Chocolate Gingerbread

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup light molasses
• 1 large egg

Makes 12 (1 piece) Servings

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with foil or parchment paper allowing foil to overhang rim by 2 inches on two opposite sides. Spray with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together buckwheat flour, tapioca starch, cocoa, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together brown sugar, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, molasses, and egg in a large bowl. Stir buckwheat-flour mixture into applesauce mixture until combined well.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with few moist crumbs clinging, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Use foil as handles, lift cake from pan. Cut gingerbread into 4  strips then cut each strip crosswise into thirds, making a total of 12 pieces.

WW POINTS VALUE: 8 pts.

 

Note: This recipe appears in the WW Family Meals Cookbook. You can have your chocolate and gingerbread too at the holidays. This treat is the perfect combination and it's gluten free too. If you don't have applesauce on hand, use 1/2 cup shredded Granny Smith apple and it will taste just as good.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 Basic Pie crust, unbaked

Filling:

• 1 1/2 lbs. rhubarb, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 3 cups)
• 1 (16-ounce) container strawberries, hulled and quartered (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup instant tapioca (optional)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Crumb Topping:

• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp water

Makes 12 Servings

1.  On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust dough to a 12-13-inch circle. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing to fit and crimping the edges to form a rim. Freeze for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt. Toss gently to blend and let stand for 15 minutes. Transfer to  the pie shell.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter, orange juice, and water; stir to combine. Press the crumb mixture together to form clumps and break them into smaller piece over the rhubarb mixture.
4. Bake 40 minutes; cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep topping from over browning. Bake 40-45 minutes longer until the filling is thick and bubbly.

WW POINTS VALUE: 5 pts (1/12 of the pie)

 

Note: This recipe appears in the WW New Complete Cookbook. Spring time is here and the weather is perfect for baking. I love strawberries and I have really come to love rhubarb. In savory cooking, onions and garlic always make everything taste better. In sweet cooking, rhubarb makes everything taste better. My dad used to make strawberry rhubarb pie when I was very little. He used to get rhubarb from the next door neighbors and he used it to make his version of strawberry rhubarb pie before we moved. He never made strawberry rhubarb pie again. Rhubarb is a tart red stalk that's a member of the buckwheat family and goes elegantly well with strawberries and every other fruit. This fruity pie was absolutely delicious. don't be intimidated when mixing the rhubarb with the strawberries; the rhubarb will cook with the fruit and make it taste so delicious. You can cut the amount of sugar in this recipe as well as add a little more lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and your pie will still taste good.