Cherry & Brown Butter Streusel Muffins

Whew. Well, that was unexpected. It has been almost 4 weeks since I posted anything, I can hardly believe it. I went out of town fully intending to bake and post while I was there - I even drove half-way across the country with my stand mixer, digital scale and a box of baking essentials. Then about 3 days into the trip, my laptop died. My 1 1/2 year old MacBook Pro. Died. I was not so happy about this. I waiting to find out if it can be fixed, and in the meantime, I'm borrowing my mom's laptop. Thanks, Mom!

I've been back in town about a week, and finally got around to baking last night.

I miraculously found cherries for $1.49 per pound - organic, of course - and decided to make a treat for my little ones to wake up to this morning.

It is no secret around here that I'm slightly obsessed with all things containing brown butter and topped with streusel; I mean, how can you go wrong?! I thought the deep nutty flavor of the brown butter would pair nicely with the juicy, moderately tart cherries. Oh, yes. Oh. Yes.

These muffins arenot excessively moist, so don't overbake them! They are, however, soft and tender and incredibly flavorful. The brown butter really comes through, and melds beautifully with the whole wheat flour and vanilla extract. The streusel adds a wonderful crunch, while the cherries provide little bursts of juiciness every couple bites. Berries of any variety would also work great in this recipe, just be sure not to thaw them if you use frozen ones.

* * * * *

Cherry & Brown Butter Streusel Muffins

For the Streusel

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup palm sugar

2.5 oz (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, browned

For the Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup palm sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch*

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, browned

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups pitted cherries, then halved

Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 regular muffin cups with liners, or butter and flour cups.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for streusel, mix well, and place in refrigerator until needed.

In a large bowl stir together flours, palm sugar, baking powder, arrowroot or cornstarch and salt. In the pan you browned your butter in, add milk and vanilla extract. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Fold in cherry halves. Distribute batter evenly among muffin cups. Crumble streusel on top of batter in cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean.

*You may have noticed this is an eggless recipe. If you would prefer to use eggs instead of the arrowroot or cornstarch: omit arrowroot/cornstarch from dry mix; reduce milk to 3/4 cup; add two eggs to butter mixture after you've added the milk - it should be cool enough that the eggs won't cook.

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

Got 5 minutes? Then you have enough time to mix, roll and cut these biscuits and pop them into the oven. They are that quick.

I was very pleased to see these as a TWD selection this month. I love biscuits. I was raised on biscuits. We have biscuits at every family function. Small fights break out over who gets the last one. We're biscuit people.

I made these particular biscuits for the first time last summer, and have probably baked them a dozen or more times since. They are just so simple, so fast, so delicious.

That first time I made them I was skeptical, I'll admit. I didn't think they would have the satisfactory fluffy interior, the crispy edges that constitute the perfect biscuit. It was one of the most magical oven transformations I have ever seen. I continue to be awed every time I bake them. I won't say that these are the perfect biscuit - though they're close - but they are perfect for when you're short on time, and considering the minimal effort that is put into these, the result is fairly spectacular.

These biscuits are light, tall and fluffy, with a melt-in-your mouth creamy and tender interior. The edges are crispy, and though they are more delicate than a butter biscuit, they will still stand up to a good drenching in honey.

I omitted the sugar - biscuits shouldn't be sweet, in my opinion - and upped the salt a bit, and used white whole wheat flour. I also used closer to 1 1/4 cup cream - the upper end of the range Dorie gives in the recipe.

These will never replace a butter biscuit for me, but they certainly hold their own, and will continue to be a regular breakfast goody in my house!

Thanks to Melissa from Love at First Bite for hosting this week. This fantastic and simple recipe can be found on her blog.

Coconut Bread

I've always been impulsive.

This impulsiveness surfaces in every aspect of my life, from the most trivial - such as the constant changing of my hair - to the potentially dangerous...

An example: when I was 23 and I took off on a cross-country road trip by myself. It seemed harmless enough. I was supposed to be gone for 2 weeks, but close to the end of my trip I blew a tire on the interstate. I was just outside Claremore, OK, whose only claim to fame is being the birthplace to Will Rogers. The speed limit was 75, so I was going about 80. I was listening to Tori Amos' Tales of a Librarian, when all of a sudden my car started to fishtail. Before I knew it I was air-bound, flying off the side of the road. My car landed - blowing another tire - spun around several times and came to rest in some tall grasses. Miraculously, I wasn't injured. Not even a bruise. My car was another story. It required almost $8000 in repairs, and while it was being fixed I was stranded in Tulsa. For two weeks. By myself. I spent the whole time in my motel room watching Law & Order re-runs and knitting.

Though hopefully no experience as extreme as my stay in Tulsa will result from any decision I make in the kitchen, my impulsiveness shows itself in my baking, too - this is on the trivial end of the impulsive spectrum. Sometimes I have a desire to bake, but I have a hard time deciding exactly what I want to bake. If I happen upon a recipe that inspires me, however, I have to make it immediately. Whether it is late at night, early in the morning, in the last 30 minutes I have before I go to work, etc... This was one of those recipes.

As soon as I saw this on Seven Spoons, I started measuring ingredients. It was a perfect recipe to happen upon, as I had been wanting to make my boys a new quick bread for breakfast. Plus, I had just made this fantastic coconut cake that they weren't able to eat, which I felt a little bad about because it was so delicious. Making this bread was my way of giving them a little taste of what they had missed.

This coconut bread is like the less-refined cousin of that cake. Denser, heavier than the cake, with none of its fluffy delicacy though all of its coconut-y goodness. This has more heft, more texture from a greater amount of shredded coconut, which also gives it a little chew. It has a moist, soft crumb and a substantial crust. It is humble, yet sublime.

Taking a cue from the cake, I used coconut milk in place of whole milk to enhance the coconut flavor. I also used palm sugar to sweeten it - which comes from the coconut palm; coconut everywhere! This is a fantastic quick bread eaten plain or toasted with butter and equally as appropriate eaten for breakfast or with your afternoon tea. If you wanted to dress it up a little and serve it as dessert, I'm sure it would also be delicious with chocolate chunks - though for me it would slightly defeat the purpose, as then my kids wouldn't be able to eat it.

Thankfully, not all roads of impulsiveness lead to Tulsa.

Coconut Bread

adapted from Bill Granger via Seven Spoons

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

seeds scraped from 1/2 a vanilla bean, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup palm sugar

5 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) unsweetened shredded coconut

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Whisk together eggs, coconut milk and vanilla in a small bowl, set aside. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, then stir in the palm sugar and shredded coconut. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in melted butter, mixing only until incorporated. Do not over-mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about an hour, or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then un-mold and cool completely on rack before cutting.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

You my recall I made a lemon pound cake a week or so ago, and I wasn't so hot on it. It wasn't lemony enough, and was just generally blah. Though it left me wanting a great pound cake I didn't make much of an effort to find one, as I had moved on to other tasty treats.

Now, I have a serious baking book habit. Serious. I basically want every baking book ever written, and have a good number of them already. The most recent addition to my collection is The Craft of Baking, and on my first flip-through this is the recipe that jumped out at me. I love the name of this cake, and everything it evokes. Olive oil; earthy, fruity, tangy - the perfect complement to zippy, tart lemons.

This is my first olive oil cake, per se, though I have used olive oil several times in baking - whenever a recipe calls for a different oil. So I suppose what I should say is that this is the first time I have baked something where olive oil was intended to be a contributing flavor. Oh, how I loved it.

This, people, is a lemon cake.

This is everything a lemon cake should be. It is also everything a pound cake should be. The crumb is tight and tender, supple even. It is perfectly lemony. Lemony, but not tart. The real triumph of this cake, however is its texture. This cake is so moist, it makes a sound when you tear a piece off. It makes a sound!!! It does not have a drop of extra grease, either. It isn't a very sweet cake, which I appreciate, though the top is sprinkled with sugar before baking, creating a paper-thin crunchy crust. Perfection.

The only downside of this superb pound cake is that it is small and it requires a lot of dishes. You may want to double the recipe and save one loaf for later. I say this under the naive delusion that two loaves have a chance of lasting longer than one (which lasted exactly 6 hours in my house).

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached white flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

fresh squeezed juice from 1/2 lemon, strained

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar for topping cake

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2 " loaf pan with parchment, butter parchment and any pan that is exposed. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Set aside. Place 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a heat-proof bowl - preferably the bowl of a stand mixer - combine eggs, sugar and zest, and place bowl over pot of simmering water, whisking until egg mixture is warm to the touch - this doesn't take very long. Remove bowl from pot and attach to mixer fitted with whisk attachment - if you're not using a stand mixer, place bowl on counter and use hand mixer - and beat on medium until mixture thickens and becomes pale, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, cream and lemon juice in a small bowl. When the egg mixture has reached appropriate thickness, drizzle olive oil mixture over it and mix until combined. Turn mixer to low and add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in melted butter. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth batter and sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar. Bake until top of cake is golden, and tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in pan, then remove to rack to cool completely before cutting.

SMS: Lemon Walnut Buttermilk Pound Cake

This week's SMS selection is one that I was quite excited about. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I love any excuse to make a quick bread!

I was slightly disappointed in this one, however.

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as fantastic as I wanted it to be. The main problem was that it wasn't lemon-y enough, even though I used a considerably more lemon juice and zest than the recipe called for. Other changes I made were to use palm sugar in place of cane sugar and buttermilk instead of sour cream.

I will say that it was unbelievably moist, which was fantastic, and it had that wonderful caramelized crust around the edges that is always a delicious foil to the soft center of a pound cake or quick bread.

I'm not likely to make this one again, though it was tasty (and disappeared rather quickly). I just think there are probably better lemon pound cakes out there. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks, because I'm planning on making this one sometime soon.

Thanks to Raeann of Basically, Baby Boots for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Maple Sweet Potato Bread

Oh my, I have been so sleep deprived lately. I've been trying to post something for a couple of days, but I've had a very difficult time writing anything remotely coherent, or taking any remotely appealing photos. I look forward to that day (probably still several years off) where I will wake up feeling rested and calm instead of exhausted and on edge. Seriously, the only thing (sort of) maintaining my sanity is baking. Sort of is better than not at all, though, isn't it?

So, what I have for you today is a fantastic quick bread. It is inspired by Joy the Baker, but I made several changes to the recipe she posted.

Quick breads are probably my favorite thing to bake, next to cookies. They are something I need to remember to keep around, because my kids love them and they are perfect for breakfast, snacks, you name it. Plus, there are just so many possibilities!

I've been wanting to try a sweet potato version of cake or quick bread for a long time, and I'm so glad I finally had my chance this morning! This is now one of my favorite quick breads, and I will certainly be making it again.

This sweet potato bread is incredibly moist, and perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. It has a wonderful crunchy crust and a tight, soft crumb. It is probably no surprise that it is very similar to carrot cake, though not as sweet.

Both of my boys went crazy for it, which means it will definitely be making future appearances in my house.

Maple Sweet Potato Bread

adapted from Bon Appetit, November 1992, via Joy the Baker

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup palm sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated sweet potato - I like Bauregards, they're sweet, flavorful, and have a deep orange color

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and palm sugar. Mix in maple syrup. It's okay if the batter looks a little curdled at this point, it will smooth out. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds with each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in grated sweet potato. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. If the loaf looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over it. I did this at just over an hour though I probably could have done it a little sooner. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack before slicing.

Dried Fruit & Nut Cake

This is the fruitcake that will redeem the name of fruitcake. It is a beautiful mess of dried fruit and nuts held together by some flour and eggs. The small amount of batter forms a delicious sugary coating across the surface of the cake that is simply addictive. This fruitcake is so good. Now those aren't words you hear every day, are they? Read on, my friends, read on.

The recipe comes from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. I love this book. I have never made anything from it that wasn't fantastic. If you don't have it, it isn't too late to put it on your Christmas wish list! This was one of the first recipes that really jumped out at me when I got the book, though I didn't have a chance to make it until recently. A shame, because I have seriously been missing out!

If you've been wanting a wonderful, flavorful, complex, dynamic, creative, delicious fruitcake recipe, look no further. Here it is.

This recipe is very versatile, in that you can use any combination of dried fruit, plus it is perfect for so many occasions. Certainly great for the holidays, but equally as wonderful as a breakfast treat. Especially if baked in bar form, which I'm planning on trying sometime soon.

It does look a little lop-sided, I know, but don't hold that against it! I didn't do the greatest job of leveling out the batter, but it is so craggy it is rather difficult to do...

I used a combination of dates, apricots, figs and cherries. Next time, the only change I would make fruit-wise would be to use a slightly higher proportion of cherries, because they added a delightful tang to the cake. Everything else was great - the crunch of the fig seeds, the chewy gooeyness of the dates, the soft sweetness of the apricots. Really, this is so good.

The recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar, which isn't a whole lot under other recipe circumstances, but this has so much dried fruit in it, which is naturally so sweet, I think the sugar could be reduced considerably. Don't cut it out entirely, though, or you won't get that yummy coating.

I used part whole wheat, simply because I ran out of unbleached, but there is so little flour in this, I think you could use just about any kind. I think buckwheat would be fantastic, or kamut, or all whole wheat. I think this cake could very easily be made gluten-free as well.

In addition to being unbelievably, incredibly delicious, this recipe is also ridiculously easy. I made it for brunch last weekend, and threw it together in a matter of minutes after our guests had arrived. Easy, delicious, what more could you ask for? And a fruitcake at that!

Dried Fruit and Nut Cake

adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup palm sugar (though next time I will use more like 1/3 - 1/2 cup)

1 cup dried fruit (I used un-sulphured apricots, cherries and figs) chopped into medium-sized pieces.

2 cups medjool dates, quartered

3 cups walnut halves

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 300. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan with parchment. Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and palm sugar in large bowl. Add dried fruit and nuts and toss with your hands. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract. Pour into large bowl, toss until all of the fruit and nuts appear well-coated. It will not look like there is enough batter to form a cake, but trust me, there is. Pour into prepared loaf pan, and smooth as well as you can. Bake for about 1 hour 15 - 1 hour 20 minutes. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over it. After removing from oven, let the cake sit in the load pan for about 5 minutes, then, using the edges of the parchment, lift the loaf out and cool on rack for 45 minutes before cutting into it.

Chocolate Cranberry Bread with Chocolate Chunks

I've done the fairly healthy cranberry bread. Twice. Now it's time for something a little more adventurous. A little more decadent.

One of my first blog posts was for Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Bread from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum. I looked for a different recipe to use this time around - not because I didn't love Rose's, but for the sake of comparison - but couldn't seem to find anything else...

You can get away with eating this bread for breakfast - as I did this morning - but it also makes a lovely, somewhat rustic dessert. You could top it with a chocolate sauce, a coulis, whipped cream or ice cream. If you don't have fresh cranberries, dried would work, as would other fruits; pears, raspberries, blackberries... it is infinitely adaptable. What about a swirl of dulce de leche in place of the fruit? Or peanut butter? Oh my, I'm getting a little carried away! But I can't help it. This bread is so good that you'll want to try every combination imaginable so you have an excuse to make it again.

Chocolate Cranberry Bread with Chocolate Chunks

adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder + more for dusting

3 tablespoons boiling water

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups (4.5 oz) cake flour or 4.5 oz unbleached white flour

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (4.5 oz)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

x13 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped into small, not fine, pieces

1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. Make a paste of cocoa powder and boiling water. When it is cool, add vanilla and eggs, and whisk until smooth. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, stir to combine. Add butter and 1/2 of chocolate mixture to dry ingredients. Mix on low until all dry ingredients are moistened, then turn up to medium speed and mix for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add 1/2 of remaining chocolate mixture, beat for 20 seconds. Repeat with second 1/2. Scrape down sides of bowl. Stir in chopped chocolate and cranberries. Pour into prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for about an hour, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely before slicing. Dust with cocoa powder, slice and serve!

SMS: Pear Cranberry Muffins with Ginger-Molasses Crumble

So, I know that I just posted a cranberry bread yesterday, but here is another one! I'm quite happy to be baking it, too, because I have about 8 pounds of cranberries that need to be used! You'll be seeing many cranberry recipes in the coming days and weeks.

While I loved the cranberry bread I posted yesterday, my son and husband weren't crazy for it. Unlike me, they don't love overly sour things. Or at least they don't love cranberries - my son will eat pickles by the jar, and frequently requests sauerkraut juice to drink. So, since the cranberries weren't a huge hit, I used half of the batter to bake pear muffins and the other half to make a loaf of pear-cranberry bread.

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book has a basic sweet muffin recipe that we have used once before, when we made Fresh Peach Muffins back in August. Or in my case, Raspberry-Peach muffins. The main complaint from most people about those muffins was that they were very dense. I didn't find mine terribly dense, but they were on the dry side. So this time around, I made a few changes to try to avoid either problem.

I used 1/4 cup less flour than the recipe calls for, and I used part whole wheat - 1 cup to be exact. I also used all milk instead of part milk and part cream, and used an extra 1/4 cup for a total of 1 cup. I used about twice as much diced pear as the recipe calls for, about 1 1/2 cups, and used about 1/2 cup cranberries for the half of the batter I put them in, doubling the cranberries called for. I had some molasses cookie dough in the fridge, so I baked that off to use in the crumble, and added extra ginger to the mixture. So, I didn't really follow the recipe much at all, did I? Oh, and I also used palm sugar in place of the granulated and brown sugars in the recipe.

All of my changes worked beautifully, because my muffins and bread were incredibly fluffy and moist. I'll definitely stick to my version the next time I want a sweet muffin.

Of the two versions I made, I preferred the muffins (which did not contain cranberries). I thought the bread was really tasty, too, but the cranberries really overpowered the subtle pear flavor. In the muffins, the pear really popped. I could take or leave the crumble. Actually, I'll probably leave it, because it made an enormous mess that I will probably be cleaning up for days...

Both cranberry breads were good but I prefer the one I posted yesterday. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the crumble actually detracted from it for me. It was yummy on its own, but paired with the bread, it just didn't work. Also, the Sweet Melissa recipe includes nutmeg, which normally I love in just about everything, but I'm not sure it really did anything for this bread. The Everyday Food version has no spices, which I was skeptical about at first, but I loved the result. So that will remain my go-to cranberry bread!

This week's recipe was chosen by Jennifer of Maple N' Cornbread, where you can find the recipe.

Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread

As a child, I hated chocolate. Something I simply cannot understand now, but back in the day all I wanted was sour treats. Though my love has shifted entirely to any dark, rich, luscious cacao confection, I still really enjoy things like this cranberry bread.

This is a bread that I discovered (as I do so many things) through Tracey. She sent a loaf of it to Kayte in her Secret Baker box. I'll be posting a round-up of all of everything the Secret Bakers baked next week, when I've received photographs from everyone.

I got a bunch of cranberries yesterday, and I was looking for a treat to make with them. As soon as I saw this bread, I knew what it would be.

This bread is wonderful. Moist, earthy, tart, dense. It doesn't need anything, though I have it on good authority that it is fantastic toasted with butter and honey.

I kind of wish that I would find more recipes that I don't love so that I wouldn't have to figure out when I could bake them again! Thankfully the holidays are coming up, so I'll have the chance to bake bake bake!!! I assure you, this bread will be on the agenda.

I made a few changes to the recipe, here is my version:

Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread

adapted from Everyday Food

4 tablespoons melted butter, plus butter for the pan

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup palm sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

7.5 oz cranberries

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flours, palm sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk and egg. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, whisk to combine. Fold in the cranberries. Spoon into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for about an hour, or until loaf is golden brown and tester placed in the center comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

My son loves muffins. His nickname for most of his life has been Muffin. So, I try to make muffins for him as often as I can. When I saw these on Tracey's blog, I got to work right away. I had wanted a hearty breakfast treat with apples in it, and these were perfect.

The original recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour website. I made a few changes, the most significant being an egg substitute, as I was all out.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons arrowroot

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup palm sugar

1 cup buttermilk

2 large apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 450. Grease and flour 12 muffin tin. Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, arrowroot, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and 3/4 cup of palm sugar, beating for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the buttermilk in a stream. Don't worry if the mixture looks curdled, it will be fine once the dry ingredients are in. Stir in dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in apple pieces. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 450, then turn oven down to 400 and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to wire rack.

I made 6 muffins and 2 mini loaves. They baked in the same amount of time

We loved these. They are a wonderful Fall breakfast treat. Fluffy, just barely sweet, full of apples, and they have a light crunch on top from the sugar that is sprinkled on before baking. I wasn't sure how the palm sugar would do as a topping, but it worked great.

This is definitely one I'll be making again.

BBA Challenge: Cornbread

Being from the south, I have eaten my fair share of cornbread. I can say without a doubt that I do not like it sweet. Now don't get me wrong, I'll certainly slather a warm piece with butter and honey, but it just isn't right to put sugar in the batter. So when I saw that there was not one, not two, but three different sweeteners in this recipe, I knew changes would have to be made.

I eliminated the brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey - yeesh! - and upped the salt a bit. The recipe also calls for bacon. I'm a lifelong vegetarian, so needless to say I didn't use that either. I wanted a little punch to the cornbread, so I added sage, and browned my butter. The recipe calls for buttermilk, but I didn't have any so I substituted yogurt as I often do.

When I got a bite with sage, it was delicious, though I should have added more. The flavor of the brown butter didn't come through, though there is only 2 tablespoons of butter in the recipe so i didn't have terribly high hopes for it.

Two unusual elements of this recipe are that it starts with an overnight soaker of cornmeal and buttermilk, and it contains fresh corn kernels. These were two of my favorite aspects of the bread. The soak made the bread incredibly moist and creamy, and I loved the flavor and crunch of biting into a sweet juicy kernel of corn.

When it comes down to it, though, I probably won't be repeating this one. The extra work that goes into this cornbread just isn't justified by the final product. It isn't bad, it's actually quite tasty. Just not any tastier than my usual recipe. In addition, it takes a long time to make - not necessarily active time, but due to the soaker it has to be planned for in advance - and it uses an inordinate number of bowls. My go-to recipe can be whipped up in about 5 minutes in one bowl.

The recipe for this bread can be found in the wonderful book The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Be sure to enter my GIVEAWAY for a wonderful 8x8 square baking dish. Here's how.

SMS: Fresh Raspberry-Peach Muffins

This week for Sweet Melissa Sundays, JoVonn of The Givens Chronicles chose Fresh Peach Muffins for all of us to make. I actually managed to buy peaches in advance so that they would have a chance to ripen, so I thought I was really ahead of the game this week.

Of the 5 peaches I bought, 4 of them molded overnight on my countertop. I have had terrible luck with peaches this summer - with stone fruits in general, actually. When it came time to make the muffins, I had about 3/4 cup of diced peaches. Luckily had some raspberries in the fridge, so I tossed those in. All in all, I probably had about 1 1/3 cups of fruit.

I used palm sugar in these, as has become my habit - it works perfectly in place of cane sugar and has a glycemic index of only 35.

The batter was very thick. The instructions said that depending on how juicy your fruit was, you may not need all of the milk - 1/2 cup. Since I had extra fruit and very juicy raspberries, I thought I may only need half of the milk, but such was not the case. In it all went.

Other SMSers had problems with their muffins being dense and heavy. Mine were slightly dense, though not unpleasantly so. They were a bit dry, however. I think they could be improved on by using peach puree in place of the milk. I did wish for more peach flavor, though when I got a bite with peach in it, it was so delicious. Of course, having the appropriate amount of peaches would have solved this problem... Using a puree would also enhance the peach flavor.

Thanks to JoVonn for picking this recipe. You can find it here on her blog, or buy the book The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. Take a look here to see what the other SMSers baked up this week.

SMS: Mom's Banana Apple Bread

Yet another recipe that I was none too excited about at first glance, but happy to have made in the end. I love banana bread, but we just made banana cake for TWD a couple of weeks ago, and last week's TWD was an apple recipe. Banana apple bread seemed a little repetitive to me. However, all of the SMS bakers who made this earlier than this morning, ahem, raved about it so much I had to give it a shot.

When I started making it, I realized that this is no regular banana bread: the first step is to saute cubed, peeled apples - I used pink lady instead of granny smith - in butter, sugar - palm sugar in my case, with a little vanilla extract stirred in at the end. Well, if those apples were any indication of the final result, I knew I was in for a treat. They were a dessert unto themselves.

Other than the apples, the only non-traditional ingredient was the addition of orange juice. I was hoping to taste it in the bread when it was baked, but I couldn't. There was only 1/4 cup, though.

The bread smelled great as it was baking, though it took a bit longer to bake than the recipe stated - mine was in the oven for an hour and 8 minutes.

I used palm sugar in the bread itself as well as the topping, and it gave my bread a dark golden color that I loved.

My husband said this was the best banana bread he has ever had, though I don't agree. I thought it was delicious, but couldn't really taste the banana - which is what he liked about it. To me it was more of an apple spice bread. I think it would be delicious to replace the banana with pumpkin and add some ginger. I'll certainly do this later in the fall.

This bread is incredibly moist, and has a wonderful crust that was slightly crispy. Though it won't become my go-to recipe, I gobbled up two thick slices minutes after it came out of the oven. I'm just a bit of a banana bread purist, I suppose...

Thanks to Joy of Hot Oven, Warm Heart for choosing this recipe. Visit the SMS blogroll to see what all of the other bakers came up with.

Fresh Mango Bread

I was so excited about this recipe when I saw that it was a pick for Tuesdays with Dorie this month. I couldn't wait to make it! I love love love mango, and quick-breads are definitely a favorite of mine to make. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to find any ripe mangos, but I was able to find some small, perfectly ripe, not at all stringy, sweet wonderful ones. I used three and yielded about 1 3/4 cups. I would have liked that extra 1/4 cup, but the bread was delicious nonetheless. 

I decided to make the bread sugar-free, so I made a few substitutions. I used 1 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugars, I upped the flour to 3 cups (from 2 1/2) and I used 1/2 cup of oil instead of 3/4 cup. I did tent my bread about half way through, as it was browning quite a bit. Also, I left out the raisins, and I would do that again, though I think some walnuts will make it into my next batch. Perhaps some coconut as well. It was a difficult hour and a half of waiting as the bread baked, as I was anxious to taste it, though it was worth every minute. It is delicious. I will definitely be making this again, though I will make a couple of changes: I really love citrus zest, and couldn't taste it at all in this bread - even though the recipe called for the zest of 1/2 a lime and I used 1 whole lime; also, I will use fresh grated ginger next time, because it wasn't gingery enough for me. I think I'll also try to make an eggless version.  I'm not a huge egg fan - I'll only eat them in things - and I've had a lot of success with eggless quick-breads.

I highly recommend this bread. 

Thanks so much to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for choosing this fantastic recipe. 

Banana Bread

I love banana bread, but surprisingly this is the first time I've ever made it! This is a very straightforward recipe, and it comes together quite easily. It isn't very sweet, which I like, though if you like your banana bread on the sweeter side you may want to add a little extra sugar (or maple syrup, as I used). I used a recipe from Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Hospodar as a reference, but I made so many changes, I'm not including the original recipe. 

Banana Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed ripe banana

1 /3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl, or bowl of stand mixer. Mix buttermilk, water, olive oil, banana and maple syrup. Pour over dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 minutes, then unmold and finish cooling. 

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Strawberry Shortcakes

This week's recipe for SMS was chosen by Wendy of the fabulous blog Pinkstripes, and boy did she pick a winner!!! 

I was really excited to make these, and they didn't disappoint. They are basically biscuits filled and topped with strawberries and whipped cream, but oh my are they delicious. The shortcake is lightly sweet and contains lemon zest to make them extra special - I thought that was one of the things that really made this recipe. 

All of the components are really simple to put together, and fast as well - the whole prep took about 15 minutes. These will be something I'll be making again and again - especially as strawberries come into season in the coming weeks! 

I substituted agave syrup for sugar in all elements of the recipe so that my sugar-free 2 1/2 year old could eat them, and they turned out just beautifully. Thanks for the great pick Wendy! Please visit Wendy's blog for the recipe. If you'd like to see the other SMS baker's creations, look here.

Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Bread

To make up for my absence over the past week - we took a trip to NYC to see Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and others perform at Radio City Music Hall - I give you chocolate bread. Oh yes, chocolate bread. I am insane for chocolate, and any excuse I can find to eat it with more frequency, I'll take! The first time I ever had chocolate bread was in NYC at a restaurant called Balthazar. When I lived in NY after college, my friends and I used to go to there for breakfast. Balthazar is a rather pricey joint, and the only thing we could afford on the menu was a basket of assorted breads, but it was enough. The basket contained fruit focaccia - something I'm hoping to attempt in the coming weeks, brioche, a sticky bun, and chocolate bread. While in NY this past weekend I took my husband there, and was inspired to make some of the heavenly food when I got home. I believe Balthazar's is a yeasted bread, but I did a quick bread version. It is delicious, and I will be making it often. Very often. Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip (though I used chunks) Bread 

adapted from the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbum

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons boiling water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour *or* 1 1/4 cups minus 2 1/2 tablespoons sifted unbleached white flour plus 1 1/8 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

13 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Butter loaf pan, line bottom of pan with parchment, butter parchment, and lightly flour entire pan. Whisk cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Let cool. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Set aside. In mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cornstarch if not using cake flour. Mix until combined on low speed. Add 1/2 chocolate mixture and all of the butter. Mix until dry ingredients are moist, then turn up to medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add 1/2 of remaining chocolate mixture, beat 20 seconds. Repeat with last of the chocolate. Scrape down sides of bowl. Fold in chunks of chocolate. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and place on middle rack of oven. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack before slicing. Yummy...

Zucchini Muffins

I am a huge fan of quick breads. I love their versatility and the speed with which they can be made. These zucchini muffins are one of my favorites. My 2 1/2 year old son has never had sugar, so I like to make these for him as a treat. He loves them. I have made them many many times with perfect results, using maple syrup as the sweetener. This time I used molasses, and I was not quite as happy with the results - they took a lot longer to bake, and browned too quickly. Next time, I'll use a foil tent to slow the browning down... Nevertheless, they're very tasty muffins.

Zucchini Muffins     adapted from Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Hospodar

2 cups grated drained zucchini

1/4 cup melted butter

1 cup maple syrup or molasses

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup raisins or chopped dates

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and lightly flour muffin pan. Mix together zucchini, butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture along with buttermilk and mix until flour mixture is incorporated. Stir in raisins/dates and nuts. Spoon batter into muffin pan, leaving ample room for muffins to rise. Bake until lightly browned and tester comes out clean. 

I use this cookbook all the time, and everything I've ever made from it has been fabulous. I highly recommend it! 

Biscuits with Blueberry Compote

I'm very excited to be posting my first item on my new food blog!

These are technically biscuits, though scones would work well in this recipe too. Truth be told, I was intending to make scones, but was a little spaced out and ended up forgetting to sweeten my dough.... So I whipped up the blueberry compote to add a little pizazz to the dish. Boy, did it do the trick! It was so delicious and so easy. If only I could get such great results every time I'm forgetful!

Biscuits adapted from Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Hospodar

3 cups unbleached white flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a baking sheet.

Mix dry ingredients together. Add butter, and work in with a pastry cutter until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add buttermilk and water. Mix until all of the flour mixture has been incorporated and dough is formed. 

Roll out on floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter - or - separate into 2 balls, flatten flatten by hand to about 3/4 inch thick and cut into 6ths with sharp knife. Place biscuits on prepared sheet. Glaze with buttermilk. 

Bake until top is golden brown - 15-20 min. 

Makes 12-18 biscuits

Blueberry Compote

I just kind of threw this together, so measurements are approximate. 

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter

1/8 - 1/4 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on med low heat for about 20 min or until blueberries break down and mixture thickens.

Serve warm over biscuits. 

Enjoy!