Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

How have you been? I have been on hiatus trying to learn to make sourdough. You can definitely emphasize the "trying to learn." I have been successful with sourdough in the bread maker, but then that is cheating, sort of. So anyway, I will soldier on. I am sure I can master it. Meanwhile, so the family didn't starve, I made a pile of brown bananas into banana chocolate chip muffins. If I put enough chocolate in baked goods, my family will eat it, and I had never posted banana muffins before, so here you go. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 12 or more muffins (regular muffin tin size)

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ripe bananas, mashed

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips tossed with a tablespoon flour

extra chocolate chips for tops of muffins

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  

In a large mixing bowl add granulated sugar, brown sugar, and softened butter. Use an electric mixer and cream the butter and the sugar for a minute on medium speed.

Then add to the bowl the vanilla, the 2 large eggs, and combine them with the butter and sugar on medium speed. Now in a separate bowl mash the four ripe bananas. Then add them to the batter bowl. Now add the dry ingredients; all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt and mix them into the batter. Take the chocolate chips in a separate bowl and toss with a tablespoon of flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins while baking. The fold them in with a spatula. Pour the batter into regular muffin tins, lined with parchment cups if you prefer and top with extra chocolate chips. Bake at 350° F for 20-24 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean of the batter.

 

Recipe adapted from: simplyhomecooked.com 

 

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry 

 

Raspberry Jam and Nectarine Crumble

Several years ago I found a crumble recipe for a crumble with a crumble crust and crumble topping. This recipe sort of ruined all my attempts at making crumble, unless I used this formula of making the crumble crust and topping. So here is yet another version of this recipe with seasonal fruit. This is also another way to use the Raspberry Jam in the bread maker recipe I shared a few weeks back.

Raspberry and Nectarine Crumble

Serves:8

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted 
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves
2 1/2 cups nectarines, peeled and sliced
Crumble topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons (2 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Place an oven rack in the middle position.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  (190 degrees C).  Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan. I baked this in an 8" x 9 1/2" retro enamelware baking dish lined with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  Add the butter and use pastry cutter until moist crumbs form. Dump the crumb mixture into the pan and press firmly it into the bottom and up the sides.  
Spread the 1/4 cup raspberry preserves over the tart crust. Then top with the nectarines.  In a medium bowl combine the crumble topping dry ingredients.  Add the butter and mix until the  moist crumbs form.  Sprinkle the crumb topping over the nectarines.  Bake 25-45 minutes.  Let cool 20 minutes on a wire rack.  
Serve with a topping of ice cream or whip cream if desired.
Makes: one 8-9 inch tart
Recipe adapted from: Leite's Culinaria

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Peach Pie

I have wanted to make this lattice-top pie for years. The lattice top is a little more time-consuming and I do all of my cooking at a fast pace, so making time for a pie was not at the top of the list. As I watered the garden, I noticed there were some flowers that were perfect for what I had planned to do with this pie, so I made the time to get this done. 

Peach Pie

Makes a 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

2 pounds of fresh ripe peaches, peeled, sliced, and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 Pillsbury pie crust (or recipe for double crust pie)

1 tablespoon butter

1-2 teaspoons sugar, for sprinkling on top of pie

Egg wash

1 egg white plus 1 tablespoon water, beaten with fork 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C)

Cut the peaches and place in a large bowl with sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon, salt, flour, and cornstarch. Stir and lightly coat the fruit with all these ingredients.

Place the room temperature pie crust into the pie plate and pierce the bottom with fork tines. 

Spoon the pie filling into the bottom pie crust in the pie pan. Dot the top of the fruit with little pieces of the butter. With the remaining pie dough, I laid it out on a pastry cloth and cut my lattice pieces. Lay the lattice top as the pattern shows. weaving the pieces over and under as is customary with this type of pie. when finished, I used the remaining dough or another pie crust from another box of Pillsbury pie crust and placed the dough strips into a pie crust mold to make the woven edge. Use a small ramekin with warm water and take your finger dipped in the water to seal the woven edge over the edge of the pie without crushing the design. 

Bake for 20 minutes at 425°F. I also put a pie crust guard on the edge at this time (It can be made with aluminum foil). Reduce heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for 25 minutes more.

When that time is up, take the pie out and sprinkle the top with sugar. Take the pie crust guard off at this time and continue baking at 350°F for 5-10 minutes more. When you see the filling is bubbling between the lattice top, it is done. Remove pie and place on cooling rack to rest for at least and hour or more before serving. I take the flowers off and serve with whipped topping.

Recipe adapted from : Art of the Pie by Kate McDermott

Flowers used were: roses, pansies, zinnias, statice, and Veronica. 

Pie crust mold and pie crust cutting tool.

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cake

 

This might be one of my favorite cakes I have ever made. It cooked up like a dream, and the moistness of the cake along with the white chocolate icing just made it fantastic!                      

                                                                                               

I made this as a late November birthday cake, but it is perfect for any celebration this time of year.

The layers of this cake were spotted with fresh cranberries, which gave the cake a tartness that complemented the sweetness of the white chocolate icing perfectly. 

This cake recipe is a winner, and I did something I don't often do: I followed the recipe pretty much just like it was written. The only thing I did differently was glaze the cranberries and leave them in the fridge for just an hour, where the recipe suggested to leave them in overnight. My cranberries were just fine with the shortened time invested in sugar coating them.  The recipe can be found at: Life, Love, and Sugar.

In Victory,

Sherry

Orange Ginger Honey Cakes

Baking and autumn go together. I had in mind to use these little mini loaf pans for a seasonal treat, and this was the recipe that I thought sounded good. The fall light coming in this window just wows me every year! These photos are straight out of the camera. 

This recipe would make a single loaf pan (8.5 inches x 4.5 inches). I used these mini loaf pans and filled all of them three-quarters full but one. I skipped the turkey. I am taking this autumn slow; I am not rushing the seasons. 

Here are the finished cakes popped out of the pan. They come out perfectly when you grease the pan and dust it with a little flour. 

Here I am pouring on the orange glaze. That glaze is what makes the cakes so delicious! 

They were incredibly moist and perfect for a little treat after dinner or with a tea or coffee. 

Orange Ginger Honey Cakes with Orange Glaze    

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons fresh orange zest

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup milk

Glaze:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. (175°C)

Grease pan and dust with flour. Mix dry ingredients in on large bowl. Whisk butter, honey, zest, juice, eggs, and milk in another bowl. Combine wet and dry mixture gently till incorporated but not overmixed. Fill cake molds 3/4 full and bake 18-22 minutes. Let the cakes cool 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. I cut the raised cake off the bottom of the loaves so they would sit flat on a serving tray. Let completely cool. Whisk the fresh squeezed orange juice with the sifted powdered sugar in a small saucepan and  cook on medium until reduced by half and desired consistency. Place your cakes on serving tray and pour on the slightly cooled glaze. The cake will absorb the glaze and be so moist. The cake will keep on the counter five days in a sealed container. 

Yield: 5 small loaf pans.

Recipe adapted from: Admuda.com

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Pear Tart

Today I am sharing a really easy pear tart to serve with your coffee. I tried the puff pastry a few weeks back when I made chicken pot pie, and I was eager to try it with a dessert.

It is such a pretty way to present a treat to go with your coffee for autumn. I put them on a plate on the counter and put a glass cake dome over them and say I am "coffee shopping my house."

Quick Pear Tart

Servings 6-8

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

3 ripe pears, thinly sliced 

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 plus tablespoons honey for drizzling

powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. (200°C) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or baking Silpat sheet. Roll puff pastry out to fit your baking sheet. (This would be a standard cooking baking sheet.) Prick the pastry with a fork to prevent over puffing.

Toss 1/4 of a pear in the lemon juice and then place in a plate and thinly slice for the tart. Arrange the quarter of the pear on each rectangle of the puff pastry overlapping the slices for presentation. Brush the melted butter over the pears. Shake a little cinnamon over each rectangle of pear slices. Bake 20 minutes, until the desired browning occurs. Drizzle honey on each rectangle over the pears and dust with sifted powdered sugar. 

May refrigerate up to 3 days covered.

Recipe adapted from: Fruity Desserts

The last of the zinnias and snapdragons all faded with their fall colors.

In Victory,
Sherry 

Autumn Spiced Baked Apples

This was described as a casserole of apples. I hadn't thought of making a casserole out of apples, but it was a lovely baked apple dish that I tried and decided to share. I halved the recipe to fit this little dish and my family.

Autumn Spiced Baked Apples 

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

3 large apples (I used Granny Smith.) peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup honey

1 1/2 teaspoon butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350° F (190°C). Grease your casserole dish, mine was 8-inches x 5.75-inches, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Add the sliced and prepared apples and toss gently with the spice mixture to evenly coat. Fold in the cranberries and nuts. In a small bowl combine the melted butter, lemon juice, honey, and vanilla. Drizzle this over the apples and gently stir to coat. Pour this out into your baking dish and spread it out evenly. 

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the apples are tender and just starting to lightly brown. 

Allow to cool some before serving.

Recipe adapted from: Recipe Dish

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Fall in the Cottage

Fall in the cottage this year may include much cooking. I have really gardened a lot this year, and I love spending time outdoors and enjoying nature, but I have been missing the kitchen.

I got started on my baking right away this week with a blueberry muffin recipe out of a vintage cookbook.

I have been tweaking the cottage corner also. I am thinking the more I play around here, I almost have a functioning kitchen.

This recipe book was from 1944, and it is a jewel. The recipes are simple and to the point. You can make almost anything with this cookbook with a working pantry. It was published during WWII, and food rations and nutrition were of key importance. I find that really enjoyable to read; maybe I am kind of weird, but I can read a cookbook like any other book and enjoy it. 

The first recipe I tried out of this cookbook was Blueberry Tea Muffins. 

The recipe was heavy on baking powder because the author wrote cookbooks for Rumford Baking Powder, so the muffins were a little dry. I found that with a few adjustments you could make these similar to some famous blueberry muffin recipe, like the Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffin Recipe, and that would have made them more moist. The techniques for mixing and baking were the same. 

I am going to talk more about this cookbook in a later post. I have my own recipe for beef and noodles, and I found that this cookbook was as close to my recipe as I have ever found. I really value a recipe book that can make a wonderful meal out of such meager ingredients. This type of cooking was really the backbone of the meal times in the 1940s.

In Victory,

Sherry 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The rhubarb was ready, and I wanted to bake a pie with it. I have grown this rhubarb for 3 years and waited a long time to use it. I understood you don't use it the first year. Then the second year it bloomed, and I couldn't use it that year either. I then moved it, and I cut it in half, and I got two rhubarb plants, so I couldn't use it that year either. This year it was going to be ready! When I saw the blooms, I pulled them out right away. I waited patiently, and finally my rhubarb was ready to pick!  

How beautiful the pie turned out, and the rhubarb is perfect paired with my strawberries! 

I have been trying something new when looking for a recipe. I am typing what I want to make in ChatGPT. I was hesitant at first to use it, but it is really handy. I just typed in, "Give me the best recipe for whatever," and it does a really good job. I may never sort through the online choices again or buy a cookbook. The AI does all of that for you. Have you used it yet? What do you think?

Best Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Total Time: 2.5 hours (includes chilling and baking)

Yield: 1 9-inch pie (8 slices)

Ingredients

Crust: use your favorite recipe for a 9-inch double crust pie pastry or a ready made crust.

For the filling:

• 3 cups rhubarb, chopped (about ½-inch pieces)

• 2½ cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup light brown sugar

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

For assembly:

• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small bits (for dotting)

• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

• 1 tablespoon coarse sugar (optional, for sprinkling)

Instructions

1. Make the crust:

1. Follow your preferred crust recipe or use a ready-made pie crust and follow manufacturer's directions.

2. Make the filling:

1. In a large bowl, mix rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon (if using), and salt.

2. Let sit for 15–20 minutes to let the flavors meld and the cornstarch start absorbing juices.

3. Assemble the pie:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Roll out one disc of dough on a floured surface and fit it into a 9-inch pie dish. Use fork to pierce  the bottom crust before filling. Hold fork at 45-degree angle and gently pierce the bottom of the crust. Make sure to pierce the crust about 1-inch apart and evenly all over. 

3. Pour the filling into the crust. Dot the top with butter.

4. Roll out the second disc and either cover with a full top crust (cut slits) or make a lattice. Crimp edges.

5. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar (if desired).

4. Bake:

1. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 35–45 more minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling.

2. Tent edges with foil if they brown too quickly.

5. Cool:

Let pie cool completely (3–4 hours) before slicing—this helps the filling set.

Recipe adapted from ChatGPT.

In Victory,
Sherry

Strawberry Pie in Winter

 

This week it occurred to me that I could make strawberry pie in the middle of winter. Now that may sound really silly. Why not go buy strawberries right? Well, they are not in season, and I really like to buy food that is in season. Then I remembered that I had a good amount of strawberries in the freezer from the garden. The strawberries make great pie from the freezer. This is the recipe: The Easiest Pie

My new Peter Rabbit plate inspired me. Two of my favorite things on one plate: Peter Rabbit and strawberries.

Here is the recipe for the graham cracker crust:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

5 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix all well and spoon into pie plate pressing in with back of spoon. 

Chill for 10 minutes and then pour in desired filling. 

Makes one 9" pie. 

*Note: I have used a 6" pie plate pictured here. I just halved the recipe.

Do you eat seasonally?

In Victory,

Sherry

Cranberry Orange Cookies

 

I made these cookies this weekend and they were a real popular treat for my family! They were gone in 24 hours. This is a soft cookie with a cream cheese icing that highlights the flavors of cranberry, orange, cream cheese, and butter. The recipe made 24 cookies.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

 Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon plus or the zest of 1 orange

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup of dried cranberries, rehydrated

Orange glaze:

2 tablespoons of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plus orange juice (juice of 1 orange)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure out your dried cranberries in a small bowl and boil some water. Pour enough boiled water over them to cover them and let them set at least 30 minutes. This will rehydrate your cranberries and make them more palatable.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl add sugar, orange zest and rub the orange zest into the sugar with a spatula until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Beat the orange zest and sugar until light and fluffy, a couple of minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the flour mixture, mix until incorporated. Fold in the cranberries by hand. 

I used a medium cookie scoop and scooped out the cookies as balls and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake them for 13-15 minutes. Let the cookies cool some before moving them to a cooling rack. They are a soft cookie, sort of cake like.

To make the glaze, mix the sifted powdered sugar, (I sift because I always get lumps in my powdered sugar) orange juice, softened cream cheese, and vanilla together with a hand held mixer till smooth. You want to get a really soft consistency although it doesn't really drizzle. I put it in an icing bag or a zip loc bag with the end cut off to pipe on the cookies. The icing stays soft and you can't stack the cookies on each other. You have to store them flat. If you want an icing that will harden you will want royal icing. The original recipe (see link below) had that type of icing. Just make it with orange juice instead of lemon.

Store in an airtight container. I did not refrigerate these cookies and they were fine for 24 hours on the counter. If you want them to last longer or you think they won't be eaten right away I would refrigerate them. They will last in refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe adapted from: What Megan's Making

And of course, have them with tea! I love baking in the autumn! 

In Victory,

Sherry

Blackberry Chocolate Chip Crumble

The first of August is always blackberry season here, where I live. When I was young, there used to be a patch of blackberries down the lane from my house, and I discovered foraging. I would go to the patch and come home with a bowl of wild blackberries and make a blackberry cobbler. It thrilled me to know I had a yummy fruit like blackberries right on the farm. 

So this year, instead of just a cobbler or crumble of blackberries, I decided to switch it up a bit and try adding chocolate. 

The crumble right out of the oven with the chocolate.

This was the base recipe here, but I switched it up a bit.

So, I got mixed reviews on this from the family. Some liked it, and others just preferred blackberries. Have you ever mixed chocolate with blackberries? What did you think about it?

In Victory,

Sherry