The best and fluffiest sweet potato muffins!

Hello blog friends!
What a better way to start the year in my blog than with a healthy muffin recipe, right?!
I created this recipe last year when we had a bounty of sweet potatoes coming weekly in our csa box and let me tell you, it was one of the best muffins that have come out of my oven to this date. I was totally happy to hear the husband saying every day at breakfast that these muffins were delicious - since he doesn't say much unless I keep asking this meant a lot to me!
These muffins are simple and easy, but full of healthy ingredients. Not loaded with sugar, made with whole grains and healthy fats, so not bad as a component of a healthy and balanced breakfast, especially if paired with a glass of milk or yogurt (protein) and some fruit.
The one thing we were in love with these muffins was the fluffiness, they had such a delicious texture and flavor, it was truly one of the best creations around my kitchen in terms of baked goods.
On the first time I made these muffins I used this coconut yogurt:












It didn't impair a coconut flavor to the muffins, but rather gave them a hint of coconut sweetness on the background that I truly enjoyed!
I have also made these muffins using plain yogurt and with kefir (we were swimming in sweet potatoes around here), and all the trials turned out delicious, so don't fret if you don't have the coconut yogurt available - although I would advice you to try using it if you do :-)
We did a taste comparison of two muffins made with the coconut yogurt and with plain yogurt and I liked the one with the coconut yogurt better, but both Matheus and my husband didn't think it was that much different and happily gobbled them up!
For one of the batches I added dried cherries and chocolate chips, and for the other one I added a pecan half on top. Matheus liked the chocolate chip/cherries combo the best (wonder why?! chooooocolate!), while the husband preferred the pecans. I have to say that I think the cherries were a good combo with the sweet potatoes, and upon tasting that muffin version Matheus suggested using dried cranberries, which I think was a good idea too! Toasted chopped pecans inside are also good, for some reason pecans go well with sweet potatoes, doesn't it?
Here goes the recipe, please let me know if you try. Since this was one of my creations I always like to hear feedback!
Ana

My Sweet Potato Muffins

1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3/4 cup plain or coconut yogurt (6 oz container)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (canola, or grapeseed oil also work)
2 tbsp water
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional add ins: chocolate chips, dried cherries, pecans (I don't usually measure, but I am guessing I use about 1/3 cup of add ins all together, but hey, it is your muffin so you can add as much as you like!)

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl combine sweet potatoes, yogurt, sugar, oil, water, and egg and stir until well mixed. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and chocolate chips and cherries, mix all together until incorporated.
Pour batter into muffin tins oiled or lined with muffin cups.
Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes.
Makes 10 nice sized muffins.

Note: when I made the muffins using the flavored coconut yogurt I only added about 1/3 cup sugar to the batter and the muffins were plenty sweet (I find the coconut yogurt to be on the very sweet side). If you use the plain yogurt then the 1/2 cup + extra 2 tablespoons of sugar are necessary, but adjust the sweetness to your taste. I don't like things too sweet and never add more than 1/2 cup sugar to any muffin recipe that makes 12 muffins, and both Matheus and my husband thought this amount of sugar was great, which says a lot since they both like things sweeter than I do.

HoHoHo!!

Remember when I said I had celebrated the end of my grad school semester by baking cookies and that I had made the best Chocolate Graham Crackers?
Well, I wasn't kidding, and I couldn't wait to share it with you. Simply because these were truly the best Chocolate Cookies/Crackers I have ever made and eaten, they are that delicious!
The recipe I found at Ashley's blog The Edible Perspective, a super nice blog which I really enjoy reading, plus Ashley has some awesome recipes in there, you should take a look!
I saw this Graham Cracker recipe at Ashley's blog and could not wait to try making them myself, so as soon as I was done with my school work I entered the kitchen and made a batch. Oh my, it was Chocolate Graham Crackers perfection! Even the dough was delicious just by itself, and since it is vegan we were able to indulge on it without any worries - and I tell you, Matheus and I did have a fair share of raw chocolate cookie dough. However, the baked crackers were even better!
Perfect texture and taste, both Matheus and I loved them!
Matheus liked it so much that when I had to make reindeer cookies for his class' end of the year learning experience he asked me to make it with Ashley's recipe. Here is the result:















30 + cute reindeer cookies that I baked for the whole class, teachers and volunteers, we had a fun time at school!
To make the reindeer shaped cookies I used a circle cookie cutter which I bent into a triangular shape (the first reindeer cookie I made I shaped the dough into a triangle myself, that is the picture you see on the top of this post, using the cookie cutter made for a much more neat reindeer!). Cut out the triangles, stick two pretzels for the antlers, two chocolate chips for the eyes, and one red m&m candy for the nose and bake the cookies for about 10 minutes.
Couldn't be more simple and you cannot imagine how much the kids enjoyed this! Actually the teacher and the moms all really liked it too.
Since I followed Ashley's recipe exactly I am going to leave here the link and you can get the recipe at her website:
Chocolate Graham Crackers

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, and wish you all a Very Happy and Blessed Christmas! Ho Ho Ho to all!
Ana

Christmas Cookies!

Wow, where did the year go? Gosh, this semester was busy!
Going back to school was a lot more than I expected; grad school is intense, lots of huge, long papers to do, exams and more exams, projects galore, and all my free time was basically gone.
I have been doing everything I normally do as a mom and wife (cooking and cleaning, taking to school, picking up from school, taking to soccer, play dates, and I am also the room mom for Matheus' class) plus the new student life (studying in between activities), phew, I am just glad this semester is over. But I am also excited for the next one to come, I chose 3 classes that I believe I am really going to enjoy! :-)
I haven't posted in a while, but I have been cooking daily as I always did. Taking classes both on campus and online enables me to be more at home during the morning so I can invent and be creative in the kitchen. Thing is I find myself more and more cooking with my intuition and basic instincts. I have reached a point where I not only like to cook but I also know how to do it well enough to not be relying on recipes all the time anymore.
I surely still am feeding my love for cookbooks and added a few of them throughout the semester to my pile, but to be true I use them mostly for inspiration than anything else. Which is good as I can adapt the recipes I want to make to whatever I have at home, or to whatever flavors our palates prefer.
I just love knowing how to cook, it is a blessing I will tell ya!
You know how when you want to eat something and have been craving that dish for a while? See, when you know how to cook you just go into the kitchen and whip it up! This happened to me the other day, I wanted to eat pot pie, but I wanted it to be just the way I wanted. So when I had the time (and the phyllo dough defrosted!) I went into the kitchen and made the best pot pie ever. Ok, it was just the regular and usual one like the Pot Pie with Phyllo Topping I have posted here before. I adjusted the veggies to include my beloved (and in season!) butternut squash and used almond milk in the sauce (dairy issues friends), it was the most perfect pot pie I could have asked for. I ate pot pie like it was my job, and felt as happy as could be!
On days like this I am really glad I can cook - and that I like doing it too!
Anyways, last week I turned in my last project of the semester and what do you do when you are finally done and happy, with free time to boot?? You bake cookies, of course!!
I made the best chocolate graham crackers you could ever imagine, but the recipe will come in another post.
Today I want to share some of the other cookies I have been baking: Christmas Cookies! I love making these, I truly do, you have no idea how much. Decorating these cookies is therapeutic and something I could do for hours - which I do, as it takes a few good hours to decorate these babies.
This year cookies were made all in mini size, which I like not just because they are really cute, but also because they make the perfect bite when you want something festive and sweet. It is Holiday cheer without sugar overload! :-)
The recipe I used was my basic sugar cookie dough that I have already posted before (click here to see the original post), but I am adding it to this post so you all can see again.
They were decorated with royal icing, using the flooding method. I assure you, they are much easier to make than you could ever imagine.
You can decorate these anyway you want. This sugar cookie dough is super easy to make and the wonderful to work with, plus you don't need to wait for the dough to chill or anything. You make it and you bake it, and eat it too!
I made some with cocoa powder (the gingerbread man ones), but the consensus here at home was that the regular version was better.
Plus, I have better chocolate cookies to share with you on the next post, so stay tuned!
Hope everyone is having a good end of the year! Ho ho ho!
Enjoy!
Ana

Cookies in little tins to give to our friends as gifts!

Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add baking powder and flour one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff. Blend last flour in by hand. Do not chill dough. Divide dough into 2 balls, On a floured surface, roll each ball in a circle approximately 12" in diameter and 1/8" thick. Use cutters as guide; the dough should be only slightly thinner than cutter. Bake cookies on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper on top rack of oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden on the bottom.

Zucchini, Goat Cheese and Herbs Savory Bread

Another one of Elvira’s delicious savory bread! This one I have made more than once, usually in the summer when the zucchini and herbs are plentiful. It is a nice dish for a quick weeknight meal, and you can even prepare ahead of time which makes it even better. Totally helpful to come home from soccer practice and have something delicious waiting for you, no?!!

Just as with the sun-dried tomatoes bread the combination of flavors here is delicious, plus tell me: what doesn’t taste good with goat cheese??? Goat cheese is one of my favorite cheeses and here it really shines with the herbs, totally delicious!

Easy and simple to make, so much so that I am even going to keep this post short so you can go ahead and make it yourself, I am sure it is going to be fast and so rewarding that just like us you will be making this over and over, for many summers to come!

Enjoy!

Ana

And, for my Brazilian friends, you can see the recipe in Portuguese over at Elvira's blog by clicking here!

Since we are back in school I also made some in fun shapes and froze to use in future lunchboxes! yum!

Zucchini, Goat Cheese and Herbs Savory Bread

(adapted from Elvira’s Bistro)

100 grams all purpose flour

100 grams whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

50 grams grated parmesan cheese

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

150 ml milk

100 grams goat cheese, chopped or crumbled into chunks

3 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used basil, parsley and oregano)

1 zucchini, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a large bowl mix the flours, baking powder, a bit of salt (1/3 teaspoon) and pepper. Add the eggs, olive oil and the milk and mix together until you have a smooth batter. Add the grated zucchini, grated parmesan cheese, herbs and goat cheese and mix gently with a wooden spoon until all is incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for about 40 to 45 minutes until golden, or until a toothpick (or the tip of a knife) inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before unmolding. Let it cool before serving.

Savory Feta, Basil and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Bread

When I saw this recipe posted on Elvira's blog I knew I had to try! I have made another savory bread she had (posting to come!) and we really liked. Since we love all the flavors on this one I knew just by looking at the recipe that it would be a winner, and I wasn't wrong.
I made it on the same day she posted and we all loved it here, an absolute success with thumbs up from the boys!
Since I could not contain myself I did change a couple of things here and there, but nothing that compromised the flavor.
It is a moist and very flavorful savory bread, very delicious! We had it as a light dinner, with a side of green salad with veggies you don't need much more.
Plus it is super easy and simple to make and you only dirt one bowl, which are good things during summer break when you don't want to spend much time in the kitchen.
Hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!
I am posting the recipe the way I did. To see Elvira's original recipe, which is in Portuguese (bonus to my Brazilian friends!) click here: Cake de Feta, Tomates Secos e Manjericao.
Enjoy!
Ana

Savory Feta, Basil, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Bread

75 grams whole wheat flour
75 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
100ml extra virgin olive oil
150 ml milk
15 basil leaves, chopped
100 grams sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
100 grams feta cheese (feel free to use more or less), crumbled or cut into cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a loaf pan, set aside.
In a large bowl mix together the flours and baking powder. Add the eggs, milk, and oil and mix everything together with a wire whip until smooth. Add a bit of salt and pepper to flavor the batter - just be light on the salt as the feta cheese contributes a good amount of saltiness to the bread.
Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese and mix them into the batter with a wooden spoon (or spatula).
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for about 35 to 40 minutes, until golden.
Remove from oven, let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing from the pan. Cool on a wire rack.

(We didn't let it cool completely before cutting as we were hungry and it was smelling so good. The bits of warm cheese inside the bread were amazingly delicious, the flavors of this bread pairs really well together!)

Upside Down Tomato Basil Bread

There you go, the title says it all, doesn't it?! I made this recipe the first time last year at the very end of the tomato season, we liked it so much that I could not wait to make it again.
With two vases full of bright green amazing fresh basil and the first tomatoes coming in my CSA box yesterday this bread was something I could not pass up.
The dough is super simple to make, just mix everything, let it rest, open and use - plus the dough is wonderful to work with, really lovely dough.
Filling and topping are also easy and quick to put together. It takes a bit of time to wait for the dough to rise so you need to keep that in mind, but other than that this is a bread that is not only pretty and tasty, but it is also fun to make and eat.
The process of making this bread is similar to that of making cinnamon rolls, so after it is baked you can grab individual little buns filled with basil and Parmesan cheese and topped with bright and fresh ripened tomatoes. Do I need to say more?!
The recipe I got from the blog Simmer Till Done and basically I followed the recipe as is! My only thing yesterday was that I didn't have enough cheese for both dough and filling, so I only used in the filling. It was pretty flavorful and cheesy that way, I didn't hear one single complain, only "yums" and "this bread is really good" (the husband is a carb lover, he even remembered this one from last year, big thumbs up!)
I will post here how I made it, but take a peek at Marilyn's post, the pictures she has from her bread are really nice! Here is her post: Upside Down Tomato Basil Bread
This is a great snack to use up basil and summer tomatoes!
Enjoy!
Ana

Can you see the layers of basil goodness in there?!














Upside Down Tomato and Basil Bread
(Adapted from the blog Simmer Till Done)

Dough
1 package (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons warm water
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat, half white flour on my rolls)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Filling
4 – 5 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 cup shredded (or grated) Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (I didn't measure it, just added to taste)

Tomato Topping
3 large or 4 small-medium tomatoes

To make dough: put yeast and warm water in a bowl, mix with a fork and let stand for about 5 minutes. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, cheese (if using) and mix well, add 2 cups of flour and mix well with a fork or wooden spoon, keep adding more flour until you can gather the dough with your hands. Add flour only until the dough forms into a nice smooth ball. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic (or a towel) and let it rest for 1 hour, or until it doubles in size/volume.

For the filling mix all ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.

For the topping: remove seeds and coarsely chop the tomatoes, set them in a colander to remove any excess moisture as you prepare everything else.
I seasoned my tomatoes with salt and pepper before putting in the pan, but that is optional.

Preheat oven to 375 F, lightly oil a 10 inch round pan, cover the bottom of it with a round of parchment paper (makes it easier to remove the bread later on!) and lightly oil the paper itself.
Spread the tomatoes on the bottom of the pan and set aside.
On a floured surface, gently roll the dough into a rectangle of about 11 x 24 inches. Spread gently the basil and cheese filling on the surface of the dough. Roll the dough on the long edge as a log, make sure to roll it gently but tightly, as not to leave air bubbles. Cut the roll into 1 inch slices and place slices with the cut side down on the prepared pan with the tomatoes.
Put pan over a sheet pan (just in case of any drippings occur) and slide into the oven. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the rolls look golden on top.
Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, invert onto a big plate and serve!

Note: if you would like your tomatoes to caramelize you can slide the inverted bread into the oven with the broiler turned on for about 2 minutes - I skipped this step!
Also, you can let the dough rise a second time for about 20 minutes (while your oven preheats perhaps!) after placing the rolls in the pan, I also skipped this step as I didn't even realize it was in the recipe. It turned out great without this step, so I am not complaining about my little shortcut!

More muffins, with some experimentation!

Hey everyone! Man, this going back to school thing has been a lot more work than I thought it would be... I guess I was really out of rhythm with all this, because the school + family thing doesn't scary me much - I have done it already before.

School talk aside, remember the amazingly delicious Almond Butter Banana Muffins? Well, I really loved that recipe and have been having some fun in the kitchen by experimenting with it, so I came to report a couple of variations I tried.

First, I tried the same recipe but using Peanut Butter, and we found out that the peanut butter really competes with the banana flavors. While we could quite not taste the almond butter on the original recipe, the peanut butter flavor really came through in this variation. I still used bananas and everything the same, but one bite and you could easily tell there was PB in there - as opposed to the muffins made with almond butter that left Matheus and the Husband guessing what the "secret ingredient" was. The final verdict was that the we liked much more and preferred the muffins made with almond butter!

Another experiment I made was transforming the flavor and using Pumpkin in place of the bananas to create Almond Butter Pumpkin Muffins! This ones turned out really good and we all liked it. It was moist and with the same deliciously fluffy texture that the original banana recipe had. Only thing I did was use pumpkin instead of bananas and omit nuts, only adding chocolate chips; also added a bit of water as I thought the wet ingredient mixture was a little too thick, feel free to add a little more water if needed.
We liked these muffins, but in terms of Pumpkin Muffins the Vegan Pumpkin Muffins are still our favorite one. Matheus and I even baked a batch of them today as he wanted these particular pumpkin muffins for breakfast, it really is the best!

Now, back to this recipe that I have been tweaking around, even though we liked and ate all of the muffins, the very favorite of these were the original Heather's Almond Butter Banana Muffins, they were the absolute winner and I am sure will be repeated many times in my kitchen as I just can't get over the awesome flavor and texture these muffins have.
Really, if you want to try some great banana muffins then try this recipe, it is really good!
And here is the pumpkin variation I tried. If you guys try any of these variations let me know, I am curious to see if more people will like these so much as I did!
Enjoy!
Ana










Almond Butter Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup almond butter (I would NOT use PB on this one...)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oat flour (simply process oats in your blender or food processor until it becomes flour if you don't have this)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour - I am going to try that next time)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit if you use salted nut butter)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and line or spray muffin tins.
In a bowl stir together water, pumpkin puree, almond butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix everything together just until combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 18 minutes.

Yields 10 muffins

Heather's Almond Butter Banana Muffins

My love for almond butter had me trying new things with it lately - besides having it on top of my oats, graham crackers, or straight from the jar out of a spoon!
The first thing I wanted to use if for was Muffins!! Of course! Those of you who have been following me for a while already know my love for making muffins (just check the side bar for our favorite recipes!). It is one of my favorite things to make and experiment with, and almond butter was on my list to try for these.
Where else could I look for some delish recipes with almond butter than Heather's blog? A blog called "Heather Eats Almond Butter" could only lead me to something good, right? And it sure did!
I tried her Almond Butter Banana Nut Muffins and they were a huuuuuge hit at our house! Simply put, they were perfect! The muffins have 3 mashed bananas in the batter so they were banana-y and delicious, you can't actually taste the almond butter in these but it gives the muffins such an interesting flavor and awesome texture. My muffins came out super fluffy and sort of tender and soft inside. It was really such a different texture, and that is what drew our attention so much to these muffins, they were different and so good!
I already experimented with a variation and will be posting that tomorrow, but right now I will post the original Banana Muffin recipe that I got from Heather, with just a couple of minor changes I made. Her original recipe you can see by clicking here!
Try it, I am positive you are going to like! And if almond butter is not available I believe peanut butter would be really great in this too! (Matheus even asked about that!!)
And of course, check out Heather's blog, she has lots of yummy recipes and ideas there!
Gotta love Almond Butter!!!
Ana

Ps: as you can see, Matheus really enjoyed the muffins for breakfast, that's his picture and the only one I got of the muffins, so I hope you can see the goodness through that!


Almond Butter and Banana Muffins
(adapted from Heather's Blog: HEAB)

3 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup almond butter (or another nut butter of choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oat flour (simply process oats in your blender or food processor until it becomes flour if you don't have this)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour - I am going to try that next time)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit if you use salted nut butter)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350F and line or spray muffin tins.
In a bowl stir together the bananas, almond butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix everything together just until combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes (check at 18, mine were done by then)

I got 11 muffins out of this batter.

Easy chocolate cake!

Another day without school... still lots of ice/snow outside on the roads, and to get things a little worse it was raining, the whole day, sigh.
At least we were able to get out of the house and went to the YMCA, mom gets an workout and kid can play with friends, and we both come back home happy!
But what one do when there is another afternoon of nothing ahead and it is so cold out that it makes you want to have tea and hot cocoa for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Make chocolate cake, of course!
And that's what we did! You can't beat a slice of warm chocolate cake, it warms you up from the inside out - chocolate does put a smile on my face! (and wrecks my morning workout, but that's another story... we gotta live a little, right?!)
After a few days staying home I got the urge to bake, and after a batch of muffins (I made Morning Glory Muffins this time!) and a frittata for lunch I was left with no eggs... "no problemo", I can find a chocolate cake recipe without eggs, right? Sure, and to be true I even have one like that in my archives already (this one), but still I wanted to see if there was something different out there and got me some google action! (What can't you find on google, tell me?!!)
A minute on the search engine led me to some very similar recipes to the one I had previously made, and after adapting my recipe and and combining it with a slightly different one I came up with a new egg-free chocolate cake recipe, and guess what? It was way better than the one I made before!!
People, if you don't have eggs, or milk, or if you can eat any of those ingredients, do not fret, you can still have some awesome chocolate cake! Some call this a whacky cake, but you can call it whatever you want and I don't care, just don't shy away from making this cake, it is really yummy!
Plus you will only dirty up one bowl, that's all - and the baking pan. Super easy and so fluffy and chocolaty, we really enjoyed it!
The combination of vinegar and baking soda is the key to this cake, it is what gives the leavening action and make this type of cake rise, pretty cool, huh?
The cake was delicious warm just by itself, and that's how we ate it right after it came out of the oven. Then, a little later, we decided that a chocolate sauce would only improve the goodness. I quickly whipped some of our favorite chocolate syrup and we went to town, it was heavenly!
This recipe yields a small, 8-inch round cake, which was just perfect for the three of us. It is a fluffy, very tender cake, chocolaty and delicious, just perfect for another snow day!
Enjoy!
Ana

Easy no-egg chocolate cake

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 or 3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar (I used champagne vinegar, it was what I had)
3/4 cups sugar (feel free to add more if you want it sweeter)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water (cold)

Preheat oven to 350F and spray an 8-inch round cake pan with oil.
In a bowl mix up dry ingredients, make a well in the center, add wet ingredients and stir all together until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

My notes: start checking at around 20 minutes. Turn on the oven light and see how it looks, if risen then open and check with a toothpick, mine was done at 22 minutes.

Apple Muffins

2010 started and January is gone already, Gee, seems like time is really flying out of my hands lately!
However, we had a good start around here, and after a few weeks getting used to having classes again I am ready to come back and post more on my little space, I so miss this blog, I truly do and don't know why sometimes I can't get myself to post. Life happens and we get mixed up into other things I guess.
Anyways, I am loving my classes!! I am taking a Nutrition and a Food Science class this semester. Still just as a post-grad, but I certainly want to figure out which one I like best and decide what I want to do for the semesters that follow. Haven't made my mind yet. All I can say is that I am loving this idea of going to school to learn and talk about food, it is awesome!
On another subject, I have been cooking a lot lately too, and taking pics whenever I remember. Sometimes I get home from school and am so hungry that I just devour my food without thinking much about blogging it. Then as I eat and find it good the "oh, I should have taken a pic for the blog" thought comes to mind but it is usually a little late. I am working on paying more attention to that though!
Today I am posting an Apple Muffin recipe, one that come from Ellie Krieger and that is very yummy! It is my adaptation to one of her recipes. The original called for pecans but I did not used on mine. We do like pecans but seems like whenever I made these I am out of them so the recipe I am posting doesn't have them. Still, these are good anyway you make it, with or without nuts.
We are snowed in since Saturday... it might sound fun for some but I am tired of being trapped home. Our town is not well prepared for snow storms and with the bunch of inches of snow we got this weekend we ended up not being able to leave the house since then. Only today they started plowing the streets so it is safer to drive, but we still didn't have school or any other activity we might normally have. I am just hoping that tomorrow Cary (the city I live) will go back to normal life.
Ok, too much snow talk. I'll go ahead and present you with some good eats, which is all we have been doing these past days while trapped home!
Enjoy!
Ana










Apple Muffins
(adapted from Ellie Krieger)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (add more if you like)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup yogurt plus 1/4 cup milk)
1 apple peeled, cored and diced (or grated if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 350F and grease, or line with paper cups, 12 muffin cups.
In a bowl add flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar and diced apples, stir and mix all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk, the eggs, the applesauce, the vanilla and buttermilk, mix all together just until everything is incorporated. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

My notes: my batter was on the liquid-y side, I filled up my muffin cups to the top and got nice rounded muffins!

The "blogversary" cake!

After the 4 year celebration post I knew I had to come back here and share the recipe for the cake pictured there as soon as I could. Then Brisa asked me about it... how could I say no?!!
I am most happy to do so as this was a cake that we liked a lot. It is a Flourless Honey Almond Cake, and it came from the Eating Well magazine.
I made this a while back and found it to be special in a way so I wanted to post about it when something came up. Nothing better than the "blogversary"!
When you are not used to baking with almond flour a recipe like this can turn out to be an edible experience by itself. This is a light and airy cake, very flavorful and with a delicious texture. It is so different than your usual concept of how "cake" should feel like that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of both making and eating it.
The secret here, as noted in the magazine, is not to overbeat the egg whites. You don't need your beaten whites to be stiff or hold a peak here, just beat them enough to get them foamy. The whites is what ensures good part of the structure of the cake, as there is no flour here to help the eggs in support.
It is easy to make and a perfect cake to eat in the afternoon with some tea, which we did. And then had leftovers for breakfast the next day... yum!
Ana

Ps: notice that there should have been a lot more toasted almonds on the top of the cake but Matheus and I got carried away and munched on too many of them while I made the cake... oops! By the way, I didn't have sliced almonds and used the slivered ones, and they worked out well (roasted almonds sooooo good, aren't they?!?!?!)










Flourless Honey-Almond Cake
(Adapted from Eating Well)

1 3/4 cups almond flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Preheat oven and lightly grease (or use cooking spray) an 9-inch springform pan (the one with removable sides), line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the top of the paper as well.
Using an electric mixer beat 4 egg yolks, 1/2 cup honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt until well mixed. Add the almond meal and beat on low until all combined.
In another bowl beat the 4 egg whites on medium speed until they are foamy and doubled in volume (for about 2 minutes).
Using a spatula, gently fold the whites on the almond batter just until combined. Pour batter on prepared pan and bake until cake is golden and toothpick inserted on center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes.
Let cool in pan about 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges, remove side ring and cool completely.
Serve drizzled with honey and sprikled with the toasted almonds.

Notes:
1) If you don't have the almond meal but have whole almonds you can do the following: measure 1 1/2 cups almonds, spread them on a baking sheet and roast at 350F for about 7 to 9 nine minutes, stirring once halfway. Let them cool completely, then process in the food processor or blender until finely ground - this should yield about the 1 3/4 cups almond meal asked for the recipe.

2) The sliced almonds for the top are toasted on a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir them constantly and toast until golden, about 2 to 4 minutes at most.

Applesauce Snack Cake

This cake was a total winner here at our house, it is by far the best apple cake. Or at least the best one I have made and/or eaten!
Matheus and even the husband loved the cake too. So much so that they asked me to make another one just as the last two pieces were being devoured - by them!
I made it twice already and as I was separating the pictures to post the recipe today, Matheus took a peek at the computer and said

Matheus: "Is that the apple cake mom?"

Me: "Yes, I am going to post the recipe on the blog"

Matheus: "Yummm, that cake is good... so, when are you making it again?"

Seem like we will be having applesauce cake pretty soon around here again!
The key to this apple cake is using the right kind of dried apples. You should use the ones that are soft and moist, not the crunchy, chip-like ones.
Here is how the ones I used look like:










The apples not only add lots of flavor to the cake but, together with the applesauce, contribute for a very moist cake. And such moisture content brings me to the adaptations I made to the recipe.
The original recipe, from American's Test Kitchen, was made with a full stick of melted butter and all white flour. A first glance through the recipe told me that all that butter, besides being a whole lot for a small 8-inch cake, was not at all necessary for a desirable outcome. I didn't use quite nearly that amount of fat and got an amazingly moist and delicious cake. In fact, I believe I could decrease the fat even a tad more, but didn't want to change too much too soon.
Also, due to the high moisture ingredients present here I did what I always do to most of my cakes and baked goods: used half all-purpose and half whole wheat flours. Again, perfect texture and still very moist, with a boost on nutritional contents!
The version I am posting here is the recipe with my adaptations to it. If you want to see the original one take a look at the American's Test Kitchen website - you need to register, but it's free.

Now truly, if you like apple cake as much as I do then you definitely should try this recipe. It is a very simple cake, easy to make and really, really good. It's totally worth searching for the dried apples. This cake is awesome, and for once everyone around here agrees with me!
Enjoy!
Ana

A pic of the slice, see how moist it is?? I told you, go get some dried apples and make this cake. You are not going to regret it, I promise!










Applesauce Snack Cake
(Adapted from America's Test Kitchens)

3/4 cup dried apples (2 ounces) cut into pieces
1 cup apple cider or apple juice (I used apple juice)
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I omitted)
1/8 teaspoon cloves (I omitted)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare an 8-inch square baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray, then line it with a long rectangular strip of parchment paper and spray the parchment paper too. Set aside.

Put apples and apple juice in a small saucepan and cook, simmering, for about 15 minutes, or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Measure 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture into small bowl and set aside to use for the topping.

In a food processor or blender, process the dried apple mixture until smooth. Pour mixture into a large bowl and to it add the sugar + spices mixture, egg, salt, vanilla, oil, and applesauce, mix well to combine. Add the flours and baking soda, mixing just until all is incorporated and moistened.

Put batter into prepared pan, smooth the top with a spatula and then sprinkle it evenly with the 2 tablespoons of reserved sugar+spices. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool and serve!

Cinnamon Cookies... Hummmm!

I made a few different batches of cookies (and granola - but more of that on a later post) this month to give out to friends as yummy gifts and after the Butter Pecan Cookies (our very favorite cookie lately - and some of my friend's too, I was asked twice for the recipe on those!), these Snickerdoodles were the second best.
Matheus is a cinnamon fan (he loves cinnamon rolls!) and really liked these, he declared one of the best cookies we have made!
These are super simple cookies and what I liked the most about them was that they had a perfect balance of a crispy edge and chewy center, and I like chewy cookies. They had cinnamon flavor throughout without being overpowering and were on the sweet side (at least for me) due to the sugar coating, but were not extremely sweet that you would not be able to eat a couple in a row.
The cookie dough comes together quickly and the only part that takes a little longer is the rolling and coating in cinnamon sugar process, but still they are easy and simple to make.
One thing to note is to make sure to leave a good space between the dough balls because these cookies do spread a bit while baking. Also, let them cool a couple of minutes before removing from the baking sheet after baking as they are quite soft right out of the oven.
These are the kind of cookies to make on a rainy afternoon when you are at home without much to do. To me they felt like more comforting-type cookies, a little treat to satisfy an occasional sweet tooth.
If you are a cookie person (which to be true I am not...) make sure to give these a try, I am sure they will not disappoint!
Ana

Snickerdoodles
(Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2007)

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cream granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt to the bowl and beat just until combined. Shape dough into balls.

Mix 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small dish. Roll balls in sugar mixture, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake for about 8 minutes or until tops crack. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

The yield on these will depend on the size you roll the cookie dough, but you will certainly get at least 20 out of a single batch.

Butter Pecan Cookies!

I made these cookies last week and they just disappeared. It was definitely the most popular cookie with my husband, son, and coworkers I have made so far!
My husband kept commenting on how he liked the cookies and after taking some to work when I came back home there were no cookies left for me to even take a picture, nonetheless to eat. So... of course I had to make it again!
It is easy to see why these cookies were so welcomed by everyone. You get sweet and buttery and nutty all in one cookie, a truly delicious cookie, good for giving out to friends!
These are buttery but without being too rich/strong on the butter department, does this even make sense?? I guess some would find a similar aspect to shortbread cookies (which I am not too fond of) but I have to say that I like these a lot more.
The nutty flavor from the roasted pecans is just a great complement to the sweet butter cookie, really, one of the best cookies I have made.
Even its smell is deliciously inviting, plus they came out perfect both times (which is not the rule when it comes to cookies for me, I am not a good cookie baker I have to admit) and I still can't believe how so many people loved them!
I came across these cookies at Elise's blog when looking for a recipe to help me use up a bag full of tiny pieces of roasted pecans. Click here to see her post and pictures, plus if you haven't seen it yet check out the blog, she has some good stuff in there!
Here I post some step by step pictures that I took as I made them. They are the easiest cookies ever to make and the end result is just amazingly good, believe me, you gotta try these ones!!
Ana

Since I founf these to be just perfect to have with a cup of tea while chatting with your girl friends I decided to submit this recipe to Cris' October event "Cha da Tarde", so at the end of the post I will have the recipe translated to Portuguese to those who would like to try it too!

Butter Pecan Cookies
(Adapted from Elise's blog Simply Recipes)

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar, plus about two tablespoons more for coating the cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter omit the salt in the recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour

Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Toast the pecans in the oven for about 4 to 6 minutes. Take a look around 3 to 4 minutes if they are already chooped, up to 6 if they are still whole. Let cool and if whole finely chop them before adding to the recipe.
Using a stand mixer cream the butter for a minute, then add the sugar, salt, and vanilla and cream together for a couple minutes more. Add flour and beat just until everything is incorporated. Fold in pecans with a spoon or spatula.
Shape dough into balls, roll them in sugar and place on a baking sheet (I lined mine with foil but since it is a butter cookie there isn't a real need for this). With the bottom of a cup flatten the balls slightly just so you get a nice round but still substantially thick cookie.
Bake at 350F for about 12 t 15 minutes, depending on how big your cookies are.
I got 18 cookies from my batch and they took 12 minutes to bake. You don't want them to get too much color, just a lightly golden color around and at bottom of the cookies.
Let cool and be ready for the compliments when you serve these!

Here is how big my pecan pieces were...












Roll balls of dough into sugar...









Placed onto baking sheet...









Flatten with the bottom of a cup (I used a measuring cup for these!) and into the oven they go!










Biscoitos Amanteigados com Noz Pecã

3/4 xicara de pecãs picadinhas
1 tablete de manteiga em temperatura ambiente (1/2 xicara)
1/3 xicara de açúcar, mais 2 colheres de sopa para envolver os cookies
1 colher (chá) de extrato de baunilha
1 pitadinha de sal (caso use manteiga ja salgada omita o sal da receita)
1 xícara de farinha de trigo

Pre-aqueça o forno a 180C.
Toste as nozes no forno em uma assadeira por 4 a 6 minutos. De uma olhada em 3 a 4 minutos se suas pecãs ja estiverem picadas. Se estiverem inteiras fique de olho a partir de 5 minutos. Deixe esfriar e reserve p/ usar na receita. Caso as nozes estejam inteiras pique as antes de utilizá-las.
Na batedeira bata a manteiga ate ficar macia, 1 minuto. Junte o açúcar, o sal e a baunilha e bata novamente por uns 2 minutos. Adicione a farinha e bata somente ate incorporar. Com uma colher de pau ou espátula incorpore as nozes à massa.
Modele a massa em bolinhas, passe-as no açúcar e coloque-as em uma assadeira (eu forrei a minha com papel alumínio mas como os biscoitos contém manteiga nao é extremamente necessario, eles nao grudam muito).
Com o fundo de um copo, gentilmente amasse os cookies somente para que nao fiquem arredondados, mas nao deixe-os muito finos.
Asse a 180C por 12 a 15 minutos, dependendo do tamanho dos seus cookies.
Eu consegui 18 cookies com a receita e os meus levaram 12 minutos para assar.
Nao deixe que assem demais, o que voce quer aqui eh um leve dourado na parte de baixo dos cookies, assim eles ficaram crocantes na borda e amanteigados no meio.
Deixe esfriar, sirva e se prepare para os elogios pois esses cookies sao um sucesso!!