Sweet Potato Pie with Maple Meringue

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Ingredients

For Pie:

• 9" Pie Crust, Reduced Fat
• Sweet potato, 3 small
• Condensed milk, Fat free, 10 oz (3/4 of 14oz-can)
• Egg, 1extra large
• Egg white, 1extra large
• Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp
• Ginger, ground, 1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg, ground, 1/2 tsp
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Whiskey (Bourbon), 2 tbsp (1 fl oz)

For Topping:

• Maple Syrup, 1/3 cup
• Water, cold 1/4 cup (4 fl oz)
• Cornstarch, 2 tsp
• Egg white, extra large, fresh 2
• Lemon Juice, 1 tbsp
• Salt, a pinch
• Sugar, 2 tbsp

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the pie crust according to the instructions, for 10 minutes. Cool it completely.
2. Pierce sweet potatoes with fork; place potatoes in microwave oven and cook for 10 minutes. Take them out, place in heated oven and bake for 10 more minutes, until potatoes are very tender when pierced with fork. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes open and scoop out pulp. Transfer pulp to processor and puree until smooth.
3. Add sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, salt and whiskey. Puree until smooth, for 20 seconds. Pour into crust. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1-inch from crust comes out clean.
Cool. Garnish with meringues.

4. Make the Meringues.
Mix water and cornstarch in a glass. Pour maple syrup in a small frying pan, heat up. Add dissolved cornstarch to syrup and cook stirring constantly till the mixture is thick. Set aside.
Separate two eggs, discard the yolks. Put the egg whites, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Whip up with a mixer till soft picks, add sugar gradually and whip till it dissolves and egg whites become white glossy. Add maple cornstarch hot mixture to the egg whites one spoon at a time, whipping constantly.
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Nutritional info per ⅛ pie: makes 8 servings
    * Calories: 251
    * Fat: 4g    Carbs: 44g (fiber: 1.5g)    Protein: 6g

Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese & Herbs

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Ingredients

Uncooked Pie Crust 9", refrigerated
Cherry Tomatoes, fresh, 3 cups whole
Olive Oil, 1-2 tsp
Thyme, fresh, 1 tsp (OR 1/4 tsp dry Thyme OR Herbs De Provence)
Salt & Black Pepper
Goat Cheese, 1/4 cup crumbled (2oz)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven 425F. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spay it with a non-stick spray. Place the cool pie dough on the foil and unroll it.
2. Put tomatoes on dough in one layer leaving 1" on edges. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and goat cheese crumbles. Fold the edges covering tomatoes and folding the dough to hold together. Drizzle the whole pie with olive oil all over, including the edges, and smooth oil on edges with a brush or fingers. Sprinkle edges with coarse salt for decoration, if desired.
3. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes. Serve warm.    

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Nutritional info per ¼ tart: makes 4 servings
    * Calories: 294
    * Fat: 17g    Carbs: 32g (fiber: 1g)    Protein: 4g

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

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Ingredients: 
Puff Pastry, 1 sheet, thawed 
Egg, fresh, 1 large, beaten lightly 
Pecorino Romano Cheese, 6 tbsp grated (1.25 oz) 
Pepper, black, freshly ground 
Salt, coarse

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Beat egg slightly. Roll out pastry. Cut it in half. Brush one half of pastry with egg then sprinkle with cheese.
Place another half of pastry on top and seal it with rolling pan. But do not press too tight. Brush again with egg then sprinkle with cheese, pepper and salt on top. Roll with rolling pan to press the cheese into pastry.
3. Cut pastry sheet into 1/2" strips, width-ways. Twist each piece and place on baking tray covered with parchment paper.
4. Bake in oven for about 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is browned and puffed. Transfer to wire racks and cool.
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Nutritional info per 1 pastry: makes 12 servings
   * Calories: 98
   * Fat: 6.5 Carbs: 7g (fiber: 0g) Protein: 1g

Cheddar Biscuits

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Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp salted butter, chilled (OR 4 tbsp unsalted butter & 1/4 tsp salt)
3/4 cup (2 oz) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup Kefir, chilled (OR buttermilk)

Equipment: 
food processor (or pastry blender)
biscuit cutter

Cooking Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if using). Put it in a food processor (or pastry blender) together with butter, pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese; toss to coat. Stir in the buttermilk just until the dough comes together. Do not over-knead!
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat (or roll very easy, do not push on) it into a 1/2 -inch thickness. Dip a biscuit cutter in flour and cut out 8-12 biscuits.
4. Transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet covered with cooking spray.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not open the oven during baking!

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Nutritional info: 8-12 biscuits
    * Calories: 142
    * Fat: 6g Carbs: 18g (fiber: 1g) Protein: 4g

Chocolate Chip & Banana Muffins

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Ingredients
1/4 cups sugar
1/2 stick (4 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 medium banana (3-4oz), overripe, mashed
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Equipment: 
muffin tin, paper or foil liners

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, mashed banana and egg; mix thoroughly.
3. In another bowl, whisk flour with baking soda and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until the batter is evenly moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
6. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.
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Nutritional info: 8 servings (1 muffin)
    * Calories: 220
    * Fat: 11g Carbs: 29g (fiber: 1g) Protein: 3g

Oh-Wow! Butterscotch Cinnamon Sticky Buns with Raisins and Walnuts

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Ingredients
Dough:
* Milk, 1/2 cup, warm
* Yeast, dry, 1 package (1/4 oz)
* White Granulated Sugar, 1/4 cup
* Unsalted Butter, 3 Tbsp softened (1 stick total, divided into three parts)
* Egg, fresh, 1 large
* White flour, 2 cups, sifted (+ more for dusting)
* Salt, 1/2 tsp

Filling:
*Unsalted Butter, 2 Tbsp (melted) 
* Brown Sugar (light), 1/3 cup
* Cinnamon, ground, 2 tsp
* Raisins, 1 small box (1.5 oz)

Glaze:
* Brown Sugar (dark), 1/3 cup
* Unsalted Butter, 3 Tbsp
* Scotch (Whiskey), 3 tbsp (1.5fl oz)
* Condensed milk, 3 tbsp
* Vanilla Extract, 1/4 tsp
* Salt, 1/8 tsp
* Walnuts, 1 oz (or any kind of nuts)

Preparation
1. Make the Dough:
Heat the milk until warm.
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the warm milk and the yeast. Add the granulated sugar and 3 tbsp of softened butter and mix at medium speed until the butter is broken up, 1 minute.
Beat in the egg.
Add sifted flour and salt and mix at low speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and mix the dough for 2 minutes longer.
Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30-40 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Make the Filling:
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in microwave.
In a small bowl, mix the light brown sugar with the cinnamon.

4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into 1/4" thick rectangle. Brush the 2 tbsp of melted butter over the dough and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Sprinkle with raisins.

Beginning at a long edge, roll up the dough as tightly as possible and pinch the seam. Cut the log into 6 or 8 2-inch pieces and set them in the muffin cups cut side up. Cover and let stand in a warm place (preheated stove top is ideal for that) for 30 minutes.

5. Bake the buns for 30 minutes, until they are golden brown.

6. Make the Glaze:
In a small saucepan, bring the dark brown sugar, salt, butter, Scotch and condensed milk to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until thickened slightly, about 3 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the walnuts. (If you wish you might toast them 10 minutes.) Take the buns out of the muffin pan.

8. Remove the glaze from the heat and stir in vanilla extract and chopped walnuts. Pour the glaze over the hot buns. Sprinkle with more nuts if you wish.
Let stand until the buns have soaked up some of the glaze and are cool enough to eat, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.
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Nutritional info: 6-8 servings (1 bun)
    * Calories: 390
    * Fat: 16g Carbs: 56g (fiber: 1.5g) Protein: 6g