Swedish Apple Pie

My mom brought me a bunch of apples from her tree last week so I needed to come up with creative and healthy ways to use them. I came across this recipe in a cooking magazine and loved it! This recipe is a mix between cake and a crustless pie. The ingredients come together so quickly I couldn't believe it. This is also a great substitute for coffee cake. The best part about it is the 175 calories per slice, most apples pies are between 400-600. I made it even healthier by substituting 1/3 cup agave for the 1/2 cup sugar. If you don't like nuts you can omit them for a cakier pie. I did a half and half since my husband likes nuts and I don't. He said the nuts made it for him, but I liked it without. Serve with vanilla ice cream if you want.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 medium apples, chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk egg and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples and walnuts.
• Transfer to a 9-in. pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve warm. Yield: 8 servings.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

I am not a lover of pumpkin pie, so instead I have a few recipes that I substitute instead. This is one of them. This is WAY easier than the end product looks. The last time I made this I forgot to add the extra 1/4 cup of sugar into the pumpkin mixture and it was still delicious. In fact, it had more of a pumpkin pie flavor, which my dinner party loved. So if you want to cut a little sugar, it won't hurt. Another tip: when baking a cheesecake, either put the springform pan in a water bath or put a pan of water on the rack below the cake.

Ingredients

      25 Ginger Snaps, crushed

      1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

      1/4 cup butter, melted

      4 packages Cream Cheese, softened

      1 cup sugar, divided

      1 teaspoon vanilla

      4 eggs

      1 cup canned pumpkin

      1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

                        OR

            1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

            1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

            1 dash ground cloves

Directions

1.         Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine cookie crumbs, pecans and butter. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

2.         Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Remove 1 ½ cup plain batter; place in small bowl. Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter. Spoon pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of reserved plain batter. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.

3.        Bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until centre is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into 16 slices. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.