1 fresh baguette
1 tub Tre Stelle Bocconcini
4-5 small tomatoes on the vine
24-28 fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper
butter, at room temperature
With a sharp knife, cut the baguette into thin slices, about 1/8″ thick. Cut the bocconcini into rounds and the tomatoes into thin slices. Wash and throughly dry the basil leaves. Assemble your sandwiches. Lay out the slices of bread and place a layer of bocconcini rounds on each slice. Season with salt and pepper and then top alternating slices with tomatoes and basil leaves. Close up the sandwiches and butter the outsides of the bread. Heat up a cast iron or non-stick pan over medium to medium-low heat. Toast the sandwiches, flipping once, until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown and crispy, about 3-5 minutes per side. Enjoy immediately!PS – Look for the 100% Canadian Milk symbol whenever you buy cheese, it confirms the Canadian origin of the milk, renowned for its high quality, purity and great taste!There’s nothing more relaxing than biting into a crispy, crunchy sandwich and watching the snow softly fall outside the window. Don’t forget to slow down and take some time to make yourself (and your loved ones!) a grilled cheese this season. Heck, make yourself two – you deserve it!

Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll sneak out of bed into the darkened kitchen, open up the fridge and stand in the light of the refrigerator while I contemplate snacks to sate my hunger. Cheese has always got my back – its versatility is second to none. For a treat, I’ll melt it between two golden brown buttered crispy pieces of bread. If I want to make it even more indulgent, I’ll add sweet juicy tomatoes and fresh basil to bring the whole thing over the top. A caprese grilled cheese is always a good thing in my books.

The simplicity of a good caprese salad is a thing of beauty on its own – who doesn’t love perfectly ruby red vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh creamy Canadian mozzarella, and fragrant basil? Taking the ingredients and tucking them into a grilled cheese is, dare I say, even better? The mozzarella melts into a creamy, gooey mess. A bit of heat causes the tomatoes release even more of their sweet juiciness and the basil flavor becomes even more prominent when next to crunchy, golden brown toast. I make these caprese grilled cheeses a lot – as midnight snacks, as a stand in for dinner, or as hors d’oeuvres at cocktail parties.

Here’s what you’ll need to make these cranberry-studded beauties:

White whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour: Either one will work. White whole wheat flour (available in health food stores or well-stocked grocery stores) is made with white wheat berries instead of red, and has a more mild flavor as a result. As long as your whole wheat flour hasn’t been sitting on the shelf too long, your muffins will not have a strong “whole wheat” taste. In fact, if your flour smells rancid or your muffins taste bitter, your flour has gone bad.
Problem: The muffins were still far too tart, though (and I like tart).

Solution: To counteract the tartness of the cranberries, I added 1/4 cup more honey or maple syrup, which made these muffins perfectly sweet—not too much, not too little.

Problem: The extra moisture from the additional liquid sweetener made the muffins flatten out on the top. I wanted beautifully domed, fluffy muffins, so I tried decreasing the amount of yogurt, tweaking the baking powder and baking soda, and I was almost ready to give up…

Solution: I went back to the original formula and added 1/4 cup more flour. The muffins rose like a dream!

Eight tries later, I landed on perfect cranberry orange muffins! I hope you’ll make them while cranberries are still in season.

Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll sneak out of bed into the darkened kitchen, open up the fridge and stand in the light of the refrigerator while I contemplate snacks to sate my hunger. Cheese has always got my back – its versatility is second to none. For a treat, I’ll melt it between two golden brown buttered crispy pieces of bread. If I want to make it even more indulgent, I’ll add sweet juicy tomatoes and fresh basil to bring the whole thing over the top. A caprese grilled cheese is always a good thing in my books.

The simplicity of a good caprese salad is a thing of beauty on its own – who doesn’t love perfectly ruby red vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh creamy Canadian mozzarella, and fragrant basil? Taking the ingredients and tucking them into a grilled cheese is, dare I say, even better? The mozzarella melts into a creamy, gooey mess. A bit of heat causes the tomatoes release even more of their sweet juiciness and the basil flavor becomes even more prominent when next to crunchy, golden brown toast. I make these caprese grilled cheeses a lot – as midnight snacks, as a stand in for dinner, or as hors d’oeuvres at cocktail parties.

1 fresh baguette
1 tub Tre Stelle Bocconcini
4-5 small tomatoes on the vine
24-28 fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper
butter, at room temperature
With a sharp knife, cut the baguette into thin slices, about 1/8″ thick. Cut the bocconcini into rounds and the tomatoes into thin slices. Wash and throughly dry the basil leaves. Assemble your sandwiches. Lay out the slices of bread and place a layer of bocconcini rounds on each slice. Season with salt and pepper and then top alternating slices with tomatoes and basil leaves. Close up the sandwiches and butter the outsides of the bread. Heat up a cast iron or non-stick pan over medium to medium-low heat. Toast the sandwiches, flipping once, until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown and crispy, about 3-5 minutes per side. Enjoy immediately!PS – Look for the 100% Canadian Milk symbol whenever you buy cheese, it confirms the Canadian origin of the milk, renowned for its high quality, purity and great taste!There’s nothing more relaxing than biting into a crispy, crunchy sandwich and watching the snow softly fall outside the window. Don’t forget to slow down and take some time to make yourself (and your loved ones!) a grilled cheese this season. Heck, make yourself two – you deserve it!