More Baked Fruit Oatmeal Breakfast

Five (5!) years ago, I saved yet another recipe page from the Boston Globe, and just now got around to trying and modifying it. The original recipe is detailed at in the Boston Globe Magazine.

I tried it exactly as outlined, but of course changed things up the second time! I like eating apples raw, but prefer to consume many other fruits with a spoon, so I thought it would be nice to keep my raw apples, and heat things up a bit differently for breakfast at home or at work. The first two photos are from the original recipe.

I remember my blackberry crisp fondly, but haven’t made it in a year, so decided to use blackberries with this oatmeal recipe. Here is the modified recipe:

Blend 2 cups oats (not instant) with 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and a few grinds of salt (aka a pinch). Add 1 cup chopped pecans or other nut of your choice. Add 3 cups of berries or other cut up fruit.

In a separate bowl, whisk 3 eggs, 2 cups milk (I used skim), 1/3 cup brown sugar and ½ teaspoon brown sugar. If I make this again with apples in the fall, I’d use 3 cups of apples and 1 full teaspoon of cinnamon.

Add the milk/egg mixture to the oat mixture, stir, and pour into a greased baking dish. I used an 8x8 square dish one time and a round baking dish the other time. The timing of my current oven is not as accurate because the temperature knob does not allow me to set an exact degree in either C or F. I prefer my baked goods gently browned on top and done in the middle, so I kept my eye on the pan after 20 minutes and pushed gently on the top to ensure it was firm when I took it out. I had completely forgotten this post from four years ago, and will re-make the previous version again soon. This version was eggier/custardier, and felt smooth. I'll post a comparison.

Lower Gluten/Lower Sugar Banana Bread

I haven’t made banana bread in years, although I love it, because of the perception I held that my family recipe was unhealthy. Past substitutions of whole wheat flour and a simple reduction in the amount of sugar have not always resulted in a “new and improved” recipe! After recently trying a number of excellent grain-free recipes that used interesting nut flours and honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, I decided to make-over the famous banana bread recipe…but didn’t have the confidence to make it entirely grain free.

Photos of banana bread in the making are singularly uninteresting, so I’m showing unrelated photos of a marvelous recipe  I didn't change at all, except to substitute blackberries and nectarines.

Here is the new banana bread recipe:

Blend ¼ butter, ¼ cup oil or applesauce, 2 eggs, and 3-4 mashed bananas. Add 1 cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup flax meal, ½ cup almond flour or hazelnut flour, ¼ cup coconut flour, ¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup maple sugar, and ¼ cup honey or maple syrup. Add 2 and ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

I got this idea from Kitchen Concoctions

Bake in a loaf pan at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until browned on top and not jiggly in the middle. I really liked this version, finding it to be almost too sweet for me, even though I reduced the amount of sugar from the original recipe! Next time I would leave out the ¼ cup of white sugar.

Almond flour/Hazelnut flour chocolate chip cookies

It’s been a while since I’ve done any interesting cooking or baking, so I decided to use some of the unique flours I have and freeze some cookies for upcoming road trips. I know that in general, you can substitute part of the regular flour called for in recipes with specialty flours, but I searched on-line for hazelnut flour recipes, and discovered feastie.com with tons of gorgeous choices! 

I had toasted hazelnut flour and toasted almond flour, so I made two batches, one with each type of specialty flour and chocolate. Regrettably (?), I had stocked up on a variety of chocolate chips, so I had plenty of half-bags to choose from (Mr. Spice’s doing!). The adapted the recipe is as follows:

Brown 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) by heating it over medium heat in a small pot until it’s a golden brown color. Stir in ¾ cup maple sugar*. Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup whole wheat flour, ¾ cup toasted almond flour , ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder and 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon. Fold into liquid ingredients. Add 2 tablespoons skim milk or a bit more if the dough is quite firm. Fold in ¾ cup white chocolate chips. 

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 9-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks. *I’ve been getting maple sugar from my co-op, which sources it from Square Deal Farm in Vermont.

For thin bars, press into 9x13 pan, or for thicker bars, use a square baking dish. I forgot to time the bars, but used the touch test to check for done-ness (press very gently and when it feels mostly firm to the touch, they're done). Please note, these are deliciously healthier cookies, with a special nutty flavor. They are not your average fluffy cooky, but I'm glad about that. Just a head's up that they are a bit denser and unique!

Healthier Lemon Pound Cake & Lemon Trifle

Happy Lemon Days! I’m open to votes to stop with the lemon recipes, already! Just let me know… one recipe I will not repost but will heartily endorse is David Lebovitz’s lemon bars. DO NOT do what I did, and reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe- it’s just perfect as is, and easy, too.

I did revise a lemon pound cake recipe from Facebook, credited to a hotel restaurant in 1920. Gee whiz, do you think I swapped out the shortening? Yes! Here’s what to do: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat 1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks, softened),  and 2 ½ cups sugar (I used 1 cup white sugar, ½ cup maple sugar, and ¾ cup honey) for 2 minutes. Add 5 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. In a separate bowl, combine 1 ½ cups white flour, 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the liquid ingredients listed next: 1 cup skim milk, 6 tablespoons lemon juice*, and zest from 1 lemon**. Bake in a greased bundt pan for 55 minutes (or 2 loaf pans). 

* if you do not use whole wheat flour, keep this recipe as is (it originally had only white flour). If you DO use whole wheat flour, you don’t need to add more liquid to the recipe if you use honey like I did. If you choose to not use honey, you will need to add a few extra teaspoons of lemon juice so the dough isn’t too dry. Add 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough is moist.

**I suggest using more lemon zest to help bring out the flavor when using whole wheat flour. The pound cake tastes nice as is, but not super lemony, so it’s your call.

If you’d like to make a trifle with egg-yolk filled custard, please look elsewhere- there are plenty of recipes out there. Here is a healthier version that tastes great! Prepare 2 boxes of lemon pudding with skim milk according to the package directions (I used instant sugar free fat free pudding). Thaw 1 container of frozen whipped topping, or beat a pint of whipping cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons sugar. Rinse and pat dry an assortment of fresh berries of your choice: raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. In the summer, I would use fresh peaches. If using fresh fruit is not possible, drain frozen fruit well so the dark color of the fruit juice doesn’t bleed though the layers---unless you wouldn’t mind that look.

Cut the pound cake into squares that would fit on a dessert spoon. Place a layer (1-2 inches) of pound cake into a trifle dish or large glass bowl. Quantities will vary based on the size of your bowl, so  the number of cups of cubes will vary- just eyeball the depth and aim for two layers of each ingredient. Over the cake, layer half of the lemon pudding, then half the fruit, then half the whipped topping. Another layer of cake, pudding, fruit, and whipped topping. Decorate with berries or garnish of your choice. Enjoy!

Lemony Cheesecake

I enjoyed the Lemony Snicket books, but they are not related in any  way other than the adjective for the food, and the author’s first name/nom de plume. I used to listed to books on tape/cd when I had a long commute, and found that these children’s books were perfectly entertaining during the car ride (advise against listening to romance books or murder mysteries with unpleasant blood spatters while facing road rage). How about an anti-road-rage spring-has-sprung photo?

At any rate, I’ve been baking cheesecakes for decades, but until now, have only shared this recipe for brownie crusted muffin sized ones. I can’t believe that I had never prepared a lovely lemony recipe in my favorite cheesecake cookbook from Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It had previously seemed unduly complicated with lemon peel and juice, but that’s what we’re all about right now.

Here is my modification of the recipe: cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9” springform pan (you can see from the photo that I didn’t do this, but wish I had).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Press into pan and bake for 10 minutes. While the crust is baking, combine 3 packages  reduced fat cream cheese (8 ounces each, softened) with ¾ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, blending well. Separate one more egg, and add only the white to the mixture. When you remove the crust from the oven, increase the temperature to 450 degrees. Pour the filling into the pan, and bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees, and set the timer for 30 minutes. Check for done-ness after 30 minutes- mine seemed a bit soft and I wish I’d left it in for another 5 minutes. When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the pan, but let the cheesecake cool before you un-spring the springform. While the cheesecake is cooling, heat 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ cup lemon juice and ½ cup cold water in a small pot. Beat the leftover egg yolk in a bowl, and add a small amount of the hot sugar mixture to it, stirring gently. Add the yolk to the pot with the sugar, stir well. Cool slightly, then pour over the cheesecake. Alternately, you could reserve the topping and pour a few spoonfuls over each slice once it’s on a plate.

Lemons, lemons, everywhere!

Last night, Mr. Spice came home from an event with a bag of (drumroll, please)…lemons! Not two days after I’d –unusually- bought three lemons at the store to make lemon poppy seed bread, pictured below, for a church bake sale. Overnight, my imagination turned the 4 lb. bag of lemons into a Santa Clause sized sack, and I woke up reciting like Forrest Gump: lemon meringue pie, lemon chicken, lemonade, lemon soufflé, lemon sorbet, lemon soup?, lemon cookies, lemon mousse?, etc.

I imagined myself to be on an episode of Chopped, receiving a basket filled with lemons, destined to create an appetizer, entrée, and dessert using them. Thank goodness no time limit for me- whew! 

I adapted a recipe for Lemon Blueberry Muffins from kitchen-concoctions, and brought some to my book group at Simmons Club of Boston. Here’s my version:

Combine  1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, ½ cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. Zest and juice one lemon.

Beat ½ cup butter (1 stick, at room temperature) for 1-2 minutes, add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla, mixing well. Add 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon skim milk. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, adding lemon juice and zest. Stir in 1 and ½ cups frozen blueberries (not pictured).

The good thing about running out of regular muffin tin liners in the middle of baking, is that you can use the many mini muffin liners on hand to make 24 cuties and four regular muffins and one mini loaf (for your own sanity, you can stick to just one size item!).

Bake the mini muffins at 375 degrees for 16-20 minutes (I forgot to time how much longer the regular sized muffins needed). Melt ¼ cup butter, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. I used a bbq brush to apply the butter/lemon mixture to the tops of the muffins, and sprinkled them with sugar. If I hadn’t greased the muffin liners with spray oil, I could have dipped the muffins into the butter and sugar, but they were falling out of the liners, so the bbq brush worked fine. Next time I will use more sugar than the recipe called for, so beware that this version tastes fresh and fruity, not like typical bakery muffins (sweet).  

Stay tuned for lemon chicken, lemon cheesecake, lemon bars, etc. etc. etc.! Will this be the year of the lemon?

Best Soup, Pie, Appetizer, and more!

Happy second anniversary to this blog! Last month, many of the blogs I follow posted summaries of 2013. I tried a variety of new things here at Through the Spice Rack last year, from crafts to travel to cooking, so I decided to not create a "best of" list of posts during  2013. Here are some photos that haven't been shared yet for your enjoyment.

Now that I'm organizing my trusty three-ring-binder with print-outs of ideas and past posts (does anyone else still use binders?), I realized that I do have favorites in categories of cooking over the last two years. 

At first I thought I would "grade" each recipe, as there were a few I do not plan on preparing again...but this is a better way to highlight the most delicious, in my humble opinion! 

Best Bread- Lemon Poppy Seed posted in May 2012

Best Soup- Chestnut Soup posted January 2013

Best Seafood- Shrimp & Asparagus Quinoa Risotto posted February 2012

Best Muffins- Cranberry Orange posted November 2012

Best Appetizer- Stuffed Eggs posted August 2012

Best Fruit Recipe- Cranberry Sauce posted November 2012

Best Entree- Stuffed Peppers posted June 2012

Best Pie- Apple posted April 2012

While I could create entire posts of sunset photos or cats being silly, I don't plan to do so soon. I also hadn't planned on a post about holiday decorations, as I'm not very good at scenic seasonal arrangements, but I do love these military stockings from the Army Medical Museum at Ft. Sam Houston (can't remember where the cat stockings are from).

Cookies!

Wow, have I been baking! Thanks to Pioneer Woman, I discovered this stupendous recipe for sugar cookies at Bake at 350 

Just thrilled that the dough doesn’t need to be chilled before rolling out. Yummy! Here they are in several formats!       

Fancy cookies! I couldn’t resist the circular cutters with space for the jam to show through. Here’s how I made the dough from Bake at 350 (what a fun blog name) by substituting whole wheat flour for part of the recipe:

Cream 1 cup sugar and 2 sticks of butter. Add 1 egg. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and ¾ teaspoon almond extract and 1 teaspoon water. Add 2 teaspoons baking powder and 2 cups white flour plus 1 cup whole wheat flour. Roll out, cut the cookies, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until they are lightly browned.

Use any red jam (I also love peach jam with these cookies) on the bottom layer, then top with punched cookie. At first I was annoyed with myself for forgetting to dust confectioner's sugar on the tops before placing them on the jam, but was pleasantly surprised that the sugar just absorbed into the jam so it was fine to put the top onto the jam, then dust with sugar.

Assembly line! Chocolate chip cookies were per package directions, peanut butter cookies were fairly boring to photograph…here is the recipe for chocolate no-bake cookies

And here we go, out the door! Do you have any favorite holiday cookie recipes?

Chocolate no-bake Cookies

I’ve had this recipe since high school, with no source information on the hand written recipe card. I modified the ingredients, but was still shocked that my fond memories of these cookies conveniently forgot the 2 cups of sugar called for! Now that I think about it, all my fond memories of dessert items include at least 2 cups of sugar…

Boil 1 stick of butter, 2 cups sugar, and ½ cup fat free evaporated milk. Remove from heat and add 5 ½ tablespoons powdered cocoa, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 cups oats, and optional one cup shredded coconut or ½ cup peanut butter. Drop onto waxed paper and allow to cool- I used a small mellonballer scoop and the yield was 50. In the olden days, we made them using soup spoons, thus a much smaller yield!

Wish you could smell the melted butter with cocoa being stirred in!

Do you know any other no-bake cookie recipes?

Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes

I’ve been making cheesecake for many years, and have loved experimenting with different types of crust (graham crackers, small round wafers for cheesecake cupcakes, crushed chocolate crème sandwich cookies, etc.) and fillings- baked, no-bake, with pumpkin, with chocolate, and on and on! 

I’ve found that large group event attendees prefer cupcake sized desserts instead of large slices of cheesecake, so I decided to combine two recipes from my trusty Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook of 1989. The brownie cheesecake recipe was an old friend, with notes scribbled in my handwriting about adjusting the ingredients to make a 9x13 pan instead of a round springform. Ditto the cupcake version…for a dozen, be sure to double the recipe, and so forth. 

Here’s what I used; you go ahead and adjust for your needs:

One 10.25 oz package of brownie mix, prepared according to the package directions will yield 17 cupcakes if you put 1/8 cup batter into each paper liner. That results in a decent layer of brownie as the crust. Feel free to use the entire batter for 12 thicker brownie cheesecakes, but you’ll have less space for cheesecake batter.

While the brownie layer is baking at 350 for 12 minutes (!), prepare my adaptation of the recipe: beat together two 8 oz. packages of reduced fat cream cheese, between 1/3 to ½ cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, one egg, and ¼ cup egg substitute.

Pour ¼ cup cheesecake batter over the brownie layer, then microwave 1 cup of any type of chocolate pieces for one minute.  Stir the partially melted chocolate and microwave again for about 30 seconds as needed, for melted and smooth chocolate.

Stir ½ teaspoon of melted chocolate into the unbaked cheesecake batter, then bake them for 30 minutes. I used white chocolate chunks, but would recommend for visual appeal and flavor that you use chocolate chips or chocolate/ peanut butter/ butterscotch chips.

Nutmeg and Cinnamon Carrot Bread

This week, I considered renaming “Through the Spice Rack” to “Peach, Tomato, Carrot”, but the latter isn’t as catchy. Or how about “Farm Share Recipes”? I’m elbow deep in fruits and vegetables, and have several new recipes in the queue to try out. One was a total disaster, and entirely my fault, when I substituted way too many healthy ingredients – so I’ll remake that one with the original recipe before sharing.

I modified this Carrot Bread recipe only slightly, but will still share the entire recipe with my changes. The blog post title simply recognizes the spices already in the bread/recipe.

http://www.food.com/recipe/whole-wheat-zucchini-or-carrot-bread-325250

Blend 1/4 cup oil with 1/4 cup applesauce; add ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup brown sugar (mix in); add 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, ½ tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. salt, 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, and ½ tsp. nutmeg. Once everything is blended, stir in 1 ½ cups shredded carrots or 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini. Stir in 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour. Add ½ cup nuts (optional) and ½ cup raisins (optional). Bake in 9” loaf pan at 350 for 45 – 60 minutes.

Taking photos of some recipes is a challenge. For example, I made indian pudding for the first time, but it’s not attractive to look at and I didn’t want to decorate it nicely with ice cream and whipped cream just for the photo. Don’t get me wrong, it tastes great with those additions, but we’ve stopped stocking those items at home to reduce the temptation to finish them off rather quickly. So no photo of the plain pudding (brown), and the early steps of the carrot bread were equally unglamorous.

I did not reduce the amount of sugar/honey called for in the original recipe. I found this bread to be good but very healthy. I didn’t want to add frosting made out of confectioner’s sugar- that was the whole point of making a bread instead of a cake or muffin, but I did want a bit of interesting flavor and/or moisture to round out this bread. I enjoyed a slice with flavored fat free yogurt instead of frosting! Next time I would add either chocolate chips, pineapple, or a touch more sugar to the recipe.

Due to less than stellar photo quality for the carrot bread, here is a bonus on our "save the watermelon" campaign. As you can see, the neighborhood squirrels or rabbits helped themselves to the young watermelons (completely decimated melon not shown). A plastic colander with a guard statue may save the last one for us to enjoy in a few weeks! Stay tuned...