Blueberry Brunch Cake

Fresh blueberries, sweet cream butter, and rich Greek yogurt make this a coffee cake that works for breakfast, brunch, or as a midnight treat.  Every part of this cake is delicious--the crust, the baked batter, the berries, and the ribbons of brown sugar and cinnamon!  

If you need a fail-safe dessert, a celebratory treat to share, or something to make for a friend who deserves more sweetness in his/her life, this is it!  My husband and kids are in love with it, and I ate mine slowly to savor each bite. 

Blueberry Brunch Cake

Makes 2 large loaves

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour (whole wheat works)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (full-fat preferred)

1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries (frozen work)

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a medium/large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and soda, Alternate adding flour mixture and Greek yogurt to creamed mixture.  Fold in blueberries. 

4. In a small bowl, stir brown sugar and cinnamon well. 

5. Spread 1/2 blueberry batter in prepared pans. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the wet batter. Top with remaining blueberry batter, and finish with a sprinkling of the remaining brown sugar mix. 

6. Place in center of hot oven and bake 38-42 minutes. Let cool in pans. Use a knife to loosen edges before removing.  Serve warm or cooled. 

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Cinnamon Chip Banana Bread

This week was my son's last week of 8th grade football. As a mom, I am scared everyday when I send my kids out the door. They face so much in school. I love seeing them grow amid the challenges that come with early adolescence, but I do a fair amount of worrying, too.

You'd think that having a son in football would only add to the worries, but amazingly it didn't. Picking my sweaty (and smelly!) son up after 2 hours of practice every day was nothing but a positive experience.  When I asked how his day went, he'd reply, "Great!"  When I asked how football went, he'd say,"Fun!"  He'd then tell me about what he'd learned that day in class and on the field. I'd share with him some of my junior high and high school experiences that related.  And when we got home (after a snack), he'd get right on his homework. He has been managing his time so well because he has had to. 

At his football games, I never once heard a coach be anything but constructive and positive. His coaches would put their arms around the boys individually to offer advice. More than once, my son told us about specific praise from a coach for improvement in his playing skills. 

So for this last week of football, I wanted to do something special for his two main coaches. And, being from the South, I show pretty much any emotion (be it gratitude, grievance, or sympathy), with food. 

Since I had 7 bananas to use, I decided a loaf of cinnamon chip banana bread would be appropriate. 

I had just enough batter to make two large loaves (one for each of his coaches) and two tiny loaves (so my kids didn't feel jipped). 

We loved it, as I'm sure the coaches did. And you will, too!

Here's the recipe: 

Cinnamon Chip Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

7 ripe bananas, mashed

4 eggs

2 scant cups sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sour cream

4 cups flour (I did half whole wheat, half white)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 cups cinnamon baking chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare two loaf pans with cooking spray and flour.

2. Mix bananas, eggs, sugar, and oil well with an electric mixer. Stir in sour cream.

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir well into wet mixture. Stir in cinnamon chips.

4. Bake 50-60 minutes, until tops no longer look wet and return to shape when touched. 

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Patriotic Strawberry Bread

This is, in all humility ;), some of the yummiest bread you will ever eat. 

It is really more of a cake. In fact, next time I make it, I think it will be in a tube pan so I'm not deceiving anyone. 

And with the Fourth of July just around the corner, you need this bread. It is super-duper moist, strawberry (so very appropriate for Summertime), 

AND it's patriotic to boot! 

I made this in much the same way I did my Bunny in the Carrot Patch Bread from Easter-time.  I began with a delicious pound cake based on a recipe from Divas Can Cook.

Here is my version. It makes 2 large loaves or 1 tube cake. It can be halved to make one large loaf. 

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, softened

3 cups white sugar

6 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until well combined (about 5 minutes)

2. Add the eggs one at a time and mix completely after each egg.

3. Alternate adding the flour and whipping cream, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

4. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. 

5. Spoon the batter into the pan.

6. Place into a cold oven on the middle rack and turn the oven to 325°.

7. Bake for 1 hour and 5-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

8. Let cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

While pound cakes are cooling, make your strawberry bread recipe: 

Strawberry Jello Bread

3 cups flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large package strawberry Jello

4 large eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pint of fresh strawberries, processed in food processor

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans.

2. Stir together all dry ingredients except sugar in a large bowl.

3. In a mixer bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. 

4. Mix dry ingredients into wet.

5. Mix in strawberries.

Now your strawberry bread batter is ready. Set it aside. 

Here is one of the pound cake loaves unbaked. No need to pre-heat for this one; it starts in a cold oven.

Once the pound cake is finished and cooled a bit. Remove it from the pan and let it cool a while longer. Then slice it into pieces the width of your star cookie cutter. Cut a star out of each piece. Save your discarded pound cake to use in a trifle later. I froze mine. 

This picture is a bit misleading. These were the first two loaves I made, and I learned a lesson on them, then made another the right way (but forgot to photograph this step). The stars need to sit on top of a layer of strawberry batter. So spoon a layer of strawberry batter into your prepared pans, THEN place the stars right next to each other standing up in pans, as shown. 

Carefully spoon batter around the stars to cover them.

Put the loaves into a 325° oven.  Bake 50-55 minutes.

It looks delicious just like this, and there is no sign that a surprise awaits inside. :)

Surprise! Happy Independence Day!

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Bunny in the Carrot Patch Bread

This bread gets lots of "Wow!" and "How?"

And not just because it is fun to look at--it tastes great, too!

To make your own, you will need two loaf pans, a bunny cookie cutter, and two recipes--one for pound cake and one for carrot bread.

If  you need a bunny cookie cutter, I found a set of 3 cute ones for a good price on Amazon

The pound cake (which you make first) came from Divas Can Cook.  I chose it because of it's high-fat content, since it will be baked twice. I altered it just slightly. Here it is:

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, softened

3 cups white sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until well combined (about 5 minutes)

2. Add the eggs one at a time and mix completely after each egg.

3. Alternate adding the flour and whipping cream, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

4. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. 

5. Spoon the batter into the pan.

6. Place into a cold oven on the middle rack and turn the oven to 325.

7. Bake for 1 hour and 5-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

8. Let cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

While pound cakes are cooling, make your carrot bread recipe: 

Carrot Bread

3 cups flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole white wheat)

1.5 teaspoons ground ginger

1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups grated carrots

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans.

2. Stir together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. In a mixer bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. 

4. Mix dry ingredients into wet.

5. Stir in carrots.

Now your carrot bread batter is ready. Set it aside. 

Once your pound cakes are made and cooled, cut them into slices (almost as thick as your cookie cutter is), and then cut out bunny shapes from each slice. Discard the heels and the excess (I plan to use mine in a trifle). 

I may have snacked a bit on the leftover pound cake. This was one of the BEST pound cake recipes I've ever used. 

Start lining up the bunnies in the loaf pans, standing up.

Here's how they look all lined up.

Spoon the carrot bread batter over the bunnies carefully. If you just dump it right on top, you might have some smashed bunnies.

Put the loaves in the 325° oven. They will bake for 45-55 minutes.

They look like ordinary loaves of carrot bread...

But they are NOT! Look at the cute little bunny inside!

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"BEST ROLLS EVER!"

I love homemade rolls. And, let's face it--who doesn't?!  I have a few recipes in my arsenal that I make from time to time--quick-rise, croissant-style, spoon rolls, etc.

These rolls, however, are my "go-to" recipe. I developed the recipe when we were newly married, and I've been making them since.  This is the recipe that I've shared with people in all the places we've lived (so get ready--if you make these, your friends WILL be asking).  I even taught a class on making these once to a group of stay-at-home moms who were wanting to learn.

Here's what you need: (Recipe's at end of the post.)

Flour, salt, baking powder, yeast, butter, sugar, egg, water. The basics.

Put the yeast and 2 tsp of sugar in the warm water in a large mixing bowl. If you are using a stand mixer--this should be the bowl you use. Let it sit until the yeast starts to grow....

 

....like this. Yours may not look like a doughnut. This is a rare phenomena. Usually it just looks like a big blob of wet, yeasty air.

 While your yeast is growing, melt your butter just until mostly melted (don't boil it). Whisk in the rest of the sugar and the egg. You don't want your egg to cook in there, so make sure your butter isn't scalding hot before you add the egg.

Now mix the butter mixture into the growing yeast water.  It will look about like this. 

Okay, I kinda skip a step here with the pictures because it's not much to see. In a separate bowl mix 4 cups of flour, the baking powder and the salt.   Add this dry mixture to the wet and mix until well incorporated. I use my paddle for this step, then switch to the dough hook for the next step.

Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The amount varies for me each time slightly. This batch took 3 1/2 more cups total. 

Remove the dough and knead it just enough to form a nice smooth(ish) big ball.

 Put a little (1/8 cup or so) oil in a large bowl and turn the dough over in it once to coat it--seam side down. 

Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it rise until it's doubled in size. This is about 2-3 hours if it's at room temperature; 1-1.5 if it's in a warm place (like sitting on a warm oven or next to a crock pot). 

Here is the double-in-size dough.

Punch it down. (Like my fist indentation?)

Pull off approximately 1/3 cup pieces of the dough, and turn them in your hands so that you are forming a ball that has a seam on the bottom and is smooth on the top. This picture shows the top and the bottom of a dough ball. You don't want to roll it between two palms like you would play-dough. Imagine you are forming the dough around an imaginary marble or bouncy ball. You want it to cover it and have a seam on the bottom. (I hope this is clear...)

Place them in a greased baking dish right next to each other, but not squished. 

Cover and let rise. I put mine in a warm oven (I heated to 170 before then I turned it off when I put them in). They were doubled in size in 30 minutes. 

Here are the un-baked doubled-in-size rolls.

Hot out of the oven!

Mmm, mmm....

I like to butter the tops before serving. Best served fresh and warm.

 

All plated up. I love a colorful meal. 

Best Rolls Ever

(This is what my son exclaimed at dinner tonight. I thought it made a nice title)

2 cups warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) yeast

1/2 cup sugar, divided

1.5 sticks butter

1 egg

8 cups flour (all-purpose, or combination of all-purpose and whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/8 cup canola oil

1. Dissolve yeast  and 2 teaspoons of sugar in warm water. Set aside to allow yeast to begin to grow.

2. Melt butter and mix with sugar. Add egg and mix well. Add butter mixture to yeast that has begun to grow. 

3. Mix 4 cups of flour with baking powder and salt.  Add this to the yeast mixture and stir well.

4. Stir in, then knead in 3-4 more cups of all purpose flour--1/2 cup at a time-- to make a dough of even consistency. Form into a ball. Turn over once in a metal mixing bowl greased with canola oil. Cover and let rise until double in size (2 hours on a warm oven, or 3 at room temperature).

5. Punch down , then form 2-3 inch balls and place in greased baking dish. They will more than fill a 9x13. I use an 11x17.  Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes more in warm place--until doubled in size. 

6. Bake at 375 15-20 minutes, until light brown. Butter tops while hot. Makes 2 dozen.

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