Chocolate Chip Almond Coconut Bread

Remember how I told you to make this? Did you? Did you try any of the alterations I mentioned? Oh well, here. I've written out the recipe for one of them for you. NOW you can try it. It's probably the best quick bread I've ever eaten in its original form. But the addition of chocolate chips and toasted almonds makes it a little decadent. And there's just nothing wrong with that.

Chocolate Chip Almond Coconut Bread *click here for printable version*

adapted from smitten kitchen’s Coconut Bread

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1-¼ cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2-½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar

1-½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup chopped, toasted almonds

6 Tbls unsalted butter, melted (and browned if you prefer)

Nonstick cooking spray or butter for baking pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add sugar, coconut, chocolate chips, and almonds and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir until just combined. Add melted butter, stirring until smooth. Do not overmix.

Spray (or butter and flour) a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Spread batter in pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 60-75 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

My favorite way to eat it? Toasted in the toaster oven with a little butter spread over it. But just sliced up and popped in your mouth is pretty amazing as well.

TGIP Rating--Chocolate Chip Almond Coconut Bread--KEEPER. More alterations on the original to come.

Next up: I've not used coconut oil in my baking at all yet. I'm giving it a try with these. I guess I'm on a bit of a coconut kick. Maybe I'm just longing to be someplace warm and wild.

2013 Year in Review

Who'd have guessed?! Snowcaps was my most visited post this year. Yeah, they're super delicious!

Personally, I can't pick a favorite. But here are some highlights:

Stuff I altered/combined from other people's amazing recipes...

          

Excellent pies/tarts...

     

Super delicious cookies...

Yummy bread I'm about to alter for a Sunday morning breakfast treat...

Best birthday cake ever...

Favorite new frosting technique...

TGIP Rating--2013--A good year. Not very much inventiveness on my part, but I loved a lot of what I baked.

Next up: I'm going to alter that Coconut Bread with some toasted almonds and lime zest. See how that turns out!

Honey Banana Poppy Seed Bread

Banana bread is a "treat" at our house, also known as a "special breakfast" which normally only happens on the weekends. Is it a sign of our deprivation or our down-to-earthiness that something so simple is prized? Of course we often add chocolate chips. And some of us toast our slices and add butter. Or whipped cream cheese. Hence the treatiness.

Anyway, we've been working with the same Fannie Farmer Banana Bread recipe for a while. mr. even uses it, and he doesn't bake much. It's so reliable and easy, that I've been hesitant to try anything new (haven't even tried this one yet, as tempting as it is). But, you know, I have a thing for those Baked boys, so I had to try their recipe (plus, *whisper* I just happened to have all of the ingredients in my pantry).

My impressions: I liked it. We all liked it. It's equally as easy as our Fannie Farmer standby, but has a slightly different flavor. I like the honey.

(Although it can be complicated to stir honey into a recipe, it likes to stick to itself. Obvs.) I like the poppy seed.

I like what they bring to the party individually and together. What I'm not so sure about is the texture. And the baking time. I had to bake mine almost 15 extra minutes to get to a point where I wasn't seeing batter on the tester. And that might have affected the texture. I like my banana bread a little crispy on the outside (I usually bake it the night before and leave it out overnight instead of putting it in plastic, so the outside can have that almost-stale crisp to it). This looked promising,

but the outside ended up almost chewy. Which I didn't love.

My theory: I used frozen, thawed bananas. And you know, bananas don't freeze super well. They have a lot of liquid. I think, even after I strained that off there was still too much liquid for the recipe to handle.

My solution: I think I have no choice but to bake another loaf. With better bananas. And update this next week. Because, I know those Baked boys like a tender bread as much as I do.

TGIP Rating--Honey Banana Poppy Seed Bread--taste is a KEEPER. I need another crack at it before I can decide whether the texture gets my vote.

3/7/13 Update: Made it again last night with fresh (but ripe) bananas. Lesson learned. Cooking time was spot on and the bread was much more tender. This is definitely a KEEPER. The honey flavor=so so good.

Next up: Malted Milk Sandwich Cookies from Baked Explorations. Another Baked Sunday Mornings project.

Emeril's King Cake

Mardi Gras is next Tuesday, February 12th. If you don't live in New Orleans and if you're not Catholic, this probably isn't a big deal to you. It never has been to me, and, truthfully, until a couple of years ago, I didn't really know what it was all about. Now I do. I also now know it's sometimes called Shrove Tuesday. And Pancake Tuesday. Which, maybe should be every Tuesday.

It's an interesting thing, making a version of something that you've never seen or tasted. But I wanted to try more holiday/ritual-specific and traditional baked goods this year, so. I used one of Emeril's recipes (there are multiple). The reviews were pretty fair and it seemed to have all of the components that my expert friends suggested an "authentic" King Cake should have (oh, incidentally, here is information about King Cake and what it has to do with Mardi Gras). And it was not difficult at all. Of course, yeast breads always take some time, but over the course of an evening, it's not bad.

I love working with sweet bread dough. It's so beautiful and the smell is so homey.

 

I don't have large empty coffee cans or shortening cans sitting around my house, so I used a large bowl to mold the center of the ring.

Which was HUGE. Much larger than I expected. And then the bowl was hard to remove. But, that was probably the hardest part of this project.

And look how pretty! Such a gorgeous, golden brown. And the lemon zest and nutmeg made for amazing smells while it was baking.

 

There were user comments on the recipe about the filling not being sufficient, but for me this was perfect. If I had doubled it, I think it might have been too rich and too sweet. I also decided to make the glaze a little thin, so it was just a glue for the colored sugars, rather than being a thick sweet icing on top of what is already a little sweet. The bread itself has a delicious flavor, I love the lemon zest, but the texture wasn't what I hoped for. It was a little dense, not as tender as I think it should have been. I might have kneaded it just a little too long.

Next year, I think I'll halve the recipe entirely and make a smaller cake. It's bigger than any of my serving dishes, so it's just sitting on parchment paper on my counter. Mmm...not attractive.

P.S. Plastic babies are not super easy to find. Check the baby shower section of your local party store.

TGIP Rating--King Cake--A surprisingly yummy treat. More of a breakfast pastry than a cake, if you ask me. But, there's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

Next up: Lacy Panty Cakes. I KNOW. What could be wrong with a recipe with that name?! Nothing. The recipe is from Baked Elements and is next week's project on Baked Sunday Mornings, which I haven't participated in for ages. I'm making them for Pancake Tuesday.

Caramel Swirl Cheesecake and Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Fall is here. Glorious fall. With cooler temps, all things pumpkin, and endless excuses to make homey, spicy baked goods. Also, caramel.

First up: cheesecake. This one was ridiculously easy. Ridiculously. Easy. I used this recipe (except I used the graham cracker crust from this recipe) and loved the method. A friend who is famous for her cheesecakes told me years ago that I should never use a mixer for cheesecakes, they should only be mixed by hand. All that beating air into the mixture takes away the density that a cheesecake should have. I tried that method exactly 1/2 of a time. Too much hard work. Vanilla sugar recommends putting all the ingredients through a food processor. Perfect. It doesn't whip too much air into the mixture, so you still get the dense texture you want, but with none of the work! Everything mixed together smoothly and beautifully. Then I blobbed some of this caramel (which, incidentally works exactly as it says on the blog, pure magic--it's a very milky caramel, more like a dulce de leche, and DElicious) around on top of the cheesecake (saved some to heat up and drizzle over when serving), sprinkled a sprinkling of sea salt here and there,

and swirled it all together with a chopstick. Look how pretty!

And when it baked, it didn't sink and blend in, it stayed right in the top layer of the cheesecake.

I got nervous about it's doneness, so I cooked it a little longer than the recipe suggests. I shouldn't have. The 10" size could have done with just 50 minutes plus an hour or so sitting in the oven after turning it off. Not that it wasn't still delicious, it certainly was--creamy, dense, tangy, sweet, caramely. I just could tell I cooked it a teensy bit too long.

Next up: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. Also ridiculously easy. I know you don't believe me when I say that about cinnamon rolls. They SEEM labor intensive, they ARE NOT. There are several steps and some waiting involved, so when you first attempt them, use the rise-then-hang-out-in-the-fridge-overnight method. It will save you starving children and a lot of grief in the morning.

I used smitten kitchen's alterations of the BAKED boys recipe from their new book. Having not tried the original, I guess I can't say which is better, but these were delicious and came together really easily. I forgot that once you've (or I've) had Cinnabon frosting there's really no going back, and I should have just made that frosting for them. The frosting in the recipe is delicious, it's just...not Cinnabon frosting.

One other alteration I would make (will make, probably for Thanksgiving morning) is replacing some of the cinnamon in the filling with pumpkin pie spice. The pumpkin itself wasn't very strong tasting, and I want to taste it! I think pumpkin pie spice will punch up that flavor. And, another thing, I might add some toasted and chopped pecans to the filling. I always forget how much I like to have nuts in my cinnamon rolls. Remind me!

TGIP Rating--Caramel Swirl Cheesecake--KEEPER. Mind the baking time.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls--KEEPER. A couple of alterations and they'll be perfect.

Next up: Harvest Pie. My friend Mike Bottoms (who is about to be a famous published author) sent me this recipe ages ago and I lost track of it. Found it again and now is the perfect time. It's like pumpkin pie except with butternut squash. And a sort of pecan streusel on top. *drool*

Challah and Cheesecake--anything but the usual

Sometimes weeks go by when I don't bake at all. And my stress comes to a big, ugly head. And I have to spend a whole day doing the things that refresh and revitalize: haircut/color, pedicure, wine, time with my best girlfriend, and baking. Yeah, I'm not one of those people that gets stressed out by baking, just the opposite. And I needed it so much that I did double-duty: Fig, Olive Oil and Sea Salt Challah from smitten kitchen and Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake from Our Best Bites (which I don't visit much, my Min found that recipe, and I'm so glad!).

Now, there's only one thing you need to know about these two recipes: I baked BOTH of them (with help) between 7 pm and 1 am, in someone else's kitchen (with a mixer that needed...nudging), WHILE DRINKING WINE. Lots of it. I deserve my own youtube channel--Drunkbaking with Spiker. It would be mildly entertaining to most people, and wildly embarrassing to The Pie Queen. Anyway, if I can do both of them in that state, you can do one of them while sober. Easy peasy.

Okay, so my challah braid didn't end up as perfect as it should have, but doesn't it look delicious anyway?

And it tasted delicious too. We made french toast out of it in the morning and I loved it. Unfortunately, I'll probably never bake it again, but only because nobody in my family loves figs like I do. At least not in baked goods.

And this. This will be on the menu wherever I land for Thanksgiving this year.

Ridiculously easy. And look at those perfect layers! I especially liked the fact that the pumpkin pie filling on top meant there was no worry about cracking cheesecake. The recipe calls for a 9- or 10-inch springform. We used a 10-inch one and the given cooking time was perfect. Delicious blend of toffee and pumpkin.

Bonus: both recipes are perfect for Autumn. Spicy, rich, complimented with lots of butter and cream. Mmmm.


TGIP Rating--Fig, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt Challah--KEEPER. But I won't be baking it again. My waistline can't afford to bake things unless my family will eat them. But YOU can make it!
--Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake--KEEPER. Easy and delicious. All the right things.

Next up: Caramel Coconut Cluster Bars. For real.

Hot Cross Buns

You've probably heard the nursery rhyme reference to Hot Cross Buns. What you may not have known, is that they're associated with Good Friday. Which is why I made them this weekend, of all weekends in the year. And why I'll probably wait for my 2nd attempt (necessary, read on) until next year at this time.

They're actually easy to make (if you don't get cocky) and delicious. I used a recipe of Martha's. Except, I thought, instead of using the "Bun Crossing Paste" I'd cut a cross in the buns, like you do with, say, soda bread. Bad idea. My thinking went like this: the frosting cross is kind of a cop out. And gross. But, Martha's Bun Crossing Paste is not frosting, it's just flour and vegetable oil, and I should have trusted her. Because things started out well:

Before rise

After rise

Little round buns

And then quickly went south:

Had been risen--then crossed and deflated

They don't look quite so bad after baking (although I may have done that for just a titch too long).


But, they weren't what they were supposed to be. It's a tasty recipe, though. I just have to leave out the raisins for the sake of my children next time. Honestly.


TGIP Rating--Hot Cross Buns--KEEPER. Next time I'll actually follow the recipe as written and not think that I know better than Martha Stewart, of all people! And I'll leave out the raisins.

Next up: mr. has a birthday in a week! So, I'm making him a Devil's Food Cake with Coffee Buttercream.


P.S. I made the Honeyed Brown Butter from this smitten kitchen post to spread on the buns. It's delicious, but not right for these buns. Would be perfect on Whole Wheat Toast. Which reminds me, I still need to work out a recipe for Brown Butter Shortbread.

Zucchini Treats

I know you all know what it's like to have too much zucchini on your hands. Granted, there are people who will actually eat it outside of a baked good (I'm one of them, if it's not overcooked). But it's pretty common to find yourself at the end of summer with a gigantic zucchini on your kitchen counter and a houseful of people who want nothing to do with it. SO, I give you two options. Both delicious.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake. Found the recipe here. And then tried to get fancy by baking it in a bundt pan (for 60 minutes). However, I had run out of my usual cooking spray, so I used generic cooking spray...and whether it was because of that or other factors, some of the cake stayed in the pan.


Which, honestly, has never happened to me with a bundt cake. I tried valiantly to salvage it by cutting off more of the top to make it sort of a short, flat-topped tube cake.


Then poured this over it:

Ganache

Stir together 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, 3/8 c. whipping cream, 3 T unsalted butter in a heavy small saucepan over low heat until chocolate and butter melt and mixture is smooth.

Thing is, with the top (crust) of the cake removed, the ganache sort of soaked into the cake.


Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It made it really fudgy and moist and delicious.


I think the cake would be perfectly delicious had it worked out as expected, with the ganache poured over it, but I don't really know. Chances are we'll see a lot more zucchini in our kitchen over the next few months, so I'll have more opportunities to experiment.


Different Zucchini Bread. I don't know where this recipe comes from. My sister gave it to me a few years ago, but I don't think she made it up (Quilter, correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, regular zucchini bread is fine, but this goes one step further. The ginger and lime give it a fresh and bright taste that I really love.



Different Zucchini Bread *click here for printable version*

¾ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. whole wheat flour
1 c. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
zest and juice from one lime
¼ c. canola oil
2 eggs
1 c. grated zucchini


Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and coat with plain bread crumbs.


Combine both flours, sugar, baking powder, ginger, salt, and lime zest in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Whisk together lime juice, oil and eggs and stir into dry ingredients. Fold in zucchini and stir until combined, but do not overmix. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.


It's a short (ish) loaf, but so much more interesting than any zucchini bread you've had (or made) before. In both recipes I used the grate, then process technique that I used in the carrot cake. I like NOT discovering long strings of veggies in my baked goods.


And P.S. Toasted zucchini bread with butter or cream cheese is delightful.


TGIP Rating--Chocolate Zucchini Cake--KEEPER
Different Zucchini Bread--also a KEEPER

Next up: This Saturday is National Eggs Benedict Day. I'm going to try my hand at homemade English Muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

A million years ago (approximately), when I worked at UC Berkeley, the department I worked for was full of people who appreciated food. We had food parties a few times a year where everyone brought a passage from a book, or a scene from a movie that involved food, and a dish inspired by that. It was always fun and always delicious. One of those foodie co-workers brought a loaf of the most delicious pumpkin bread to work one morning and the recipe to share. I made it once, way back then, and haven't made it since. But I've always remembered how delicious it was and have always meant to revisit the recipe. Well, now I've revisited AND revamped it.

The most obvious revamping is that I made it into muffins. So much easier to manage, store, take, and eat than a loaf, or even a slice of a loaf. I also replaced half the oil with applesauce to make it a tiny bit healthier. I have tried replacing all oil with applesauce in other recipes and I feel like it makes sweet breads a little too tough. I'm willing to eat a little oil if it means that the muffin is tender. There is still a good bit of sugar in the recipe, but I'm not sure what can be done about that. At least it's not HFCS. :)

You can use an electric mixer if you feel you must, but it's not necessary at all. And I don't know about you, but I like, sometimes, just for a change of pace, to make a recipe that can be done with a bowl and a spoon. So simple.


Pumpkin Muffins *click here for printable version*

adapted from “Joan’s Pumpkin Loaf” from an unknown source
yield: approximately 18 muffins, or ?? mini muffins, or 1 large loaf (10x5x3), or 4 mini loaves

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
2 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar or brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/4 cup Canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 pound (2 cups) canned pumpkin--NOT pumpkin pie filling
8 ounces (1 cup) pitted dates, cut into pieces
4 ounces (generous 1 cup) walnuts, chopped or broken into medium-size pieces

Adjust an oven rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a muffin tin, or use cupcake papers (if using a loaf pan, use 10-cup capacity, butter, then dust the pan with fine, dry bread crumbs, then shake or tap out excess crumbs).

Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs just to mix. Add the sugar, oil, and applesauce and beat lightly just to mix. Mix in the pumpkin and then the dates.


Now add the sifted dry ingredients and stir, mix, or beat only until they are smoothly incorporated. Stir in the nuts.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one muffin comes out clean (for large loaf pan, bake 1-1/2 hours).

Cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.



When these are warm, they're obviously delicious with butter that gets nice and melty. And when they're cold, I like them with a little whipped cream cheese spread over them. Yummy. Cheesy. Spicy. Creamy.


TGIP Rating--Pumpkin Muffins--KEEPER. Still good after all these eons. Even better as a muffin.

Next up: Prima's 11th birthday is soon. She wants a cake. Of course. But with pink fondant. Yikes. I'll aim to deliver.