Spare Time

Those of you who are mothers know that spare time is short and from what I'm learning, comes as a surprise.  Since my last post, my family has grown by 2.  Yep, that's right...2.  On June 4, we welcomed these two littles into the world and my how our lives have changed.

This morning, after their 6am feeding, I was surprised with some spare time because they chose to sleep.  Not only was I able to shower, but I managed to whip up a recipe of this Blueberry Zucchini Bread.  I found this recipe in my electric company co-op magazine and decided to save it because it's July and July is the month for an over abundance of zucchini.  Over the weekend, my parents brought me a couple zucchinis and of course one of them was destined for this recipe :)

What you'll need:

   3 eggs, lightly beaten

   1 c vegetable oil

   3 tsp vanilla

   2 1/4 c sugar

   2 c zucchini, shredded

   3 c flour

   1 tsp salt

   1 tsp baking powder

   1 tsp baking soda

   1 Tbsp cinnamon

   1 pint fresh blueberries (about 2 c)

What you'll do:

   1. Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.*

   2. In large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.

   3. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

   4. Gently fold in blueberries.*

   5. Transfer to pans.  Bake for 50 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

   6. Cool for 20 minutes in pans, then turn out on wire racks to cool completely.

*Tips:

The recipe I have called for 4 mini loaf pans. I don't have 4 minis, so I used the 2 I have, plus a regular loaf pan, and my large muffin pan (makes 6).  I'm going out on a limb, but I'm pretty sure there's too much batter to fit into 4 mini pans.  Use your best judgement on how many pans to use for this recipe.

I would recommend rinsing the blueberries and shake to remove excess water, then toss them in a little bit of flour.  This will help the blueberries to stay suspended in the batter and not fall to the bottom.

Happy baking!

Blueberry Bread

I love fruit breads!  Who am I kidding?  I love all kinds of breads.  I found this recipe and had to try it.  I can't wait to make it again, it was easy and had amazing flavor with fresh blueberries.

What you'll need:
   1 c sugar
   1/2 c salted butter
   2 eggs
   1c milk
   2 c flour
   2 tsp baking powder
   2 c blueberries

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9 inch loaf pan
2. Cream together butter and sugar
3. Add the eggs and milk beating well
4. Add the dry ingredients and beat until well combined
5. Add blueberries and mix by hand gently with a spatula being careful not to crush the berries.
6. Pour batter into your loaf pan and bake for 60-75 minutes.
7. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling.

Thanks to Frugal Mom Eh! for this great recipe.  Click here to go to the original recipe.

Happy baking!

Cinnamon Bread

The last 7 months have been quite the wild ride for me, thus the lack of posts since July 2013.  So here's to trying to get back into blogging about the recipes I try.  I found this recipe awhile back and this past week was the perfect time for it.  I usually make something to take to staff meetings at work, but time wasn't on my side the night before the meeting, so I whipped it up and took something in on Friday.  This is such an easy recipe and it's great with your morning coffee.

The recipe comes from Redfly Creations.  It's her take on Amish Cinnamon Bread.  This recipe will make 2 loaves, but easy to halve.

Cinnamon Bread


Ingredients for batter
- 1 c. butter, softened
- 2 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of buttermilk (recipe below)
- 4 cups of flour
- 2 tsp of baking soda

Ingredients for cinnamon mixture
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 2 tsp of cinnamon

What to mix
1. cream together butter, sugar and eggs
2. add milk, flour, baking soda
3. pour half of the batter into 2 greased loaf pans
4. in separate bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon
5. sprinkle 3/4 the cinnamon sugar mixture on the batter in the pans
6. pour on remaining half of batter
7. sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the batter
8. swirl with a knife
9. bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean)
10. let cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing

It's just that easy.  Redfly also mentions that you can make this in muffin tins for individual portions that are easier for freezing and reheating.

Don't have buttermilk, here's what you do.  Measure out needed amount of milk, add 1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice for every cup, let sit, stir, and add to recipe.

My tips:
* swirl the first layer of cinnamon sugar mixture into the first half of the batter
* I think I ended up baking my 2 loafs for closer to 60 minutes, but each oven is different, so use the toothpick method to be sure

I got recipe from over here, special thanks to Redfly Creations.

Happy baking!


 

Rolls!!!

I came across this recipe and wanted to try it out for this year's Christmas celebration.  The recipe is really simple and the end result is...well, let's just say your house is going to smell amazing (which in my opinion is one of the greatest rewards to baking).

Maybe this picture will convince you to make them....

I'll just link the recipe here, from Food.com.

Happy baking!

Bread fit for The King

So everyone knows that Elvis enjoyed bananas with his peanut butter.  I'm not sure if he was a fan of chocolate, the loved chocolate covered peanut butter candies were first introduced in the late 1920's, so I'm guessing he might have enjoyed the delightful combination.

When I first saw this recipe, I immediately thought of one of my dear friends who is a big fan of banana bread.  She would store very ripe bananas in the freezer, saving them for banana bread at the most perfect time.  I'm dedicating this recipe to my housemate, CA, for her birthday!

The picture doesn't do it justice...it's pretty amazing!

Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

   3 very ripe bananas

   1/2 c peanut butter

   1/4 c oil

   1 egg

   1/2 c granulated sugar

   1/4 c brown sugar

   1 1/2 c all purpose flour

   1/2 tsp baking soda

   1 1/2 tsp baking powder

   1/2 tsp salt

   8oz bag of Reese's Mini cups

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease loaf pan.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

4. In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg, and sugars.

5. Pour your dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Batter will be lumpy.

6. Fold in your mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen edges of bread from pan using a knife and remove loaf from pan.  Transfer bread to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Note on recipe: If you notice the bread browning too fast, lower the temperature down to 325.

Thanks to Cookies and Cups for the recipe!

Happy baking!