Dulce de Leche Apple Bread

   

The other day I was looking for healthy muffins and I remembered my bran muffin recipe using bran cereal.  I made those and then started thinking about using other cereals in baking.  We use a lot of Cheerios and they are considered healthy and good for your cholesterol, so I did a bit of Internet searching.  I found this recipe using Dulce de Leche Cheerios and it looked pretty good. (I changed it a wee bit).  And an apple a day keeps the doctor away, doesn't it?

Dulce de Leche Apple Bread

2 1/2 cups Dulce de Leche Cheerios, divided use
1/2 cup sugar, I used 1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar.   Healthy, remember?
1/4 cup oil  (That's not bad.)
1 cup buttermilk, try to find the low fat kind
1 egg
2 cups peeled and chopped apples, I used 2 Granny Smith
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  That's what they thought I should use, but that's not enough so I used 1/2 teaspoon!
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.  The Cheerios people didn't call for nutmeg, but I went with the "if you use cinnamon, nutmeg works, too" rule...that I invented...I didn't really measure it, just grated a wee bit.

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray the bottom of a 9X5 loaf pan with Pam.

   

Put 2 cups of Dulce de Leche Cheerios in a Ziploc bag.  Squeeze the air out and seal.  Put the final 1/2 cup in a bowl and set aside. 

   

Use a rolling pin and crush the Cheerios.  Roll to the center of the bag.  I think if you roll a bubble of air to the seams, it might burst and then you would have a mess!  Set aside.

   

Wash, peel and dice the apples.  Small chunks are better than big ones.

   

I use a Kitchen Aid, but use any mixer and blend the oil and sugar.  I switched it to brown sugar and used the Splenda brown sugar.  I like the smoky flavor in baked goods.

Add the buttermilk.  I would have used low fat buttermilk, but didn't know I was going to make this until last night.  Lee was kind enough to go to the local (and close) Dollar General for me. They only have one kind of buttermilk and it is in a big container.  I told Lee we would use up the rest making some blueberry coffeecake I have been thinking about!

   

Add the egg and continue mixing.  Stir in the apples, the crushed cereal and all the rest of the ingredients, except for the reserved Cheerios.  Feel free to leave out the nutmeg.  I just thought of Rachel Ray saying, "Mmm.  What is that?", so I added it!

   

Spread the batter in the prepared pan.  It seemed kind of dry to me and next time I will probably add a bit more buttermilk, maybe a few Tablespoons.  Tomorrow the bread will be very moist from the apples, so maybe that is why they start kind of dry.  Sprinkle with the reserved cereal and gently press them down.  I used the side of a rubber spatula.

Bake one hour and then check to see if it is done with a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out clean....done.  Mine took about 1 hour and 4 minutes.

 

   

Cool for 10 minutes.  Then turn out onto a cooling rack and let it finish cooling.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for 4 days or 10 days in the refrigerator.

Next time I may leave off the Cheerios on the outside.  They made it hard to cut a slice.

Please read Dulce de Leche Apple Bread Part II before making!

Peach Mango Crisp

                            

We still had a bunch of peaches.  It is hard to go through a whole flat for just two people.  We went to IHOP for breakfast.  Lee and I split an omelette and still couldn't finish it.  That is just too much food for one person.  Delicious, though.  When we eat out we usually can't face a whole meal for dinner, still a bit too full, I guess.  So I made dessert for dinner.  We had to use the peaches pretty soon and neither one of us could face a big meal.

Peach Mango Crisp

Pile o' peaches.  I only had 4 1/2 left because one had gone soft on the bottom.  Could have used 6 or 8.
1 mango  Same thing with the mango.  I had one so I used one.  Could have had 2 or 3 more.
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/8 cup flour
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts finely chopped  Pecans would also work.
4 Tablespoons Splenda brown sugar, divided use.  You can use regular brown sugar, but you will have to double the amount.
dash of salt
2 teaspoons corn starch.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with Pam.

Once again I didn't have any lemon juice.  This is useful for keeping the peaches from turning brown.  Because of this, I made the crisp part first.  Then the peaches would not sit around.  If you have lemon juice sprinkle a teaspoon or two over the cut peaches.

                   

I have some cereal called organic Raw that I bought that is mostly oatmeal.  It also has barley, quinoa, rye and wheat.  Sounds great, right?  So I used that instead of the oatmeal and it was delicious, but oatmeal works just fine. Put the oatmeal of your choice in a bowl and add the flour, finely chopped walnuts, cinnamon, salt and 3 Tablespoons of the Splenda brown sugar.  Stir it up a bit with a fork and then cut in the butter.  You can use a pastry blender or slice across the mixture with two knifes.  Set aside.

                   

Peel and slice the peaches and the mango.  This time after I made my two big slices of mango, I peeled them and then lay the long slice on the cutting board and cut it in cubes.

                  

Put them in the prepared dish.  Sprinkle the cornstarch and the last Tablespoon of the Splenda brown sugar over the top and mix well. 

                  

Spread the topping over the peaches and put in the oven for 30 minutes.  Cool slightly and serve warm.

Lee asked, a little hesitantly,  if I was planning on serving the crisp with ice cream.  I hadn't, but I told him he could have the last bit for his.  Well, no, he couldn't.  He had eaten it earlier and wanted to make sure I wasn't mad.

So serve it with ice cream...if you have any...or a dollop of Cool Whip, which we DID have.  I like to keep it around.  It makes plain fruit seem like a dessert and it is low in calories and fat.

This would have been great for four people.  We had two servings each and that was dinner.  I love dessert for dinner.

Apple Mango Pecan Crisp

I like to make fruit crisps in the summer.  There is all that fresh fruit and you can't have PLAIN fruit or fruit salads ALL the time.  A crisp is less heavy than a pie.  It takes fruit and adds a crunchy topping and they are fast and easy to make.  What's not to like?

When we lived in Tonga, we ate a LOT of mangos.  We ate a lot of fruit , period.  It was cheap and healthy.  We ate a few vegetable that you don't see here, like Ufi ( sort of, kinda, like a potato) and Kumala (a wee bit like a sweet potato).  I don't remember anything like a salad or tomato.  Just fruit and fish and bread, from the Likamani (Rickleman) bakery.  Sometimes there was a scrawny chicken.  We had pigs on a feast day.  There was little to no refrigeration and this is one of the many reasons I avoided any meat or fish whenever possible.  But there was always a juicy, delicious mango.  In Tonga it is pronounced mawng-oh.  People look at me funny when I call them that, so I quit.  But now YOU know.

Apple Mango Pecan Crisp

Pam
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
2 Tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoon butter, cut up
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 apples,  I used Gala, but Granny Smith would be good, also
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 mangos

Pre-heat oven to 375.

                              

In a medium bowl, place the flour, oats and sugar.  Mix.  Add the cut up butter and using a pastry blender, or even your clean little fingers, cut in the butter.  Set aside.

                                 

Place the chopped pecans in a small bowl and set aside.

Spray a 2 quart oven proof dish with Pam.  Peel and dice the apples.  Place them in the sprayed dish. Sprinkle them with the lemon juice.   Stir to coat.   Then peel the mangos.  If you haven't done this before, there is a trick to it.  The seed is huge and oblong. Start at the top on one of the wide sides and slice straight down.  The knife needs to kind of curve around the seed.  Do this on the other side and then gently cut the skinny strips on the side.  Slice off the peel and dice GENTLY with a very sharp knife.  If the mango is ripe it will be soft and will want to turn to mush.

Add the mangos to the apples and mix gently.  Spread the flour/oat mixture on top.  Bake for 30 minutes.

                                      

Remove the Crisp and sprinkle the pecans on top.  Bake for 10 more minutes.  Cool slightly.

Serve warm by itself. 

                                   

Cool Whip or ice cream on top would be delicious!

You can easily double this for a large family.