I seem to have re-discovered my sweet tooth!
I have never done a lot of desserts. Mostly because I’m more of a savory foodie and when given the choice between cheese and salt or chocolate and sugary I’m definitely in the cheese and salt camp. I’ve always been comfortable cooking savory dishes in my own way, not really tied to an exact recipe, tasting and seasoning along the way and then making note of the amounts later when compiling notes. But baking? Nope. You can’t really do that. It seemed like a lot of work and fussiness that I’d rather avoid and a box cake mix or a trip to the bakery section was quick and easy.
Well this year I got inspired to do more baking because I’m really trying to get better about eating something with my morning coffee. I’m not a morning person. Even when I’ve slept great I still need about an hour or so before I want to eat anything. Just give me my coffee dammit! Heh;-) So, clearly not the best time to be whipping up a bunch of dishes and cooking. But if there’s a tray of muffins or a coffee cake on the counter it’s a lot easier for me to grab a bite to go with my coffee. So here are some of my forays into the world of baked goods.
For the Batter:
- 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup yogurt (or sour cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 3/4 cups berries (blackberries, blueberries)
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- For the Crumble:
- 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and preheat to 375°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan (or line with cupcake cups). For the batter, stir butter, brown sugar, and salt in large bowl until creamy. Stir in eggs, one at a time until combined. Stir in yogurt and vanilla.
2. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda to bowl. Stir until just combined. Stir in berries. Divide batter evenly between cups.
3. For the crumble: Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in same unwashed bowl. Mix in butter with fingertips until moistened and crumbly. Scatter over muffins. Bake until golden and just set, about 23 minutes. Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
This came about from a couple of experiments and my desire to create something similar to one I used to get from Entenmann’s. It’s not quite right but I’m still experimenting!
- 2 cups Krusteaz complete pancake mix (the kind that only requires water) or Bisquick baking mix
- 1/3 cup of sour cream
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
Cream Cheese Swirl:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
Topping:
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter, cold
Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8x8 inch square pan, or a 9” pie dish.
Combine the butter and sugars for the cake and mix until fluffy. Add the egg, oil, and vanilla and mix until combined.
Stir together the cake ingredients until blended and spread in pan.
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla for the cream cheese layer and spoon in dollops over top of cake batter and drag a knife or toothpick through the cream cheese to gently create swirls.
Combine all the streusel ingredients using your hands or a pastry blender until well combined. Sprinkle over the batter generously.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the topping is browned.
(Original recipe 18-22 min. I checked at 15 to rotate it and still liquid-y in center. Baked another 15 min.)
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Mixed Berry Pound Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 stick butter or 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup, softened
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups mixed berries
Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter, sugar and eggs with a mixer. Add flour, milk, sour cream and vanilla extract and mix well with mixer. Gently fold in berries.
Pour in a 9 x 5 bread pan sprayed with cooking oil. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour until center tests done.
Chocolate Banana Muffins
- 3 ripe bananas, smashed
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Smash the bananas in a mixing bowl.
Add in the vegetable oil, stir with a spatula.
Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir to combine with a spatula.
Add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa, and salt, stir together with a spatula.
Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan before slicing.
To make this recipe into muffins: Line a muffin pan with muffin liners or if you’re not using muffin liners, lightly spray each muffin cup with non-stick cooking spray. Prepare the batter as directed. Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Yield about 10-12 regular size muffins.
This has become a regular! The first time I made this I used almond butter and added chocolate chips. I’ve also used blueberries instead. I’ve used crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy. It’s so easy!
- 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats (or gluten free oats)
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup milk (or milk alternative)
- 1/4 cup melted butter (or margarine)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Peanut Butter or almond butter, etc.
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips, raisins, fruit or nuts that you might like to add.
Preheat oven to 350°
Grease an 8x8 pan.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well.
Spread evenly into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
Serve warm out of the oven or allow it to completely cool and cut into bars for a grab and go snack.
Banana Bread Blondies
We’ve been eating bananas pretty often and whenever there are some that are going past fully ripe a bit too quickly for us to eat I throw them in the freezer. When you are ready to use them for banana bread or whatever all you have to do is take them out and let them warm up for about half an hour.
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 small ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup pecans (or chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together sugars and butter until combined. Mix in the bananas, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in the flour and salt. Fold in the pecans until evenly distributed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.
So, do you bake? After dinner treats are welcome!
What are you having for dinner tonight? And as always, if you would like to contribute a post to our series please let me know!
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