Category Archives: Quick Breads

Pecan Apple Coffee Cake

September 25, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

Autumn, glorious Autumn! I am so thankful we have four distinct Seasons. I have to say that Autumn is one of my favourite Seasons! I love the colours, I love the crunch of leaves underfoot, I love the crisp early mornings, I love the sun on a cold day but above all, I love my fireplace! I love being able to curl up in front of the fire with a good book and some quiet jazz music in the background.

Oh, I like the food too: apples, pears, plums, pumpkin, hearty soups and stews, substantial breads, hot coffee, to name a few. This recipe came through my FB feed the other day; since I had a few Granny Smith apples aging day by day….why do I buy these??? No one likes to eat them! When I was a kid we used to eat them with a dash of salt on each bite! Probably not all that healthy, but Yum! Anyway, they are such a brilliant Green that I like to have them in the fruit bowl. Granny Smiths are the perfect apple for this Pecan Apple Bread. Now in the original recipe the batter was baked in a loaf pan; I just think taking a loaf bread batter, throwing it into a bundt pan, dressing it up super pretty is so much more fun! That and it doesn’t take as long to bake. Anyway, you make your Apple Pecan Coffee Cake they way you want just so long as you DO make it!

Oh, hey, this recipe is lacking butter! I thought that was weird and maybe it was simply forgotten in the transfer to the internet? Happens. I tried to track the recipe back to an original site to no avail. Shrugged my shoulders and thought I would try it as listed before I changed it…didn’t have to! It came out perfectly! One little change that I made and will do again next time was to include a streusel topping…except it ended up on the bottom. Yes, I knew it would be on the bottom! I thought it would add some nice texture and I was right. Next time though I will put half the batter in the pan, some streusel mix then the rest of the batter and finishing off with streusel mix.

Pecan Apple Bread

1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Sour Cream
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Flour
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Epicure Apple Pie Spice
or 1 teaspoon Cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each: ground Cloves, Nutmeg and Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped Granny Smith Apples
1 cup Pecans, chopped
Drizzle
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Butter

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a bundt pan with vegetable oil and swirl about 1/4 cup of flour around the greased pan; tap out excess flour.
Peel and chop apples; set aside.
Combine brown sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl; beat on low speed until well blended.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, Apple Pie Spice, salt; stir well.
Fold in apples and 3/4 of the pecans.
Turn batter out into prepared bundt pan.
or Spoon half the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with half the streusel, spoon in remaining batter then top with remaining streusel.
Bake in preheated 350F. oven for 35 – 40 minutes or until pick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven, run a small metal spatula around to loosen edges then cool, in pan, on wire rack for 20 minutes.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Drizzle with Brown Sugar Drizzle:
In a small saucepan, over medium heat combine brown sugar and butter.
Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for a minute or until it thickens.
Remove from heat and drizzle over cooled coffee cake.

Yield: 12- 18 slices

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Butter, cubed
Combine brown sugar and flour together in a small mixing bowl.
Cut butter in with a pastry blender or simply rub butter in with hands, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Muffins and Scones

Spiced Pumpkin Scones

September 17, 2013 Sonte 1 Comment

Simply the most wonderful Pumpkin Scones! It is that time of the year again; Pumpkin Lattes will be available at Starbucks, not that I ever go there but I do walk by their shops from time to time and they smell absolutely amazing with all the beautiful Fall spices! Brings to mind visions of beautiful orange, yellow and brown Maple leaves drifting to the ground. The crunch of said leaves under foot along the many beautiful trails in beautiful British Columbia…hey, that is what it says on the license plates! There is a crispness in the air and we are driven to thoughts of curling up in front of our fireplaces with a good book, a cup of good coffee and something yummy to nosh on. This Spiced Pumpkin Scone recipe I found last year fits the bill to the T! These scones are lightly adorned by not one, but two delectable glazes. Got your mouth watering? Get thee to the kitchen and get cracking on your own Spiced Pumpkin Scones!

2 cups Flour
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
3/4 each, Ground Ginger, Ground Cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup Butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Tablespoon Molasses
3 Tablespoons Half and Half
1 Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla
Simple Sugar Glaze
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 – 2 Tablespoons Half and Half <–I use Luke’s Coffee Milk
Spiced Glaze
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Puree
Pinch each: Cloves, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cinnamon
1 – 2 Tablespoons Half and Half

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices.
Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl or a large measuring cup whisk together pumpkin puree, molasses, half and half, vanilla and egg.
With a fork stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Gently knead about 10 times.
Gently roll out to 3/4″ thickness and use

I use the bottom centre cutter for scones

Tupperware Fluted Cookie Cutter to cut out scones.
Place on prepared baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown .
Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
While scones are cooling prepare your glazes.
In small bowl stir together icing sugar and half and half to desired consistency.
Load into a Ziploc Freezer bag or a Piping Bag with a small writing tip .
In small bowl combine icing sugar, pumpkin puree, spices; add 1 Tablespoon half and half and stir, adding more half and half to get desired consistency.
Load into another Ziploc Freezer bag or Piping Bag fitted with a small writing tip.
Drizzle first one glaze then the other over the scones.
Let glaze set for about 15 – 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Serves: 8 Scones

Breakfast

Carrot Cake Pancakes

August 12, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

I had some carrots that were no longer eye appealing and needed to be used up. I absolutely love to bake but, oh my, there is only so much baking one can consume! Summer has been a busy time for everyone so we haven’t had our regular Sunday Dinners where I can rely on the help of extended family members to empty the Cookie Jar or Cake Platter. Still, here I have all these grated carrots begging to be made into something, not just relegated to the deep, dark realms of the freezer which is now chock-a-block full of summer berries.

Well, you may or may not know that I discovered Cinnamon Roll Pancakes which are definitely less sinful than Cinnamon Rolls sooooo… I got to thinking you have to be able to make Carrot Cake Pancakes! Woot! All that yummy goodness with a fraction of the calories! I like to make extra Pancakes when I have the griddle heated and freeze the leftovers so we have Toaster Pancakes on busy work day mornings.

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Drizzle

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger
OR 2 teaspoons Epicure Apple Pie Spice
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts
1/2 cup Raisins
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups Buttermilk (If you don’t have Buttermilk – 2Tbsp Lemon Juice with enough regular milk to measure 2 cups, let stand for 10 minutes)
4 cups grated Carrots
Cream Cheese Drizzle
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
Vanilla
Milk – to desired consistency

If you don’t have buttermilk, set the milk to souring before you begin.
Melt the butter and let it cool while you proceed with getting your dry ingredients combined.

In small mixing bowl beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add icing sugar and vanilla, beating until no lumps remain.
Add a little milk (1 – 2 Tablespoons) if you want a thinner drizzle.
Set aside.

Preheat Griddle to 350F.
In mixing bowl combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and brown sugar.
Stir in chopped nuts and raisins.
In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, melted butter and grated carrots.
Pour liquid ingredients, all at once, into dry ingredients.
Stir just until all the flour is incorporated, do not overmix.
Lightly spray griddle with non stick spray.
Ladle about 1/4 – 1/3 cup for each pancake, spreading the batter slightly ; cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until bubbles start to pop and edges are dry.
Flip over and continue cooking for another 3 – 4 minutes.
Transfer to serving platter.
Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve warm with Cream Cheese Drizzle.
Freeze any leftovers and simply pop into the toaster to reheat when needed.

Makes 18 Pancakes

FYI – This is a ummm, goopy batter; don’t try to hurry these up by cranking up the heat coz you will end up with burnt outsides and raw insides…YUCK! Keep it at 350F and practice patience…or you know, clean all the surfaces in the kitchen if you are like me and can’t be trusted to be patient!

About, Breakfast

Mini Pancake Bites

January 15, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

A little while back my younger daughter sent me a text asking me how to make pancake bites; I guess she had seen the idea somewhere in cyberspace! I googled it myself and sent her a link but didn’t bookmark it, thinking I would never make them. As it turns out, I now regularly cook for a grade school class and am always looking for quick, easy breakfast or healthy snack ideas! Now I wish I HAD bookmarked it. S’all good, I just googled “pancake bites” again and followed the basic directions at Bakerella to create my own version of YUMMY! Oh my! When I was turning them out to cool I could not help but eat at least half a dozen of them!

I really like Pancake Bites because they are easier to eat out of hand over regular mini pancakes. Go ahead, make these, and I dare you to eat just one!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancake Bites - Make Pancake Bites using your favourite Pancake Recipe. — Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancake Bites – Make Pancake Bites using your favourite Pancake Recipe.

Use your favourite Pancake Recipe. I used Mini Pumpkin Pancakes or:

2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/3 cup Milk (or Almond Milk)
4 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
2 large Eggs
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray 4 mini muffin tins; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, if using.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together milk, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla and maple syrup, if using.

Add liquid ingredients, all at once, to dry ingredients and stir just until combined; a few lumps may remain.

Evenly scoop batter into prepared muffin tins up to 2/3 full.
Bake in 350F oven for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let rest in pans on wire racks for a few minutes.
Remove from muffin tins to cool completely or serve immediately with maple syrup, berry sauce or simply as is.

About, Muffins and Scones

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

November 10, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

I started making this recipe about 19 years ago but then I stopped working at the school where I was making about 6 dozen of these a week, my own children grew up and left home and I no longer felt the need to make chocolate muffins. Now I am back at that same school and find myself making these again!

4 cups Flour
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Coca
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 cups Milk
2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners or lightly spray with Pam.

In large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and cocoa; make a well in the centre and set aside.
In large mixing cup combine liquid ingredients.
Pour liquid ingredients into well in dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins. ( I use a #5Pampered Chef scoop)
Bake in 400F oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.

Yield: 24 muffins.

Aysontespli's Kitchen