You're BERRY Welcome! (Healthy, Delicious, SIMPLE Berry Filling)



It's Berry Season.

If you read my weekend recap then you know about the amazing trip to the supermarket I had where I left with berries galore!

Well, What's a gal to do with so many succulent berries?!

MAKE DELICIOUS BERRY FILLING.

So I stepped into the Kitchen and went all TOP CHEF...

via

Watching cooking shows has left me feeling inspired in the kitchen and I decided to create a culinary masterpiece:  The Berry Pastry.

Why a 'Pastry'??  Because pastries are fluffy, delicate, and I knew I had Puff Pastry in the freezer.

This filling was so good I'm sure you could use it on a piece of toast, in your oatmeal, in some OverNight Oats, on crackers... just about anything you could think of.  That would keep the calorie count low, but I was ready to splurge.

Place those Shells on a tray in your oven according to the directions on the box (425 for 20 minutes - although mine were done after 18) and gather the supplies for your delicious filling!

You're going to need

2 Green Apples peeled & finely chopped

6 - 8 oz container Fresh Blueberries

3 packets Truvia (or natural sweetener of your chocie)

~3 oz Sparkling Strawberry Kiwi Water

That's it!!

I pick green apples simply because I love their inherent tart flavor.  Additionally, anytime you are cooking fruit it becomes sweeter so starting with a green apple captures more flavors.

I chose to use Sparkling Water because it is low calorie but adds a bit of additional sweetness/flavor.

To Begin, set your small sauce pot on the stove on Med/High heat (I had mine on a level 8) and quickly spray with a bit of Olive Oil Pam.  Pour in some Sparkling Kiwi Strawberry water until the level is approximately a centimeter high.  Add in your three (3) packets of sweetener and stir.

Now add in the blueberries.

As the mixture heats, quickly peal and finely chop your two (2) green apples adding them into the pot as you go. 

The mixture should turn a dark velvety red from the blueberries and the apple pieces should plump with the same color.

Just continue to Stir.

That's all you do. 

As your pastries are baking away, you'll stir every minute or so and watch the mixture in the pot thicken.  Your kitchen is going to smell DIVINE!

Here's a picture of my filling as it was nearly done! 

::that smoke is steam rising from my sauce::

You know your mixture is done when it starts to form a jelly-like consistency.

Surprisingly, my sauce took the same amount of time to perfect as my pastries did to bake.

The kitchen lords must've been smiling down upon me!

Take the pastries out of the oven (with a pot holder -- the tray is HOT!) and use a fork to carefully remove the circular tops of the pastries.  Spoon the filling into the pastries and then place the 'top' back onto the pastry (unless you have already eaten the flakey buttery goodness that was the 'top')

VOILA!!

Actually maybe it would've looked prettier without the top... but it didn't last like that for long anyways!!!!

MMmmmmmm!!!!

Now I'm sitting here in Berry Heaven.

And the BEST PART?!  Don't feel guilty when you eat this filling!!

It's made of two apples, blueberries, truvia, and a bit of sparkling water!!!!

Questions for the Day:

What's your favorite Berry?

What food do you feel should NEVER be left berry-less???