Recipe: Healthy Zucchini Bread

Oy vey… So this last week of pre-orientation has been INSANE. 3 hours of sleep and meeting 20 awesome new freshman? No biggy.

Anyways, I’m sorry I’ve been totally neglecting ya’ll with any semblance of foodie goodness. So as a little present, here’s an end-of-summer treat to keep you going to remind you of all the wonders of Summer 2012.

One of my favorite things about being home is baking.  But not just any baking…healthy baking!

Usually with vegetables. Sometimes with chocolate. Always with ridiculous dancing. Hopefully with ultimate deliciousness

H and family have been the best of hosts this summer and have graciously allowed me to use their kitchen, but surprisingly, I’ve done very little baking. With the dog days of summer dwindling though, I’m finding myself propelled to the kitchen to use up the last bits of summer produce and summer free time. This summer has been a bit indulgent (wonderfully so), but now, I’m feeling quite dandy about a healthy treat that feels great and tastes even better.

So here’s to zucchini bread….

Whole grain, protein-packed, vegetable- dotted, moist, light, summery, and most importantly, DELICIOUS zucchini bread.

Healthy Zucchini Bread

Ever-so-slightly sweet with a variation of different textures, this zucchini bread is one of the tastiest things I’ve baked all summer. It’s bursting at the seams with whole grains, protein, and omega-3’s, but you’d never guess it. Lovely either a morning breakfast with coffee or for a late summer gathering with some lemonade, this is a treat you can feel proud to eat.

Inspired by Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life’s Zucchini Bread

Makes 10 slices

Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour** 1 cup rolled oats 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 2 eggs 2 tsp chia seeds 3 tbsp milk (I used non-dairy almond milk) 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 tsp vanilla 3 cups shredded zucchini 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

**Regular whole wheat is too heavy. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, you can use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and spices., using a whisk to evenly distribute all ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until light and foamy. Add the chia seeds, milk, applesauce, vanilla, and zucchini, and whisk until mixture is even.

At this point, combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir to avoid getting a “glue-y” batter, and then, fold in the chopped walnuts.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden on top and cooked in the middle. Allow to cool for 15 minutes (important or you will end up with mushy bread!).

EDIT: A note from my dear mother...Since this bread has a high moisture content from the zucchini and no real preservatives (yay!), it is best kept in the fridge in order to maintain freshness. If you are planning on eating it over a long span of time, slice bread and then freeze + reheat. :)

I was a little bit nervous about this bread turning out dense due to the combination of so many wet ingredients (zucchini, applesauce, eggs, etc.) and whole wheat, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! I modified much of Courtney’s recipe to suit my own tastes, swapping chia seeds for the egg whites and adding walnuts.

The only thing I might try next time is either using quick oats (as originally recommended) or grinding up rolled oats a tad to make them a bit less pronounced in the bread. I really like whole oats in my breads, but I’m not sure if guests would feel the same.

That said, Mom let me know this morning that she “really liked the oat-iness.” Ironic, eh?

I guess it just goes to show you that this bread is a winner all-around!

P.S. Plus, it makes for another great recipe too…. Any guesses?

Recipe: Healthier Pecan Pie (and no corn syrup!)

This pecan pie was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. With a perfect ratio of nuts to filling and filling to crust, the pie was a crowd-pleaser for sure in our house. And by that, I mean it disappeared within two days.

I guess we just can’t shut our pie holes.

When I first entertained the idea of making a pie (a rare occurrence considering I don’t much care for pie), I had a hard time deciding which flavor.

Fruit? Ewwwwww. I am not a fan of gloppy, cooked fruit.

Pumpkin? I wouldn’t mind, but I knew everyone else would think it out of season.

Banana or Coconut Cream? Again, not my thing whatsoever. Blake would probably love a banana cream pie though.

Eschewing the weirder flavors (mincemeat…), I decided on pecan. My whole family likes it, and I was not adverse. (Especially considering my love for nuts and nut butters!)

Pecan it was!

Of course, I had a few requirements.

1) No corn syrup – Whether or not corn syrup is truly bad for you, I don’t know. However, being that it is still considered controversial in the food world, I decided to steer clear. When pecan pie was invented, corn syrup wasn’t involved, so I knew it was do-able.

2) Healthier than the average pie – True to the nature of my love for health/nutrition (and this blog!), I wanted to make this pie a little healthier without sacrificing taste. I made the following adjustments:

• no lard in the pie crust
• nonfat sour cream instead of regular
• unbleached flour
• no corn syrup in the filling
• whole wheat flour in the filling
• molasses in the filling for a boost of flavor + minerals

I also used almond milk in the filling because I figured the subtle smooth nuttiness would compliment the pecan flavor well.

Summer Pecan Pie

I’m not generally a pie person, but this pie is good stuff. An intricately flavored molasses filling and warm, toasty pecans add a wonderful depth to the pie, while the flaky crust serves as a great canvas. Sweet and buttery without being too rich, the pie is perfect for a night at home or a summer gathering. Even better, there is no corn syrup or other icky additives!

Ingredients:

Crust 2 cups flour 1/2 cup butter, very cold and cubed in small pieces 1/4 cup nonfat sour cream, heaping 1/4 tsp salt

Filling 1 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp white sugar 2 tbsp molasses 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted 2 eggs 1 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour 1 tbsp almond milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup pecans, chopped extra pecans (for garnish), optional

Directions:

Crust

1. Before you begin, make sure you’re butter is very cold. Cut butter into flour with a knife, fork, or pastry cutter. Continue incorporating butter into flour, working quickly until a coarse sand-like texture is formed. (Note: Do NOT melt butter into the flour mixture.)
2. Place mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove bowl from freezer and pour contents onto a wooden cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll the butter into the flour—beginning to form a dough with the flattened butter.
4. Then, add the sour cream and continue rolling to form a ball. The dough ball should be moist but not wet. If necessary, you can add a little bit more flour, until this consistency is reached.
5. Return the dough to the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer, and roll out into a circle, roughly 10 inches in diameter (to fit your pie pan).
7. Take circle and fit it in a greased pie pan, crimping the edges if desired.
8. At this point, you can return the dough to the freezer and save for later use or proceed with the recipe.

Pie

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until foamy. Stir in melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, and vanilla. Whisk again until even mixture is formed.
3. Add the milk, flour, and pecans. Again, stir until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour filling mixture into unbaked 9 –inch pie shell. Garnish with extra pecans, if desired.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go shut my pie hole, so I can a) go do hot yoga and b) you can go make this.  

Happy Memorial Day!

Recipe: Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownie Batter Truffle Balls

Yes, you read that right.

Second SKC repost!

It is very possible that this post will change your life. That you may have an epiphany. That you may discover God’s gift to man. It takes some serious balls to back up a claim like that. But believe me, you’re about to get just that.

I’d like to introduce you to Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownie Batter Truffle Balls.

Wow, those balls sound like a mouthful.

That’s what she said.

Or maybe that’s what I said, right as my maturity launched itself out the window. Chocolate³ will do that to a girl. But I digress. Let’s stop trifling and talk about truffles.

Head over to http://college.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2012/04/triple-chocolate-fudge-brownie-batter-truffle-balls.html for the rest. And for the love of all things good and chocolatey, comment and tell your friends—college student or not, they will fall in love with this orgasmic creation  

A Birthday Favorite–Recipe: Super Moist Carrot Cake

Each year for my birthday, Mum would always ask what kind of cake I wanted. While other kids would happily cry “chocolate/vanilla!” my answer was usually a bit different. Being an ardent fruit lover, I always requested a strawberry sponge cake from an Asian bakery or carrot cake.

Then, I learned that other kids did not share my affection for carrot cake. Everyone would sing happy birthday, and I’d blow out the candles, only to find that I was the only one who wanted birthday cake. The first time it happened, I was upset. The next time though, I happily ate my mom’s carrot cake, while the other kids dug into a store-bought chocolate cake with tasteless frosting balloons. More for me  

Over the years, some of friends began to appreciate carrot cake as well. However, it didn’t take me long to realize that not every carrot cake tasted like mother dearest’s special version.

Mum always iced her walnut and pineapple studied cake with an AMAZING amaretto-cream cheese frosting. No restaurant or store-bought version could compare.

Upon learning how to bake, I tried out this recipe and found it just as good as a I remembered. Though it’s a bit more labor intensive than the average cake (if you don’t buy pre-shredded carrots), this gem of a cake is simply to die for—without a doubt, the best of its kind.

Let’s hope my kids think so too.

Super Moist Carrot Cake

Some kids will shy away from this cake, if you tell them that it contains vegetables. Solution: don’t tell them, and watch with glee as they gobble down every carrot-embellished bite. This cake is ridiculously moist and with just the right amount of spice. Slather on some of Mom’s amaretto-cream cheese frosting, and you’ll have kids renouncing the likes of store-bought cakes with frosting balloons.

Adapted from Mom (via Kathy Hunt)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar (slightly heaping)
2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup applesauce
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
small can crushed pineapple
chopped walnuts
3 ½ cups carrots, shredded

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2) In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well-combined and no lumps remain.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, and eggs. Add in shredded carrots and crushed pineapple.

4) Add the wet ingredient mixture to the flour mixture. Fold in chopped walnuts.

5) Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 55 minutes. Use a toothpick to check for doneness. Let cake cool completely before frosting.

Cream-Cheese Amaretto Frosting (the most delicious frosting EVER)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 8-oz block neufchatel lite cream cheese

1 tablespoon amaretto (or 1 tsp almond extract)

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Using a mixer (or a LOT of elbow grease), beat together butter, cream cheese, and amaretto. Stir in powdered sugar and continue beating until fluffy.

Alternatively, you could also make this into cupcakes for fun-sized deliciousness.

You’d probably have to reduce the baking time to about 18-20 minutes, but I can’t remember exactly.

Worse comes to worse, you might end up with carrot cake cake batter.

Oh man, that would be a happy birthday, indeed.

Recipe: The Best Banana Bread EVER. Period.

Somewhere, in the dark depths of my mom’s recipe stores, there sits an old, yellowed notecard. In my mom’s borderline-indecipherable handwriting, the words, “Beth’s Friend’s Banana Bread” are scrawled across the top. I have no idea who Beth is. And I most certainly don’t know Beth’s friend.

What I do know, however, is that she made some KILLER banana bread.

The best you will ever taste.

Mother dearest has been baking this recipe for as long as I can remember. Both she and Dad are wonderful cooks, but this wonderfully moist loaf of banana-y goodness is, arguably, her specialty. In fact, she keeps that old yellow notecard lovingly tucked in the “B” section of her recipe box, but I can’t remember the last time she used it. Even amidst working full-time and raising a family, she manages to know by heart how to make the best banana bread known to man.

Of course, Mum also had time made time to teach me the “secret family recipe.” Toddling around the kitchen, I would ask her, “Mumma, when are you going to make banana bread?”

She would respond, “As soon as the bananas are really ripe. Want to help me?”

So brother and I would wait, getting excited when we finally saw the tell tale sign—3 dappled bananas, deep golden yellow with kisses of black.

Soon after, we’d be fighting over the last lick of batter, while we willed 70 minutes to go by faster. And then, magic: warm banana bread with a crispy gold-brown crust and sweet, luscious interior. Devoured, without fail, within 24 hours.

As soon as I learned how to bake and use the oven, I made a point to make Mom’s banana bread. (Actually, it may have been the first thing I ever baked?!). To this day, I still make her banana bread, both for family at home and friends at Georgetown. Regardless of where or when I make the bread, it never seems to disappoint.

And regardless of how many times I make it, I still think of that yellowed notecard, of Beth, of Beth’s friend, and perhaps most importantly, of Mom and I making banana bread together.

The Best Banana Bread Ever (a.k.a Beth’s friend’s Banana Bread)

My mom has been making this bread for as long as I can remember for good reason—it never lasts more than a day in our house. Always a huge crowd pleaser, this banana bread is sweet but not too sweet and seriously addictive. The addition of walnuts adds a perfect crunch that I (as well as Mom) highly, highly recommend. I’ve never found a better b-bread, and I doubt I will. If you’re still on the hunt for that illusive “best banana bread ever, I recommend giving this one a go!

Adapted from Mom’s banana bread recipe

(Can be gluten free, vegan, and whole-grain)

3 large (or 4 small) overripe bananas (the blacker, the better)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg [Note: To make this vegan, try using 1 flax egg or 1/4 cup pureed silken tofu]

1/4 cup melted butter (or margarine, vegan is fine)

1 1/2 cups flour [Note: See comments below for GF/whole grain option.

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

2) Mash the bananas in a bowl with a fork, ricer, or potato masher until smooth. Some small lumps are okay. Beat in sugar, egg, and butter/margarine

3) Whisk in flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring until just combined. Fold in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 70 minutes, testing doneness with a toothpick.

Easy as 1-2-3!

…But just incase that was too much for a Wednesday, let’s learn how to make banana bread old school—just like how Mom showed me.

Grab a bowl. You want it to be fairly big so you can properly smush all the bananas.

Using a fork, ricer, or potato masher (my four-year-old self’s personal favorite), smush the bananas until smooth. Got a few lumps? No problemo. This is art, not science.

Add in all da wet stuff. Feel free to use an egg substitute and vegan margarine/buttery spread instead, if that’s how you roll. With only 1/2 cup of sugar, we can call this a healthy-ish endeavor.

Now for the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until everything is well-combined, but don’t overmix. Mom always used regular AP flour, but if you’re looking for a gluten free or whole-grain option, try using oat flour.The result will be slightly more dense and grain-y but not in a bad way. If this is your first time making it, I’d recommend trying the AP flour, just so you can try Mom’s traditional recipe.

Fold in the walnuts. You could skip this, but the nuts really add an extra oomph to this bread. Do you really want to miss out on oomph? Didn’t think so.

Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. Resist the urge to peak. That’s Dad’s job.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding

<<Note: This is actually also serving as the Dining Hall DIY sample post that I’m submitting as a part of my Contributing Writer Application for Small Kitchen College!>>

You skip into the dining hall, waltzing with excitement after your latest encounter with “The Cute Boy Who Shalt Not Be Named.” And then you stop in your tracks—hit by the tsunami of sloppy joe aroma that, unfortunately, you know a little bit too well.

Le sigh.

After finishing your dreaded, wannabe (wo)manwich, you stare ruefully at the empty plate before you.

At this point, you’ve come to accept that there is only one type of food that can possible cheer you up: dessert.

Oh yes, dessert—da King Kahuna, the Elvis, the knight in shining armor, the love of your life and perhaps mine as well. But which dessert to pick?

Cake? Not New Year’s resolution approved.

Cookies? You can do better.

Soft Serve? Problem: Nameless cute boy does not dig ice cream mustaches.

Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding? Oh *&%#! Swoooooooooooooooooooon.

Innocently sexy. Gourmet and guaranteed mustache free.

Oh, and did I mention perfect for sharing with “The Cute Boy Who Shalt Not Be Named”?

Lexi is a freshman at Georgetown University, where she is considering an International Business/Management double major and proving that not all business school students have to end up on Wall Street. A nutrition aficioncado and laid-back vegetarian, she is a connoisseur of healthy baked goods, lover of farmers’ markets, and expert in freakishly cheesy puns and one-liners.

Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding

Serves 1

Sweet, gooey, and banana-y, this rice pudding will surprise your friends with its simple deliciousness and impressive nutrition profile. Because it combines whole grains, potassium-rich fruit, and healthy fats/protein, it also makes a wonderful breakfast that will keep both your snobbie inner foodie and stomach going for hours.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1 medium ripe banana, sliced
• ½ cup milk (Note: I use almond or soy milk, but feel free to use any kind you like!)
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon plus extra for topping
• Pinch salt
• 1 tbsp nut butter (e.g. peanut butter), for topping

Directions:

1) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except nut butter.

2) Microwave for 2 ½ minutes on high. Remove and mash until the mixture is mostly smooth. (Some small banana bits are okay, but try to mash the big chunks.)

3) Microwave for additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until mixture is warm and pudding- like. Add an extra drizzle of milk and stir, if the mixture is too thick for your liking.

4) Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and nut butter, and enjoy!

When I’m not away at school, most of my rice puddings begin more like this…

The almighty to-go box.

After our family goes out for Asian food of some sorts (usually Thai), we end up with a heaping box full of brown rice leftovers. By that, I mean we always seem to end up with a disproportionate amount of rice: curry.

Thanks family…

And let’s be real now—a girl can only pretend she’s Mulan eating plain rice for so long.

Then again, I guess that means more Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding for me!

Mwhwhahahaha

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve!