There’s no real recipe here, just a list of the usual ingredients I throw together.  Just use what you have on hand, and mix it to suit your personal tastes!  Like it sweet?  Add more dried fruit.  Like it salty?  Use salted nuts or seeds.  (I typically use unsalted).  Need your chocolate fix?  Add some chocolate chips.  I either use the highest quality chocolate chips I can find or I roughly chop a bar of 85% chocolate.

Trail Mix

Ingredients:

• Almonds
• Macadamia nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Walnuts
• Dried cranberries
• Dried apricots
• Dried cherries
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Coconut flakes (unsweetened, you can toast it or not)
• Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Combine in a jar and enjoy!

What are your favorite trail mix ingredients?

As for the Reindeer Bites Cookies…what’s not to love?  These cookies are simple to make, and even though they look rather plain, there are so many wonderful add-ins: the coconut-shredded AND coconut extract, graham cracker crumbs AND pieces, caramel bits and chocolate chunks.  The batter of these cookies reminded me very much of the Samoas/Caramel deLite Girl Scout Cookies.  So yes, I indulged in cookie dough batter.  Again.  And suffered for it.  Again. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now….but I just couldn’t resist this delicious cookie dough!  I’m guessing Santa’s reindeer are going to enjoy these too.

Here’s the recipe, in case you want an extra special treat for the reindeer when they visit your house…

Reindeer Bites Cookies

recipe from Six Sisters Stuff

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter flavored shortening (Picky Apple Note: I substituted real butter for this!)
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• 1 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1 c. caramel bites
• 1 c. coconut
• 1 c. chocolate chunks
• 1/4 c. graham cracker chunks

The real superstar of this dish is the Cilantro Pesto.  Don’t get me wrong, the pork medallions themselves are plenty tasty and simple enough to prepare (and I love cooking pork in medallion form!), but I could just eat this pesto by the spoonful.  It’s that good!  The Cilantro Pesto is creamy and spicy and sweet and and rich and bold all at once.  It’s a unique flavor combination that just works.  I found this recipe in The Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook (available for free at Mark’s Daily Apple), but don’t tune me out just because I started talking about all that Primal and Paleo stuff again!  My husband, who is decidedly NOT Primal (and isn’t called The Picky Apple for nothin’!), loved this meal just as much as I did.  I think you’ll enjoy it too!

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Cilantro Pesto

recipe from The Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of pork tenderloin
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• Cilantro Pesto (recipe below)

Slice the tenderloin into rounds of 1-inch thickness. Mix oils and vinegar, add garlic and ginger. Marinate the pork slices in a non-reactive glass container for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning at intervals to marinate both sides of the slices.  To cook the pork, heat some coconut oil, lard, or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Quickly sear the slices, turning once, until just cooked through. Do not crowd the pan, cook in batches as needed so they sear and don’t steam. Keep each batch warm in a warm oven or covered in foil wrap.  Make pesto (see recipe below).

To serve: Put a few slices of pork on a plate with a little bit of pesto on each slice, or serve pesto on the side.  (A little pesto goes a long way, flavor-wise.) Serve with cooked greens with sesame seeds and sliced red peppers for a nice color combo.

Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves only
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or less, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 cup almond butter (Picky Apple Note: You can also use peanut butter!)
• 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
• 1/2 – 1 cup coconut milk
• sea salt to taste

To make pesto:  Blend sauce ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth, adding coconut milk until preferred consistency is reached.

In a perfect world, I would have used macadamia nuts too, but all I had were pecans.  These smelled absolutely amazing while they were cooking, but I was the only one who actually liked them.  Who doesn’t like banana waffles and coconut syrup?!  My two Picky Apples, that’s who.  Admittedly, they were a little floppy (somewhat remedied by toasting in the toaster), and I will definitely cut back on the banana next time.  But don’t let that stop you from trying these.  Great flavors in both the waffles and the syrup!

Banana Waffles

from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• nuts, shredded coconut, and sliced bananas for topping (optional)

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vanilla, vegetable oil and bananas.  Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.  Preheat waffle iron.  Pour or scoop the batter onto the waffle iron, using approximately 1/3 cup for each waffle. Cook until golden brown on both sides; serve hot.  (You can also make them crispier by toasting them in the toaster before serving.)  Top with Coconut Syrup, nuts, sliced bananas and shredded coconut, if using.

Coconut Syrup

recipe by me!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Serve warm with Banana Waffles.

In the meantime, here’s a recipe for the brownies I made for the party.  I’ve been flipping past this recipe for over a year every time I looked in my recipe binder for a dessert.  Not sure why.  I LOVED these brownies!!  Similar to kitchen sink cookies, these brownies are chock full of all kinds of good stuff like cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans, toffee bits, and coconut.  They freeze well too!  I know this photo isn’t the greatest….I snapped these as an afterthought when the party was well underway!  

Kitchen Sink Crunchers

from Family Circle, September 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup toffee pieces (such as Heath Bits o’ Brickle)
• 3/4 cup sweetened flake coconut
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 13x9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick foil.  Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan.  Cool slightly.  Whisk in egg and vanilla extract, then whisk in flour mixture.  Stir in toffee bits, 1/2 cup EACH flake coconut and pecans and all of the chocolate chips.  Spread into prepared pan.

Press remaining coconut and nuts into batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until set in center.  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Grab foil and lift bar from pan to rack; let cool completely.  Cut into 24 bars.

Un-baked Cookie Nests

from Kitchen Simplicity

Makes: 12 large

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• mini chocolate eggs and coconut, for decorating.

Bring sugar,  milk and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well incorporated.  Spoon into lightly greased muffin cups (or use un-greased silicone muffin cups for easier removal). Using the back of a spoon press the mixture down in the middle and up along the sides, forming a nest. Allow to harden.  Using a knife, loosen the edges and gently pop out the nests.  Store covered at room temperature for up to two days. Freeze for longer storage.  To decorate: sprinkle with coconut and fill with mini eggs.

Before I jump in to this week’s recipe, I just wanted to let you all know that I’ve been trying LOTS of new and exciting recipes, and I’ve got lots of recipes to share…as soon as I get a chance to sit down and blog about them all.  So stay tuned!

My baking didn’t happen until Wednesday.  The recipe for this week was Florida Pie, selected by Dianne of Dianne’s Dishes.  This pie is essentially a key lime pie with a layer of coconut cream in a graham cracker crust, topped with coconut meringue.  As a coconut lover, I was completely in love with the coconut cream layer.  The Picky Apple liked the flavor of it, but doesn’t care for the texture of shredded coconut.  I was also pretty proud of my homemade graham cracker crust, which I made extra thick.  This was my first time working with Key Limes, and all I can say is that it sure does take a lot of Key Limes to get 1/2 cup lime juice….perhaps more work than it was worth, though I never actually tasted the lime layer of the pie.  I don’t think my meringue was quite as fluffy and tall as it should have been, but I may have been a little too rough when folding in the coconut at the end…

Florida Pie

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, seperated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly.  Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened.  Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk.  Still on low, add half of the lime juice.  When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended.  Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes.  Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch.  Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown.  (Or, if you’ve got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.)  Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

This is my first month participating in The Cookie Carnival, an event hosted by Kate of The Clean Plate Club.  Each month, all participants make the cookie recipe of the month.  The recipe for March is Raspberry Swirl Cookies.  Although I have plenty of experience with cinnamon rolls, this was my first time making a jelly-roll style cookie.  The cookie dough came together easily and tasted yummy all by itself, but after that, it was a comedy of errors for me.  I’ve never been a big fan of jams and jellies, but I thought that the raspberry could be good combined with coconut.  My dough got pretty sticky while rolling the cookies up, so some of the raspberry-coconut mixture fell out.  I substituted pecans for the chopped walnuts.  In my second mistake of the day, I realized that I rolled up my cookies without adding the pecans.  Since I thought the pecans were a crucial part of the cookie, I pressed the pecans down onto the tops of the sliced cookies before baking them.  In my third error of the day, I burnt one of the pans of cookies, though just barely.  And just to round out the recipe, I forgot to butter the pan before I put the cookies down, so they were nearly impossible to get off the pan, especially in one piece!  The cookies were decent.  I would love to experiment with another filling besides raspberry jam.  There could be some great variations on this recipe, so I may revisit it…and pay more attention next time.  Thanks, Kate, for hosting such a cool event!  To see everyone else’s cookies (which I’m sure turned out much better than mine), head on over to The Clean Plate Club for the round-up.

And just to top it all off….my camera is on its last legs, so my pictures aren’t any good either.  Figures.

Raspberry Swirl Cookies
Bon Appétit | February 2004

Makes 2 dozen.

ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preparation
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Flatten and shape into rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly before rolling out.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13×10-inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Mix jam and coconut in small bowl to blend. Spread over dough, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Sprinkle nuts evenly over jam mixture. Starting at one long side, roll up dough jellyroll style into 13×2 1/2-inch log. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap cookie log; cut 1/2 inch off each end and discard. Cut remaining log crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange rounds, cut side down, on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart; reshape into neat rounds, if desired. Bake cookies until edges and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

In this case, the recipe itself is daunting.  This is definitely not a weeknight cake–best left for the weekend or a day off, as it is very time consuming.  Baking the cake layers, chopping and toasting of the coconut and pecans, an hour and a half for the dulce de leche, refrigerating the chocolate glaze for an hour, refrigerating the cake for an hour before serving….there were lots of steps and lots of waiting.  The final assembly of the cake itself was tricky.

So was all that work worth it?  I’d say yes.  The cake turned out light and moist, and with a delicious chocolate flavor.  The cake itself was so good that I’ll probably be using this part of the recipe again for cupcakes and other chocolate cake variations.  Toasted coconut and toasted pecans are always delicious.

What were the downsides?  The dulce de leche didn’t seem like anything special to me, and I think I prefer a chocolate ganache made with cream, like the one used on the Creamy Nutella Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache and Toasted Hazelnuts.  But all in all, this was a delicious cake, and once I have more experience assembling a layer cake, I hope I can make it look beautiful as well.

Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake

from The Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl

Serves 12

For Cake Layers:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup boiling water

For Filling:

• 7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For Glaze:

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 10 ounces good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Make the Cake Layers: Put racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper.

Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk together milk, butter, egg, yolk, and extracts in a medium bowl until just combined.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture, beating with an electric mixture at low speed, then increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute.  Reduce speed to low and mix in boiling water until just combined (batter will be thin).

Divide batter among cake pans and smooth tops.  Place two pans in upper third of oven and one pan in bottom third (do not put top pans directly above bottom pan) and bake, switching position of pans and turning them around halfway through baking, until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Transfer pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Run a think knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.

Make the filling while the layers cool:  Spread coconut on a baking sheet with sides and spread pecans on another sheet.  Toast coconut in lower third and pecans in upper third of oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes.  Transfer sheets to racks to cool.  Put a rack in middle of oven and increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

Pour condensed milk into pie plate and cover tightly with foil.  Put pie plate in larger baking pan, add enough boiling water to reach halfway up sides of pie plate, and bake for 45 minutes.

Add more boiling water as needed to reach halfway up sides of pie plate and bake, still covered, until milk is thick and brown, about 45 minutes more.

Remove pie plate from water bath.  Stir coconut, pecans, and vanilla into baked milk and keep warm, covered with foil.

Meanwhile, make the glaze:  Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan.  Remove from heat, add chocolate and corn syrup, and whisk until chocolate is melted.  Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl and set remaining glaze aside in pan.  Refrigerate glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Assemble the cake:  For easier handling, put bottom cake layer upside down on a cardboard cake round or removable bottom of a tart or cake pan and place on a rack.  Set rack over a baking pan, to catch excess glaze.  Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula.  Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner.  Top with remaining cake layer.  Spread chilled glaze evenly over top and sides of cake.

Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute.  Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides evenly.  Shake rack gently to smooth glaze.  Refrigerate cake until glaze is firm, about 1 hour.  Transfer cake to a plate before serving.