Apple Cranberry Jammers ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

"If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share". W. Clement Stone.  These cookies are the perfect dessert to share.

Apple Cranberry Crumble Bars ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

The October theme for #CreativeCookieExchange is Celebrate the season - Autumn, and we were asked to focus on seasonally appropriate ingredients for wherever you are for fall!

Glazed Cranberry, Lemon & Dried Ginger Loaf

Hands up if you still have a bag of cranberries in your refrigerator. I may have more than one.  And a few in the freezer.  And maybe a few of the bags are in the freezer are from last year.  What can I say?  I panic that I will run out of cranberries throughout the year so I always stock up.  Anyway I saw this recipe from PassThe Sushi and knew that I had to make it straight away as it has three of my favorite ingredients - cranberries, lemon, and ginger.

White Chocolate & Cranberry Crispy Treats

This month's theme for the #CreativeCookieExchange is Berries & Chocolate. Is there a better pairing than sweet, juicy berries and rich, luscious chocolate? I don't think so.  Since I had already made a few milk and dark chocolate sweets this month I decided to use white chocolate.  I also wanted to make a bar cookie this month, just for something different.  After looking through my collection of cookie magazines for something suitable to the theme, I choose a recipe from a Better Homes & Gardens magazines - White Chocolate & Cranberry Crispy Treats.

Sticky Toffee Bundt Cake with Cranberry Jelly Glaze #BundtaMonth

When I found out that the theme for this months #Bundtamonth was Jam I was really surprised, not by the ingredient but by the fact that I immediately knew that I wanted to make a bundt version of a Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Considering that this is a very sweet dessert I thought that a cranberry jelly glaze would be the perfect foil for that sweetness.

The flavors in this cake are perfect for this time of year.  To me the sticky toffee flavor is such a comfort  food, especially if you make a little vanilla custard to go with it.  Also, I just love cranberry season and always end up with multiple bags in my freezer so that I can continue to enjoy them throughout the year.

Spiced Pear-Cranberry Crumb Bars

I was trying to find something in my freezer this morning, and did a double-take when I realized how many bags of cranberries I still had leftover from last holiday season.  Since cranberry season is almost upon us it is definitely time for me to use up this supply so that I will have room for the next time I purchase excessive amounts of them - and I will because I have this overwhelming sense of fear that I will run out.

As luck would have it Chocolate, Chocolate, & More just happened to post a recipe link from Imperfect & Fabulous on Facebook recently that I thought would work perfectly with the addition of cranberries. I just love the tart-sweet combination of pears and cranberries.  Actually I am just a big fan of cranberries in general.

As I was making the filling the house began to smell like Thanksgiving, which was just fine with me since it is my favorite holiday of the year.  I didn't grow up celebrating Thanksgiving, and if we did it would have taken place around April/May since that is Fall for us. I celebrated it for the first time when I moved to Canada, and from that moment on I knew it would become a tradition no matter where I was living.

Banana-Orange-Cranberry Bread

As soon as I saw cream cheese as an ingredient I was hooked.  I first saw this recipe on What's Cookin' Italian Style.   I also loved the sound of the combination of banana, orange, and cranberry.  If you get a chance take a look at this site.  I am amazed that there is a new recipe every day, which I could only dream about.



I decided that I would take the opportunity to use some Ocean Spray Craisins Pomegranate Juice Infused Dried Cranberries.  I don't know if I could really taste the pomegranate, but they may have been a little sweeter.  One thing I did love was the creaminess of the batter for this cake.  You know when you just look at the batter and think yes, this is going to be a good cake.  This was that kind of batter.




Before I knew it had all come together and was ready to be baked.  I loved that it made two loaves, but in hindsight I should have made a double batch.  Not to worry as I always have bananas ready for some toe of bread.

Banana-Orange-Cranberry Bread

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

Bread

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup pecans, chopped, toasted optional
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 cup of fresh or dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange juice, fresh
• 1 teaspoon orange rind, grated

Preparation

Bread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Combine cream cheese, sugar and butter mixing well. 
3. Blend in bananas and eggs. 
4. Add remaining ingredients; mix well until moistened. 
5. Pour into 2 greased and floured pans. 
6. Bake till toothpick is clean in the center, at least an hour or more depending on the size pan.  
7. After bread is cooled pour glaze over the top, if desired.

Glaze

1. Mix together and drizzle over bread.