Chef Lisa

My obsession with baking took over again today, and I just finished baking the Pear and Pecan Bread from the 1997 printing of The Joy of Cooking. The page the recipe is on is splatter with stuff and the spine is broken at that spot because it’s on the same page as the most commonly referred to recipe in that book – banana bread. In fact, that page is in danger of falling out, so I’d better find some tape to repair it soon.

I made a double batch, and both loaves turned out beautifully. I can hardly wait to hear what Matt and the kids have to say about it!

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Okay, I know this isn’t a diabetes-friendly recipe, but it looked so good I had to try it. It’s a very moist, very rich and delicious snack bread. We’ve found it tastes best when it’s room temperature (when the peanut butter taste is most prominent), but it’s good hot and cold too.

This recipe is from Recipe Girl blog.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 
Makes two loaves, 16 slices each.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups mashed banana
1 cup milk, 1% lowfat
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9×5-inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, combined mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, vanilla and egg. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into loaf pans, dividing equally. Bake 40 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 136 Calories; 5g Fat (32.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 136mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

We got this recipe from the Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Food section of the Ann Arbor News. It was an article about cooking with pumpkins by Susan Barnes. It makes a very dense, moist cake, but if it weren’t for the chocolate chips, the flavor would be completely unremarkable. Next time I make it (it’s going to be around for at least another day or two, as the recipe makes 2 loaves), I’m going to add more seasoning to it. Possibly pumpkin pie spice.

Now, the relative blandness of the bread could be because we used canned pumpkin, and not the oven roasted pumpkin puree from earlier in the article, but how often is the average person going to be able to get roasted pumpkin puree?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

1 cup vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the oil and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin and water.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Whisk together until well blended. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just mixed. Stir in vanilla, nuts and chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into two lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pans and bake for one hour or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the loaves comes out clean. Let the bread cool completely in the pans, then remove and wrap the loaves well in plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight before serving.

Makes two loaves, about 16 slices each.

We didn’t wait the recommended amount of time before serving. When the first loaf was room temperature, we cut into it. At the time I’m writing this, we haven’t cut into the second loaf, so I don’t know if it does taste better after sitting for a while.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 243 Calories; 12g Fat (42.9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 27mg Cholesterol; 197mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

A Paula Deen recipe from Food Network. Ari loves Paula Deen, and when she plays “cooking show” Paula’s the one she pretends to be. She’s got Paula’s speech down pat – including Paula’s accent. It’s hilarious to watch. Anyway, I made a variation in the recipe from the way originally written. It calls for more orange zest than I was able to obtain, but I think I like it with the lesser amount. I may, one day, try it with more. Until then, though, I like it this way.

This bread tastes really nice warm. The raw batter tasted very sweet, and I was worried that it would still be so sweet, but the orange zest helped cut it and made for a very nice bread.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

 
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp orange zest
Whipped cream, for serving
Zucchini ribbons, for serving

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips, and orange zest. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. Chill before slicing. Serve with whipped cream and ribbons of zucchini.

I manage to score two big zucchini. And I mean big – they were 3 lbs each. Luckily, we love zucchini bread. I’m trying out several different recipes to see which ones we like best. This is the first one. It tastes okay warm (plain, with no butter or anything), but tastes 100 times better when it’s cooled completely.

We based this recipe on one I found at the Food Network. We like it with a bit more cinnamon than they recommend.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
Turbinado sugar or other crystallized brown sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour, or spray with non-stick cooking spray, a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Stir the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. When well combined, stir in the oats.

Make a well in the center of the ingredients. Whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla together in a small bowl then pour the mixture into the well. Combine lightly, then stir in the zucchini. Don’t overmix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, mounding it up in the center. Bake for 60 or 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack covered with a clean dish towel to prevent indentations. Let the bread cool at least 10 minutes longer before slicing.