Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 1½ cups fresh cranberries
• 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp grated orange rind
• ½ cup butter, softened and divided
• ½ cup packed dark-brown sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• ½ cup fat-free buttermilk
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp melted butter
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square or a 9- or 10-inch round baking pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

2. In a small bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts, and orange rind. In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium. Stir in brown sugar, orange juice, and cinnamon. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with cranberry mixture. 

3. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

4. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium, beat granulated sugar and emaining butter until creamy. Add vanilla, egg, buttermilk, and flour mixture. Spoon over cranberries.

5. Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert onto a rack to finish cooling. Beat glaze ingredients. Drizzle over cake. Slice.

KITCHEN COUNTER:

Serves: 9. Per Serving: 350 calories, 56g carbs, 4g protein, 13g fat, 50mg cholesterol, 290mg sodium, 2g fiber

Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread

Ok confession time…

I made this bread on Tuesday night with high, high hopes. I love Joy the Baker. She is a genius I tell ya! So, when I set out to make this bread I was expecting greatness. I got goodness. This bread is really good, but in the beginning I thought the batter tasted better than the cooked and finished bread. I liked my Banana Banana Nut Bread better. Now I still got up the next day to eat some for breakfast, because it was good. Don’t get me wrong. It was yummy. The second day I tried it was a whole other story…The thing about Joy’s Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread is that the flavors take a second to marry in the bread. Let them hang out a while and get to know one another. This is a make ahead bread. It’s a “company is coming over” bread that you could make and throw in the fridge wrapped in wax paper and aluminum foil so you can have an easy morning the next day. You can whip it out of the fridge and let them “ooooh” and “ahhh” over your baking greatness. Go ahead. Try it. They will…

And Joy… if you ever read this hunny I am sorry I doubted your recipe. It was delish sweetie pea. Awesome even.

Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread

makes 1 9×5-inch loaf

recipe and photos from www.joythebaker.com

Ingredients:

6 ounces unsalted butter, melted and browned to just over 1/2 cup of butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup plain yogurt (any fat content) or buttermilk

1 1/4 cup mashed banana (from about 3 medium bananas)

1/2 cup diced strawberries plus 1 strawberry very thinly sliced, for topping

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Butter will begin to foam and crackle as it melts.  When the crackling subsides, the butter will begin to brown.  Swirl the pan as the butter cooks.  When the butter browns and begins to smell nutty, remove the pan from the flame and transfer the butter to a small bowl.  Taking the butter out of the hot saucepan will stop the butter from overcooking and burning.  Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and yogurt or buttermilk.  Whisk in the mashed bananas.  When butter has cooled, whisk in the browned butter.

Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients.  Fold together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to reveal any hidden pockets of flour.  Fold in the diced strawberries.  Fold together ingredients, but try not to over stir.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with thinly sliced strawberries.   Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Bread will last 4 days, well wrapped at room temperature.  This loaf also freezes well.

(…Now this is serious… in Joy’s post she mentions that this bread would be delicious served warm and slathered with butter or cream cheese. Joy is a smart girl. You would be wise to follow this advice.)

Also, on another note… I am think of using this bread to use in french toast tomorrow morning. Whatcha think?

Resurrection Rolls

A friend of mine emailed this recipe to me last week, and I was so excited about being about to do this with my Amelia.

It is a great way to teach the kiddo’s about Jesus and the true meaning of Easter.

This recipe and all photos are from  Feathers From My Nest. I liked that she coated the outside with cinnamon and sugar! Yum!

These hollow dinner rolls represent Jesus’ empty tomb. Hope you all have a very blessed Easter!

Resurrection Rolls

Recipe by: http://www.feathersfrommynest.com/

Ingredients:

Frozen dough for dinner rolls

Regular Marshmallows

Melted Butter

Sugar and Cinnamon Mixture – I recommend about a 4:1 ratio.  (4 being the sugar…mmmmm)

1.  Thaw rolls – Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Arrange dough balls, leaving about 2 inches between each ball.   I usually plan on 3-4 rolls per person (we snack on them later in the day) so I place about 16 per cookie sheet. Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick spray (so the wrap doesn’t stick to your dough) and cover them as they thaw.  This will keep the dough from drying out and getting a hard crust.  My house was fairly warm the day I made these and it took about 1 and 1/2 hours for them to thaw.

2.  Add Marshmallow – Before the dough rises, flatten it to a 3″ diameter circle.  Place your marshmallow in the middle and pinch the dough closed around the marshmallow to completely cover it up.  Roll the dough ball in the palm of your hand to smooth out the closure and seal it.Amendment:  A few have commented with difficulties getting their dough to stick close around the marshmallow.  Before putting the butter on, put marshmallows in ALL the dough balls.  If your fingers get greasy from using the butter it will easily transfer to your dough and prevent it from sticking closed around itself.

3.  Roll dough covered marshmallow in butter. (Or brush it on.)

4.  Sprinkle on cinnamon & sugar mixture.  Or you can do like my family does and roll it on. We like them super flavorful, sweet and yummy.  (By the way…I typically use raw unbleached sugar which is why mine has a darker color and a more coarse texture.  You can use whatever style sugar you keep on hand.)

5.  Place them on a greased cookie sheet, cover them again with your non-stick coated plastic wrap and let them rise until they double in size.  This takes approximately 30-60 minutes depending on how warm the environment is.  And not to worry…if they don’t rise they’ll still taste yummy.  I’m not sure why yet…but it isn’t often that I actually get my rolls to rise as they should.  This particular time would be one of those times.  They barely rose but left one of the better ‘tombs’ I’ve had in my rolls.

6.  Don’t forget to pre-heat your oven during the last 10 minutes of your rising step.  When they are ready to bake, place them in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

7.  When they are done baking, remove them from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

8.  Enjoy them together.

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.”
Matthew 28:5-6

Bed Head & Whole Wheat French Toast Muffins

(you gotta love the kiddo’s bed head and little diva pose in this pic)

 

Saturday mornings equal cooking time for Amelia and Mommy. She is my egg cracker, flour stirrer, and mess maker. I love it. We both put our aprons on this morning and set out to make these yummy muffins. They were easy, delicious, and made our tummy’s very happy! The Hubby and I used sugar free syrup on our muffins. Amelia used regular syrup. These muffins are healthy, will some extra fiber to your morning, and will keep you full!

Whole Wheat French Toast Muffins

adapted from The Urban Baker

yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 cup low fat milk or low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup melted butter

maple syrup or your favorite sugar free syrup

powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400*.  Line cupcake pan with 12 liners or spray with nonstick spray.
• Whisk flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and cooled melted butter.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture.  Stir until just incorporated, don’t over mix.
• Fill cupcake pan with batter. Mine were over half full and made 12 muffins.  Bake 10-15 minutes.  Muffins are done when toothpick comes out clean.
• Poke holes in the muffin tops and gently spoon over 1-2 tablespoons of good maple syrup, regular syrup, or your favorite sugar free syrup.  Dust with powdered sugar! Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

45 Minutes to Prepare and Cook

Ingredients

Wet ingredients (2 cups total):

1 or 2 ripe bananas

1 egg 

1/3 cup melted, and cooled butter or margarine

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. strong coffee

milk or buttermilk just enough to make 2 cups total of wet ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar (you could use splenda here, honey, or substitute applesauce)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts if you prefer — I like pecans.)

1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Directions

First, preheat the oven to 350. Preheating is important — the muffins should go into a fully preheated oven.In the smaller bowl, put all of your wet ingredients — make sure you mash your bananas then completely stir in the egg and other wet ingredients. 

In a larger bowl, put all of your dry ingredients and whisk together throughly. Make sure your ingredients are fully incorporated.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ones  and fold them carefully with a few swift strokes.  Do not overmix. There will even be places where the flour is still dry. The mixture will look lumpy and “not quite” fully mixed together. Don’t worry this is the way they’re supposed to look.

Spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray. I use Baker’s Joy, but you can use whatever you like.

Spoon the (lumpy) batter into the muffin tin — it’s okay if you end up filling the holes all the way to the top. Don’t pack the batter — just spoon it into the muffin tin.

Bake for 20-25 min.

Number of Servings: 12

Seriously Good Raisin Bran Muffins

These muffins come from Joy the Baker’s. I saw them about a month ago, and new I had to make them. They were a hit too! The Hubby and Amelia both loved them! They are super simple, and the batter can be kept in the fridge for up to a week! Make these today. They will become a favorite in your house too. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Raisin Bran Muffins

makes about 20 to 24 muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 of a 15oz box of Raisin Bran Cereal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

Directions:

In a large bowl mix together Raisin Bran, flour, salt, sugars and baking soda.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla extract and buttermilk.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. If you plan on baking the muffins right away, allow to sit on the counter for 45 minutes before baking. This will allow the cereal to soften.

If you’d like to bake the muffins throughout the week, place the batter in an airtight container and store in the fridge. Scoop into lined muffins pans when ready to bake. Sprinkle with a spoonful of granulated sugar if desired.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Blueberry Muffins

On Saturday mornings our family usually huddles around the breakfast table with whole wheat pancakes, but this morning I was out of buttermilk. Pancakes are just NOT as good without buttermilk so I fished out this recipe from my recipe drawer. My good friend Lisa shared this recipe with me. She found it over at AllRecipes.com. Last week when I had a horrible experience with a bad blueberry muffin recipe she recommend this one for next time I got the craving for muffins. When she said these muffins were good she wasn’t lying! The Hubby ate three! Give this recipe a try. It is worth the effort! You can freeze your leftovers, and when you are rushing out the door to work during the week you can grab one out of the freezer, wrap it in a paper towel, and toss it in the microwave for a minute. Tadaa! Yummy breakfast on the go! As always, you can substitute as much whole wheat flour for the suggested regular all-purpose flour. I used half regular and half whole wheat. I like to add fiber when I can.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

* 2 cups fresh blueberries
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup margarine
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffins tins, or line cups with paper liners.
2. Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over blueberries, and stir to coat berries thoroughly.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a large bowl, cream margarine, and gradually mix in sugar. Beat eggs, and stir into creamed mixture along with vanilla. Stir in milk alternately with flour mixture, mixing well after each addition. Fold in berries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Overnight Honey-Wheat Rolls

I made these rolls for Thanksgiving. They were so easy! My sister and I had so much fun making them too! ;o) This was my first time using yeast, and I will definitely try it again. My mother said these tasted store bought, and they were so easy to throw together. You just mix the ingredients, throw them into the fridge overnight, and them bake them in the morning. Make these rolls. They will save you tons of money, and the hint of honey in the rolls is super yummy! Plus, they make your house smell heavenly.

Overnight Honey-Wheat Rolls

Ingredients
* 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
* 1-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
* 2 egg whites
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
* 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* Melted butter, optional

Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the yeast mixture, honey, oil, salt, whole wheat flour and remaining water. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a well-floured surface; divide in half. Shape each portion into nine balls. To form knots, roll each ball into a 10-in. rope; tie into a knot. Tuck ends under. Place rolls 2 in. apart
on greased baking sheets.
Cover and let rise until doubled, about 50 minutes. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter if desired. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

 

Pumpkin Chili & Layered Mexican Cornbread

It’s getting cold outside ya’ll.
Mornings are feeling a little chilly here in Alabama, and my coffee is cold before I get into the car to go to work. My bones needed some warming up, so the other night… was chili night. It was not any ordinary chili though. No way. It was pumpkin chili. *sigh* I love fall.

I roasted a pumpkin in the oven the other night for about an hour and a half in order to make pumpkin puree, and roasted pumpkin seeds.

(Recipes will be posted soon on how to do both of the above!)

I used some of the pumpkin puree in my chili, and it was awesome. I got the idea for Recipezaar. This is the perfect way to sneak an extra veggie into your kiddos without them knowing it. I really could not taste the pumpkin once the chili had cooked. My taste buds could have been burned off, because I did eat it really really fast. I couldn’t help it. It tasted and smelled THAT good. I think the pumpkin did make the chili creamier. Which is okay with me.

You can make this your own by adding different veggies… I used what I had in the fridge. This would be amazing with corn in it… and extra tomatoes. I skipped a step with the spices, and used a chili seasoning packet. So sue me. I was in a hurry. It didn’t mess anything up though.

I also used two whole bell peppers. One yellow and one Red. The recipe called for half of a red and half a green, but who wants to follow the recipe spot on? Not me.

You can see the original recipe for Pumpkin Chili here…The alterations I made can be seen in the recipe below.

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 lb ground turkey
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can kidney beans
(14 1/2 ounce) pumpkin puree
1 packet chili seasoning mix
lemon pepper seasoning to taste (to add some zing)

Directions
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Saute the green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Make room in the center of the skillet, add turkey, and brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans, and pumpkin. Add seasoning. I also added a couple teaspoons of hot sauce at the very end. If you don’t like your chili spicy you can leave it out. Enjoy!

With my lovely chili (made with lovely pumpkin secretly tucked away inside) I made Paula Deen’s Layered Mexican Cornbread. It was so yummy, and fluffy…with cheese and jalapenos tucked away in the middle. If you love cornbread you will love this. I don’t care how much of a cornbread snob you may be…you will love it. Paula’s original recipe calls for 1 cup of jalapenos, but I only added 1/2 cup.
You can adjust the amount to your own taste.

Layered Mexican Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup all purpose cornmeal
1/2 cup chopped jalepeno peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can creamed corn
butter or non-stick cooking spray, for greasing pan
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8-inch or 9 by 9-inch square pan with softened butter or nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, milk, eggs, salt, and oil. Stir in onion and creamed corn. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Top with cheese and peppers, spreading onto batter. Pour remaining batter on top of cheese and peppers. Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before cutting into squares.

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Servings: 1 8×8 square cornbread
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 35 min
Difficulty: Easy

The most amazing banana bread!

I have searched high and low for the banana bread that tastes exactly the way I want it to taste. I have found recipes that are tasty, but not as moist as I would like… recipes that are moist, but just don’t have that bold banana flavor. I stumbled upon this recipe for banana bread last week, and was intrigued by it. It has banana pudding in it. Think on that for a second…. I love cakes that have pudding in them, but bread? Banana bread? It sounded awesome. I couldn’t wait to try it.

When my sweet kid sister, Savannah, came down for the weekend we set out to make said banana bread… It was super easy to throw together. It filled the house with the most amazing aroma. It was heavenly! After dancing back and forth from the oven and the living room praying that it would get done quicker we finally got a taste, and wow! It was the most amazing banana bread I had ever tasted. The bread was so moist, and the flavor… Man, it was BANANA. I am done searching for the perfect banana bread. This is it. Make it! You won’t regret it.

This recipe makes two loaves. You can cut the recipe in half, or you can always freeze a loaf, and break it out for when you know you are having company! My friend Bettie says that when she makes her bread she wraps the second loaf in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. Then she throws in into the freezer until she starts craving it with her coffee. haha

Here is this amazing recipe. I stumbled upon it via Recipzaar.com.

Banana Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients
* 2 cups sugar
* 8 ounces butter, softened at room temperature (2 sticks)
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 (3 1/2 ounce) box instant banana pudding mix
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 3 cups flour
* 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (about 4 medium)
* 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease two 9 x 5 loaf pans.
Cream butter and sugar well. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add instant pudding, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, mixing well. Slowly add flour, one cup at a time, until well mixed. Peel bananas, mash and add to mixture. Add pecans and mix until blended. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.