Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread

In the newest edition of Cooking Light, the "make-over" recipe featured is for Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread. The new and improved recipe cut down the amount of fat and calories significantly. Just reading the short blurb about the bread made me want to try it. Reviewers said that they liked the low-fat version better than the original. Could that really be true? Were they lying??

Well, I've made the recipe, and it's really good! I never tried the orignal, but I'd say that if someone served this to me, I would have no idea it was low fat because it tastes just that good. I give it a big thumbs up.

It's an easy recipe. Here are the players.

Just add the zucchini in with the rest of the batter.

Pre-oven bread. I halved the recipe to only make one loaf- the full recipe makes two.

Soooooooo moist and tasty. I think I love it more than banana bread.

Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 1/2 medium zucchini)
2/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (8-ounce) cans crushed pineapple in juice, drained
Baking spray with flour

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, salt, and next 3 ingredients (through ground cinnamon) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

3. Beat eggs with a mixer at medium speed until foamy. Add sugar, zucchini, oil, egg substitute, and vanilla, beating until well blended. Add zucchini mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in pineapple. Spoon batter into 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans coated with baking spray. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves, 14 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 167 (32% from fat); FAT 5.9g (sat 0.5g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 2.4g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 16mg; SODIUM 151mg; FIBER 0.7g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.5g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2008

Recipe to try!

Tsai sisters are back from foraging Taiwan for tasty treats. Pics to come soon. Not sure if Blogger can handle massive amount of food photos we have though...

In the meantime, here's a recipe that sounds very promising. I'm marking it as a recipe to try soon!

Dot's Blondies with Chocolate Chips

Start to finish: 7 minutes preparation, plus approximately 20 to 25 minutes baking time and 20 minutes cooling time

2 sticks unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the pan)
1 pound (2 cups firmly packed) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's note)
2 large eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Cook's note: To get the proper texture, do not use an electric mixer. You do not need to sift the flour, but spoon the flour into the measuring cup so as not to pack it down too much. Use the spoon handle to brush away extra flour and thereby "level" the top of the measuring cup.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-inch-by-12-inch baking pan well with butter. Set the pan aside.

Melt the 2 sticks of butter in a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl covered with a paper towel. Remove the bowl from the microwave, and add the brown sugar. Stir well. Add the baking powder, salt and vanilla extract, stirring until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour, again stirring until it is well mixed. The batter will be very stiff.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl, and beat them well with a fork or whisk. Add the eggs to the batter and stir with a spoon until they are completely incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips (and the nuts, if using).

Spread the batter in the greased pan. The batter will be stiff and sticky. You may have to spread it to the edges of the pan with the back of a spoon, but don't worry too much about getting it exactly even, as the batter will spread as it bakes.

Bake until the top begins to get golden brown and the blondies just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 20 to 25 minutes. (Baking time will vary depending on your oven and the type of pan.) Do not overbake! Cool for at least 20 minutes, and cut into small squares. Store in an airtight container or cover well with plastic wrap. These bars freeze very well and improve in flavor after the first day.

Makes 2 dozen

Approximate values per blondie: 216 calories (41 percent from fat), 10 g fat (6 g saturated), 38 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 31 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 59 mg sodium

Will Work for Cookies

While MLF (he hates that name, btw...."my little friend") installed my living room ceiling fan the other night, I felt like it'd be a nice thing to do if I offered to bake him up something sweet for all his grunting efforts up on the ladder. I told him to pick ANYTHING he wanted and I'd make it right then. He picked my oatmeal cookies, typically made with raisins and chocolate.

Impressively (and surprisingly), the ceiling fan was looking pretty good so far, so I decided that I'd reward MLF with some extra-special oatmeal cookies. No same ol' raisins and chocolate this time around. I broke out the good stuff - dried cranberries, toffee bits, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I even made an ice cream sandwich with the cookies which was stuffed with caramel pecan ice cream.

The ice cream sandwich was eaten before I could snap a pic. I'll post pictures of the cookies later though!

I used a recipe from Martha Stewart, but made some tweaks. This is my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe ever. The cookies come out chewy and very crispy at the same time.


Prissy's Oatmeal Cookies full of toffee, crasins and chocolate!
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oats (I used a mix of quick-oats and old fashioned)
1 cup dried cranberries (use however much you want, i used a bit less)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup toffee pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice during mixing. Add the egg; mix on high speed to combine. Add the vanilla; mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and mix on low speed until well combined. Add the oats, cherries, chocolate, and toffee pieces; mix to combine after each addition.

4. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto a lined baking sheet. Repeat, spacing 2 inches apart.

5. Bake cookies until golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Happy Easter

Hummingbird Cake

The cake looks pretty, but the taste is to be determined... This Hummingbird Cake is similar to a carrot cake, except minus the carrot part. The similarity is in the texture and flavor. It has a little spice in it, some crushed pineapple for moistness, AND it has cream cheese frosting. Oops, did I mention the key ingredient is bananas??

I didn't include the nuts as the recipe called for because I didn't feel like spending $9.99 on pecans at the rip-off groc store. I subbed applesauce in the place of most of the 1 cup of oil, so I hope this cake doesn't taste too "healthy." Shhh...don't tell. We'll see how it tastes tomorrow!

Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped firm ripe banana

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl several times. Add eggs and salad oil to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and 1 cup pecans. Stir in the bananas. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes,or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Frost the tops of all 3 layers, stack and then frost sides. Sprinkle top evenly with the 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans.

Blondies Have More Fun

Butterscotch and chocolate chip blondie bites

These blondies are easy as pie! I got this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. All it takes is just ONE bowl. I love it - less cleaning up to do later, more time to eat! The recipe provides you with a blank canvas of plain blondie batter and you can toss in whatever you want. Here I used some butterscotch chips and some chocolate chips. Next time I might use heath chips and chocolate. The texture on the inside isn't like that of a faux blondie/cookie bar. These are more "unbaked" than cookie bars. The insides are a teeny bit gooey and but not overly uncooked. They taste caramely and butterscotchy.

Blondies

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar - beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times — nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them

Bad to the Scone!

Cream Scones

Get it? Bad to the bone.... bad to the scone?? These scones are ANYTHING but bad!! they are DELICIOUS! I'm hosting the ladies for brunch tomorrow and I figured in addition to buttermilk pancakes, we'd need something else to munch on too. This is another Dorie recipe - Cream Scones. They have the texture of a tender scone and the flavor of a buttery biscuit. The recipe called for currants, but I used some crasins too. Try slathering these suckers with some jam and whipped cream, that'd make YOU bad to the bone!

Dorie's Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake

Here's Dorie Greenspan's wonderful bundt cake. I think I jacked up the marbling because my chocolate and vanilla layers didn't look as pretty as the book. Therefore, no picture of the insides! ha! The cake was delicious. My little friend found it quite addicting. I brought 2/3 of the cake to work and left 1/3 at home for ourselves. MLF made like a grape and let out a little whine when he found out the news of the cake being taken to work the next day.

Dorie Greenspan Recipe #1

Tomorrow I am wishing my co-workers a happy Valentine's day with some Carrot Spice Muffins. These babies are from the first recipe I am trying from Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From my home to yours." They are pretty easy to whip up and bake - I'd say 45 minutes or so from start to finish. The smell of the carrots and spices wafting from the oven are better than any candle you can buy. :) The texture of these muffins is very light and the crumb is loose...not what I'd expect from a 'hearty'-seeming muffin.

Here's the recipe:
Carrot Spice Muffins

Makes 12
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots, about 3, peeled and trimmed
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
1/3 cup raisins or currants
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted, cooled and chopped

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375°. Butter or spray the 12 muffin molds in a regular sized muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternately, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, milk and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - a few lumps are better than over-mixing the batter. Stir in the carrots, coconut, currants and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.