Buttermilk Syrup with Coconut Oil

Buttermilk syrup is the unsurpassed champion of all breakfast toppings. This sounds like an opinion, but it is, in fact, FACT.  And it is most definitely NOT on my no-refined-sugar diet I am doing Monday through Saturday.  Sunday, however....

I decided waffles were in order Sunday morning, and I realized we were out of maple syrup. Then, I had the idea of making some buttermilk syrup. Since we are trying to eat healthier, I decided to try making the syrup a bit better for us--definitely not into a diet food--but with more redeeming value.

Most recipes for buttermilk syrup call for butter, sugar, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla (some call for corn syrup as well).  I used a combination of coconut oil and butter; and I used less sugar and more buttermilk than many recipes you may have seen.

As a side note: I have bought this and other brands, and Kirkland Organic Coconut Oil (found at Costco or online) is my favorite. It is unrefined, so the coconut scent is evident, but only very slightly. It is hard at room temperature, but not so hard I have to chisel it out of the jar.  It leaves a fresh feeling in your mouth if you taste it by itself--unlike the icky coating that lower-quality oils seem to leave. 

The recipe I came up with was a HUGE winner! It has the decadent flavor that you expect from a buttermilk syrup, but not the burn-your-throat caramel-like richness of traditional buttermilk syrup that can quickly take over all other flavors. This syrup complimented the waffle taste, instead of covering it. It will be my new go-to homemade syrup! I can't wait to serve it again!

Buttermilk Syrup with Coconut Oil

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1/8 tsp salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. In a medium-large sauce pan, melt butter, coconut oil, and sugar over medium-low heat. Stir in buttermilk and salt. Turn up heat to medium and bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will begin to foam. Stir well. 

3. Serve hot or warm over pancakes, waffles, or french toast. Mixture is thin, but thickens when it cools. Store in a covered mason jar in the refrigerator. Re-heat for future use. 

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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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Crispy Coconut Orange Marmalade Muffins

I love oranges. And I ADORE coconut--especially toasted coconut. Add these two flavors to a baked good, and I'm pretty much a goner. I canned orange marmalade this winter, and we aren't using it up very quickly. So I decided to use it to flavor a new muffin recipe. 

My dad is visiting this week, so he got to taste some fresh from the oven. His description: "Legendary." Hopefully you'll agree!

Crispy Coconut Orange Marmalade Muffins

Makes 24 

Muffin Ingredients: 

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 small instant vanilla pudding mix, dry

1 cup milk

2 1/2 cups flour (I used half whole-wheat on one batch and they turned out just as well!)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups orange marmalade

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare muffin pans with cooking spray or cupcake liners.

2. In a medium mixing bowl beat softened butter and granulated sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in pudding and milk until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir to combine well. Stir in orange marmalade until well combined. 

4. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. 

5. Prepare topping by stirring coconut, brown sugar, and flour together in a bowl. Pour melted butter on top of this, and stir until well combined. Sprinkle about 1 scant tablespoon on the top of each muffin before baking.

6. Bake muffins for 20 minutes. Remove promptly to cool. 

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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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Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Waffles

Happy Fall!  One of my favorite Fall traditions is the baking I always do--especially the pumpkin recipe baking! I remember coming home from runs with my dad as a kid and smelling my mom's hotcakes. That was the smell of comfort, of love, of home. 

I recently bought a package of cinnamon chips on a whim. My oldest two went on a run together Saturday morning, and I decided to make pumpkin waffles with the cinnamon chips while they were out, in hopes that they could come home to something delicious. The result?  All I can say is WOW.  My family LOVED these. They are bursting with rich, warm flavor even before you add butter and syrup. The only hang-up is getting full.  

If you've never bought cinnamon baking chips, now is the time to find them (they are seasonal)! Check you grocery store, or you can find them online (Amazon or The Prepared Pantry are options).

Here's the easy recipe:

Cinnamon Chip Pumpkin Waffles

Makes 12 large waffles

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tablespoon  vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3 cups flour (I used half whole wheat)

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

13/4 cups milk

1 1/2 cups cinnamon baking chips 

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, oil, and sugar together. Add pumpkin, vanilla, and spices, then beat well. 

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Alternate adding the milk and flour mix to the wet mixture, beating after each addition until it is all added and incorporated.

3. Stir in cinnamon chips.

4. Bake on greased waffle iron. Serve with your favorite toppings. We had butter, maple syrup, and some homemade apple pie filling. Mmm,mmm.

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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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