Other than gingerbread cookies, there is little that makes the house smell as amazing as banana bread! We needed a few last minute “office gifts” so I whipped up a few loaves of fresh banana bread but feeling festive, I decided that we needed to venture from the original recipe a bit so in went the chocolate chips! This recipe yields three mini loaves, one large loaf, or one pan of regular muffins. Wrap them up in some festive wrapping and tie some twine or raffia on them, and there you go! Homemade presents! Be sure to list that they have gluten, dairy and nuts in them unless you choose to make them without any of these which you can!
Banana Walnut Bread (w/Gluten-Free, Vegan, Nut Free Options) Adapted from my recipe for Banana Walnut Bread
Ingredients
1 3/4 c. flour (can use Whole-Wheat or Gluten-Free)
2/3 c. white sugar
1 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
1 cup mashed bananas ( 2 ripe bananas)
1 small banana, cut into chunks
2 eggs (use egg replacer if going vegan)
1/2 cup walnuts (omit if going nut-free)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (if going diary free, be sure to read the chocolate chip ingredients)
1 fresh orange, squeezed (my addition)
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and flour ( or non-stick spray) your baking pan(s)
In a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients
Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender (or two knives scissor-fashion) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs
Stir in the remaining ingredients until just blended
Bake in pre-heated oven as directed below:
Large loaf pan: 55-60 minutes
4 Individual Loaf pans: 30-40 minutes
Who doesn’t love muffins? Delicious, warming, hearty and the thing I love the most is the crunchy muffin top! On more than one occasion I’ve eaten the muffin top and left the rest, usually because there isn’t enough goodness throughout the rest of the muffin to keep my interest. I might have muffin ADD. That’s one of the reasons I LOVE making muffins at home, not only does the whole house smell amazing, but I love baking and it’s fun to make them exactly how I want and they are a wonderful easy breakfast option!
Wednesday night I roasted my own pumpkin (you can read the post here) in the effort to prepare the delicious pumpkin for baking. Pumpkin muffins have been on my mind for WEEKS! Well, last night was FINALLY the night! We had dinner plans with friends so it was the perfect time to make them and then LEAVE them to cool while we went out. This was my tricky methodology to keep myself from eating one…two …tasting my wonderful pumpkin creation!
I…LOVE…BAKING!! Fresh roasted pumpkin!? Check! Throw a few raisins and walnuts in there… let’s see what other spices can I throw in this bowl? Cloves are one of my favorite holiday spices because it always remind me of gingerbread, which is tied for first favorite holiday flavor right along with Pumpkin and Gingersnap.
The first words as he walked in the door were: “It smells like CHRISTMAS in here!” Holiday baking is one of my favorite hobbies of the entire year, and that declaration my foodie friends made my little baking heart well up with joy! Those muffins smelled as amazing when they were cooking as they did this morning for breakfast! Now, he’s NOT a pumpkin fan so I figured I’d be eating a dozen by myself (Oh darn), but dolled out some high compliments this morning as we both enjoyed them for breakfast. I reduced the sugar from the original recipe and they were still the perfect mix between spiced, pumpkin and sweet flavors and hearty enough to be satisfied with one muffin and some yogurt. It was the perfect fall breakfast! The garbanzo flour and Greek yogurt gave an extra protein punch which I appreciate in a muffin. I can’t WAIT to get home and eat another onetwo wonderful pumpkin creation! 🙂
Protein Pumpkin Bran Muffins with Walnuts & Raisins
Yield: 12 muffins
1 ½ c. Flour ( I like garbanzo, Whole Wheat or Almond but any flour will do)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. fresh grated nutmeg (you can also use ground if you have/prefer)
2 cups of fresh roasted pumpkin (or 1 15oz can of pumpkin)
2 tbsp. molasses
1 tbsp. honey (double if you like sweeter muffins)
1 egg
2 egg whites
¼ c. unsweetened applesauce
½ c. vanilla Greek yogurt
Raisins and crushed walnuts to taste
¾ cup Wheat Bran
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease your muffin tin or line with festive muffin cups
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in a medium bowl. The recipe called for double sifting, but since I don’t have a sifter and I’m way too lazy I just too my pastry blender (or you can use a whisk) and added a little fluffing to it!
In another large bowl, add the pumpkin, molasses, honey, egg, egg whites, applesauce and yogurt. Beat until all ingredients are mixed well.
Add the wheat bran to the flour mixture and mix.
Pour the flour/bran mixture into the pumpkin mixture and combine until just moistened. Don’t over mix. Add raisins and walnuts if you like them and pour into greased muffin tin. These muffins are pretty moist and I like the crunchier outside so I don’t use the paper cups since the muffins tend to stick. Don’t worry, they’ll be full and the pan will feel a bit heavy but they bake up with nice muffin tops! Optional: sprinkle the top with oats, wheat bran or pumpkin seeds.
Bake for 20 minutes in pre-heated oven. Muffins are cooked when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Cook on wire rack and enjoy!
Happy Easter everyone!! What better way to celebrate the Seattle sun than with a delicious cake for Easter brunch. A member of the family recently enrolled in cooking school so this was the year for me to take a back seat in the kitchen and a prime seat on the patio with a mimosa and let someone else do the work!
But, a chef can’t QUITE sit still that long so I whipped up a breakfast cake recipe, keeping in mind the diet of our Paleo host and hostess and I have to report that it turned out to be a delightful little post-brunch treat.
I was positive that our new chef would do just fine filling our stomachs with the main course so we needed a festive cake that was just a tad sweet, had a nice moist yet crunchy texture and a flavor that was both rich and light to satisfy the last few remaining bits of space in our brunch-ers stomachs. This cake did the trick! I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, since my recipes are comprised of a little of this and a handful of that but the measurements below are rough estimates.
Notes: If it feels a bit dry, add more applesauce or soy milk. A bit too wet opt for more coconut or a dash more flour. With the glaze, keep the mindset that less water is better! It’s easier to add more water than have a half batch of glaze leftovers.
I did a bit too much and wound up with a half bowl of glaze! Above all else, pour another mimosa and have a wonderful day!!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8inch round cake pan with Pam or Misto with Canola oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, applesauce and soy milk until smooth.
Gently mix egg mixture into dry ingredients until moistened; mix in carrots. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent cake with aluminum foil). Cool in pan, 15 minutes. Turn out of pan, remove paper, and cool completely on a rack, right side up.
Transfer to cake pedestal, and sprinkle with crumbled walnuts
Make glaze and drizzle over the top of the cake and walnuts or dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Directions
