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August 25, 2023

Blueberry Zucchini Bread and Muffins

If you are like me, this is the time of year when you are grateful for the bounty of summer squash and zucchini in your garden, but also wondering, “why did I plant so much?” and “what to do with all of this veg?”. Every year I make grilled squash, baked squash with cheese of some sort, thinly sliced squash ribbons for salads, and of course, some sort of zucchini bread in an attempt to ensure nothing goes to waste. This year, the bounty is as crazy as usual, so I tackled one of the recipes that uses a good amount of veg and turns out great results, zucchini bread. However, I added in blueberries this year, making an absolutely amazing blueberry zucchini bread! This bread was incredibly moist. AND there was enough batter to make a standard sized bread, as well as 6 bonus muffins!

I will cut to the chase and get to the recipe, because I am challenging myself to also construct a new recipe for potato/zucchini latkes! That one is coming at you in the near future!

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Ingredients

1 1/4 cup white sugar
.5 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup veggie oil
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 small – medium eggs
2 – 2 1/4 cups shredded zucchini (no need to wring out or drain)
3 cups AP flour
1 Tbsp fresh ground cinnamon (if possible). If store bought, up amount to 1 1/2 Tbsp
1 healthy pinch of ground clove
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pint fresh blueberries

Instruction for Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using vegetable oil and paper towels, grease a 6 muffin tin and a standard loaf pan generously
Beat the oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl
Fold in zucchini
Add in cinnamon, clove, baking powder and baking soda. Lightly whisk together
Add in sugar and whisk only until combined
Toss blueberries in a tablespoon of flour, just to coat and then fold into the batter gently
Pour into muffin tin, careful to not overfill. Stay about 1/4 inch below the top of each muffin mold
Pour remaining batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle with a little sugar (optional). Put the muffin pan on the bottom rack and loaf pan on middle to upper rack
Muffins should be ready in 45 mins. Begin checking at about 40 mins. Test by inserting a knife into center. When it comes out clean, muffins are ready to go!
Loaf should take about 15-20 mins more than muffins. Begin testing once the muffins are out of the oven and claim done once knife comes out clean
For both the muffins and loaf, let cool 15 mins in pan and then move out of pans to cooling rack.

Note: Cooling completely will allow for a nice, clean cut on the zucchini bread, but if you want to eat it hot, I say, go for it!! It may look a bit messy, but with a dollop of butter on top when still hot…YUM! Also, expect the muffins to be a bit more dense, but the bread to be extremely moist. If you are aiming to impress, serve or gift the bread to guests and keep the muffins for yourself, perfect for eating with your coffee!

If you like this recipe. try my strawberry muffin recipe! Both aim to impress and use in-season fruit!

Desserts/Baking / Food / Kristen Cooks

July 20, 2023

Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse

Cooking is something I have loved to do for ages. Kicking around in the kitchen all day on a Sunday, prepping, organizing and getting something good on the table as well as ready for the week is my happy time. However, baking and making sweets is a new phenom for me. Now, my cabinet has all sorts of chocolate baking bars, a number of types of sugar, espresso powder and numerous extracts. I find myself picking up graham cracker crusts, puff pastry, and apparently, a can of black cherries that I grabbed off the sales rack when shopping. So, each week I am trying to find or create recipes to use up some of these lay-around goods. This is how I landed on this recipe for Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse.

This is yet another recipe that I need to credit Jamie Oliver for. It is a simple 5 Ingredient recipe, so no fear, sweat and tears necessary!

Separated eggs, sugar, heavy cream, chocolaet and canned cherries

Ingredients

7 ounce dark chocolate. The recipe calls for 70% cacao. I had various bars and chips on hand that were 100%, 60% and 78%, so I simply calculated the ratio of each needed to amount to the 70%
1 15oz can of dark or black cherries. For my next go at this recipe, I look forward to using fresh strawberries and perhaps macerating them a bit before adding to the dessert
3/4 cup + 5 Tbsp of heavy cream
4 eggs, separated. Be sure to not get any of the whites into the yolks and vice-versa. If you get yolk into the whites, it can typically be removed using half of a shell
2 tsp very fine sugar. If you have a small food processor, you can pulse standard white sugar until powdery and fine
Pinch of sea salt

Instruction

Simmer cherries and their juice in small saucepan on medium heat just until thickening. Remove and set aside

Setup a double boiler (sauce pan of simmering water with a bowl placed atop, without touching the water) and place chocolate into bowl. Continue to stir with silicone spatula while it melts. Once fully melted, remove bowl from simmering pan and set aside to cool

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and egg yolks. Whisk to combine

In a medium-large bowl, add the sea salt to the egg whites and whisk until very stiff peaks have formed. Note to use a clean whisk and bowl

Once the chocolate is fully cooled, add to the cream mixture and fold in with silicone spatula

Very gently fold the chocolate/cream mixture into the stiff egg whites. Do not go rough here, as it will become very dense. This takes a little patience. Some smooth background music is never a bad thing when baking/cooking. Wink!

This recipe is indicated to be 6 servings, but this all depends on the size of your serving glass. I used a typical highball glass, so the desserts were quite generous at 3 servings. If you have a smaller container to use, I do recommend going closer to the 6 servings!

If you make this, send me a pic and/or let me know how it goes! Also, a layer of fresh whipped cream would be super before adding the fruit. YUM!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like my recipe for chewy, chunky brownies!

Desserts/Baking / Kristen Cooks

July 11, 2023

Strawberry Yogurt Pops

I love looking for recipes that are both tasty as well as, at least somewhat, healthy. And with summer in swing, using ingredients that are in season is also a win. These strawberry yogurt pops are a great treat. They make use of the many deals on strawberries at the markets now, are not too sweet, and can be altered to your taste.

Required Tools

To make these pops, you will need a popsicle mold such as this one from Tovolo. Some molds require the addition of popsicle sticks, while others come as a full kit with tops that already have the handle built into the kit. If you are buying, I do recommend the ease of the latter!

You will also need a blender or food processor

Simple Ingredients

2 Cups Strawberries

3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar (or honey if you do not have agave on hand)

2 Cups of lowfat Greek strained yogurt

Instruction

Add strawberries to food processor and process until smooth. Add in the Agave (or honey), and pulse only a few times to combine.

Pour into large bowl and gently blend in the yogurt. This recipe calls for 2 cups of yogurt. Greek yogurt is a bit tart, so add 1-1.5 cups of the yogurt and taste. This is where your preference comes into play. I prefer a little less sweetness, so use the entire 2 cups. Adjust to use the amount that suits you or your family.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 4-6 hours. Note that you will need to run the individual molds under water to get the pop out and enjoy!

Substitutions

You can use just about any fruit that suits your fancy! Banana, blueberry, peach or raspberry would be great options!

I always have mint on hand, whether in plant form in summer, or in the refrigerator in winter. Strawberry and mint is like pork chops and apple sauce in my mind! I love the idea of pulsing in a small handfull with the strawberries before combining with the yogurt. This is on my list for the next batch that I make!