Category Archives: quick bread

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Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes

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Hey, Tuesday! I hope everyone that had a long weekend here in the US had a great time. We went impromptu car shopping on Saturday (our beloved, old car kicked the bucket and refused to budge) and Sean left for a business trip Sunday. It was a busier,  more emotional weekend than anticipated with the dying of the car and the need to find something in a single day. Which, in retrospect felt like a HUGE, overwhelming deal at the time, but now that things are back in order that huge deal has become NBD (I know, first world probs ya’ll).

I made these pancakes on Sunday as a little Hurray/Farewell, I think they helped AND I think that these are maybe my favorite pancakes ever. Sean always requests chocolate chip pancakes, they are his fave, and since we’re big fans of the classic orange-chocolate combo, I added the zest and juice of an orange for good measure. This pancake recipe is a breezey wet+dry situation and, with the addition of chocolate and orange, they are the kind of special that’s made easy. The pancakes cook up fluffy and tender and perfect. The decadent mix-ins make them irresistible even without syrup and butter, but there’s no judgement if you want a little extra sweetness. Sometimes you need it, ya know?

Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes

adapted from Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys 

Make about 20, 3-inch pancakes

I add the juice from the orange to the milk–much like I would to make a buttermilk replacement with lemon and milk in a recipe. The acid from the orange may curdle the milk a bit, but that’s totally fine, go with it. If there isn’t enough orange juice to make 1/4 cup add store-bought orange juice to make up the difference or when mixing with the milk, add a bit more milk to make 1 1/4 cup total of liquid. I like mini chips in my pancakes because they suspend in the batter and are less likely to burn on the bottom of the pan. 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

generous 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

zest of 1 orange

1/4 cup orange juice (squeezed from the zested orange)

1 cup milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

vegetable oil, for brushing the pan

maple syrup and butter, for serving

Preheat the oven to 200˚F, place an oven safe dish on the middle rack.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder. Toss in the chips and coat lightly with the flour mixture. Set aside. In a large measuring cup whisk together the orange zest, juice, and milk. Whisk in the egg and vanilla, to combine well. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour the milk mixture into the center of the well. Add the butter and fold the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until just combined–there may be a few small lumps, that’s okay. Do not overmix! or your pancakes will turn out chewy. Allow the batter to rest 5-10 minutes.

Heat a skillet (I use nonstick) or griddle over medium-high heat. Lightly brush the surface of the skillet with oil and pour in a scant 1/4 cup of batter, cook until bubbles begin to form all over the surface of the batter and the bottom is medium, golden brown. Flip the pancake and cook an additional minute or until the middles of the pancake are cooked through. Place the cooked pancake on the warmed plate in the oven. Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve warm with butter and syrup.

 

 

 

 

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Banana-Yogurt Muffins

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Muffins, ya’ll.

Sometimes a girl–or dude–just wants to bake something that’s homemade, but stress free. Muffins are both of those things and they almost never disappoint.

My favorite thing about the humble, homemade muffin is that it can be almost-healthy to actually-healthy–using flours and germs and brans and fruits and healthy fats to boost the health factor. See, most store-bought varieties are packed with enough sugar and other stuff that makes them basically cake. I mean, cake is delicious and sometimes makes the BEST breakfast, but even I can’t go for cake-breakfast everyday. That’s why I love a muffin. It’s a quick bread in a cupcake outfit.

These muffins are of the almost-healthy variety. They use pantry staples and fresh, ripe banana for tenderness and flavor. The sunflower seeds are in there for some crunch–because I can’t resist adding texture to most things. The batter comes together by simply folding the whisked up wet ingredients into the sifted dry ingredients, and uses only a few dishes. The baked muffins are ultra-moist due to the combination of yogurt, banana, and olive oil. The dusting of powdered sugar is totally optional but makes for a pretty and slightly sweeter muffin.

Banana-Yogurt Muffins

Adapted from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2

Makes 12 regular muffins. 

For tender and light muffins, be sure to mix the batter until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Lumpy batter is okay, over-mixing the batter until it’s completely smooth will result in a chewy and dense muffin. 

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sunflower seeds plus more for sprinkling (optional)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

2 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

2 eggs

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Spray/grease or line a muffin tin with paper cups.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Toss in the sunflower seeds and mix to combine. In a large measuring cup whisk together the yogurt, banana, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the yogurt-banana mixture to the dry mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. Divide the batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups and bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

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Double Chocolate + Pistachio Muffins

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Sometimes you want need chocolate for breakfast. Sometimes it’s a perfect pair with your third cup of coffee. Sometimes it’s just what you needed to make a gloomy morning seem brighter.

Chocolate muffins always make me happy–it’s like dessert for breakfast without actually being dessert. These muffins keep it real with healthful yogurt, a touch of olive oil, some nutty wheat germ, a bit of cocoa, some nuts for crunch, and a handful of chocolate chips for good measure. They aren’t too sweet, so go ahead and smear some berry jam on there. Or, if you want need to, a smear of nutella or cookie butter would be amazing–I totes won’t judge.

Double Chocolate + Pistachio Muffins

Makes 8 standard size muffins.

Adapted from this recipe. 

You could definitely leave out the pistachios and make these nut-free, or switch them out for another nut. 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

7 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons wheat germ (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios, plus 1-2 tablespoons for topping

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with 8 paper liners.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, wheat germ, salt, baking powder, and soda. Fold in the chocolate chips and 1/4 cup nuts.

In a large measuring cup whisk the egg, whisk in the yogurt, oil, milk, and vanilla to combine well. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold until just combined. Divide the batter between muffin cups and sprinkle remaining nuts over the tops of each muffin. Bake in the center of the oven for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.

 

 

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Eggnog Streusel Muffins

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Hello, December!

The holidays are in full swing over here, as this is my ever-fave time of the year. One of my favorite holiday flavors is Eggnog. The thing is…I’m not so much into drinking it. In a latte? Totally. In ice cream, hell-to-the-yes. Cookie, cakes, etc…yup.

Even though eggnog is basically melted ice cream–drinking it is just too much for me. The viscosity gets to me every time. I love to add eggnog to a baked good–like these super soft cookies or this pretty cake. It replaces the dairy in many recipes like a dream. The richness and subtle nutmeg spice is perfect for holiday baking. I threw these muffins together, using my favorite recipe as the starting point, over the weekend. The muffin is tender and fragrant with eggnog flavor. The streusel has hints of nutmeg and the sugary crunch is perfection in top of the tender muffin. They come together quickly and are perfect with a cup of coffee on grey-sky mornings.

Eggnog Streusel Muffins

adapted from this recipe. 

Makes 8 standard or 24 mini muffins.

1 cup all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons eggnog

3 Tablespoons browned butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel:

2 Tablespoons browned butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350*f and line your desired muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

Brown the butter for the muffins and streusel. Melt 5 Tablespoons of butter in a small pan. Heat over medium until the butter becomes foamy, continue heating–swirling or stirring the butter–until the milk solids become dark golden brown and fragrantly nutty. Remove from heat and divide accordingly into two bowls. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl mix the streusel together by combining the 2 Tablespoons of browned butter with the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Set in refrigerator until ready to use.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg.

In a large measuring cup whisk together the egg, eggnog, 3 Tablespoons of the cooled browned butter, and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry and fold until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups, divide streusel evenly over the tops of each muffin and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean–about 13-15 minutes for minis and 16-20 for standard muffins. I would check them both after the earliest suggested time and go from there. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

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Pumpkin Bread with Bourbon Icing

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It’s just a few days before Eat-Fest-USA, aka Thanksgiving, aka only one of the best holidays ever.

It’s just Sean and I this year, as we are staying put, and I’ve had the menu planned for a few weeks now. I’ve ordered our turkey and picked it up, planned the sides, shopped the pantry goods, written my produce list, and picked out the wines. I was going to bake up another batch of this pumpkin bread for Thursday morning, but I’m thinking we’ll go the fruit and cheese route for breakfast and snacking.

Not that this pumpkin bread wouldn’t make a lovely, easy breakfast to share with your fam and friends this thankful holiday. It would be perfect sliced and set-up next to plenty of coffee and/or tea to begin Thanksgiving day and kick-off the feast prep. This bread is super moist–and, I know we don’t all love that word–but it is what it is. And, I channel my inner Jesse Pinkman as I type this…

This bread be moist, yo.

The moisture comes from pumpkin puree, olive oil, and greek yogurt, there’s a bit of whole wheat flour for wholesome goodness, just a little spice, and a buttery layer of bourbon icing just for kicks. I also added some candied ginger to the top, for good measure. Maybe the icing and ginger are a little much but, they fancy-up this super easy quick-bread, making it holiday breakfast AND dessert appropriate.

Pumpkin Bread with Bourbon Icing

Makes 1, 9×5 inch loaf

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Since this is a quick bread, it comes together very quickly with few dishes. The bread also tastes great, maybe even better, the next day. This recipe makes 1 standard loaf of pumpkin bread–however, I baked this batch up in a 6inch round pan and a mini-loaf pan. Either way, this bread is delicious. Feel free to make this bread sans icing for an every-day breakfast bread sitch. I use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour in this recipe, you could us less whole wheat or go with just all-purpose with great results. I would be wary of making the entire recipe out of whole wheat as it may result in a very dense and even gummy bread. 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

2-4 teaspoons bourbon

milk to thin

Preheat oven to 350*F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan, or other baking dish, well. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flours, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices.

In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin, olive, oil, beaten eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Mix well to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and fold to incorporate until just combined and there are no longer any dry flour streaks. Be careful to fold the batter and not overmix it. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in the center of the oven for 50-60 minutes (about 45 for the round pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

For the icing, whisk together the melted butter, bourbon, and powdered sugar. Add milk to thin to desired consistency. Spread icing over cooled bread. Sprinkle with chopped, candied ginger if desired.

Will keep for 2-3 days wrapped well at room temperature.

 

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Recipe: Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins

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I love muffins.

I think that’s because muffins are similar to cupcakes–they look alike and share that tender cake-like quality. Though muffins and cupcakes dress in the same outfit, muffins make the perfect breakfast by being less sweet, un-frosted, and they should beg for a pat of butter or smear of jam.

These muffins are a new favorite, I baked up a batch this week AND last. I love to make muffins on a Sunday so we have an easy and quick breakfast bite throughout the week. This recipe contains yogurt and olive oil–making for a moist and tender crumb. There are dried sour cherries and bits of chocolate in there for a little decadence in the morning, as well as a little (white) whole wheat and wheat germ–you know, for a bit of health and science. My favorite thing about this recipe is probably the quantity, it makes 8 perfectly sized muffins–just enough so we can have them for more than one breakfast, but not so many they don’t turn stale and we don’t get bored.

Treat yo’self to a muffin in the morning. It’s just breakfast dressed up as a cupcake, after all.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Taste of Home

I used White Whole Wheat flour from King Arthur and White Lily Flour. White Lily is a bit softer than regular all-purpose…I’d liken it to cake flour. You can use cake flour or regular all-purpose–either way, use a light touch when mixing to ensure a tender muffin.

3/4 cup cake or all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup white whole wheat

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

scant 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried sour cherries

Preheat oven to 350F and line 8 cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl whisk together flours, wheat germ, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup whisk together egg, yogurt, oil, milk, and extracts.

Toss chips and cherries in the flour mixture to coat. Create a well and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir/fold into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Divide batter among the 8 muffins cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle hot muffins with additional chopped chocolate chips if desired. Cool on wire racks, can be eaten warm or cooled completely and stored in an airtight container for 4 days.