Secret Recipe Club: Apple Pie Bread

I've been a little absent from my blog lately.  Once my husband left for his deployment, I started working out and lost 11 pounds.  It is hard to lose 11 pounds when you're perusing food on the internet all the time.

                      

However, I signed up for the Secret Recipe Club this month, so that I at least had one exciting dish to look forward to.  I was assigned IlonasKitchen.  I found out that she is from New Jersey too and I had a blast looking through all the recipes finding delicious ones like Pork Carnitas, Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemon and Spinach, and for dessert Strawberry Cake Batter Blondies.  Every recipe sounded delicious, but I settled for Apple Pie Bread.  I love quickbreads and am going through a Honeycrisp apple phase, so it sounded like the perfect pairing.

Apple Pie Bread
slightly adapted from IlonasKitchen
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
 2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped, peeled apple (about 4 medium)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Topping
2 tablespoons brown sugar
pecans

Directions
 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in  both sugars until combined. Add buttermilk and baking powder; beat until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Add flour and salt; beat until combined. Stir in apple and spices.
3. Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle brown sugar and nuts over the batter. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
4. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

The second you bite into this bread you just want to say yum.  It has all the comfort qualities of apple pie in a quick bread.  I just eyeballed my apples and I think I had more apples than batter, but it paid off in the long run.  Each bite was bursting with apples and flavor.  The only thing that the original recipe called for that I wish I would have done was add the pecans to the batter.  I loved the crunch that they added to the top layer, but I think it would have been better if they were throughout the batter as well.  I guess it just depends if the people that you're feeding it to like nuts.  I can't wait to use this quick bread for get togethers in the future.

What's Baking Challenge Roundup: Quickbreads

This was my month to host the What's Baking Challenge.  I chose the theme Quickbreads.  I thought it would be a great opening to fall and the slightly chillier temperatures that come with the new season.  I think the participants came up with some delicious combinations, so check out all the posts below.

I embraced my love for lemon cakes and made a Lemon Poppyseed Loaf.

Melissa from I Was Born To Cook made Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, which was a huge hit with her little girl, Bella.

Yudith from Blissfully Delicious made Sweet Potato Bread using some extra sweet potatoes in her house to turn into this delicious quickbread.

Ange from The Tiny Tyrant's Kitchen made Beer Bread using a recipe she found on Pinterest, and it turned out great.

Heather from Hezzi D's Books and Cooks made Pumpkin Spice bread and Strawberry bread to give to her friend who had recently had a baby.

Eva from Eva Bakes made Cinnamon Zucchini Bread using the last of the zucchini that she had at her house.

Jaida from Sweet Beginnings made a Chocolate Orange Loaf which she said reminds her of the Chocolate Oranges you find around the holiday season.

Steph from Brownies and Blondies took advantage of her last of her CSA fruit box and made Peach Bread.

Carrie from Carrie's Sweet Life asked her Facebook followers what bread she should make and selected Chocolate Chip Apple Bread from the responses.

Cara from The Boys Made Me Do It embraced the start of fall by making Ginger Pumpkin Bread.

Kim from Just Baked made Beer Cheese bread because her husband isn't big on sweets but does love beer and cheese.

Joanna from Newlywed and Newly Cooking took her Honey Cake to a family gathering and it was a hit.

Nicole from Seven Ate Nine combined family favorites to make Jalapeno Cheddar Beer Bread.

Catherine from Pursuing Domestic Goddess-ness made a Harvest Pumpkin bread that she received from a recipe swap.

Ammie from Adventures in My Kitchen paired her Beer Bread with a vegetable soup for a perfect autumn meal.

Jen from Beantown Baker shared her Banana Coconut Bread with her coworkers who thought the bread was "exquisite".

Hopefully you've found some inspiration for your next quickbread creation.

Next month's challenge is being hosted by Eva from Eva Bakes, and the theme is Pumkin/Sweet Potatoes.  Check out her blog at the end of the month to see what everyone makes!

What's Baking: Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

It was my time to host the What's Baking Challenge this month.  The girls in this swap usually come up with some really good themes, and I am not creative at all.  The one thing that I thought of was that in cooler weather, I love quickbreads.  I have made several banana quickbreads lately.  While they turned out fantastic, especially the Nutella Banana Bread that I tried, I decided to try something else.

I love lemon cakes.  When we're in the store and I see lemon cake of any kind, I always say that I'm going to go home and make a lemon poppyseed bread, but then never do.  I usually eat the loaves alone, so I try not to tempt myself too badly.  I decided to break down and finally make my lemon poppyseed loaf, especially since no one else made anything similar.

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
barely adapted from StoneGable
Ingredients
3 tablespoons milk

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup sugar, divided

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon loosely packed grated lemon zest (~5 lemons)
2 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (~2 lemons)

 

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease large loaf pan. 

2) In a small bowl mix together milk, eggs and vanilla.

3) In a large bowl of a mixer, mix together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds on low speed for 30 seconds.

4) Add all of the softened butter and 1/2 of the egg mixture. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds increasing speed to medium and mix for another 30 seconds. Add the rest of the egg mixtures in 2 parts mixing for 20 seconds in between.
5) Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6) Put 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon in a saucepan and cook until sugar dissolves.

7) When pound cake is done, poke holes over the top of the cake with a skewer.  Brush glaze over cake.

 

 

 

I may be biased because I love lemon cakes, but I thought this was a good recipe.  I baked it about five minutes too long and it came out a little on the dry side, so I adjusted for the time difference in the directions.  The glaze made the cake moist and even more flavorful.  I wish there was a little more lemon flavor in the actual cake than the zest, but it is still a very good cake.

Artichoke Bread

I think that I've started to like football more than my husband.  He admits that he really only likes to watch the Packers play, but there is something comforting about lounging around on Sunday and watching football.

Part of football fun for me is eating something yummy.  Sometimes my husband just wants chips and dip to snack on, but sometimes I try to whip up something more.  When I saw this recipe on Closet Cooking, I instantly thought football.

Artichoke Bread
slightly adapted from Closet Cooking
Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 loaf Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) Mix the artichoke hearts, green onions, garlic, cream cheese, mayonnaise, greek yogurt, mozzarella and parmesan cheese reserving some of the cheese.
3) Hollow 1/2 an inch out of the center of both halves of the bread.
4) Spread the mixture into the hole in the bread slices and top with the reserved cheese.
5) Bake in foil for 20 minutes.
6) Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

This bread was awesome.  It was a little messy, which fit with watching football, but mostly delicious.  The artichokes give this bread a lot more flavor than just normal cheese bread.  I think this dish will definitely make a showing at the Superbowl, and probably a few more times before then (we'll just be honest).  

Corn Muffins with Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallions

I bought my mom the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook for Mother's Day.  She loves to cook, and I think her making 99% of our meals growing up, inspired me to want to be able to provide that kind of food for my family.


I bought the same cookbook, so we decided that we'd make the same recipe within the same week and see how we liked them.  So like a little family recipe swap.  It's fun, so hopefully we keep it up.

Corn Muffins with Bacon, Cheddar and Scallions
from America's Test Kitchen Cookbook
Ingredients

3 slices bacon (chopped fine)

5 scallions (sliced thin)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick of unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

2 eggs

2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese

 Directions

	1)  Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 400°.
	2) Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
	3) Fry the bacon in a small skillet over med-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.   Transfer to a paper-towel line plate; let cool.
	4) In a bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
	5) In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, milk, sugar, melted butter, and eggs together until combined. 6) Gently fold the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture with a spatula until just combined (don't overmix). 7) Gently fold in the bacon mixture and 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese. 8) Portion the batter into each muffin cup. 9) Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar over the tops of the muffins. 10) Bake until golden brown ~15-20 minutes. I am trying to use up what I have in my fridge/freezer since we're about to move, so I used Honey Maple Bacon that we had.  I think the flavor on the bacon messed up the flavors of the corn muffin, but I think they'd be absolutely delicious with just regular bacon.  I ate these for breakfast and they were hearty enough to keep me full until lunch.  My mom said they really liked theirs too and that my little brother said they were awesome.

 

Garlic Rosemary Biscuits

Bread is amazing.  It can soak up the rest of an amazing soup, or be the perfect accompaniment to a piece of meat.  It can be plain, buttered, or topped with garlic.  You name it, bread probably goes with it. 

When I saw these Garlic Rosemary Biscuits, I knew that I had to try them.  I love rosemary and how fragrent of an herb it is.  I figured these biscuits would be a great additon to any meal. 

Plus, they are made using Bisquick, which is good for me since I don't have any biscuit/roll experience.

Garlic Rosemary Biscuits
slightly adapted from Skinnytaste
Ingredients
2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoon rosemary, plus additional for topping the biscuits
2 cups Heart Smart Bisquick
3 oz shredded parmesan cheese, plus additional for topping the biscuits
2/3 cup milk

Directions
1)  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2)  Melt butter in a small pan, add oil and half the garlic; sauté on low heat about 1 minute.
3)  Remove from heat and add chopped rosemary.
4)  In a large bowl, combine biscuit mix, parmesan cheese, and remaining garlic.
5)  Stir in milk and mix (do not over mix).
6)  Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.

7)  Bake for 10 minutes. Brush or drizzle biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom.

8)  Top with additional rosemary and parmesan cheese.

I love rosemary and garlic together, so of course these were fantastic flavorwise.  However, they were a tad on the dry side for me.  I don't know if that had to do with altitude or if it is just the biscuits themselves.   I think the next time I make them for a meal, I'll try to make adjustments for the altitude and see if that makes a difference. 

Banana Bread

We were grocery shopping this week and I walked past a big sign that read "Bananas on sale for 20 cents a pound, great for Banana Bread!". 

I don't really like bananas.  I think it is a texture thing.  I try to pick one up every once in awhile, but always fail to eat the entire thing.  However, I love banana bread.  I guess anything is better when it is hidden inside something amazing.

I found a super easy recipe.  One that doesn't even call for a mixer.  I doubled the recipe and now have breakfast for a long time to go.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2) Mixed mashed bananas and butter in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.
4) Sprinkle in the baking soda and the salt.
5) Add flour and mix well.
Cook for 1 hour, yields one loaf.

I thought it tasted great.  I didn't mash the bananas too fine, so there are big chunks in there.  I also put a little extra vanilla just because I am a fan of the "imitation" vanilla flavoring.  This has inspired me to try other breakfast creations: muffins, maybe scones.