Oats and Orange Cookies

1 cup rolled oats

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½ cup margarine or butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg (or egg replacer)

1 Tbsp grated orange zest

1 tsp vanilla

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¾ cups flour (or gluten free mix)

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

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¾ cups pecans chopped in big pieces

Put oats in a shallow pan. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.

Cream the sugar, egg (or egg replacer), orange zest and vanilla in a big bowl. Mix together the rest of the dry ingredients. Combine liquid and dry mixture and add the oats and nuts. Spoon by Tbsp on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Translate from french.

Raspberry-Rooibos Tea Muffins

1½ cups teff flour
¾ cup tapioca flour
1½ tsp baking soda
 ¾ tsp salt
1 cup brewed rooibos tea
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup sugar
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries

 Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Combine teff flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the tea, coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well, breaking up any lumps of flour. Once a smooth batter is achieved, fold in the raspberries.

Pour the batter in a paper lined muffins pan. Bake until golden and slightly firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

From Gluten-Free & Vegan Bread, Jennifer Katzinger

Apple Cranberry Oat Crumble

1 Tbs unsalted butter or vegan alternative, at room temperature, for dish

TOPPING
2 cups rolled oats

1½ cups flour (or gluten free alternative)

1⅓ cups sugar

½ tsp salt

¾ unsalted butter or vegan alternative

FRUIT FILLING

8 large apples, sliced (3½ pounds prepped)

2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

1⅓ sugar

2 Tbs cornstarch

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 3-quart baking dish.

To make the topping, mix the oats, flour, sugar, and salt together. Stir in the butter, then press the topping together with your hands to form small clumps. Put the topping in the freezer while you assemble the filling.

To make the fruit filling, toss the apples, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Transfer the filling to the prepared pan and spread it out, pressing the fruits down into the corners.

Press the oat crumble evenly over the fruit, then bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the crumble is lightly golden and the filling is bubbling up in the corners.

From Rustic Fruit Desserts, Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson

Mushroom Pie
Sienipiirakka
 Yields 8 servings (makes one pie)

Filling:
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 tablespoons butter
8 cups chopped mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
lots of freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces cream cheese

Crust:
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
flour for coating the dough and board for rolling

Glaze:
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

Directions: 
To make the filling, sauté the onions in the butter in a large skillet. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the mushrooms and thyme and sauté for a few more minutes, until the mushrooms release their juices. Add the seasonings. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and then stir it into the mushrooms until it melts. Remove from the heat and set aside until the crust is ready.
Preheat the oven to 400.
For the crust, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer or by hand, cut the butter just enough to achieve and evenly textured crumbly mix. Stir in the sour cream to form a soft dough. Generously dust the dough with flour and form it into a ball.
On a heavily floured board, roll out 2/3 of the dough to fit a 10-inch pie plate. Trim the edges. Fill with the mushroom mixture. Roll out the remaining dough about 1/4 inch thick (thicker than usual pie crust) and cut into strips 1 inch wide. Weave the strips into a lattice over the filling. This is a bit of trouble but well worth the effort, as you'll see. Fold the ends of the lattice strips under the bottom crust, pinch the edges together, and flute.
For the glaze, beat the eggs and milk. With a pastry brush, thoroughly coat the pie crust. (You'll have more than you need―give leftovers to the cat.)
Bake the pie for 25 to 35 minutes, until the crust is puffy and golden.

Upside-down pear chocolate cake

 
1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature, for pan

FRUIT TOPPING

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

3 firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored, and each cut into 12 slices (1 pound prepped)

CAKE

¼ cup (2 ounces) butter

4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup flour

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup milk

Butter a 9-inch round baking pan.

To make the fruit topping, put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan (one with a tight-fitting lid) and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then cover and cook for 2 minutes. (Covering in this way allows the steam to wash down the sides of the pan, which will prevent any sugar crystals from forming.) Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the sugar, gently and slowly swirling the pan as needed to cook the caramel evenly, until it becomes a dark amber color. Occasionally wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow it to harden. The pan will be very hot from the sugar, so take care in moving it if you need to. Fan the pear slices on top of the caramel in a circle around the perimeter, filling in the center with the remaining slices.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the cake, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat and melt, stirring occasionally. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer the melted chocolate to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake bounces back slightly when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate, leaving the pan on top of the cake for 5 minutes before you remove it. 

From Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson,  Rustic Fruit Desserts