Pure bliss

While visiting Edmonton last year I had the good fortune of passing by
Planet Organic Market. Upon dropping in, I had the even "gooder"
fortune of discovering Bliss Balls.

Bliss Balls are the tasty work of New World Natural Foods. Filled with
high quality and nutritious ingredients (e.g. dates, nuts, dark
chocolate), the Balls are decidedly "moore-ish".

Given that these delectable-yet-pretty-good-for-you treats are not

sold where I live, I've been intent on figuring out how to make them
for myself. Or at least make something akin to them.

Here's the result of my experiment.

Homemade Bliss Balls

Ingredients
Insides:

• 9 oz dates or date cake
• 5 oz cashew butter
• 4 oz almond butter
• 1 oz brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Coating:

• 5 oz chocolate
• 1 tsp vanilla

(Makes about 27 Bliss Balls.)

Directions

1. Into food processor, add dates, cashew butter, almond butter, sugar and cocoa powder. Pulse (scraping sides with spatula, as needed). Remove blade from processor.
2. Melt chocolate over very low heat. Add vanilla, and just enough water to keep chocolate sufficiently runny to roll the balls in.
3. Form balls, approximately 1" in diameter.
4. Pierce each ball with a toothpick. Roll balls in melted chocolate.
5. Place coated balls on wax-paper-covered plate, leaving toothpicks in. Cover with plastic wrap.
6. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens somewhat. (Lick the spatula while you wait. ;-) )
7. Remove toothpicks, then dollop on melted chocolate to cover the hole. Or add a piece of a broken cashew or almond to cover hole.
8. Store in refrigerator.

In summary, I'm extremely pleased with how my homemade Bliss Balls
turned out. So is everybody who has sampled them: my Mom, husband Fred,
and work colleagues.

See how long yours last!

A snack that's hearty ... and haunted

With October chugging along, I wanted to do something with a Halloween theme. So on Saturday morning, I baked pumpkin muffins.

Most fun of all was devising an orange-colored icing  without using food coloring. (Those sorts of additives creep me out — more than ghosts or goblins ever could.)

My orange color came courtesy of mixing a little pumpkin into the cream-cheese icing (see below). It turned out great.

I find pumpkin so easy to work with — especially if you get it from a tin. Despite it's reputation, I think pumpkin is the un-scariest of squashes.

Pumpkin muffins

1. In a large bowl, beat:

• 2 large eggs

2. Stir in:

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup pumpkin (mashed)
• 1/4 cup plain yoghurt

3. In a small bowl, mix together:

• 1 1/2 cups multigrain flour
• 1/2 cup 12-grain cereal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

4. Add dry mixture to the wet mixture. Stir well, then mix in:

• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (hulled)

5. Spoon into muffin tray lined with paper baking cups.

6. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).

7. Cool 5 minutes, then remove muffins onto cooling rack.

Cream cheese icing

8. In food processor, churn:

• 1/2 package light cream cheese
• 1/4 cup pumpkin (mashed)
• 2/3 cup icing sugar

9. Once your muffins have completely cooled, smear 'em with this icing.

Decorate how you wish. I'm sure you'll do a boo-tiful job.

Raisin Spice Muffins

Autumn: it's the season for appreciating the color of leaves, for stockpiling firewood, for American football and for muffins.

Muffins?

Sure. This time of year invites baking. And when I bake, I bake muffins.

Muffins make an awesome snack, especially when they are packed with healthy stuff and served warm.

Here's a favorite recipe from way back, clipped straight from the cookbook I made for Fred so long ago:

Happy baking!