Banana Bread with Espresso Glaze
Oohhhhhh look at that warm, sweet, gooey glaze!
I’m not really into icings or glazes, but this espresso glaze takes something as simple as banana bread to a whole other level. This banana bread is fairly straightforward, albeit with a little topping of crunchy turbinado sugar and a hint of cinnamon and espresso powder. But add that glaze and you have a bona fide hit on your hands.
What’s great about the recipe is that it can feel really special, or just be an everyday sort of thing. I’m not hugely into banana bread, but I am hugely into this. Seriously, what are you waiting for? It can be in the oven in 15 minutes. Go. Go now.
You might also like: Chai Spice Banana Bread
A Healthier Take on Strawberry Shortcake for a Big Group
I want to eat this all day, every day.
It’s no secret that there are a few select foods that I could literally could eat every single day and not get tired of them. Nachos (and I do), a good burger, and my homemade strawberry shortcake. My homemade strawberry shortcake is sublime.
I stumbled upon this recipe years ago when I needed to come up with a dessert for like 15 people. Individual shortcakes would have been way too time-consuming (and quite frankly they’re kind of dry), but I had it stuck in my head that I wanted to use the pounds of strawberries that my mom had. And then I found the original recipe I’ve adapted here…as my original post mentioned, I’m obsessed. It’s literally the best.
But, as with many recipes, I wanted to see if there was a way to make it just a tad more healthy—cut down on the calories just a bit, but also bringing in some healthier elements. And the fact is, I might like this version even just a bit more.
I cut the sugar a bit, and it definitely doesn’t lose anything. And then I’ve substituted half of the flour for whole wheat (or white whole wheat, which is a bit softer), which gives it a great heartiness and also a slightly nutty, warm flavor that I really love. You can make this ahead of time when feeding a big group and it’s the most moist, fragrant, yummy summer dessert I can think of. Pair it with fresh strawberries and a bit of homemade cinnamon whipped cream, and you’ve got yourself a winner!READ THE POST
Pakistani Kima
Full disclosure: I have no idea if this recipe is truly Pakistani, nor do I know what “kima” is.
But I *do* know that it’s delicious, filling, healthy, and easy. That’s a dinner grand slam in my books.
My sister has been making this for her family for quite a while, and she made it for us while I was visiting my parents a couple years ago. I fell in love with the incredible aroma and flavors of the spice combination. It’s truly what makes this dish special.
But it has a lot more going for it. It’s chock-full of veggies, across the color spectrum (something that I’m usually desperately needing). It’s also super satiating, with a one-two-three punch of the fat in the butter (don’t skimp on this), the lean ground beef, and the fiber-full vegetables.
It clocks in at around 320 calories per serving (if you make 6 servings out of the batch), which is great if you’re trying to keep your calories down but not feel hungry all the time.
And best of all, this recipe is super easy to make, a one-pot standby. It only takes about a half-hour total, and only requires you to do some vegetable chopping and throw everything into a pot. I made two desserts while putting this together a couple weeks ago, because I didn’t have to spare any brainpower for it. So I’m kind of in love.READ THE POST
Chocolate, Cinnamon, & Almond Loaf Cake (gluten-free)
My dessert tastes don’t always quite jive with other people’s. I don’t like things super sweet, I tend more toward fruity desserts rather than super chocolate, I will always choose dark chocolate over milk (and don’t even talk to me about white chocolate and its lies…).
I was blown away by the complexity of the flavors in this cake, yet how subtle they were. I cut back on the sugar quite a bit from what the recipe called for, and for me that made it perfect—letting the chocolate have more of a bittersweet quality and the cinnamon shine through. Also, whoever thought to put cinnamon in whipped cream is a genius and I can’t believe I haven’t done that before. But I assure you I will forever moving forward…
READ THE POST
Jam Streusel Coffee Cake
This coffee cake is like the Sound of Music in real life. It’s all about my favorite things.
Jam? Check. Streusel? Check. Excuse to eat dessert for breakfast? Check.
Coffee cake is kind of a perfect food. It is easy to whip up and throw in the oven, leaving you to focus on other things. It can be made the night before if you’re on a tight schedule in the morning. It’s fancy enough for a brunch or shower. It CAN even be a dessert. And this recipe is particularly great, in that the cake itself is lovely and light and moist and fluffy—helped along by the buttermilk, greek yogurt, and extra egg yolks.READ THE POST
Peach Raspberry Cobbler
You know when you end up with an ingredient and then have to find recipes that will help you use that ingredient? Yeah, that’s what we’re looking at here.
See, I’m a “crisp” girl. Peach crisp, apple crisp, cherry crisp—if it’s got oats and streusel topping, I’m on board. So, while I like cobblers just fine, I never choose them over crisp.
But as I mentioned a couple weeks ago in this garlic cheddar beer bread, I had a brand-new bag of self-rising flour that I needed to use up before Passover. And after lots of Googling recipes for self-rising flour, I couldn’t resist this peach raspberry crisp even though there are NO good fresh peaches right now. So I re-worked it using canned peaches (I know, not ideal) and it turned out great!
My favorite part about this recipe—besides how delicious it was—is how it came together so incredibly fast. It seriously was crazy easy and simple to pull together, but felt special as well. And it would be totally awesome with fresh peaches.READ THE POST
Peach Rhubarb Pie
Some people go crazy trying to manufacture unleavened desserts during the Days of Unleavened Bread, but generally I gravitate (must like for gluten-free things) towards naturally unleavened recipes. Pie is one of those glorious things.
I went home for Passover, the Night to Be Much Observed, and the first Day of Unleavened Bread this year, as has become my custom. It was…kind of crazy, with lots of people in and out of the house, four kids four and under to keep track of a lot of the time (one of them teething mightily), and hordes of people to be fed seemingly every night.
Kansas this time of year is really a crapshoot weather-wise, and for the most part I really lucked out. We had two beautiful days, then one insanely windy day (which isn’t unusual).
Three gorgeous sunsets.
Actual water in the creek (it’s been bone-dry the past few years). Overall, the weather was very kind to me.
For the Night to Be Much Observed (or Remembered, which is the same night as the Jewish Seder), we needed to come up with a recipe to feed a lot of people and complement the chocolate toffee matzo that someone else was bringing. Extra points if the babies could all eat it (which meant everything had to be organic, non-GMO, and with very little sugar. After some discussion, I settled on peach rhubarb pie. My mom had strawberries and that was an option, but I felt like the combo of peaches and rhubarbs was a little unique, so couldn’t resist.
A few notes on this recipe—this is a VERY forgiving recipe, in terms of quantities, length of time, etc. That makes it a little challenging to give exact amounts or baking time (which will also very much depend on the crust you use). Plus, you’ll want to adjust some of the ingredients to your own personal taste (specifically the sugar; this was a bit tart for my personal taste, but was kept that way for the babies).READ THE POST
Espresso Chocolate Coffee Cake
There is no such thing as having too many coffee cake recipes. That’s like having too much cheese, or too many raw sugar packets, or too many pairs of shoes.
Honestly, I have one coffee cake recipe (a cinnamon-streusel one) that is the best in the world, and my go-to under any and all circumstances. And I’m just now realizing that I’ve never posted it. So…that will need remedied. But in the meantime, this one—if you like the combo of espresso and chocolate—is definitely a keeper.
The sour cream gives this a lovely moistness and a dense but somehow light crumb. Everyone at work totally raved about the taste and the texture, so you could probably switch up the toppings if the chocolate/espresso flavor combo isn’t for you.
The original recipe (link at the bottom) calls for you to split the topping and batter, and have a layer of topping in the middle. Since I was using a big springform pan I definitely didn’t have enough batter or topping to make this work, but if you go the bundt or tube pan route, you may want to give this a try. Either way, the melted chocolate, deep espresso notes, and little spikes of cinnamon make this worth getting up in the morning.READ THE POST
Apple Pie Scones
I had other things I planned on posting this weekend, but I just couldn’t keep this recipe from you for a minute longer. This recipe needs shared IMMEDIATELY.
I spent almost a week home with the family for Thanksgiving, and it involved a fair amount of cooking and baking. Sabbath morning my mom asked what I’d like to make to go along with our awesome chili-cheese omelettes. I needed something simple and fairly quick, since we were all starving, and scones felt like the simplest option.
I was really tempted by a cinnamon scone recipe I’ve been eyeing for months, but then this jumped at me. I took a chance, and BOY, did I make the right choice?!
The strangest thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t include any milk or buttermilk. That made me nervous, and I was worried these would be dry or wouldn’t rise well, but I was totally wrong. The shredded apples and the applesauce gave them all the moistness they needed, and the texture was perfect. They’re pretty healthy as scones go, and have such a great flavor.READ THE POST
Cheesy Sausage & Grit Casserole
Sorry, friends. There’s no way to make this dish look pretty in pictures. But it IS super yummy!
I’m always on the lookout for new breakfast casserole recipes for our Friday morning work breakfasts, particularly ones that don’t take a million different ingredients and a lot of assembly time (because let’s face it, I get home late). This one is is simple, affordable, and comes together super quickly.
Funny story about this recipe though…the original recipe instructions just say “boil salted water, then add grits”. Because my background is pasta, where you heavily salt the water (then, obviously, pour a lot of it out), I boiled the water and tossed a handful of salt in, and of course salted my sausage and added (salty) cheese. The result? So salty, it was almost inedible. It WAS kind of inedible, in my opinion. Lesson learned—follow the instructions on the package!READ THE POST
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while.
Why, you ask? It’s cinnamon swirl bread, which is a total no-brainer. Gooey, cinnamony goodness spiraling through a tender, crumby loaf. And it is. But for some reason when I made it a few months ago, I wasn’t totally in love with it. The filling was awesome, but the bread was just…fine. The texture was good, but the outside was crustier than I wanted and the bread’s flavor (it tasted like…bread) was a disconnect from the sweet filling.
But I’ve come to see the error of my ways, because you deserve cinnamon swirl bread in YOUR life too. I’ve made a few adjustments to the recipe to make the bread and filling feel like they’re part of the same recipe, including adding a teaspoon of cinnamon and a little extra sugar to the dough. The filling was perfect just as it was. READ THE POST
Fresh Peach Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Peach season!!!!
I feel like that should have been all-caps. Because, not only is it peach season, but my VERY. FIRST. PEACH. was perfectly ripe. That has never happened in the history of ever. Farmers market FTW!
When I snagged these beauties last weekend and they were perfectly ripe and criminally juicy, I knew I had to do something amazing with them immediately. And it was balls-hot (the hyphen is important for adhering to AP style…) so ice cream was the logical conclusion.
This is my no-fail coconut milk ice cream. I’ve made it in many different flavors, including my absolute favorite in the world, peanut butter and honey with sea salt, as well as a slight variation of peanut butter and strawberry jam. It’s easy, adaptable, healthy, only as sweet as you want it to be, and naturally dairy-free. And did I mention easy? As long as you have a little frozen yogurt maker you’re golden. Otherwise I’d try stirring it every so often in the freezer and you’ll probably still get good results.READ THE POST
Whole-Grain Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Yeah, I went on something of a muffin-baking bender a couple months back. In a couple of weeks I made these double chocolate banana muffins and these healthy apple muffins with cinnamon-sugar topping, and somehow these guys fell off the radar.
Yeah, you’ll notice that there are two whole wheat, apple-y, cinnamon-y muffin recipes.
Funny story…
I made the first recipe for work, the one with the crunchy topping. It got rave reviews, but the pictures I took were terrible so I knew I’d need to make it again to get better shots.
So I pulled the ingredients together, started stirring everything together, and was like, “Wow, I must have been really out it when I made this the first time, because I don’t remember some of these steps!”. Then I got the batter together and started to spoon it into the muffin tins, and was worried about how much more liquidy it was than the last time I made it.
Some of you can see where this is going…
Yeah, not the same recipe.
So this is the second recipe, the one I made on accident. I loved the streusel topping, and the muffins were SO moist. Definitely recommend this one!READ THE POST
Healthy Apple Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
Crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping.
Crunchy. Cinnamon. Sugar. Topping.
Basically, that’s all you need to know about this recipe. But I guess I could mention the fact that they’re mostly whole wheat, low in sugar, and full of wholesome fruit. I mean, if that kind of thing’s important to you.
When you make this, the batter will worry you because it is crazy thick. Like, bread dough thick. You won’t pour or spoon it into the muffin tins, you’ll kind of awkwardly drop it in there and kind of smoosh it. Don’t try to smash it into the muffin cups, just kind of drop it and it will expand as it bakes to fill in the gaps. And despite the thickness of the batter and the density of the baked muffins, they’re super moist!READ THE POST
Single-Serving Cherry Crisp
Sometimes I get obsessed with things.
Sometimes that’s just obsessed with eating something. Sometimes it’s creating something that I can’t find. Other times it’s finding the perfect version—which may mean making it a TON of times. Homemade pad thai. Black bean brownies. Dreamy scones.
This is one of those things. I love fruit crisp, but sometimes it’s not worth the effort to make a whole pan (plus, then I eat the whole pan, which…).
I first got the idea when I made a sweet dark cherry pie for Thanksgiving last year. I’d never really worked with cherries before, always sticking instead to apples, pears, and peaches. I kind of winged it (wung it?) and made up the recipe after reading a few different ones, and it turned out great. And then one night recently I was jonesin’ for something sweet, and the idea of fruit crisp hit me (I wasn’t in the mood for chocolate for some reason). All I really had, though, was a bag of frozen cherries for smoothies. I decided to give it a go, and made two—one in the oven and one in the microwave. Shockingly, I liked the microwave version and it took WAY less time.
Since then I’ve made it several more times because I couldn’t quite get the flavors exactly like I wanted. This is a pretty fluid and forgiving recipe. You can add a little honey or sugar to the filling if you feel it needs it (or are using tart cherries), but mine is plenty sweet. Also, you could make it gluten-free by using a flour alternative like oat flour, coconut flour, almond meal, etc. I tried a few different spice combinations in the filling and topping (cardamom, ginger, etc.), but ultimately found that simpler was better—cinnamon and some almond extract.READ THE POST
Churro Popovers
Oh my word, THESE POPOVERS.
These are heaven. They are light, puffy, buttery, cinnamony-sweet heaven. And they’re so fast and easy!
I halved the recipe, since I was only cooking for me (yes, it still made 7 popovers, DON’T JUDGE ME). It’s so insanely fast, you just blend up the ingredients in your blender (or with a whisk) while the oven heats up, and like 20 minutes later you have piping hot popovers. It’s impressive, really.READ THE POST
Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies
This is a very simple cookie.
It came about because I was visiting my best friend in Dallas last month. We were craving sweets but she’s given up dairy for a while because it seems to upset her baby’s tummy. We wanted to make chocolate chip cookies but that was out because of the dairy in the chocolate chips. So after some recipe searching, we found these lovely, comforting cookies.
These are basically like oatmeal raisin cookies, without the raisins (because, ick). We gorged on them and sat on the couch and watched “10 Things I Hate About You” and it was wonderful. These ended up being dinner that night at the airport, as well as breakfast with my coffee the next morning at work. READ THE POST
Apple Pie German Pancake Bowls
German pancakes, where have you been all my life?!?!
A few weeks ago, I realized on a Thursday that the next morning was my breakfast day. But, in addition to working long hours, my co-workers and I were going out for a department event, so it was going to be a late night. I racked my brain for something I could easily throw together the next morning, but that would be hearty and unhealthy enough for my (probably slightly hungover) co-workers. This recipe was perfect because it was pretty easy, and had a baking break in the middle where I could also throw the frittata into the oven.
While I’d heard of Dutch babies (another name for German pancakes), I’d never made them and I’m not sure I’d even had them. But they are awesome! There’s no sugar in the actual batter (some recipes I’ve seen have a tiny bit), but you load them up with whatever awesome fillings you want. Because they have a lot of eggs in them and a lot less flour, they also stick with you longer.
These have a delightful homemade apple pie filling and then some streusel on top, and are entirely decadent (yet surprisingly not that bad for you). This has opened a whole world of German pancakes and Dutch babies to explore now that I can’t get them out of my mind.READ THE POST
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
A month ago I was crowing about the glorious chocolate stout cake with chocolate ganache I made for my birthday. It was fudgy and rich but not too sweet, with a depth from the stout. Basically perfect. Then, a couple days later, my friends asked if I could bring a dessert to their dinner party. They’re both gluten-free, and I have a number of go-to recipes. But I couldn’t get that chocolate cake out of my mind.
I knew I’d pinned a gluten-free quinoa cake months ago, but didn’t quite love the exact ingredient proportions. I found another, tweaked it a little, and used the same chocolate ganache as the other cake. I took the remaining three-fourths of my birthday cake and the quinoa cake to the party.
I had to label them because they were identical, and honestly, I think people liked them equally. The only real difference you could tell was that the quinoa cake didn’t have the stout (on account of the gluten), but I plan to adapt it for a bourbon or similar at some point—just have to do my research on gluten and alcohol. And there was still some of the whole quinoa in it since my blender isn’t great, but if you use a food processor it will puree it and you’d never even know.
This cake is topped with a super easy (but fancy looking) pouring dark chocolate ganache…I show two different techniques in that post, but either way you’re talking like 5 minutes max, and 2-3 ingredients.