Posts Tagged ‘cinnamon’

I’ve stayed away from banana bread for a while, because, let’s face it, banana bread is over done.  It’s like when the radio plays that one song on the radio over and over again.  You really like it, but now you want to BORE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR BRAIN WITH LEMON JUICE because you can’t stand hearing it one more time.  That’s what banana bread is like.  I love it.  And then it got overplayed.

It’s been a while and I had bananas on my counter just begging for me to end their slow death.  So I did.  Delicously.  These turned out more like muffins and less like the moist banana bread I expected.  This is probably because they’re muffins, not bread, so the moisture baked out a bit.  It was also a lot easier because instead of the typical 65 minute bake time, I only have to wait 12 minutes before diving in face-first.  Also, spices.  I can’t believe I never added spices to this before.  SO MUCH YUM.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins | doomthings

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • handfuls of chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Cream the sugar, salt, and butter in a large bowl.
  2. Beat in banana and eggs until smooth.
  3. Sift together flour and soda in a medium bowl.
  4. Alternately add dry mix and milk to sugar mixture until well combined.
  5. Add chocolate chips as desired.
  6. Pour mixture into muffin pan with muffin liners.*
  7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean.

*This recipe is originally for one banana bread loaf, so it makes more than 12 muffins.  Fortunately I had a mini muffin tin to take care of the overflow (because I wasn’t patient enough to do a second batch of regular-sized muffins).  Want to make this a loaf?  Just pour the mixture into a greased/floured loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean.

I’ve made these before, but using a different recipe, one I found on the world wide interwebs.  They turned out a little crunchy (my fault, I cooked them exactly to time, but my oven cooks hot, so I should always check about 2 minutes before the recommended time).  This time, I looked to my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cook book.  You know, the three-ring binder version.  In doomthings fashion, I changed at least one thing in the recipe to try something new (instead of going classic).

Craisin Chocolate Chip Cookies Part Deux | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens):

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups bread flour
  • 2 cups quick oats
  • large handful of craisins
  • large handful of chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, beat butter for about 30 seconds until nicely whipped.
  2. Add dark brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and honey.  Beat until combined.
  3. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
  4. Gradually add flour.
  5. Stir in oats.  Stir in craisins.  Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
  7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 – 10 minutes or until edges are golden.

Because I was taking these to a Memorial Day BBQ gathering, I decided to make them bite sized, so they were quite small. One thing I did notice, is that they did not spread like I expected.  I think this is because of the oats.  They ended up smaller than I expected, which was bad because I kept popping them like candy; good, because everyone could have a bunch.  The cinnamon and cloves were optional, and actually make them taste more like fall treats than ones for summer.  I would probably leave out those spices next time for a more summery flavor.  The honey was actually a substitute for granulated sugar, which gave it a very nice “golden” flavor, if one can describe a flavor as golden.  Mmmm.  I have some leftover from the party upstairs.  I know what I’m having for lunch…

This is delicious.  I really have no other words about this than DELICIOUS!  Eat this now.  Here are a few other words:  this is a single serving thingy.  If you have a half-hour to kill and want something besides cereal, try this out.  You won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients (adapted from Picklee.com):

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • dash nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • handful of chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Combine oats, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
  2. Add applesauce, milk, vanilla and stir until combined.
  3. Throw in chocolate chips and stir until distributed.
  4. Spoon into a single-serving oven-safe dish.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until slightly browned and firm.


French toast is always delicious, and variations with goop on top are often mind-exploding good.  My favorite is bananas and orange juice goop (with a splash of vodka in the goop if you’re feeling adventurous), but I wanted to try something different.  I came into about a billion apples, thanks to my parents wanting me to eat their food while they were on vacation (yay!), and thought apple pie french toast sounded like a perfect way to start using them up.

Apple Pie French Toast (adapted from Closet Cooking)

Ingredients:

For the applie pie goop:

  • 1 large granny smith apple, sliced
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 teaspoon flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup water

For the egg wash:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • ground nutmeg (for dusting the wash)
  • 4 slices sourdough bread

Directions:

  1. Simmer the apples, butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon and water until the apples are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla in a wide dish.  Dust nutmeg on top until surface is covered.
  3. Dip the bread in the egg wash to coat on both sides and fry in a greased pan over medium heat until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
  4. Re-dust the egg wash with nutmeg after each bread slice.
  5. Serve the french toast covered in the apple pie goop.

The original recipe called for two apples, but that seemed like a lot, so I used one and a half apples.  That was even too much, so I adjusted it to just one large apple.  It really depends on how many apples you want to eat with your french toast.  While maple syrup is still probably my favorite way to eat french toast, I do love messing around with fruit goop and this apple gooey stuff doesn’t disappoint!

Ginger Waffles

Posted: 19th March 2013 by doomthings in Breakfast, The Foodening
Tags: , , , , , ,

Yeah, yeah, my second food post is another post about waffles!  That’s right!  Everyone loves waffles!  I was inspired to make ginger cookies because my husband loves the ginger cookies I make during the winter holidays, and because he keeps threatening to add ginger to our dinners (I”m not a huge fan of most savory ginger dishes).  I found the following recipe from Martha Stewart via Pinterest:

Yield: 10 waffles.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 4 large eggs
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
  • 3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
  • Lingonberry preserves (or other berry preserves), for serving

Directions:

  1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, butter, milk, sour cream, and molasses in a medium bowl. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, and whisk until smooth.
  2. Heat a waffle iron. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each mold, and cook until golden brown. Serve warm waffles with sour cream and preserves.

This were pretty freakin’ good.  It is worth noting that the serving size for a 4-inch square waffle was spot-on.  I cut the recipe in half so my husband and I weren’t drowning in waffles and I got exactly 5 waffles.  Math is good.  I burned the first batch, but they still tasted marvelous.  -5 experience points, +20 dumb luck points.

[pictures will be posted when I make these again]