1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

3 eggs
3/4 c. SUGAR
1 1/2 c. grated carrots
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. milk
1 7 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained well)
3/4 c. raisins
3/4 c. coconut

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium bowl, measure flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix together with fork. In mixer, beat sugar and eggs. Add carrots, melted butter and milk, and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients, half at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Stir in raisins, pineapple and coconut. Pour into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake 18-20 minutes at 375. Cool on rack.

These turned out great! They were moist, not too sweet, and the pineapple, coconut and raisins made them taste as good as a slice of carrot cake without frosting.

This week our ingredient was cranberries. I decided to try and make something from ingredients I already had around the house. I didn't have any fresh or frozen cranberries, so I decided to use orange-flavored dried cranberries I had on hand.

I chose to make pumpkin muffins that contained spices and the cranberries, and a streusel topping. I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, as messing around with recipes for baked goods doesn't always produce good results. But these were wonderful. I started with a recipe for a sweet potato muffin that was a healthier recipe with less butter, less sugar, and whole wheat flour. I adapted it so much from that original recipe that I don't think it resembled it at all.

These muffins are still lower in fat and sugar than many are, and have some whole wheat flour in them. So while not low-fat, they're definitely more healthy than your neighborhood bakery's. What really suprised me was the texture. They were light with a tender crumb. These will be added to my recipe file to make in the future. I calculated the Weight Watchers Plus points, and there are 6 points per muffin.

My complimentary ingredients to the cranberries were cinnamon, cloves, ginger,, pumpkin, SUGAR, vanilla, and walnuts.

(Excuse my bad photos. I have got to get a better light to take photos with. Our days are too short to rely on natural light, and my photos are suffering.)

Our ingredient this week is pears. For some reason, I had trouble coming up with something unique. I have been wanting to make a coffee cake lately-seems like the cold weather makes me crave things like this. I decided to do an adaptation of a sour cream coffee cake. I'm not sure where my original recipe came from-it's one written on a recipe card that I've had for a long time. The original has a streusel filling that contains currants and cocoa powder. I decided to skip those ingredients and add chopped fresh pears. I also changed around some of the spices.

The cake tasted really good on the day it was baked, with a good texture. But after that first day, the texture changed. I think it was too much moisture from the pears made the cake more dense, instead of the crumb you would normally think of in a coffee cake. I made double the recipe, and in the second batch I skipped the pears and used dried cranberries instead. I liked that texture better. So if you make this cake, which I do highly recommend, either serve it on the day it's made, or else subtitute dried fruit for the fresh pear.

The complimentary ingredients I used were WALNUTS, SUGAR, CINNAMON, BUTTER, and VANILLA.

PEAR SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
8-10 servings

1 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pear, peeled and diced
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 16 oz container sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. Mix first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Set aside.
3. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
4. In large bowl, beat butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy and well-blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
5. Mix in dry ingredients, and sour cream alternately into the butter mixture in 3 additions. Beat on high 1 minute.
6. Pour one-third of batter itno prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of pear/nut mixutre. Spoon another third of batter on top, then sprinkle with remaining pear/nut mixture. Top with last third of batter.
7. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on rack for 10-15 minutes. Cut around pan to loosen, then turn out onto rack and let cool 1 hour.
8. Transfer to a platter and serve.

I made two cups of parsnip puree a couple of weeks ago and stuck it in the freezer hoping that lightening would soon strike, leaving behind parsnip inspiration. The other day, I finally realized that inspiration was going to have to be created. Drinking my second cup of coffee and watching Dan make himself a BLT, I jokingly commented that perhaps I could use his left over bacon with the parsnips. He asked how much sugar I'd need to make that work. I said that sugar, with a little help from butter, makes everything work. One thing led to another...

Parsnip & Candied Bacon Breakfast Cookies

1/2 cup room temperature BUTTER
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup cooked, mashed parsnips that have been forced through a sieve to remove all fibers.
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 room temperature egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon NUTMEG
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup candied bacon bits (see instructions)
maple glaze (see instructions)

For candied bacon:

Cook bacon strips until most of fat has melted away but not so crisp that bacon will crumble when you try to cut it into dices. Cut into 1/4 pieces. Put in small saute pan with one tablespoon maple syrup and 2 teaspoons brown sugar. Heat until sugar melts, stir to coat pieces. Then transfer to a sheet of parchment and spread out in a single layer to cool.

While bacon is cooling, mix together butter, sugars, parsnip puree, maple syrup, and egg until smooth and fluffy. Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture.

Break cooled bacon apart if any pieces have stuck together and mix all but a couple of tablespoons into batter. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Lightly press a few extra pieces of bacon into the top of each cookie. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Don't over bake, the tops won't really brown.

While cookies are cool make a maple glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/8 cup maple syrup. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies in a zigzag pattern. Makes 24 two-inch cookies.

I have to say that I figured this would be one great big flop. But, they actually were very good. You have to get over the idea that they are cookies and think of them more like savory breakfast scones. I took them to the store and they dissappeared pretty fast. I'll be making these again soon. I do still have a second cup of parsnip puree in the freezer.