Cinnamon

CIC: Breakfast Sausage & Cinnamon

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

CIC-header

I’m {finally} back with another Crazy Ingredient Challenge!

This month’s mission: to combine breakfast sausage and cinnamon.

I wasn’t too terribly creative with my idea this time around – I stuck with breakfast.

Originally I thought of some form of sweet and savory bread pudding but then I happened upon pancake muffins. Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

They’re kind of like the breakfast version of pigs in a blanket.

I brought these fun muffins to a church potluck. I did have a few leftover to bring back home – without a label for the dish, I’m not sure people really knew what they were. Those that did eat them, sought me out to compliment me and suggest I bring them to every potluck.img_2203

Firecracker ate about 2 of them there but wouldn’t touch them at home. He said, “I liked them at the church party, but not here.” Kids can say the funniest things!

When I have breakfast sausage or bacon I always dip it into my syrup, so I highly encourage you to serve these pancake muffins warm with a drizzle of syrup.

This recipe makes 5-6 dozen mini pancake muffins.

Mini Pancake Muffins with Sausage

Ingredients:

  • 3 C flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 C buttermilk
  • 4 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • breakfast sausage, cooked and chopped

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease mini muffin tin.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla.
  4. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Place a piece of breakfast sausage into the batter.
  6. Bake 11-12 minutes. Serve with syrup.

*This recipe is modified from Ree at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pancake-mini-muffins/*

Mini Pancake Muffins with Sausage for #CrazyIngredientChallenge from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.

#AppleWeek: Apple Pie Bread

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

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Welcome to the final day of #AppleWeek hosted by Carlee of Cooking with Carleee! Over 2 dozen bloggers have been celebrating the humble apple and elevating it into over 80 sensational recipes.

For my final offering of the week, I went with a dessert. While, the recipe title says “bread,” there’s no fooling. This “bread” is a cake. It starts by creaming together butter and sugar. Don’t be fooled by the loaf pan, you’re having cake for breakfast and it’s fantastic.

Apple Pie Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 C brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom
  • 1 apple, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 C milk

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add in the flour and baking powder, mixing until combined. Add the milk until the batter is smooth.
  3. In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom.
  4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with half of the brown sugar mixture and half of the chopped apple. Repeat with the remaining batter, brown sugar, and apple.
  5. Bake 40 – 45 minutes.

*This recipe is adapted from Ashely at https://wishesndishes.com/cinnamon-apple-pie-bread/*

Apple Pie Bread for #AppleWeek from Sew You Think You Can Cook

When I received the Sandwich Hero knife from Chicago Cutlery for #AppleWeek I knew my final recipe just had to be a bread (okay, cake) of some kind. This knife has all sorts of hidden special talents and can handle most any task in the kitchen. For the use of cutting this bread/cake, it handled the mission wonderfully. I could cut through the sweet treat without crushing it or mashing the apples into the crumb.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a knife block from Chicago Cutlery, and check out some great apple recipes:

Apfelstrudel Recipe (Apple Strudel from Scratch) from House of Nash Eats
Apple and Onion Cornbread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Apple Butter Cheesecake from The Redhead Baker
Apple Chicken Stew from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Apple Cider Dark & Stormy from The Crumby Kitchen
Apple Mincemeat Pie from Palatable Pastime
Apple Pie Bread from Sew You Think You Can Cook
Apple Pie Pancakes from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
Apple Praline Bread from Family Around the Table
Apple Stuffing Crusted Pork Chops from Caroline’s Cooking
Battered Chocolate Caramel Apple Slices from The Freshman Cook
Caramel Apple Pull Apart Bread from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Apple Crack Slaw Eggrolls from Dad What’s 4 Dinner
Cinnamon Apple Donuts from Daily Dish Recipes
Diminutive Caramel Apples from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Easy Caramel Apple Butter from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
Fast and Easy Peanut Butter Yogurt Fruit Dip from Cooking With Carlee
Mom’s Apple Cake from Books n’ Cooks
Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples from Simple and Savory
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples from Feeding Big
Savory Apple Turkey Brie Galette from Bear & Bug Eats
Swiss Vegetarian Autumn Lasagna With Apples & Squash from All That’s Jas

Disclaimer: Thank you to #AppleWeek Sponsors: Rodelle, Dreamfarm, Casabella, Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal, Pryex, Chicago Cutlery, Rainier Fruit, and Veggie Wash for providing prizes for #AppleWeek free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #AppleWeek. All opinions are my own.

#AppleWeek: Apple Cinnamon Rolls

~ lk529 ~ 14 Comments

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It’s the second day of #AppleWeek and time for my first recipe! I will be sharing three recipes throughout the week and decided to break them into a breakfast dish, a savory dish, and a dessert.

I’ve already done a German apple pancake this year, so naturally the next logical step is cinnamon rolls.

We love cinnamon rolls and when I make them from scratch the weekend just seems that much better. Instead of going with my typical Christmas morning cinnamon roll dough, I opted for a more busy morning friendly recipe – one hour cinnamon rolls.

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients for Rolls:

  • 1 C warm milk (105-110 deg F)
  • 4 1/2 tsp instant yeast (I used Red Star Platinum)
  • 1/2 C sugar, divided use (I used Dixie Crystals)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 C vegetable oil
  • 4-4 1/2 C flour
  • 1/3 C butter, at room temperature
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 apple, peeled and finely diced

Ingredients for Icing:

  • 1/4 C butter, at room temperature
  • 2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 1/4 C powdered sugar

Steps:

  1. Dissolve yeast and 1 tbsp sugar into the warm milk. Let proof 5 – 10 minutes.
  2. Place 4 C flour, remaining sugar, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the yeast mixture and stir on low. Add the egg and oil. Once the dough starts to come together switch the paddle attachment for the dough hook and knead 5 minutes. Add flour 2 tbsp at a time, as needed. Let rest 5 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
  4. Roll dough out on a floured surface into an 18″ x 24″ rectangle. Spread the dough with the softened butter. Distribute the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly, pressing lightly. Add the diced apple.
  5. Roll the dough lengthwise and gently pinch the seam closed. Cut into 1 1/2″ cinnamon rolls. Place cut side down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until lightly golden.
  6. Make the frosting: In a medium bowl, whip together the butter and cream cheese using a hand mixer. Add in the corn syrup, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix until incorporated. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  7. Allow cinnamon rolls to cool slightly before frosting.

*This recipe is adapted from Lauren at https://www.laurenslatest.com/1-hour-cinnabon-cinnamon-rolls-best/*

Apple Cinnamon Rolls for #AppleWeek from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Dreamfarm provided #AppleWeek bloggers with a set of their Levups and a set of Levoons and my kids instantly became obsessed with them (see!). Firecracker can’t wait to help with baking even more than usual when I pull out these helpful gadgets.

Dreamfarm

When it comes to baking, precision in measurements is key to achieving that perfect cake or bread. These products help make that possible. They have a leveling scraper that you can pinch across the top of your measuring cup/spoon. It’s pretty fun. (Check out my Instagram video of the Levups in action here!)

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for your own set of Levups and set of Levoons, and check out some great apple recipes:
Apple Almond Butter Manchego Grilled Cheese from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Apple Almond Chicken Salad from Books n’ Cooks
Apple Bacon Jam from Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids
Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Sew You Think You Can Cook
Apple Fritter Pie from Dad What’s 4 Dinner
Apple Nachos from Simple and Savory
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad from The Chef Next Door
Apple Turnovers from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Applesauce Cake with Soft Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting from Cooking With Carlee
Autumn Apple Sipper from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Bavarian Apple Oatmeal Streusel Cheesecake from All That’s Jas
Caramel Apple Cupcakes from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
Grilled Apple Tossed Salad from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Mini Apple Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel Topping from Family Around the Table
Nutmeg Apple Conserve from Feeding Big
Red Cabbage with Apple from Palatable Pastime
Roasted Apple and White Cheddar Soup from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
Sauerkraut & Sausage with Apples from House of Nash Eats

Disclaimer: Thank you to #AppleWeek Sponsors: Rodelle, Dreamfarm, Casabella, Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal, Pryex, Chicago Cutlery, Rainier Fruit, and Veggie Wash for providing prizes for #AppleWeek free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #AppleWeek. All opinions are my own.

#MuffinMonday: Coffee Cake Muffins

~ lk529 ~ 7 Comments

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It’s time for another Monday filled with muffins!

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin! (A big thank you to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for helping organize everything this month.)

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

While I typically try to provide some slight form of nutrients in my muffins, sometimes (like last month) it’s just about comforting deliciousness. Not that healthier muffins can’t be delicious. But. You know what I mean.

Originally the thought for making coffee cake muffins came about by needing to use up a tub of Greek yogurt in my fridge before its expiration date. My husband suggested I make a version of our favorite coffee cake. I thought I’d make it into muffins to satisfy March’s #MuffinMonday. But then I realized, my coffee cake is truly a cake and wouldn’t qualify with the muffin method of baking. It really has been too long since I’ve visited that recipe and need to do so again soon!

With coffee cake muffins now needing to fill a void in my stomach, I reached out to trusy ole Pinterest.

Coffee Cake Muffins | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

These muffins are bursting with cinnamon. And there’s almost nothing better than cinnamon! To kick that coffee cake element into full gear, these muffins get a streusel topping added. I had quite a bit of streusel topping leftover, so I toasted it up for 10 minutes in an even layer on a baking sheet. It’s perfect for topping your morning yogurt.

There is also a simply vanilla glaze to go over the top of the muffins. I assure mine did receive a drizzle of extra sweetness, though by the time I got around to pulling out my camera, it was invisible.

This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Ingredients for streusel:

  • 1/3 C superfine sugar
  • 1/3 C brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 C flour

Ingredients for muffins:

  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 C milk
  • 1/3 C canola oil

Ingredients for glaze:

  • 1/4 C powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Make the streusel: Whisk together the sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter. Fold in the flour until fully incorporated, break apart into crumbs, spread out on a baking sheet, and set aside.
  3. Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and oil. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
  4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tin. Top with the streusel, patting it down into the muffin. Bake 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Remove muffins to a cooling rack.
  5. Make the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the cooled muffins.

*This recipe is adapted from Chungah at http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/24/coffee-cake-muffins/*

Coffee Cake Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Apple Oatmeal Muffins by Food Lust People Love

Asparagus Goat Cheese Muffins by Farm Fresh Feasts

Cacao Nib Muffins with Dark Chocolate Glaze by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Cheese & Thyme Muffins by Passion Kneaded

Coffee Cake Muffins by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Oh My Darling Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BundtBakers: Happy Fall

~ lk529 ~ 13 Comments

4ae7b-bundtbakerspostIt’s that time of month for me to share a bundt cake with you alongside #BundtBakers. #BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. This month Teri of The Freshman Cook is hosting and selected the theme “Happy Fall,” leaving it wide open for us to celebrate the season any way we desire – as long as it’s in bundt form, of course!

We have found a great church here in California and are starting to call it home. It’s a smaller congregation than the church we attended in Ohio and we’re slowly becoming a part of this church family.

Being far from family, we don’t get the opportunity to go on regular date nights and are never without the boys. One day we’ll trust someone other than grandparents to watch them, but for now, we’re not ready. Church is our opportunity to give us and the kids some time away. The first time we dropped them off at the nursery was a near disaster. Firecracker had a major meltdown and we were called to return and comfort him. The second visit was a complete 180 as he was calm enough to realize they had a train table and countless trains and cars to play with. Now, he runs in the door and doesn’t look back – he even asks to go to church throughout the week. Treat followed the same pattern, and while he still tries to follow me out the door, I haven’t gotten the message “the baby is crying” (a message they’ll only send if 10 minutes of consoling doesn’t do the trick) in weeks!

One of my favorite things about this church is their dedication to the community. Each Wednesday they provide dinner for the hungry and homeless and anyone who shows up. They feed over 100 people each week! I’d noticed a request for desserts in the bulletin and knew I had to help out. Physically volunteering hasn’t been possible with my husband away (see the no baby sitter scenario above), but baking I can do! Once our family is whole again we’re going to figure out how we can do more to help out while one of us stays home with the boys.

14705826_10104113714664701_304176535388205071_nThis week was my first week delivering dessert. To provide individually wrapped desserts I thought it’d be best to use my Garland Bundt Pan and my Bundt Duet Pan. Unfortunately, the 6 smaller cakes all stuck! So, while my donation of 15 slices from the duet pan wasn’t what I’d hoped to be delivering, it was a start.

The “broken” cakes didn’t go to waste though! I scraped the pan clean and have been eating it by the handful. Hey, crumbs don’t count, right? Firecracker enjoyed the cake, too. He listened to me when I told him he couldn’t touch the larger cakes, that we had to eat the broken cake. His response, was to bring a chair from his toddler table into the kitchen, climb up it, and eat the broken cake, declaring “I love broken cake!”

Poached Pear and Cranberry Bundt with Maple Marscapone Frosting

Ingredients for cake:

  • 2 C sugar, divided use
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 pears, peeled
  • 1 pkg (5 oz) dried cranberries
  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 1/2 C vegetable oil
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp cloves

Ingredients for frosting:

  • 1/2 stick softened butter
  • 1/4 C softened marscapone cheese
  • 1 C powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp real maple syrup

Steps:

  1. Poach the pears: Bring 4 C water, 1 C sugar, and the cinnamon stick to a boil. Add the whole pears and simmer 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove pears from poaching liquid, core them, and chop. Set aside. Reserve 1/4 of the liquid before discarding.
  2. Reconstitute the cranberries: Bring 1 1/2 C water to a boil. Add the cranberries. Remove from heat and allow cranberries to plump up, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease bundt pan(s).
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, oil, brown sugar, and remaining 1 C of white sugar. Add the eggs one at a time.
  5. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer, alternating with the reserved poaching liquid.
  7. Fold in the chopped pears and cranberries.
  8. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan(s). Bake 35-55 minutes depending on the size of your pan.

*This recipe is adapted from Tessa at http://thecakeblog.com/2013/11/pear-cranberry-cake.html*

Poached Pear and Cranberry Bundt with Maple Marscapone Frosting for #BundtBakers from Sew You Think You Can Cook

You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Apple, Pear and Honey Cider Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are the Crumbs

Apple Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Cookaholic Wife

Bundt Cake de Chocolate Blanco y Moras by La Mejor Manera de hacer

Chestnut Cream Marbled Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes

Chocolate Caramel Apple Cake by The Freshman Cook

Ginger and Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Los Chatos Chefs

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Bundt by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Jack O’Lantern Cake by Palatable Pastime

Persimmon Apple Bundt by Tea and Scones

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake by Patty’s Cake

Pumpkin Pie Bundt by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Caramel Drizzle by Living the Gourmet

Robert E. Lee Bundt Cakeby The Queen of Scones

Spiced Rum Pumpkin Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Sticky Pecan Pie Bundt by Food Lust People Love

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

SRC: Breakfast Quinoa

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

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It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

I almost didn’t participate this month. My husband has been gone for a month. Not gone gone, just on the other side of the country thanks to a 5 week course for work. We’re in the final stretch and will be reunited Friday! It’s been a long 4.5 weeks so far, but with visits from the boys’ aunt and grandmothers we’ve been making it through.

Cooking has been very minimal around here, limiting my culinary output to things I know the boys will eat. Aka cheese. We’ve been living off of cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, nachos, and pizzas – all good means for “hiding” protein into their diets.

I knew signing up for SRC this month would force me to cook something other than waffles and sweets. I’m glad I did, too, because this month I was assigned The Gluten-Free Foodsmith written by Tina Marie. Tina Marie made the switch to gluten-free living after discovering it made a huge impact in restoring her to health following an illness. Tina Marie made the best of her gluten-free lifestyle and has developed an impressive arsenal of delicious recipes that everyone can enjoy!

Limiting my search of her blog to recipes I knew my kids would actually help me eat and that were healthy wasn’t too difficult! Apple Pineapple Muffins were going to be the winner until I found Warm Plum and Blueberry Quinoa Salad. Also added to my possibility list were: Pecan Walnut Chicken Salad (but I haven’t introduced nuts to Treat yet), Black Bean Salsa Wraps, and Lentil Chili Stew.

I had to make some adjustments to Tina Marie’s recipe due to dietary restrictions. I had to substitute agave for honey due to Treat being under one. I used butter instead of coconut oil because I’m allergic to coconut. And used regular cow’s milk instead of almond milk because I haven’t tested a nut allergy with Treat yet and was/am too anxious and nervous about doing so while I’m parenting solo. Obviously, I left the raw almonds out, too. Sounds like a lot, but it’s really not.

We loved this quinoa! I even made it again with strawberries when my mother-in-law was visiting. It was her first introduction to quinoa and she quite enjoyed it, too. What I love best is that it doesn’t take any longer than making oatmeal in the morning and is arguably healthier! Quinoa has almost double the amount of protein as oats do.

Treat loved the change in his breakfast from Greek yogurt to this quinoa. Firecracker, who does enjoy the seed, wasn’t as interested and simply picked out all of the fruit. I guess for him quinoa is supposed to stay savory. I enjoyed the sweet take to it and will continue explore its sweeter applications – I know Tina Maria had a couple cookie recipes on her blog using the seed!

Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 C uncooked quinoa
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp agave
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp real maple syrup
  • 1 plum, pitted and chopped
  • 1/4 C blueberries (I used frozen)

Steps:

  1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
  2. Add butter, agave, milk, cinnamon, and syrup to the cooked quinoa. Stir in the plum and blueberries. Keep over low heat until butter is melted, quinoa is evenly coated, and fruit is warmed through.

*This recipe is modified from Tina Maria at http://glutenfreefoodsmith.com/2015/05/warm-plum-and-blueberry-quinoa-salad/*

Breakfast Quinoa for Secret Recipe Club from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in The Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies

~ lk529 ~ 7 Comments

There’s a Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood episode with the teaching lesson “it’s okay to make mistakes” in which Daniel and Prince Wednesday bake trolley cookies with Baker Aker.

We watched that episode one morning and decided to bake some cookies! With Treat taking a long nap, Firecracker and I were able to do some baking together.

I immediately went into the cupboard and pulled out The Gourmet Cookie Book and started skimming through to see what we could make with what was in my pantry.

I decided on Bizcochitos (Anise Cookies). Except that I didn’t have aniseed or lard. Which is why this recipe title is not Anise Cookies! I substituted vegetable shortening for the lard and decided to prepare for the season by using pumpkin pie spice. This recipe from December 1978 didn’t mention how to store the cookie dough, but I found it easiest to roll out if it were chilled, so I kept the portion I wasn’t rolling out in the refrigerator.

We used a train cookie cutter as is only natural with a train obsessed toddler in the house. He was more than happy to be my little model when it came time to photograph the cookies. In fact, the words, “I help” came out of his mouth as he held up a cookie and took a bite. Only a food blogger’s kid! I love him.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies (toddler) | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Depending on your cookie cutter size, this recipe will make 5-6 dozen cookies.

The recipe says to, and I quote! “store them in an airtight container for 5 days before serving.” Yeah, right! These cookies didn’t even last five days on my counter.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 C vegetable shortening
  • 3/4 C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 C white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 C flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C water
  • cinnamon sugar

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and pumpkin pie spice, mixing until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt. Add to the stand mixer, beat until combined. Add up to 1/4 C water until dough is smooth.
  4. Roll dough out to 1/8″ thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
  5. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove cookies to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from The Gourmet Cookie Book*

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cut-Out Cookies | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Apple Oat Crisp

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

When we were on our family vacation earlier this month, my husband decided he wanted to go apple picking. We crossed the WI-IL border and picked some apples in Harvard, IL at The Royal Oak Farm Orchard.

We had a great time picking a peck and a half of the three varieties that were available at the time of our visit: Jonamac, Macintosh, and Gala.

When my mom and I went apple picking last year, Firecracker was about 15 months old. He had just as much fun this year, but with a little (okay, a lot) of extra confidence on his feet for running around.

Firecracker has always struggled with eating raw apples, yet he loves the flavor of them. Unless an apple slice is covered in Nutella, he’ll simply gnaw away at the fruit and never swallow it. There’s always a pile of apple bits on the coffee table.

Treat, on the other hand, has never struggled with apples and they’re one of his absolute favorite foods. He happily ate close to an entire apple while we were picking. And with only two bottom teeth! I was surprised, though I guess I should’ve have been, that he managed to hold on to the apple the entire time!

apple-picking-2016

With our fall bounty in tow we headed to the kitchen. I put some apple in my Choco-flower Bundt Cake and into some meatballs we enjoyed on game day (recipe to come later this week). Our big apple feature dish, though, was a crisp.

My mom and I combined a few different recipes and methodologies to develop the resulting addicting dessert (/breakfast).

There aren’t a lot of pie recipes here on Sew You Think You Can Cook because I really don’t care for warm fruits. As I’m in the minority there I had no problem lending some apples to the cause of a crisp.

Um. Yeah. This crisp is one of my new all time favorites! I could have eaten the entire dish on my own. But, I had to share. A dollop of whipped cream, sprinkle of cinnamon, and drizzle of honey made this dessert a home run. Naturally, we bought some honey from the orchard and it’s beautiful apple-y floral quality was a perfect complement to the crisp.

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Of course, you could serve it with ice cream. I’m contemplating making a honey ice cream to serve alongside this Apple Oat Crisp for Thanksgiving this year.

Apple Oat Crisp

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 apples, peeled, cored, sliced
  • 2 tbsp apple cider
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 C + 1 tbsp flour, divided use
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided use
  • 1 C oats
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 stick butter, melted

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Toss apples with cider, sugar, 1 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Place in a small casserole dish.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together 1 C flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, the oats, brown sugar, and baking powder. Mix in the melted butter until combined and crumbly. Top the apples.
  4. Bake 30 – 35 minutes until golden, bubbly, and the apples are tender.

Apple Oat Crisp | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

#BundtBakers: Healthy Sneak, Cheat, or Substitute

~ lk529 ~ 8 Comments

4ae7b-bundtbakerspostThis month’s bundt theme is quite fun! Andrea of  Adventures in All Things Food challenged us to “healthify” our cakes in a sneaky way. She inspired us to stealthily add in some veggies, find a healthy way to eliminate oils or sugars, or even experiment with an arguably more wholesome flour option.

#BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to participate this month. We’ve had a lot of travel recently, going to Northern California for a wedding followed almost immediately by a trip to Lake Geneva.

I’ve mentioned the lake house before, but in case you’re new to Sew You Think You Can Cook, I spent my childhood summers at my grandparents’ summer home at the lake. When my parents purchased the home before my grandma passed away, I looked forward to getting to continue the tradition with my children. We even had Firecracker’s first birthday there! I didn’t think we’d get a chance to go this year having to travel from California, but we made it happen. And I’m so glad we did. Firecracker is old enough to truly enjoy the lake and just as I did, jumped off the pier into his grandfather’s arms.

I hadn’t baked my bundt before these vacations and was going to have to simply sit this event out. Fortunately there was a bundt pan tucked away in a cupboard, here! A beautiful, old Nordic Ware original.

With plans to make my buffalo cauliflower for game day, we had the vegetable on the mind. Off to Pinterest I went to uncover a chocolate cake. We added some freshly picked (a story for a future post!) apples to the cake, too.

The resulting cake is a dense, almost fudgy, cake. Funnily enough, the presence of cauliflower was apparent only if eaten cold. It wasn’t abrassive enough to say, “Hey, there’s cauliflower in here.” but just enough to know there’s “something different” about this cake. 15 seconds in the microwave and no one would be any the wiser. Not even a 2 year old.

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You might wonder why we even ate the cake cold in the first place.

The answer is one that every food blogger can relate to. Needing to take a picture! The cake was completed and frosted after sunset. My dad told me I had to include this part of the story in my blog post. The fact that he couldn’t dig in to chocolate cake the day it was made! Yes, I received a lot of heat for having to wait until morning.

It’s okay though, the boys had me up way before anyone else so I snapped some photos in the early morning sunlight.

Choco-flower and Apple Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

  • 2 C cauliflower florets
  • 1/2 C vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 C sugar
  • 1/2 C vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 C flour
  • 1/2 C cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 C buttermilk
  • 1-2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced

Steps:

  1. Boil cauliflower until fork tender. Puree in a food processor until smooth.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a bundt pan.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  4. In a large bowl, beat together the yogurt, sugar, and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and pureed cauliflower.
  5. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Add 1/4 C of buttermilk, stir until combined. Repeat with remaining dry ingredints and buttermilk. Fold in the chopped apple.
  6. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out cleanly. Allow cake to cool before turning out of the pan.

Cinnamon Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 3-4 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C powdered sugar

Steps:

  1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over cooled cake.

*These recipes are adapted from Kate at http://veggiedesserts.co.uk/chocolate-cauliflower-cake-with-salted-cinnamon-caramel-icing-the-blogs-2nd-birthday/*

choco-flower-apple-bundt-cake-with-cinnamon-caramel-frosting-for-bundtbakers-from-sew-you-think-you-can-cook

You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Almond Bundtlettes by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes

Avocado Mini Bundts by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Black Forest Tomato Bundt Cake by Shilpi at Simplyveggies

Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm

Easy Orange Bundt Cake by Nichole at Cookaholic Wife

Fall Fruits Bundt Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles

Flourless Chocolate Bundt Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Secret Spice Yoghurt Cake by Jane at Jane’s Adventure in Dinner

Tunnel of Fudge Cake by Bee at The Queen of Scones

Vanilla Bean Malt Bundt Cake by Felice at All That’s Left Are The Crumbs

Whole Wheat Banana Bundt Cake byAnshie>at Spiceroots

#MuffinMonday: Apple Blackberry Muffins

~ lk529 ~ 10 Comments

fb5cd-muffin2bmonday2bcrop#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

I am sharing with you this month a muffin I made way back in May after one of our weekly trips to the Farmers Market. I had picked up some blackberries from one of my favorite vendors for my husband. I am not the biggest blackberry lover mainly due to their texture. I didn’t think my husband would actually eat the entire carton of berries before they started to spoil so I decided to make muffins with about half of them. While assembling all of the baking supplies and getting my little helper situated, he started eating all of the berries! I knew I couldn’t use the fruit in the muffins, now; anything healthy my picky eater will willingly eat is all his! We had frozen blackberries for smoothie making, so I carried on with my muffin plan.

You’ll notice the recipe doesn’t call for any butter or oil, making them a little bit healthier than most breakfast treats I bake. I mean, there’s still sugar and syrup involved so it balances out, right? The downfall to not having butter or oil in the recipe means they’ll stick to muffin liners, so be sure to spray them as you would a non-lined muffin tin.

Apple Blackberry Muffins (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Firecracker really enjoyed these muffins. I’m pretty sure he had 3 in one day.

I froze half of the muffins and had a quick morning snack throughout the month, I simply popped them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

This recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.

Apple Blackberry Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 3 C whole wheat flour
  • 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1 large apple, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 C cinnamon applesauce
  • 1/4 C maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 C blackberries, chopped

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin, even if using liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the apples and toss to coat until evenly distributed.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar. Mix in the milk, yogurt, applesauce, syrup, and vanilla.
  4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Gently fold in the blackberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way.
  5. Bake muffins for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake another 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Sally at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/10/14/sky-high-blackberry-apple-muffins/*

Apple Blackberry Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Cappuccino Chip Muffins by Palatable Pastime

Cheesy Chile Corn Muffins (Gluten Free) by Farm Fresh Feasts

Cinnamon Swirled Muffins by Passion Kneaded

Fresh Peach Muffins by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Lemon Meringue Muffins by Making Miracles

Phase 3 Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Raspberry Mini Muffins by Food Lust People Love