Blythe's Blueberry Muffins

With a Kristen twist.

The Blythe in question is none other than Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow's mom who has some recipes featured in GP's cookbook My Father's Daughter).

There is a healthier blueberry muffin in the book that is vegan, but I didn't have the ingredients for that one.

I felt the need to make blueberry muffins today because I was gifted a bag of great big beautiful blueberries and, well, muffins were suggested and I'm a sucker for suggestions.

I did change the recipe to make it dairy-free.  I subbed canola oil for the butter (a 1:1 swap) and soy milk for the milk.  I used organic unsweetened apple sauce for the eggs (1/4 cup per egg) and I added about 1/2 tsp of lemon zest because I had fresh lemons and lemon and blueberry is a match made in heaven.

These were the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten.  As of the writing of this post I have eaten 4 and will probably get another as soon as this is posted.  Easy, fast recipe...just go buy the book...you won't be disappointed.

Non-sliding Pizza

Lately I've been doing more cooking than baking.  I got a cookbook not too long ago that I love.  Every thing I made from the book has been super, but this recipe I think qualifies for The Big Bread Theory!

PIZZA!

Got this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter.

The recipe was for Wood Oven Pizzas, but who has a wood oven.  I definitely don't...and actually I don't have a pizza stone like it calls for if you are doing it in a regular oven.  With a slightly vague recipe (probably to do with the inaccurate nature of a wood pizza oven) I used trial and error...and only really error-ed (I know it's erred) on my pizza (See below).

I only used the dough recipe and not the sauce because I was using up some leftover pasta sauce.  I will say if you are using this recipe even without a pizza stone you should heat whatever pan you are cooking on  before putting the dough on and the pizza together.  My first attempt (also known as my pizza) went on a cold pan and stuck mightily to the pan when the rest of the pizza was finished.

This was a fun meal and a really delicious  pizza crust.  I saved some of the dough in the fridge overnight and had pizza again the next night.

By the way here's a clip of, probably, my favorite Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors.

Non-Birthday Cake for Mom's Birthday

A month ago...

For my mom's birthday I wanted to do something really special so (of course) I went for my go-to dessert cookbook, Gesine Bullock-Prado's Sugar Baby!  I even had a little help via Twitter from the Master Baker herself.

I made a Vanilla-Pecan Swirl Tea Cake with Maple Glaze and it was amahzing!  I followed the recipe exactly (except for my substitution of grade A maple syrup for the grade B in the glaze (I made sure this was ok with @gesinebp).  Actually, I used the wrong Bundt pan because I couldn't find the awesome swirl one I was looking for.

I loved this and most importantly my mom loved it...

A Brownie Story

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies


Oh, KH, you were wonderful.

I got the recipe here.

I substituted Earth Balance for the butter (partially because I didn't have any unsalted with the added benefit of making them non-dairy) and then reduced the amount of salt slightly to make up for the saltiness of the Earth Balance.  Also it would be great if I could get Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks where I live, just to make measuring easier.

I used raw sugar and my all-purpose flour was King Arthur's unbleached.  The raw sugar didn't blend extremely well, but the brownies tasted fine.  They just had a coating of crunchy sugar on the bottom.

Also, I added the optional walnuts.  You know, so it would be healthier to eat an entire pan of brownies by myself.  (I don't know that Katharine Hepburn would approve of adding healthy stuff to a dessert, but I did it anyway.)  I used Baker's unsweetened chocolate (in case you were wondering).

I'm not sure why the layers appeared but I liked it.

After eating a few as is, I crumbled a couple up in a bowl and topped them with macerated strawberries.  I'm sitting here eating them and watching the Philadelphia Story (my favorite KH movie) as I write this.  Actually, I put the bowl down to type but as soon as I'm finished here it's back to the brownies and strawberries.  Amazing brownies.



Once upon a time I learned to bake and everyone was happy with the results.  THE END.

Carrot Crazy

Who likes carrots?

This guy.

That's a little crazy, right? I like carrots ok, but I like zucchini better. Which is why I put carrots in bread and buy extra zucchini so I could make 2 meals with them in addition to the bread.

I had carrots that had been in the fridge for quite a while and after I found some beautiful zucchini last week so I finally got to try this recipe!

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

I got the recipe for this one over at fitsugar.com.  Here's the original.

The only substitution I made was 1/4 cup of plain organic applesauce for the egg.

Also, I really like making quick recipes into muffins, because I don't have to do anything different other than reduce the oven time and I have great individual serving sizes (which I ignore by eating 3 or 4 at a time).  My muffins took about 25 minutes and my mini-loaf took about 35-40. (I wanted it all baked at the same time and I only have one muffin tin!)

Next time I think I'll reduce the amount of sugars and increase the amount of veggies.  Otherwise these were great!  My mom was visiting, so she got to try them and loved them!

Eat your veggies, guys!

Whole Wheat and Basil? Oh Yeah!

Whole Wheat Basil Bread

Quite possibly my family's favorite bread I've ever made!



This is a recipe of my own creation.  Yeah, I created it all by myself (with the knowledge I've acquired since learning to bake).

Ingredients
Scant 3 cups bread flour (I like King Arthur)
1 cup whole-wheat flour (also King Arthur)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
2 packets active dry yeast (activated as per package instructions)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
small handful chopped fresh basil (you could use more if you wanted)

Procedure
1. Activate yeast
2. Mix together flours and salt
3. Add olive oil and mix a little before adding yeast mixture
4. Add 1 cup of the water and mix, slowly adding in additional water until the dough starts to come together (you may not need all the water)
5. On a lightly floured counter, knead dough for 5 minutes.
6. Place dough back in mixing bowl and let rise for 1 hour
7. Mix in basil and stretch dough into a sort of rectangle thin enough that you can easily roll it into a log shape and then do that (roll into a log shape, I mean)
8. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and let rise for 1 hour
9. Bake in preheated oven at 350° F for 25 minutes (maybe a little more if you want more color on the outside)
10. Let cool slightly before slicing

My lovely bread! I almost forgot to take a picture at all.

This was the softest bread I have ever made and it was turned into sandwiches, toast and eaten plain. Oh YEAH!

Have a super Sunday!  Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I Like To EAT, EAT, EAT Apple and Banana Bread

Mmm...Keith Urban...

I mean...

Apple and Banana Bread!

I almost forgot to take a picture of the bread! I dove into it as soon as it was cool enough to touch.

Anyway, this recipe is all me. I had some bananas that were very soft and this was my way of using and not losing.

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 bananas mashed (the more ripe the better)
1/4 cup applesauce (I used plain but a flavored one would work as well.)
1/4 cup canola oil


Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, bananas, applesauce and oil. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Pour into loaf pan. Mix a little extra cinnamon and raw sugar together and sprinkle on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then place on a wire rack.


I was pretty excited at how this bread turned out.  It tasted really good and I did the whole recipe without using a template.

Enjoy your vowel sounds today!  I mean, eat your fruit encased in carbs!