine when it came time to make this weeks TWD recipe. I didn’t change much about the recipe: I doubled the cinnamon and subbed the ginger for nutmeg, added some cinnamon to the cran-apple filling, and added chopped almonds to the crumble topping. And boy, let me tell you… this was GOOD!!

I don’t think I have ever fully appreciated the cranberry in anything except juice UNTIL NOW! I’m a changed woman. Changed I say.

Their tart tanginess dances beautifully with the sweet apples and crunchy-nutty-aromatic crumble topping.

My only regret? Not having vanilla ice cream to top it off with. 😉

You KNOW you want the recipe, so head on over to Em at The Repressed Pastry Chef and take a gander at her delish goodies.

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SMS – Pear Cranberry Muffins

NOTE: my flickr account is being a pain in the *cough* so for now, because I’m out of time… for pictures… visit my Flickr account! And will SOMEONE please tell me how I’m supposed to transfer my pics from flickr to my blog? Thanks!

There is one phrase that I tend to save for something big, so it will make a big impact when I use it.

DOUBLE WHAMMY!!

And that’s exactly what these muffins are. Easy to make (see: throw together) and deeeeeelicious (see: yum).

The base for these is the exact same that I used for the peach muffins, but those were a disaster compared to these. They were very dense and just lacked in texture and flavor. I needed to alter these to make ’em work for me because pears…. and cranberries?? Hello, lover!

I halved the recipe, omitted the orange zest (I didn’t have any on hand, but I WILL throw this in next time), omitted the gingersnap crumble (to cut down on cost, but will consider next time),  substituted half of the butter for unsweetened applesauce (and added roughly 1/2 tsp more), I added cinnamon (I want to say 1/2 TBS but I can’t recall exactly, I just threw it in) and I used 2% milk in place of the whole milk. My pears weren’t ripe (which made for a nice crunchy texture), cranberries frozen solid, and my milk and egg weren’t at room temperature. Threw it all together, and was blessed with the most tender, moist, flavorful muffins that have ever come out of my oven! This is a keeper, a keeper I tell ya!!

Because I know you’ll want the recipe, head on over to Jennifer’s blog Maple N’ Cornbread. Oogle her goodies and nab that recipe 🙂