Tag Archives: baking

Apple-Zucchini Bread

Apple-Zucchini Bread just seems so perfect for this time of year—early fall is when I’m inspired to bake apple-flavored things! This recipe not only has apples, but zucchini too, which is great—you can never have enough good zucchini recipes for all that zucchini from the garden, can you? Or in my case, from the farmer’s market!

This quick bread has a subtle apple flavor and is also flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. You can add pecans or walnuts in it too (I didn’t add any nuts to the loaf pictured above). It’s a moist, dense loaf on the inside, and a little crispy and crumbly as you cut into it on the outside. Make sure you grease and flour your pan well–I found that I also needed to loosen the edges of the loaf with a knife so it would come out of the pan easily.

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Blackberry Scones

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Hope you are enjoying the last day of your holiday weekend! I haven’t touched my computer for several days and it sure has been nice to unplug for awhile! 🙂 I haven’t done much cooking or baking this weekend either, but I did make another blackberry recipe with those blackberries I picked. I thought blackberry scones would be nice to try, and I actually tried a recipe out last week which did not turn out well at all! But I wasn’t quite ready to give up on blackberry scones, so this was my second attempt. And these scones turned out so much better! They are slightly sweet, moist, brimming with blackberries, and topped with a light creamy glaze…just the thing for a summer breakfast! You’ll need to use frozen blackberries (or freeze your fresh ones) so they won’t get all mushed up when you’re kneading the dough. The frozen blackberries will color the dough a little as you’re kneading it, but fortunately you only have to knead it a few times. If you don’t have blackberries, blueberries will work fine, too!

BLACKBERRY SCONES by NancyC, adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Makes 8 scones

1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

1 cup frozen blackberries

LIGHT CREAM GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons Half & Half (light cream)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, blend Greek yogurt and baking soda; set aside.

In another small bowl, blend together the egg and vanilla; set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender until the butter is the size of small peas.

Stir together the yogurt/baking soda mixture and the egg/vanilla mixture; then add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Gently stir in the frozen blackberries.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough comes together. Place the dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and pat into a round disk about 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick. Score into 8 wedges. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown and a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean or almost clean.

Cool scones for 15 minutes, then top with glaze. To make glaze, put 1 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons of Half & Half (light cream) and stir until well blended and creamy. Drizzle over cooled scones–drizzle on as much or as little glaze as you like–you probably won’t need to use all of it.

These scones were probably the most noteworthy thing I made over the 4th of July weekend–did you make any special holiday treats?

Linked to Inspire Me Monday, Show and Share Party, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wonderful Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things.

Lemon Raspberry Muffins: Sugar-Crusted or Lemon-Glazed

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Lemon is such a great springtime flavor and this past weekend seemed like the perfect time to make some lemon-flavored muffins!

I found a recipe on Pinterest that inspired me, and it also inspired one of my friends to convince me to make them so she could taste-test them! 🙂 So I ended up making these Lemon-Raspberry Muffins with some changes of my own. I used Half and Half (light cream) and yogurt to make them a little more rich and creamy and used lemon extract instead of vanilla for a little extra lemony flavor. And I made two batches with different toppings–sugar-crusted, like the original recipe, and lemon-glazed, which gives the muffins an extra zing of lemon flavor. The glaze I used is the one from my Lemon Zucchini Loaf, which is another good recipe if you are a lemon-lover!

These muffins are so moist and have a light, sweet lemon flavor. And they’re packed with lots of raspberries! If you decide to glaze the muffins (shown in the photo above), adding fresh raspberries as a garnish is a nice touch (just slice the berries in half lengthwise).

I love this little bowl that holds some of the berries I used-it’s actually a sugar/candy bowl, but it works great for berries, too! It’s part of the Daily Grace Collection by (in)courage, sold on DaySpring.com. The platter, square salad plate and pitcher are also from this collection. I really like the clean simplicity of these pieces and the simple, sweet messages of grace and gratefulness!

Here’s a close-up of the sugar-crusted muffins. Granulated sugar is all that’s needed as a topping for these. I can’t decide if I like the sugar crust or lemon glaze best…you may just have to try these muffins both ways and see what you think! 🙂

LEMON RASPBERRY MUFFINS: SUGAR CRUSTED OR LEMON-GLAZED by NancyCreative, adapted from Pink Polkadot Creations

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

1/2 cup Half and Half (light cream)

1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1 large egg

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (use frozen raspberries with no sugar or syrup added and do not thaw)

For Sugar-Crusted muffins: use 2 to 2 1/2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins before baking

For Lemon-Glazed muffins: see Lemon Glaze recipe below; use raspberries cut in half lengthwise as an optional garnish

Heat oven to 400˚F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

In medium bowl, combine 1 3/4 cups of the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and stir to mix together (this will give you a crumbly-looking mixture).

In another medium bowl, whisk together the Half and Half, yogurt, egg, lemon extract, and lemon juice (you’ll add the lemon zest a little later). Gradually add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined (batter will be lumpy).

In small bowl, toss the raspberries and lemon zest with the remaining flour. Gently fold the berry mixture into the batter.

Divide batter evenly in the 12 muffin cups (they’ll be about 3/4 full). Then here’s what you do, depending on if you want sugar-crusted muffins or lemon-glazed muffins:

For Sugar-Crusted muffins: Using 2 to 3 Tablespoons of sugar, sprinkle tops of muffin batter before baking. Bake at 400˚F for 17 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing the muffins. Then you can serve the muffins warm or let them cool completely–they taste great both ways!

For Lemon-Glazed muffins: Bake at 400˚F for 17 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Mix Lemon Glaze and drizzle over each muffin, then top with a fresh raspberry half if desired (raspberries should be cut in half lengthwise for garnish).

LEMON GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled muffins (or loaf). Let glaze set, then serve.

These muffins are great for breakfast, brunch, an afternoon snack, or even dessert. And since I was in a lemon-raspberry mood, I also made a pitcher of Raspberry Lemonade to go with them. Yum! I’ll share that recipe with you in my next post!

Do you like lemon-flavored goodies, and what is your favorite lemony treat?

Linked to Inspire Me Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Favorite Things Thursday, I’m Lovin’ It, Six Sisters’ Stuff.

Raspberry Jam Oat Crumble Bars

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“Crumble” is an understatement when describing these bars, because they are super–crumbly! These Raspberry Jam Oat Crumble Bars have LOTS of crumbly oat topping and, of course, a raspberry jam filling–if you look hard, you can see the filling! :). I was inspired by this recipe at Kraft and made a few simple changes. If you don’t have raspberry jam, use strawberry jam. Or whatever flavor jam you like best. You could even use spreadable fruit if you want to cut down on the sugar.

These are easy to make and really yummy! You can make them in an 8 x 8″ or 9 x 9″ square baking pan. If you use a 9 x 9″ pan, the crumble topping won’t be quite as thick, since the pan is a little bigger–so your bars will be slightly thinner, too. But they’ll still be plenty crumbly. And since these bars are so very crumbly, make sure you have a plate to catch those crumbs when you’re eating these!

RASPBERRY JAM OAT CRUMBLE BARS by NancyCreative, adapted from Kraft Recipes

Makes an 8 x 8″ or 9 x 9″ pan (I used an 8 x 8″ pan for this batch)

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 cup well-packed light or dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, chilled

1 cup (or one 12-ounce jar) Red Raspberry Jam (I used seedless jam)

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line an 8 x 8″ or 9 x 9″ pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray; set aside.

Mix oats, flour, brown sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Press 3 1/2 cups of the oat mixture firmly onto the bottom of your square baking pan. Spread jam over crust. Mix pecans with remaining crumb mixture, then sprinkle over jam (it may look like you have too much crumb mixture for the top, but put it all on!)

Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack.

These bars would taste great warm with a scoop of ice cream, too. I love easy recipes like this! And I usually have all these ingredients on hand anyway, so that makes it even more convenient. Do you like jam bars, or do you have another favorite recipe using jam?

Banana Bread (Inspired by the Disneyland Hotel)

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I was in a banana bread-making mood last weekend. And I just so happened to come across this recipe at Food.com, where they mentioned that this banana bread is served at the Disneyland Hotel. Not having ever stayed there myself, I hadn’t ever tasted their banana bread, but it sounded like a great recipe to try! After all, I’m sure they serve wonderful food at the Disneyland Hotel, right down to their banana bread. 🙂

I made a few small changes to the recipe and decided to add some pecans to it, too. My baking time was also a little less than what the original recipe had mentioned. This is a really good basic banana bread with a rich, buttery taste, so if you have some ripe bananas you will need to keep this recipe in mind! The batter is thick and creamy and bakes into 2 yummy 8 x 4″ loaves. And believe me, you will be glad you have 2 loaves of this banana bread to enjoy!

BANANA BREAD (INSPIRED BY THE DISNEYLAND HOTEL), slightly adapted from Food.com

Makes two 8 x 4″ loaves

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons milk

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups unbleached flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour two 8 x 4″ loaf pans; set aside.

In large bowl, cream softened butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add milk, mashed bananas, and vanilla, mixing everything well.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients, a third at a time, to mixture in large bowl, stirring until everything is well blended. Fold in chopped pecans and stir until they are evenly incorporated into the batter.

Spoon batter in equal amounts into two 8 x 4″ loaf pans and bake at 350˚F for 52 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, then remove loaves from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Or, if you want to eat this banana bread warm, let it cool for a total of about 15 to 20 minutes–it will be easier to slice if you let it cool a little.

I’ve been to Disneyland, but not Disney World. I haven’t stayed at any of the Disney Resort Hotels, but I’m sure they would be wonderful! Have any of you stayed at a Disney Hotel and have you had their banana bread?