Best Bread Recipe of 2011: Cranberry Orange Muffins

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I am linking this recipe up to Finding Joy in My Kitchen's Countdown to 2012: Best Bread Recipes.  Although, I know this isn't a "bread" recipe, it is what is referred to as a "quick bread," meaning yeast is not used for leavening.  Instead, a quick leavening agent such as baking soda or baking powder is used.  Thus, making it quick as compared to yeast breads which can often take several hours.  Unfortunately, in all the recipes I posted this year, I didn't do one single bread, so I thought this was just as well!  I did make these as muffins originally, but as with most muffin recipes, it could also be easily baked in a loaf form as well.  Simply lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I have mentioned *a time or two* here before, I am using more whole grains (really whole foods in general) in the kitchen. Some areas are better than others. Such as rice--we use brown rice exclusively around here now.  And let me be upfront--I don't love brown rice.  Not by any stretch.  I prefer white rice, but I know the brown is better for you, so we do that instead.  But get this--a friend of mine told me that using something a little "higher end" really helps in the way of enjoying brown rice.  Let me explain--I am a "bulk foods girl" (almost always).  And I am frugal.  Whatever brown rice was the cheapest, I was buying.  However, my friend told me, get the basmati brown rice instead of the standard long/short grain.  I was skeptical to say the least, but I thought, okay I'll try it this once.  And it really does make a difference.  Pair the "better" rice and using chicken stock instead of water to cook it--um, yes, thank you, I'll have seconds.  For reals, try it--let me know what you think.  I think it's nearly as good as white rice.  

Anyhow, this post wasn't supposed to be about rice.  For flour, I try to do whole wheat as much as possible as well.  We do whole wheat for sandwich bread, whole wheat pancakes and waffles, whole wheat banana bread and most of our muffins are whole wheat as well--I have switched to exclusive whole wheat in the Best Ever Muffins and Morning Glory Muffins as well as many others.  That said, there is something about fruit and whole wheat that doesn't sit as well with me.  Like the scones, when it comes to things like blueberry muffins or in this case, cranberry orange muffins, I just couldn't go all the way.  I did compromise though and did half and half (nearly).  And you know what?  They were good!  The all whole wheat may not be half bad either--slathered in butter of course.

Update: My, my, how things change in 12 months time!   I now use freshly ground soft white wheat flour (as of Summer 2011) exclusively in my baked goodies like muffins and cookies.  Read more about that over here.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease bottoms of a muffin pan or line with paper liners and set aside.

1 cup frozen cranberries (don't thaw)
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
3/4 cup milk (I used whole, but I am sure most milk would work just fine)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (vegetable oil would work too)
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar + 1 additional tablespoon (mine was rapadura)
1 1/4 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder (since switching to aluminum free, I have found it to more reactive than regular baking powder--if using regular baking powder use 2 tsp.)
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, toss frozen cranberries, 1 tablespoon of sugar and orange zest.  Set aside. 

In a large bowl, mix melted coconut oil and milk.  Whisk in egg and and remaining sugar.  Add in flours, baking powder, and salt and start folding wet and dry ingredients together.  When about half way incorporated, add in cranberry mixture and fold together until dry ingredients are just moistened. 

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Best Breakfast Recipe of 2011: Fresh Cherry Scones with a Sweet Almond Glaze

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I am linking this recipe up to Finding Joy in My Kitchen's Countdown to 2012: Best Breakfast Recipes.  This is by far my favorite breakfast creation I came up with this year!  Too bad we already ate all the cherries in our freezer.  Otherwise, I would be making them again right now!  

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It had been no more than a week after we finished up the cherries that we Hubs picked 4th of July weekend, that our sweet landlord called and asked if we wanted some cherries from her brother's orchard.  Of course I would never turn down fresh picked cherries, so I jumped at the offer.  But then as I was filling up a big bowl of cherries to take, I remembered that we are going out of town, so I better cool it with taking so many because there is no way we are going to finish them up before we leave.

Enter getting creative with meals to eat some more cherries.  After Hubs ate his first scone, he asked if he could have another one.  I said of course, and as he was walking away, he says something about selling these.  What a nice Hubs, huh?  Oh and for the record, no, he doesn't normally ask permission for seconds, but he knew I hadn't taken pictures yet for the blog, so he wasn't sure what was "allowed."  Isn't he a good blogger husband? 

Fresh Cherry Scones

2 cups flour (I used fresh ground soft white wheat, but all purpose would work fine too)
3 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup fresh cherries; stemmed, pitted, chopped (should be 1 1/4 cups after stemming, pitting, and chopping)
4 to 6 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives.  Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.  Add in egg, fresh cherries, and about 3 tablespoons of milk (to start) and fold together.  Fold until just moistened, adding more milk if necessary.

On a lightly floured surface, pat dough into a disk, about 1 inch thick.  You will want to flour the top of the dough as well, as it will be sticky.  Cut the disk like a pie into even sized scones.  I was able to get six generous sized scones.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely prior to glazing.

Sweet Almond Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix together ingredients until smooth.  If consistency is too thick, add a shade more milk.  If consistency is too thin, add a dash more powdered sugar.  Wing it like I do! ;)  Drizzle over cooled scones. 

Tried It & Loved It: Gingerbread Muffins

Another fine muffin recipe to add to our muffin rotation.  These just scream "Christmas" to me.  They are very similar in taste to my family favorite ginger snap cookies, so what a treat to have these little lovelies first thing in the morning.  I apologize, as I didn't get a picture, but Sara has a great little picture of these on her blog, Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

These are a real treat....I hope you get to try them out!

Gingerbread Muffins ~ slightly adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen

2 C white whole wheat flour (I used my soft white wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/2 C brown sugar, packed (I used regular sugar because sucanat doesn't have the molasses stripped from it and with additional molasses in the recipe, I didn't know how it would taste)
1/4 C coconut oil, melted
1/2 C molasses
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C buttermilk

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with non stick spray or line with paper liners and set aside. 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.  Set aside.

In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar, molasses, egg, vanilla and buttermilk.  Mix wet ingredients into dry and when almost completely mixed, pour in coconut oil and finish mixing to combine.

Fill muffin cups two thirds full and bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool about 10 minutes prior to removing from pan. 

Slather with lots of butter and enjoy! 


 

Tried It & Loved It: Apple Cider Doughnuts

I know, I know.

Enough with the doughnut addiction, right?

Actually, the inspiration was that I had some apple cider to use up (from another recipe I tried) and I came across this in my blog reading.  And it was a doughnut recipe that used apple cider, so there was really no question if I would make them, only when. 

I made them the next day. 

These are a baked doughnut and Aimee uses a doughnut pan to bake hers.  Although I am not a fan of nonstick pans, I just might have to make an exception for my love of doughnuts.  Anyhow, not having a doughnut pan, I used my mini muffin cups and made doughnut "holes." 

They turned out really good.  They were really light and airy, not like your typical denser cake doughnut.  I suspect that's because these were baked and not fried.  But don't quote me on that!

Apple Cider Doughnuts ~ from Shugary Sweets

2 cup flour (I used soft white wheat)
3/4 cup sugar (I used sucanat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

 

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and salt.   Add in cider, applesauce, eggs and vanilla extract.  Mix together until smooth and creamy~about two minutes.  

Place filling in zip top bag and snip off corner and "pipe" into doughnut pan (or mini muffin pan!) for easy distribution.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes (mine were about this long too), until doughnut springs back when touched.  

Cool for about 10-15 minutes and dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with apple cider icing.  I didn't do this part, but I am sure it's tasty! 

Tried It & Loved It: No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

On our trip to visit the Hubs' parents last month, one of the mornings my mother-in-law made a version of these rolls.  Her recipe is one that has actually been handed down through the family--it's one of those recipes I've been meaning to get from her.  I just haven't gotten around to it yet.  Kinda' like those muffins from awhile back.

In blog hopping a few weeks ago, I came across this recipe for a quick bread cinnamon roll and I knew I needed to try it.  I big fluffy pink hearts love cinnamon rolls, but I don't make them too often because a) they are a yeast bread and that takes time in the morning--which I don't have when I have a hungry Peanut--OR you have to plan ahead, and I don't do that too often when it comes to breakfast and b) cinnamon rolls have tons of sugar and I try to be somewhat conscious of that.  Not to say we never have sugar, but I do try it watch it somewhat.  Ahem.

Anywho, I thought a No Yeast Cinnamon Roll was a perfect recipe to try.  These were really good, although they are different than their traditional yeast counterpart.  Not bad, just different.  All in all a great option if you have a hankering for cinnamon rolls but you don't have several hours or you simply want them sooner than later.  ;) 

No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls ~ adapted from Abby at Cats and Casseroles

for the filling:
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar (I used sucanat--next time I will probably cut back on it a little, just because sucanat is MUCH sweeter.  I will also probably grind it up a little finer in the food processor first.)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
4  Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

for the dough:
2 1/2 c. (or more) flour  (I ended up using a nearly a whole additional cup of flour to get a dough consistency--2 1/2 cups soft white wheat and 1 cup all purpose)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tbsp butter, melted


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a round baking pan or 8 x 8 glass dish with cooking spray or butter sides and bottom and set aside.  

For the filling, mix the dark brown sugar/sucanat, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients and add in buttermilk and melted butter.  Mix until a soft dough is created.  I would start with the 2 1/2 cups flour and add more as necessary--with just the 2 1/2 cups flour, mine was like a pancake batter, so I definitely needed to add additional flour!  Once a soft dough is created, turn dough out onto a floured surface and kneed several times.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes in the fridge. 

Once dough has chilled/rested, roll out on a floured surface in about a 12x10 rectangle.  Spread melted butter evenly over the dough and sprinkle the filling over the butter.  Roll up dough and seal edges by pinching dough together.  Slice in 2-3 inch slices (I got eight) and place in prepared pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove rolls from oven when tops of rolls are golden.  Cool for about 10 minutes prior to icing.    

For the icing, please click here for Abby's recipe.  I didn't have the ingredients on hand for hers so I went with a twist on The Pioneer Woman's. 

for the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp hot black coffee
1/4 tsp vanilla

Whisk powdered sugar, coffee, and vanilla together.  Drizzle over warm (not piping hot!) cinnamon rolls and serve immediately. 

Tried It & Loved It: Vanilla Biscotti

I have had biscotti on my list of things to bake for a LONG time.  Like over a year ago long time.  I know.  I remember making some when I still lived with my parents, and I loved it.  I wanted to try my hand at it again and I finally got around to it.

A few weeks ago I sat down and found a recipe and made this wonderful biscotti.  I can't wait to make some more!  Next time, I plan on adding in some fun little yummies, like almonds or dried cranberries.....or maybe even both.  I so would have this time, but I didn't have any on hand, so vanilla it was.  It was still so tasty.  Crumbly and buttery just like it should be.  A great accompaniment to my coffee.  Need I say more? 

Vanilla Biscotti ~ from King Arthur Flour

6 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar (I did use sucanat, which is why the uneven color to my biscotti)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I did.....can you believe it?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a baking sheet for biscotti.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer, using paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until mixture is evenly combined.   Add in eggs; mix until creamy.  Add in flour and mix until evenly combined.  Dough will be sticky. 

Scoop dough onto prepared pan, and shape into a flattened log.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool about 30 minutes.  Using a spray bottle with room temperature water, lightly and evenly spritz water on biscotti log.  This will make the biscotti easier to slice.  Using a serrated knife, slice biscotti into 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Set the biscotti on edge on baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  They will appear dry and be starting to turn golden when they are done.  They still may be a tiny moist in the center, but they will continue to dry as they cool.  Remove from oven and transfer to rack to cool.

Store in an air container for several days. 



  

Tried It & Loved It: Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

Yet another one to add to our muffin repertoire.  When I asked Peanut what she wanted for breakfast the other morning, she quick response was, "Muffins."  What can a mom do, but make muffins?  And she is pretty easy to please--she doesn't care what kind of muffins, so as the baker, I got to choose.  I have made these for a couple of years now and they are definitely a keeper. 

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins ~ adapted from papergoddess at food.com

3 cups flour (I used my soft white wheat)
1 1/4 cups sugar (I used sucanat)*
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups milk  (I used whole)
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil)*
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Spray muffin pan(s) with non stick spray (or butter/grease bottoms of muffin cups) OR line with muffin liners and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Pour in milk, beaten eggs, and almond extract and start to mix.  When the mixture is half way mixed, pour in melted coconut and finish mixing until dry ingredients are just moistened. (If you use standard cooking oil, you can add all your wet ingredients at once and mix.  I do the coconut oil last because it can turn back to a solid very quickly when mixing with cold milk and eggs. I found this works way better!)  Fold in poppy seeds and fill muffin cups two thirds full.  Sprinkle with sliced almonds and bake for about 20 minutes. 

*I decreased both the sugar and the oil from the original recipe and they turn out beautifully every time.  I really don't think the amount of sugar or oil called for in the original is even necessary.  But that's just me.  ;)

Tried It & Loved It: Kiwi Boats

These are a fun little treat....and fairly healthy too.  I saw these in one of my recent Rachael Ray magazines and knew they would be a hit with the Peanut.

They were. 

Kiwi Boats ~ from Every Day with Rachael Ray

Kiwi
Vanilla Yogurt (I mixed up some plain whole milk yogurt with a little honey and vanilla, as commercial yogurt is usually FULL of sugar)
Granola

Slice kiwi in half, length wise.  Scoop out flesh of kiwi, leaving the skin in tact.  Slice up kiwi flesh.  Fill kiwi shell with vanilla yogurt, and top with kiwi slices and a sprinkle of granola.  Enjoy!

Fresh Cherry Scones with a Sweet Almond Glaze

It had been no more than a week after we finished up the cherries that we Hubs picked 4th of July weekend, that our sweet landlord called and asked if we wanted some cherries from her brother's orchard.  Of course I would never turn down fresh picked cherries, so I jumped at the offer.  But then as I was filling up a big bowl of cherries to take, I remembered that we are going out of town, so I better cool it with taking so many because there is no way we are going to finish them up before we leave.

Enter getting creative with meals to eat some more cherries.  After Hubs ate his first scone, he asked if he could have another one.  I said of course, and as he was walking away, he says something about selling these.  What a nice Hubs, huh?  Oh and for the record, no, he doesn't normally ask permission for seconds, but he knew I hadn't taken pictures yet for the blog, so he wasn't sure what was "allowed."  Isn't he a good blogger husband? 

Fresh Cherry Scones

2 cups flour (I used fresh ground soft white wheat, but all purpose would work fine too)
3 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup fresh cherries; stemmed, pitted, chopped (should be 1 1/4 cups after stemming, pitting, and chopping)
4 to 6 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives.  Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.  Add in egg, fresh cherries, and about 3 tablespoons of milk (to start) and fold together.  Fold until just moistened, adding more milk if necessary.

On a lightly floured surface, pat dough into a disk, about 1 inch thick.  You will want to flour the top of the dough as well, as it will be sticky.  Cut the disk like a pie into even sized scones.  I was able to get six generous sized scones.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely prior to glazing.

Sweet Almond Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix together ingredients until smooth.  If consistency is too thick, add a shade more milk.  If consistency is too thin, add a dash more powdered sugar.  Wing it like I do! ;)  Drizzle over cooled scones. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen  (Friday Potluck will be hosted at girlichef for the month of July)
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap at A Moderate Life
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday

Tried It & Loved It: Sausage & Swiss Chard Frittata

Well, this one is just a lovely little number.  I had been wanting to try some different types of dark leafy greens (other than spinach) and when I came across this, I knew it was a perfect way to try my first encounter with chard.  Luckily, the nice produce man was there to point me in the right direction.  I had an idea of what chard looked like, but I couldn't seem to find any.  Apparently our store only sells it in the organic section.  I remember learning in my "research" that some things are actually easier to grow without pesticides because the food is so delicate, that it can't withstand all the chemicals....I am guessing Swiss chard is one of those?

Anyhow, I loved this and Hubs and Peanut both ate two slices.  I'd say I'll definitely be making this again!  (Although, I learned according to Peanut that if we have something for dinner, it can under NO certain terms be served for breakfast.  Dinner leftovers may be served for lunch, but served for breakfast?  Meltdowns of epic proportions.  Then she had no problem eating the leftovers at lunch several hours later.  Our little creature of habit. 

Sausage and Swiss Chard Frittata ~ from the Family Balance Sheet

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ red onion, chopped (I used yellow)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb sausage, casings removed. (I used chicken sausage)
½ - 1 full bunch Swiss chard, washed, dried, chopped fine (mine was Rainbow Chard and it was so pretty)
6 large eggs
¾ cup Parmesan
½ cup milk (I used cream....trying to use some up)
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray and set aside. 

In a large saute pan over medium heat, brown and cook through sausage in olive oil.  Stir in onions and garlic and cook until onions are tender.

I cooked the chard a little different than Kristia did.  I stripped the greens off the chard stems first in order to give the thick stems a head start in cooking.  I did this by holding the stems in one hand and pulling the leaves off with the other hand.  Simply run your hand down the stems and the leaves will strip right off.  I chopped up the stems into a small dice and sauteed those with the sausage and onions until they were tender.  I then roughly chopped the leaves of the chard and added those and as soon as they started to wilt, I transferred all of it to the pie pan. 

In separate bowl, whisk eggs and stir in cheese, milk, and salt and pepper.  Pour over sausage mixture and bake for about 30 minutes or until eggs are set. 

Cherry Almond Muffins

I mentioned that "we" went and picked cherries on Friday and by golly, have we been enjoying them!  We actually had to cut Peanut off (more than once) otherwise she would just keep eating more and more if we let her.  But I can't blame her--they are ever so tasty!

I have been trying to incorporate these little gems of goodness into our breakfasts because I don't want an ounce of these cherries to go to waste.   AND my shipment of soft white wheat came in (read: SUCH a happy girl) so I made some cherry muffins for breakfast.  Now I've made fresh cherry muffins before.  But I changed the recipe a little because how we eat now has changed from how we ate two years ago and well, because that's what I do--I wing it in the kitchen.  Regardless, they were SO tasty I decided to write a whole new post all about the changes I made!

Cherry Almond Muffins

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour (I used freshly ground soft white wheat although all purpose or whole wheat would work just fine)
1 cup cherries, pitted and quartered (mine were Rainier this time)
1/2 cup sugar (I used rapadura)
2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sliced almonds, for topping

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin cups or line with paper liners.

Beat milk, egg, and almond extract in large bowl.  Fold in cherries.  Add in remaining dry ingredients and melted coconut oil (last) and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.  (I add the coconut oil in last otherwise when you stir your coconut oil in with the cold milk/egg, the coconut oil starts to harden up and it doesn't mix as evenly. So I mix all my other "wet" ingredients, then add in my "dry" and then pour the coconut oil on top and mix it all together until just moistened.  This process works really well for me.)  Divide batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Makes about 1 dozen.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen  (Friday Potluck will be hosted at girlichef for the month of July)
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap at A Moderate Life
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 
This Chick Cooks Recipe Swap

Tried It & Loved It: Lemon Poppy Seed Bread (or in my case, muffins)

This is another good one!    I would have totally made it with my soft white wheat, but I ran out (because I love it that much!) and I won't be able to get any more until the beginning of next month.  So, this time I opted for all purpose flour....you know, for the lighter texture.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread Muffins ~ slightly adapted from The Happy Housewife

1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (I used melted, coconut)
1/4 cup lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds together and set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients and combine both wet and dry ingredients until just moistened.  Pour in a sprayed loaf pan or sprayed muffin cups.  Bake at 350--the loaf for 45-55 minutes or the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in either comes out clean. 

Tried It & Loved It: Baked Doughnuts

***I apologize this post is a little late, but I had some surprise guests show up on Thursday night--my Mom and Dad!***

Have I ever mentioned my love affair with doughnuts?  I big-fluffy-pink-hearts LOVE doughnuts.  When I was in college (living at home--don't judge--it was FREE), my mom used to bribe me by asking me to drive into town to run to the post office and bank for her--in exchange for my favorite chocolate bar doughnut.  I did it without fail nearly everyday.  And I was a size 4-6.  Isn't that just plain wrong?

While my metabolism is NOT the same as it used to be, my love for doughnuts is.  But then there is that whole-foods-thing-again-and-knowing-what's-in-the-food-you're-eating, blah, blah, blah.  So I rarely eat doughnuts any more.

Such a sad story, isn't it?

But then one day it occurred to me, I can make my own doughnuts.  I did choose to do a baked version, not because they are "healthier" (who are we kidding--they are doughnuts) but for the following two reasons a) Frying them up takes time and patience and while I do have time, I am NOT that patient and b) if I did fry them, I would use coconut oil and coconut oil is expensive and I really didn't want to use it  for something as frivolous as doughnuts.  So baked doughnuts it was. 

Can you say yum?  I would so make them more often, but because you have to plan ahead (although I do menu plan our dinners, I am more of a wing it girl when it comes to breakfasts) and because of all the added sugar, I don't make them as much as my taste buds would like. 

All that aside, if you do ever get the chance-try them.  You'll LOVE them!

Baked Doughnuts ~ slightly adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen 

1 1/3 C warm milk (~100 degrees F)
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
2 T butter, softened
2/3 C sugar (I used rapadura)
2 eggs
5 C flour (I used half white whole wheat, half all purpose)
1 tsp. sea salt (ground finely)

1 T cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
Melted butter 

Stir yeast in warm milk and set aside to proof.  In a stand mixer, using paddle attachment, beat softened butter and sugar together until well combined.  Add in eggs and mix thoroughly.  Add in yeast/milk mixture.  Sift flour and salt together in a separate bowl and add in one cup portions to the wet mixture until all flour is added.  Dough should start pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball--additional flour may be necessarily, depending on humidity that day (I probably added about an extra half cup).  Once mixture is well combined, switch out paddle attachment for dough hook and knead dough on medium speed for about five minutes.    When finished kneading, dough should no longer be overly sticky and should be somewhat elastic in texture.  Grease bowl with oil or butter and do the same to your dough ball.  Cover bowl and let rise until doubled in shape.  (I place my dough in a warm-not hot-oven to rise.) 

Punch dough down and roll out on a well floured surface to a half inch thickness.  Using a doughnut cutter or a large and small circular shape (I used a drinking glass and a tiny plastic container), cut doughnuts and doughnut holes out and place on lightly greased (I used my Silpats instead) baking sheets.  Let rise for an additional hour.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake until doughnuts are just starting to brown on top~about eight minutes.  Be careful not to over bake!

Melt butter in a bowl and mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.  When doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip doughnuts in butter and then dredge in cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Best served while still warm. 

Tried It & Loved It: Mocha Banana Muffins

I've shared with you our love for muffins around here.  When I came across this recipe, I thought it sounded so good, I tried them out the next morning and they didn't disappoint. We've already had these several times.  I did adapt them a little (of course!) for how we cook in our household and they were very well received!  I was also concerned about the coffee (caffeine) being in them with Peanut and she didn't seem to have any more energy than normal, so if you are worried, it shouldn't be a problem.

Mocha Banana Muffins ~ adapted from the Happy Housewife 

2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup strong black coffee
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup rapadura or light brown sugar
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup  cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts chopped (optional)
1 cup coconut (optional)
1 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

 Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper liners and set aside. 

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, buttermilk, coconut oil, coffee, bananas, vanilla extract and sugar.  In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix in the wet with the dry, stirring until batter is just moistened.  Mix in additional add ins if using.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Makes approximately 18 muffins. 

Tried It & Loved It: Peanut Butter Muffins

We love muffins around here. And while we have several favorites--like these, these and these--it's always nice to change it up a bit.  My dear, sweet husband is a lover of all things peanut butter, so when I came across this recipe--I knew it would be well received.  And well received it was!  I also like that it has less sugar than a lot of muffin recipes and they still taste really good.  It was also suggested to add some chopped peanuts or chocolate chips, which I had planned on doing but then I completely forgot.   

Well shucks, I guess I will have to make them again and add in one or both in next time! 

Peanut Butter Muffins ~ adapted slightly from Happy in Dole Valley

1 1/4 c. whole milk
1/4 c. coconut oil, melted (cooking oil would work too)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. natural peanut butter  
1/2 c. rapadura (sugar would work just as well) 
1 c. oats
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin tin or line with paper liners and set aside.

Mix together milk, coconut oil, eggs, peanut butter and rapadura/sugar.  Add in oats and stir to combine.  In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until just combined.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Makes 1 dozen.

Breakfast Smoothies

I realize I might just be the last person on the face of this earth to try my hand at making smoothies.  If not the last, then probably the second to the last.  I see lots of different blogs that make them and that have them on their menu rotation, my sister makes them, my sister in law makes them, our friends make them--I know they are nothing new.  Yet, I had still never tried it.  I think it's because I thought of them as breakfast thing and the idea of something cold and frosty first thing in the morning did not appeal to me at. all. 

And wouldn't you know it, making smoothies all came about because I am cheap frugal and didn't want these to go to waste. All that effort I put into my first ever round of canning and come to find out I don't really care for canned apricots.  I like them fresh, but canned?  Not so much.  Perhaps I processed them too long (although I don't think I did), but they sure don't hold up as well as a canned peach.  They were pretty mushy.  So there sat about 18 jars of canned apricots and I certainly didn't want them to go to waste.  They were organic after all.  (And in retrospect, maybe that's why the gal at the orchard mentioned that she always froze them or made fruit leather with her apricots....maybe she didn't care for canned ones either. Hmmmm......) 

Anyhow, so I drug out my food processor (I have a blender that is somewhere in the depths of our basement) and attempted my first round of smoothies.  Oh, and boy, are they good!  Peanut was a big fan too.

Breakfast (or any other time) Smoothies

1 1/2 cups ice cubes
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries (you could use fresh of course, but you may want to add more ice for a more frozen consistency?  I'm not sure....)
1/2 cup canned apricots
2 bananas (peeled of course)
1/3 cup frozen blueberries or blackberries
1/2 cup plain, cream top yogurt
1 Tbsp honey

Since I am using a food processor, I usually add my ice and chop/process that for about a minute, then add my frozen strawberries, and process until those are finely chopped.  Then I add everything else and process until smooth.  If you are using a blender, from what I understand, you can just add it all in there and blend away until smooth.  This makes about three tall glasses~about 30 ounces of smoothie. 

Really, there are no rules when it comes to smoothies.  This is just what has worked for me so far.  I just picked up some frozen organic mangos and peaches on sale and plan to throw those into the rotation.  Plus, as spring and summer get here, I know I will be looking for discounted produce that is a little past it's prime.  Just add lots of fresh/frozen fruit with a little yogurt and ice and some sweetener (if needed) and process/blend away.  Smoothies are pretty much fool proof.

Oh and last but not least...did you make too much?  Pour your leftovers in popsicle molds for a quick and easy snack for the littles.  I got that idea from my sister in law--what a fabulous way to use it all up!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:
 






Alli 'n Son Sweet Tooth Friday
Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap  
Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 
Paisley Passions Fun With Food Friday    
We Are THAT Family's Works For Me Wednesdays