Banana Crunch Muffins

I am in a dinner club with a lovely group of Mom's in our area. The basic premise is that the host creates the menu and emails out the assigned recipes (or wine) to those who will be attending. The host makes the main entree and the rest is created by the guests! Anyways, the theme for our dinner this month is Breakfast and I was asked to make the Banana Crunch Muffins. Yum--I love anything made by the Barefoot Contessa so I was happy with this new creation of hers. They were just as delicious as they sound...and who doesn't have a few overripe bananas lying around?

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/banana-crunch-muffins-recipe/index.html

Pumpkin Oatmeal

     I love Pumpkin...hence half of the title of this blog! A month or so ago when I began to crave all things pumpkin I headed to the store to stock up on the canned stuff. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any at any of my usual grocery stores...including Trader Joe's. My grandmother had the same problem and shared with me that she had heard we were going to have a canned pumpkin shortage because of a poor growing season last year... oh no! Alas, the pumpkin finally arrived in stores and I have been able to get my fill on nearly a daily basis.

     One of my favorite blogs to follow of late is "Kath Eats Real Food". The reason I like the blog is because it presents healthy ways to eat including new foods that I don't normally cook with. One of her breakfast staples is oatmeal and Mr. E. and I have heartily embraced breakfast oats because of this blog. Not only are they delicious and healthy, but this is really the only way Mr. E. would eat breakfast during the week because I can make individual batches and put them in a jar for him to grab on his way out the door. If you are interested in Kath's blog it can be found at http://www.katheats.com/

     The cold oats we have been rocking this week were made in one big batch so we wouldn't have to make breakfast each morning. We are super busy in the morning so anything that saves us time before Noon is great! So... I made a big batch of steel cut oats (these are the creamiest and healthiest oats you can buy... unfortunately they take about 30 minutes to cook which is why it is best to make a big batch at once). To make 6 servings you will need 1 cup of oats and 4 cups of liquid (I used 3 cups of lite vanilla soy milk and 1 cup of water. We love the flavor of the vanilla soy milk), and cinnamon. Bring the milk/water and a generous dash of cinnamon to a boil and then add the oats. Boil for 5 minutes until creamy and then reduce heat to a simmer and continue to simmer for 25 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. After the oats are finished, let cool and then add half a jar of canned pumpkin. When we are ready to eat them, I mash up a banana in a jar, add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the oats, a spoonful of apple butter and sometimes a spoonful of ground flaxseed meal if I remember and then mix it all together. Top that off with a spoonful of either almond butter or peanut butter for added protein. Top off the jar with your lid and it is breakfast on the go! Yum--you will really look forward to breakfast with this treat.

Brown Sugar Pecan Sticky Buns and Streusal Topped Chocolate Cranberry Bread

The sticky buns combine my dad's two favorite ingredients... sticky caramel and pecans! We will definitely be making these for our breakfast on Christmas morning... I was not as fond of the Cranberry Bread because it did not rise as I had hoped... But one of my friends here in town sampled it when it was fresh and offered positive praise so perhaps I will have to try again.

The sweets were created using one spiced dough recipe which I then divided in half (also dividing the two bread recipes in half) in order to make both breads on the same morning. If you like sticky rolls, you will LOVE these and they are actually a lot easier to make than the length of the recipe would indicate.


Spiced Sweet Dough
Use this recipe to make either Brown Sugar-Pecan Sticky Buns or Streusel-Topped Chocolate-Cranberry Bread. Or double it and make both.
makes enough dough for 30 sticky buns or 2 streusel-topped chocolate-cranberry breads.

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan
December 2009
Ingredients

* 1 cup warm whole milk (105°F to 115°F) {I used 2%}
* 2 envelopes active dry yeast
* 1/4 teaspoon plus 2/3 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
* 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 large egg
* 1 large egg yolk
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preparation
*Stir milk, yeast, and 1/4 teaspoon sugar in small bowl. Let stand until mixture bubbles, about 6 minutes. Stir again.
*Mix remaining 2/3 cup sugar and orange peel in medium bowl.
*Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and ginger to bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on low speed. Add yeast mixture; mix on medium-low speed until dry shaggy mass forms, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk; beat on medium speed until well blended. Add sugar mixture; beat until moist soft dough that resembles thick batter forms, about 3 minutes.
*Add butter by 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls; beat on medium-low speed until almost incorporated before adding more, about 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Beat dough on medium-high 2 minutes longer. Let dough rest in bowl 10 minutes (dough will become less sticky).
*Scrape dough out onto work surface; gather together. Place in large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about 2 hours. Punch dough down; cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Follow directions for Brown Sugar-Pecan Sticky Buns or Cranberry Bread.

Brown Sugar-Pecan Sticky Buns


Ingredients
topping

* 1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced
* 3/4 cup honey
* 3 cups pecan halves

filling

* 1/2 cup sugar
* 6 tablespoons golden brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* Spiced Sweet Dough (click for recipe)
* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, warm room temperature

Preparation
topping

*Butter two 13x9x2-inch glass baking dishes. Whisk sugar, butter, and honey in small saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth and bubbling around sides. Divide hot syrup between prepared baking dishes, allowing topping to cover bottom of each dish. Place pecan halves, rounded side down, in syrup, dividing equally. Cool.

filling

*Whisk both sugars and cinnamon in small bowl.
*Turn cold Spiced Sweet Dough out onto floured surface; sprinkle with flour. Divide dough in half. Roll out dough to two 15x12-inch rectangles. Using fingers, spread 2 tablespoons butter evenly over each rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over each. Starting at 1 long side of each dough rectangle, tightly roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using large knife, cut each roll crosswise into fifteen 1-inch-thick slices. Arrange 15 dough slices, cut side down, atop cooled syrup and pecan halves in each baking dish, spacing evenly apart. Cover with waxed paper; let rise in warm draft-free area until buns are puffy and doubled, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
*Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment; place dishes with sticky buns on baking sheets. Bake buns until deep golden brown and filling is barely bubbling around edges, about 25 minutes. Let buns stand 2 minutes. Cut around sides of buns to loosen. Place large rimmed platter atop each baking dish. Using oven mitts, firmly hold baking dish and platter together and invert buns onto platter. Cool at least 45 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Streusel-Topped Chocolate-Cranberry Bread

Ingredients
bread

* 2 3 1/2-ounce bars bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 1 1/3 cups dried sweetened cranberries (about 5 ounces)
* 4 tablespoons sugar
* Spiced Sweet Dough (click for recipe)

streusel

* 1/4 cup all purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped nuts (such as pecans, walnuts, or blanched almonds)
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)

Preparation
bread

*Mix chocolate, cranberries, and sugar in medium bowl. Place Spiced Sweet Dough in large bowl. Sprinkle chocolate mixture over dough and knead just until incorporated. Transfer dough to large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours. Punch dough down; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
*Butter two 9x5x2 3/4-inch metal loaf pans. Turn cold dough out onto work surface. Divide dough in half. Using hands, form dough into 2 compact logs, each about 9 inches long. Place dough logs in prepared loaf pans. Cover pans with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 3 to 3 1/4 hours (dough will not fill pans completely).

streusel

*Mix flour, nuts, sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture forms some small and some coarse crumbs. Cover and chill while bread is rising.
*Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Brush tops of risen bread loaves with egg glaze. Sprinkle streusel evenly over top of each loaf, dividing equally and pressing gently to adhere. Bake breads until top crust is deep brown and tester inserted into center of each loaf comes out clean, tenting with foil if top is browning too quickly, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven; let loaves rest in pans 5 minutes. Using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen breads. Using spatula as aid, ease breads out of pans. Place breads, streusel side up, on rack and cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Wrap in foil, enclose in resealable plastic bag, and freeze. Unwrap and thaw at room temperature.

Monkey Bread

After swim meets in college, the parents would often provide the swimmers with home-baked treats. During my sophomore year of college I lived with 5 other swimmers which meant that on swim meet weekends we were bombarded with sweet treats from our well meaning parents. I was first introduced to Monkey Bread (or as we called it “Monkey Balls”) when one of the other mothers left it at our apartment post meet. Although I have never made this myself until now (for a boating weekend with friends), I still have fond memories of that gooey goodness consumed over a good game of post-swim meet game of tetris with the roommates.

MONKEY BREAD

Ingredients:

* 4 cans refrigerated biscuits
* 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar, packed

Pre-heat oven to 350. Pull your biscuits apart and rip into smaller pieces (roughly 4 per biscuit). Try not to eat too much of the raw biscuit dough, like I always do! Mix your biscuit bits with the cinnamon and white sugar and pack into a buttered bundt pan. In the meantime, heat the brown sugar and butter together until melted, and pour over the top of the biscuit mix in the pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, let cool, and invert onto plate. Enjoy!

Reference: www.brokeassbride.com

Yukon Gold Cinnamon Rolls

This past weekend was my pseudo-birthday as Mr. E. and I were traveling home from a wedding weekend on my real birthday AND I was sick with bronchitis... no fun! So we pretended that this weekend was my birthday and so I made cinnamon rolls to welcome in my birthday weekend. You may ask why I made the rolls for my birthday (rather than Mr. E.). Well to put it simply, I love to bake and I would have been so impatient watching him have all the fun of kneading the dough and seeing the fruit of his labors. So I decided to create the breakfast for us and it was delicious. Not too rich, and not too sweet... just right and of so comforting to start the day. And yes, these cinnamon rolls are made with mashed potatoes :)


Ingredients
DOUGH
* 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
* 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 3 large eggs
* 4 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
* 3 1/4-ounce envelopes active dry yeast (scant 2 tablespoons)
* 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING

* 1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
* 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
* 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
GLAZE

* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Preparation
DOUGH

*
Combine potatoes, 2 cups water, and 1 tablespoon coarse salt in large saucepan. Boil until potatoes are very tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Mash potatoes with water in pan (do not drain water). Add butter and mash until butter is melted. Whisk in eggs, then 1 cup flour; mash until very smooth. Let potatoes stand until barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes.
*
Meanwhile, pour 1/2 cup warm water into large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add potato mixture to yeast mixture; mix on low speed until well blended, 2 minutes. Mix in 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well. Beat until sticky dough forms.
*
Spread 1/2 cup flour on work surface. Scrape dough out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 8 minutes.
*
Coat large bowl with butter. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make filling

*
Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in medium bowl. Using fork, mix in butter.
*
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Turn dough out onto well-floured work surface. Roll out dough to 24x16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle filling evenly over dough. Starting at 1 long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using large knife dipped in flour, cut roll crosswise into 12 pieces. Transfer rolls to baking sheet, spacing rolls about 3/4 inch apart. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes (rolls will be very puffy).
*
Bake cinnamon rolls until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool rolls 10 minutes on baking sheet.

Meanwhile, make glaze

*
Whisk powdered sugar, melted butter, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and coarse salt in small bowl. If glaze is too thick to spread, add more milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls as needed. Spread glaze over warm rolls.

Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2009

Marty's World Famous Granola

My mother-in-law served this for breakfast last year over the Christmas holiday and I fell in love... The commercial granola that can be found in grocery stores and even health food stores is very high in calories and fat. Marty has created a recipe that is extremely healthy, not overly sweet and low fat. Oatmeal is also very good for lowering cholesterol... every time I eat oatmeal or this granola, I imagine these little pipe cleaners swimming through my ateries and sucking up all of the LDL cholesterol. I love to make this granola... especially with variations and sometimes I mail some out as a small gift... who doesn't like opening their mailbox and being hit with the smell of cinnamon?

Oven: 300 degrees

Mix in large bowl:
3 cups whole oats or 2 cups oats and 1 cup rye (better vitamin content)
1 cup chopped pecans (or other nut)
1/2 cup sunflower seed
1/4 c. flax seeds (good for Omega Threes)
OPT. 1/2 c. raisins or dried cranberries (do not add dried fruit until AFTER the granola comes out of the oven.

Add (in this order):
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbl. canola oil
3 Tbl. pure maple syrup (may use honey, but maple syrup is easier to mix.)

Spread in thin layer in large pan. Bake 30-45 minutes

Cranberry Spice Bundt Cake

Mr. E. and I will be spending our Day of Thanks with my family and with his grandmother. In the same day. Therefore I decided to make a cake as my contribution that could double as a breakfast treat. This recipe came along in the November issue of my Bon Appetit magazine and sounded unlike anything I usually bake (i.e. no chocolate and/or lacks a creamy filling) so I thought it would be nice to try something different. It smelled divine baking in the house (when Mr. E. returned from work he walked in and said it smelled just like Thanksgiving in our home). I have not tasted the deliciousness yet but from comments online it sounds like the cake gets better with age so I will let it sit out on the counter for two days before serving it at the home of Grandma E.! One sidenote... the almond flour/meal can be found at most grocery stores in the organic aisle but it was $12 for the bag so I am going to share some with my mom.

CRANBERRY SPICE BUNDT CAKE

* 2 cups all purpose flour
* 3/4 cup almond flour or almond meal* (about 2 1/2 ounces)
* 2 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder**
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup plain reduced-fat (2%) Greek-style yogurt
* 1 cup chopped toasted almonds
* 1 cup halved fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
* 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

ICING

* 2/3 cup powdered sugar
* 4 teaspoons (about) orange juice

How to Prepare Cake:

*
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract, then Greek-style yogurt. Add dry ingredients; beat just until blended. Fold in almonds and all cranberries. Transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan.
*
Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely.

ICING

*
Stir powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons orange juice in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Mix in more juice by 1/2 teaspoonfuls to reach consistency of heavy cream. Spoon icing over cake, allowing it to drip down sides. Let stand until icing sets, at least 30 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.
*
*Sometimes labeled "ground almonds"; available at specialty foods stores and natural foods stores.
*
**A spice blend that usually contains ground fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves; available in the spice section of most supermarkets and online at penzeys.com.
*
MORE INFO: Greek-style yogurt is especially thick and rich, even the reduced-fat variety.

Recipe from Bon Appetit, November 2008.