Tag Archives: breakfast

Pear Crumb Coffee Cake

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When I bake, I end up making more than I could possibly consume, so I end up wrapping up items in wax paper, then foil and then a zip top bag and pop it in the freezer (currently, my freezer is close to over-flowing and I would kill for a larger one). Well, I just noticed that I had half of a pear crumb coffee cake in my freezer. Total score! I’d totally forgotten about it, and I forgot that I had started to write a post about it last fall. So, here it is…later than I’d wanted. I just adapted my blueberry coffee cake recipe from my mom and adapted another recipe I found online on Cooks dot com. It’s simple and you don’t even need a mixer. You can use milk (or even buttermilk) in the recipe, but I substituted unsweetened vanilla almond milk because that’s all I had on hand. Oh, and don’t over do it on the cinnamon or cardamon, as that is a lesson I learned a long time ago.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Coffee Cake

  • 1 1/4 C. AP flour
  • 1/2 C. light brown sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamon
  • 1/2 C. almond milk
  • 4 TB unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1-2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 ripe pears, cored, peeled (if you want) and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

Topping

  • 1/2 C. white sugar
  • 1/4 C. flour
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 3 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1/4 C. chopped pecans

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, cooled melted butter,
vanilla, and milk. Add wet ingredients to dry and add pears, stir to combine. Add mixture to baking dish.

For the crumb topping, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and cut in cold butter either with a pastry cutter or your hands. Break up butter until it’s the size of tiny peas (it’s okay if some pieces are bigger). Add chopped pecans. Evenly sprinkle streusel on top of cake batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on top and when a toothpick comes out clean.

Toasted Almond Buttermilk Biscuits

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Warm homemade biscuits for breakfast!

I never personally knew my Great-Grandma on my Dad’s side of the family. She, Clara, lived through stories told by my Dad and my Grandma R. My Dad and his brother lived with his grandparents on a farm in Tennessee for a few years while his mom, my Gram, looked for work and got a job up north in Michigan (times were tough back then for a single mom living in TN and the north afforded more opportunities in employment). Apparently, Clara was quite the baker, pies, cakes and buttermilk biscuits. Stories of Clara live on via my Dad, but I wish my Grandma were alive to tell me more stories (she passed away last year and I feel like our life-long conversation was unfinished. I guess that’s what happens when someone you love dies: there’s always more to say and much left unsaid. I sure miss her). The way she described the farm to me, the smokehouse, the pickling and canning, the baking, it was as if I was there myself. I’d like to think that Clara would approve of the buttermilk biscuits I’ve been making and attempting to perfect lately.

The key to making a nice, flaky biscuit is ice cold butter. Well, that, and don’t over-work the dough and when you cut out the biscuits, don’t twist the biscuit cutter, because then your biscuits will be flat, and no one wants flat biscuits. I also keep my flour in the freezer and I tend to think that helps too. I use all-purpose flour rather than cake flour…mostly because I’ve never used cake flour and never buy it. I usually get up early on the weekends because I can’t seem to sleep late anymore. And, after a cup or two of coffee, or sometimes barely a cup, I get to baking these biscuits. The addition of toasted almonds is a new and I think it works well. Pecans would also be delicious.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

  • 2 1/4 C. AP Flour
  • 1TB baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 9 TB cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 3/4 C. buttermilk (can be low-fat)
  • 1 TB sugar (optional)
  • 1 cup chopped almonds, toasted in 1 TB butter

Chop and toast the almonds until almost browned. Remove from heat, put in a bowl and let cool. Spoon the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk them together. I have tried this recipe with sugar and without. I like them without sugar and prefer a more salty biscuit. Add the cubed, cold butter to the flour mixture. Now, you can use a pastry cutter, or your clean hands. I use my hands because I find it easier. You want to break up the butter until it’s the size of small peas and the dough is crumbly and coarse. If the dough gets too warm from your hands, put bowl in the freezer for a few minutes. Add the buttermilk and toasted nuts (if using) stir together with a spatula until the dough looks craggy and just comes together. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and flatten to about an inch or so. Do not use a rolling pin! Use biscuit cutters or a glass to cut out the biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. You can also brush the tops of the biscuits with a little bit of buttermilk. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Do not over-bake. Your kitchen will smell heavenly and your neighbors might be jealous. Enjoy warm biscuits with butter, honey, or preserves.

Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Bread

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I love fall. Getting up before the sun rises and the moon is still out, cooler temperatures, not sweating to death or passing out while waiting for the subway at Jay Street, wearing a jacket, college football, baseball playoffs, hockey (sad face here) fall vegetables….

It seems almost cliche to write about using pumpkin in the fall. But, I really do love pumpkin: cookies, waffles, pancakes, brownies, muffins, bread, you name it. Recently, I came upon a vegan recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook that I tweaked a bit. I used dark brown sugar, a dash of vanilla, low fat maple syrup and added some unsweetened vanilla almond milk while combining the wet and dry ingredients because the dough was too thick. I thought about adding cherries or cranberries too, but wanted to taste the pumpkin and not be distracted. So, perhaps next time I’ll add some dried cherries. I think I like the vegan version of the bread over any non-vegan versions I’ve ever made. It’s delicious. Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease (or use cooking spray) two 8x4x3 inch loaf pans and set aside.

  • 3 1/4C. all-purpose flour
  • 2C dark brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp of each: Vietnamese cinnamon (or regular), freshly grated nutmeg, and allspice.
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1C canola oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3C lite maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 – 1/3 C almond milk
  • 1 can of pureed pumpkin (15oz)
  • 1C chopped, toasted pecans

Mix the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk the oil, pumpkin puree, syrup, water and vanilla in another bowl. Mix until well combined and it resembles applesauce. I prefer a fork over a whisk for this task because it’s easier. (Oh, and a note about apple sauce: You could swap out half a cup of oil for 1/2 cup of apple sauce). Add wet ingredients to dry ones and mix well with a spatula. At this point you might want to add a little bit of almond milk if the mixture becomes too thick/dry. You be the judge. After well combined, add the toasted pecans, mix and then divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake at 350 for about an hour and ten minutes, or, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the bread.

Let bread cool in pans and then when pans are ok to handle, pop bread out onto a plate or a cooling rack and cool completely. Or, if you’re like me, cut off the end of the pumpkin bread and gobble up with a slather of soy margarine. Or, if you want to be completely non-vegan: some butter. Whoops! Haha.

Blackberry Bread with Lime

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What to do…what to do.
Lately, I’ve gotten up early on Sunday mornings because I cannot fall back asleep (what is wrong with me??). So, after a cup of coffee, I bake something. Today it was Blackberry Bread. I found the recipe online and tweaked it (of course!) to my own liking. Replacing the milk with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and using lime zest and the juice of one lime, as opposed to lemon juice. The berries were huge and sweet, which isn’t always the case with larger berries. Anyway, it is a recipe that doesn’t require a mixer, just two bowls and easy cleanup. It was a nice way to welcome Sunday morning.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  • 1 1/2C. Flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon (Vietnamese)
  • 1 1/2C fresh blackberries
  • 1C. sugar*
  • 1/2C. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/3C butter melted (cooled)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. lime zest
  • juice of a small lime

*I used about 3/4 of a cup and it’s sweet enough for my tastes. But, adjust as you like.

Coat a 9″x5″ loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and blackberries in large bowl, set aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the sugar, almond milk, melted butter (cooled), eggs, lime zest and juice until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ones and mix well with small spatula or spoon. Add mixture to loaf pan. Bake for an hour and some change, or until a toothpick–when inserted into the middle of the bread–comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 min., remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. I cooled mine on a plate (put a plate on top of the loaf pan and flipped it over.)

I think this bread turned out wonderfully. You could also put a streusel topping on the bread or even a lime infused/powdered sugar glaze. Perhaps next time I will try to glaze.

Blueberry Coffeecake

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Right now the scent of Vietnamese cinnamon and baking blueberries fills my apartment. Freshly made baked goods are a perfect breakfast treat. Why buy coffee cake when you can easily prepare it and have it fresh from the oven in 45 minutes? This is a super simple and quick recipe that I got from my mom. I used fresh NJ blueberries, but I’m guessing you can use cherries, raspberries or blackberries. I love summer fruit!

Butter/grease a 9″ square pan and set aside

Mix:

  • 3/4 C. Sugar
  • 1/4 C. Vegetable Shortening
  • 1 egg

Stir in:

  • 1/2 C. Milk
  • 2 C. AP Flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Then stir in well drained blueberries.

To make the streusel topping:

  • 1/2 C. Sugar
  • 1/3 C. Flour
  • 1/2 C. unsalted butter, (softened)
  • 1/2 tsp. (or more if you like) Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Combine the streusel ingredients with clean bare hands until the mixture resembles pebbles. Add topping to coffee cake mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is.

A few notes: I swapped unsweetened vanilla almond milk for regular cow’s milk (because sometimes it bothers me [lactose intolerant])–a little more than 1/2 a cup of almond milk. You can judge by the consistency of the mixture. and, I used Vietnamese cinnamon because it’s more flavorful and stronger than regular cinnamon.

it really was delicious. Trust me.