Still baking.

So much for the Year of the Pie.

Anyway – I am still baking and cooking lots, but my focus hasn’t been on documenting it as closely as before.

Recently I completed a “Fast Mimicking Diet” – basically it’s an extreme calorie restricted diet that is supposed to do all kinds of good things on the inside. All I have to say is that I have never been so acutely aware of hunger until those five days. I don’t know if I will feel the long term “benefits” of the diet, I didn’t do any biomarker testing other than my weight (lost 5 lbs), but as a result of the five days of torture, my stomach has shrunk significantly. So although I could return to my regular eating habits, I could barely eat anything.

When I was released from my diet, I returned to the kitchen with a vengeance. For me, the diet was not just about restricting my food intake but my interaction with it. I missed cooking, I missed tinkering in my kitchen, I missed the wonderful magic that is cooking. That weekend I must have gone through around 8 recipe including three baked good recipes. A prolific output indeed. One of those finished projects was this Apple Pie Bar – all the magic and goodness of apple pie (the best autumn flavor) in an easy-to-eat format, haha!

Just a warning, this recipe is a bit of work. And not for the calorie faint of heart. But so worth it.

Recipe c/o the NYT: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019543-apple-pie-bars

It is also. Quite big. Needed two hands to lift in/out of the oven! 

The topping is a shortbread-walnut kind of streusel.

You do have to cook the apples in advance, takes a bit more planning and time but I really do recommend this recipe.