It's all about the recipe. Really, it is! I have amassed quite a collection of recipes from my favorite cookbooks and food magazines, and now, because of all the foodie blogs out there, I am adding more every day! I test every recipe I post. Some I've been cooking for years, decades even, others I have cooked just once or twice. I don't post mediocre recipes. I don't post good recipes. I post GREAT recipes, recipes that I LOVE. When I find a recipe like that, I can't wait to share it! And the only thing better than sharing a recipe is hearing that someone else tried it and is as excited about it as I am :) Please, try something! Then let me know if you love it as much as I do! Or even why you don't... Either way, I'd love to hear from you!
I love muffins and I love all things coconut. I can’t think of anything
better on a cool Sunday morning than a warm coconut muffin, a hot latte, some
social media, an old fashioned magazine or newspaper, jammies, fluffy slippers…
This recipe makes 12 delicious muffins. The muffins are dense and sweet, the top is crunchy, the banana and coconut combination is heavenly. These muffins keep well on the counter for a few day. Warm muffins today, room temperature muffins tomorrow. Yes, please.
Coconut-Banana Muffins
2 cups all-purpose
flour (250g)
1 ½ teaspoons
baking powder
½ teaspoon table
salt
1 cup mashed very
ripe bananas (probably about 3 small/2 large bananas)
¾ cup butter,
melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut
extract (optional, but a nice to have. Rather than running around all over town
for coconut extract, I order on-line)
1 cup sweetened
flaked coconut (divided use)
1-2 tablespoons granulated
or coarse sugar
Line a muffin tin
with 12 paper muffin cup liners.
Preheat oven to
375 degrees.
Whisk together
flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In another bowl
whisk together mashed bananas, melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, optional
coconut extract, and ¾ cup sweetened flaked coconut.
By hand, fold
flour mixture into mashed banana mixture and stir until just combined and all
flour has been moistened. Don’t overmix.
Portion batter
into the 12 prepared muffin tin.
Sprinkle each
muffin with a bit of the remaining ¼ cup coconut and a sprinkle of granulated
or coarse sugar.
Bake muffins at
375 degrees until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.
Cool slightly
before serving.
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today. See you again soon!
Bread baking is my Everest, meaning I haven’t conquered it yet. I’m not even at base camp so the bread recipes that appeal to me are easy and pretty much foolproof. Here’s one of them! The recipe is easy… I see you shaking your head. Is it because you’ve already noticed the 22 steps? Granted, that seems like a lot, but there are 22 because I broke each step down into tiny increments. You can do this! You can have a loaf of Sweet Apple Bread ready to eat in about two hours! For a fancy, fruit-filled, yeasted bread, that’s a pretty quick turnaround time! The two hours is not all hands-on work either, that time includes two periods of rest for the dough to rise AND the baking time! The resulting product is delicious and impressive. Around here the aroma of this bread baking reliably gets sleepyheads out of bed and ready to face the day with a smile on their faces!
I didn’t create this recipe; I am not nearly that smart. I found it in Better Homes and Garden, Fall Baking at the same time as my daughter, who found it online. Then I googled it, and the recipe is all over the Internet, so I don’t know who or where it first came from first, but it’s a good one, a keeper, and almost infallible. I did have it fail once, though. I didn’t measure the apples. I wanted more apples and more apples, so I probably ended up with double the apples and one soggy, flat, never-did-bake loaf, so don’t do that! Measure the apples! I have made this bread with both cinnamon and Apple Pie Spice and I prefer it with Apple Pie Spice. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, order it from Penzey’s Spices.
While looking for this recipe on line, my daughter came across an almost identical recipe made with pumpkin. Unbeknownst to each other, we both made it, on the same afternoon, and we both thought it needed some upgrading, so we’ll work on that. Look for an enhanced pumpkin bread soon but until then, make this one! It’s a winner!
Sweet and Cinnamon-y Apple Loaf
For the dough:
3/4 cup milk
1 package (2 ½ teaspoons)
active dry yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
(divided use)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups (375 grams)
all-purpose flour
For the filling:
1/4 cup melted or very, very soft butter
1 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 cups peeled and finely chopped Granny Smith apple (usually one very large apple)
3/4 cup (75 grams) packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice or Cinnamon
For the icing:
2 ounces cream cheese, softened (optional)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
In the microwave, heat milk until just until lukewarm, approx. 105°F to 115°F, about 30-60 seconds, depending on the wattage of your microwave.
Combine warm milk, yeast, and ½ tsp of sugar in small bowl. Stir until yeast is dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes.
In bowl of electric mixer combine egg, 1/4 cup melted butter, the rest of the granulated sugar, and salt. Beat for 30 seconds.
Add yeast mixture to egg/butter mixture. Beat with mixer on medium until combined.
Add half the flour to mixture in bowl. Beat on low 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed, then beat for 3 minutes on medium.
Stir in remaining flour. Beat for another 2 minutes or so.
Shape dough into ball (dough will not be smooth).
Place dough in greased bowl; turn once to completely grease surface of dough.
Note: To make ahead: prepare as directed up to this step. Do
not let dough rise. Cover bowl and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Cover
the dough with greased plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until nearly
double in size 45 to 60 minutes (longer if dough has been refrigerated).
Grease 9×5-inch loaf pan, or line with
parchment paper.
Note: Here comes the tricky part but it just sounds as if it’s tricky. Don’t stress it at all. The measurements are just approximate. Even the number of slices in the stacks are approximate. Eyeball everything! Have fun with it! Do. Not. Stress! This is a free-form bread. You can’t make a mistake. Go for it!
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
Roll dough into 20×12-inch rectangle (approximately, jagged edges are no
problem).
Brush dough with 1/4
cup melted or very soft butter then sprinkle with 1 tsp. white sugar.
In a small bowl, combine
chopped apples, brown sugar, and apple pie spice or cinnamon. Sprinkle this
mixture equidistantly over the dough.
Cut the dough rectangle
in half lengthwise to make two 20×6-inch strips (approximately)
Cut each strip vertically
into five 6×4-inch strips.
Carefully make 2
stacks of 5 strips each. Cut each stack lengthwise into three 4×2-inch pieces.
Now lift the stacks,
and loosely stagger stacks in pan, cut sides up. You’ll have to push and pull to
make all stacks fit. This is not a problem.
Lightly push down on dough to fill corners and level the top of the loaf.
Cover loaf with
greased plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until nearly double in size (40
to 45 minutes).
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake loaf for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and an instant-read
thermometer inserted near center registers 200°F.
Cool in pan 10
minutes.
In a medium mixer bowl
combine ingredients for icing: room temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar,
and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Beat in enough milk to make a
glaze of drizzling consistency. (NOTE: I usually make the icing without the
cream cheese)
Remove loaf from pan
and drizzle with icing. Cool at least 20 minutes more before eating (but bread
will keep well for a few days).
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today! Happy baking!
As a young kid, Jiffy brand cornbread was my favorite and because it was cheap, I think it was fifteen cents a box, it fit into my family’s budget. The mix only required one egg and a ¼ cup of milk or water to make six muffins. As I got older, I tried many cornbread recipes and I tried to get fancy by adding in corn kernels or topping with cheese or stirring in sour cream. I never settled on a recipe until I tried the Albers cornmeal no frills, back-of-the-box recipe baked in an 8″ x 8″ square pan. I was VERY happy with that recipe, until I found this recipe. The recipe is a bit odd, not so much in the ingredients, but in the mixing method. The resulting cornbread can’t be beat though, not by Jiffy, not by Albers, and not by adding in corn, cheese, and sour cream.
Cornbread is not just for chili or soup! In one of Ruth Reichl’s books, I learned how to elevate day old cornbread and now leftover cornbread is a favorite breakfast treat. Cut the square slice of cornbread, or the muffin, in half lengthwise—across the middle so you have a top and a bottom not a left side and right side! Butter the cut edges. Lay the buttered side down in a hot frying pan. Let the cornbread sizzle until the buttered sides are slightly browned and the cornbread is warmed through. Eat. Delicious!
This recipe was posted in All Recipes in 2006 by Bethany Weathersby. I’ve rewritten the steps to make the recipe easier to follow, but I have not changed any ingredients. Don’t use a mixer for this, cornbread needs to be combined by hand.
I am not going to get into the whole southern vs northern cornbread recipe debate. This is sweet cornbread, and I like it. I live in South San Jose in Northern California, and this recipe works for me and since I am posting it, I don’t see how anyone will not like it!
Grandma’s Buttermilk Cornbread
½ cup butter
2/3 cup of white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup cornmeal (yes, I use Albers)
1 cup all-purpose flour (125 g)
½ teaspoon salt (add ¼ teaspoon more if using unsalted butter)
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Butter an 8×8 inch square casserole dish
Melt butter in a large skillet or medium saucepan
Remove skillet from heat and stir in sugar
Quickly add beaten eggs into butter-sugar mixture
and beat until well blended
Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk
Add the buttermilk mixture to the butter-sugar-egg
mixture in the pan
Combine the flour, cornmeal and salt, whisk to
evenly distribute
Add the flour mixture into the pan with the
butter-sugar-eggs-buttermilk mixture
Stir until well blended, a few small lumps
should remain
Pour batter into the prepared 8×8 inch pan
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 25-30
minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
Let cool a few minutes
Serve
and share
NOTES: According to the originator of this recipe, the baked cornbread freezes well. She also states that it’s OK to sub whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour, but baking time will increase about 10 minutes. I haven’t tried this.
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today, what shall we make tomorrow?
It takes a lot to get true mango flavor in baked goods. This scone recipe manages it but it does require mango in three different forms: crushed freeze-dried mango, dried mango, and diced frozen mango. Then throw in a bit of coconut and a bit of lime zest and you have a Tropical Mango Scone. You also have to add an egg. An egg? In a scone? I am usually a scone purist. No eggs! But I’ll make an exception, just this one time, because it works in this recipe.
The original recipe only called for frozen mango, which is interesting in itself. I’d never baked with frozen mango. I didn’t think it would work, but it did! I added the freeze-dried mango (always available at Trader Joe’s, and now starting to show up in main stream grocery stores) and the dried mango (available everywhere) to boost the flavor.
Tropical Mango Scones
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
approx. 20 grams (less than one ounce) freeze-dried mango crushed to a fine powder
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup diced dried mango
½ cup sugar + additional teaspoon sugar (divided use)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
zest of 2 limes
½ cup butter, frozen
½ cup heavy cream + additional 1-2 Tablespoons (divided use)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup dried mango, diced
1 cup frozen mango, diced into ¼ inch chunks
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, crushed freeze-dried mango, flaked coconut, diced dried mango, sugar, lime zest, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine.
In another bowl combine ½ cup heavy cream, egg, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
GRATE the frozen butter into the flour mixture then, using a fork, stir the butter into the flour mixture until well combined.
Drizzle the cream-egg-vanilla mixture over the flour-butter mixture. Using the fork, combine the ingredients into a cohesive ball, this may take awhile. If the mixture is too dry, work a little extra cream into the mixture.
Gently fold in the frozen mango mini-chunks.
Divide the dough in half. If necessary sprinkle with a bit of flour. Shape the dough into a circle about the size of a salad plate.
Place onto one side of prepared baking sheet
Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, divide dough into six equal pieces.
Repeat with remaining dough in bowl (SEE NOTE BELOW).
Brush tops of scones with the additional 1-2 heavy cream, then sprinkle with additional 1 teaspoon sugar.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Remove from oven and share 🙂
NOTE: The second half of the dough can be placed on a plate and frozen for later baking. No need to defrost before baking. Just place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Might need to bake 2-4 more minutes.