One of my favourite salads has always been broccoli salad.  It is a salad that I tend to only eat at pot lucks and such because to make a full recipe here at home just has never been practical.

 

I am really excited to be sharing this recipe with you today. Prepare to have your socks knocked off!  Swedish Pepparkakor Cookie Butter Croissants.  WOWSA!

  

Its an idea I have had rolling around in this brain of mine for a few weeks now.  Buttery croissants filled with a spicy Swedish Pepparkakor Cookie Butter, rolled in butter and cookie crumb cinnamon sugar,  baked until golden brown, and then drizzled with a simple drizzle icing and dusted with a few more cookie crumbs.

 

In case you are not familiar with Swedish Pepparkakor Cookies, they usually come in a tin like this. I believe you can buy them in Ikea year round, but I picked up mine in Costco prior to Christmas. If I am not mistaken they sell the there pretty much year round as well. 

 

We love them. They are thin and crisp and spicy. I could easily eat a whole handful and in all truth it takes all of my willpower not to just sit down and gorge myself on them.  We had some leftover from Christmas (only because I had them stored out of reach) and I had in mind to make a cookie butter with them. I had seen a recipe on Serious Eats for Lotus cookie butter, and I decided that it would also work well for these.  I was right.

 

I also had a quantity of stale all butter croissants that needed using.  To be truthful, you want stale croissants for these.  They hold up better to the filling and crisp up just perfectly in the oven!

 

I cut the recipe in half, just so you know  . . .

 

I filled the stale croissants with some of the cookie butter, then brushed the with melted butter, generously of course and why not. In for a penny in for a pound.

  

I then sprinkled the with a cinnamon sugar cookie crumb mixture prior to baking them in the oven until the cookie butter had melted into the flaky insides of the croissants and they were crisp and golden on the outsides.   I then drizzled a sweet icing drizzle over top and sprinkled on a few more crumbs.

 

The crumbs were really easy to make in my mini blender.  You want them to be quite fine.  They get mixed with some water and golden syrup until the cookies melt and  become smooth.  You let it cool then and then blitz it together with some coconut oil until smooth.

 

You don't want the coconut oil to be rock hard, but you don't want it to be liquid either.

  

Just look at the inside of these tasty babies.  Oh so scrumptiously moreish!

 

Crisp on the outsides  . . .  flaky on the insides  . . .  sweetly filled . . .

 

I think I created a very tasty monster . . .

 

Todd scarfed down two of these all on his own.  I meant only to have a bit of one . . .  but  . . .

 

You know how it goes.  I kept going back for little nibbles . . .  they were so good  . . . and before I could say Jack Robin one of them had disappeared. 

  

There is only one left now and I am going to try to entice Todd with it this evening so that the temptation is well out of my way. 

 

I apologise about the mishmash of photographs here today.  I was so excited about this recipe and I had taken some beautiful photos.  I thought I had uploaded them, I had computer problems.  I deleted them from the camera because I always do that right after I upload them.  When I went to edit them, they were not there.  And of course I had deleted them.  GRRRRR!!!  I then took a few more while I still had the light of the leftover ones . . .  but I decided to try to see if I could find the other ones somewhere on the computer.  I finally found them in my Google Drive, but it took me forever  to download them one at a time, hence the hash-up. In any case, I hope you will want to try these. You won't be sorry! You hips might be annoyed with you however.

 

 Baked Apples one of the comfort foods we like to enjoy in the Winter months.  Apples are plentiful and at their best. We don't mind having the oven on, and they are delicious and very easy to do.

 

I had recently gotten some fabulous Organic Dried Cranberries and Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks from Buy Wholefoods Online and I felt they would be perfect for using in this simple and easy dessert. If you are not familiar with Buy Whole Foods Online you really need to look them up. I buy all of my dried fruit from them every year for my Christmas Cakes, and other bits and bobs throughout the year. Buy Whole Foods Online is an international health food supplier, based in Minster, Ramsgate, North East Kent. They deliver top quality natural and organic wholefoods, and related healthy living products, directly to homes and businesses across the UK and Europe. I have always been very happy with both their products and their service.

 

Baked apples make for a lovely breakfast treat or a dessert for after your dinner. I think they are very homey and comforting. You can bake just about any apple, but today I chose to use Pink Ladies as that is what I had in the refrigerator.  You will need to core them.

 

I have an apple corer, but today I also wanted to keep the bottoms intact, so I just used it to punch a whole down into the apple almost through to the bottom and then I used a metal 1/4 tsp measure to scoop out the core and enough surrounding apple to give me a one inch cavity down most of the length of the apple.

 

You need plenty of room to hold a cinnamon stick and that buttery cranberry, oat and maple filling! There's a bit of freshly grated nutmeg in there as well. I like to buy my nutmegs whole.  They last forever and freshly grated nutmeg is far superior to the already grated stuff you can buy.  At Buy Wholefoods you can buy anywhere from 125g up to 1 kg.   (It would take you a long time to use the larger amount.)

 

I always cut a really shallow line into the apple all the way around it horizontally.  This helps to prevent the apple from bursting when it is baking.  You will see it when you first take the apple out of the oven, but once the apple settles it disappears pretty much.

  

 You could of  use ground cinnamon but I really like the way that a whole cinnamon stick uses in these.  You don't eat it of course, but it does impart a nice cinnamon flavour to the whole apple and when you are done you can use add it to a saucepan along with some orange peel, whole cloves, star anise and water to make a natural air freshener.  When we had the wood stove I always had a container filled with this simmering on the back of the stove all winter through.  It made the house smell gorgeous and put some moisture into the air at the same time.  Wood fires can be so drying.

 

Isn't that pretty!  You stuff around the cinnamon stick with the oat, maple and cranberry stuffing. It helps to hold the cinnamon stick in place and adds even more lovely flavours to the apples.

 

They bake in a small baking dish along with some boiling water and a bit of Maple Syrup.  This forms a bit of a sauce when all is said and done, which is lovely spooned over the finished apples.

  

Depending on the apples you use it will take anywhere from between 40 minutes to an hour for them to bake to a nice softness  . . . I like them to be just soft enough to easily push the tip of a sharp knife into them.

 

These were done just right in about 45 minutes.  Take them out after about 40 and check them. If you think they are still hard, cover them up and pop them back in for a little bit longer.  Nobody enjoys a hard baked apple.

 

I have given quantities today for only two, but you can of course double or triple the amounts if you want more.

  

These were just perfect with some double cream poured into the bowl with them, but custard or vanilla ice cream would also be nice. In all truth they are also very tasty just on their own.

  

I bet I probably bake apples at least once a week in the Winter months. Todd just loves them and as far as dessert goes, they are not all that unhealthy.  Low in sugar and fat, and high in fibre too! 

 

I got a few other things from Buy Whole Foods.  Organic Barley Flour, (which I am going to make some bread with),Pickling Spice (I am thinking pickled carrots here or red onions.  It is also great with red cabbage), Turmeric Powder (Fabulous to give you brilliant colour in a curry and  also has a great many other health benefits) and Brewers Yeast, which is another great nutritional supplement.  Try it mixed into your hot drinks or smoothies.  It is a great source of chromium which can help control your blood sugar levels. You can also add it to baked goods. 

I really would like to recommend you checking out Buy Wholefoods Online!  They are a wonderful and affordable source for nuts, seeds, fruits, health supplements, herbs, spices, personal care and alternative therapies, speciality foods, Japanese foods, dried vegetables, coconut and a whole lot more!  Their prices are very reasonable and their delivery service impeccable. They have been my go-to for a lot of things over these last few years because I can trust them, and I think you will too! 

 

This year I am planning on focusing more on small batch cookery, cooking for two or three, ie. the smaller family, as much as I can.  

 

There are only two of us in our home most days and I just don't entertain as much as I used to do. Downsizing recipes only makes economic sense.  I also hate waste.

 

I also want to work more on bringing my recipe index up to date.  As you can imagine with over 10 years worth of recipes on here that is a considerable job to tackle.

 

 I plan on decreasing my daily posts to maybe every other day so that I can use that time to do that.  I think it will be worth it both to myself in the long run and certainly to you, the readers as well. 

 

I hope you will support me to that end.  There will be the odd recipe to feed a larger family and, in all truth, I don't know of many recipes that cannot be doubled successfully.

 

 I really don't think anyone is going to lose anything in the long run.

  

The recipe I am sharing with you today is for a small batch classic Lasagna recipe.  It is just as delicious and satisfying as my bigger batch recipe. 

 

I have gone without a bechamel sauce topping however.  Feel free to make a small batch of bechamel for on top if you wish, but I promise you, this recipe is so delicious, you won't miss it.

 

This delicious meaty sauce uses both lean ground beef and spicy Italian sausage, for plenty of meatiness and flavour.  I am not a person who likes huge chunks of meat in my sausages, so I mash the meat well with a potato masher to an even consistency within the sauce.

 

For me it is a consistency thing. I can't stand the feel of it against  my teeth. I am not sure if that makes me wierd or not.

  

I have also added a bit of double cream to the sauce to give a depth of richness and a velvety texture very reminiscent of a good bolognese. 

You can't beat a bit of cream in a sauce, even a meat sauce. In North America just use heavy or whipping cream.

 

Here in the UK, our fresh lasagna comes in sheets, so I have chosen to cut them in half lengthwise.  I know North American lasagna noodles are much narrower and so where I have chosen to use two sheets cut in half for this, in North America you can use 4 no-boil noodles.

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

I have chosen to bake it in a small pie dish, but you can easily bake this in a small loaf tin, where it will fit perfectly.  

 

If you spritz it well with low fat cooking spray, you shouldn't have any problem spooning it out when done.

 

I have chosen to do a couple of layers of a delicious garlicky cottage cheese and Parmesan mixture instead of the bechamel on top, which adds both interest and additional texture and flavour.

  

The use of a beaten egg helps to set it up and it forms and almost custard cheese layer that is beautiful.

 

I have also used plenty of fresh basil in the custard layer for additional flavour.

  

I really hope that you will be inspired to bake this and that you will like it.  Todd, who always says he hates pasta, was really happy with the results.  That, in turn, made me happy also.

 

You really don't need anything on the side when serving this except perhaps a tossed salad and some garlic bread or crusty rolls if you wish.  The bread will be great in ensuring that you can mop up all of that rich and meaty sauce! 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!  

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