Category Archives: Quick Breads

About, Muffins and Scones

Hot Chocolate Muffins

1 Comment
Submit to reddit Share

I have decided that it is very dangerous for me to follow Chocolate, Chocolate and More on Facebook for the simple reason that they are forever posting such great recipes! I want to try them all! The problem is, I need to a bigger audience to feed said baked products to! My husband can only eat so much of my baking and I just have a taste and am done with it…otherwise I would be the size of a house!!!

I picked up their recipe for Hot Chocolate Muffins; they have been well received by everyone who has tried them! The only changes I have made are: Add White Chocolate Chips to the Cocoa Batter and add Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips to the White Batter. Go ahead, get in the kitchen and make these delicious muffins!

hot chocolate muffins
Hot Chocolate Muffins

2 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup Sugar

2 large Eggs, at room temperature
1 cup Milk
6 Tablespoons (3oz) melted Butter, cooled
1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 Tablespoons Cocoa
1/2 cup White Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line a Muffin Tin with paper liners.
In  large  mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; set aside.
In medium size mixing bowl whisk eggs, add milk, butter and vanilla and continue whisking.
Create a well in your dry ingredients and add your liquid ingredients, all at once; gently stir to combine, just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
Divide batter in half. Add cocoa and white chocolate chips  into one half of the batter and gently stir in; do not over mix.
Stir the semi sweet chocolate chips into the white batter; do not over mix.
Place a teaspoon of plain batter into lined muffin tin; spoon a teaspoon of chocolate batter; add another teaspoon of white batter; finish up with a teaspoon of the chocolate batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove to oven and allow to cool in the tin on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Turn out and cool completely on wire racks.

Yield: 12 Muffins

About, Quick Breads

Cinnamon Roll Biscuits

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

When you are craving Cinnamon Rolls but no time to bloom, ferment and proof the yeast variety, this will hit the spot!

cinnamon roll biscuits
Cinnamon Roll Biscuits

4 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt

2/3 cup (150g) Butter, cold, cut into cubes
2 cups Milk
2 tsp Vanilla

Filling
1/4 cup Butter, softened
1/2 Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
Milk, to right consistency

Preheat oven to 375F (190C)
Lightly grease a 9X13 (33cmx23cmx5cm)

Filling:
In a small bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
Softened butter in microwave for 10 seconds; set aside.

Dough:
In large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Using a pastry blender, two knives or rubbing together with hands, cut in cold, cubed butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Using a fork, gently stir in milk and vanilla, to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto floured surface and gently knead 10 – 15 times; let rest for 10 minutes.
On floured surface, gently roll dough out into a 15″x9″ rectangle.
Carefully spread softened butter all over the surface of dough, leaving a 1/4″ border; sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Beginning with 15″ side, roll up dough, pinch the long edge to seal.
With a sharp knife cut into 12 equal pieces.
Place rolls into prepared pan and bake in preheated 375F oven for 20 – 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time.
When golden brown, remove from oven and cool, in pan, on wire rack.

Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting
In medium mixing bowl combine softened cream cheese and butter until no lumps remain.
Stir in 1 cup of powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk; stir until smooth.
Add another cup of powdered sugar and stir – adding a splash or two of milk, to right consistency.
Stir until smooth; spread over slightly cooled Cinnamon Roll Biscuits.

Yield: 12

 

Breakfast

Gingerbread Pancakes

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

During the busy work week I try to squeeze in a breakfast that I can eat out of hand so when the weekend rolls around, if I have the energy, I like to make up a stack of pancakes or waffles.  I usually double pancake/waffle recipes so I can stash some in the freezer allowing me to have Toaster Waffles or Pancakes any day of the week!

We are finally getting some Fall-like weather here so I was craving something pumpkin-y but, bah, all my pumpkin is frozen….Gingerbread invokes all those lovely Fall feelings, too! And it makes the house smell absolutely wonderful!

gingerbread pancake
A beautiful Fall Pancake!

3 cups  (750 ml) Flour
2  teaspoons (10 ml)  Baking Powder
1/2teaspoons (2.5 ml)  Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon  (2.5 ml)  Salt
2  Tablespoons (30 ml)  Brown Sugar
2 teaspoon (10 ml)  Ground Cinnamon
1  teaspoon (5 ml)  Ground Ginger

2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons (10 ml)  Vanilla
1/2 cup (125 ml) Molasses
1/3 cup  (75 ml) Butter, melted, cooled slightly (2.5 oz Butter* )
2 1/2 cups  (725 ml) Milk – I use Almond Milk – ** or to desired consistency

Preheat Griddle to 350F (175C)

In large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.
In small mixing bowl combine beaten eggs, vanilla, molasses, melted butter and milk.
Pour liquid ingredients, all an once, into dry ingredients and stir just until all the flour mixture is moistened; a few small lumps are okay.
Lightly spray griddle with vegetable oil.
Drop 6 ladlefuls of batter, evenly spaced, onto griddle.
Cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry.
Flip and continue cooking until golden brown.
Remove cooked pancakes to serving platter.  ( if I am not serving them straight away I place them on a wire rack in a  low oven  175F {80C] until ready to serve. )
Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with a dollop of Plain Greek Yogurt,  lightly sweetened with a splash of vanilla,  a pinch of cinnamon and a bit of powdered sugar.

Yield: 15 – 18 medium sized Pancakes

* I hate packing butter into measuring spoons or measuring cups; I prefer to weigh it on my kitchen scale!

** Sometimes I add a little more Almond Milk, sometimes a little less; you want a thickish batter…too runny and you will get flat pancakes…too thick and they won’t be cooked through when they are a lovely golden brown.

Coffee Cakes

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

This is the recipe found on the package of Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. It is super basic and can easily be adapted to suit your tastes. Add whatever fruit you like, spice it up, or don’t; use milk, water, coconut water, almond milk…choice is yours.

So simple to make.  Get it this stuff going after you put the coffee on, go have a shower or make the bed or whatever while the cereal is cooking, come back to the kitchen and Voila! Breakfast is ready and so is the Coffee!

apple cinnamon oatmeal
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

3 1/4 cups Water, Milk, or Almond Milk
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 Apple, peeled or not, grated or finely diced
-or 1 cup Applesauce
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

In medium saucepan bring liquid and salt to a boil.
Stir in 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, apple, and cinnamon.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove pan from heat.
If desired, cover anklet stand for 2 minutes before serving. This allows the oats to absorb any remaining liquid.

Serves 4

About, Coffee Cakes

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

Sometimes I buy Sour Cream; I don’t know why I do this, no one here really likes it. I must have bought it because a recipe called for a bit of it leaving me with a whole lot to use up! That lil tub of sour cream kept was right at eye level in the fridge so each time I opened the fridge I would say to myself, “Right, I have to make something with that sour cream.” Well, I finally did something with it!  I turned to my friend, Betty Crocker, and she came through!You can find the original recipe at Betty Crocker . I keep not one, but two Betty Crocker cookbooks in my kitchen; it was fabulous being able to look at a printed recipe instead of having to scroll through the recipe as needed on my iPhone!  I did follow this recipe to the T, for a change…next time I might try adding some steamed apples? hmmmm!   A super moist Sour Cream Coffee Cake that was well received by all.

coffee cake, sour cream, cinnamon
Wonderfully moist coffee cake

Brown Sugar Filling
1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup chopped Nuts – I used Slivered Almonds
1 1/2 teaspoons ground

Cinnamon Batter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 large Eggs
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Sour Cream

Vanilla Glaze
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
2 – 3 Tablespoons Milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease bottom and side of Bundt pan or two Loaf Pans (9×5). Lightly dust with flour, tapping out excess.

Prepare Brown Sugar Filling: In a small mixing bowl, mix together brown sugar, chopped nuts and cinnamon. Set aside.

In medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add vanilla and eggs, mixing well after each egg is added; cream until light and fluffy.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Add half of the sour cream and mix well. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add another 1/3 of flour mixture and stir just until flour is moistened. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Add remaining sour cream and mix well. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add remaining flour and stir until all flour is moistened.  Scrape down sides of bowl. Increase speed on mixer and beat for 1 minute.

For Bundt pan, spread 1/3 of the batter (about 2 cups) in prepared pan, then sprinkle with 1/3 of Brown Sugar Filling; repeat twice.
For loaf pans – spread 1/4 of the batter (about 1 1/2 cups) in each pan, then sprinkle each with 1/4 of Brown Sugar Filling; repeat once.

Bake Bundt cake  for about 1 hour,  Loaves for about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven, place on wire rack and cool for about 10 minutes.
Remove from pan(s) and place top side up on wire rack.
Cool for about 10 minutes longer before finishing with Vanilla Drizzle.

Vanilla Drizzle Mix all ingredients until smooth and drizzling consistency.

Oh, and by all means, do have this for Breakfast!  I added a bit of Cottage Cheese and a handful of fresh Blueberries to make it a lil bit healthier!

sour cream coffee cake for breakfast
Sour Cream Coffee Cake for Breakfast!