Sarah- Iron Chef Blogger Challenge #3- Cranberries

So... I don't have a recipe for you. Brandon's Mom made this for us during our stay (well... made two because we ate one whole one in the first two days and then we helped her make another).

It has oats, dried cranberries, raisins, other small dried fruits, and a cup of assorted chips. No additional sugar! In fact, only like 12 grams of sugar in the whole thing, which is especially important since we all just found out that Brandon's dad has diabetes.

Anyway, if I ever get the recipe I'll put it up... it is amazing.

Carrie: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Cranberry

For the third week of Iron Chef Blogger Challenge, Michele chose cranberries. I don't really have much experience with fresh cranberries. I grew up in a household that served the canned cranberry stuff at Thanksgiving, and I love Craisins, and vodka cranberry cocktails, but other that, I'm not really friends with cranberries. I visited Ocean Spray as a kid, I think, for a class trip, and I didn't love it so it started a lifelong thing where I think I dislike cranberries. But Iron Chef Blogging is all about learning and loving new ingredients so here we are.

I chose to make this Lemon Cranberry Bread from Adventures in Baking. It ended up alright, a little too tart. Probably doesn't need the lemon glaze on top of the loaf, but it was a nice bread.

Lemon Cranberry Bread (recipe from Adventures in Baking)
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cranberries tossed in 1 Tbsp sugar

Glaze
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar

1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of 8×4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture; set aside.
3. In another medium bowl combine the egg, milk, oil, and 1TBSP lemon juice. Add the egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in the cranberries and lemon peel.
4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.

5. Meanwhile stir together 2 TBSP of lemon juice and 1 TBSP sugar. While bread is still warm in the pan, brush lemon-sugar mixture over the top of the loaf. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan; cool on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before serving.

Becky: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Cranberries

Coconut and Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
scant 3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup dried cranberries
salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Line 2 cookie sheets with baking parchment.

2. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon, then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Sift together the flour and a pinch of salt into the mixture, add the coconut and cranberries, and stir until thoroughly combined. Scoop up tablespoons of the dough and place in mounds on the prepared cookie sheets spaced well apart.

3. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool on the cookie sheets for 5-10 minutes, then using a metal spatula, carefully transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I got this recipe from my sister-in-laws cookie cookbook, 1 Dough, 100 Cookies by Linda Doeser. Originally I was going to make cranberry and orange muffins, but after taking off to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving in a hurry, I realized halfway up that I forgot to take the orange peel that I bought with me, along with my recipe. Rather than turn around, my sister-in-law let me use her cookbook and I thought that these cranberry coconut cookies looked delicious so I decided to give them a try.
The only thing I changed about this recipe was the coconut. Instead of the unsweetened coconut I used sweetened because that was all I could find. I'm sure the cookies tasted a little more sweet than they were supposed to, but the cookies still came out absolutely delicious. Even my husband, who does not like cranberries, liked the cookies, along with the rest of his family. They were absolutely addicting too. You definitely could not eat just one. Let me tell you though, after eating these cookies, I will definitely be working out tonight! Definitely not the healthiest cookie seeing as though they required 2 whole sticks of butter!