I might be a recipe hoarder. Lucky for you.
I was inspired to make this pear crisp thanks to some pears from Claire’s prolific tree. They were *very* ripe, so that’s why I also added some lemon juice and salt to cut some of the sweetness. A crumb topping kinda makes everything better, doesn’t it?
The recipe could easily be doubled for a larger batch.
You can also freeze the dough so you always have freshly baked cookies available. I shaped them into balls before freezing them. You’ll need to extend the baking time a bit if going from freezer to oven.
I am a big fan of vanilla or lemon cake, so if you put me in charge of the birthday cupcakes, that’s probably what you’re going to get! These were light, lemony, and m***t. I baked them ahead of time and froze them. I forgot to get a close up photo of the finished product, so you’ll have to settle for an action shot of the birthday girl making a birthday wish!
I adapted the recipe from Babble. Here are a couple of notes:
These are not your typical chocolate chip cookies, but they are dense little bites of goodness that completely satisfied my craving. Plus they are gluten- and dairy-free, if that’s what you’re into.
Have I mentioned that I am picky about bananas? I don’t buy or eat them that often as there is a very narrow window of “ripeness” that I like. This week I let one get too ripe and decided it was a sign that I should make banana bread or muffins. Of course then I had to buy another banana to have enough for this recipe.
A heads up that this recipe requires three, yes three, mixing bowls — one for dry ingredients, one for butter and sugars, and one for the banana mixture. It also recommends using a mixer but I cheated on that part and mixed it by hand.
I made 16 muffins with this recipe instead of 12. Breakfast all week for me, and the rest in the freezer.
Banana blueberry whole wheat muffins
Makes: 12-16 muffins
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| Muffins for everyone! |
Source: Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2009
Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen blueberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line your muffin pan(s) with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mash bananas with a fork and then stir in milk and vanilla.
5. To the butter and sugar mixture, alternate adding flour mixture and banana mixture and mix until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries.
6. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
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| Ready to bake |
Lemon poppy seed muffins
Earlier this month, I helped a friend decorate her Christmas tree. She baked up some Nestle dark chocolate peppermint cookies to make her home smell like…freshly baked cookies. Not only did they smell great, they tasted great too! And since then I have been thinking about those cookies more than I probably should, so I decided I had to try to recreate them.
I used Ghiradelli peppermint bark (a 3.5-ounce bar was plenty; 4-5 of the individual squares would be enough too). I wanted to add a little peppermint extract but I couldn’t find it, and I gave up after looking in Whole Foods, Shaws, and Target. I give myself an A-minus…they are pretty tasty but I wanted them to be a little more peppermint-y.
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| Peppermint two ways |
Chocolate peppermint cookies
Makes: about 3 dozen
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped peppermint bark (I used Ghiradelli)
1/4 cup chopped peppermint candy canes, plus more for topping
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
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| Cookies! |
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, then stir in vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the butter and sugar mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped peppermint bark and candy canes.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (I line mine with parchment paper). Top each cookie with a few pieces of crushed candy canes.
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
This recipe is hot off the press, aka hot out of the oven post Sunday dinner chez Kara. My friend Ruthie suggested this dessert, and it was perfect since I recently read about the Hasselback technique and I have *plenty* of apples…it was just meant to be (in my belly).
You might be wondering what the heck Hasselback means. From what I can ascertain from my friend Google, this is traditionally a potato dish that originated from Restaurant Hasselbacken in Stockholm, Sweden. The potatoes are sliced thinly, but not all the way through, so they look like an accordian. They are then brushed with butter and roasted.
This was definitely a dessert success, and now that I’ve read more about it, I think I would like to try this with potatoes too (also something I have *plenty* of).
Hasselback apples
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| Hasselback apples after step 3 |
Serves: 3-6 (depends how hungry you are!)
Source: adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
3 medium-sized, firm apples
Cooking spray
3 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided
2 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted and divided
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
2 Tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Vanilla ice cream
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
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| Just add ice cream! |
2. Peel and core apples, then slice in half vertically. Place each apple half flat side down and slice crosswise most (but not all) the way through each half at 1/8-inch intervals. Place apple halves, flat side down, in an 8-inch broiler-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush mixture evenly over apples.
3. Cover pan with foil; bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove foil, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove pan from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
4. In another small bowl, mix together 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, oats, flour, and salt. Carefully fan open apple halves and spoon oat mixture evenly over the apples. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn oven to broil and broil for 2 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
One zucchini per week feels pretty manageable, especially when it’s a ‘normal’-sized one and not a super-sized one. I decided to prep breakfast for the week with these tasty zucchini muffins. And this recipe made a perfect little six pack of muffins.
The batter will feel really dry and lumpy after adding the egg and oil in step three. Don’t panic! The liquid from the zucchini will make it more batter-like…I promise. And bonus, you don’t have to do creative things to squeeze the liquid out of the shredded zucchini, a step that is often included. I am all about the short cuts!
Also, I accidentally doubled the baking powder, which did not have an adverse effect..probably because it was such a small amount to begin with. But according to this article, too much baking powder can cause baked goods to rise too high (then collapse) and taste metallic. GTK (good to know).
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| Muffins! |
Zucchini pecan muffins
Makes: 6-7 muffins
Source: adapted from Taste of Home
Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (it will feel dry and lumpy). Stir in the zucchini just until combined. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until about three-quarters full. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan, then cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!
It’s Memorial Day and I had a craving for a patriotic dessert, aka a cake with strawberries and blueberries. I found a recipe for a sheet cake and made a few modifications, primarily halving the recipe and adding lemon. I also skipped the frosting. The recipe below is the original proportions, but with the lemon (and its zest).
Lemon sheet cake
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| Memorial Day cake! |
Makes: 1 cake
Source: adapted from Eat Cake for Dinner
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice from 1 lemon (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
Strawberries and blueberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 12″ x 18″ jelly roll pan.
2. Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl and add water. Stir in sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until smooth.
3. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, and yogurt. Mix until blended. Pour the batter into the jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool. Slice and top with strawberries and blueberries.
Kara Cooks and Eats 