pumpkin-banana bread (healthier)

This is good – a great seasonal bread and another alternative when you have some browning bananas hanging out on your counter.  When I read this recipe I thought I finally found something Greg would happily eat in the morning before school.  I made several different loaves – some with semisweet chocolate, some with milk, and some with white and pecans.  I thought white would be right up Greg’s alley and well, it was – except that he said, “the bread is too sweet and you know I don’t like nuts and oh, that ginger is strong.”  Rob, Sylvie, Andy and I also thought too sweet – esp the ones with milk and white chocolate but we really liked everything else.  And we all mangaged to eat it.  So back to the recipe I went – again, primarily to feed my lean son and added only half of the brown sugar and none of the white sugar and I skipped some of the spices that seemed to offend his ridiculously delicate senses.  I took out the pecans and well, he liked it!   A lot.  But just “not for breakfast!”  Oye.  Oh well… I liked it too – it is a great snacking cake and I would def add nuts if your family likes them.  I like the sweetness of milk and white (high quality!!) chips – but I do have that serious sweet tooth.  Rob of course like the semi sweet and would have preferred bittersweet. Play around with it – I’m thinking cranberries or dried cherries too.

Enjoy –

pumpkin-banana bread (original recipe from Sara-Jane bedwell  and here is the link.

2 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 1 cup all purpose, one cup whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt plus a pinch (kosher if you have)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (feel free to add some ginger and a little bit of nutmeg)
chocolate chips to your taste
pecans too if desired
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray or butter an 8 1/2 X 4 1/2-inch loaf pan (or 4 mini loaf pans, or mini/reg muffin tins).
Mix together the mashed banana, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.  Or beat with an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (beat up the bananas first).
Whisk together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Add flour mixture to banana and pumpkin mixture and beat until just moist. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake until done (toothpick comes out just clean)
My mini muffins took 18 minutes and my mini loaves took 33.  If using just one loaf pan I imagine you should check after 45 m – but will likely take close to an hour.  Just keep checking.
Hope you like!

lemon poppy angel food cake

Finally!  A blog-worthy treat!  It has been one dry, sweetless period – and not for lack of effort.  Decided to go back to Lauri Chattman and her Cake Keeper Cakes for a shot at success.  I picked this angel food because I knew our friend Mike would like something lemony and that Jodi would appreciate something on the lighter side.  Almost too light in color (I think I underbaked), very white with white glaze – I can’t say that I was super excited to try it.  But…it was good!  Really good.  Light, fluffy, light in lemon flavor – and not too sweet – it was a hit.  It has a fun consistency – and so light Rob said he could easily eat the whole cake.  We devoured our half of the cake (I left half at home thank goodness).  This cake is not rich, or gooey but that can be a good thing!  Next time I’d add more lemon zest (I upped it in the recipe) – for an even sharper lemon flavor.  Oh, the glaze is good – but totally not necessary – esp if you are really trying to keep things light.  A sprinkling of 10x might be enough.

Oh, pull out your whites and let them sit to room temp.  Much better.

lemon poppy angel food cake (from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauri Chattman):

1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar (divided)
12 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract (I just squeezed in lemon juice – prob a tablespoon, but if you have the lemon extract, go for it)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

glaze –

6 ounces softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
pinch salt

skim milk or milk — add if too thick

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Have an angel food pan with a removable bottom ready.  Do not grease, or flour, or prep in any way.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, 3/4’s cup of the sugar.  Set aside.

Place the egg whites in the mixer and on medium speed – mix with whisk attachment until a bit frothy.  Then add the salt and the cream of tartar.

Continue to beat on medium speed until the egg whites begin to turn white.  With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and mix until the whites are shiny and hold soft floppy peaks (I love her way of describing this!)  This will take a few minutes.

With a spatuala, gently fold in the zest, poppy seeds and lemon and vanilla extracts.

Slowly and gently fold the dry ingredients into the whites.  I sprinkled them in – or you can sift the dry in – in 3 batches or so.

Pour batter into tube pan and smooth the top.

Bake until the cake is golden brown on the and springs back when you touch it.  About 50 minutes or so.

If your pan has feet, remove from oven and invert on a heat proof surface.  Don’t worry, the cake will not fall out!  If your pan doesn’t have feet, invert 4 heatproof drinking glasses on the counter and rest the inverted pan on top of the glasses.

Allow air to circulate around the cake while it cools.  Allow it to cool at least one hour – or up to 6 hours.

To remove cake, run a sharp knife aorund the edges being careful to leave the golden crust intact (you see, mine was white and a little undercooked).  Invert pan and then run a knife under the removable bottom of the pan.  Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let stand 30 min or so to set

For the glaze – combine the ingredients (save for the milk) in a food processor and then thin with milk if needed.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temp for up to 3 days.

Enjoy-

mixed berry pavlova

Lisi's Kitchen

This was so good that I completely forgot to take a photo!  But not to worry, photos on the Smitten Kitchen site for you to enjoy.  I made this a while ago – and kept thinking I would make again to photograph and share – but the summer is almost over and I don’t want you to miss out.  Use the last of the berry season to make this delicious treat.  I mean it – the meringue so tasty, soft and fluffy – the whipped cream and the fresh cold berries.  So so so good!  I followed the recipe (well, I doubled it and made two!)

Try to squeeze it in and enjoy

smitten kitchen pavlova

pumpkin waffles

After about two years of eating the same healthy pancakes, Andy finally tired of them.  Eager to find him a new healthy breakfast, I perused many books and eventually found these scrumptious waffles.  Filled with good things like flax-seed, pumpkin, eggs, milk, and ground walnuts (that you don’t even taste) – these keep Andy running and running and running.  What’s nice about these is they have really good flavor – the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg make it feel like a holiday treat – and the walnut and eggs add some good protein.  Andy is not a nut lover so I put the nuts in a processor and finely ground them – making them undetectable.  Of course if you have nut allergies – just leave them out.  The waffles are tender and tasty and with the addition of chocolate chips (always a must here) you don’t need any syrup on them – however a little drizzle of pure maple syrup happens to be delicious.

pumpkin waffles (slightly adapted from No Whine With Dinner by Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex):

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup walnuts (finely chopped – or like me in the food processor to almost a flour)
2 tablespoons flax seed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or slightly less)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (use 1/4 if using reg table salt)
3/4 cup low fat milk (I used 1 percent)
3/4 cup canned 100 percent pure pumpkin
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract chocolate chips (optional)
pure maple syrup (optional)
powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the waffle iron.  Chop or grind the nuts.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, whole wheat flour, ground nuts, flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, brown sugar and vanilla extract.

Pour the dry into the wet and whisk gently until combined. Likely oil or coat the waffle iron and cook as your waffle iron directs.  As mentioned, we add a small handful of chocolate chips. Serve with added walnuts on top – banana and a dash of syrup or 10x if you like! Enjoy –

apple cinnamon muffins (very healthy – made with almond meal)

Andy came into the kitchen and said omgoodness what is that smell?  It smells sooo good!  I told him I was making muffins but didn’t mention the healthy part of the description.  Hot out of the oven Andy asked if he could have one – I said sure and his eyes lit up with joy and disbelief because he usually does not get to eat a muffin close to dinner.  He mmmmed and mmmmed and declared these AMAZING!  I said you know these muffins are healthy and he smiled and said, “good, I can have them for breakfast!”  I will say that he said (on his second one) that the consistency was a little soft and that they were best when hot and fresh out of the oven.  And yes, all that is true – but my thought is that if you have a kid like him – who loves muffins and loaf breads, it is awesome to have a treat that is full of protein and apples and cinnamon!  Unfortunately, Sylvie didn’t love them as much.  The consistency bothered her a bit more and Greg too – thought they were ok but not memorable.  So – well – after reading all that you can decide whether you think your family (or a member of your family) might enjoy.  Oh and btw, I did!

I kept the muffins unwrapped and out so that they wouldn’t get even softer.  You could slice and toast the next day to recreate the warm flavor.

apple cinnamon muffins (from elana amsterdam’s book The Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook):

2 cups blanched almond flour (almond meal)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin cups with paper liners.  Peel, core and dice apples.

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, salt, baking soda, arrowroot powder and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, agave, egg, and vanilla extract.

Next, stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix fairly well  then fold in the apples.

Bake for 30-35 m – until the muffins are golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

These are best warm outta the oven or soon after.  Remember though – they are soft,  so you might need a spoon when hot!

Enjoy-

cinnamon almond snack cake (made from ground almonds – no flour) healthy!

Sylvie LOVED this cake.  Rob and I did too.  The cinnamon topping is soo very full of flavor and the cake is dense, moist and satisfying.  Really!  Again from my almond flour cookbook that I’m having so much sweet success with.  About a month ago I was convinced that Greg had a gluten sensitivity or Celiac so I quickly ran out and got a few gluten free cookbooks – this being one of them.  I like this cookbook because the ingredients are familiar and healthy.  Greg’s been tested and now I’m 95 percent sure that he doesn’t have it – but he does need to gain weight – and best in a somewhat healthy way.  So I figured that baked goods made with almond flour would be somewhat caloric – but healthy and full of protein.  And really, a good snack for all of us.  Unfortunately, Greg (and Andy) didn’t love it – but i think it was just the slivered almonds on the top.

Try it – I don’t think you will be disappointed.  Oh, I added the chocolate chips to the recipe (had to!) although the recipe called for nuts and currents.  I’ll include both options in the recipe.  Enjoy!

You will need agave nectar and grapeseed oil which you should be able to now find in the supermarket.  Or buy agave nectar online for better price.

cinnamon almond snack cake (slightly adapted from The Gluten-Free Almond flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam which was inspired by lucyskitchenshop.com):

cake–
2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup walnuts (or not — here I added chocolate chips!)
1/2 cup dried currents or raisins (I didn’t – just used the chocolate chips)
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 large eggs

topping–
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 inch baking pan with grape seed oil and dust with almond flour.

Combine the almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, chocolate chips (or walnuts and currents!) in a large bowl.  Whisk and stir to combine.

In a medium bowl, stir together the grape seed oil, agave nectar and eggs.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until thoroughly combined – and then spread into the prepared pan.

Make the topping by combining the cinnamon, grape seed oil, agave nectar and almonds together…and then sprinkle the topping all over the batter.

Bake for 25-35 minutes — a tooth pick should come out just clean.  Keep checking.  Cool and serve.

pumpkin choc chip muffins (healthier side)

We all just LOVED these muffins!  So did Sylvie’s new camp friend Kate who came by to meet us — oh, and her mom and her sister too!  Verrry successful.  I froze a bunch of these to save for another day, but throughout the day (and next day) Andy continually defrosted them one by one.  Once defrosted he heats for 5 seconds enjoying the gooeyness of the chocolate with the fresh pumpkin flavor.  He especially loves it when I bake things that are on the moderately healthier side because he thinks he can chow.  I try to dissuade him from overeating but he smiles his sweet smile and well, it is a loosing battle.  I know it is not the season for pumpkin loving, but I had a can of puree that won’t make it to the winter and well – these really are good anytime of year.  Enjoy them!

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins:

I found these on The Very Best Baking Recipes and followed the directions to the T. So I’m just going to send you the link to make my life easier. 🙂

pumpkin muffins (click on that and you will be redirected)

Enjoy!

coconut mounds (the best ever) (dairy and gluten free btw)

Loved these!  We all did – even those of us who don’t love coconut (including me, although I think I may have moved over into the like category.)  Judy and Marco really enjoyed – and she is a true coconut aficionado.  Alice Medrich calls these New Classic Coconut Macaroons because she recreated the recipe with unsweetened dried  coconut flakes (not sweetened, shredded and artificially preserved.)  Maybe that is why I like them so.  The cookie consistency is chewy and soft inside, and crispy on the outside and so very flavorful and quite pretty to look at.  (Long run-on, I’m aware.)  I threw some bittersweet chocolate shavings into some and wow — even better!  In others, I added dried cherries, and that too was another nice alternative.  Make these soon and make a lot!  They last 4-5 days in an airtight container.  Enjoy –

coconut mounds (from Chewy, Gooey, Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich):

makes about 22 cookies

4 large egg whites
3 1/2 cups (5.25 oz.) unsweetened dried coconut flakes (also called coconut chips)
3/4 cup (5.25 oz.) sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all the ingredients in a stainless steel bowl.  Set the bowl over a sauce pan filled with an inch of barely simmering water (the bowl should be on top of the sauce pan, it should not fit inside the sauce pan.)

Mix the ingredients with a rubber spatula over the heated water until the mixture becomes more opaque and less translucent.  This should take about 5-7 minutes.  The mixture will get hot – which you want, but you don’t want to cook the egg whites.

Set batter aside for 30 minutes to fully absorb the coconut flavor.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place 2 tablespoons of batter for each cookie onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for about 5 – 7 minutes (rotating pans).  You want the coconut tips to just start to color.  Reduce the oven temp to 325 and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes (again, rotating your pans) until the cookies are a beautiful cream color with golden brown edges.

If the coconut tips are browning too fast, you can reduce the oven temp to 300.

Let cool on pans, and oh, best to enjoy day one as they are gooey and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.  Yum.

gluten free banana cake

Another recipe that is gluten and dairy free…and protein packed, and very tasty!  Rob, Alisa and I enjoyed in the morning as it is a healthy way to start the day.  Eggs, bananas, almond flour…dark chocolate.  All good!  The kids didn’t love this one I think because I used bitter chocolate, but I imagine semi-sweet chips would change that a bit.  Just don’t expect a buttery rich cake.  Obviously.  But it is good, and fits the bill especially if you are sensitive to gluten.  I have to make next time John is over and truly see if it passes the test.  I’ll keep you posted…in the meantime, enjoy!

chocolate chip banana cake (from The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam):

3 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (she suggests 73 percent – but again for kids or for sweeter flavor go semi-sweet)
1 cup (2 to 3) very ripe bananas (mashed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch pan with grape seed oil and dust with almond flour – or use a parchment or foil liner.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl whisk together the grape seed oil, agave nectar, eggs and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently stir to combine.  Fold in the chocolate and mashed bananas and then pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 33-43 minutes – but check often and try not to over bake as usual!

Let the cake cool in the pan then serve.

Enjoy-

pancakes (protein packed and gluten and dairy free!)

Yummy yummy yum!  I’m so happy these came out great the second time I made them.  Andy, Sylvie and Rob fight over these little guys and I love it because they are filled with goodness.  No flour, no dairy, low sugar, and packed with protein these are perfect if you (or your family or guests) suffer from Celiacs Disease or have gluten or lactose sensitivities.  Regardless, they are a hit with us and so healthy that I’m ridiculously happy to make them over and over again.  The first time I made these they had a pretty bad aftertaste and John my gluten free tester commented that they were fine but his mom’s gluten free pancakes from the box were better.  Well, that was tough to hear and a blow to my ego so I tried again this time using fresh almond meal (I think the first one was probably rancid – gross, I know!)  And I used agave nectar as recommended in the recipe and well, they were much much better.  Well, really tasty!  I made these with added cinnamon and tried one with raspberries which were actually the best.  I imagine blueberries would be delicious too.  But as usual, the kids like them with chocolate chips most.

Best to buy agave nectar in bulk from the health food store or online.  Amazon makes it easy.  You can find arrowroot powder at the supermarket but also great to buy in bulk at Penzeys.com or Amazon.  Lastly – you can find grapeseed oil at the supermarket.

Enjoy –

power packed pancakes (from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam):

I double this recipe as it yields only 12 smallish pancakes

2 large eggs
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour (almond meal)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
chocolate chips, blueberries or raspberries to taste and as desired
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (for the pan)

In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, salt, baking soda, arrowroot powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a blender, combine the eggs, agave nectar, vanilla extract and water.  Process on high for about a minute.

Add the dry ingredients to the blender and process again until thoroughly combined.

I like to use two skillets.  Pour a tablespoon of grapeseed oil into each pan and heat at medium low to eventually low.  Ladle 1 heaping tablespoon of  batter onto the skillet (then add a few chips or berries to each if desired) and cook until small bubbles appear.  Then turn over (this can be a little tricky) and gently cook the other side – being careful not to burn.

Repeat with remaining batter and serve 🙂