Pumpkin Loaf

While you are all sitting around drooling over this, I'm off in the woods without phone/internet/tv access. Why you might ask?? To meet up with my mom/dad/sister/BIL(brother-in-law)& nephew! They all live down by DC so we are meeting up half way for a long weekend! There will be baking for sure, so stay tuned to see what we all come up with.

Now, lets bring on the pumpkin!!! I must say I love anything involving pumpkin, and to me, it doesn't matter what time of the year it is, I'm always craving pumpkin. I made this loaf to bring with us to a friends house for the superbowl. Said friend isn't into using splenda so I made sure to leave it out of this recipe. Instead I used organic sucanat compliments of Wholesome Sweeteners.


Pumpkin Bread
recipe by steph chows

In a medium bowl whisk together dry (then set aside):
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

In a large bowl cream together:
3 tbs butter (softened)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup sucanat

Then beat in:
2 eggs (one at a time)
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt (look at the label, buy a brand with the least amount of sugar in it)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Gently mix dry into wet and pour into a greased 8.5 x 4 loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until a tester comes out clean.




PS. I have another great giveaway set up for this Friday, so check back, you're going to want to enter!

Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies - gluten free

The perfect cookie to dunk in a cold glass of milk. These are a super crisp melt in your mouth kind of cookie. It wasn't until I brought some into work that I realized my gluten free coworker could actually have one too! (ook I'm going to full admit it, I just typed GLUEten... HAHAHA oh yeah I know how to spell...)


I made a batch of these up for our fix it guy. Gotta keep the fix it guy happy right! That way he keeps coming over and fixing stuff for you! :) I mean paying him helps him to come back too... but cookies... those only sweeten the deal!


Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies - gluten free
adapted from dolcettoconfections.com ... I can't get the website to work anymore though :(
makes 18 cookies

Beat together until light and fluffy
1 1/2 Tbs room temperature butter
1/3 cup white sugar

Then mix in
1/3 cup sucanat (bring on the wholesome sweeteners!)
1/2 cup almond butter (I used maranatha with a touch of sea salt- yum!)
1/2 tsp corn syrup

Then mix in
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Next mix in
1 1/2 cup old fashion oats
1 tsp baking soda

Fold in
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Using a cookie scoop plop onto a silicon baking mat and bake at 325 for 18-20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

Raspberry Flax Vegan Muffins

Hey everyone! We're back from our honeymoon and I'm back to having time to bake!!! wooohooooooo!!!!! To celebrate I've made you some delicious muffins! (like you are surprised). Don't worry though I still have plenty of pictures to show you from all the wonderful places we ate while we were away, more of that to come this week!

For now I leave you with a recipe I adapted from Maple and Cornbread. Her muffins came out much prettier than mine though... and I've adapted the recipe to make it totally vegan (she uses eggs and honey in hers, I switched it up with flax eggs and strawberry agave nectar!! YUM!)

For her recipe go here.

Raspberry Flax Vegan Muffins

adapted from Maple and Cornbread

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup wheat bran

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 Tbs milled flax seeds plus 1/3 cup water (mix and let stand a few minutes)

1/2 cup wholesome sweeteners strawberry agave

1 cup almond milk plus 1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

2 tbsp raw cane sugar (turbinado)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or pretty paper cups.

Mix whole wheat flour, wheat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda.

Whisk flax seed mix and agave in a medium bowl until smooth. Add milk, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice; whisk until blended.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula just until moistened. Fold in the raspberries. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly.

CHOW!!!!

Raspberry Almond Quick Bread

John had a slice of this and said "I think this is the best thing you've ever made" awesome!!!!

So I mentioned the other day that November 17th is National Bread Day, and the people at Driscoll's asked if I'd like to try a recipe featuring their berries (bonus they would send me a coupon to buy their berries) Of course I said yes!! But you all know I can't follow directions... at all... The recipe is by Dede Wilson. Dede, I'm positive your recipe would be over the top delicious, and I'm going to post her original recipe at the end of the post... but I kinda... ok TOTALLY remade the recipe...


The blackberries were swapped for Driscoll's raspberries (come on raspberries kick butt) the walnuts tossed to the side in favor of almonds, all butter taken away (I replaced the melted butter in the streusel with agave!), whole wheat flour replaces white, and reduced fat sour cream stands in for the full fat variety. Dede I really mean no disrespect, I hope you don't mind that I healthed up your recipe, it had great bones so I knew it would translate well! This loaf was super tasty, the coworkers were amazed there was no butter in it, it's super moist!

Want to see the nutrition stats side by side? This is for 1/10th of the loaf:
We dropped over 150 calories and more importantly took out 17.5 g of fat along with 9.4 g of saturated fat per serving!!! I used calorie count recipe analysis for both my version and hers, Driscoll provided stats with her recipe and the ones I calculated are pretty close to what they said. But the most important part is this loaf tasted DELICIOUS!!!


Raspberry (or 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
¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons agave nectar

Bread:
2 cups fresh Driscoll’s Raspberries (or blackberries), 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 reduced fat 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 (I just used my fingers and pulled them apart gently) 1 cup of Driscoll’s berries 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 berry mixture, forming an even layer. Scrape remaining batter on top, spreading carefully to cover center streusel layer. Top with remaining streusel and place remaining whole 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.

Original recipe by Dede Wilson:
Blackberry Walnut Streusel Quick Bread

This quick bread is very easy to make with the additional benefit of being a very good keeper; it stays moist for days at room temperature.

Makes 1 9x5” loaf

Streusel:
1 cup lightly toasted walnut halves, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Bread:
2 cups fresh Driscoll’s Blackberries, divided
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon), at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup sour cream

Make the Streusel: Toss the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Add melted butter 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; thoroughly coat with flour, removing any excess.

Chop 1 cup of Driscoll’s Blackberries 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 the butter with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat until combined. 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 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 whole blackberries evenly over top, pressing gently to help adhere.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 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. Wrap in aluminum foil to store at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Strawberry Agave Jam

You got that right! It's jam time!! And it worked!!! It didn't turn into sauce! It's jam!! And it's delicious! I told you a little bit ago that the peeps at Wholesome Sweeteners asked me to figure out how to make jam with agave... well here it is!

I used frozen berries since it's not so much berry season right now. I'll test it again in the spring to see the correct lbs of berries when they aren't frozen. But if you missed out making jam, you could totally whip up a batch of these right now!

come on you HAVE to have cute jam labels when you make home made jam... at least it's a requirement for me :) plus it makes the best Christmas gift!

Tart Strawberry Jam sweetened with Agave
recipe by steph chows

2.5 lb bag of whole frozen strawberries
3/4 cup agave nectar (if you like slightly sweeter jam use 1 cup)
1 cup pomegranate and nectarine juice (use apple or white grape for a non-tart jam)
1 package Ball no sugar fruit pectin
7 sterilized 1/2 pint jars

Place frozen strawberries in a large pot, heat on medium until they start to thaw and sauce up. Once they are soft enough mash them with a potato masher. Add agave and juice and turn heat to medium high. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring the whole time. Keep stiring and let it roll for 1 mintue. Gradually add in pectin and continue to stir and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool undisturbed overnight. For more specifics on canning check our this post here.

This jam was super flavorful and the pom juice gave it a nice tart kick!

Wholesome Sweeteners

It's my birthday!! And check out the spread I got!


OK it wasn't for my birthday (it came last week) and it's from the wonderful people at Wholesome Sweeteners. I had been reading about their Organic Zero product online and was very interested.

Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Zero is the perfect sweetener for those living a healthy lifestyle. Produced from Organic Sugar Cane Juice, which is naturally fermented and crystallized to create Organic Erythritol. Erythritol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that is found in our bodies, as well as in many fruits, vegetables and even certain fermented foods.

You all know I use Splenda... and some people like to contact me and yell at me for using it since it's not "healthy" like I say my blog is. Here are my thoughts on the subject if you care to read about them. The thing is I'm always looking for new alternatives and ideas for sweetening without adding a lot of sugars. John tries not to eat things with lots of sugars in them, he will however eat things using splenda, or products that use sugar alcohols like this Organic Zero. Obviously the idea of it being organic without added chemicals struck my fancy, here is some more about it.

• Virtually calorie-free (0.2 cals/gram)
• A glycemic index of zero, so while it sweetens, it does so without adding calories or spiking blood sugar the way other sweeteners often do.
• Research indicates that for most people, it's highly digestible!
  

I was very excited when Whole Sweeteners agreed to send me a sample of their organic zero and even more excited when they asked if they could send me some of their other products. Even though John wont eat most of their other products I WILL! And I can't wait to start using these fair traded organic products to make jam, muffins, and try new recipes using agave nectar and sucanat (I've never used either before!). I can't even begin to tell you how much I was dancing around as I kept pulling products out of the box! Seriously generous people!! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to test out all these great products!

So all you all natural sweetener people keep your eyes open lots of recipes to come!! And if any of you have recipes using said natural products that you love, send me a link so I can try them!!

Before the weather got too hot I was able to pump out one muffin recipe.... the cinnamon roll muffins! I subbed their organic turbindo sugar mixed with cinnamon for the topping and MAN it was good. The tops of the muffins had a beautiful sugary crust to them that was delicious! The plan was then to make a batch using the organic zero for comparison... but the house started to become too much of a sauna, so I had to postpone my muffin comparison for a bit. I'm going to make a batch of one of my muffin recipes using splenda like I normally do, and another batch using Organic Zero, then feed them to John and see if he can tell the difference and which one he likes better! So once the temperature drops I'll make both batches and let you know what we think! Until then, go and check out Wholesome Sweeteners!