I was rendering lard and had more cracklins than usual.

The same day I had quite a craving for kamut chocolate chip cookies.

Naturally, I started fantasizing about adding some cracklins into said cookies. The rest is history… and every bacon lover’s dream.

While I use fresh milled Kamut usually for these cookies (find out here how to use fresh flour in any recipe), here I’m sharing a simpler recipe. But feel free to add bacon to any chocolate chip cookies made with fresh flour too.

Print

Cookies Made with Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter at room temperature (I use lard)
• 1 1/2 cups maple sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 2 1/2 tsp maple or vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3-3 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chips
• 1/4 cup cut up bits of cooked bacon or I use cracklins, when I have them

Instructions

• In a large bowl, beat lard and sugars. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup.
• Combine 3 cups flour, mint, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl, then beat the flour mixture into the rest.
• Stir in chips and bacon (or cracklins).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place teaspoonfuls of dough on cookie sheets. No need to space out much, these cookies don’t spread when they bake. But you will need to flatten them with a floured cup bottom or a fork if you prefer them to be flatter instead of thick and round. The lard will hold its shape in a thicker mound if you don’t flatten them. (Both ways makes for a delicious cookie, so don’t stress over this.)
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, switching trays from top to bottom racks halfway through. The cookies may appear a bit underdone, but their edges should just begin to turn golden brown.

Notes

• I render my lard and freeze it in butter-shaped molds so it’s super easy to use in place on butter in any recipe. Go here for more details about baking with lard.
• Go here for details on how to make your own maple sugar.
• If you’re using butter instead of lard, you will probably want to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before working with it. Add an additional 1⁄4 cup of flour if the dough doesn’t seem quite thick enough after refrigeration. (Before chilling, if I’m using butter in this recipe, my dough is always too gooey, but I resist the urge to keep adding flour because I have made these cookies too cake-like by doing that in the past.)
• If you’re using butter you may find you want to cook the cookies a few minutes longer and cool them completely on cookie sheets, where they’ll flatten, and their centers will harden slightly while on the tray. After they’ve cooled, they’re chewy and moist.
• This recipe has a little more extract than usual; I find I need the little extra “umpf” when baking with lard… I will admit lard does not pack the same taste punch as butter (I LOVE butter yall) but feel free to only add 1 tsp of extract if you’re making these with butter.
• Mini chocolate chips are optional, of course, well I mean to most folks. I don’t see them as optional, cause I love the extra small bits of chocolate in every cookie. Plus, I love having both the milk and semi-sweet tastes of chocolate.
• I recommend either using medium-cooked bacon or be sure to cut crisp bacon into tiny pieces. You don’t want hard chunks in your cookies.
• While any salt will work just fine in this recipe, Redmonds salt is truly the best. It’s mined over 400 feet below ground, right here in the U.S. so it’s naturally protected from pollutants (not something you can say about salt mined from the ocean) and more than 60 trace minerals. If you want to try it out, use my code SWEETSALT to save 15% off your entire order, anytime.

Can you buy lard for making chocolate chip cookies?

You can absolutely source good lard, either as fat that you can render down yourself, or as already rendered lard. Here are some tips:

1. These regenerative farmers raise the best lard you can find: Check it out.
2. If you live in New England and would like to purchase a whole or half a pig, I would love to chat about how our family farm can help you load your freezer next fall (with amazing pig fat as well as delicious pasture-raised meat). We keep a waiting list, and I am always happy to meet new customers and expand our plans for next year, to make sure your family enjoys high-quality meat next year (if I can’t help you today). To message me, hop over to instagram or send an email to michelle(dot)visser(at)outlook(dot)com.
3. Find local pig farmers and ask around until you can hopefully find one who either sells lard they have rendered or maybe the raw fat which you can then render yourself. (Or just store away until you use it, in the case of caul fat.)
4. Go to eatwild.com and search for a pig farm near you.
5. Order online. Seriously. You can purchase this amazing fat, ready to use, and skipped to your door:

Caul fat

Lard made from back fat

Lard made from the inner, leaf fat 

 

Items I use to make these amazing cookies:

The post Cookies Made with Bacon first appeared on Souly Rested.

I was writing my book and reaching out to sugarmakers across the country, asking what they loved to do most with their syrup. Numerous people told me they love making maple granola. Maple Granola? Why had I never thought of this? I knew immediately I wanted to know how to do this wonderful thing.

I already knew how important gut health is. That was one reason I had been making our family’s own kombucha for years. (Kombucha is a delicious, carbonated fruit drink made by fermenting tea. Read more about that in these articles. And learn how to make your own.)

In addition to enjoying kombucha, snacking on high-fiber foods like oats, nuts, and seeds increases gut health.

And granola fills you up with good stuff, slowing down the emptying of your stomach and increasing digestion time, which means you feel fuller for longer.

This post contains affiliate links. Go here to read the full (ultra fun) legal disclosure about that.

Could you help me with this?

Hi, I’m Michelle. A backyard sugarmaker in New England, and author of Sweet Maple.

Please consider helping me support sugarmaking education worldwide with every purchase of the SoulyRested Swag. You’ll find the latest designs right here (like the one I’m wearing here) .

There are lots of great reasons to snack on granola

• Granola can improve gut health. I’ve already covered this point (above), but I didn’t want to leave it off this list. Granola has been found to increase levels of healthy gut bacteria. In fact, studies have shown what we all already knew–granola is a much better choice than refined breakfast cereals.
• Granola can offer numerous antioxidants. Ingredients such as coconut, chia seeds, and Brazil nuts are good sources of antioxidants.
• Granola is a source of good fat. The fat you’ll find in homemade granola is the good stuff. I’m talking about the heart-healthy, unsaturated fats in nuts and the good-for-you omega-3 fats in seeds.
• Granola can improve blood pressure. High-fiber ingredients like oats and flax seeds can reduce blood pressure, according to scientific studies like this one.
• Granola can reduce bad cholesterol levels. Oats are another good source of fiber that helps reduce bad cholesterol levels.
• Granola can reduce blood sugar levels. It seems counterintuitive, but dried fruit–as well as whole grains, nuts, and seeds–may help control blood sugar.

Why make your own granola?

Even the ingredient list on healthy-leaning brands can contain some ingredients you need a dictionary to pronounce.

Store-bought granola may be loaded with way more sugar than you bargain for. And just because you scan the label for high-fructose corn syrup, extra unnecessary sugar can go by healthier-sounding names as well, like evaporated cane juice, molasses, brown rice syrup, and oat syrup solids—those are all added sugars.

On the other hand, when you’re making your own granola and when you know every ingredient in your granola, you can minimize added sugar and fat.

Of course, nuts and seed are still full of calories, so don’t get caught in the trap of thinking it’s okay to eat too much, since you can argue that is is, after all, good for you.

Maple Mango Granola

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 ½ cup raw nuts and/or seeds (I used 1 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup walnut pieces,  and 1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts)
• 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (I use this one. Use code SOULYRESTED for 15% off.)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (this is the best)
• 2 scoops (6 TB) protein powder (optional, see notes)
• ½ cup oil (I use this one)
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I like this one)
• ⅔ cup dried fruit, chopped if large (I used dried mangos w a little bit cranberries)

Storing Your Homemade Granola

I store my granola in a glass jars with these airtight lids, which happen to be the same lids I love using for my second ferment kombucha. Bonus, the nifty handle makes both my granola and kombucha super easy to grab and take on the run, which i happen to do often.

While I’ve kept my Maple Mango Granola for months without any problem, you may want to freeze your granola if you won’t be using it all within a few weeks.

More Food You Can Make (Better) Yourself:

DIY Everything Bagel Seasoning

DIY Taco Seasoning

DIY Giant Cookie

DIY Kombucha (Why making it is better & cheaper than buying it)

DIY Sourdough Pizza Crust

Pizza Crust (without sourdough)

Uncaffeinated tea that tastes like coffee (seriously!)

DIY Peanut Butter

And I list my favorite tools in my homestead kitchen right here.

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13

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Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

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I love it even more now that we’ve figured out how to make sourdough bread without any discard. Today I’m sharing my exact recipe and the technique I follow every week to make two loaves of sourdough bread right here in our farmhouse kitchen.

Go here if you’d like to know how to double your sourdough bread recipe.

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

I do make other bread, now and then… especially my Maple Sandwich Bread, which I’m kinda in love with. I had tons of fun as a guest chef at the Xhibition Kitchen in Boston last month, where they asked me to demonstrate this favorite recipe from my newly-released, #1 in Food Science, book, Sweet Maple.

Isn’t Sourdough too Complicated?

While sandwich bread is a little simpler to make, and doesn’t require any daily maintenance, there’s something about the gorgeous crumb of a well-made sourdough loaf.

And that slightly sour taste… And that amazingly, lightly crisp crust… And the fact that this deliciousness is fermented amazingness–capturing good bacteria and yeast from the air, just like my homemade kombucha that I love so much.

This post contains affiliate links. Go here to read the full (ultra fun) legal disclosure about that.

On one hand, yes, sourdough bread is more of a commitment than my sandwich bread recipe (you can find that in my book, btw, Sweet Maple, available on Amazon or, even better, grab a copy here and support local businesses with your purchase.)

But I’ve decided sourdough bread is very much worth the effort.

Plus, it’s really not complicated. The fact is, I have unmeaningly neglected my sourdough for a week or more at a time. It’s sitting right there on my counter and I totally forget to feed it. Every time it’s been totally fine. I’ll discard any hard crust that’s formed, rescue the drops of good dough-y-ness left and feed it well.

And on baking day I just make sure to choose a day that I know I’ll be around home. I can be out in the garden, doing farm chores, or just pulling up a chair by the kitchen fire, with my laptop in hand doing work in my favorite office ever. I just need to remember to check in on the bread process at the right times throughout the day. It only takes 5-10 minutes of my time a few times throughout the day, and voila we have amazing, fresh, good-for-our-gut bread for dinner (and all week long).

btw, if you would like to know what items I would not want to have to live without here in my farmhouse kitchen (like my most-favorite-ever ceramic bread pan) you’ll want to check out this list of my favorite kitchen items.

Do You Need a Starter?

Yes, you need a sourdough starter before you can make sourdough bread. While it’s super easy to make this yourself, you can buy one as well.

A sourdough starter is simply flour and water that you give a little bit of attention. (2:1 flour and filtered tap water.. or any water that is free of chlorine, which can kill a starter.)  When it’s well cared for, it makes bubbles. In fact, this is how you will know your starter is ready to use–a lot of beautiful bubbles will fill your starter, probably by day 7-10 if you’re using white flour. Day 2-3 with wheat flour, because wheat ferments faster. (btw, feel free to start with wheat then switch over to white; no problem.)

It’s those wonderful bubbles that magically make your bread rise.

Once you have a starter, you never have to make one again.

I will tell you that I care for my starter a little differently than most people do. I hate the idea of throwing away a cup or more starter every day–which is the way most folks recommend you do it. But it just seemed so wasteful. Yes, I know there are numerous recipes that call for a cup or two of sourdough, but I’d rather build up my starter a few days ahead when I want extra, so I have enough when I want to do those things, than throw away starter aimlessly and often. (Building up my starter simply means I feed it lots of flour and water–at a 2:1 ratio–a few days before I want to use it.)

So I keep my starter in a plain ole, wide-mouth quart jar, covered with a small piece of fabric (to keep unwanted bugs out). Then, on an average day, I simply feed my starter a little flour and filtered water and stir it well with a narrow wooden spoon. I don’t measure my amounts of flour and water, just add enough of each to keep the starter a nice, thick, pancake-batter thickness. No it doesn’t grow quickly, but I find it’s just the right amount when it’s time to make bread once a week, which is 2 cups of starter (since I double the recipe below) and a nice layer of starter left behind.

How Do I Make Sourdough Bread (with no discard)

What I do once a day

Daily you want to feed your starter… add filtered water, then add flour until the starter is the consistency of heavy cake batter… Just keep in mind that you’re better with too much flour than too much water. Well, in my opinion at least. This way you’ll have less holes in your bread, (in the “crumb”) and a very nice slice of bread.

And you’ll find it easier to get your bread to rise if your starter is thicker, not watery. Also, if it’s too watery it doesn’t have enough body to double.

And don’t sweat it if you forget to feed it one day… or 3 or 4. It will survive a lot of neglect. You just may not have a nice bubbly starter ready for your next loaf of bread.

Two nights before bread-baking day, feel free to add more flour and water if it’s not looking like you’ll have enough bubbly starter for the recipe.

What I do the night before

It sounds more complicated than it is to say that making sourdough bread is a 2-day process because honestly the first day’s effort is almost non-existent. You mix a few things together in a bowl. That’s it.

In a large bowl, add these ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm, filtered water 

1 cup sourdough starter 

3 cups of flour

I double this each week, to make the 2 loaves you see below. I recently shared the full details on how to double your sourdough bread recipe too.

With this recipe doubled, I make one long loaf in my favorite bread pan and one round artisan loaf in a dutch oven.

Mix & let set overnight in bowl on your kitchen counter that you’ve covered over with a towel.

You don’t even have to mix it super well. It doesn’t need to be like true dough.

But you do need to be sure to leave enough starter to be a thick layer on the bottom of your jar. I take this opportunity every week to switch my sourdough starter over to a new, clean, wide-mouth Mason jar. I’ve let it sit in the same jar a few weeks at a time but always regretted how difficult it was to clean the caked-on mess.

What I do on baking morning

In the morning, you’ll find your dough is filling up much more of the bowl. You may also find it’s gotten a little “crusty” in spots on the top. If so, you can lay a wet towel on the dough for 10-20 minutes to soften it up. It doesn’t always “work” and that’s totally fine. There’s no problem with using the dough with a few little crusty spots in it.

Add these ingredients:

1 tb sugar (I use maple sugar or this pure cane sugar)

2 1/2 tsp salt (this salt is my favorite)

1 cup of flour (I like this flour but I get my wheat berries here)

Add up to 1 more cup of flour if needed. Knead just until all combined and nice texture; not too sticky.

You can use any sugar and any flour you would like, btw. I’ve gotten more picky about my sugars and flour over the years. I will use all-natural maple sugar or this pure cane sugar (I buy it at my local Aldis) and mill my own flour, which I often use in a 1:1 ratio with this flour. I love my grain mill. It does an amazing job and looks gorgeous on my counter. See my grain mil right here, or you can check it out on Amazon too.

But sourdough with fresh flour is a whole new ballgame, so definitely check out my tips: Sourdough with Fresh Milled Flour

If you want to use fresh milled flour you will have the most nutritious bread possible. I’ve priced around and tried different varieties. I am most happy with the wheat berries that happen to also be the most economical; that doesn’t happen often in life!

I order these wheat berries for bread, and these wheat berries for baking pastries and cookies and such.

But fresh milled flour is never necessary for amazing sour dough bread. In fact, any flour and any sugar you have on hand will be just fine.

Roll dough lightly in flour if still a tad sticky, then place in bowl twice it’s size, that you’ve prepared with a thin layer of oil (I spray on olive oil using this wonderful tool), and cover bowl with a towel (or plastic wrap that you spray underneath, so the rising dough won’t stick to it). Unlike other homemade breads, there’s no need to set your bowl in a draft-free area.

Granted, in colder areas, like my drafty old kitchen, it will take longer to rise–up to 3-4 hours–but it will have more of that delicious sourdough flavor the longer it takes to rise.

But you could do things differently

My oldest daughter (the Mechanical Engineer), Logan, happens to be quite an engineer of bread too, and she likes to do everything up to this point the day before she’ll be baking her bread. Then this rise she’ll let go even longer and slower, overnight in the fridge.

She also isn’t a fan of having her sourdough on her small counter area in her small kitchen, so Logan keeps her dough in the fridge until the day before she wants to start a new loaf. Then she feeds it a cup or more of flour with enough water to make a nice consistency (more watery than my pancake-batter consistency I go for) early that morning, before going to work, and again the same amount at night, and it’s ready to be used the next day.

I call my slow-and-steady starter the country starter and her fast-and-quick version the city starter. (She does live and work in Boston, so it’s appropriate.)

What I do on baking afternoon

When it’s about 1.5x in size, it’s time to divide your dough. (Sourdough doesn’t double. Or if it does, it’s probably overproofed.)

Simply jiggle the dough out of the bowl and onto your counter (believe it or not, there shouldn’t be a need for flour on your counter, but dust some on if you find you need it). I divide my double-batch of dough into two pieces, one about 1/4 of the overall amount and one about 3/4.

But if you’re just doing a single loaf, no need to divide your dough.

Turn bowl over and plop dough onto counter. Divide. Then gently flatten both sections of dough separately, using light finger or knuckle pressure. Create two “balls” by pulling a top “corner” in, pressing down, and rotating your circle of dough 90 degrees. Keep doing this until your dough is no longer stretchy, about 10-12 pulls/turns. You now have a nice ball of dough, which will lead to a firmer, airy loaf of bread.

Turn the balls over and lightly dust w flour. Cover each with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes. (This is called a “bench rest.”)

After 10 minutes, smooch each into rectangle the right length for your pan (or just a square for an artisan loaf that will be baked in a dutch oven).

If you’re more of a visual person, see the whole bread-making process right here in my instagram highlights.

I then make a kind of “house” shape then roll the dough, from the pointed “roof,” down, firmly pressing the dough together with each roll. I will pinch the seam and/or pull the log or circle of dough along the counter to try to eliminate a seam.

For an artisan loaf, I spray a medium-sized pyrex bowl with oil. (I love this oil sprayer that allows me to use pure olive oil instead of chemical-laden aerosol cooking spray.)

Then cover in a dusting of flour. For the long loaf, I get out the right sized parchment paper. (Yes, I reuse my parchment paper again and again.)

Meanwhile preheat your bread pan(s) at 425. (For me, this is a cast iron dutch oven and this ceramic loaf pan that I happen to be in love with.)

I place my ball into its prepared bowl, seem side up. And I place my long log on parchment paper inside of the lid of my ceramic bread baker. (While the bottom of the pan is preheating.) I cover the bowl and lid with a kitchen towel and set them both in a draft-free area for about 1/2 hour.

I know it’s done rising when a gentle finger poke doesn’t bounce back. 

Place your ball of dough on parchment paper, sized to fit your dutch oven, and score. (See below for more about scoring.)

Then, using the paper to lift it easily, plop the ball of dough in your preheated dutch oven, and place lid on pan.

Lift the long loaf out of the lid it’s been rising in, place it (on its parchment paper) into the hot bread pan, and cover with top.

Bake both on center rack at 425 for 20 minutes. Then remove lids and leave an additional 10 minutes or so, until crust is done. 

Watch Every Step of the Process

I documented my process, from starter to bread, one day on my instagram stories and saved the whole bread-making process right here if you’d like to watch.

While you’re there please say “hi” and follow my page. I find instagram to be my favorite “hang out,” and would love to see you there.

The Only Hard Step in the Process

Then comes possibly the hardest step of the entire process…

Wait.

Don’t give into your temptation to cut into that wonderful smelling loaf right away. If you do, you will have doughy, squishy bread. Wait 20 minutes and you’ll be greeted with a firm yet airy piece of bread that you will be quite certain is a taste directly from heaven.

Your Questions About Making Sourdough Bread (without discard)

Yesterday, when I was making our loaves for the week ahead, I had this crazy idea that I would invite folks on instagram to join in and be a part of the process as the day unfolded. I wasn’t expecting it to be such a popular thing! So I saved the stories to a sourdough highlight for you to check them out anytime, and then I pulled this article together to give everyone answers to all the questions I was flooded with. Such as…

Why bench rest the dough?

A few of you asked if the bench rest is really necessary. I’m not an expert by any means, but from what I’ve read, this little nap gives the gluten in the dough time to catch it’s breath, so to speak, and recover, which means it can reform the protein chains that are the overall structure of your bread.

Why don’t I need to add yeast?

Crazy enough, sour dough starter captures natural yeast from the air in your home.

Will my sourdough starter get moldy?

A sourdough starter should never develop mold. I’ve had mine for years and never had a problem with mold. If you do see mold in your starter, from what I understand the cause can only be one of two things: a not-clean container or spoon was used to start your starter or your flour source may be contaminated

Why is it sour tasting?

2. I didn’t perfect this recipe.

Kayla, my homesteader-at-heart-since-she-was-a-little-girl spent years perfecting this. I only took over the efforts this winter when she announced she would be spending the long New England winter on the Gulf of Mexico with Hayley and Jordyn, her sister who was interning at the Texas State Aquarium.

While I had no control over the quietness in the house this winter, I had total control of the sourdough operation. And I was shocked at how much I loved it. (The bread making. Not so much the quietness.)

And don’t forget I list out all my favorite kitchen items right here–you know, the ones I’d hate to have to do without, and yes, my ceramic bread pan is #1 on my list.

 

Want more sourdough?

Sourdough Pizza Crust

Sourdough Bread Bowls

Go here to find out my favorite sourdough “tool” of all time, as well as all the items I wouldn’t want to be without in my farmhouse kitchen.

And other links you’ll love:

How to make real butter.

A review of my three favorite cookbooks of all time.

Make your own giant cookie that the kids will love.

How a homesteader makes French toast.

Products I LOVE that can turn every kitchen into a homestead-kind-of kitchen.

 

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Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands. I Thessalonians 4:11

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Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

 

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

 

 

 

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You can even grab one of these fun stickers or check out this fun drinkware that will help you keep the conversion instructions handy (the insulated mugs have the conversion information on the back).

In this podcast episode I walked through 7 health benefits of all-natural maple syrup.

And in this podcast episode and this detailed article right here you can dive deep into natural sugars (there are MANY options!) and find the perfect option for your family.

What was maple syrup originally used for?

I explain in my book, Sweet Maple, that refined sugar, like we know it today is not the way sugar is supposed to be. And it’s definitely not the way it originally was. Instead, native americas relied on maple sugar as their primary sweetener, made from the sap of maple trees. They would use maple sugar to sweeten their food and their drinks, and because it required no refrigeration it was easy to use and transport.

What else is in Sweet Maple? 3 years of my life and a whole lot of sweetness…Since I’ve spent almost three years pulling together so much maple goodness for you in one book, I had to also make autographed copies available, from my sugarbush directly to you. So grab your own autographed copy of Sweet Maple, or dive into my masterclass, Making Maple Syrup, if you want to know every detail about all things maple.

Can you bake with maple syrup instead of sugar?

You can absolutely bake with maple syrup in place of refined sugar. In fact, it’s a greatly superior choice, nutritionally and taste-wise. Scroll down to grab my conversion chart, so you can do so easily.

Is maple syrup a good substitute for sugar?

Maple syrup is all-natural, it’s filled with minerals and polyphenols, and it offers a rich, full-bodied sweetness that other sugars just can’t come close to. So yes, maple syrup is definitely a great substitute for sugar.

How much pure maple syrup do I substitute for sugar?

Some links in this article are affiliate links.

Substitute Maple Syrup for Sugar!

Scroll right to the bottom if you’re just here for the printable conversion chart that will help you use maple syrup in place of sugar in all of your recipes. And read more about baking with maple syrup here as well.

One book = three years

Yes, you read that right. One book = three years of my life. But it’s all worth it when I hear back from folks like you who tell me how Sweet Maple is a must-have…

How Sweet Maple has transformed your kitchen.

How you have some of the 30 tappable trees and live in an area of the country where you can tap and you never even knew it.

How you had no idea how easy (and fun!) it was to make 100% all-natural maple sugar.

How you learned you could tap just one tree and reap so many benefits by making sapinade (learn how in this video about making lemonade with sap.)

How Sweet Maple  has given you hundreds of ideas of ways to replace refined sugar with all-natural sugar. Every day. See some of the reviews right here.

What’s in Sweet Maple?

For three years, I’ve poured my love of this all-natural deliciousness into creating Sweet Maple. I am in awe whenever I think about it–the fact that this pure yummy goodness is flowing through the trees on my homestead, and maybe in trees in your backyard. So for three years I’ve been:

• Perfecting delicious maple-infused recipes my family loves,

• Documenting every detail I wish we knew before we tapped our first tree,

• Talking with folks around the world who are successfully tapping into the goodness of more than 30 trees that can be tapped for syrup (at least one is found in every single state in the United States).

• Pulling together fascinating research on the scientific findings of maple syrup. (Listen in to this podcast episode for all the details of the science behind amazing maple syrup.)

And now it’s available!

And now, today, I’m introducing you to this gem… now available for pre-order. I hope you want one on your coffee table, or on your kitchen cookbook shelf, and maybe a few to gift to family and friends.

I’ve written not one but two articles about gifting my book or other great products to those maple fanatics in your life:

How to give a treasured gift of one of these real food cookbooks.

Gift giving ideas for the maple fanatic in your life.

Which is healthier, sugar or maple syrup?

If you’d like some intense insight into multiple health benefits of maple syrup, I think you’ll enjoy this podcast I recorded recently.

When I recently surveyed my audience I was shocked that only 22% of you all say maple syrup is your sweetener of choice.

Given that a lot of you all follow me because I teach you how to make maple syrup and how to bake with it, this number, as small as it is, is surely astronomically higher than the general population. This has to change guys!

So here’s my gift to you!

I’m so excited for you to change up how you do things in your kitchen for the better, one tiny spoonful of all-natural maple at a time, that I made you a little conversion chart to help you substitute maple syrup for sugar in everything you make.

Feel free to bookmark this page and refer back to it often, whenever you want to substitute maple syrup for sugar. Or pin the chart right here to refer to later, or download a printer-friendly version in my Subscriber Resource Library, where you’ll find lots of ebooks, delicious recipes, and maple resources. Sign up for that right here.

Any little thing that’ll make all-natural goodness a bit easier is a very good thing, no? So pin, or print, or save this conversion chart and start substituting maple syrup for sugar today. Then hop over here to find out the items I couldn’t live without in my farmhouse kitchen.

You can use maple syrup in any recipe.

Start substituting maple syrup for refined sugar in any and every recipe!

Looking for the best 100% all-natural maple syrup at the best prices, so you can stock up and use it in all your baking? You will love this deliciously amazing maple syrup. Use code SOULYRESTED and save $$$.

HINT: be sure to pin this post or save it in some way so you can find this deal again when you’re ready to reorder.

More maple syrup inspired things:

How to make Maple Cream (my favorite way to enjoy maple!)

How to make a delicious marinade for meats with maple syrup

How to make maple ice cream

How to make DIY Coke (without all the junk you find in soda)

How to make Maple Chocolate Iced “Coffee” (spoiler: it’s not coffee at all. It’s decaf herbal tea!)

-> Remember to grab one of these fun stickers or check out this fun drinkware that will help you keep the conversion instructions handy too.

Listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.

Isaiah 55:2

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Enter to win a Classic Grain Mill & free access to Fresh Flour University!

The post Substitute Maple Syrup for Sugar first appeared on Souly Rested.

Note from Michelle: Hey guys… I’m kinda shocked how little Facebook is sharing this post… even though it’s about the yummiest cookie known to man. (Okay, sure, I guess that could be an exaggeration… but it’s the yummiest thing I’ve made this week, for sure.) Or maybe I’m not shocked about the facebook thing, I’ve noticed they aren’t too crazy about homesteading-related issues. Readers have mentioned that they’re not seeing my content in their newsfeed lately.

Please consider subscribing to my FREE weekly encouragement so we can be sure to stay in touch. Just click here.

I try to avoid the bakery section of the local supermarket; you know the area? That place where the giant cookies are sold? And lots of other goodies that deceitfully look so all-natural, so just-baked-in-grandma’s kitchen yummy?

Nothing like Grandma’s kitchen

Fact is, there’s often nothing all-natural or genuinely the-way-grandma-made-it about the grocery store baked goods.

Those giant cookies that call my name if I steer my shopping cart in their direction? You’d think they were just made with regular old things like flour, butter, and sugar, right? But you’d be wrong. More likely high fructose corn syrup and imitation vanilla extract, just for starters.

That last one doesn’t sound so bad, I admit, until you think about how much better actual vanilla is for you over some that was synthesized in a science lab. In fact, if you actually google “how is imitation vanilla extract made” you may not ever buy it again.

I’ll make it myself, thank you

So, yes, I’d much rather make my giant cookie and know exactly what’s in it, thank you. And today I’m gonna share this crazy-yummy recipe with you. So you too can know exactly what’s in your cookie. And together we can join willpower forces and steer clear of the pseudo bakeries in our supermarket.

This cookie is so yummy, it even served as Hayley’s birthday cake. Well, one of her cakes. We celebrated double. Since we pulled off a big-barn-sweet-16-surprize party a few weeks after her birthday, the giant cookie served as her cake on her actual birthday. And, no, she had no idea another big shindig was in the works.

I shared the make-you-cry highlight moment when she realized even her best-friend-for-life was at the party over in my stories on instagram last week. If you didn’t see it, you can scroll through here. . . . if you like sweet, sappy moments caught on tape, it’s worth the click.

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

The cake we had for the barn shindig was big-time legit.

Thank you, my friend, Carole–you pulled off an amazing feat with that star-stopping camera-themed cake for my photographer extraordinaire.

My secret?

So, my secret? The secret that will possibly make this the best giant cookie you will ever eat? I mean, besides the fact that it’s not loaded with artificial flavorings or high fructose corn syrup? The secret is the most perfect all-natural sugar you will find anywhere. Yep, you guessed it, this amazing giant cookie is made with maple syrup. Mmmmmmmm.

If I didn’t make my own maple syrup, btw, and I seriously go through a lot of it for baking–and for making maple sugar (go here to know how to make your own maple sugar)– I’d purchase bulk sizes of syrup right here–snag the XXL size for the best price I’ve seen anywhere on maple syrup.

Wanna have a chat about why maple is so doggone wonderful? You’ll want to listen to this episode of my Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast:

Don’t have syrup on hand and need to make this cookie now? I can relate, well, thankfully not to the not-having-maple-syrup issue, but to the gotta-have-that-chocolate-now issue… I gotcha covered. A recipe for this cookie without syrup is right here.

My giant pan?

My giant cast iron pan was a sweet find that I’ve used so many times for a perfect pizza. See my pizza crust recipe right here.

I love it that now I have another sweet use for this piece of cast iron wonderfulness, which is one of the many things I can’t imagine living without these days in my farmhouse kitchen. Want to see my list of the best items I recommend for any kitchen? That’s right here.

And we have mini cast iron skillets on hand at all times too, for those nights when we all want our own personal-size, warm-out-of-the-oven cookie. Topped with maple ice cream, of course. For these personal sized pans I dish out a large ball of dough right in the middle of each pan (about 3-4″ in diameter) and bake the pans at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Then I place each hot skillet on its own pottery plate, so no one gets burned. (Warning, these are big cookies. You might want to share.)

To make the extra-large cookie , you need the serving size below at 12 servings (and bake an extra 5-10 minutes).

For a 10 1/2″ skillet, set the serving size to 8.

But without further “pan”fare, on to the recipe…

Other Articles You’ll Love:

How to Make Maple Peanut Butter

How to 100% Maple Candy

How to Bake with Maple Syrup

The Tools I Insist on Having in my Farmhouse Kitchen

Follow my Maple Syrup pinterest board right here. Everything I ever write about maple gets added to that one board.

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Psalm 4:7

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Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of other supplies I use for maple syrup making (as well as gardening, homeschooling, homesteading topics, nature journaling, and more).

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

 

The post The secret to making a perfect giant cookie first appeared on Souly Rested.

If you, like me, love mason jars and a keeper cookie recipe you will surely pin this, share it on facebook, order yourself one of these cookie cutters, and then mix up a double batch of these glorious cookies that are sweetened with all-natural maple syrup and icing’d with love.

But especially today… Today, in fact, is reason to celebrate this cookie…

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

Since November 30th is National Mason Jar Day, these cookies are needed this week. I mean really, what better way to celebrate this joyous occasion that honors those wonderful jars that hold my maple sugar, popcorn kernels, and rice, my fresh raw milk and separated cream, maple syrup, salad dressing, o.j., lilac syrup, kombucha, and …. I’ll stop there. Let’s just say I have a lot of mason jars, shall we?

Let’s just say any size mason jar is loved around this old farmhouse, in any way I can use it.

btw, if you don’t have maple syrup on hand (first of all, I’m sorry), hop over right here for this cut out cookie recipe made with cane sugar

As for this cookie, no matter what day it is or what kind of cookie cutter you wanna use, you HAVE to hold onto this recipe. (Seriously, pin it right here for safe keeping.) Why do I love it so much? I mean aside from the fact that these cookies are delicious?

Why do I love this cookie?

I could go on and on, but I’ll give you my top 5 reasons I love this cookie:

1. This recipe uses the whole egg, in parts. I hate it when a recipe asks me to only use a yolk or an egg white and then I can’t bear to toss the other half, so I store it away in my fridge until it, more often than not, gets shoved to the back recesses where it comes close to rotting before I throw it down the drain.
2. This dough is unbelievably easy to work with. It’s not at all sticky and doesn’t require tons of cups of flour to keep it from becoming a stuck-on glob on your counter or rolling pin. In fact, it’s super easy to roll thin and still pick up.
3. Little hands can roll this dough over and over again and it’s still perfect. We’ve been using this recipe for Christmas cookies since the girls were toddlers lined up on step stools making them.
4. This cookie recipe uses all-natural sugar in the cookie, so all the sugar in the icing doesn’t bother me as much. Of course, I’ll admit I’m using all-natural maple syrup in almost all of my baking these days. (Go here for all the details on how to bake with maple syrup.)
5. But mostly, I think I love this recipe the most for the memories that are wrapped up in it for my family. I wrote about just one of many special ones right here. My mother-in-law has made thin Christmas Tree cookies with this recipe, sprinkled with tiny colored balls, since long before I knew her. Then when we were in a homeschool coop for a decade or longer, we used this recipe every December for all the kids to make cookies to deliver to the nearby nursing home. And every time we make this recipe, we pull out grandmom’s precious tin of cookie cutters. So many sweet memories are housed in those black tin walls. We pry off the lid and relive so many cherished memories.

Where can you get that cookie cutter?

This set of mason jar cookie cutters (aff link) comes with two sizes… one the same as mine I used for today’s batch of cookies and one smaller.

How can you use maple syrup in other recipes?

Hop over and print out my FREE conversion chart that will help you convert any recipe at all in your kitchen over to one made with all-natural maple syrup goodness.

Not sure why you’d want to use all-natural maple syrup in your baking? Print out this comparison chart right here.

And find out what folks are saying about my brand-new book right here–Sweet Maple, about to hit bookstores across the country. Or order your own copy of Sweet Maple right here.

If you’d like the inside scoop to how all-natural maple syrup is made, go here for step-by-step directions.

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Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

Need a mill but not sure which one’s best for you? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill.

The post Why these are my favorite cookies ever first appeared on Souly Rested.

Stay tuned for my next post, which will give you the full low-down on amazing, delicious homemade butter and buttermilk. Quite possibly the easiest, yet most rewarding, thing that goes on in my kitchen these days. btw, maybe you’d like to know what items I treasure the most in my farmhouse kitchen? I share right here what items I couldn’t live without when I’m making real-food deliciousness in my farmhouse kitchen.

But, in honor of National French Toast Day (November 28th) let’s just get right down to business…

This post contains affiliate links. Go here to read the full (ultra fun) legal disclosure about that.

Call it one of many names.

Apparently this simple dish has a lot of complicated names around the world. From “torrija” to “eggy bread” to “poor knights,” the only one of those monikers I can explain to you is the obvious one. But please comment if you have any idea what “torrija” or “poor knights” symbolizes, cause I always love a good story, but especially if it gives me a reason to use maple syrup in exuberance.

But don’t call it French in France.

Apparently the French don’t lay claim to this deliciousness. In their country they call it “pain perdu,” which I’m told means “lost bread.” Now this name I understand. This may be what I start calling French toast in our house. Ya know, the “lost bread” that was kinda stale so it got shoved in a bag and pushed to the back of the freezer? Then it’s given new life as a yummy meal when I rediscover it. Perfect name.

More info you’ll find delicious:

How to make sourdough bread (without any wasteful discard!)

Read about International Pancake Day.

How to make your own real butter.

My favorite maple syrup, maple sugar, maple cotton candy, and maple cream. (Mmmmmmm.)

Items I couldn’t live without in my farmhouse kitchen.

---

“Go eat your food with gladness.” Ecclesiastes 9:7

 

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Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here.

And hop over here to find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

And please follow along!

Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, discover fascinating things about my centuries-old farmhouse, glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades, or enjoy the inside scoop on the secrets other legit homesteaders might not tell you.

I hope my focus always encourages you, because simple joys require hard work. Let’s face it, we all need all the encouragement we can get! As soon as you subscribe (in the box at the end of this post), you’ll have immediate access to my Resource Library, which includes my FREE EBOOKs, and amazing recipes for things like whoopie pie cookies, maple sap switchel, and my grandmom’s perfect pie crust.

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

And have you tried my grandma’s a-MAAHZ-ingly delicious Egg & Cheese Soufflé recipe that’s in my Resource Library? 

The post How a homesteader makes French toast first appeared on Souly Rested.

Well, okay this page may just look average to you. But to me? This information right here? Lighting up your screen?  It’s the creme de la creme of wonderful uses of maple syrup.

What was I doing wrong?

But this recipe—maybe the simplest recipe you’ll ever find on the pages of this site—almost never became a blog post. I’ve recently shared amazing maple freezer biscuits with y’all. And I shared a fun fb live last week all about making some beautiful maple shortbread and maple sugar cookies. But I struggled over this simple little peanut butter recipe for six months, folks. I just couldn’t get it right. I think I was roasting my peanuts just a tiny bit too hot or just a weeny bit too long.

Bixby didn’t mind. He was the recipient of glorious dried peanut butter sprinkles on his food time and again, because my peanut butter kept drying out. But once I finally accomplished peanut amazingness in my food processor, I decided I will never need to buy peanut butter again folks. I’m not kidding. If a woman could marry mashed plant seeds, and if I wasn’t already married to the nut of my dreams (see what I did there?), well I’d elope with this deliciousness right here on my counter.

By the way, this post contains affiliate links to the products I use and love.

If you’d like to know more about my shortbread mold that I adore, here’s a similar one.

Why do I love this group?

Before I get into the ultra-simple, super-yummy recipe, I have to give credit where credit is due. A reader in Northeast Ohio, Cindy Kuhns, reached out when I pleaded for help on the Maple Syrup Making facebook page.

If you’re not a member of our maple-infused group, you are totally missing out on fabulously sweet info, not only about tapping trees but about using maple syrup and maple sugar in the kitchen. Go here to sign up to be a part of this amazing group.

So Cindy came to my rescue, from the corner of Ohio, when I asked what on earth I was doing wrong that made my peanut butter always turn dry and crumbly within a few hours, if indeed it was slightly creamy at all. She and I talked it over and a lightbulb went off for me.

Six months of trying this, and I had always been roasting the peanuts too hot or too long. Geez. Talk about continual failures… but no more folks.

I now hold the secret to Maple Peanut Butter perfection. And because I like you–and always love converting one more person to an all-natural maple addiction right along with me–I am gonna share the details with you.

Read on, or if you’d like to see this in action–turning from nuts, to crumble, to cream–scroll to the live youtube video below. And click any image below for more information on the products I love that I mention here…

What’s in homemade maple peanut butter?

3 cups (16 oz) peanuts (These are the ones I use.)

3 TB maple syrup (This right here is one of the best.)

Seriously. That’s it.

Roast peanuts on a cookie tray in a 250°F oven for 20 minutes. (Heating the nuts draws out the oils.) OR keep reading for an alternative option that doesn’t require the oven at all.

Simply spread the peanuts (yes, unshelled) in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake on a middle rack of the oven.

Immediately, while the peanuts are still warm, use a food processor to cream them. It may take a good while to get a creamy consistency, but don’t give up. Also, if your food processor is extra large (like mine), you could double this recipe. (I also have this smaller food processor if I ever want to do a smaller batch.)

Once you have a creamy peanut butter, add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup for every 1 cup of peanuts that you started with and mix it in. Watch the magic, and find out exactly when to add your syrup (and why!) in this live video right here.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for many weeks. At least I think. I haven’t tested this theory. I’m pretty sure this stuff will always be gone in a heartbeat in our house. (A half a heartbeat if I decide to share it with my family.)

What’s the easiest way to make extra creamy peanut butter?

I had to edit this article after I discovered THIS.

While this recipe is easy enough, it became exponentially easier for me to make extra-creamy, homemade peanut butter when I upgraded my food processor to this beast of a high-powered blender.

Suddenly it’s no longer necessary to heat my peanuts. I just toss them in, cold, straight out of the container, and in just a minute or two (about 1/10th of the time it took to blend in the food processor) I have amazingly creamy peanut butter. I can even make about 4 times as much in one swoop.

I can’t say enough about this blender, which I use almost daily for our smoothies as well as everything else blending related in the kitchen.

What kinda nuts & syrup do I use?

I’m sure you can try all kinds of nuts for different tastes, but I keep it simple and stick with peanuts. I also like to get the unsalted and add the best salt, to taste. If you want to buy your nuts in bulk, if you have 56 oz of nuts, you can make 4 rounds of this recipe.

Of course, adding maple syrup makes peanut butter extra amazing.

If you’d like to try your hand at making your own syrup (I highly recommend this option!), start here.

For a grand total of $4.22 folks you can make the most amazing tasting, 100% all-natural peanut butter ever. And thanks to what I learned with the hundreds of dollars I wasted used to make special treats for Bixby, you will have a perfect jar of peanut better on your first try.

And you’ll have a new addiction.

Sorry about that part.

How’s it different than store bought?

While this peanut butter is the most deliciousness I have ever had, I should warn you, no matter how high tech your food processor is (I have this one & love it) or how long you let it blend, you will never have a creamy texture like the jar you can buy at the grocery store, you know, the one with fully hydrogenated soybean oils? But it is wonderfully spreadable and thoroughly delicious, not to mention completely and totally all-naturally good.

The amounts listed above will yield roughly 16 ounces (or 2 cups) of peanut butter. Feel free to increase the amounts, just always adding in 1 tablespoon of syrup at the end for every 1 cup of peanuts. (make sure you watch the video for the full scoop on when to add the maple and why.)

Tonight I’m gonna slather my homemade maple peanut butter on a piece of maple sourdough bread–fermented goodness with all-natural creaminess–and enjoy a guiltless dessert.

Then guess what? I’m pretty sure I’ll have the exact same thing for breakfast in the morning.

If you’d like behind-the-scene insight, go here for step-by-step directions on how to make syrup, and grab a copy of my book, Sweet Maple, or my course, Making Maple Sugar, if you want to know every detail about all things maple. Remember to snag the $75 worth of bonuses that come with Sweet Maple (see the list of bonuses here) & take advantage of the $53 worth of special bonuses that come with my maple sugar course as well. (See that list here.)

Listen in to More About my Blender

The post Homemade maple peanut butter–seriously. first appeared on Souly Rested.

Ugly Apples & Maple Syrup

Our apples aren’t pretty. These trees are old y’all. But they’re wonderful for baking and, well, drinking. Scroll to the bottom for the simply amazing recipe, brought to you by your crockpot and, of course, maple syrup.  And don’t worry, ugly old apples–or a dutch oven over a roaring kitchen fire–are not required.

You can also make extra and can it for later (more about that below too).

Fall in New England Requires Maple Apple Cider

The crisp, windy fall days have made my clothes-line-drying heart happy. (Join in on the comments on my facebook post about the topic this week right here.)

I explained in my Tuesday fb live this week that it’s been an unusually wet and windy New England fall, and while we are usually spoiled with gorgeous foliage for a month or longer, this year it came and went very quickly, so I sure am glad I took a few pictures while it was here. (See this post for 5 simple tips for taking perfect fall photos. Or pin it here.)

Oh, if you missed it you may wanna hop over for that fb live; I gave you the low-down on how to know if you have a sugar maple in your yard and why you really wanna know. And if you DO have a maple tree, by all means, read all about how to make maple syrup–the secret ingredient in today’s recipe! And join me live on facebook at 9:50 a.m. EST every Tuesday morning.

So it’s been a busy week. If you follow on instagram you joined in, via daily stories, as we moved two cords of split wood this week, enjoyed some amazing sourdough bread, and marked some trees that we’ll be tapping this winter (if you don’t follow on instagram, please hop over and join me.)

Oh, and then there was the 100 bales of hay we gathered, brought home, and stashed in Scout’s barn. It’s been a tiring week, y’all. It’s time to make some amazing homemade apple cider, no?

The Secret to Easy Apple Cider

My secret to keeping the cider extra easy? I simply wash and quarter the apples and toss them in the crockpot, seeds, cores, stems and all.

My secret to keeping it all-natural? I use maple syrup. Mmmmmmm. It’s my firm belief that everything is better with maple. If you need a resource for possibly the best maple syrup, consider ordering this family’s syrup. It truly is top-notch.

If you’re going to be making a lot of maple apple cider… or just love to use maple in the kitchen, like I do… you’ll want to check out this syrup. This maple syrup right here is delicious, all-natural syrup.

The the added bonus to this simple-easy recipe? Your home will smell amazing all. day. long. Recently we served our cider over the fire when company was here for an extra-special treat, cause a long, cold New England winter is setting in, folks, we need all the simple little joys we can savor.

How to Can Apple Cider

As amazingly easy as this apple cider is to make (full recipe below), it’s almost just as easy to can.

If you make extra batches and want to savor this deliciousness all winter long, it really couldn’t be easier, since cider is naturally high in acid it doesn’t need any added sugar or lemon juice to preserve it and it’s just a simple 10 minutes in a water bath canner.

1. Bring your quart jars, filled with water, to a boil in your water bath canner, also filled with water around the jars.
2. Heat your apple cider to a boil in a separate pot. (No need to let it cook at all. As soon as it’s to a boil, it’s ready to can.)
3. Remove hot jars from the canner, emptying the water into the canner, so you have enough water in the canner, once the filled jars are in, to cover the jars with water by at least a few inches.
4. Fill hot jars with hot cider and place canning lids and rims on each jar, snuggly but no need to use full arm force (it’s called “finger tight”).
5. Place the jars into the boiling water in the water bath canner, making sure the water covers the jars by at least an inch or two.
6. Process 5 minutes. (This does vary with higher altitudes.)
7. Turn off the canner and leave the jars in the hot water for another 5 minutes.
8. Remove jars carefully and let cool.

Of course in addition to make delicious Maple Apple Cider, you might want to consider canning apple slices. In a recent podcast episode I share exactly how I can fruit in 100% all-natural maple syrup:

“Celebrate… at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.” Exodus 23:16

 

Other Recipes & Tips You’ll Love:

How to Bake with Maple Syrup (seriously. You need to know this!)

How to Cook Pork Steaks (better than sirloin!)

Make Your Own Taco Seasoning (include a recipe for making it in bulk!)

All my Favorite Tools in my Farmhouse Kitchen (the things I wouldn’t want to live without)

 

Talk to me!

If you have any questions, leave a comment below. And please tag me on ig to show me your delicious cider @souly.rested.

 

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The post Amazing Apple Cider first appeared on Souly Rested.

This post contains affiliate links.

Okay, I know you’ve heard all about maple syrup, and you immediately know what to do with it when you’re handed a jar of it on a cool Saturday morning when there’s a stack of warm pancakes in front of you. But maple sugar? If you’re like most people, you don’t really know what to make of it. You’re not sure what you’d do with it. I mean you sure can’t pour a jar of it over your breakfast plate.

Today I’m not only going to fill you in on the amazingness of this all-natural granulated yumminess, and why I think it’s the best sweetener ever, but by the time you’ve scrolled to the end of this post you’ll know more than a dozen ideas of exactly what you want to do with maple sugar, you might not wanna wait another day to get your hands on some, you’ll be able to make your own (really!), and you’ll even find out how you can enter for a chance to WIN your own jar of maple sugar.

I take no responsibility for the obsession that results thereafter.

If you want to try your hand at making your own maple sugar, you’ll love my course I made just for you, Making Maple Sugar.

Many different factors about maple syrup impact how dark or light, fine or coarse, your sugar will turn out, but I can tell you every option is delicious. The picture below are all different batches of maple sugar I made this winter from our own maple syrup that we harvested here on our homestead last year. Some was early season (therefore lighter syrup), some late season (the darker, richer syrup), some gorgeously clear, and some cloudy with niter. Niter by the way, aka “sugar sand,” is a natural occurring mineral that is difficult to filter out of syrup some times. I explain more about that in this video if you’re interested. But look at that gorgeous variety of sugar colors and textures! Don’t you love it?

And, of course, if your sugar turns out coarser than you’d like, just give it a run though a food processor. I love this one for big jobs (especially making maple peanut butter) and this one for the little jobs.

Ten reasons this is the best sweetener you could ever use

1. Maple sugar creates an amazingly warm sweetness when used in baking.
2. Maple sugar has less calories than white sugar! (Now that’s sweet!)
3. Maple sugar has a low glycemic index, making it an ideal sweetener for those who suffer from diabetes.
4. Maple sugar is loaded with antioxidants that support the body’s immune system.
5. Maple sugar supports heart health.
6. Maple sugar is loaded with beneficial vitamins and minerals.
7. Maple sugar can lower inflammation.
8. Maple sugar is as all-natural as it gets. It was first made by the Native Indians in the United States and Canada.
9. Maple sugar is all the deliciousness of maple in easy-to-store granules. It was the Native Indians’ preferred product to make with maple sap because it’s the most practical product to store (since maple syrup requires canning and maple cream requires refrigeration).
10. Maple sugar, when purchased from a small sugar farm, helps sustain a valuable growing process and support a farming family. (If we expand our sugar-making process here on the homestead the way we hope to next winter, you’ll even be able to purchase maple sugar here, on SoulyRested. But for now, you’ll have to settle with entering to win a FREE jar of our maple sugar, below.)

Note: I am not a dietician or medical professional; really not an official expert of anything, except making mistakes. Can one be a professional mistake maker? Anyway, consider this to be that mumbo-jumbo legal language telling you I’m not making any official claims in this post, just sharing information that I’ve gleaned over the years.

Now that you’re hooked on maple sugar’s tasty benefits, you may want to consider harvesting it yourself. If you have a few maple trees, I can’t recommend DIY backyard syrup enough. Keep reading for links to all you wanna know about that.

DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. 

Consider these great resources.

If you’d like to be a pro at making your own maple sugar, look no further than my course I made just for you, Making Maple Sugar. The craziest part is that the bonuses far exceed the cost… so I’m kinda paying you to take this course. Now that’s sweet.

Would you like in-depth details of my own experiences with DIY backyard maple syrup–including all the things you’ll want to make sure NOT to do? Would you like to know exactly how to make your own maple sugar, even without taping one tree? Would you like lots of amazing recipes that use maple syrup and maple sugar? Check at my new book. Sweet Maple: Backyard Sugarmaking, from Tap to Table. Or go here to read reviews and take a peek inside.

Put your maple sugar where your oven is.

Of course, the Native Indians had it right. Sugar is so much easier to store, and even use, than liquid syrup. In baking, it provides all the flavor of maple syrup, and you don’t have to deal with converting the liquids in the recipe.

My favorite thing to bake with maple sugar? Spread it on rolled out buttered bread dough, add chopped walnuts or pecans, roll up like you would cinnamon rolls, and make maple-flavored sticky buns. Y.U.M.

Here are some amazing recipes to consider trying with a little maple sugar:  

Maple Apple Pie

Cranberry Maple Ginger Muffins

Cream Soaked Bread with Maple Sugar

Maple Sugar Ragamuffins

Or just shake it.

Enjoy some of these ideas, or experiment with your own. (And please share your favorites in the comments below!)

• Replace white sugar with maple sugar in apple pie and apple crisp.
• Use maple sugar in waffle and pancake recipes.
• Sprinkle it on your warm, butter pancakes or waffles.
• Shake some over your bowl of warm oatmeal.
• Adorn cupcakes with maple sugar sprinkles.
• Turn your next bowl of vanilla ice cream into a little bit of maple heaven.
• Create a yummy maple sugar glaze, or a BBQ sauce, for ham or pork.
• Shake some maple sugar, a touch of cinnamon, and some salt (over drizzled canola oil) over fresh-popped popcorn.
• Use maple sugar to sweeten plain yogurt.
• Sprinkle maple sugar on toast as you would cinnamon sugar.
• Add a spoonful of maple sugar to your morning cup of tea.

Whether you make it or buy it, bake with it, shake it on, or stir it in, maple sugar is an amazingly delicious healthy sweetener that your family will truly love.

Remember to check out my course I made just for you, Making Maple Sugar.  for all you wanna know about making maple sugar.

And here are the products I have in my kitchen for making and storing my maple sugar. 

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Deut. 8:10

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Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of other supplies I use for maple syrup making (as well as gardening, homeschooling, homesteading topics, nature journaling, and more).

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

And please follow along!

And have you tried my a-MAAHZ-ing Maple Sugar Cookie recipe that’s in my Resource Library? You won’t find this deliciousness anywhere else… until Sweet Maple is in print this fall.

As soon as you subscribe, you’ll have immediate access to my subscriber library of resources, which I’m continually adding to. You’ll enjoy lots of printables, including an amazing recipe for a maple-flavored energy drink and my full-color, 5-chapter, 33-page eBook with recipes for Maple Popcorn and Melt-in-Your-Mouth Maple Blueberry Cake.

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