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Good morning and happy Friday! Even though it was a short work week, I am sure ready for the weekend! Funny how the holidays make real life so much more of a struggle, right? Well if you’re not quite ready for all good things to come to an end, today I’m sharing my recipe for healthier cinnamon rolls with you! Buttery, flakey, full of cinnamon goodness – but made with wayyyyy less sugar. Perfect for a delicious breakfast or brunch this weekend!
I feel like cranberries are the unsung hero of the fall baking world. Every time fall rolls around, I make my way down a pumpkin everything rabbit hole, and don’t emerge until Christmas haha!
So this year I wanted to give this fun little berry some attention! These are the best cranberry orange muffins, and secretly way healthier than your average muffin. The tartness and natural sweetness of the cranberries allows for way less sugar, especially combined with the bright flavor of orange zest! You can find fresh cranberries in the store between October and December, but if you want to make these muffins in the off-season, frozen cranberries will do the trick.
The super secret weapon of this healthy muffin recipe? Spices! Cinnamon and cardamom are both sweet tasting spices, with no impact on the nutritional content.
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In an effort to make a healthy muffin recipe, I also replaced half of the butter with coconut oil, to reap the benefits of this super healthy fat. The coconut taste doesn’t actually come through at all, so if you don’t love coconut, fear not! On the other hand, if you prefer to use all butter (or all coconut!), go for it! 
Makes About 16 Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400, and grease a muffin tin. Whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through salt and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients, zest through orange juice. Add the dry ingredients, stirring until the batter just comes together. The batter will be thick. Gently fold in the cranberries and pecans, and distribute the batter into the muffin tin. This recipe makes about 16 muffins. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffin tops spring back when touched.
What’s the only thing better than a delicious sweet apple pie? A savory one! After our apple picking adventure this fall, I was on a mission to think of all the best apple recipes, and I think this one might be my favorite. These mini apple pies are full of sizzling bacon, crisp apples and aromatic herbs, enclosed in a delicious buttery crust. Perfect for a fall brunch or holiday appetizer!
These mini savory apple pies are really easy to make, and can be made ahead of time and warmed up when you’re ready to enjoy them! I’m serving these as an appetizer for thanksgiving, and I love that they can be done before so I can spend more time with my family.
Crust Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1 Tbs pieces
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water
Filling Ingredients:
Six strips of bacon
One apple (I prefer tart granny smiths)
One small onion, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
To make the crust, add the flour, salt and butter to your food processor, and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the ice water little by little, just until the dough forms a mass on the food processor blade. I usually only use about 1/8 cup. Divide the two into two pieces, form each piece into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let cool in the fridge for 1-2 hours. It can stay in the fridge longer, just take it out about 15 minutes before rolling if it’s been in there a while.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees f. Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour, and turn your chilled dough onto it. Sprinkle a little flour onto the dough and your rolling pin, and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. (This rolling pin is amazing, because you don’t have to guess at the thickness! It rolls your dough evenly to the specified measurement every time!). Using a biscuit cutter or small bowl, cut 4 inch circles out the dough. Lightly press each circle into the well of a standard muffin tin. Bake for 10 minutes at 425. Let cool, and reduce the temperature to 350.
To make the crust, start by frying the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to a plate, and add the remaining ingredients, apple through black pepper. Cook in the bacon grease over medium-low heat, for about 5-10 minutes or when the onion starts to become soft and translucent. Then it’s time to stuff our crusts! Press the apple filling into each crust, making sure to get them as full as you can. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350. You’ll know they’re done when the crust is lightly golden brown.
If you’re making these ahead of time, they’re easy to reheat! Put in the oven at 250 for 20 minutes, and they’ll be heated through!
For more autumn inspiration, check out my fall fashion posts here, here and here, and my pumpkin spice latte cupcake recipe here!
This easy vegetable soup is incredibly flavorful, delicious and healthy. It freezes and reheats well, and can easily be made vegetarian and vegan. The best part? It can be ready in under 40 minutes! The perfect warming soup for chilly fall nights ahead.
When I think of fall, I think of pumpkin everything, football, cozy sweaters and SOUP! When I was a kid my mom would make lots of homemade soups. There’s just nothing else that warms you up in quite the same way.
As you know I love baking, but we can’t survive on cupcakes (although I’d be willing to try). A lot of you have asked me to share some of my healthy recipes that you’ve seen through Instagram, and I’m more than happy to oblige, starting with this scrumptious vegetable soup!
This soup is jam packed with healthy, filling veggies, and is perfect served with my flakey ham and cheese scones.
Autumn picnics are my absolute favorite. The temperatures are cooler, the colors are vibrant, and of course I’m all for cozy blankets and warm drinks!
Picnics are a fun way to make dinner a little more festive and exciting, and today I’m sharing my quick tips on how to make this autumn tradition an easy success.
1. Pull out the Cozy Blankets
Cooler temps mean some of my favorite things: pumpkin spice lattes, blanket scarves, and cuddling up under warm wool blankets! For our picnic, I used one of our plaid blankets as a makeshift tablecloth. I also have my eye set on this perfect picnic blanket from Pendleton – it’s nylon backed to keep picnics dry! Genius!
2. Serve Warm Cider
There is really nothing better than sitting under fall foliage, sipping some hot mulled cider. I kept ours warm in vintage insulated bottles, and served it in moscow mule mugs. These containers would also be perfect for bringing along warm soup!
3. Keep the Menu Simple, Silly!
Don’t over-complicate the menu! Some people shy away from picnics, because they get caught in the logistics of serving an unnecessarily fancy meal. My favorite picnic menu is baguettes, Boursin cheese, lunch meats and cheeses for simple sandwiches everyone can make themselves. Add a veggie and/or fruit platter from the store, and you’re good to go!
4. A Walk in the Leaves
Remember to savor and enjoy the experience. We loved taking some extra time to play with Charlotte in the fallen leaves, enjoying the autumn colors and soaking in the season.
