Brown Sugar Carrot Bread with Almonds and Coconut

April 12, 2013 by Mackenzie

I’ve been on a bread-making kick the last few weeks. It’s such a good way to use up leftover vegetables and you get a great snack out of it. We’ve pretty much had some sort of bread around all semester, whether its the sweet potato bread I posted the other day, this recipe or the one I’ll post in a few days… It’s a fun treat!

On Easter Sunday, I went a little crazy and made four loaves of bread – and this was one of them! The almonds and coconut give the flavor of the carrot bread a unique twist, and using only brown sugar gives it a beautiful amber color.

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread with Almonds and Coconut
Makes 1 loaf
Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s Cookbook, How to Cook Everything (Awesome cookbook btw!)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons cold butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk or almond milk
1 tablespoon grated orange zest or lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and dust with flour.

2. Stir together the dry ingredients and then cut in butter with two knives or in a food processor until there are no pieces larger than a pea. Transfer to a large bowl if done in food processor.

3. In a small bowl, beat together the milk, zest and egg. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until the batter is just moist, do not overmix. Fold in the carrots, almonds and coconut.

4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

“Once-a-week” Sweet Potato Bread

April 10, 2013 by Mackenzie

So you probably know I have an obsession with sweet potatoes. Every time I go to the store I buy 3-4 and would gladly eat them for my next three meals! I made this bread for the first time about six weeks ago and LOVED it – and now my suite requests it every week! I’ve been tinkering with the recipe to bring down the amount of butter and finally found the right balance! The best part about this bread is how moist it it – oh my gosh I want a slice right now.

Sweet Potato Bread
Makes 1-2 loaves (it depends on the size of your sweet potato. The first couple times I made it, it all fits in one loaf pan – the last time it made two loaves. You can always freeze the second loaf!)
Recipe adapted from Three Clever Sisters

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (do not use regular whole wheat flour – it totally changes the taste. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, all AP flour is fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Flesh from 1 med-large sweet potato
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Roast the sweet potato. Preheat oven to 425F, wash sweet potato, pierce it several times with a fork and place on a foil covered baking sheet in the oven for forty five minutes to one hour, or until a knife runs through it easily. Allow to cool. (You should do this step a couple hours in advance)
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and dust with flour to prevent the bread from sticking.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the sweet potato flesh, sugar, and brown sugar with a mixer until well combined. Mix in butter and applesauce then add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each one. Beat in the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, beat it then add half the milk and beat again. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Do not overbeat.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean, about an hour. Let bread cool in pan for 20 minutes then allow to cool on a rack.

Quinoa Peanut Soup

March 9, 2013 by Mackenzie

I made this soup for dinner last night because we had most of the ingredients already and we needed to use up the produce before we all left for break! The recipe comes from the most recent Eating Well magazine and it just sounded so good that I had to make it!

The proportions we used are quite different than the original recipe because we wanted to use everything in the fridge – almost all the veggies are doubled from what it calls for. But I think that made it better because we ate this as our main dish instead of as a first course or a side and so all the veggies made it more substantive and filling. The peanut butter gives it a really distinct flavor – transforming it from a traditional vegetable soup to one with some South American flare.

After every drop was cleaned from our bowls, I thought of one addition we should have made – peanuts. I think they would have complemented the existing flavor really well and been a perfect texture addition. Alas, I will have to try that next time!

Quinoa Peanut Soup
Recipe adapted Eating Well Magazine, April 2013
Serves 2, easily doubled

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 large red potato, fist sized, cubed, skin on
1/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup peanut butter (more to taste – we added one more spoonful)
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 tablespoon hot sauce, tobacco (optional)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the carrots, potato, quinoa, broth and water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 18 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Stir in red pepper and cook for another 3 minutes. Microwave the peanuts butter for 39 seconds or so to thin it out. Then stir it into the soup, mixing well. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley, hot sauce and pepper and serve!

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

March 8, 2013 by Mackenzie

This recipe is one I made more than two months ago for Steve’s birthday! It’s been buried on my “to blog” list and I just haven’t had a chance to write it up! But with spring break upon us, I have all the time in the world to blog and cook and bake and blog and bake and cook and blog and…. 🙂 It’s going to be a great weekend 😀 We don’t leave until Monday morning for Arizona and with all of my suite and all my friends gone – I literally have nothing to do except cook and bake and blog about it 😀 Don’t worry, I don’t plan on eating all of it. I plan on giving it to some boys I know who are staying here over break, and bringing some of it to AZ for the team.

But back to this recipe… It’s pretty easy to whip up and the vanilla bean/salted caramel combo is to die for. The cake is quite dense, and almost has a cornbread-feel to it (or maybe I was just hungry for cornbread). I think we all agreed that the leftovers the second day were even better than having it the first day – not sure why, but hey! That just means another excuse to eat cake!

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
Makes one 9-inch cake
Recipe from Food and Wine

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped or 2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream

Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a nine-inch round cake pan. Cut out a circle pf waxed paper the size of the pan and place in bottom. Spray lightly with cooking spray so that it comes out easily. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients, for the cake, together (flour, baking powder, salt). In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between and then add the sour cream and the vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

2. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour
, until golden and springy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire rack, remove parchment paper carefully and allow to cool completely.

3. When the cake is almost cool, make the caramel sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let cool.

4. When ready to serve, poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer and pour the caramel sauce over the cake, allowing it to seep in and drip down the side. Cut into wedges and serve.

Anything and Everything, Chewy Oatmeal Bars

March 5, 2013 by Mackenzie

Now that the golf season has officially started, my days are a bit more jam-packed than they used to be. I fly from my last class to my dorm, change and am up to the Clocktower in just 15 minutes (usually that would take least 25 minutes). And of course, it’s 4 o’clock, which means I’m starting to get hungry…

I made these bars this weekend as a grab-and-go snack for when I’m running out the door to practice. I knew I wanted something that wasn’t crunchy and would make a mess in the car when I bit into it, that would reenergize me for golf and that would be a tasty snack to look forward to!

These bars are great because you can use whatever you have on hand – hence the name, “anything and everything.” I used what I had on hand – dried figs, raisins, walnuts, coconut and sunflower seeds – and they turned out great! I also cut down on the butter from the original recipe and substituted it with applesauce to make these healthier – and you couldn’t tell a difference!

Anything and Everything, Chewy Oatmeal Bars

Makes 1 8×8 pan – 9 large bars
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (if you don’t have oat flour, measure out 1/3 cup of oats and process in a food processor until very fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 cups of dried fruits or nuts (my combination was 1/2 cup diced dried figs, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup of roughly chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup ofshredded coconut, and 1/3 cup raw, unroasted sunflower seeds – other options would be dried cranberries, pecans, almonds, dates, apricots, pepitas, chocolate chips…)
1/3 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons lightcorn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper, making sure it comes up the sides so you can easily remove the bars from the pan. Lightly spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray as an extra precaution.

2. In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients – oats, sugar, oat flour, salt, cinnamon and all the dried fruit and nuts.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients (all the remaining ingredients). Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix it all together – I found using my hands was easiest.

4. Spread mixture into prepared pan and pat it all down nice and firm. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the edges have begun to brown. When you pull them out, they may seem a little soft but they will harden as they cool, plus you want them soft and chewy. Allow to cool completely and then slice bars. I found that storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator helped to solidify them if they seem a little crumbly. Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Brownies

February 28, 2013 by Mackenzie

Salted Caramel anything is automatically my favorite dessert – I love salted caramel ice cream (especially from Molly Moon’s in Seattle), salted caramels themselves (Fran’s has the BEST – also in Seattle), salted caramel frozen yogurt (new flavor at Chill in STL this month), salted caramel milkshakes (Bailey’s Range in STL has awesome ones!), salted caramel pie, salted caramel chocolate chip cookies… you name it and I love it. So when I saw these brownies on Smitten Kitchen’s blog (a blog Libby and I follow semi-religiously!), I knew these were going straight to the top of my “Next Up to Bake” list!

I brought them to a College Central Fellowship event and they were devoured!!! I even doubled the recipe and they were GONE. And I’m not ashamed to say I had three (although they were cut small so I didn’t feel quite as guilty!).

This recipe is GREAT and I highly recommend you take them to the next event you need to bring a dessert to – so you can’t eat them all because I totally would have if they had been left on my counter…

Salted Caramel Brownies
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Makes an 8×8 pan

Ingredients:

Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Brownies:
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Caramel:
1. Place a square of parchment paper on a plate – spray the plate to keep the paper from slidding off and also spray the paper just to make sure the caramel will come off easily.

2. Melt sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat – about 5 minutes, stirring to break up chunks. It should be copper colored when it is done, if not, cook until it reaches a nice copper. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, then the cream and salt. Return the saucepan to the stovetop and cook over medium high heat, melting it fully and cooking until it is a shade darker.

3. Pour caramel onto the parchment-plate and place in the freezer. Freeze until solid, about 30-40 minutes.

Brownies:
1. While the caramel is firming up, make the brownies. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with parchment, making sure that it extends up the sides so you can easily lift the whole thing out. Spray with cooking spray.

2. Melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water or melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between. (I did the microwave way because I was impatient). Stir until smooth. Add in sugar, then the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix until combined.

Assembly:
1. When the caramel has hardened, chop into rough 1-inch squares. Gently fold 3/4 of the caramel squares into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Scatter the remaining caramel squares on top of the batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

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