Tag: flour

Aunt Sara’s Cranberry Bread with Cranberry Butter

 

cranberry bread with cranberry butter 2

 

Cranberries are finally available! I have been looking forward to this for months now. Cranberries are a seasonal treat that I enjoy.  I try to freeze a few bags when they are in season, but apparently, I forgot to do that last year.

I always say that my best recipes were passed to me by friends and family!   This family gem is no different.  Cranberry Bread with Cranberry Butter is one of my favorites. It’s delicious warm out of the oven, but my favorite way to have it myself is lightly toasted and served warm with this flavorful butter.

With many planning for Christmas already, this bread makes a thoughtful and lovely gift.  It’s also wonderful to take to parties and gatherings during the holiday season.

Aunt Sara's Cranberry Bread with Cranberry Butter
 
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Ingredients
  • Bread:
  • ¾ c. orange juice
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 c. chopped fresh cranberries
  • ½ c. chopped pecans or walnuts
  • Butter:
  • 1 c. fresh cranberries
  • 1 c. sugar
  • ½ c. butter
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions
  1. For the bread: Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease and flour a 4 x 8-inch loaf pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together orange juice, egg, and oil. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until moist. Fold in the cranberries and nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Serve with Cranberry Butter.
  3. For the butter: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar and cranberries until chopped well. Add butter and lemon juice and pulse just enough to mix well.

 

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

almond-poppy-seed-muffins

I have a question for the ladies out there. Do you ever take your purse and dump it out? Dump every little coin, paperclip, hair tie and piece of trash out of it? Then pick through the contents, get rid of those things that are cluttering it up and placing your necessities neatly back inside your purse.

With the painter almost finished here at our house I have been thinking about what I have that is really necessary and what can be considered clutter. It’s as if I have “dumped” it out and I am starting over. Just thinking about the purge makes me feel invigorated.  Imagine if you will, how much better our lives would be if we applied “dumping the unnecessary” to ourselves.  How much better would we feel to get rid of the negative thoughts that are cluttering our minds every day?

These muffins are wonderfully moist and delicious. The finishing touches are not necessary, but I love the added crunch on top. I promised easy recipes, and that is still my goal. This week’s recipe is easy, but I’m not sure how many of you will have almond paste lying around. These muffins are well worth the trip to the grocery store though. This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks. One that is well worn with plenty of vanilla splashes and creased pages. Almond Poppy Seed Muffins is from Marcy Goldman’s The New Best of Better Baking.com. You may add one teaspoon of lemon extract and a little lemon juice for a fantastic lemon poppy seed muffins.

 

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Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 4-oz. almond paste, minced
  • ½ c. finely ground almonds
  • ½ c. (4-oz.) unsalted butter
  • ¼ c. canola oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 c. sour cream
  • ⅓ c. milk
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2¾ c. all-purpose flour
  • 2½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp. poppy seeds
  • FINISHING TOUCHES
  • Slivered almonds
  • Coarse Sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Position the oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the sugar and almond paste together well, about 2 to 4 minutes. Add the ground almonds, butter, and oil and blend well. Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds and blend, scraping the bottom of the bowl occasionally to ensure nothing gets stuck in the well of the mixing bowl. If the mixture seems too loose, add a touch more flour. It should be the consistency of thick cake batter.
  3. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Top each muffin with some slivered almonds and sugar. Place the muffin cups on the prepared baking sheet.
  4. Bake about 30 to 35 minutes, until the muffins are nicely browned and spring back when lightly touched. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.

 

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins

cinnamon-swirl-banana-muffins

It is no secret that I enjoy cooking and all things that come with it.  Well, except for maybe the cleaning up.  I read cookbooks for pleasure and even watch a few cooking shows.  I also love a day off.  I’m up for a good restaurant any day with someone else doing all of the work.

 Savannah decided to come home over the weekend since the college campus was closed due to Hurricane Matthew.  Having her home was great, and I usually make a few of her favorite dishes while she is home.  This time, she cooked breakfast for us one morning.  She baked these fabulous Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins.  The cinnamon swirl was a great addition to banana muffins.
This recipe can also be used to make a loaf of banana bread.  Savannah said that the bread is better the day after it bakes.  We wouldn’t know because the muffins did not last long enough to find out.

 

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins
 
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Ingredients
  • 3 to 4 overripe bananas, mashed
  • ⅓ c. unsalted butter, melted
  • ¾ c. granulated sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1½ c. all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ c. granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with 12 paper liners or spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.
  2. Mix mashed bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and gently mix into the banana mixture. Do not overmix!
  3. Fill the paper liners half-way with batter. Then evenly distribute half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Add remaining batter to the top of each. Using a butter knife, swirl the batter. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
Notes
To make a loaf, pour half of batter the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Pour remaining batter on top and swirl with a butter knife. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

 

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

chewy-oatmeal-cookies

 

When life gets hectic, I turn to baking. Baking calms my mind and soothes my soul.

Big changes for the Melton household are underway! My head is spinning with all of the adjustments that we are experiencing. After 33 years with different jobs in the same department, Greg has taken a new job. Same company but new department and new responsibilities.  He’s excited about the challenges and looks forward to doing something new. I suppose I always fear the unknown.

 Our oldest child, Wes, has a job that he starts this week! A real, full-time, paying job! He worked a lot during college. Sometimes for no pay, but always with a goal in mind. A paying job is wonderful news, especially for our bank account.

Then there’s Savannah, our baby; she will begin her junior year of college in a few weeks. She is moving out again in just two weeks. She has been busy painting furniture, making Pinterest projects, and shopping for things she’ll need out on her own.

So, with all of that being said, I recently baked. I have been cooking low-carb for several weeks now, so baking these ooey, gooey, chewy oatmeal cookies was a treat! I love a good oatmeal cookie, and these are the best. Baked in a convection oven they bake in about 5 to 7 minutes. These cookies will spread while cooking to a thin, flat cookie.  Lightly brown the edges of the cookies, leaving the middle soft. They should look slightly undercooked in the center when you remove them from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet and they will firm up as they cool.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
 
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Serves: about 36 cookies
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Ingredients
  • 1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ c. granulated sugar
  • 1 lg. egg
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 3 c. old-fashioned oats
  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp. whole milk
  • ½ c. dried cherries
  • ½ c. chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Stir in milk, dried cherries, and chocolate chips.
  3. Place 1 tablespoon (slightly rounded, not flat, not heaping) mounds of dough 2-inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets. These cookies do spread while baking, so do not place too close together on your baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 10 minutes (or 5 to 7 in convection oven), or until cooked have browned lighted on the edges but are still soft in the middle.
  5. Let the cookies cool completely at room temperature on the pan.

Peanut Butter Fingers

peanut butter fingers

 

My fascination with cooking came at an early age. It developed when I would watch my mother, grandmothers, and aunts cook and share recipes over the years.

Both sides of my family, the Glovers and the Boltons, were large families. We lived on the same dirt road as many of my Bolton family members and would visit my Glover grandparents house almost every Sunday afternoon, along with many other family members. I was never without a cousin to play with, and I cherish those memories. What I wouldn’t give for one more lazy Sunday afternoon at Ma and Pa’s house or a hot summer day on that old dirt road picking grapes off Bo and Papa’s grapevines.

When I was a little girl, Ma gave me an old Pillsbury Bake Off Cookie cookbook. The book is almost as old as I am, dated 1967. I didn’t spend a lot of time cooking when I was growing up. When I was old enough to help out around the house, my duties were dusting, washing dishes, and vacuuming. However, there was one recipe that Mama would let me cook, and I made it often. At some point Mama even allowed me to start making it without her help. That recipe came from that old 1967 cookbook that Ma had given me, and it was for Peanut Butter Fingers.

Until recently, I had not baked the tasty treats in years. The old cookbook has my childhood handwriting in it, and the page with the Peanut Butter Fingers recipe is worn and has vanilla extract stains on it. Just flipping through the book takes me back…way back!

The peanut butter fingers are chewy with a frosting of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and then topped with a sweet peanutty drizzle. It’s best to bake these in a 7 x 11-inch pan because baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan they tend to be a little dry. Watch closely and do not overbake.

 

Peanut Butter Fingers
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ c. butter, softened
  • ½ c. creamy peanut butter
  • ½ c. sugar
  • ½ c. firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 c. rolled oats (I used old-fashioned but original recipe calls for quick-cooking)
  • 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Drizzle:
  • ½ c. sifted confectioners' sugar
  • ¼ c. creamy peanut butter
  • 2 to 4 tbsp. milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 7 x 11-inch baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a large mixer bowl beat butter until creamy. Add peanut butter and sugars, mix until combines. Add egg and mix well. Combine flour, soda, and salt, and mix into creamed mixture. Add oats and vanilla and mix until you have coarse crumbs. Press mixture into prepared pan.
  3. Bake at 350° F for 20 to 25 minutes. Watch closely because overbaking will cause the peanut butter fingers to dry out.
  4. Sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes. Spread evenly.
  5. Mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, and milk with a whisk or fork until smooth. Drizzle over the top.