CRANBERRY OAT BANANA BREAD

today's weather was beautiful. it was chilly and sunny and perfect running weather. which is what i did, i ran. i have decided to run a 10k (for you experienced runners...don't judge i'm not a long distance runner or huge lover of running) and a co-worker made me a training schedule for the next two and a half months. it'll be weird to go from: spin classes, hot yoga, and kick box to running, regular yoga, and weight training. i'm excited though!

today is the second day of the 11th week of this new year...which means this is week 11 of baking something new every week. i love having a new treat to look forward to every week. i can't express how much i love being in the kitchen and baking stuff. 

this week i decided to make cranberry oat banana bread. how delicious does that sound? ah, i just love baking! i know you are so rolling your eyes at your computer screen right now. i bet i sound super cheesy in every single post, but i seriously get so excited when i even think about baking something new. i'm a total weirdo. i get it. back to the cranberry oat banana bread...

i seem to always be missing at least one ingredient and don't realize it until i need it. this time it was the bananas. we just stocked up on bananas, but they aren't ripe yet. what did i do? drove to the store in the middle of baking to go get the stinkin' bananas. ripe bananas. whatever, it was so worth it.

i dare you to make this recipe and not get excited about baking it. let me know how that goes. i bet you will take back those eye rolling glares. guys, this baby smells so good when baking. right before opening the oven and taking it out i just took all the scents in and was in heaven. man, i am so over dramatic when it comes to baking. 

:: this is such delicious bread, but next time i will definitely add less cranberries 

and maybe even not use cranberries and use chocolate chips instead. i love banana with chocolate!

cranberry oat banana bread:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting pan 1/4 cup rolled oats, plus 1 handful for topping 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated white sugar 1 cup smashed ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 bananas) 1 1/2 cup cranberries 1. pre-heat oven to 325˚F. lightly grease a 9x5-inch pan and dust with a tablespoon of flour. 2. in a medium bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 3. in a measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk. to the buttermilk, add the vegetable oil and vanilla  extract and mix until combined. 4. in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs, light brown sugar and white sugar together until  thick and pale, approximately 3-5 minutes. mix in smashed banana and buttermilk mixture. in two  batches, add flour mixture, mixing until just combined, being sure not to overmix. 5. fold in cranberries and transfer batter to prepared loaf pan. top with a handful of rolled oats. 6. bake quick bread for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (it  took my bread about 1 hr and 15 minutes). invert bread onto a rack to cool. cranberry oatmeal banana  bread will be moist up to 3-4 days. wrap tightly in plastic wrap to preserve its freshness. enjoy! xo, e

PRETZEL TIME

who doesn't love pretzels? every time i am at a mall and pass wetzel's pretzels i kind of die inside. why? because all i want is to cave and get a dang pretzel! my mom and i love pretzels. like really love them. so naturally i have been wanting to make them for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. i finally decided to make them yesterday after re-stocking the baking section in my kitchen. these are relatively simple to make. i do wish there was more dough so i could have made these babies a bit bigger and make more than  just 8. who doesn't want big pretzels?! these taste pretty great. these are a perfect summer snack...who am i kidding these are a perfect anytime snack!

recipe taken and tweaked from a cozy kitchen

Pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast 

4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 ounces (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

vegetable or olive oil, for pan

10 cups water

2/3 baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water

pretzel salt (or regular salt)

combine the water, sugar, and kosher salt in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. allow it to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. add the flour and butter and mix it until it is well combined. when the mixture starts getting doughy take the dough and begin to knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes. remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with the vegetable or olive oil. return the dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. sit it in a warm place for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. 

preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. line 2 half sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable or olive oil. set the pans aside.

in an 8-quart saucepan bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil.

in the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope (this part is a little hard because it takes some time to get it to stretch out this much). make a u-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rop, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the u to get the shape of a pretzel. place onto the parchment-lined pans.

place the pretzels into the boiling water, one by one for 30 seconds. remove them from the water using a large flat spatula and return to the pan. brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with salt. bake until the pretzels are dark golden brown in color, about 15  minutes. transfer the tasty pretzels to a cooling rack.

CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

a resolution goal of mine for 2012 is to bake or make something every week. i've done a good job so far of baking every week, but it always happens to be on the last day of the week. i am so busy i always put it off. i'm the happiest while i bake so i don't understand why i put it off. i was trying to find a simple recipe to make tonight. something that could last at least a week and be good for breakfast and dessert. i randomly decided i wanted to make chocolate oatmeal muffins. i finally found a simple chocolate muffins recipe and tweaked it and added some other ingredients. i ended up making chocolate chip banana oatmeal muffins. they are to die for. i've had only one and am trying incredibly hard to resist the urge to eat another one..and then some more after that. i am happy with how delicious they turned out and they did not take very long to make.

chocolate chip banana oatmeal muffins

1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 mashed banana
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1 tsp vanilla

preheat oven at 400 F. in a large bowl combine flour, sugar, oats, chocolate chips, cocoa, baking powder and salt. in a small bowl beat the eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla together. add the milk mixture to dry ingredients stirring until moistened. add the mashed bananas and mix well (i didn't mash my banana all the way because i wanted chunks of it in my muffins). spoon the delicious batter into greased muffin cups. lick your spoon multiple times (you won't regret it). bake at 400 F for 18 to 20 minutes. let cool for 10 minutes. enjoy!

this recipe made 15 muffins, but that is because i like when my muffins are big so i filled my muffin cups all the way to the top. if you fill them a little past the middle you are bound to make around 20+ muffins.

i hope you love them as much as I do!

-e

BAGELS AGAIN

Bagels are just so hard to resist. I'm pretty obsessed, guys. I should be sent away to some place that treats people with bagel obsessions. I wanted to make kale bagels again because I think about them all the time like in my dreams and stuff. The problem was that my mom had been begging me to make blueberry bagels and I decided to try something new. I had a recipe picked out, (thank goodness I didn't use it) but after realizing it asked for an ingredient I did not have I ended up finding one from a blog I sometimes like to read. I went out and bought some blueberries and flour (lately flour lasts me about a week) and got right to it. These are kind of annoying to make. The berry juice adds A LOT of moisture to the dough and makes it kind of hard to handle. They taste great, but I think I'm gonna stick with my beloved kale bagels. 

Recipe tweaked from Food Coma- Blueberry Bagels

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups bread flour 
1 cup bread flour (use while adding blueberries)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used a little under a cup)

In a small bowl combine the yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Just let it sit and fizz for a few minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook combine the flour and salt. Add in the yeasty water and the remaining water. Knead by hand or with your mixer for 6-8 minutes. You want the dough to feel very elastic-like.

Now turn it out onto a generously floured surface and knead in the berries. The berry juice will add moisture to your dough so you will probably want to just keep sprinkling it with more flour as you need. Then place it in a well oiled bowl and cover. Let it rise for 1 hour.

Turn out onto a floured surface and cut into 8 pieces. Knead and shape each piece into a bagel/doughnut. Place these on a pan, cover and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Get your pot of water ready, fill about half way. Bring to a boil and lay a bagel in the boiling water, it should float. Let it boil for about 30 seconds on one side, then using a slotted spatula or spoon, flip it and let it boil on the other side for another 30 seconds. Repeat with all the bagels. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes.

Enjoy! 

ICE CREAM

I have always wanted to make homemade ice cream again ever since I made it many years ago at my aunt's beach house. I remember how much fun we had picking out the toppings and everything that was going to in the ice cream. So much nostalgia goin' on over here. The reason I have been putting it off for so long was that every recipe I found always required a stinkin' ice cream maker. I don't have one and was almost going to buy one when...wait for it...I FOUND A RECIPE THAT DIDN'T REQUIRE AN ICE CREAM MAKER. That needed to be capitalized, guys!

Excitedly I sent someone to go get me some condensed milk (they came back with evaporated milk instead) and then sent someone else to go back and get the correct type of milk. I'm not a diva or anything, but it was one of those "be lazy and wear sweats all day" kind of day.

Once I had the right ingredients I mixed everything and decided the ice cream needed some chocolate chips! I added them and put it all in a container and froze it. It says to freeze for 6 hours and I guessed it would be good by then, but I would give it a few extra hours before trying some. The top layer is extra creamy, but once you are past that first layer it's basically chocolate chip cinnamon ice cream heaven.

Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 (14 oz.) Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 or 1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks in large bowl. Whisk sweetened condensed milk, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla in large bowl. Add chocolate chips. Mix well. Fold in whipped cream.

Pour into a 2-quart container and cover. Freeze 6 hours or until firm. Store in freezer.

Have fun making this! It is super simple and delicious!

KALE BAGELS

The title was funny to me because in my head I was pretending everyone would understand that kale almost sounds like kill. So, what I am trying to say is that...I WOULD KILL FOR THESE BAGELS. I am pretty obsessed. They were so stinkin' easy to make and even easier to eat. The recipe only makes 8 (I wish it made 8,000) and there are only four left. I only ate one, but my family seems to love them. My dad ate two this morning. These kale bagels are healthy which made me love making them even more. I might never buy bagels ever again because all I want to eat are these.

One bunch kale, about 8 ounces (225 g), stems and ribs removed, torn into small pieces, thoroughly cleaned
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce substitution)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini (a little under a tablespoon: peanut butter substitution) 
1 large clove garlic, grated (or minced)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading

I didn't have two of the ingredients so I did a little research and found out you can use soy sauce as a substitute for tamari and peanut butter as a substitute for tahini. 

Combine kale, yeast, tamair, olive oil, tahini, and garlic in a large saucepan, cook on medium-high heat until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Transfer and pack down really tight (with a spoon) into a glass measure, and cover with water until reaching the 2-cup mark. Blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a countertop blender. Check that the temperature is at about 100°F , and stir in the yeast. Set aside for a couple of minutes.

Combine kale/water mixture with salt and flour. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and pliable. Shape into a ball.
Lightly coat a large bowl with about 1 teaspoon of any oil, turn dough around to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough. Divide it into 8 equal portions, shape into balls by pulling at the dough from the sides onto the bottom, to cloak. If the dough retracts when you try to shape it, give it 5 minutes to rest until it cooperates.

Insert your thumb in the center of each dough ball, and twirl dough around it until the hole reaches about 1 1/2 inches in size. Let rest for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper, a silicone baking mat, such a Silpat, or grease them with a little oil. Once the bagels have rested, place 4 bagels at a time in the saucepan, and let boil for 1 minute in all, flipping them over after 30 seconds: try to avoid having them get too close to one another.

Scoop out bagels with a slotted spoon. Place on prepared baking sheets. Repeat until all bagels have been boiled. Bake for about 24 minutes, one sheet at a time, until the bagels are golden brown and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL MUFFINS

One of my New Year's Resolutions Goals is to bake something every week. I love being in the kitchen baking and cooking and decided this would help me get better at it. I've been really busy (a total understatement) and missed last week, but this week I am making  up for it by baking two things. Yesterday I made some Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal muffins. I wanted to make other goodies, but realized that was impossible because I basically only had the ingredients to make muffins. I was bummed, but then glad after they came out because they were so dang good. I found a simple recipe for muffins and decided to add on from it. I loved them, a lot. And so did my family because they only lasted around 10 hours before they were gone. I will definitely be making these again!

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal muffins

Yields one dozen muffins.

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk + 1/3 tablespoon extra milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 2 bananas)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line or grease the wells of a muffin tin.

In a medium to large sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and bananas stirring until just combined.

Add the chocolate chips and rolled oats (walnuts optional) gently stirring to combine.

Fill muffin full and then bake 18-20 minutes – tops should be golden and a toothpick should come out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin, and then remove muffins to a rack to cool completely.