Banana Walnut Muffins

April 27, 2013 by Mackenzie

Classes are over so let the cooking and baking begin!

I made these for breakfast yesterday and boy were they good! The recipe is from Fine Cooking’s “Breakfast and Brunch” special magazine. There are so many good recipes inside so get ready to see a lot more!

These muffins were especially good because they were BIG. Not your puny little muffins that you have to eat three of to feel full – but those big, wide-topped muffins that you see in a bakery window and just have to have… Plus, bananas and walnuts are such a satisfying combination, then you top it with a cinnamon glaze? Sheesh, I’m sold!

Banana Walnut Muffins
Makes 12-16 muffins
Recipe from Fine Cooking’s “Breakfast and Brunch” magazine

Ingredients:

Muffins:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup
10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup skim milk, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced bananas
3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Melt the butter and get it cooling. Set out the milk, sour cream and eggs so it can get to room temperature. (Do this way ahead of time! Its the key to the recipe!) Toast the walnut pieces.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F and line your muffin tins with muffin baking cups. I also sprayed the muffin tin so the muffin tops would be easy to get off. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs and egg yolk until well-combined.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold gently until just moistened. Gently fold in the banana pieces, walnut pieces and vanilla. Do not overmix – leave the batter a little lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, mounding the batter 3/4 inch higher than the rim of the cups. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes on a wire rack.
5. When cool, whisk the powdered sugar and cinnamon with 4 tablespoons of water (or however much you need for the right consistency). Pop the muffins out of the tin and place on a rack with foil underneath. Pour the glaze onto the tops of the muffins, using a pastry brush to spread it. Let the glaze dry for 15 minutes and then enjoy!

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

April 25, 2013 by Mackenzie

What says “spring” better than lemon and raspberry? These muffins are moist and light – a perfect treat on a sunny spring morning!

This recipe easily halves (which we did so we wouldn’t be eating muffins for days!) or multiplies so it would be great for a Mother’s Day breakfast!

Lemon Raspberry Muffins
Makes 18 muffins
Recipe from lovegrowswild

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/4 cups raspberries
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, mix the beaten eggs, buttermilk, oil, and lemon zest. Fold in the raspberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.
2. When the muffins are cool, whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a glaze, adding more lemon juice if needed. Drizzle over the muffins and use a pastry brush to make sure all the edges are coated. Let harden for 5 minutes.

Zucchini Sunflower Bread

April 14, 2013 by Mackenzie

I told you I was on a bread-making kick… This is the last one for now 🙂

I love the Zucchini Sunflower bread from Kayak’s coffee shop and have been determined to recreate it. I had several different recipes, all of which differed just a bit! Before we left on the golf spring break trip, I had a couple of days with no roomies – so I created my own “America’s Test Kitchen.” I made a small loaf of each of the three recipes and one came out far superior!

I remade a full-size loaf last weekend and it was just as good as I remembered it! So here you go – the best Zucchini Sunflower bread!

Zucchini Sunflower Bread
Recipe from a cut out of an unknown cookbook (c/o Gramma Mary)
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar (weird I know but trust me!)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated zucchini
1 tbsp grated orange rind
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

2. Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Take out two tablespoons of beaten egg and discard (because the original recipe made two loaves and its a little hard to divide three eggs!). Add sugar and beat well. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini and orange.

3. Stir together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon). Stir into egg mixture and add the walnuts and sunflower seeds.

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes before taking out of pan.

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread with Almonds and Coconut

April 12, 2013 by Mackenzie

I’ve been on a bread-making kick the last few weeks. It’s such a good way to use up leftover vegetables and you get a great snack out of it. We’ve pretty much had some sort of bread around all semester, whether its the sweet potato bread I posted the other day, this recipe or the one I’ll post in a few days… It’s a fun treat!

On Easter Sunday, I went a little crazy and made four loaves of bread – and this was one of them! The almonds and coconut give the flavor of the carrot bread a unique twist, and using only brown sugar gives it a beautiful amber color.

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread with Almonds and Coconut
Makes 1 loaf
Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s Cookbook, How to Cook Everything (Awesome cookbook btw!)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons cold butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk or almond milk
1 tablespoon grated orange zest or lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and dust with flour.

2. Stir together the dry ingredients and then cut in butter with two knives or in a food processor until there are no pieces larger than a pea. Transfer to a large bowl if done in food processor.

3. In a small bowl, beat together the milk, zest and egg. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until the batter is just moist, do not overmix. Fold in the carrots, almonds and coconut.

4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

“Once-a-week” Sweet Potato Bread

April 10, 2013 by Mackenzie

So you probably know I have an obsession with sweet potatoes. Every time I go to the store I buy 3-4 and would gladly eat them for my next three meals! I made this bread for the first time about six weeks ago and LOVED it – and now my suite requests it every week! I’ve been tinkering with the recipe to bring down the amount of butter and finally found the right balance! The best part about this bread is how moist it it – oh my gosh I want a slice right now.

Sweet Potato Bread
Makes 1-2 loaves (it depends on the size of your sweet potato. The first couple times I made it, it all fits in one loaf pan – the last time it made two loaves. You can always freeze the second loaf!)
Recipe adapted from Three Clever Sisters

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (do not use regular whole wheat flour – it totally changes the taste. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, all AP flour is fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Flesh from 1 med-large sweet potato
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Roast the sweet potato. Preheat oven to 425F, wash sweet potato, pierce it several times with a fork and place on a foil covered baking sheet in the oven for forty five minutes to one hour, or until a knife runs through it easily. Allow to cool. (You should do this step a couple hours in advance)
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and dust with flour to prevent the bread from sticking.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the sweet potato flesh, sugar, and brown sugar with a mixer until well combined. Mix in butter and applesauce then add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each one. Beat in the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, beat it then add half the milk and beat again. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Do not overbeat.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean, about an hour. Let bread cool in pan for 20 minutes then allow to cool on a rack.

Steelcut Oats – Cardamom, Vanilla and Bananas

February 10, 2013 by Mackenzie

When we were at the store last week I bought some plain, quick-cooking steelcut oats to make for breakfast. I’ve been experimenting with different combinations of toppings and here is my favorite so far!

Steel-Cut Oats with Cardamom, Vanilla and Bananas
Serves 1

1/4 cup steel-cut oats, uncooked
3/4 cups water
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Banana

Boil 3/4 cups water in a small saucepan. Add oats and cook, covered for 5-7 minutes. Let sit 1 minute. Add cardamom, vanilla and sliced banana – mix it up and eat with a hot cup of coffee!
(The cardamom and vanilla amounts are just approximations of what I do – I just add however much I feel is necessary to give it a good flavor, but start there)

Other good toppings to mix and match:
Blueberries, Bananas, Raspberries
Cinnamon, Cardamom, Vanilla Extract, Almond Extract, Maple Syrup, Honey
Slivered Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Chocolate Chips

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