Breaking Bread & Finlandia Cheese Winners

Once upon a time, I disliked banana bread. I mean, I ate it if it was the only thing around and I was desperate, but it was certainly not my first, second or tenth choice. ha! There's just something about concentrated banana flavor that turned me off. And artificial banana flavor, like banana taffy- double gag! But one day, Dawn of Vanilla Sugar turned that around for me. She shared a recipe on her blog that made me question my strong dislike for banana bread. Ya'll her recipe was GOOD!

The original recipe is no longer on her blog for some reason, so I can't link back to that particular post, but I'm sure you'll find lots of other yummies over there. The first time I made this banana bread, I added mini chocolate chips and it was delicious. For something different, I added cinnamon chips and topped it with cinnamon sugar before baking. When it came out of the oven it was crackly and crunchy on top and soft and moist in the inside with the added pop of melty cinnamon chips.

I doubled this recipe, made one large loaf and 4 smaller loaves to share with the neighbors. My thought was to try to make friends with the neighbors that we didn't know so well and really I don't think any of them really gave a flip. But at least I made the effort, which is more than I can say for them! Anyway, despite the lack of enthusiasm from my neighbors, I think you should make this bread. Don't feel compelled to add anything to this bread, it's just as delicious plain, but chopped nuts or a caramel swirl wouldn't hurt anything either. Trust me, this banana bread is perfection.

Cinnamon Chip Banana Bread adapted from Mama Dip and HERE

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• 1/2 cup shortening (not butter*)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 3 tbsp. sour cream
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips
• 2 tbsp. cinnamon sugar for topping, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a spoon, cream shortening and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time; then add mashed bananas, sour cream, and lemon juice.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, then fold in cinnamon chips.

Pour into greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pan. Sprinkle with about 2 Tablespoons (use as much or as little as you want). Bake for 60 minutes.

NOTE: If your bread is getting too dark, loosely cover bread with foil. I did this for the last 15 minutes of baking time.

*Don't be tempted to use butter instead of shortening in this banana bread. It's what makes this recipe different.

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Oh and for the winners of the Finlandia Cheese giveaway...

#23 Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod

and

#31 Leeann from Join The Gossip

Congrats ladies! Please email me with your addresses so I can send out your coupons for free Finlandia cheese!

So easy. So cinnamony. So good.

ETA: I've received a lot of comments asking where they can find cinnamon chips. I found mine at the local grocery store but they can be hard to find. The brand I used are by Hershey's and on their website is a product locator. King Arthur Flour Co. also carries a mini chip version.

Oh my goodness, is this cinnamon bread good! I found it on the King Arthur Four Blog awhile back and it peeked my interest almost immediately. I mean, come on, it's loaded with cinnamon chips and topped with cinnamon sugar. What's not to like? It smelled heavenly too while baking. It was awesome warm right out of the oven and stayed fresh for a couple days. After that it got a little stale but was just as good toasted.

It's a cross between a yeast bread and a quick bread. It does contain yeast but there is no proofing or kneading involved. You just add the instant yeast to the dry ingredients and mix it all together. You do have to let the ball of dough rest for a bit but in that time you can blog a new recipe :-)

The recipe calls for instant yeast but I only had regular yeast so I emailed the KAF customer care people and they got back to me promptly. This was their response, "You can use active dry yeast in almost any recipe calling for instant yeast. You just need to proof it first in some of the liquid from the recipe. You do not need to make any other changes to the recipe. Rise times will depend on the temperature of the dough, and the temperature of the room. It is best to go by the look of the dough, rather than the clock."

That's another thing about KAF that I love because they want you to succeed! They want you to try their recipes and they make sure that the formulas they provide you are going to work. They double and triple check them to be sure what they are providing you is simply the best. And what more can you of a company that has been around since 1790?! The KAF blog- Bakers' Banter- is amazing too and they provide step by step instructions and pictures. Be sure to stop by and what they're baking if you haven't already.

Easy Cinnamon Bread from KAF via Bakers' Banter

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• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup cinnamon chips
• cinnamon-sugar, for topping

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, and egg. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, beating till smooth. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour, covered, then stir in the baking powder and cinnamon chips.

Spoon the batter into a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the cinnamon-sugar.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until it tests done; a cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer it from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf

NOTE: Don't slice the bread while it's hot! It'll slice much better when it's completely cool.

While this recipe calls for instant yeast, the good people at KAF say that active dry yeast can be substituted. Just be sure that if you're going to use the active dry yeast that you proof it in the warm milk prior to adding it to the dry ingredients.

This would be a wonderful treat on Christmas morning.

PUMPing It Up!

This is the 5th cupcake I've made along with Ingrid from 3 B's out of Martha's Cupcakes. First we made Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes, then Black Forest Cupcakes, Orange Glazed Strawberry Jam Tea Cakes, Tres Leches Cupcakes and now Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes!

These were my choice because I wanted something simple that didn't require making a frosting and I wanted something quick and seasonal. These filled the bill and I think Ingrid liked them too. At the last minute I decided not to make the brown butter glaze for these because I needed them to travel well and I didn't want the glaze melting in the heat of the car. It was 80 degrees here on Saturday.

So I made a couple changes, I omitted the sage, added pumpkin pie spice because I didn't have cloves, and added cinnamon chips and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar to the top. These were so good. The recipe made 15 cupcakes and I gave a dozen of them away to a couple friends of mine that I met up with this past weekend. So Aaron, Mr. H and I each got one. They were rich and sweet, spicy and so moist. The pumpkin and the brown butter flavors were definitely apparent and the cinnamon chips added a nice sweetness and texture to the cupcakes.

I definitely plan on making these again using the original recipe with the brown butter glaze. I have posted both recipes below so you can make whichever version you prefer! You should definitely give these a try. Head on over to Ingrid's to check out her brown butter glazed version.

Pumpkin Brown Butter & Cinnamon Chip Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup homemade pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cinnamon chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined. Fold in cinnamon chips until evenly distributed. Top each cupcake with a few more cinnamon chips and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (about 1/8 teaspoon per cupcake).

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes from Martha's Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, cut into a chiffonade (optional)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin or butter and flour and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.Add the sage if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

NOTE: Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen (unglazed) for up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Brown Butter Icing

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into bow, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to brown butter, stir til smooth. If necessary, add more milk (up to 2 more tablespoons) a little at a time, just until icing is spreadable. Use immediately.

Congratulations to #26- Christy from Christy's Kitchen Creations and #53- Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen. They are the lucky winners of my giveaway! You'll both be receiving the McCormick Holiday Baking Pack and a bag of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. Send me your address and I'll get them out to you as soon as I can.

What will you bake up with these goodies? Maybe these cupcakes? Inquiring minds want to know! Congrats ladies!

"Sweet"

While in Fredericksburg, we went to Rather Sweet Bakery. Actually, it was a must for me and one of the reasons I wanted to go to F'burg in the first place. I've heard and read so much about Rebecca Rather's sweet shop and baked goods and I've been drooling over her cookbooks for a long time. I finally got them and I can't wait to bake something from them!

The cool thing about going to her bakery is we didn't have to pay for anything! Wha? As part of staying at the B&B, they gave us breakfast certificates to use at local restaurants--one of them was Rather Sweet Bakery. I was in Heaven. On the first day there while window shopping, we walked by the bakery to check the hours. While there I took a few pictures of the bakery and courtyard- so charming!

Once we got there (during business hours) and I saw the pastry case, my heart sped up and my eyes got big. They were filled with 4-inch high key lime tarts (not including whipped cream), 12-inch wide cakes piled high with buttercream, 5-inch square peach crumble bars, 7-layer cookie bars, lemon bars, berry bars, mini praline topped cheesecakes, 5-inch wide hefty cookies, jumbo muffins, scones and brownies. Oh so much goodness in one place and they have savory lunch items too. In case you ever get to Fredericksburg, I highly recommend you make a sugar pit stop.

Now on to something else sugary! I finally made Snickerdoodle Blondies y'all!!! I kept seeing them around the blogosphere, but it was finally Ingrid and her obsession with all things Snickerdoodle (blondies, ice cream and cake) that got me to make them. Thanks Ingrid and thanks Julia of Dozen Flours for the recipe!

I made these blondies 2 ways- half with cinnamon chips and half plain. I like the plain side better and my husband preferred the one with chips. Do I like these more than regular cookies Snickerdoodles? I don't know. It's definitely less work and these come together quickly, that's a plus, but I miss the buttery crunch from the cookies that I didn't get with the blondies. I LOVED the edges, but the centers were a little too soft and "fudgey" for me. I think these would be perfectly amazing baked in a Bakers Edge pan. I can only imagine all the cinnamon sugar crunchiness that would be mine all mine!

Snickerdoodle Blondies adapted from Dozen Flours via 3 B's

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips
• 2 tablespoons white sugar (for topping)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended, then mix in cinnamon chips if using. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Mixture will be thick and resemble cookie dough. (I used my hands to press it down and smooth the top).

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.*

NOTE: These cut cleaner once completely cooled.

Eat me!