Blueberry Cinnamon Bread

Sometimes I like to torture myself. I sit here at the computer and...window shop at williams-sonoma.com. And when I am feeling really naughty I put stuff in the cart! I know, terrible. But a girl can dream. :) Today, while daydreaming about the colorful mixing bowls and eating my pathetic lunch of turkey wrapped in a lettuce leaf, I stumbled on a Williams Sonoma recipe. I thought, I can't spend over $150 on mixing bowls (when I already own so many even though these are so dang pretty) but I can race into the kitchen and whip up some Sour Cream Blueberry Bread. I made couple of changes, starting with the name. I like Blueberry Cinnamon Bread better. Like the mixing bowls, this bread is amazing!! The smell while it is baking...pure heaven. So here it is:

You will need:

2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick Smart Balance (softened)
2 cups flour (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (++++)
1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries



Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan.

Mash the bananas...



then add the softened butter.



Combine and add eggs one a time, mixing after each addition. Then add the vanilla and...



sour cream. I used Reduced Fat.



In a separate bowl, add your dry ingredients. Flour, sugar (I used brown instead of white), baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (I added more than a tsp).



Mix it all together.



Add half of your dry to the wet and combine.



Then add the second half and stir just until combined.



Scrape your paddle attachment and switch to a spatula at this point. Fold in your blueberries.





This batter is thick, but not at all dry. Pour batter into greased pan.



Bake for 50-60 minutes. My bread took the full 60 minutes. It comes out looking like this...



and this.



You should make this bread just for the smell of it. Out of this world! It is so moist with the perfect quick bread density (not too heavy, but not at all fluffy).



It doesn't need butter at all...but butter is soooo good on this bread.



Enjoy!

Eggless Chocolate Cake

If ever there was a person who loved eggs in all their beautiful forms, that person is my mother-in-law. Unfortunately, she has developed an allergy to them making it difficult for her to enjoy life's many baked goods...not to mention ruining her breakfasts. :) We are going to visit her and my father-in-law (and two sisters-in-law YAY!) for xmas this year. She and I share December birthdays and I wanted to make her a birthday cake while we were there. The egg allergy throws a distinctive wrench into that plan, though. So I thought I would try out a few eggless cake recipes until I found one that would do her birthday justice. The first one I tried is a chocolate cake with a bunch of my own changes to pump up the flavor and add more heft to the cake. Eggless cakes have a tendency to fall flat. (I also halved this recipe since the original called for a whole lot of flour and I was not sure if we would even end up liking it. Can't be wasting my King Arthur!) So, with no further ado...

You will need:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose King Arthur flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar (I only had one cup and had to substitute the half cup with brown sugar)
1/2 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Dark)
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups room temperature coffee (the original recipe calls for water, but...boring!)
1/5 tsp vanilla
***my additions:
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips



I have to apologize for the ugly, hideous counter tops. They were there when we moved in and everything else was so perfect...I feel the need to apologize all the time about them! We redid the cabinets (which were a hideous dark brown fake wood) but have yet to get to the counter tops. I have been using white posterboard for pictures, but sadly, it had an accident and had to be thrown away. One day we will replace them and I can stop whining. My husband will be pleased.



I buy my white vinegar by the gallon. It's good for cleaning, better than Oxy-Clean in the washing machine, removes hard water stains on dishes, etc. (We have well water and hard water stains are a concern.)



Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt to a mixer and stir to combine. The recipe calls for sifting, but I don't sift.



Now add your sugar. (See those little clumps of cocoa? Probably should have sifted.) Mix.



Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and add the oil, coffee, vanilla, and vinegar.



Mix thoroughly, scraping sides, only until combined. Do not overmix. Now gently stir in your chocolate chips.



Butter and flour an 8-inch square (or round) baking pan. I would recommend using a metal pan--they are definitely better for evenly baking cakes. I used a glass pan so that you could better see the results.



Pour your cake batter into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The batter smelled chocolaty and was a beautiful dark brown.



It came out of the oven puffed up and shiny. Perfect!



That puffiness is why I added the vinegar. The recipe called didn't call for eggs or baking powder and it made me nervous. Anyone who has ever made a volcano (or Red Velvet Cake) knows the power of baking soda mixed with vinegar.



After cooling for ten minutes, I turned out the cake onto a plate. One of my red xmas plates that we only use on Thanksgiving or xmas...or when I want a cake to look pretty. Red is also my mother-in-laws favorite color.



I really wanted the flavor of the cake to stand out and not be overwhelmed by frosting or ganache so I whipped up a bit of chocolate icing. Just powdered sugar mixed with a little cocoa and milk. You can make as much or as little as you like. If I end up choosing this eggless cake to make for my mother-in-law I will cover it in chocolate ganache. (I didn't exactly measure the icing ingredients, but I used two heaping 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and enough milk to make it runny.)



Cool cake completely before icing.



The verdict? This cake was really rich with an incredible deep chocolate taste. It was also surprisingly moist. I thought it would turn out dry and flat, but it was a damn near perfect chocolate cake! I will definitely make it again. Oh, and without eggs in it you can sample the batter all you want. :)




Both monkeys said that the cake was "awesome" and ate two pieces each.



Enjoy!!

Corn Chowder

This recipe is quick, easy, and completely satisfying. Use your leftover summer corn if you have it, or frozen corn if you don't. I do not recommend using canned corn as it is too soft to begin with and usually too high in salt. This chowder is fantastic as a stand alone meal paired with bread or as a side dish to your ribs and burgers this holiday weekend. (I know it is traditional to add bacon to corn chowder, but I left it out to make it healthier.)

You will need:

2T Smart Balance
3 potatoes (I used Yukon gold)
4-5 ribs celery
1 large onion (or 2 small)
large box chicken broth (fat free, low sodium)
bag of frozen corn (or four cups fresh)
2 cups milk or cream
1 bay leaf
paprika



Chop up the onion and celery and saute in the butter until almost soft.



Add chopped potatoes.



Add half a bag of frozen corn. Cover with chicken broth. (The amount depends on your veggies or on how soupy you want your chowder. If you like it thin, add more broth, but remember that you will also be adding milk. Just make sure the veggies are covered with a bit extra. You may also need to add more as the chowder boils.) Add bay leaf and sprinkle with paprika.




Bring to a light boil and cook until your veggies are tender. Then add 2 cups of milk. You can use skim to keep it healthy or use half and half or whole milk to make it creamier. This recipe is so versatile that you can take the basics and make it to your taste easily!





Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low. After it simmers, taste it. Is it salty enough? If you are using bacon, it probably won't need any salt. If not, you may need to add some. I use Kosher salt, but use a light hand. You can always add more, but you can't take out excess. Add black pepper to your taste, too. Like a kick? Give it a couple of shakes of cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce. Now let it cook for an hour, stirring every ten minutes or so. (You could actually eat this right away since the veggies are tender, but the longer it cooks the creamier it gets. Many chowder recipes call for a tsp or so of cornstarch to thicken, but that is not necessary in this recipe.)



The result is a mild, creamy corn chowder. Excellent on a cold day, as a hot side dish, or when you are feeling icky.



I already mentioned that you can add bacon, but you could also add ham or baked chicken. Carrots or mushrooms would be great, too. Play around with this dish and make it your own or make it as is and...

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies

Does anything smell better than oatmeal cookies baking in the oven? I made oatmeal cookies for the girls over the weekend. I wrapped them up and stuck them in the freezer so that they can come home to cookies and milk all week. I just take out a couple an hour or so before they get home and they are as fresh as the day I baked them. I did put a healthy spin on the cookies, though. Can't help myself!

You will need:

1 cup Smart Balance, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1 small box raisins (optional)



Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a few cookie sheets with parchment.

Soften your butter for cakes, melt it for cookies. So, add your melted butter and both sugars to a mixing bowl.



Mix until the batter starts to lighten in color.



Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Then mix in the vanilla.



Next add your flours, baking soda, and cinnamon.



Mix together and then add the oats. Mix again. The dough will be a bit stiff, but not dry. If you find it is very dry add a tablespoon of milk.



Now is the time to add your raisins. Or, if you have one kid who likes them and one who does not, now is the time to split your dough into halves and add the raisins to just one half. You can omit this step altogether if you aren't a raisin fan. Me, I don't care one way or the other. I'm an equal opportunity cookie eater. :)



I use a heaping soup spoon to measure out the cookies and get 9 per sheet.



Bake for 12-14 minutes and then allow them to set on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing.






Warm oatmeal cookies. Mmmmmmmm. Perfect on a cold day or a warm day or even a hot day! If you haven't tried baking cookies at 325 yet, please try it with this recipe. I never, never bake cookies at any higher temp. It makes a world of difference!!




Most oatmeal cookie recipes call for a full cup of white sugar in addition to the full cup of brown. I found these cookies to be perfectly sweet (with or without raisins) without all that extra white sugar. In fact, I think you could leave out the white sugar altogether as long as you use a full cup of brown sugar. (You could also substitute a cup of white sugar mixed with a tablespoon of molasses if you don't have any brown sugar.) I think the whole wheat flour gives the cookies just a hint of a nutty flavor.

Enjoy!