Tag-Archive for ◊ struesel ◊

13 Sep 2010 Veganized! Banana Chocolate Chip Coffeecake
Author:  |  Category: Breakfast & Brunch, Cakes & Cupcakes, Fruits, Veganized!  | Tags: , , , ,  | 2 Comments

This is a lovely, moist banana cake with a crunchy, cinnamon-y, chocolate chip-y topping. I reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe from 3/4 of a cup to 2/3 cup and eliminated the struesal layer in the center since the topping has both brown sugar and chocolate chips. It’s plenty sweet and I think it may have brought out the banana flavor of the cake a little more. I wasn’t happy with the egg substitution that I used the first time around so I went with the silken tofu in lieu of an egg. It really improved the texture and the crumb of the cake. This is an easy recipe and a great little cake for snacking or breakfast.

Thanks for the inspiration, Polly!

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

For topping:

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup organic brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

For coffeecake:

2/3 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy margarine, at room temperature (I like Earth Balance)
1/4 cup silken tofu
3 T soy milk + 1/4 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/3 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 3, large)
1 1/2 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with non-stick spray and mash the bananas in a small bowl. In another bowl stir together chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon and set aside. In your blender (or Magic Bullet) combine the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.  In the large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. I’ve used both a whisk and a mixer for this and either one worked fine. Add the silken tofu to the soy milk mixture in the blender and whirl ’til creamy. Stir the mashed banana and tofu/soy milk mixture into the creamed margarine and sugar. Mix ’til everything is nice and gloppy and then add the flour in 1/2 cup increments. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Pour the batter into a prepared pan and top with the chocolate chip/nut mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (mine was done after 35 minutes).

30 Aug 2010 Peach Crumble Bars
Author:  |  Category: Cookies & Bars, Seasonal, Sweets  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 5 Comments

Peaches are really good this year, which is good news after a few disappointing crops the last few years.  I’ve enjoyed some delicious, chin dripping peaches this summer.  Topping that, I’ve also had success with two new recipes using fresh peaches.  Here’s the first.  Move over brownies.  Move over lemon bars.  There’s a new kid in town: Peach Crumble Bars.  I like this recipe becasue the peach layer is composed of fresh peaches, not canned, not peach jam, real fresh peaches!  The crumbly cakey layer is light and buttery (whoa…light and buttery?  LOL…yes!).  Next time I would like to add some vanilla into the crumb layer; I don’t think vanilla extract will work, so it would have to be vanilla bean or vanilla paste.  Even without the vanilla, this recipe is a winner, juicy, chin dripping, peaches, with cake, in an easy-to handle bar.  What could be better? According the websites I consulted, this recipe can also be made with blueberries and raspberries, so it’s a versatile recipe, too!

I found this recipe at Annies-Eats and she found the basic crumb bar recipe at Smitten Kitchen.  Both sites have better pictures than I do…  One of these days I need to either find a photographer or take a food photography class.  I think I had better start looking for a friend who wants to photograph food–payment being the food that’s being photographed!

Peach Crumble Bars

1½ cups sugar, divided use
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
Zest of half a lemon
16 tbsp. (2 sticks….ouch) cold, butter cut into small pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches (about 5 peaches)
5 tsp. cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (I used about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg)

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Grease a 9 x 13? pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour.  Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the largest chunks are about pea-sized.  (I grate the butter, with a cheese grater.  Roll the butter in the flour mixture, grate, roll butter in flour mixture again if butter gets too soft to grate easily).  Combine well.  Stir in beaten egg. The resulting mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour.  Spread a bit more than half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and nutmeg. Gently mix in the peaches with a rubber spatula until combined.  Sprinkle the fruit mixture evenly over the crust.  Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the peaches.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown.  Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving. Eat within 48 hours, which shouldn’t be too difficult.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  I love your visits!

08 Feb 2010 Crumbly Topped Banana Muffins
Author:  |  Category: Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Muffins  | Tags: , , , ,  | 2 Comments

I bought a bag of over-ripe bananas about a week ago. They weren’t that ripe at the time. I was going to make banana cream pie with them, but then all the kids left and there was no one here to eat banana cream pie, except me, and I am having a hard enough time fitting into my pants as it is. Then the banana bag ripped and rapidly blackening bananas cascaded over my counter space. There was nothing to do but start baking. I started on banana muffins last night, two kinds. These crumbly topped ones are delicious, and they are still moist and yummy the morning-after. In fact, they are so good that I just dropped off half a dozen at my doctor’s office… I’ve got my fingers crossed that there will be a rapid return on my investment…

Crumbly Topped Banana Muffins

For Muffin
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups of mashed banana (that was only 3 of the ones on my counter…)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup veg. or canola oil or melted butter

For Topping
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 T. flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 T. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 10 muffins cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside. In another bowl mix together mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and oil or melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture. Do not beat, stir just until flour is moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups. In another bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted butter. Stir and mash with a fork until small crumbles form. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the batter in the muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

Yes, you should definitely make these. Thanks for stopping by!

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