Birthday Jam

It was birthday earlier this week! Jeanne's too! So lets jam! I love apricot jam, and I equally love raspberry jam. For some reason I never thought to make a combo of the two... until this summer. I was at a local farm picking apricots when the farmer asked if I wanted to grab some raspberries while I was there. A big basket later and I was on my way home contemplating what to make.

Inspiration struck. Why not make a combo of the two!? 2 on the left are straight up raspberry, 2 on the right are apricot. Dead center is the 2 for 1 deal!

Apricot Raspberry Jam
recipe by steph chows
Makes 5, 1/2 pint jars 

3 cups pitted and quartered apricots (I don't skin mine, I'm a rebel)
2 cups mashed raspberries
3/4 cup + 1 Tbs water
2 Tbs Ball RealFruit Low or No Sugar Pectin (I bought the flex batch jug)
1 cup white sugar

1. PREPARE waterbath canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions, if preserving. Prepare and measure ingredients for recipe.
2. COMBINE prepared fruit with water in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in Ball RealFruit Pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
3. ADD sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat  and skim foam if necessary. 
4. Process jars for 10 minutes. To learn more on how to do this head here.

Depending on the amount of fruit you pick and type you can always use this handy dandy calculator over at Ball. It's super easy to use!




Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Boozy Cherry Jam

What? You don't toss alcohol into your jam at the end? Why not? It's tasty... and it's not like I'm giving it to minors, so all is well. :)

The booze of choice you might ask? Amaretto. Pairs perfectly with freshly picked sweet cherries if I do say so myself. In case you were wondering how many cherries I picked. 8lbs to be exact, and they were picked with love in the rain. Gotta love gortex. And a bonus is they were pre-washed at no extra charge ;)

I'm kinda excited by the color of this jam, it's just so vibrant and pretty! It did have a little separation issue though, all the cherries floated to the top when I processed the cans. So really it's a 2 for 1 deal. Jam at the top, jelly at the bottom. Best of both worlds if you ask me :)

Boozy Amaretto Cherry Jam
recipe by steph chows
Makes 8, 1/2 pint jars

5 1/3 cups pitted and halved cherries (chop more if you want a less chunky jam)
1 1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 Tbs Ball RealFruit Low or No Sugar Pectin (I bought the flex batch jug)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 oz amaretto

1. PREPARE waterbath canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions, if preserving. Prepare and measure ingredients for recipe.
2. COMBINE prepared fruit with water and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in Ball RealFruit Pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
3. ADD sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in amaretto. Skim foam if necessary. 
4. Process jars for 10 minutes. To learn more on how to do this head here.

 
Depending on the amount of fruit you pick and type you can always use this handy dandy calculator over at Ball. It's super easy to use!



Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Quick turn me right side up!

No no no, it's much more fun to be upside down! I can now check "make pineapple upside down cake" off my bucket list. I'm not sure how I've never made it before considering I love pineapple, but it took baking for a friends dad to remedy this situation! He's been going through a rough time so I asked what his favorite dessert was (since we all know a little something special always lifts your spirits). She told me he loves anything with pineapple, so after some google searches I decided on this bad boy.

My friend said he ate it over the course of two days, so I'm guessing that meant it was good! That's the worst part about giving someone a cake... there is no easy way to taste test it without it looking like a mouse got into the cake!

What do you do when making a cake to bring somewhere for the first time? Bake two so you can test it? Or plan ahead and test drive the recipe? I seem to like to fly by the seat of my pants and hope for the best :)

Tweet

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Must be Jelly cause jam don't jiggle like that

99% of the time I'm a jam all the way kinda girl, bring on the bits and pieces of fruit I say! But when it comes to elderberry... jelly is preferred (too many hard seeds!!!). Have you ever picked elderberries? They are super tiny and take forever to destem so getting them prepared is a HUGE pain in the bum.

I swore I'd never make jam/jelly out of these things again, but a good friend of mine asked me to come over and help her make some jam. Of course I said yes! It wasn't until after the date was set she told me what kind we were making... elderberry... NOOOOO!! *cue scary foreboding music*

It all turned out well though, she did all of the destemming grunt work before I even walked in the door, so it was a total walk in the park! We used bal low sugar pectine to make this batch and although at first we didn't think it was going to set... it all turned out beautiful :)

Have you have had elderberries? Do you think they are worth the hassle?

Elderberry Jelly

recipe adapted from ball low sugar pectine

makes 6 (12 pint jars)

4 cups prepared elderberry juice

2/3 cup grape juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 Tbs ball low sugar pectin

1 cup sugar

PREPARE waterbath canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions, if preserving. Prepare and measure ingredients for recipe.

COMBINE prepared juice in an 8-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in Ball® RealFruit™ Pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

ADD sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

PACK based on steps below.

1. LADLE hot jelly/jam into hot jars, one at a time, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars. Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight.

2. PLACE filled jars in canner, ensuring jars are covered by 1 to 2 inches of water. Place lid on canner. Bring water to gentle, steady boil.

3. PROCESS jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitute. Turn off heat, remove lid and let jars stand for 5 minutes.

4. REMOVE jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed. Clean and store jars according to manufacturer's instructions.

Tweet

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Raspberries and Greens, not just for salads anymore

I drink a green monster smoothie pretty much every morning. Why? Because some days I really suck at eating my veggies. Sure the intentions are there, crisper drawer chocked full of them... and sometimes it's chocked full of all limp ones because I haven't touched them all week...enter my morning smoothie, it makes me feel a little better about at least getting some veggies into my life :)

Normally I use this recipe. But I like to mix it up depending what is on hand. After a trip to the raspberry fields I knew they would be making an appearance.

How are you at getting veggies into your meals? Are you a rockstar? What's your favorite way to eat them?

Green Monster
makes enough for 2 people

2 cups organic field greens
1 cup skim milk
2 tsp ground flax seeds
1 banana
2 handfuls raspberries (frozen for a frosty kick)

Layer in a blender, greens, then flax, banana, berries and milk. Blend until spinach is totally liquefied. Drink immediately, if you let it sit it will separate into layers and then it looks weird (and personally I can't make myself drink it, it has to be fresh!).

Tweet

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Rock your socks off jam

Raspberry jam is one of my favorites to make, it was the first jam I ever made, and it couldn't be easier. Raspberries + sugar = done. So why mess with something so good? Because adding heat to things makes life more interesting! Sweet and spicy have always been a great pair, so why not with jam?

PS. Just a few days left to sign up for this years Jam Exchange! So get moving! (You have until July 31st to do so, otherwise you'll have to wait until next year!).

Raspberry Jalapeno Jam
recipe based on Simple Bites
(the only difference is I left out the lemon, since I didn't have any. whoops? still tasty and firmed up fine without it! and I used more jalapeno for some added kick!)

3 cups raspberries (approximately 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1 jalapeno, sliced along the sides ( I used 2, cause I'm spicy!)
1/2 lemon, juiced

• Prepare a small canning pot and two half pint jars. Place lids in a small saucepan of water and bring to a bare simmer.
• In a medium bowl, combine the raspberries and sugar. Using a wooden spoon, stir the sugar into the fruit, mashing the fruit up a bit as you go.
• Once the raspberries begin to release some juice and the sugar is starting to dissolve, scrape the fruit and sugar mixture into a wide, 4-quart saucepan. Add the jalapeno.
• Bring the jam to a boil over high heat, stirring regularly, until the berries break down and the syrup thickens. You should smell both the sweetness of the sugar and the heat of the chili.
• Once the jam has thickened to a spreadable consistency and passes the plate test, add the lemon juice.
• Remove pan from the heat and fish out the wilted jalapeno. Funnel the finished jam into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
• When jars are cool, remove rings and test seals. Any unsealed jars should be stored in the refrigerator.

Tweet

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Fruit and Nut Trail Bars

Always in search of a good mid morning snack I recently made a recipe from the Mussleman Apple Sauce webpage. These cookies are perfect for breakfast or an early morning snack. They are packed with pecans, cranberries (I used raisins), and even some chocolate chips. Did I mention they have zero butter and oil, yeah you knew I had a reason to love them :)

Fruit and Nut Bars
Click here to print

PS. If you haven't already check out my Giveaway!
 
Tweet
Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Frozen no bake Brownie Balls

Sounds good right? Considering Monday I posted about mashed potatoes and someone equated them to looking like a pile of poo... I figured I might as well post these bad boys. Although amazingly delicious and seriously addicting, John has lovingly nicknamed them poo balls. Yes folks I just went there. I know I should be talking about such things on a food blog... but seriously as pretty as I tried to dress them up...


Yeah they're poo balls.

Don't be discouraged though, these are oh so very very addicting. I found the recipe over at Cooking al(a) Mel and made them within a day. (her's look less poo like... why is that???)

Brownie Dough Bites
recipe from Cooking al(a) Mel

1/2 cup cashews (I nixed the walnuts and used 3/4 cup cashews instead)
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
2 T cocoa
1/2 t vanilla
1 T maple syrup or agave nectar (I've used both)
1/4 t salt (I used a little less)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a food processor, grind the cashews and walnuts until they are fine crumbs. Add in the dates and pulse until chunky. Add the cocoa, vanilla, maple syrup, salt and coconut. Pulse until well blended and a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips or pulse them in for finer pieces. Roll into bite sized balls and place in an airtight container in the freezer!

PS> I sent out jam exchange partners last night so if you think you signed up and you didn't get an email from me comment below and then email me at stephchows (at) gmail.com too please!

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Blackberry Loaf

I went blackberry picking in a local park last week, once I outran the cops I was home free to bake up these delicious loafs :D I actually use these loafs to bribe John's friends into helping fix things around the house. Lucky for me said friend has a sweet tooth for things like blackberry loaf. Score!
How do you bribe people to help you fix things around the house?

Blackberry Almond Streusel Quick Bread
recipe redo by steph chows
Makes 1 9x5” loaf

Streusel:
1 cup lightly toasted almonds, finely chopped
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbs firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons agave nectar

Bread:
2 cups blackberries
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
dash fine grain sea salt
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup granulated splenda or white sugar
¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup fat free sour cream

Make the Streusel: Toss the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Add agave and stir until combined. Divide mixture in half into two bowls; set aside.

Make the Quick Bread: Arrange oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9”x5” loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Toss blackberries with half of the reserved streusel; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to aerate and combine; set aside.

Beat together apple sauce and sugars. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry mixture in three additions, alternately with the sour cream. Begin and end with the dry mixture and beat briefly until just smooth.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly with a small offset spatula. Top with streusel/blackberry mixture, forming an even layer. Scrape remaining batter on top, spreading carefully to cover center streusel layer. Top with remaining streusel and place remaining blackberries evenly over top, pressing gently to help adhere.

Bake for about 55 minutes or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs when removed. Cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then unmold directly onto rack, right side up, to cool completely. I actually made this in 4 mini loaf pans so they only took 30 minutes to cook!

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

Blueberry Cinnamon Jam

If you haven't already, tomorrow (Thursday Aug 11th) is the last day to sign up for the jam exchange!! We're just a few people away from 100! Lets get it to over 100 people! :)

Now for one of John's favorite jams. Blueberry cinnamon! Made with fresh picked (by me) blueberries from a local pick your own farm. LOVE.

This is super simple to make, and lasts a year.

Blueberry Jam with Cinnamon (a low sugar recipe) Makes about 9 cups
10 cups fresh blueberries (washed and any stems removed)
2 cups raw cane sugar
2 cups splenda (if you don't want to use splenda use 4 cups raw cane sugar)
1 packet sure gel low sugar jam
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice

Rinse blueberries and place into a heavy bottom pot (I used a 5 qt pot) and add in 1/4 cup of white sugar mixed with the package of pectin and lemon juice. Slowly bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Once boiling add in splenda and remaining sugar and cinnamon all at once. Keep stirring constantly and bring back to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute and then remove from heat and place into sanitized mason jars (fill up to a 1/2 inch from the top of the jar - this is where a jar funnel comes in super handy) . Carefully wipe off any spills and place lids and rings on the jars. Use your tongs and place filled jars back into the large pot of hot water, bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove jars with the tongs and let dry on a cooling rack undisturbed overnight. Label your jars and give them to all those people you love :)

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.

First of the season

Perfection, in jarred form. How could you not love this? Sign ups are on for the jam exchange... want to join in? With over 75 (scratch that... 90!) participants from the US and Canada, it's going to be an epic exchange :)

Never made jam before? Head on over to the easiest jam recipe ever here. But I warn you, you're going to get hooked and want to make more :)

Tell me, what's your favorite jam/jelly flavor?

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)

Rocket Pop

I'm hooked on these vintage inspired pops. It doesn't get any more summery than a rocket ice pop mold if you ask me, and they are so easy to make it's not even funny! I've been making them left and right! My latest creation is a watermelon strawberry yogurt pop.

Steph Chows Pops
1 cup watermelon
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup greek plain yogurt
1 Tbs sweetener of choice (honey agave white sugar)

Dump it all into a blender and pour into your molds, add the tops and freeze until set. Easy as pie :)

So, what would be the first flavor combo you would mix up?

Tracy of Sugarcrafter came over for a day of crafting and we ate these as a mid day snack.

And check out the awesome skirt I showed her how to make! She did great!! You can make one too just head on over here to learn how!

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)

Clearly Fresh Bags

Have you ever heard of Clearly Fresh Bags? According to their website and packaging they make your produce last up to 50% longer. For a person like me who buys lots of fruits and veggies with great intentions... but doesn't always get around to eating them in time... this was a great idea!!

OK random question time. How do you like your bananas? Still a little green? Totally yellow? Starting to turn brown? It seems no matter how you like a banana the peek yumminess (yup that's a technical term) lasts about 1-2 days... and then it's all down hill and banana bread time. So that means you either need to hit up the grocery store every other day... or eat some not perfect to your liking bananas. These bags kept the bananas perfect for days!! For this reason alone I am OVERJOYED by these bags!! Look at the picture below.


Those bananas on the right have looked EXACTLY the same for the last 4 days!! The one left outside the bag.. whomp whomp.. sad sad banana, you will be turned into bread.

The bags also work with produce you keep in the fridge. Take my awesome home grown sprouts for example. Both of the piles below have been stored in the fridge for 2 weeks... which would you rather eat?


Clearly Fresh sent me a sample pack of their bags to test out. So the bags were provided to me but the opinions are all my own and totally truthful. You can learn more about their products here.

Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :)

Pi Day!

Ok any other nerds out there?? It's 3.14 does that mean anything to you? How about 3.1415926... it's pi!!! Come on I told you I was a nerd. In celebration of mathematical pi day, I made a pie. :D

Cherry Pie to be exact, and it's delicious!! I got the crust from a blog I recently found and fell in love with What would Cathy Eat. You can find the recipe here, and check her out! So many good recipes!!

As for the pie, I've made it here before, and still love it!

Cherry Pie Filling (using canned cherries packed in water)
6 Tbs brown sugar (more or less to taste, if you like a sweet pie you'll want to add more)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cans Oregon Red Tart Pie Cherries, drained, reserve juice from one can
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional but oh so tasty!)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can. In a saucepan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Gently stir in cherries and almond extract. Remove from heat. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan. Bake 45 minutes or until crust browns and filling begins to bubble. If necessary, cover edges with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing.

PS. If you didn't catch it this weekend, check out my Newman's Own Video debut!

Cherry Crisp - and a winner

I love cooking all types of sweets, healthy, unhealthy, vegan, bacon filled... hey, I don't like to discriminate :) The other weekend I wanted to make something super quick to bring along to John's parents, I didn't have much time at all, and I was totally out of butter (so bad for you cookies were out). I looked through my cabinets and found a can of pie filling. Lucky Leaf sent it to me awhile back and I had yet tried it. I admit I'm a "make my own pie filling" kinda girl... but I needed something fast and this was the perfect opportunity to give this a try. But the whole no butter to make pie dough was stumping me... hmmmm what about a crisp?? A vegan crisp that uses oil maybe?

To the internet!! A quick search brought this recipe up and within 5 minutes this dessert was in the oven cooking away. 30 minutes later, a tasty, not overly sweet perfect dish to bring along came out of the oven. Total life saver. So if you are in a pinch and don't have much in the house, this is a great recipe that uses mostly shelf stable staples you will find already in your kitchen :)

Now for the winner...
Congrats Mindie! I'll be emailing you to get your information and connect you with Shabby Apple Women's Dresses! Thank you everyone who entered!

Apricot Sucanat Jam

We have over 30 people signed up for the jam exchange this year!! Thanks everyone for joining in!!! To celebrate the imminent arrival of lots of jam I thought I'd share this recipe with you. It's made with sucanat from wholesome sweeteners and it's delicious!

The only negative to using sucanat in this recipe is it changes the beautiful yellow/orange color of the jam to a more brownish color... but it tastes 100 times better than using white sugar... so I leave it up to you, beautiful color... or delicious taste? :)



Apricot Jam
by steph chows

8 cups chopped up apricots (pits removed) chop them into around 3/4 inch sized pieces
2 Tbs lemon juice
4 cups sucanat (divided)
1 package low sugar pectin

• Mix 1/4 cup sucanat with box of pectin
  
• Using a large pot, stirring constantly, heat 8 cups chopped apricots plus 2 Tbs lemon juice and pectin/sugar mixture over medium high heat until they reach a full rolling boil (bubbles still happen even as you stir).
• Boil 1 minute (keep stirring)
• Add remaining 3 3/4 cups sugar
• Keep stirring constantly and bring back to a rolling boil for 1 more minute
  
• Remove from heat
  
• Pour into sterilized jars and seal with lids and rings
• Place jars into boiling water for 10 minutes (use your jar tongs don't just drop them in)
• Remove from water and let cool overnight, do not bump them while they cool.

this makes a little over 9, 1/2 pints of jam. So freakin good!!!

And of course here are some labels to put under the screw tops like I do!
click on the image to enlarge it, then right click and save to your desktop. Open and print to fit 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper!


So I'm actually off camping today... can't wait to share all the fabulous campfire recipes we come up with on Monday!

Strawberry CC Muffins

So last night John and I were sitting around when we realized there was not ONE baked good in the entire house!! Horror of horrors how did this happen??? We decided it was time for some muffins... but what kind? How about blueberry? Hmmm out of all types of frozen fruit... Banana??? None in the freezer and the ones on the counter were too far away from being ripe... Pumpkin??? Seriously... we don't have ANY pumpkin in the house??? But there is ALWAYS a can of pumpkin in the house!? Huh... now what?

I'll tell you now what... 2 containers of strawberry yogurt and some chocolate chips later... we had these bad boys!


I wouldn't tell John what they were, I didn't want to influence him by how weird they sounded... but in the end we both liked them :) I mean strawberries and chocolate totally go together :) why not in muffin form!

Steph chows strawberry chocolate chip muffins
recipe by steph chows

Blueberry Muffins
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce (I use unsweetened)
2, 6 oz containers fat free or low fat strawberry yogurt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup chocolate chips

topping
1 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup uncooked regular oats

Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add agave; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray 12 muffin cups with pam.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.

Add the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 cups (they will be very full cups) sprinkle with topping, and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Happy New Years Eve!!! What do you all have planned for tonight??

Peach quick loaf

So remember that delicious raspberry loaf I made a little while ago? MMMMM SO GOOD. Well, raspberries are darn expensive, so I tried making it with some cheep and cheerful canned peaches (not packed in syrup!) I made the loaf half raspberry half peach... just in case the peach side came out gross for some reason. The verdict, YUM!


This peach loaf is perfect for dessert, breakfast, snack time, you name it! And now that you can make it with peaches... it's even more economical :) OH I made a version with frozen blueberries too (no pictures) also a total good to go version! Don't you just love recipes were you can toss in a new fruit and it's like a whole new thing!


love it.

PS don't forget to enter the giveaway!!



Peach Almond Streusel Quick Bread
recipe redo by steph chows
Makes 1 9x5” loaf

Streusel:
1 cup lightly toasted almonds, finely chopped
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbs firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons agave nectar

Bread:
2 cups canned peach slices, drained and divided
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
dash fine grain sea salt
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce (I used Musselman's)
1/3 cup granulated organic zero (or granulated splenda or white sugar)
¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup fat free sour cream

Make the Streusel: Toss the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Add agave and stir until combined. Divide mixture in half into two bowls; set aside.

Make the Quick Bread: Arrange oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9”x5” loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Chop 1 cup peaches and toss them with half of the reserved streusel; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to aerate and combine; set aside.

Beat together apple sauce and sugars. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry mixture in three additions, alternately with the sour cream. Begin and end with the dry mixture and beat briefly until just smooth.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly with a small offset spatula. Top with streusel/chopped peach mixture, forming an even layer. Scrape remaining batter on top, spreading carefully to cover center streusel layer. Top with remaining streusel and place remaining peach slices evenly over top, pressing gently to help adhere.

Bake for about 55 minutes or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs when removed. Cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then unmold directly onto rack, right side up, to cool completely.