Cherry Almond Breakfast Cookies

This is truly the longest I have ever gone without posting on my blog and I have definitely missed it! In the last several months my husband and I both graduated from school, moved states, and are now getting settled in! I have still been cooking and I have also had time to read for pleasure (which was rare these last couple of years). Not surprisingly, I’ve been reading cookbooks and food related writing. My most recent reads have been Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist and Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach. Both are great writers and great cooks. Best of all, they enjoy entertaining and cook simply which I love! If you love to cook and are looking for a great read I highly recommend both book/cookbooks. Since I just mentioned Shauna Niequist I thought it’d be a good time to introduce one of her recipes that I recently made…her Breakfast Cookies!

These cookies are both healthy and delicious and they are great to grab as a snack throughout the day as well. If you’re only making them for a couple of people I would freeze some of the dough to pop in the oven at a later date.

Prep: 15 minutes (less if you already have almond meal on hand)

Cook: 14-16 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed so it isn’t solid
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup almond meal (you can buy this or make it by pouring almonds into a food process and crushing almonds until fine…but not too fine or they will turn into almond butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I will actually omit this next time because I didn’t feel the cookies needed it)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped

Instructions: In a bowl mash the banana with a fork, add coconut oil and almond extract. Add the oats, almond meal, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine. Add the coconut, almonds, and dried cherries. Stir again. Form the dough into balls and placed on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Flatten the top of cookies with the bottom of a cup. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes

Makes: 12 large and 24 small cookies

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Famous Banana Bread

 I had some ripe bananas on my kitchen counter and I was craving banana bread. I used to have a lowfat banana bread recipe that I would make with apple sauce, but I was in the mood to try something new. That being said, I Googled famous banana bread recipes and this is the one I used. It is said to be the famous banana bread from Flour Bakery in Boston. The bread turns out soooo delicious and tastes so buttery  but there is not a drop of butter in it! I also made several healthier modifications to the recipe so if you want to make the original it is here.

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 45 minutes- 1 hour

Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (the second time I made this I only used 1/2 cup of sugar and the hubby and I couldn’t tell the difference!)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil (coconut oil)
• 4 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt (I used honey flavored)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped *optional

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Enjoy 🙂

Glazed Lemon Bread

I’m a sucker for baked goods in general, but I love homemade breads and scones! This lemon bread is so flavorful and the glaze is amazing.

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (1 cup for bread and 1/2 cup for glaze)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 teaspoons packed grated lemon peel
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (1 tablespoon for batter and the rest for glaze)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 inch loaf pan. Stir flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add grated lemon peel. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to batter and stir. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean, about an hour. Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and rest of fresh lemon juice in small heavy saucepan  and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.

Transfer lemon bread in pan to rack. Gradually spoon lemon glaze over hot bread, adding more as glaze is absorbed. Cool lemon bread completely in pan on rack.

Source: Eagle Informer Magazine

Enjoy!

Delicious Cinnamon Rolls

My husband loves cinnamon rolls. One of his coworkers told us about a recipe for sticky buns and we adapted it, to make our own cinnamon rolls. If you like cinnamon rolls, you should make these, they’re great. If you LOVE cinnamon rolls…you MUST MAKE THESE. I promise, you won’t be sorry!

Prep: 10 minutes for sticky buns, 10 minutes for frosting (this can be made while the sticky buns are baking)

Cook: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

Sticky Buns

• 2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1/2 C. pancake syrup
• 1/3 C. packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional
• 1/4 C. chopped almonds, optional

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream (I used skim milk and it worked great)

Directions:

Spray a bundt pan with non-stick spray (or a pie dish if you do not have a bundt pan). Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired). Pour about half of the syrup mixture into the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges and close together to form a ring. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

While sticky buns are cooking, mix together your frosting. Combine all frosting ingredients and mix on medium-low with an electric mixer. Add more milk if frosting is too thick. Cool for a few minutes and frost.

Enjoy 🙂

 

 

Sweet Cornbread

I was making taco soup the other day and realized the soup would be even better if I had some delicious cornbread to go with it. I was already preparing the soup so I had to find a recipe that would be pretty fast to throw together. While searching I stumbled upon this great recipe at allrecipes.com. I read a few of the reviews and made all of the changes that one reviewer suggested (many thanks to that person). This recipe turned out so well that my husband requested I make it again a few days later. Here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes in muffin pan

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly grease your muffin pan. In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Pour batter into pan. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Yields: 12 muffins

Parmesan Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

…so good we ate half of them before I remembered to take a picture haha

I saw these on Pinterest and knew instantly I had to make them. My husband is a carboholic and loves loves loves any type of bread and rolls. Sure enough I made these and he told me they were his favorite thing I have made so far. Ha! And they were the easiest! The original recipe comes from this site: http://amandathevirtuouswife.blogspot.com/2012/03/garlic-parmesan-pull-apart-bread.html the awesome thing about these rolls is you can whip them up very quickly and it’s fun to change the seasonings up for a different taste every time.

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 20-22 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 can of refrigerated Grands biscuits (not the flaky layers)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried basil, or herbs provence (I used a pasta herb spice blend)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw the cold stick of butter in a bundt pan (or even a cake pan if you don’t have a bundt pan) and let it melt in the preheating oven.

While the butter melts, cut the Grands biscuits into quarters. In a bowl, toss the biscuit pieces, garlic, Italian Seasoning, and Parmesan cheese together.

Once the butter is melted, add the biscuit mixture, sprinkling with any cheese and garlic that gets let behind in the bowl.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20- 22 minutes until golden brown.

Yields: about 12 servings

Enjoy 🙂