Chilly fall mornings – I hate them. I really should move to Arizona where the heat is too much so I could appreciate the Seattle mornings I have lived with my entire life. Alas, that will have to wait another ten years until my little tykes have left home and I am free to do whatever I please.
In the meantime, this Double Chocolate Banana Bread will act as a “hug” for your tummy. Moist and delicious, this is the perfect treat to enjoy with your morning or afternoon cup of coffee.
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch processed or regular)
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark or milk chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large food processor, combine the bananas, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Process until smooth. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes.
Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be covered and stored for a few days, or frozen for longer storage.
Makes 1 – 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.
I love bread and I especially love baguettes. There is something so warm and comforting about a fresh, crusty baguette that is warm out of the oven with a healthy slathering of butter. My mouth waters just thinking about it.
Although I love to bake, I have avoided making bread because I always thought it was too daunting, but on a recent trip to Costco I saw that I could buy a HUGE amount of yeast (about 3 cups worth) for about $4, so I thought I would give my bread making a try. Boy was I glad I did! First off, homemade bread is SO delicious and it is SOOOOO cheap! I am amazed at how cheap it is. For just pennies, you can make bread that is more delicious than what you would pay several dollars for in the store. I also have to add that it is easy. With the help of my Kitchen Aid, which does all the kneading for me, the only hard part is waiting for the bread to rise. Seriously, that is it. Here is my recipe for baguettes. I hope you give them a try.
Super Easy Baguettes
Ingredients
1-3/4 Cups Warm Water (Approximately 105ºF)
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar
4-1/2 Cups Flour Plus Extra for Dusting
2 tsp Salt
Vegetable Oil for Greasing
Directions
Combine the water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and blend well with a fork until the yeast is completely dissolved. Wait about 5 minutes until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour, salt and mix the dough hook on low speed just to incorporate. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 10-12 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Fold the dough gently, then let rise for another 45 minutes. It will look like this:
Fold the dough over on itself, pressing gently to release the gas. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, cut into 4 equal pieces, and round each piece into a smooth ball, pinching the seams together at the bottom of the ball. Cover the dough and let rise, seam sides down, until relaxed, about 30 minutes.
To shape the baguettes, on a lightly floured surface, press each ball of dough into a rectangle. Holding the short edges of the rectangle, lift and stretch the dough until the rectangle is as long as you would like. Roll the dough into a cylinder, pressing the seam closed with the edge of your palm. Transfer the dough, seam side down, to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the loaves and let rise until increased in volume by three-quarters, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425ºF. Score each loaf in several places by making diagonal slashes just through the outer layer of the dough with a very thin blade.
Transfer bread to the parchment lined baking sheet. Just before baking the bread, brush or mist each baguette lightly with water. Brush or mist the bread 1 or 2 more times during the first 5 minutes of baking time. Bake until the loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 30 minutes. Remove the loaves from the oven and let cool on wire racks before serving.
This September a major hurdle has come in my life – both of my boys are in school full time. Like most moms I have had days when this day couldn’t come soon enough and I have also dreaded this day like you can’t imagine. Someone once told me, “the days go by slow, but the years go by fast” and boy is that true. I remember tripping over countless squeaky toys while stressing out about whether or not my newborn infant was getting enough tummy time to have a strong neck and how will I ever get them to sleep through the night. Now, it is so much different. Will they be OK at recess? Will they have someone to play with? If they fall, who will kiss their scrape and hold them?
My babies are growing up and I have some sad days. Today was one of them, so I decided to make myself a special treat to warm my insides up. It is a Cinnamon Café au Lait with Spiced Whipped Cream. It was nothing close to having the arms of one of my boys wrapped around me, but for now, this will have to do – and it is pretty, darn good.
Cinnamon Café Au Lait with Spiced Whipped Cream
1 ½ cups low-fat milk
3 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
4 cups strong coffee
2 T sugar + ½ T. Sugar
1 ½ t. pure vanilla extract + 1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/3 c. very cold heavy whipping cream
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
Directions
Bring the milk, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the milk mixture to steep for 15 minutes. Strain the mixture, discarding the spices and bring it back to a simmer. Add the brewed coffee, 2 T. of the sugar and 1 ½ t. of the vanilla, and stir over medium-low heat until the sugar melts and the flavors are blended, about 5 minutes. It will look like this:
Meanwhile, beat the cream, nutmeg and remaining sugar and the remaining vanilla in a bowl, just until soft peaks form.
Pour the hot coffee into the heated mugs and add a dollop of the spiced whipped cream. Garnish with more nutmeg or cinnamon if desired.
Also, I had to add a picture of the angels I miss so much. They are the best…
I LOVE bread. Never once did I think I cold ever do one of those low-carb diets. It simply is not in my DNA. I NEED unrefined, processed, bleached flour. Preferably with butter. Unfortunately my efforts to make bread haven’t been very successful. It is not from a lack of trying, but if I do end up with a worthwhile product, often times I can’t honestly say it was worth the effort. I mean really – you can pick up a good loaf of bread at most grocery stores now days with zero effort. All this has changed now with this recipe…
Seriously, it takes TIME (you know the dough rising and all that), but in terms of actual hands on time, it is maybe ten minutes for the whole recipe. You dump everything in your mixer, let it mix for a few minutes, then let it rise, covered with a cloth overnight (in the same bowl – no transferring the dough to an oiled bowl or anything). The next morning shape it into a loaf, let it rise for one hour and then pop it in the oven for thirty minutes. Voila! Crusty, warm, homemade bread. Delicious!
Country Bread
Adapted from King Arthur’s Flour
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water (temperature doesn’t matter, you don’t need to proof the yeast – LOVE THIS!)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax (if you don’t have this, just up the whole wheat flour up by another 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. active dry yeast
Directions
Stir together all of the ingredients in a stand mixer with the dough hook. The dough will come away from the sides of the bowl and look like this:
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a cloth and let it rest overnight or for at least 8 hours.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into the loaf shape of your choosing on lightly greased sheet pan. Let the dough rise for 1 hour. It will look like this:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the bread is golden brown. That’s it – how easy was that?!
I woke up on Saturday morning with this ridiculous urge for donuts – homemade donuts. Fresh, hot and right out of the oil. I couldn’t resist the urge and dug up an old recipe for some Zeppole, that are known as italian donuts.
I love this recipe because there is no rolling and they go straight from your saucepan to the hot oil without the mess of a rolling pin or a floured board. The result is a light, airy donut, zeppole, whatever you want to call it. To me and my family they are just fabulous. Unfortunately for my husband, he was golfing Saturday morning and there was only one left when he got home. Maybe next Saturday he will be around to enjoy some straight out of the oil…
Saturday Morning Donuts
Ingredients
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup water
1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cottonseed or vegetable oil for frying*
Cinnamon Sugar (1/4 cup sugar plus 1 T cinnamon) or Powdered sugar for Dusting
In a heavy 2-quart saucepan (non-stick), combine sugar, salt, butter, and 1 cup water. Bring to boiling: butter will melt. Quickly add flour all at once; beat with wooden spoon until flour is moistened. Cook over medium heat, beating vigorously until dough forms a ball and leaves side of pan. Remove from heat.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating with electric mixer at medium speed after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth, shiny and satiny and forms strands that break apart. It should hold its shape when beater is slowly raised. Beat in vanilla. Dough should be fairly stiff, but sticky.
In electric skillet or large, heavy skillet, heat 1 to 2-inches of oil to 375°F (185°C) on deep frying thermometer. Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil, frying in batches. Turn the donuts once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Toss with cinnamon-sugar or powdered sugar. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.
