The producers of our favorite Garden Lites Veggie Soufflés have introduced new Veggie Muffins: a fluffy carrot muffin and a deep chocolate zucchini muffin.

The all natural Veggie Muffins line is made of 1/3 fresh vegetables. Each muffin is shrink-wrapped for easy portability. Just let the frozen muffins defrost naturally or heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds; you’ll have an extremely moist treat that’s right-sized (not super-sized) at 120 calories per muffin (3 Weight Watchers points).

The recipe contains eggs, but is dairy free, gluten free, nut free and soy free. The line is certified kosher by Star-K.

This moist carrot muffin is a great 120- calorie treat. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Pair Veggie Muffins with coffee or tea for quick breakfast, tuck in with your lunch or for a healthful snack. You can keep them in the office freezer—although you’ll have to disguise them so co-workers don’t polish them off.

While the muffins don’t have as much veggie content as the larger-portion souffles, each muffin is made from 1/3 fresh vegetables and comprises not quite one daily serving of vegetables. But hey, they’re muffins!

The yummy muffins are available at select Costco locations and other retailers. Check the store locator for the store nearest you.

The four-pack will retail for around $4.99, and the Costco 14-pack is a bargain at $9.99.

Garden Lites calls itself “the delicious vegetable company.” We agree.

For more information, visit GardenLites.com.

March 29th is National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day. A recipe that isn’t seen much anymore, it was a favorite of our mother’s. She baked them in a tube pan and garnished the light, lemony slices with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

According to General Mills, the chiffon cake, invented in 1927, was the first new cake to come along in 100 years. (One might dispute that—the brownie debuted within 30 years prior to it, although it is classified as a bar cookie and not cake. Digging through culinary history will no doubt produce other challengers.)

The secret of this fluffy cake are two: That egg whites are beaten separately from the yolks, and the recipe uses vegetable oil instead of butter or conventional shortening. Using oil as the fat enables the cake to be refrigerated without hardening.

Chiffon cake was invented by the aptly named Harry Baker, a Los Angeles insurance agent, who sold the cakes to the Brown Derby restaurant and to Hollywood stars.

Lemon chiffon layer cake. It can also be made in a tube pan without layers. Photo by K.G, Toh | IST.

In 1947, Baker sold the recipe to General Mills, and it created a sensation when it was published in the May, 1948 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

For this recipe, you’ll need a 7-inch tube pan.

FOOD 101: The difference between a chiffon cake and a sponge cake is that a chiffon cake contains oil; most sponge cakes contain no fat.

Iced chiffon cake made in a tub pan. Photo
courtesy American Egg Board.

LEMON CHIFFON CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
*Regular cake flour, not self-rising.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 325°F

2. SIFT together flour, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 cup sugar. Set aside.

3. WHISK together egg yolks, vegetable oil, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Add to the sifted dry ingredients; beat until smooth.

4. BEAT egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute.

5. ADD gradually the remaining tablespoon of sugar; beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

6. FOLD egg-white mixture into the batter slowly, 1/3 at a time. Add batter to ungreased tube pan. Using an offset spatula, smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean and the cake is golden, about 45 minutes.

7. REMOVE cake from oven. Invert the pan over a wine bottle for 2 hours to cool. Remove and run a knife between the between cake and pan; invert again, and remove cake.

8. GARNISH as desired: Dust the plain cake with confectioners’ sugar before serving, or serve with whipped cream. We like to drizzle the cake with the lemon zest glaze below.
 
LEMON ZEST GLAZE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well blended.

2. DRIZZLE over the top of the cooled cake.

CANDIED LEMON PEEL RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. WASH lemons, pat dry and remove the fruit pulp and as much of the white pith as you can. Cut peel into slices 1/4 inch wide.

2. BOIL water in a small pan; add peel strips. Boil for 5 minutes, until tender.

3. REMOVE peels from water and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Return water to a boil; add peels and boil until syrup absorbs into peel.

4. DRAIN cooked peel on paper towels. After they dry, you can store them in an airtight jar for a week.

You can also use this recipe for candied grapefruit and orange peel.

Bunny Pops: Rice Krispie Treats or ice cream
bars. Photo courtesy Recipe.com.

How cute are these Easter Bunny Pops?

They’re a creative Easter snack idea: Rice Krispie Treats on a stick. Here’s the recipe, from Recipe.com.

You can also port the idea to ice cream bars: Paint bunny faces on ice cream bars (our favorite brand is Magnum Ice Cream Bars):

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed for 7-10 minutes, or until the icing loses its shine. If the icing is too stiff, add more water, a teaspoon at a time.

2. STIR in more food color as needed. Put into piping bag with a small icing nozzle, or a plastic storage bag with the tip cut off (smallest possible opening).

3. OUTLINE the ears, create the eyes, nose and mouth. Switch to a wider nozzle to fill in the ears.

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE COOKIE RECIPES & ICE CREAM RECIPES,

We received this recipe around Valentine’s Day from TheGiftOfGoodness.com, a blog from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board that focuses on recipes for sweet treats. We didn’t get to make it then, but we’ve repurposed it for Easter…with a jelly bean garnish. Of course, you can take it further: Our friend Rose is using the bars as bases for Marshmallow Peeps.

Lavender-infused butter, a layer of semisweet chocolate and sprinkling of sea salt give this version of Rice Krispie Treats a grown-up twist. Think of them as sophisticated adult Rice Krispie Treats…although the kids won’t refuse their fair share.

The better the chocolate you use, the better the result. The recipe makes 20 bars.

A sophisticated version of Rice Krispie Treats. Photo courtesy TheGiftOfGoodness.com.

Ingredients

 
*Culinary lavender is grown without pesticides. Lavender for potpourri may be covered in chemicals.

Preparation

1. MELT butter in large pot over low heat. Add lavender and salt and cook for 5 minutes to infuse the butter, stirring frequently.

2. ADD marshmallows. Cook until they are completely melted, stirring constantly.

3. REMOVE pot from heat. Add cereal and stir until well combined. Spread mixture onto a large jelly roll pan. To create an even layer, place a piece of wax paper over the pan and gently roll over with rolling pin.

4. MELT chocolate using a double boiler over medium heat, stirring constantly. Alternatively, place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.

5. SPREAD chocolate evenly over marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with sea salt. Add the optional holiday garnish.

6. REFRIGERATE pan at least 30 minutes before cutting bars and serving.
 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE GOURMET COOKIE RECIPES.

A stack of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Gluten-free artisan bakeries typically pop up when a family member has gluten intolerance. In this case, its husband and co-founder of Lucky Spoon Bakery in Salt Lake City, Jim Schulte.

Both Jim and wife Pam have MBAs and years of business experience; but Pam also had serious baking skills. So she set out to re-invent gluten-free cookies and muffins that were every bit as tasty as their fully glutenized counterparts.

Lucky Spoon Bakery has succeeded in changing the way people think about gluten-free baked goods. The products are moist, fresh and delicious.

“Gluten-free has always been code for ’taste-free’ or ‘you can eat it but you probably won’t like it,’” says Jim. But, as has been proved by other artisan bakers of gluten-free goods, if you spend enough time, money (on the best ingredients) and love, you can produce bread, cakes, cookies, muffins and other products that everybody loves to eat.

To us, the compliment we bestow is, “No one would know it’s gluten free.”

Gluten-Free Cookies

Instead of wheat flour, the cookies are made with a blend of white rice flour, potato flour and almond meal; plus sugar, butter, eggs, quality chocolate or peanut butter, vanilla and other ingredients of good cookies.

 
Gluten-Free Muffins

?White rice flour and potato flour instead of wheat flour. As with the cookies, sugar, eggs, butter and quality flavorings combine to make moist, tasty muffins:

Lucky Spoon Bakery is a find for the gluten-free nibbler.Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

To find Lucky Spoon products, check the store locator on the company website.

For a festive Easter dish, look for purple potatoes. You can serve them baked, boiled with parsley, as fries, mashed or in other favorite dishes. You can make purple gnocchi and potato chips. Hash browns can become hash purples.

We turn them into a red, white and blue July 4th potato salad, mixed with white potatoes and red grape tomatoes. The starch level is medium, so purple Peruvians are an all-purpose potato. They have a creamy texture like russet potatoes and are rich in flavor. Some varieties have a charming nuttiness.

Once a rarity, purple potatoes can now be found markets nationwide. In addition to the Purple Peruvian there’s a purple-fleshed Okinawan sweet potato, a staple in Hawaii. Look for it in Asian markets.

Your favorite potato dishes can now be charmingly purple. Photo courtesy Wandering Chopsticks. Here’s the recipe.

Millennia ago, potatoes grew wild in the foothills of the Andes Mountains of Peru. Along with many other varieties of potatoes, they were cultivated around 3,000 B.C.E. by the Incas. Today, purple potatoes are grown around the world. Here’s more about purple potatoes and a recipe for a colorful purple potato and beet salad.

For Easter, how about a purple sweet potato pie? Keep it hidden and surprise your guests with the bright purple filling, evocative of jelly beans.

Here’s a purple sweet potato pie recipe from Stokes Foods, a North Carolina grower of purple potatoes, which includes a photo of the bright purple pie.

Purple Peruvian sweet potatoes. Photo by Mona Makela | IST.

PURPLE SWEET POTATO PIE RECIPE

Ingredients

Optional Topping

 
Preparation

1. COVER potatoes with water in a medium saucepan. Boil for 45 minutes until fork goes all the way through. Let cool; peel and place in a large mixing bowl.

2. PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Melt butter.

3. ADD all other ingredients to mixing bowl with potato. Use an immersion blender to liquefy ingredients.

4. POUR sweet potato mixture into pie shell.

5. BAKE at 425°F for 5 minutes, then at 350°F for 10 minutes until firm.

6. MAKE the topping while the pie is baking, Melt butter in a sauce pan. Mix in flour, brown sugar and pecans. Stir until thoroughly blended and set aside

6. ADD topping to pie. Bake 350°F for 15 minutes until done.

VARIATION

You can use this recipe to make 12 mini pies using mini graham cracker pie shells. After adding the pecan topping, only bake for 10 additional minutes instead of 15 minutes.

Find more purple potato recipes at StokesFoods.com.

Three shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day. Photo courtesy McCormick.com.

We love this festive cake from McCormick. It’s an ombre cake: Ombre is the French word for shade, and each layer is a different shade of green. Keep that a secret until you cut the cake: Everyone will be delighted.

You can bake the cake from scratch or use a good white cake mix. Just be sure to have lots of green food color on hand.

Serves 12.

GREEN LAYER CAKE RECIPE

Cake Ingredients

 
*Ingredients as required on Duncan Hines White Cake Mix. Use whole eggs instead of the egg whites directed on the package.

Preparation

1. PREPARE cake mix as directed on package, using whole eggs. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter evenly into 3 bowls.

2. STIR 50 drops (about 1/2 teaspoon) food color into one of the bowls, tinting batter dark green. Stir 15 drops food color into another of the bowls, tinting batter medium green. Stir 2 drops food color into last of the bowls, tinting batter light green.

3. POUR each bowl of batter into a greased and floured 8-inch round cake pan. Bake as directed on package. Cool layers on wire rack.

4. FROSTING: Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy.

Green food color does the trick. Photo courtesy McCormick.com.

5. PLACE dark green cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with medium green cake layer. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with light green cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish as desired.
 
OMBRE CAKE FOR OTHER OCCASIONS

You can use the same recipe to make a stunning ombre cake for other special occasions. Simply replace the green food color with your color of choice.

Make this delicious beef pot pie. Photo and
recipe courtesy BettyCrocker.com.

Remember your high school math: Pi (3.14159) is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

Math geeks have declared 3.14 (March 14th) Pi Day. But we’re adopting it as “Pie Day”; and why not, since a pie is a circle, and you can use pi and the diameter of your pie plate to calculate the circumference. (Lame or a good excuse to bake a pie? You be the judge).

Why bake a savory pie instead of a sweet one? The original pies were savory. Fruit pies and other sweet versions did not evolve until the 1300s and later.

There are plenty of delicious savory pies, from that American favorite, pot pie, to British steak and Stilton pie. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, how about a beef and Guinness pie?

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PIE

The ancient Egyptians, who were great bread bakers, also worked out the details of early pastry. But don’t salivate at the thought of it: Until relatively recently, the pastry was tough, inedible and used as a cooking vessel. Pie was a savory dish scooped from the crust—more like a casserole.

In the millennia before baking pans were invented, a dough of flour and water paste was wrapped around meat or fish to soak up the juices as it cooked. Pastry as we now know it was developed in the Middle East (a baklava, made of phyllo dough layered with nuts and honey, was brought to Mediterranean Europe by the Muslims and Greek seamen around the 7th century.

What about those noted gourmands, the Romans? Greek and Roman pastry did not progress as far as it could have because both cultures used oil, not butter, which can’t create a stiff pastry. It wasn’t until much later, in medieval Northern Europe, that the traditional use of lard and butter instead of oil for cooking hastened the development of other pastry types.

The Renaissance saw a pie-baking boom in England, but still they were meat pies, including the legacies of shepherd’s pie (lamb and vegetables) and cottage pie (beef and vegetable). Both have a mashed potato top instead of top crust.

By the 17th century, flaky and puff pastries were in use, developed by French and Italian Renaissance chefs. Pastry began to become highly decorated, with pastry chefs working intricate patterns on the crusts.

PIE BAKING TIPS

 
CHECK OUT ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PIES IN OUR PIE & PASTRY GLOSSARY.

Easy spinach and Parmesan pie. Photo and recipe courtesy BettyCrocker.com.

Ordinarily we don’t eat out-of-season foods; for one thing, our sustainable self would feel wasteful of the fuel miles consumed by transporting produce from below the equator.

Secondly, weeks in transport mean that what arrives isn’t necessarily the freshest produce; and often the flavor suffers.

But a few weeks ago, on one of the coldest days of winter, we received a gift of a generous amount of Chilean blueberries—firm, plump and bursting with flavor. They brought sunshine into our kitchen; we relished every berry.

With organic-, antioxidant- and mental acuity*- focused Americans snatching up blueberries year-round, imports continue to grow. All through our winter, these summer fruits are available nationwide. Shipments, which began in mid-December, will continue through April (the U.S. harvest begins in May).

Plump, sweet blueberries from Chile. Photo courtesy FreshFruitPortal.com.

If you’ll be in baking mode this weekend, consider the delicious blueberry tart recipe below, courtesy of the Chilean Blueberry Committee. You can find more recipes for fresh blueberries at FruitsFromChile.com.

Tart versus pie: What’s the difference? There are quite a few, actually. Here’s the scoop on the differences between pies and tarts. We far prefer the thicker, buttery, cookie-like tart crust to a thin, soft pie crust. It’s a personal choice.

There’s no need to wait until June for a
luscious blueberry tart or pie. Photo courtesy
Chilean Blueberry Committee.

DELICIOUS BLUEBERRY TART RECIPE

PREP TIME: 22 minutes active preparation, 3.5 hours refrigeration

Ingredients For Crust

 
Ingredients For Filling

Preparation For Crust

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F.

2. WHISK the dry ingredients together in a medium-size mixing bowl. Then cut in the cold butter, using a pastry cutter or two forks.

3. WHISK together in a small bowl the egg yolk, vanilla and water; then stir into the dry mixture. The dough should be crumbly and hold together when squeezed.

4. ROLL out the dough; press it into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch round tart pan, preferably with a removable bottom. Prick it all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

5. PRE-BAKE (blind-bake†) the crust: Weigh down the crust with pie weights or a nesting pie pan, or top it with foil or parchment and fill with rice or dried beans. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is set. Remove weights, pan or foil/parchment and return crust to the oven to bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely before filling.

Preparation For Filling

1. BLEND: In a medium sauce pan over low heat, whisk juices with cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved. Add 4 cups of the blueberries. Increase the heat and bring mixture to a boil until juices are clear and bright in color. Let mixture cool one minute.

2. STIR in vanilla and remaining blueberries.

3. POUR into pre-baked pie tart shell. Refrigerate for three hours prior to serving.

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING: 227 calories, 2 g protein, 8 g fat, 5 g saturated fat/72 calories from fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 51 g sodium.

*Blueberries are one of the highest anti-oxidant foods. And according to the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, research “firmly establishes blueberries as a memory-protecting food” that can improve brain function.

†Blind-baking, also called pre-baking, is the process of baking a crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is helps prevent the pie crust from becoming soggy from its filling, among other benefits.

You’ve got plenty of time between now and Sunday night to bake a batch of these impressive Oscar statuette cookies, developed by Lauryn Cohen of BellaBaker.com.

You don’t even have to buy an Academy Award-shaped cookie cutter: Here’s a free downloadable Oscar cookie template and circle for the statuette base..

The recipe makes approximately two dozen coookies.

ACADEMY AWARD (OSCAR STATUETTE)
COOKIES RECIPE

Ingredients

Everyone wins with an edible Oscar. Photo courtesy BellaBaker.com.

The dough can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

1. WHISK flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

2. COMBINE cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until mixture is pale and blended.

3. ADD eggs, one at a time, mixing until eggs and extra yolk are fully incorporated into sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract and beat. Reduce mixer to low and add flour mixture, a little at a time, until dough is fully combined, taking care not to over-mix.

4. DIVIDE into two disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour, or preferably 2 to 3 hours.

Coat the royal icing with edible gold glitter:
You’re ready to hand out the awards! Photo
courtesy The Baker Shop.

Preparation For Baking

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Remove dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for a minute or two so it is easier to roll out.

2. PLACE dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin to approximately 1/8″ in thickness.

3. CUT out statuette and circles with cookie cutter or template, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you are using the template, simply place it on top of dough and cut around it with a sharp knife. You may already have a 2.5″ diameter circle cookie cutter for the base. If not, look for a small cup or glass to use in its place.

4. CUT slits into the middle of the circle cookies that are big enough to fit the base of the Oscar cookies. Bake 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to become golden in color around the edges. Remove from oven, and if the slit in the circle cookies has filled in during baking, use a sharp knife to re-cut the slit before the cookie cools.

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. MIC all ingredients together for 7 to 10 minutes, until icing stiffens. If icing appears too stiff, add more water, one teaspoon at a time. You want the icing to be thin enough that you can pipe it easily. Tint the royal icing gold (see instructions below) and frost the circle cookies for the base.

2. DECORATE cookies when cool. Place royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip.

3. OUTLINE the outside of the cookie. Keep the tip about 1/2 inch above the cookie as you ice. This helps achieve a straighter line.

4. FILL IN or “flood” the cookies, adding about a teaspoon of water to the remaining royal icing until it becomes more of a liquid consistency. Fill a squeeze bottle with the “flood” icing and squeeze the icing inside the outline you just created, so it almost covers the cookie. Then take a toothpick and gently move it around to help fill in the cookie completely.

5. DRY the cookies completely (usually 1 to 2 hours). Then, lightly moisten the surface of each cookie with water using a paint brush. Coat in edible gold glitter. Affix statue to base by inserting statuette cookie into base.
 
You’ve worked hard: Give yourself an award!
 
TO TINT ICING GOLD

1. PLACE 10 drops of yellow food color in a mixing dish. Add one drop of red food color; mix with a toothpick.

2. TEST the color on a piece of dough or white bread; let sit for 3 minutes to see the color when dried. If the color is too light, add another drop of red to your mixture and retest; if the color is too dark or too orange, add more yellow.

3. BLEND color, a bit at a time, into the royal icing.