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.

BBA Challenge: Cinnamon Rolls

Though this was the first time I ever made cinnamon rolls, it certainly won't be the last. These were amazing. Without a doubt the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had.

They were relatively easy to make, I didn't encounter any problems. Though they do take a few hours (of agonizing anticipation).

I used palm sugar in place of cane sugar in the dough and with the cinnamon so that my son - who has never had cane sugar - could eat them. It was my first time baking with palm sugar, so I wasn't sure what it would do, but they couldn't have turned out better. I made the glaze as written, using vanilla extract for flavoring, and left it off of the ones my son ate. Everyone loved them.

My mom's birthday is this weekend. I'm having a brunch for her at my house, and I'm thinking that I might just have to give the sticky bun version of these a whirl for the occasion...

If you'd like the recipe for these amazing cinnamon rolls, you can find it in The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Finally... TWD: Creamiest Lime Cream (Meringue) Pie

You may notice that there is something missing from my pie. I'll give you a hint, it's one of the title elements. Did the parentheses give it away?

Oh, meringue... You were supposed to be on my pie. I had visions of you in huge, smooth, golden peaks. Alas, it was not meant to be...

The problems started when I was making my meringue while trying to feed/watch a 10 month old and a 2 3/4 year old at 8:00 this morning while making an omelette. Needless to say, things did not go well. I over-whipped my meringue, and it just wouldn't make huge, smooth peaks. I tried anyway, and hoped that a minute under the broiler would magically transform it into something beautiful, golden. Hmmm... As soon as the first pie went into the broiler (I made 2/3 of a recipe in 2 mini pie dishes) I was beckoned by my older son into the living room - did I mention he was sick with a cold? No sooner did I attend to him than I smelled something burning. Pie number 1 had black meringue, looking no better coming out of the broiler than it did going in. The second one didn't get quite as singed, though it still wasn't pretty. I think it would have been slightly improved by using a torch, but I don't have one, so I opted for removing the meringue altogether and smoothing the top of the cream and digging in.

I went with a graham cracker crust made from homemade graham crackers. Wow. Let me say it again. Wow. A little too much trouble to do on a regular occasion, but I still had some dough from a couple of weeks ago.

Oh and the pie? Double wow. Twice. I love it. Smooth, creamy, tart, just sweet enough. Citrus dessert perfection.

Some of the other bakers had trouble getting their cream to temp in a reasonable amount of time, but mine went pretty quick - about 10 minutes.

I wish the ginger flavor was a little more pronounced, so if I make it again, I'll use more. I'm a ginger fiend. Also, I used half the butter called for - a suggestion made by other TWDers. It was a lot of fun to make, and fairly easy, so I'm sure I'll be making it again. One day. Perhaps I won't be making an omelette, keeping my baby from bonking his head, taking care of a sick toddler, etc.. and my meringue will not be over-whipped, and I'll buy a torch and finally achieve my golden peaks.

Linda of Tender Crumb chose this fabulous pie. See hers - meringue included - and get the recipe on her blog.

TWD...

In neglecting to fully read this week's recipe - and in waiting until the last minute to make it - my lime-ginger cream is currently chilling in the fridge... I'll have my post up tomorrow...

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.

Baked Peanut Butter Cookies

Baked the cookbook, that is...

I made these about a month ago for a party at my store, though I never got a chance to take a photo of them. When I was deciding to put in a care package for my wonderful friend Karen - who has had many events occur in the past couple of months in need of celebrating - I knew these had to be a part of it.

I said it once, and I'll say it again: these are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had. I can't remember if I did anything differently the two times I made them, but they were even better the second time. They are so peanut buttery, but they stay soft and chewy. They are peppered with milk chocolate chunks which are a perfect compliment to the peanut butter. They are simply delicious.

So, here they are. Enjoy.

You can find the recipe for these, and so many other yummy treats in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I have found cookie heaven.

Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs, and I frequently kill time with the "surprise me" feature, whereby a random recipe from Deb's archives pops up, most of which I email to myself. This is one such recipe.

As soon as I saw these cookies, I knew they must be made sooner than later. Oh ho ho, was I right... Deb calls these "scandalously good", and I have to agree. It's a good thing that I sent most of them to my good friend Karen, because they are dangerous to have around.

Karen just finished law school, took the bar and got engaged, so I put together a little baked goods care package for her - more recipes throughout the week...

These have definitely made it into my top 5 cookies of all time. They are buttery, chewy from the oats, a little crunchy around the edges, and every bite or so you get a sweet creamy chunk of white chocolate - I used Green & Black's; it has flecks of vanilla bean in it and it is unbelievably delicious. Then to top it all off, they are lightly sprinkled with coarse sea salt - such as fleur de sel. They are perfect.

Make them. You won't be sorry. Unless you have no one to mail them to and end up eating them all yourself...

The recipe is here, on Deb's site.