This post courtesy of The Pink Apron

Cinnamon Banana Muffins

by KELLY on APRIL 28, 2010

First off, thanks for all the thoughtful comments on my post Monday. I normally save emotions like that for my (offline) journal, but for some reason the idea of admitting to the world that I was not perfect seemed like good therapy.  And it was.  The moment I hit publish I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been feeling so much brighter ever since.  Nothing in my situation changed, only my attitude.  (Well to be honest, the sunshine we’ve been having and the fact that after a month long fight with the DMV I finally got my license plates for my car hasn’t hurt either.)  It seems appropriate then to share a recipe that’s a little bit lighter, although quite frankly compared to bacon that could be almost anything.  In this case it’s a muffin, and not just any muffin, but an incredibly moist, cinnamon-y muffin.  The cinnamon flavor comes from some Cinnamon Flav-R Bites that I picked up at the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Store on atrip to Vermont, but you could also use cinnamon chips.  With its cake flour base it is certainly not going to win a healthfulness award, but it is great for the times when you might want a lighter (in texture, not calories), moister muffin.  It would be great for a mother’s day brunch or to sell as a bake sale item.

Cinnamon Banana Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients
-1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 bananas)
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup canola oil
-1/4 cup skim milk
-1 large egg
-1 ½ cups cake flour
-1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup cinnamon Flav-R Bites (or alternatively cinnamon chips)
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either line a muffin tin with papers, spray with non-stick cooking spray, or if using fancy pants papers as above, just set them on a baking sheet. In a medium bowl, stir together bananas, sugars, butter, milk and egg. In another bowl, whisk together flour, espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, stirring until barely combined. Gently fold in chips–don’t overwork the batter!–and then fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing.

Refrigerator cat

Orange Rolls...Yummy!!

Orange Rolls

For the rolls:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (.25 oz package)
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups bread flour
 
For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
zest of two oranges
 
For the glaze:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
juice of 1/2 orange
1/8 teaspoon salt
 
In a small saucepan, heat the milk and water until the mixture reaches 120 degrees.  Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the sugar and yeast, stir once, and let sit until the mixture bubbles (around 10 minutes).  
 
With the mixer on medium low speed, add the egg, butter, salt and flour.  Increase the speed to medium for 8 minutes.  The dough will be slightly sticky.  
 
Grease a medium metal bowl.  Add the dough, and turn to coat the top.  Cover with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour. After the first rise, deflate the dough, and cover again with the towel while you mix together the filling ingredients. 
 
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 25 x 6 inch rectangle (you may want to split this into two 13 x 6 inch rectangles). Spread with the filling mixture.  Roll up the dough and pinch together.  Slice into 24 one inch slices and place on a baking sheet.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Alternately, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes. 

Let the refrigerated rolls sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops of the rolls begin to brown.  While the rolls bake, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth.  Remove the rolls from the oven and top with the icing.

This post comes courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

by TWOPEAS on APRIL 26, 2010

I usually don’t crave salty foods, I prefer sweets. I don’t have A sweet tooth, I think ALLof my teeth are sweet:) Chips and salsa are an exception-that is my “go to” salty snack. I love Josh’s mango salsa-it is my favorite. I love the sweetness the mango brings to the mix-see I try to sneak in sweets wherever I can:) The other day I was in the mood for chips and salsa, but didn’t have any fresh cilantro. I was too lazy to run to the store, so I made a batch of fruit salsa instead.

I combined strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, and blueberries. I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a tiny drizzle of agave nectar and stirred everything together. I was going to make homemade pita chips, but again my laziness got in the way, so I opened a bag of Stacy’s Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips. Have you tried these? They are heavenly, be careful though-they are very addicting.

So what started as a salty craving, ended in a new favorite sweet snack. My salty craving was easily transitioned into a sweet version of chips and salsa. My sweet side always takes over:) Fruit salsa is easy to prepare and a beautiful dish to share. I think this will be my staple summer party food-perfect for picnics, bbq’s, and pool parties. And don’t forget about Cinco de Mayo-get the party started with fruit salsa!

 Print Recipe

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

8 Strawberries, diced
2 Kiwi, diced
1/4 cup Blueberries
1/4 Blackberries, cut in half
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Drizzle of agave nectar

Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips-for serving

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the strawberries and kiwi. Gently add in the blueberries and blackberries. Stir carefully so you don’t turn the salsa purple.

2. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the fruit. Add a tiny drizzle of agave nectar to bring out the sweetness in the fruit. Stir carefully.

3. Serve with cinnamon sugar pita chips.

*Note-the fruit salsa is best eaten the day it is made.

If you like this fruit salsa, you might also like:

Mango Salsa from Two Peas and Their Pod
Black Bean Salsa from Two Peas and Their Pod
Fresh Apple Salsa from 101 Cookbooks
Cantaloupe Salsa from Smitten Kitchen
Pineapple Salsa from Serious Eats

Brilliant & Beautiful Blueberry Tart

This post comes courtesy of, Tokyo Terrace-An American Foodie in Tokyo The recipe for this blog post was a bit of an accident. The other day I had a huge craving for a berry tart of some kind. I had the ingredients to make my own crust, but no fresh berries. I did, however, have in my freezer a bag of frozen blueberries and in my tiny refrigerator sat a jar of raspberry jam. Sounds like a good combination to me! I thought, as I fearlessly began making a super simple crust from Food & Wine. While the crust chilled in the refrigerator, I got a little creative with my berry ingredients.

I started by combining the frozen blueberries, 1/4 cup of the raspberry jam and the juice of 1/2 a lemon in a large bowl. Hello tart-deliciousness! But I was not satisfied with the flavor. I searched through my cupboards and there it was, right in front of me. A red wine vinaigrette infused with fig that was recently given to us by Laura and Braden from Paris-based Hidden Kitchen during their visit to Tokyo. I’d never thought of using red wine vinegar in a recipe like this, but the gentle fruity flavor of the fig along with the richness of the red wine added the perfect touch.

The perfectly flaky, buttery crust and the gooey berry filling of this tart was a ray of sunshine in the midst of an otherwise dreary week.

Tart Crust
Makes 1 9-inch crust
From Food & Wine Magazine, April 2010

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Salt
7 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold cream

Butter a 9-inch tart pan. In a food processor, pulse the flour with a pinch of salt and the butter until the mixture resembles course meal. Add the cream and pulse until the dough nearly comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. (This is a good time to make the filling recipe below.)

Roll out the dough into a 14-inch round. Press the round into the tart pan, trim off any excess.

Tart Filling

2 cups frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1/4-1/3 cup raspberry jam
2 teaspoons red wine vinaigrette or fruity red wine
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until the jam has been broken down by the vinegar/lemon juice. Pour the filling into the prepared tart crust. Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes at 325F, until the crust is nicely browned. Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes to allow the filling to become firm. Serve alone or topped with vanilla bean ice cream and some mint leaves.