I don’t bake healthy. I do not bake gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, or vegan-friendly items and I’m perfectly OK with that decision. I use butter, processed non-whole grain, white flour and refined white sugar and I do not have any way of effectively controlling whether the components of my baked goods are derived from GMO seeds. I don’t make excuses for not baking healthy. Since the Black Buggy Baking Company is entering its ninth year in existence this year, I can say with reasonable certainty that I’ve baked thousands of people happy over these years.
According to the University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions with 49 percent of those reporting “infrequent success.” That being said, since this is the time of year of making resolutions pertaining to health and/or diet, I felt a momentary pang of guilt for not coming up with a “healthy recipe” but when this fleeting thought subsided I thought about an amazingly easy fudge recipe I saw while on a rare binge magazine reading afternoon. It combined white chocolate, and, interestingly enough, pistachios and cranberries – two items I think are appealing visually in addition to tasting amazing together.
Since I’ve previously discussed the growing process and health benefits of cranberries, I thought it was worth mentioning some pistachio-related trivia including the fact that it takes eight to 10 years for a pistachio plant to produce its first fruit (which resembles a grape cluster) and that once it starts it can keep bearing for centuries. The nuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates and, if that’s not an impressive enough list, they also contain minerals like copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, and selenium and they’re an excellent source of vitamin E to boot!
Don’t you feel healthier just reading this list?
This recipe is the type of thing I would have baked up for friends and neighbors had I had the time to bake presents for friends and neighbors in December. This season was so harried for us we resorted to an artificial Christmas tree forsaking the annual Fisher outing to select a live one. Now that the lull of Winter is upon us, I thought making fudge would be a great Saturday afternoon project.
Ingredients:1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or substitute 1 of pistachio if you have it on hand)
16 ounces of white chocolate chips
1 cup of dried cranberries1 cup of shelled pistachios, chopped
Instructions:1. Line a 9 inch square pan with non-stick aluminum foil
2. Using a mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until it is smooth
3. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and whisk until smooth
4. Mix in the cranberries and pistachios
5. Refrigerate until firm and then cut into squares
Enjoy!No matter what you’ve resolved to do (or not do) this upcoming year I’m reasonably certain eating the entire pan in one sitting is not advisable — even if your resolution was to add more fruit and nuts to your diet.
Felicia Fisher is the founder of Black Buggy Baking Company and lives in Oley, Pa. with her husband and three children who are all willing taste-testers. To find out what Felicia’s baking up visit her web page www.blackbuggybakingcompany.com or “Like” Black Buggy Baking Company on Facebook.
