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October 12, 2012

Harvest Snack Cake

Harvest Snack Cake

I probably should have posted this recipe a little closer to Thanksgiving (which was this past weekend), because it would have tied in with it with perfectly, but I just haven’t been very organized lately! 

Canadian Thanksgiving is a celebration to give thanks for “the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed” (source), along with all the other good things in our lives, especially our family and friends.  I love that there is a holiday specifically dedicated to celebrating the harvest and all the amazing food we are lucky to have readily available here!

Harvest Snack Cake

I’d love to tell you that I made this cake in honour of the harvest and Thanksgiving, but I honestly didn’t make the connection until now.  Still, this harvest snack cake is a great way to celebrate fall food and flavours!

This cake is easy to make, will fill your kitchen with the smell of fall, and is full of good-for-you ingredients like carrots, apples, and walnuts.  Plus, it uses whole wheat flour and contains no butter or oil, so in my books that makes it a pretty healthy snack.  Of course, there’s still sugar in it, so I’m not putting “healthy” in the title, but I certainly don’t feel guilty about eating a piece for my snack every day!

Harvest Snack Cake

Harvest Snack Cake

Adapted from Taste of Home

Makes about 16 squares

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup grated carrot
3/4 cup grated apple (about 1 large apple – if one apple doesn’t reach ¾ cup, you can increase the amount of carrots so total grated carrots + apples = 1.5 cups)
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Soak your raisins in hot water for 5-10 minutes so they won't absorb the moisture from your cake during baking (drain your raisins before using them).

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour to ginger) in a large bowl.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk the eggs, applesauce, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until just incorporated.  Fold in the carrots, apples, raisins, and walnuts.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

Note: I knew I wouldn’t eat all of this in a few days, so I kept about half of the squares in the freezer and found that they froze well.

10 comments:

  1. Whenever I see a Canadian talking about Thanksgiving, it takes me a second to remember than your Thanksgiving is earlier than ours. :) I'd totally say this is a guilt-free, healthy cake--or, at least, healthier!

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  2. Lately I'm pretty much obsessed with any recipe that has the word harvest in it. Love the sound of this cake!

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  3. We still have American Thanksgiving to look forward to...and I'm glad I have another harvest recipe. Delicious! And perfect timing too because I'm about to go the grocery store. Add this to the list! Thank you for sharing. I hope you have a wonderful end to your weekend!

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  4. Haha I love that we have it earlier here so it ties in with fall and there's more time to recover from this meal before another big holiday meal!

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  5.  I know!  The word 'harvest' just brings such warm and fuzzy feelings to mind  :)

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  6.  Thanks Monet!  Let me know what you think if you give it a try!

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  7. I cannot imagine a better cake to snack on during the fall months. Ginger, apple sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg and carrots = pure heaven. I have to make this for Jesse. He'll LOVE it.

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  8. Yum! This sounds delicious.  PS finally mailed your grill pan!! Sorry it took so long!

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  9.  I hope he does!  Thanks Courtney! :)

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  10.  Not long at all!  Thanks so much!!

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