Category Archives: Breads

Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake

When my mother was in hospital over the summer people often brought her fresh fruit from her garden. The blueberries started to pile up so I brought them home and made a Lemon Poundcake, added some Blueberries, a Lemon Glaze and came up with this delicious Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake.

Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen, unthawed

Lemon Glaze
1/4 cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour; tap out excess flour.

In medium mixing combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one a time, until light and creamy.
Beat in milk, lemon zest and vanilla.

Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture just until smooth.
Fold blueberries into batter.
Turn batter into prepared bundt pan and bake in 350F oven until pick inserted comes out clean, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
Remove from oven and let rest on wire rack, in pan, for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto cake platter and top with Lemon Glaze.

While cake is cooling, prepare Lemon Glaze by combining the two ingredients in a small microwaveable proof bowl, heat for 30 second intervals on HIGH until sugar is dissolved.
With skewer, poke holes all over top of cake; brush glaze evenly oer top.
Cool completely.

 

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Glaze

I love Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.  I don’t make them nearly often enough! The problem with making them is that I then have to eat them all…I love the citrus taste of these along with the subtle CrUnCh from the poppyseeds. Alright, truth be told? It is the Lemon Glaze that keeps me coming back for more!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Glaze
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Glaze

1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Poppyseeds

1/4 cup Butter, softened
1/4 cup Sugar
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Juice of half a Lemon (zest it first!)

2 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Zest of half a Lemon

Glaze
2 cups Icing Sugar
Juice from half a Lemon
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Milk, to desired consistency

Combine milk and poppyseeds in a large liquid measuring cup and let stand for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest; make a well in the centre and set aside.
In mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar; add egg and continue creaming until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla and lemon juice to poppyseed liquid before stirring into the creamed mixture.
Pour wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients and stir only to moisten.
Using a #5 Pampered Chef Scoop, fill each muffin cup 3/4 full.
Bake in 400F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pick inserted comes out clean, rotating pan halfway through baking.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely.

While muffins are cooling, make the Lemon Glaze.

Lemon Glaze
In medium mixing bowl combine icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla; stir.
Add enough milk to your desired consistency…go slow here…easier to add a lil milk than to add more icing sugar!
Spread Glaze over cooling Muffins and let cool completely allowing the Glaze to set before storing in an airtight container.

Yield: 12 Muffins

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Lemon Glaze - oh, so good!

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Canada Day is just not Canada Day around my place if I don’t produce something made with Strawberries! I have been craving Tim Horton’s Coffee Cake lately so I decided to bake up my own coffee cake, using strawberries and let’s see, what else do I have in the cupboards/fridge? Cream cheese, strawberry glaze, slivered almonds….Put it all together…

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

1 pkg Cake Mix (White, Vanilla, French Vanilla, Golden)
1/3 cup Butter
1 Egg

8 ounces Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon Almond extract
1 Egg

1 pkg Strawberries, washed and sliced
4 ounces Strawberry Glaze

2/3 cup Slivered Almonds

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9X13 baking pan with vegetable oil spray.

In mixing bowl, using paddle attachment,  combine cake mix, butter and one egg; mix for a few minutes while slicing strawberries.
Remove bowl from mixer stand and work the dough between your hands, squeezing and gently crumbling creating coarse crumbs.
Press all but 1 1/2 cups (to which you will add slivered almonds) of the crumb mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated 350F oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, cool for about 15 minutes on wire rack.

In the meantime, clean mixing bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla and almond flavouring until no lumps remain.

Top the base cream cheese mixture, spreading evenly then top with sliced strawberries, drizzle glaze over berries and even out.
Add slivered almonds to remaining crumble mixture before sprinkling over strawberry layer.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.
Cut into squares and serve.

Yield 18 squares

 

Bannock – Fry Bread

A recipe for Bannock? Some flour, add some baking powder, a bit of salt, a smidgen of sugar, warm water to make a gooey mess! Have fun with that!

2 cups Flour (sometimes I use half whole wheat flour, half white flour)
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Enough warm water to make a soft dough
1 cup Vegetable Oil, for frying
In medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Using a fork, stir in enough warm water to make a soft dough; start with about a 1/2 cup of water, stir, add a bit of water, stir.
Continue adding water a little at a time until you achieve the right consistency.
Heat about 1 cup of vegetable oil over high heat; drop a bit of dough in the hot oil, if it sizzles and floats to the top of the oil, it is ready to go.
While the oil is heating you can start forming your bannock; you can cook up to four bannock in the pan at one time.
Using a fork, scoop out about 1/4 cup of dough and drop it into a mound of flour.
With lightly floured hands, pick it up and gently toss it between your hands to lightly coat with flour and start shaping.
Place the dough on a very lightly floured surface and gently flatten to about 1/4inch thick.
Carefully place in hot oil, cook until golden.
 Flip and cook for another minute.
Remove from oil to paper towel lined platter.
Continue this procedure with the remaining dough.
When you are first starting to make Bannock, I recommend you have a partner in crime to give you a hand; one person can form the bannock and the other person can cook it. Heaps less stressful!
Enjoy your bannock!
Oh, and there are a gazillion and nine Bannock recipes and methods of cooking bannock…this is just how I was taught to make it.
PS…making Bannock is messy work! But well worth it!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Late last year I came across Cinnamon Roll Pancakes at Recipe girl and immediately fell in love with the idea of morphing cinnamon rolls and pancakes together to create a super special brunch treat! I usually make a triple batch! The leftover ones are just as yummy as the fresh off the griddle ones. I would even go so far as to say they are better because the flavours have had a chance to meld and the brown sugar swirl has hardened as it cooled. Yummers!

Yes, they are a bit of work to prepare but well worth the effort. So brew yourself a cup of coffee, gather your ingredients and do it! Start by preparing the Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture, make the Cream Cheese Frosting and finally the Pancake Batter. Now I suppose you could cheat and use store bought Pancake mix, but why would you want to do that when whipping up Pancake Batter is so easy to do?

Alright, get ready to make Cinnamon Roll Pancakes!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
A Scrumptious Brunch Cinnamon Roll Pancake

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Mixture:
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:
1/4 cup Butter, softened
2 ounces Cream Cheese, slightly softened
3/4 – 1 cup Icing Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Pancake Batter:
3 cups Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 1/2 – 3 cups Milk
3 large Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted Butter

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Mixture:
Melt butter in small mixing bowl; add brown sugar and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
Pour the mixture into a Piping Bag or a small Ziploc Freezer Bag. (I fasten the end of my piping bag with a small clip, prop the bag in a drinking glass, fill the bag then put the whole thing into the fridge to bring the mixture back to a semi solid paste)

Cream Cheese Glaze:
In small mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until no lumps remain.
Add icing sugar and vanilla, stirring well.
Spoon the Cream Cheese frosting into a second Piping Bag or small Ziploc Freezer Bag. (Again, I secure the tip while I load the piping bag and leave it sit in another drinking glass until I am ready to use it)

Pancake Batter:
In medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; make a well in the centre.
In large pyrex measuring cup, melt butter; add 1 cup of the milk then stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, add another 1 1/2 cups milk along with the vanilla and whisk together until well combined; add enough milk to right consistency.  A few lumps may remain.

Now we are ready to cook the Pancakes!

Cooking Cin Roll Pancakes
Cooking Cin Roll Pancakes

Heat a large non stick griddle to 350F. and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray.
Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake onto the hot griddle, lightly spreading each portion evenly.
When pancakes begin to bubble pipe the Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture onto each pancake and continue cooking pancakes until the bubbles begin to pop.
Carefully slide a wide spatula underneath the pancake and flip over; cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, until golden.
Flip the pancakes onto a plate.
Serve each pancake with a drizzle of cream cheese frosting.

Recipe girl tells you to wipe out the pan between batches but I don’t do that. I did it the first time I tried the recipe and found it just made a mess so I just scoop more batter onto the griddle after I remove a batch. The griddle does get messing, as does the spatula but both clean up very easily. Once finished cooking I pour a enough water to coat the griddle, stick the spatula in HOT water to melt the sugar off. Works like a charm every time! Trust me, if this did not clean up nicely, I would not make them as often as I do.

Leftover Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
A light dusting of icing sugar is nice on leftover Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.

Please do visit Recipe girl for the original recipe. She has also listed a couple of delicious variations. I definitely want to try the Gingerbread-Cinnamon Roll Pancakes around Christmas time.