Category Archives: Baking and Pastries

Baked Garlic Fries with Truffle Oil

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Baked Garlic Truffle Fries

OMG BAKED TRUFFLE FRIES!!! all credit for this recipe goes to my Hubby. About a year ago we were in Atlanta on a business trip and we ordered these Garlic Truffle Fries from a lounge in the hotel we were staying at (Ritz Carlton in Buckhead). We completely fell in love with these fries. It took us some time before we found the Truffle Oil and Truffle Salt. After a few months of searching we finally found a store in down town Edmonton (Evoolution) that carries an amazing selection of Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars. We are sill on the the look out for actual truffles, these are a lot harder to come by in Edmonton. For now we will just have to manage with out the actual truffles. Weight Watcher points? I am not sure, but they are baked and not fried in oil. If you share the recipe with the hubby and kids the calorie consumption will be a lot less. Sharing is caring.

Ingredients:
  • 2 medium russet potatoes (about 0.75 pounds)
  • 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon truffle salt
  • 2 finely diced garlic garlic
  • 1 teaspoon drizzle of black truffle oil
  • 1 teaspoon of fresh or freeze dried parsley
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (230 degrees C).
  2. Slice potatoes into “hand-cut” size fries as pictured.
  3. Place sliced potatoes in a gallon size Ziploc bag and add the spices (all ingredients except truffle oil, truffle salt and parsley).
  4. Coat potatoes with the spices and oil by shaking bag well.
  5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread potatoes out in a single layer.
  6. Bake 20 minutes. Flip the fries over and crank oven up to 450.
  7. Cook 10 minutes, flip again and cook 10 more minutes or until potatoes are crisp and not burnt. Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes.
  8. Toss with truffle salt, garlic, parsley and drizzle with truffle oil before serving.

Baked Crab Cakes

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Yum crispy and delicious Crab Cakes. As usual I was craving something different for dinner and this time is was Crab Cakes. So many recipes are super unhealthy, I stumbled upon a healthier version and then changed it to make it even more healthy. This recipe makes 4 servings which equals 2 crab cakes a person. One serving is 3 weight watcher points (old). I served this with a side salad and a toast with some non fat Miracle Whip. Yes toast it sounds weird but it was tasty. A side of rice would also be nice.

Ingredients:
  • 10 ounches of Crabmeat
  • 1.5 cups of Panko
  • 1/2 Red Pepper, minced
  • 2 Scallions, sliced
  • 3 tbls of non-fat Miracle Whip
  • 3 large Egg Whites
  • 10 dashes Hot Sauce
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground Pepper
Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 450°F.
  • Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray.
  • Mix crab, panko, bell pepper, scallions, miracle whip, egg whites, hot sauce, salt and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among muffin cups.
  • Bake until crispy and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Low Fat Banana Muffins

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I love all things banana especially Banana Muffins and Bread. These muffins are low fat and delicious. Instead of using milk and butter to make these muffins moist the recipe calls for apple sauce and mashed up banana’s.  I have tried many recipes with applesauce and they usually turn out super dense, but these are light, moist and yummy. 3 mini muffins equals 1 Weight Watcher point. If your using a normal 12 cup muffin tin then one of those muffins would be 1 Weight Watcher point.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup of Flour
  • 1 tbsp of Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
  • 1/8 tsp of Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup of mashed Banana’s
  • 1/4 cup of Applesauce
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Grab two bowls and in one bowl mix together Flour, Salt, Baking Power, Baking Soda.
  3. In the second bowl beat together Egg, Banana, Sugar, Applesauce and Vanilla.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
  5. Pour mixture into the muffins tins and bake for 18-20 mins.
  6. Cool and Serve.

Low Fat Chocolate Cake

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OK.. WOW… I was really hesitant to try this recipe because I thought the cake would be super dense, but holy cow was I wrong. Just two simple ingredients are all you need to make a low fat deliciously fluffy chocolate cake. You can you either bake in large or small muffin pans. If you make mini muffins 3 will equal 5 WW points. If you make 12 large muffins 1 will be 5 WW points. This recipe was modified from a Hungry Girl recipe. HG’s recipe calls for Pumpkin Puree and I used Pumpkin Pie filling for a little extra spice. I think what caught me off guard was these actually rose like a cake and are so super moist. Seriously do not wait as long as I did, make these tonight for dessert the family will love it.

Ingredients:
  • 1 box Devils Food cake mix
  • 1 14 ounce can of Pumpkin Pie filling
Directions:
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix Pumpkin Pie filling with Devils food cake (batter will be thick DO NOT add anything else it will ruin the batter).
  3. Scoop into greased muffin pans and bake for 20-25 mins.
  4. Remove from oven and enjoy.

 

Campfire Bannock

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This weekend my hubby and I were camping in Jasper. I just love the mountains, something about that fresh, crisp mountain air just makes me smile. One of my favorite treats to make while camping is Bannock. Bannock is a flat bread or biscuit made with flour and is super yummy when served with butter, honey or jam. This is an easy and fun recipe to make while out camping with the family. It’s really fun if you use a stick to cook the Bannock. I could not find a good stick to use so I just fried it in a pan with a little bit of butter. You could also use a roasting stick to cook the Bannock, just make sure it’s kneaded tightly to the rod before cooking it. Points value if I had to guess would be about the same as a slice of bread 2-3 points for once piece. Add extra points for the toping you decide to use. Since I cooked mine in butter I didn’t add any extra toppings.

Ingredients:
  •  2 cups flour
  •  1 Tbsp baking powder
  •  2 Tbsp oil, butter or lard
  •  1/3 cup warm water, add more if needed
Directions:
  1. Add all dry ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Mix until crumbly.
  3. Slowly add water and mix until dough feels soft.
  4. Keep working the dough till it holds together.
  5. Either make a small ball and flatten to fry in a pan with butter or take a small handful and wrap around the end of a green stick and knead it so it stays together on the stick.
  6. Cook over fire for about 10 – 12 minutes, rotating to cook evenly.
  7.  Serve plain or add a bit of jam, butter or honey.

Pretzel Bites

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Here’s a great snack to make for parties, either your own or to bring to a guests house. I love soft pretzels and here’s a great recipe I always use. You can choose to make the original pretzel shape or you can cut them in to bite size pieces. You can also have a variety of toppings. For this round I had 4 difference toppings, sesame seed, corse sea salt, poppy seed and fried onions and finally a sweet treat cinnamon sugar.

Ingredients:
  • 1 tsp of Granulated Sugar
  • 1/4 cup of Warm Water
  • 1 Tablespoons (8g) Active Dry Yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups of Warm Water
  • 4 1/2 All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
  • 1 Egg White
  • 1 Tablespoon of Water
Vegetarian/Vegan Topping:
  • 2 Tablespoons of Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Directions:
  1. Stir sugar into first amount of warm water in a small bowl.
  2. Sprinkle Yeast over top of sugar and warm water mixture and let stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Combine second amount of warm water, flour and salt in a large bowl.
  4. Add yeast mixture and mix. Add a bit more flour if needed so the dough is not to sticky.
  5. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 10 mins until dough is smooth and elastic.
  6. Place the dough in a greased bowl turning once to grease top and cover with a tea towel.
  7. Place in the oven with the light on for 45 mins until the dough is double in size.
  8. Punch down the dough, cut into 12 pieces and roll the dough into long ropes.
  9. Brush the rope with each toping mentioned above and sprikle with whatever toppings you wish (poppy seeds, sugar, salt etc. The possibilities are endless)
  10. Cut 1 inch pillows from each rope and place on a baking sheet.
  11. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
  12. Remove from oven and enjoy. I personally love dipping these into a marinara sauce or nacho cheese sauce. For the cinnamon perhaps a fruit dip would be a great pairing.

Low Fat Cornmeal Muffins

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When I was younger I used to make Cornmeal Muffins for the family and like all muffins they are super high in points some reaching as high as 6 points per muffin. I really wanted to find a good, easy, quick Cornmeal Muffin recipe and then tweak it to lower the fat and calorie content. Instead of oil I used apple sauce and instead of one egg I used two egg whites. These muffins came out super moist and yummy. Each muffins contains approximately 2 weight watcher points. Serve these up the next time you have stew or chilli or just for fun as an afternoon treat.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup Apple Sauce (room temperature)
  • 2 Egg Whites
Directions:
  1. Stir dry ingredients together.
  2. Add the wet ingredients and beat just until all ingredients are blended.
  3. Fill well-greased muffin cups 2/3 full ( I used a square muffin pan)
  4. Bake at 400º for 20 minutes. Immediately run a small knife around each muffin and pull out of muffin cup onto a cooling rack. Best served warm from the oven. Yields 12 Cornmeal Muffins.

Zesty Orange Muffins

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It’s hard to find a good low fat muffin recipe, so when I tried these I was a little skeptical. To my surprise these were super moist and yummy. They are a muffin so they are denser then a cupcake. This recipe made 9 muffins and contains 2 weight watcher points per muffin. A great snack on the go. If they are a day or two old just heat them in the microwave. They do taste the best when served warm.

Ingredients:
  • 1 & 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 4 tsp of Sugar
  • 2 tsp of Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup of Non-Fat Milk
  • 1/2 cup of Orange Juice
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 4 tsp of melted Unsalted Butter
  • 2 tsp of Grated Orange Zest
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with Non Stick Spray.
  3. In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar).
  4. In a small bowl add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and combine just to moisten.
  6. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake fore 20 – 25 mins.

Cream Puffs

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I love cream puffs and I haven’t had very many since my weight loss journey. So I decided to create low fat cream puff we can all enjoy. These are really easy to make and only require 2 ingredients.

Ingredients:
  • 1 can of low fat Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough
  • 1 can or tub of low/non fat cool whip
Directions:
  1. Pre heat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Remove dough from package and roll in to a large ball.
  3. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface about 1 centimeter thick.
  4. Grab a small to medium cookie cutter any shape and cut out cookies. I used a small 1 inch wide heart shape cookie cutter as it’s all I had on hand.
  5. Place cut dough on a cookie sheet.
  6. Cook at 375 degrees fahrenheit for about 10-15 mins or until the tops are lightly brown.
  7. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.
  8. Once cooled cut the cookies down the center, fill with cool whip and enjoy.

Elvis Presley Cresent Rolls

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Here’s a fun recipe dedicated to my friend Lisa, she’s a HUGE Elvis Presley fan. Elvis loved to eat peanut butter banana bacon sandwiches (see more cookbooks with Elvis Presley’s favorite recipes) and here’s a super fun twist to honor the king of rock and roll. I found this recipe on the Pillsbury website and of course modified it and tweaked it to make it healthier. One cresent roll is 3 weight watcher points.

Ingredients:
  • 1 package low fat Pillsbury cresent rolls (8 count)
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 strips of cooked turkey bacon
  • Approximately 1 tbsp peanut butter
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Unroll and separate each cresent.
  3. Take the banana and place it into a bowl and mash it up.
  4. Place a tsp of the mashed banana onto each cresent.
  5. Cut thin strips from the bacon as they appear in the image below (before the roll).
  6. Roll up the cresent but not too tight as we don’t want the banana to ooze out. Repeat for each cresent.
  7. Place in oven for 8-10 minutes or until a nice golden color appears.
  8. When cooked remove from the oven and place 1/4 of the peanut butter on top of the roll. The heat will help it melt. You can garnish it as shown in the picture above or just leave it with the melting peanut butter. Serve and enjoy.