Summer is fruit season.  It seems hard to remember a time when we didn’t have peaches, plums and berries aplenty!  This leads to an overwhelming desire to make pies.  Lots and lots of pies.  The problem is that making pies is a pain in the you-know-what.  You’ve got to make the crust, bake the crust (which means locating your pie weights and praying the crust doesn’t shrink), make the filling, bake it again (this time, praying that it doesn’t overflow and ruin itself).  This rustic galette (aka. A Country Pie) is endlessly adaptable and cuts out at least two of those annoying pie-making steps.

Ripe apricots partner up with homemade almond paste to make this light, crumbly galette.  Tangy, sweet apricots laying over a bed of homemade almond paste wrapped up in a light whole wheat crust.  Served warm, the oozey fruit and nutty crust are just begging to be topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.  A perfect way to put all that summer fruit to use without all the fuss of a pie!

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I’m embarrassed to admit this, but there was a time in my life when the majority of my meals came in the form for a bar.  Prepackaged, processed food-like substances pressed into tight bars (usually dipped in some type of synthetic chocolate) were easy to eat on the go, cheap enough to buy in bulk and washed down just fine with a Diet Coke.  Now, much older and only slightly wiser, I’ve abandoned those chemical-laden, artificial-everything bars in favor of real foods, but I find myself longing for the convenience and simplicity of a good bar.  Only this time around, I’m a bit more picky.  I want a bar with ingredients I can pronounce.

Oats, almond butter, raisins, apricots, walnuts, almonds.  Yup, I can pronounce all of those!  Saying that these granola bars are ridiculously easy to make it an understatement.  They are simple enough that you could mass produce them in your own kitchen.  No joke.  They are free of any processed sugar, endlessly adaptable and perfect little snacks to take on the go.  Say hello to the new generation of bars!

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Consider these clementine cakes my apology for throwing that heaping pile of indulgent deliciousness in your direction last week.  When I tell you that these mini cakes are guilt-free, I mean they are completely guilt free.  They also happen to be gluten-free, refined sugar-free and flour-free (ok, flourless but I was on a roll there!). Did I forget to mention that they are also packed with protein and fiber?  I know, it’s too good to be true.

These mini beauties are adapted from a recipe made famous by the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella.  As strange as it sounds, you puree whole clementines (after boiling the heck out of them!), mix that with ground almonds, a couple other baking staples and you have the most incredibly moist, flavorful mini cakes around.  Dip them in dark chocolate (packed with antioxidants!) and you have all the indulgence without the waistline impact.  Like I said: Guilt. Free.

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I may be the only person who doesn’t like the sugar-crusted, cake-like, sugar bombs that coffeehouses are regularly passing off as scones.  They generally taste like overly sweet bricks.  Hard, bland and more appropriate for breaking windows than eating for breakfast.  Once I discovered that this is not the true incarnation of a scone, I was more willing to give them a try.  A proper scone is light, moist yet crumbly and only mildly sweet.  That’s my kind of scone.

These almond scones perfectly fit the bill.  With only two tablespoons of sugar in a full dozen scones, these only have a hint of sweetness.  Toasted almonds permeate the dough and when served fresh from the oven they are moist, flaky and a perfect accompaniment to a morning cup of coffee or tea.  Feel free to slather them with butter or lemon curd. We won’t judge you.

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This time of year, the beginning of summer, is usually known as the Era of Competing Interests.  Interest #1: The loads of sweet summery desserts that are practically mandatory for the plethora of upcoming BBQs, picnics, and outdoor parties.  Interest #2: The ability to wear a new bathing suit/tiny summer dress to said BBQ, picnic or party.  These two interests rarely get along and are the cause of many internal battles concerning the exact calorie count in a 1-inch brownie versus the actual calories burned on the elliptical machine.  The mounds of fresh fruit appearing at the grocery stores and farmer’s markets have been known to inject in this debate an intense desires to make berry pies, cobblers and all things representing sticky sweet, summery goodness.

I don’t want to alarm you, but I may have found a solution to this annual occurrence.  How does a sweet, cakey cookie packed with fresh blueberries, lemon zest and toasted almonds sound?  Pretty darn good.  Ok, let’s make this official … Do you, Antioxidant-Packed Blueberry, take you, Fiber-Filled Almond, to be your partner in cookie making magic for summers to come?  They do!!  And now, I introduce you to the results of a marriage made in cookie heaven.

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