Tag Archives: breads and muffins

Pecan Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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Is it even summer if you don’t end up drowning in zucchini at some point? I think not.

Between our garden and our CSA, we always have plenty of zucchini around. I have, of course, been experimenting with lots of new, fun recipes – but I just keep coming back to zucchini bread. It’s a classic.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread 1

This loaf is our favorite. It’s a little heavy on the nutmeg which gives the loaf a nice spice. Pecans and chocolate chips are mixed in, too, to add a little sweetness and texture.

This recipe does make a big batch, so it’s great to share with neighbors – or freeze a loaf for later!

And if you’re looking for more ways to use up your garden zucchini, I suggest Zucchini Scones, Zucchini, Chile & Red Onion Frittata, or Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas – all family favorites!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread 2

Thanks Ellen from Family Around the Table and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures for hosting our Farmer’s Market Event!

Thursday Farmer’s Market Week Recipes

 

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread 3

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread

Makes 2 large loaves or 5 small loaves

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla together. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the zucchini, pecans, and chocolate chips.

Divide batter between loaf pans. Bake until a knife inserted comes out clean – about an hour for large loaves or 35-45 minutes for smaller loaves.

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread

Cranberry Orange Muffins #CranberryWeek

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Cranberry Orange muffins are my favorite. I love cranberry and orange together, and this time of year always feels like muffin weather. Curl up with one of these and a hot beverage and you’ve got the perfect fall treat.

Cranberry Orange Muffins 1

These are an easy one to mix up and I love that it makes a relatively small batch – great for a small family brunch.

The flavors are bright. Orange juice and orange zest make the batter a sunny color, and the fresh cranberries add a great tart bite to these. I love these fresh out of the oven, but you can also pop them in the oven or toaster to warm up the next day and they’re also fabulous.

Cranberry Orange Muffins 2

I’m excited to be sharing this recipe as part of Cranberry Week – now in it’s third year! See all the tasty cranberry recipes being shared today below and follow #cranberryweek on social media for more ideas all week long.

Cranberry Orange Muffins 3

Cranberry Orange Muffins
(from Joyful Healthy Eats)
Makes 12 Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cranberries
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp. grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in cranberries.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, orange juice, orange zest, and coconut oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Fresh Corn Salsa (8)

Cranberry Honey Banana Bread #RecipeMakeover

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Disclosure: I received products from Barlean’s free as part of #RecipeMakeover week. All opinions are my own.

While I’m pretty decent at whipping up a healthy dinner when need be, my baking projects are decidedly different.  Tackling a makeover of one of my most-frequently-baked items – banana bread – seemed like the perfect challenge.

CranberryHoneyBananaBread1

As I was working on this recipe, I turned to products from #RecipeMakeover sponsor, Barlean’s. Their Butter Flavored Coconut Oil can be subbed 1:1 for butter – so that was a great place to start. Roasting the bananas brought out some more natural sugars, and using Barlean’s Digestive Blend punched up the flavor while adding some good-for-you stuff to the bread (it’s a mix of ground flaxseed, chia seed, quinoa, unsweetened shredded coconut, and a pumpkin blend that is remeniscint of pumpkin spice!) My added sweetener here was a local cranberry honey (fun fact: New Jersey is the 3rd biggest cranberry producing state in the US!) – I Iiked the flavor it added, but if you don’t have this available any honey would be great in this recipe.

The result? A banana bread that was really good – and much better for you than my usual go-to loaf.

CranberryHoneyBananaBread2

Cranberry Honey Banana Bread
(a Kate’s Recipe Box original)
Makes 1 loaf

4 medium bananas
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Barlean’s Digestive Blend
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of ginger
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted Barlean’s Butter Flavored Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Cranberry Honey (or regular honey)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line  a baking sheet with foil. Prick the banana peels with a fork, place them on the baking sheet, and roast for 15 minutes. Remove to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, Barlean’s Digestive Blend, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, Barlean’s Butter Flavored Coconut Oil, and honey until well combined. Mash bananas and add to the wet ingredients – stir until well combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until the everything is just moistened.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

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It’s recipe swap day! For the latest Blogger’s Choice swap, I was assigned Nichole’s blog, Cookaholic Wife.  She’s got a great mix of recipes on her blog but one thing she’s got a lot of? Muffin recipes. Breakfast is something I’ve been struggling with lately, so I thought a nice batch of muffins would be perfect.

But which one to pick? I strongly debated Fresh Orange Muffins, Peach Granola Muffins and Pear and Walnut Muffins before settling on these. These are definitely more simple, but there’s something so comforting about Chocolate Chip Muffins, in my opinion.

These were super easy to throw together and they’re delicious. Stored in an airtight container, they last several days on the counter so these were a great grab-and-go breakfast.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
(from Cookaholic Wife)
Makes 12

1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla.

Stir the melted butter and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and gently fold until there are no more lumps. Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter between twelve muffin liners.

Bake for 18-20 minute, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

Thanks to Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking for hosting! Here’s what the rest of the swap participants made:

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Pull-Apart Yeast Rolls

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When I was in middle school, everyone was obligated to take a few weeks of home ec. I absolutely loved it at the time – a break from “real” classes to cook and sew? Totally up my alley! The more time that passes, though, the more I appreciate those classes. Not only did they teach me some great basics, they also gave me a small set of very good recipes.

I first made these rolls in my middle school home ec class. I’m not sure where it originally came from, but I still have the copy the teacher passed out in class. She called them 90-minute rolls, because they took 90 minutes (2 class periods) start to finish. I like them because they’re easy to whip up for dinner without a whole lot of planning ahead.

Because it was written for middle-schoolers, this recipe is pretty idiot-proof. If you’ve never tried working with yeast because you’re intimidated, this is a fantastic recipe to start off with.

PullApartYeastRolls

Pull-Apart Yeast Rolls
Makes 12

2 to 2 1/2 cups flour, divided
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. slat
1 package dry yeast (or, 2 1/4 t.)
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. water
2 T. butter

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3/4 c. flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

In a small saucepan, heat milk, water and butter until lukewarm.

Gradually add liquids to the dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add 1/4 c. flour and beat on high speed for 2 more minutes.

Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.

Knead on a floured surface for 2 to 3 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pics, shape into balls and place into a greased 8″ round pan.

Cover with a dish towel and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Bake at 375F degrees for 20-25 minutes, untill nicely golden.