Repeat Offender

I was feeling a little under the weather today (self-induced, I might add) and had resigned to staying in bed all day. Then I remembered I had a pint of perfectly good blueberries in my fridge and had to put them to good use. I knew exactly what I was craving - Bluberry Banana Loaves. Damn Delicious is responsible for the fantastic recipe. I found this it early December, and have made 3 or 4 batches since. They are so YUMMY. I even gave them as Christmas gifts to the girls at my office.  Also I love the idea of making mini loaves instead. So cute.

I baked with butter today (usually I use margarine because it's more convenient - already soft) but careless me, just threw it in the bowl and started to blend it with the sugar. I assumed that because I had been out on the counter for the last day or two that it would be malleable enough to work with. Wrong. It was a little too hard/cold and it didn't blend very well. I went at it anyways and hoped for the best. Stuff like this reminds me that I'm not a pro. 

Also, the recipe calls for ripe bananas, but I keep bananas in the freezer, after they've gone too ripe to eat, for baking and find they work just as well. I usually throw them in the mircrowave for a minute or two to defrost.

I stole this picture - my photography skills aren't quite as nice.

Anyhoot. Here it is - minorly adapted from Damn Delicious:

• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 c. blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat four 5 3/4-inch mini loaf pans with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined. Beat in bananas until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the sugar mixture at low speed, beating just until incorporated.

4. Add blueberries and gently toss to combine.

5. Scoop the batter evenly into the loaf pans. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before inverting the cake onto a wire rack.

Voila. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I do!

Feeling inspired!

Second recipe of the day: soft pretzels!! 

Joel & I are enjoying a quiet day around the house (aka he fell asleep watching movies and I'm perusing Pinterest for more recipes), & I'm trying to decide what we can do as a cheap date night. Maybe see a movie? But if we see a movie, I have to get a pretzel. Actually, screw the movie, I'm much more interested in the pretzels. 

Took this recipe from The Food Network  and went boldly where I have never baked before: yeast. I'll admit, as a newbie, I was a little nervous to try it out, but in the spirit of my New Year's Resolution, I gave it a shot. 

They're quite yummy-- I interrupted Joel's nap for his approval as well. 

Before you toss 'em in the oven, the recipe recommends brushing them with an egg yolk/water mixture. I may have used too much, because the baked pretzels have a mild case of jaundice. Oh well. As it wast first ever attempt, I'd say it went pretty well. Next time, I'd either dilute the egg yolk with a little extra water or use a little less.

(Note: if you try this recipe, make sure you don't add the baking soda to already boiling water. Or do. It's a bit of a -messy- science experiment. 

Soft Pretzels

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

You can see that they turned out a little yellow from the egg yolk

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•                                                    Instructions
• 
  
• Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
• 
  
• Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
• 
  
• In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
• 
  
• Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. 
• 
  
• Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

It's a Learning Process.

I had every intention of posting earlier this week of my continuing adventures, however, they did not go as planned. Monday was the second time I had made these Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins; the first time being much more successful. Instead of butter, this recipe uses unsweetened apple sauce to lighten the calorie load. Delicious. This time, I was out of applesauce and attempted to use butter as a replacement. (Note to self: DONT DO IT).  I quickly googled a ratio for exchanging one for the other and went at it without a second thought. I'll have to do more research before every doing that again. The texture was all wrong. Instead of a light yet moist muffin, they tasted more like a shortbread cookie with a kind of flour-ish taste. So gross. I tossed the whole batch. I should have taken a picture to remind myself not to make that mistake again - although I'm sure merely tasting these awful cookie-muffins will be enough. I will definitely be making these muffins again - the RIGHT way - because they're actually delish. 

Onward and upward. 

Today, my recipe was slightly adapted from the blog Damn Delicious. I've only ever tried a store bought coffee cake, so  its been my determination to bake one from scratch - with the belief that anything from scratch is better than store bought. It was soooo good. The cake was fantastic. I wasn't thrilled about the final result of the brown sugar & cinnamon crumble on top. I'm not sure if I didn't mix it well enough, or if there's too much flour in the recipe. Its likely my fault, as I was scared to overmix and cause the crumble to become dry and tough. 

My husband and I gobbled up a large serving with our morning coffee far too quickly. I'm hoping to have some people over in the next day or two, so I dont eat the whole thing myself. Anyways, Joel loved it - even more than the store bought (I say with pride :P). Definitely worth making. I might even add in some nuts or replace the glaze with caramel sauce instead. 

Mmm. Might go grab myself another piece. Anyhoo, here's the recipe: 

Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping & Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients (cake)

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temp (I used margarine -- Shhh)

1 1/4 c. brown sugar, packed

2 lrg eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. greek yogurt

(for the crumb topping)

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

(for the brown sugar glaze)

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 t. water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13 dish and set aside.

To make the crumb topping, combine sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in melted butter. Add flour and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist. Spread out mixture on parchment paper to dry until ready to use. 

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy (approx 2-3 mins). Beat in eggs 1 at a time, until well combined. Add vanilla extract until mixture is even.

With the mixer on low speed, add Greek yogurt and dry ingredients alternately in 3 parts - beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat just until corporated.

Scoop the batter evenly into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved topping, using your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter.

Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the glaze, combine brown sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons water. Whisk until smooth.

When the cake is done, cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the glaze evenly over the top.

Something New

My New Year's resolution is to bake more. I've loved baking since I can remember. In the last couple months I've been doing much more (thank you Pinterest), so I've decided to chronicle my adventures in the kitchen. Here goes nothing. 

My first recipe of the year is a tried and true Pinterest find: the BEST chocolate chip cookies. Not much compares to the warm, gooey deliciousness of a fresh-from-the-oven-homemade cookie. If you have any measure of self control (I do not) and have cookies after the first day you baked them, more often than not, they get hard and crunchy. That's what makes these cookies so magnificent. They stay chewy and soft. The secret is cornstarch. 

This recipe came from Anna Olson (The Food Network), however, it was thanks to the fantastic Apple A Day blog that I found it. 

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350F

2) Blend butter and sugars together until smooth. Add egg & vanilla and mix well

3) Slowly add the rest of the ingredients. Once mixed, fold in chocolate chips.

4) Bake for 8-10 minutes on a greased baking sheet (will be golden brown around the edges)

5) Let cool and enjoy :)