CINNAMON APPLESAUCE

Cinnamon Applesauce

 

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce is an ideal texture for even early post-ops; smells like heaven and is super easy for even a non cook. Make a big batch; your family will eat it up. Blend your delicious applesauce with unflavored yogurt, cottage or ricotta cheese, or use to sauce thinly sliced roasted turkey tenderloin or chicken thighs.

8 large apples (I use a blend of apples as they cook down with different textures; McIntosh for smooth sauce, Fuji for chunky, Granny Smith for tart)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Splenda granular, plus additional to taste
*you can also add unflavored, or apple flavored protein powder to give a protein boost to this recipe.

Cut each apple into quarters; peel skin and remove core of each piece. Place prepared apples into large covered saucepan, add cinnamon, and 1/4 cup water. Cover pan, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook apples 30 to 40 minutes, until very soft. Remove from heat and mash apples into a chunky sauce using a potato masher or a wooden spoon. If you are a very early post-op, use a blender or food processor to turn apples into a smooth puree. Stir in Splenda, plus additional if needed, to taste. Serve warm or chilled.

Makes about 4 cups
per 1/4 cup serving:
calories 31,
fat 0g,
carbs 6,

protein 0

CINNAMON CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD

Cinnamon Chocolate Shortbread
This almond shortbread recipe replaces my mom's buttery shortbread. The original recipe had 141.6 calories per serving, 8.3 g fat, and 5.1 g sat fat. My new and improved version has less than half the calories and fat.
I used 3/4 cup of sugar, but the cookies aren't very sweet. If you want them to be sweeter, add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c almonds, silvered
1/3 c butter, unsalted, room temperature
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 t vanilla flavoring
1 t baking powder
3/4 t cinnamon, ground
1/2 tea salt
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
--OR--
(1 1/3 c whole wheat flour combined with 2/3 c cake flour)

1/2 c dark chocolate chips, melted
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Place almonds on an ungreased baking sheet, toast until golden brown (about 8 minutes). 
Remove from oven and tray, set aside to cool. 
Once almonds have cooled, grind in a food processor or with a rolling pin. 
Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ground almonds and flour in a large mixing bowl. 
In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar. 
Beat until creamy. 
Add eggs one at a time. 
Add vanilla. 
Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beat only until combined. 
Divide the dough into two balls. 
Once at a time, form into a log that is 2 inches wide and about 12 inches long. 
Cut each log into 1 1/2 inch strips. 
Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. 
The cookies should not be golden brown; remove them from the oven just before they start to brown on top. 
Melt chocolate in a double boiler. 
Dip the end of each cookie in the chocolate and place on wax paper to set.

Makes 55 cookies.

Number of Servings: 55

Nutritional Info

Amount Per Serving:

Calories: 62.4

Total Fat:	3.3g
Total Carbs:	7.6g
Dietary Fiber:	0.8mg
Protein:	1.4g