A classic Zucchini Bread recipe with warm notes of cinnamon spice, pure vanilla extract, brown sugar, and fresh zucchini. Moist and light, this is a quick recipe that can also be turned into muffins and savored any time of day. Continue reading “Zucchini Bread”→
Rosemary Olive Artisan Bread has a beautiful crust with a chewy inside filled with olives and fresh rosemary. It is easy to make because there is no kneading required. The scent and taste of warm bread and the ease of this recipe will want you making this bread over and over again. Continue reading “Rosemary Olive Artisan Bread”→
The perfect afternoon snack with your cup of coffee or chai. Soft and moist muffins filled with pumpkin flavor and loaded with chai spices, this muffin is sure to be your new fall favorite. Continue reading “Chai Spice Pumpkin Muffins”→
A little variation on banana bread, I added in some sweet apples, lots of cinnamon (as requested by my little ones), just a hint of nutmeg, and a streusel topping to finish it off is the perfect afternoon snack. (Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t last more than a day – maybe two – in our house. It flies so quickly!)
I first made this loaf to take as a treat with me when I took the girls hiking last month. We did almost 4 miles with quite an uphill so I was proud of my littles ones who not only trekked without a single complaint, they also put up with me while I took pics of them with cows in the background as they thought their Mom was crazy!
Let me get back on track though and tell you a little more about this delicious loaf! The base recipe is similar to that of a banana bread but I wanted it a little more moist to balance the addition of spices so I added in a bit of yogurt. The sweetness of ripe bananas and the warm spices to give a hint of apple pie is so amazing of a combination. Who says you can only have apple pie in the fall?!
This recipe makes enough for two large loaves or 4 minis. I’ve made both depending on what occasion I’m using these. I love the minis for gifts or travel (the hike was a perfect example) and the large loaves I’ll use to pack in lunches, give as an afternoon snack, or even with breakfast on the weekends.
Here are a few other loaves to check out: Spiced Pear Loaf Pumpkin Bread Zucchini Bread Lemon Blueberry Mini Loaves
Can you tell we love fruity loaves in this house?!
From my kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoy eating this Apple Pie Bread.
1 c ripe bananas, mashed (2 large or 3 medium sized)
1 c peeled & diced apple (about 1 small apple)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
For the Streusel Topping
3 Tbsp flour
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray two 9x5 loaf pans with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt and oil until completely emulsified. Add mashed bananas, sugars and vanilla and stir until well combined.
In a smaller bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in apples.
Pour half the batter into each baking pan.
Combine streusel ingredients and stir until mixture is uniform and crumbly. Sprinkle half streusel mix over each loaf.
Bake for 60-70 minutes. Check with a toothpick in the center of the loaf to see if it comes out dry.
Remove from oven and let cool in bread pans for about 10 minutes. Overturn onto a cooling rack to cool fully.
Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temp on your counter for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
**To make the mini loaves, reduce baking time by 25% or bake for 40-45 minutes.
One of the best things about the Fall season is pumpkin bread. The spices and the aroma when you are baking it compares to no other. It makes me feel so warm and cozy and ready for the winter.
I love this pumpkin bread recipe because:
It’s moist
Easy to make
Isn’t too dense
Has all the Fall spices: Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, & Nutmeg
Fun to make with the kids
Here’s a little trick….. to keep it moist, I added applesauce to the batter. You can’t taste it but it makes the pumpkin bread so much better!
The girls have been eating it in the mornings with breakfast and I love having a slice in the afternoon with my cuppa chai. It’s perfect to snack on any time of the day! And with the holidays right around the corner, make an extra batch for a relative or neighbor. What a great gift to give too!
If you like this Pumpkin Bread recipe, try out….
I love bread. In any form. I love carbs, what can I say?!
One of my favorite recipes is this delicious Rosemary Focaccia Bread. It is so light, springy, soft, and oh so delicious straight out of the oven, it’s hard not to eat the entire loaf.
Even better is that making this bread is so easy. Doesn’t matter if you’ve never made bread before or are an experienced bread baker. This Rosemary Foccacia Bread is a fail safe recipe.
So, if you have more restraint than I do (literally have to stop myself from eating it straight out of the baking dish!) then here are a few different ways to serve this bread:
As an appetizer with a dipping oil
As a side with a main dish
Toast it up to serve with soup
Make sandwiches
What kind of flour do I use?
Good question! I’ve tried this with only All Purpose flour and only Whole Wheat flour and as a mix of both. Here are my results:
All Purpose: comes out amazingly soft, springy, and delicious. Not so healthy though but it does taste divine!
Whole Wheat flour: comes out tasting delicious but is very dense and doesn’t rise so well. Also, does tend to be a bit chewier.
50/50: a great combination for both. You get a little healthier flour in there but also the light, airy texture that you are looking for in a Focaccia.
In the recipe, I’ve included the ratios for the 50/50 combination. Try out both and let me know what you think!
From my kitchen to yours, enjoy this delicious Rosemary Focaccia Bread!
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, sugar and water. Mix together well with a whisk. Let stand for 5 minutes so the yeast can bloom.
In the following order, add butter, then flour then the salt.
On setting 2, mix for about 5 minutes or until dough has formed and is pulling away from the bowl.
Take 1 Tbsp oil and grease the bowl well, then use the remaining to coat the dough.
Cover with plastic film and let rest for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.
After an hour, reshape into a tight oval. Let rise in a greased dutch oven or baking sheet lined with silicone. Let rest another 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Right before placing dough in oven, brush remaining oil over the dough, use a knife to slit an X on the top and sprinkle the remaining rosemary all over the dough.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle coarse sea salt over the hot bread.
Serve warm with your favorite dipping oil, as a side to a main, or use as a sandwich or toast.
Notes
**It is important that the water is not too hot or too cold when you are mixing it with the yeast. If it is too hot, the yeast will be killed and your dough will not rise. If it is too cold, the yeast will not activate properly and your dough will rise, but not by much and you will have a very dense bread.
**You do not need a stand mixer for this recipe. If you do not have one, feel free to use your hands!
I love a traditional banana bread but I also love changing out the fruits and making different types of loaves. This Spiced Pear Loaf gives me a peek into the fall with its hints of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger; the sweet pear chunks added in… oh so delicious!
This bread uses milk and oil in addition to the pear chunks to give it just the right amount of moisture. Use a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat flour and oats for a healthy balance of carbs, and just enough brown sugar to combine with the warm spices to bring fall home any time of the year!
Use this loaf for a snack during recess, packed in your lunchboxes, or even as a sweet treat post meals. So delicious and scrumptious, you have to try it out! From my kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoy this delicious treat!
My absolute favorite food on Earth is mangoes. I can’t think of a time that I didn’t like them. I love hearing stories from my mom about how I could go through a case (about 10-12 mangoes) in a sitting when I was a kid. Nowadays, I probably would end up with a tummy ache but I’m willing to give it a try. Continue reading “Mango Berry Bread Pudding Yum “→
I’m addicted to cooking shows. There. I said it. I admit it. I guess it’s not bad considering other things people are addicted to these days. Every Saturday mornings, you can find me glued in front of the television watching my favorite show, The Kitchen. I can’t bear to miss a single episode. A few weeks ago, they had guest chef Nikki Dinki on the show who shared her zucchini tacos recipe and instantly I knew I had to try those.
They are amazing! Forget eating them as tacos, my DH ate them on its own. SO DELICIOUS! I did make a few slight changes to her recipe to adjust for ingredients I had in the kitchen/pantry. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, shredded
2/3 c shredded Mozarella cheese
2/3 c Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Olive Oil Cooking SprayDirections:
Preheat oven to 450ºF.Place shredded zucchini in microwave safe bowl and heat on high for for about 3 1/2 minutes. Mix the zucchini around and replace in microwave for another 3 1/2 minutes. Let it cool then place in a cheesecloth and drain as much of the water out as you can. The drier it is, the better your batter and taco shells will turn out.
Add the eggs, cheese, bread crumbs, cayenne, cumin, salt and garlic powder. Mix well into a dough-ish batter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with Olive Oil Cooking Spray.
Make 8 portions in the shape of balls from the batter, the size just a tad smaller than a tennis ball. Flatten them directly onto the baking sheet into 5″ diameter rounds with your hands. They shouldn’t be too thick as the inside will not cook properly. Bake for 15 minutes. The taco shells should be slightly golden brown. Once you remove them from the oven, let them cool slightly before adding filling to shells.
I love cheese in any form, especially if it is goat cheese. Something about the creamy, sweet texture just hits the spot. This recipe was an accident made in cheese heaven during my pre-marriage days when my roommate and I wanted to be “fancy” without putting in much effort. We wanted to create a wine and cheese platter and all we really had in our fridge/pantry was a half log of goat cheese, lingonberry jam, grapes, crackers and honey. Of course we had wine….. lots and lots of it =)
Though it originated with crackers (which you can totally use if you don’t want to do a crostini), over the years, I’ve “refined” it to truly reflect our original vision of a fancy wine and cheese platter. This crostini is a great hit whether the husband and I are having a “quiet” night in or friends and family over for a dinner party. Ready in 10 minutes, how can you go wrong? Here’s how I made it:
1 Sweet Bread Baguette
1/4c Lingonberry preserves
1 small log of goat cheese (about 4oz)
Honey to drizzle
Preheat oven to 375°F. Take 1 baguette of Sweet bread and slice into 1/2″ slices (be careful not to cut them too thick – they’ll become too “bready” and the other flavor profiles won’t pull through). Line them on a cookie sheet and drizzle a little olive oil on them. Pop them into the oven for about 5-7 minutes until they crisp up and look golden brown.
Pull the baguette slices out of the oven and spread some goat cheese on each one. Next, add a dollop of lingonberry preserve, then drizzle a little honey over them.
There you have it! Easy peasy Goat Cheese Lingonberry Crostinis. I hope they bring the same smile to your face as they do to mine!
I was in need of bread to make sandwiches for lunch and decided I wanted to make my own loaves at home – at least I’ll know it’s healthier and what goes in it. Try it out and use it for sandwiches, toast with jam, bread crumbs, anything your mind asks you to create!
Ingredients:
1/2 c warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 c warm milk (I use 2% but you can use buttermilk also – it adds a bit of a tang to the taste)
6 Tbsp melted and cooled unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
4 c all purpose flour (plus a little extra to knead and roll the dough)
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 egg white
Directions:
1. Place the water in an electric mixer bowl and add yeast and sugar. Mix with fingers lightly. Allow yeast and sugar to dissolve for 5 minutes.
2. Add milk, butter, and honey. Mix on medium speed until blended. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, 2 cups of flour and salt. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 cups of flour and mix on medium speed until dough is not sticking to bowl. Knead on medium speed for 5-7 minutes.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a minute. Grease a bowl with butter (or EVOO), add dough then turn over so all of the dough is slightly oiled/buttered. Cover the dough with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour.
4. Grease two 9×5 loaf pans with butter (or EVOO). Divide dough (which should have risen beautifully by now) in half and roll into loaf shaped. Place each in greased pans and cover again with damp towel for another hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly whip the egg white and brush over each loaf. Place both loaves in oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.
6. Bread will be golden brown on top when ready. Remove from oven and turn over on cooling rack to remove from loaf pans. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing.