Pumpkin Banana Bread

October 16, 2012 by

Happy Tuesday, internet friends! Before I get to today’s post, I found out that I was nominated as one of the Top 25 blogs on Skinny Scoop! I would so appreciate it if you guys could take a minute to click on over and vote for meeee!! Just click the icon below and then scroll down the list to find Eat. Drink. Love. and “like”!

Ok, now the recipe…Since we moved from one hot place to another hot place, it certainly hasn’t felt like Fall to me, but that has not stopped me from going pumpkin crazy in my house. The pumpkin candles are out and I think I bought every pumpkin product that Trader Joe’s sells this past weekend. Seriously, I can’t even tell you how happy I am to have TJ’s back in my life! So after buying crap tons of pumpkin, it was time to put it to good use!

First up, pumpkin meets banana meets bread. Pumpkin Banana Bread. Yes, it totally works. Trust. This bread is made with whole wheat flour and flax. It is not overly sweet, so you can eat it any time of the day! Yeah!

Print
Pumpkin Banana Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: about 12 slices

Ingredients

  • 1 large overripe banana, mashed
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 5 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar plus about 2 tbs. for sprinkling on top
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • nuts and/or chocolate chips, if desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Stir together the butter and brown sugar. Mix in the mashed banana, pumpkin puree, and eggs.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ground flaxseed, baking soda, salt, and the pumpkin pie spice.
  4. Combine the flour mixture in with the wet mixture until just combined. If you are using nuts or chocolate chips, stir them into the batter. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the extra brown sugar on top. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/10/pumpkin-banana-bread/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Desserts, Kid-Friendly, Snacks · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 21 Comments

Buttermilk Spice Muffins

May 15, 2012 by

Writing my dissertation is slowly turning me into a hermit. Every day is starting to look the same. Get out of bed, try to get a work out in, shower, and straight to the computer I go. I have been living in yoga pants. I can’t even remember the last time I wore real pants. Occasional trips to the grocery store and Chipotle have been my only exposure to the outside world. Poor husband, I’m being so neglectful and I look like a crazy person every day. At least I put a little make up on. I think that hides some of the craziness.

But, look, I took a little break to make you these muffins! If you’ve ever been to Mimi’s Cafe, you know that they have some seriously awesome muffins. One of my faves is their buttermilk spice muffin. So simple, yet so delicious. I love all the cinnamon and nutmeg. Lucky for me, Mimi’s shared their recipe on their website. Of course, in typical Stephanie fashion, I lightened up their recipe for y’all by cutting the fat and sugar. I think these muffins are pretty fab. The crunchy walnut topping is so delicious and gives the muffin some texture. Take that, Mimi’s!

Print
Buttermilk Spice Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 12 regular-sized muffins

Ingredients

    Muffin Batter:
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup sugar (or less if desired)
  • 2 whole eggs plus 1 egg white
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tbs. low-fat buttermilk
    • Nut Topping
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 tbs. brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a bowl, beat together the oil, applesauce, and sugar. Once well-combined, add the eggs and egg white and beat for another minute.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg.
  4. In small batches, add the dry mixture and the buttermilk into the wet mixture and mix until smooth.
  5. In a small bowl, add the walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon and nutmeg and stir.
  6. Prepare a muffin pan with muffin liners or spray with non-stick spray. Fill each cup up about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle the nut topping evenly over each cup. Bake immediately to avoid the nut topping from sinking into the muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Notes

Adapted from Mimi's Cafe

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/05/buttermilk-spice-muffins/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Low-Fat, Snacks · Tagged With: , , , 68 Comments

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Scones

March 16, 2012 by

Annnndddd, we have internet again! Yay! It cost us $120 dollars, but we have internet again! My life can now go on.

I’ve been seeing lots of Irish Soda Bread recipes floating around and figured that would be an easy enough recipe for me to whip up, but I wanted to do something a little different so I opted for a scone version! These scones would be perfect for your St. Patty’s Day breakfast! Now, I haven’t made scones since the 8th grade. No joke. We made them in Home Ec. class and my teacher looked like Dolly Parton. For realsies.

I have actually never had Irish Soda Bread before and with all the recipes floating around, I wanted for these to be as authentic as possible. Traditional Irish Soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.  I made a few additions with some whole wheat flour, cinnamon, a little sugar and raisins which takes away the traditional factor, but whatever! These scones smelled SO good while they were baking and I had to take a big bite right out of the oven.  They have a nice chewy texture with a touch of sweetness. Perfect for breakfast with a smear of butter or jam!

Print
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Scones

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 8 scones

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbs. sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk (plus 3 tbs. for brushing)
  • 1/2 cup raisins or currants
  • 1-2 tbs. raw sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center. Add the buttermilk and use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix in the milk until you have a soft dough. Mix in the raisins or currants.
  2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead into a round circle that is approximately 8 inches round.
  3. Slice the dough into 8 triangles and place onto a lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle the raw sugar evenly on top of each scone.
  4. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

Since there is no butter or eggs, soda bread dries out very quickly so I recommend making these scones the night before or the morning of the day you want to serve them. The scones are best served warm.

Adapted from: Joy of Baking

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/03/whole-wheat-irish-soda-bread-scones/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Low-Fat, Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free, Snacks · Tagged With: , , , , , , 28 Comments

Berry Citrus Bread

January 12, 2012 by

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m so excited because today you can find me posting over at A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis! I was ecstatic when I received an email from him and I am so honored that Chef Dennis asked me to do a guest post for him!

I decided to share my recipe for Berry Citrus Bread. It’s delicious and healthful and it’s packed with fruity goodness! So please hop on over and check out my recipe and say hi to Chef Dennis!
Filed Under: Breakfast, Desserts, Low-Fat, Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free · Tagged With: , , , , , 44 Comments

Whole Wheat Margherita Flatbread Pizza with Balsamic Reduction Sauce

January 11, 2012 by

Ok, I think I know one of the reasons I don’t like going to the grocery store. It’s the hoard of people. Perhaps it’s the small town that I live in, but seriously, my grocery store is always packed when I go. So packed that I can barely get down the aisles. WHY?! Is there nothing better to do here than go to the darn grocery store?! And let me just say that I don’t like crowds. I don’t like people being all up in my grill!! And why, oh why is that that whenever you get to where you want to be, someone is always in the freaking way of the food I want to grab. For example. I wanted to get some mozzarella cheese for this pizza. It took me at least 5 minutes to finally get to it because a couple just stood in front of all the cheese and were discussing what types of cheese they needed for the week. I stood there thinking, “DUDES, I know what cheese I want, get the heck out of my way! BLARGHHGHGHGHGHGHGH!”. I know, I have zero patience. I’m like the scrooge of the grocery store. And of course, it didn’t help that I was still pretty sick this weekend. Within 5 minutes of walking in, I was getting all sweaty. BLARGHGHGHGHGHGH! Ok, I’m done with my rant and my BLARGHGHGHing.

I hope you enjoy this pizza. It’s good…and stuff…

Whole Wheat Margherita Flatbread Pizza with Balsamic Reduction Sauce

Flatbread Recipe from How Sweet It Is

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

– 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

– 1 tsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 1/4 tsp. black pepper

– 1/2 cup water

– 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for brushing

– 3 garlic cloves, minced

– 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

– 2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced thin

– 2 tbs. fresh basil, chiffonade

– salt and pepper to taste

– 1 cup balsamic vinegar

– 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, dissolve the brown sugar with the balsamic vinegar. Bring the balsamic vinegar to a light simmer. Simmer until the vinegar is reduced by half (about 15-20 mins). Let the vinegar cool and it should thicken. You can make this reduction sauce in advance if you would like.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, water, and olive oil with your hands until a dough forms. Then place the dough on a floured work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. You do not have to worry about rolling the dough out into a perfect circle or square! I think the odd shape makes it look nice and rustic :) . Place the dough on a baking mat or on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake for about 5-7 minutes just until the dough just slightly starts to crisp up. Remove from the oven.

3. Brush the top of the flatbread with extra olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Distribute the garlic, then the cheese, tomatoes, and the basil evenly over the flatbread. You can also sprinkle the top with another pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the balsamic reduction over the pizza. Bake for another 8-10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and drizzle with the remaining balsamic vinegar if desired.

Notes:
- You do not need to use all of the balsamic reduction if you don’t want to! Feel free to use as much or as little as you like!
Filed Under: Appetizers, Low-Fat, Pizzas · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 48 Comments

Low-Fat Cranberry Orange Bread

December 19, 2011 by

Ok, I know, another sweet post. I just realized that everything I have been posting lately is sweet! But, I think this is probably true for a lot of bloggers out there. As much as I love baking, a part me of wants the holidays to be over so I can get back to my normal diet and so my kitchen doesn’t look like a bomb went off in it!

My mom and I love cranberries. In fact, on Thanksgiving, I think we are the only people that touch the cranberry sauce! My mom gave me this recipe for cranberry orange bread a few years ago and we both enjoy making it this time of year. Given all the sweets I have been eating, I wanted to try to make this bread a little heartier and lighter in fat. This bread is made with whole wheat flour and I also added in some flax meal which along with the pecans, gave this bread a great nutty flavor. This was also the first time I used applesauce in place of butter and I was pretty happy with the results!

Low-Fat Cranberry Orange Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

– 2 cups whole wheat flour

– 1/2 cup sugar

– 1 tbs. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– Grated rind of 1 large orange

– Optional: 1/4 cup flaxseed meal

– 2/3 cup fresh orange juice

– 2 eggs, lightly beaten

– 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

– 1/4 cup vegetable oil

– 1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries

– 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with wax paper and grease.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in orange rind. Make well in center and add orange juice, eggs and applesauce. Stir from the center until the ingredients are blended. Do not overmix. Add cranberries and walnuts. Stir until blended.

3. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Serve thinly sliced, toasted or plain, with butter or cream cheese and jam.

Notes:
- If you want to cut the sugar in this recipe, I actually made mine with closer to 1/4 cup of sugar, but if you wanted, you could use Stevia or Splenda!
- If you don’t have whole wheat flour, you can use white flour. Don’t want to use applesauce? Then use 6 tablespoons of butter!

Filed Under: Desserts, Low-Fat, Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free · Tagged With: , , , , , , 28 Comments