please, with a cherry inside?

I love sweet things. I've got a pretty hardcore sweet tooth. In fact, I'm one of those people who gets the frosting from other people's cake. :) And since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, that means a plethora of chocolates, cookies, and candies available in the stores. And did I mention cakes and brownies? Yumm!

Speaking of brownies, I tried making some a few months ago. When I was going through my pantry, however, I found that I was unfortunately out of cocoa powder. So what's the alternative? Blondies, of course! I found a great decadent recipe for white chocolate cherry almond blodies and, boy, were they rich! I guess 1 1/2 stick of butter will do that. I think the main issue I had was all that butter. While they tastes sinfully good, I just couldn't get the butter factor out of my mind each time I took a bite. I've been on a hunt for a better recipe ever since.

This recipe piqued my interest. With a title of No Butter Baking. on the blog, I thought that I finally hit jackpot! No butter in sight and the blodies themselves looked decent. There is, however, a half cup of oil. Hmm...

Since I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out, I decided to improvise a little and play with the recipe. Semi-solid coconut oil replaced the vegetable oil in order to mimic fluffiness of the butter. There isn't really any liquor in my house so the brandy was switched with pure vanilla extract. I added some whole wheat flour to help soak up the inevitable liquid that this was going to produce and added some walnuts, just because. Also, I wanted to see if I could lift the batter a little, so I added some leavening agents to the dry mixture.

So what did I end up with? Not a bad blondie. It was kind of greasy though, which I expected. But since I used coconut oil, I just popped them in the freezer for a bit which helped with the texture and cutting. I think if I added another 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour or reduced the oil just a bit, these might've turned out a little bit better. Although, I'd probably end up with a stiffer dough. I still have to play around with the recipe, but all in all, this didn't turn out too bad. :)

---- o o o o ---- 

White Chocolate Cherry Walnut Blondies
(adapted from No Butter Baking.)

1/2 cup semi-soft coconut oil
1 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts

 
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line

In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and salt, and whip until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined. Add to wet ingredients along with white chocolate chips, cherries, and walnuts.

Pour batter into a parchment lined pan and level. Sprinkle top with additional cherries, chips, and walnuts and gently press into the batter.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan then chill in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes for easier cutting. Remove from freezer then cut into 16 squares.

going a little nuts...

Sometimes when I look through desserts on Pinterest, I get carried away and pin almost every dessert I come across. Every. Single. Delectable one I see. I have almost 4,500 pins alone just for sweets!! And I plan on making them all... one day. Yeeees... oh yeeeeeeeeees.....

*AHEM*

Sometimes, when I see a healthy dessert, it makes me wanna try and make a recipe even more. The fact that these bars are so easy to make and I virtually have everything listed in the ingredients list was a major plus! One problem though... I kind of didn't follow the recipe.

Let me explain... Turns out I was out of some of the things. Like maple syrup. Or canola oil. Or raisins. Or pastry flour. And I wanted to get rid of things that I had hanging around... like a handful of cinnamon chips. And pecans. And dried cranberries. And blueberries. So yeah...

They're not as "healthy" as the original, but they didn't turn out so bad. It's got the taste of granola with a nutty, almost shortbread-like crust. I thought they were awesome. Definitely adding this to my cookie repertoire. Next time I will bake them a little less though... following the recipe almost burned them (hence why they look a little dark)! The sweet spot is definitely around the 25 to 30 minute mark. Maybe even less. Hmmmm.... Anyway, enjoy!

---- o o o o ---- 

Cinnamon Honey Fruit and Nut Bars
(adapted from Healthy Seasonal Recipes)

½ cup chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped pecans, divided
1 tbsp granulated sugar
¾ cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp plus 1 tsp all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp salt, divided
3 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk, divided
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and divided
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup honey
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried blueberries
¼ cup cinnamon chips

 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.

For the crust:
Place ½ cup walnuts and sugar in a food processor fitted with steel blade attachment. Process until the walnuts are the consistency of rough meal. Add whole wheat flour, 3 tbsp all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon and pulse until combined.

Stir together 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoon melted butter, and oil in a small bowl.

With the food processor motor running, drizzle yolk mixture through the feed tube and process until mixture clumps together.

Turn mixture out into the prepared pan; spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Prick all over with a fork and transfer to the oven. Bake, pressing down with the back of a fork only if it starts to puff, until dry and slightly golden along the edges, 13 to 15 minutes.

For the filling:
Meanwhile, whisk honey, vinegar, vanilla, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, the remaining 2 tsp cinnamon, the remaining 2 eggs and the remaining butter in a medium bowl, reserving ¼ cup of the honey mixture for topping. Add in ½ cup of chopped pecans. Stir in the dried fruit. Set aside.

For the topping:
Mix the reserved ¼ cup of honey mixture in a small bowl with the remaining 1½ cup of chopped pecans. Set aside.

Putting the bar together:
Remove the crust from the oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. While the crust is hot, brush the remaining 1 tsp flour over the crust with a pastry brush to fill in any holes or cracks.

Spread the fruit and nut mixture in the baked crust. Arrange pecan topping over the top. Drizzle on any remaining honey mixture then evenly sprinkle on the cinnamon chips.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center no longer jiggles when gently shaken, the top is lightly crackled, and the filling is set. Cool completely, at least 1 hour. Cut into 16 squares.

christmas time.

Merry Christmas!

It's weird being on a tropical island where it's always the same temperature all year round. At least when I was living in San Diego, there was *some* climate change. Here, the only way that i can tell that the seasons are changing is by the amount of rain fall that we have. Speaking of San Diego, it dawned on me that this will be the very first time in my entire life that I'm away from my family during the holidays and I have to say that it sucks! And to put the cherry on the cake, this would've been the very first Christmas that the hubby and I would have as a husband and wife except that he has work today...meaning I won't see him until *after* Christmas. *que charlie brown sad song here* Lol.

Well, that won't do. Today's itinerary? Take that cherry and bake it in a bread! :D

I wanted to make something festive and this recipe caught my eye. It's just so nice and *pink*! When I actually started to make the cake, however, I spied the box of dark cocoa on the shelf and thought, "Hn....chocolate cherry bread....". So I decided to experiment and tweaked the recipe a little bit to add the cocoa. Then I saw cream that was going to expire within the next few days, and I threw that into the batter too (I rationalized with myself that cream was needed since i was using skim milk, lol).

So what did I get? A lesson in glazing, first of all. My technique leaves much to be desired. Next time, I think I'll do a little less juice so that i'll have a nice thick glaze. Following the recipe gave me a runny glaze that I had to pour on the bread over and over again. Taste-wise...rich, decadent, and almost cake-y. The glaze adds a nice touch of almond flavor without having the crunch of the almonds. Since I only had one bottle of cherries, I found that I really wanted it to stud the bread a little bit more. Definitely 2 bottles next time. And the chocolate? Who doesn't like chocolate??

Chocolate Cherry Almond Bread
(adapted from Tastes of Lizzy T's)

Bread:
1/2 cup milk*
1/4 cup cream*
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder 1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
2 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, cream, oil and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (little streaks or clumps of flour is okay).

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice for the glaze. Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter.

Pour the bread batter into a greased or parchment lined 9"x5" bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, and almond extract in a small bowl. Add just enough cherry juice to make a thick glaze. Mix until it is smooth. Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Let stand 15 to 30 minutes to set then slice and serve.

*You could probably substitute half and half or all milk. I haven't tried it so I don't know how that'll come out. More experimenting! :D

persimmon schtick...

i'm in a persimmon schtick. having tried pudding last week, i thought i'd try my hand at making a quick bread this time around. this one was recently bookmarked on my pinterest board, despite it being two years old. i looked over the ingredients list this morning and decided to give it a shot.

man, i'm so glad i tried this recipe! it's nice and sweet and even though the whole thing is spiced with nutmeg (a spice i don't normally like), i found that it's used brilliantly in this bread! actually, the taste reminds me of eating pumpkin bread or christmas fruitcake. either way, this was fantastic and is a nice addition to the collection of seasonal recipes in my repertoire.

for this recipe, i did end up making a few changes (namely halving the recipe and swapping the liquor). i used overly ripe fuyu since i only had that on hand. i also changed out the whiskey for dark spiced rum...more my preference than necessity. didn't bother toasting the pecans too, i figured "recipe ready" was alright. also, did an almost 1:1 ratio of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. the result? it's got a nice nutty flavor, thanks to the pecans and whole wheat flour. the raisins and chopped dates stayed nice and evenly dispersed with the help of a flour coating. and the rum? well, rum makes everything all the more festive for this time of year! ;)

Persimmon Rum Bread
(adapted from Putney Farm)

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 extra large or large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup spiced dark rum
1 cup persimmon puree (i used 2 very ripe large fuyu persimmons)
1 cup pecans (i used the ones labeled "recipe ready")
1 cup or so dried fruit (i used a mix of chopped whole dates, golden raisins, and regular raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or line loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour mixture in a separate small bowl. Toss in the dried fruit in the reserved mixture, making sure to coat each piece well.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree, pecans and floured dried fruit (note: you want to add any leftover flour that the fruit was tossed in as well...waste not, want not!). Mix the batter just until combined (having little streaks of flour is okay...don't over mix).

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and then place the pan in the oven. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pan before serving.

eating beer.

my yeast died today. i found out when i had the random itch to bake some bread. although, after being stored for so long, it doesn't really come as that much of a surprise. :/

i took out my yeast, proofed it in warm water, and was dismayed that it didn't come alive. now what do i do?? then an idea struck me: we have beer in the fridge! i'm not really that much of a big beer drinker. although the boyfriend loves the stuff, i'm more opt to get a glass of juice or a cup of tea. and whenever we have a big gathering at the house, i find that we always have a handful of beers leftover from the festivities just there sitting lonely in the corner of the fridge . . . undrank . . . unused . . . neglected. needless to say, i was estactic of the idea of being able to get rid of a couple of bottles short of drinking them!

after a quick search on the internets, i found this recipe to try. it seemed easy enough and i had the ingredients to make it. made a few modifications and out came a moist, slightly sweet bread with a soft and chewy consistency (think of a super moist banana bread with more of a chew). this was great to snack on as-is with some mild havarti and some fruit. i've also used this as a french toast and it paired perfectly with puddle of pure maple syrup. would i make this again? definitely!

 

Honey Whole Wheat Beer Bread
(adapted from Farmgirl Fare)

2 cups organic whole wheat flour (i used wheat montana's bronze cheif whole wheat flour)
1 cup organic all-purpose flour (i used gold medal's all-purpose flour)
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (i subbed 2 tbsp dark brown sugar)
1 teaspoon salt (added about 1/4 tsp or so)
1 Tablespoon baking powder (make sure it's fresh!) (i added 1/2 tsp or so more)
14 ounces beer (or 12 ounces beer & 2 ounces water) (used about 1 1/2 bottles of stella artois to get a "thick batter")
1/4 cup honey (or less)

Optional glaze: 1 egg & 2 teaspoons water, beaten

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Slowly stir in beer (and the honey) and mix just until combined. The batter will be thick.

Spread in a greased 8-inch loaf pan (i used a parchment lined baking pan), brush with the egg glaze if desired (skipped this), and bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. (mine took almost an hour to bake. also, about 20 minutes before it was done, i spread some butter on top and let it finish in the oven for some buttery-top goodness!)

Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

honey, you're so sweet.

i like bread. i really do. in fact, i'm going to go ahead and say that i *love* bread. If carbs didn't have to love me back on my thighs, arms, and face, i'd eat it every day with possible everything. but alas, bread is something that i have to eat in moderation...no more than a couple of slices a day. but sometimes i binge...oh, do i binge! like making bread every few days.

so when i find a cool recipe that i like, i tend to try it and see if i like what comes out. i especially like the easy recipes since i don't have a lot of time...like this one. the recipe's been around for a while but i'm pretty new to bread baking so it's exciting to find something that's relatively healthy and tasty.

i did end up making this dough twice though. the first try had lack-luster results when i baked it in a bread pan with a steam tray underneath. i really expected some hole-y bread! instead, it came out dense and deflated. urgh... i wanted to try again though, this time doing the dutch oven method with no fridge time and and it came out more holey (if not by much) and less flat. it did have a large spread while baking but i'm putting that down to the size of my pot. *sigh* try and try again...

Traditional American-Style Honey Whole Wheat Bread
(adapted from King Arthur Flour)

3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 or so cups warm water
olive oil

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast, and vital what gluten. In a measuring cup, combine the warm water (about 100 degrees in temp) and honey. Add wet to dry and mix to create a shaggy dough. If the dough is too dry, add additional water little by little until the dough is no longer dry but still sticky and shaggy. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (about an hour). Prepare a sheet of parchment paper to use for the dough later on.

When doubled, knead the dough in the bowl for a couple of minutes then transfer to the parchment paper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled (about 30 or so minutes).

Meanwhile, ready a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven on the middle rack and preheat to 450 degrees. Once the dough is ready and the oven is hot, carefully place the dough and parchment paper in the cast iron and cover immediately with the lid. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 425 degrees, carefully remove the lid, and bake an additional 20 minutes until top is golden brown. Once done, transfer the bread to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.

scones part deux: taste it and make it!

on my way to work in the mornings, i always pass by peet's coffee and teas. i've never actually stopped at this particular franchise as i'm more of the local mom and pop coffee shop kind of gal. this morning tho was different. and glad i was when i did because i found the most tastiest scone i've ever had: the multigrain scone.

i don't know why this was such a revelation to me as i've always been a fan of multigrain anything. i guess i just never had it in a scone form. after i inhaled the last of the crumbs from the bottom of the bag, i thought: man! i want some more of that! *ding!* wait, i can make that!!

well the idea was born and off the internets i searched. First was finding out what was in the scone. I did come across the ingredients list and here's what it listed:

Multigrain Scone:
Enriched Unbleached Wheat Flour, Butter, Sugar, Water, Cream, Dates, Coconut, Lemon Peel, Flax Seed, Cracked Wheat, Oats, Rye Meal, Yellow Polenta, Rolled Barley, Millet, Rice Bran, Wheat Germ, Sunflower Seeds, Rolled Rye, Milk, Baking Powder, Salt, Artificial Color.

Afterwards, searched and rifled through a bunch of recipes and settled on this one since it sounded like it would have right texture i was looking for.

wow, was this recipe awesome! it was the perfect base for the scone. i added 3/4 cup of shredded coconut and it was pretty damn close to what i had at peet's coffee and tea.
things i would do differently:

- i would definitely add more coconut flakes, cranberries, and probably add another type of nut into the mix. also, some vanilla extract. it's missing something but i can't quite put my taste buds on it. cornmeal maybe? gotta buy another scone and dissect it more thoroughly.

-my scone was slightly burned so definitely less cooking time and closer to what the recipe called for. about 20 minutes tops.

-handle the dough less and maybe just round balls? i wanted a more bakery scone look rather than the ones i did. we'll see.

-i did the oat flour route and instead of grinding it to a fine meal, i'd probably grind it coarsely instead to help with the consistency.

-this was lightly sweet. while i'm all for less sugary intake, i really enjoyed the balance of sweet and nutty that the peet's scone had. next time, i'll add a full cup of sugar and see what that tastes like.

all in all, this was a very satisfying experiment (better than the fist attempt i did) and was surprised at how easy it all was. and this try actually produced an actual scone-like, erm, scone? lol. with that being said, next stop: maybe make my own corned beef?? :O

Mixed Flour Buttermilk Scones with Cranberries and Almonds
(from Seven Spoons)

For the scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour or oat flour, see note
¼ cup flaxseed meal
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Finely grated zest from one lemon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small dice
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries, see note
3/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted and then chopped
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk, plus more if needed
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

For glaze (optional)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

To make the glaze, stir together the sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Use parchment paper to line a standard baking sheet and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. On the machine's lowest setting, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles course meal. The butter should be in small pieces approximately the size of peas. Mix in the cranberries and almonds.

With the machine still on low, slowly pour the buttermilk into the flour and butter mixture in a thin stream, stirring until just combined. Use only as much buttermilk as needed to bring the dough together - don’t worry if you don’t use it all, or if you need to add a tablespoon or more. Small bits of butter should still be visible, but almost all the flour should be incorporated. (skipped this and did mine by hand. i coarsley grated the butter into the dry ingredients, adding the coconut as well, and followed the rest as directed. :D)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Working quickly, gently knead the dough, folding and pressing gently until it just holds together. Divide the dough into two, and shape each ball of dough into a 6-inch round about 1-inch thick. Cut each round into six wedges, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake scones in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, then carefully pull them out and brush the top of each lightly with the glaze, if using. Return the scones to the oven and continue to bake until the the tops are lightly golden and the cut sides look flaky and dry, around 5-8 minutes more. When fully cooked, the scones should feel light for their size and sound almost hollow when tapped underneath.

Cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes. Best served warm the day they are made, but can be toasted or rewarmed in a low oven. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Makes 12 medium scones.

Author's Notes:
• In lieu of whole wheat flour, toasted oat flour also works quite well. To make your own, spread 3/4 cup of rolled oats on a baking sheet and bake in a 375°F oven until lightly golden, stirring occassionaly, around 7 minutes. Allow to cool, then grind in a food processor into fine meal.

• Our dried cranberries were markedly less sweet than the raisin-like ones sold in many grocery stores. Using the latter style might warrant reducing the granulated sugar to a 1/3 cup.