Healthy Pumpkin Loaf

It's that time of year when canned pumpkin and nutmeg get in bed together and not a moment too soon! This bread is very low in sugar and has no butter at all. That means that it asks for a liberal slathering of salted butter before eating. I thought all the whole wheat and oat flour would result in a dry bread but it was super moist and absolutely delicious, probably due to the amount of pumpkin and applesauce in it. I ate two slices warm with butter for dinner and wrapped the other cooled slices in wax paper and cling wrap. I keep the extra slices double bagged in ziploc bags to prevent freezer burn. It is just the best to have pumpkin bread whenever you want it!

Recipe (adapted from www.immaeatthat.com)
Dry Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup oat flour (I made this by pulsing 1 cup of rolled oats in a food processor)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 Tbsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg (depending on how much you like nutmeg)
1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 15oz can pumpkin
2 Tbspn Olive oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup apple sauce

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350F
2) Mix all dry in a large bowl
3) Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl
4) Combine and mix well
5) Pour into a 9x5 loaf pan and bake for 1 hour
6) Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then take loaf out of pan and cool completely on wire rack before cutting
7) Slather with butter and enjoy! Other delicious toppings might include cream cheese and maple syrup (OMG) and peanut butter.

Coconut-Almond Granola (with Cardamom!)

I am currently in the midst of a granola phase. I was inspired by a granola episode on Spilled Milk, one of my favorite food podcasts. I adapted a recipe from Orangette but the end product differs quite a lot from Molly's granola. There is no chocolate and I added cardamom. I am hoping I will be able to stop myself having a diet of only granola for the rest of the week.

Ingredients:
3 cups oats
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped raw pecans
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
6 Tbsp Honey (I used blackberry honey)
3/4-1 tsp flaky sea salt
6 cardamom pods, seeds crushed and added


Method:
Preheat oven to 300F. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until everything is thoroughly coated (I used my hands). Bake for 20 minutes and then stir. Continue baking for 15-20 minutes until brown and toasty. Try not to eat straight from the pan.
Enjoy with milk or yogurt. I like it with full fat greek yogurt and pineapple or soy milk.

Chocolate-Banana Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

It seems that it takes approximately 2 days for bananas to get spotty and 3 days to be "too ripe" in this weather. I think its a blessing in spotted disguise because I love almost any baked good with bananas in it. I got this cupcake recipe from Joy of Baking but instead of using the chocolate fudge frosting they suggest, I used this mocha frosting recipe from the Pioneer Woman's blog. Truly an outstanding combination!! The cupcakes were a "dump and stir" affair and the frosting was equally easy to make. I'll definitely be making these again. 
Note: I doubled the cupcake recipe to make 24 cupcakes but I made the frosting recipe as stated. I think next time I may double the frosting recipe too. It really depends how high you want your frosting:cupcake ratio :)

Feed to coffee loving husbands and enjoy the love :)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I only have one photo of this magical bread. Mostly because it got eaten so quickly. It was even enjoyed by my squash-hating husband - high praise indeed! The bread is moist and has a rich chocolate flavor. My inspiration came from a glut of zucchini that we got in our hippie box last week and of course the knowledge that chocolate makes everything better. The recipe is from one of my go to baking sites Joy of Baking. Absolutely every recipe I make from there works and they usually have helpful videos too. Next time you have excess zucchini, try this recipe out. You wont regret it.

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

I bought the Martha Stewart's Cookies Cookbook several years ago and have been wanting to try these carrot cake cookie sandwiches for only the last 7 years (!!). Yes, that's what happens when you follow too many food blogs and bookmark 10 recipes a day to try. In any case, I'm so glad I finally made these because they were a huge hit at a summer BBQ with friends and then the next day for my staff at the office for breakfast...oops. My advice: Get some in your face asap.

Ingredients:
Cookies

·               1 cup packed light-brown sugar

·                     1 cup granulated sugar

·                     1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

·                     2 large eggs, room temperature

·                     1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·                     2 cups all-purpose flour

·                     1 teaspoon baking soda

·                     1 teaspoon baking powder

·                     1/4 teaspoon salt

·                     1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·                     1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·                     1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

·                     2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

·                     1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)

·                     1 cup raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting:

·                     8 oz cream cheese

·                     1 stick unsalted butter

·                     2 cups confectioners sugar

·                     1 tsp pure vanilla

 Method:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

2.     In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

3.     Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1.     Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Banana Rum Birthday Cake!

My treat to my staff on their birthdays is to make them any kind of cake they would like. My receptionist hates chocolate (What??? How???) so I decided to make a cake from the Joy the Baker cookbook. The other recipe that I have posted on here (Trail mix cookies) was fantastic so I had high hopes. I did substitute my own cream cheese frosting for Joy's brown sugar frosting because Teresa loves cream cheese frosting. The cake did not disappoint. It was moist and very flavorful. Like fancy frosted banana bread. Perfect for those weirdos out there that don't like chocolate.

Ingredients:

3 cups AP flour
2 1/4 tsp Baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
4 ripe medium bananas mashed
3 Tbsp Rum
3 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these because I accidentally forgot them in the oven and burnt them...fail!)
Frosting ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp Rum
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Method:

• Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.  Set aside.
• In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add mashed bananas and rum and blend for another minute, until thoroughly combined.  Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.
• With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Add the buttermilk and beat on low until the mixture just begins to come together.  Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until the mixture is almost entirely incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish blending the ingredients with a spatula.  Fold in the pecans.
• Divide the batter between the cake pans.  Bake for 30 minutes on alternating racks, switching the cakes halfway through baking.  When a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven.  Let cakes rest in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

• Beat Cream cheese, butter, rum and vanilla together until smooth and gradually add powdered sugar until smooth. Try not to eat with a spoon. Frost cake and enjoy!!

High Tea

I hosted some lovely ladies on Saturday for my first High Tea. We had the obligatory English breakfast tea with egg salad and cucumber and cheese tea sandwiches. I also served espresso-banana bread, molasses spice cookies and cream scones with raspberry preserves and whipped cream. It was so much fun and everything was so delicious, I can't wait to do it again!

Happy Australia Day

I've been missing Australia a lot lately so it was nice to spend Australia Day with a bunch of other Aussies even if we were thousands of miles away in Seattle. We enjoyed Aussie favorites including sausage rolls, pavlova, a sausage sizzle and of course, Lamingtons. Most people outside of Australia and New Zealand aren't familiar with these delicious treats. They are cubes of cake, covered in chocolate icing and rolled in dessicated coconut. I used a recipe from Joy of Baking which turned out a lovely result that took me back to my childhood.

Dessicated coconut is just unsweetened shredded coconut that is easily available in most grocery stores in Australia but in Seattle it's a bit harder to find (most of the coconut is sweetened). Normal people would get it from a Whole Foods or Natural Market but after a very busy week I thought I would relax with a bit of kitchen DIY: Home made dessicated coconut! Essentially it involved cracking a coconut, getting out all the meat, peeling the thin brown peel away and shredding the meat in a food processor. The shredded coconut is dessicated in a 250F oven for about 30 minutes.

Ta Daaaaaaaaa!!! Worlds most time consuming Lamingtons. So yummy though. Serve to Australians and skeptical American friends.