Spicy Mixed Nuts (Refined Sugar Free, Paleo)

Looking for a munchy snack for New Year’s Eve?  These spiced mixed nuts are great!  They aren’t just perfect for New Year’s or any other holiday, I’d make them year round.  And they are pretty healthy—there are no refined sugars in them—just good Grade B maple syrup, and not even that much.  A little egg white to add to the protein and some great spices make these perfectly crunchy and delicious.  I’ve loved having them here while others around me are eating so many other treats that I no longer eat. 

I used pecans, almonds, and just a handful of cashews and hazelnuts along with some raw sunflower seeds.  I threw a little orange zest in the mixture and it’s good.  I wish I would have added a little more.  The kick from some cayenne is just enough, but if you’d like it even spicier, add a little more.  I was afraid and didn’t want to make them too spicy since I’m mainly the only one eating them around here.  Love the sweet combo of cinnamon, maple and orange.  It goes well with the cayenne, chili and cumin powder to make a great sweet and spicy flavor.

These made for some nice holidays gifts I also handed out.

Spicy Mixed Nuts (Paleo, Refined Sugar Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

5 cups mixed nuts (I used a mixture of mostly pecans and almonds, with some cashews, hazelnuts and some sunflower seeds)

2 large egg whites

¼ cup Grade B maple syrup

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon Ancho chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne powder

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Put all the nuts in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, until frothy. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the nuts) and fold it all together. Spread the mixture evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Or portion them out into cute gift bags and ties.

Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies, Plus Two More(All Gluten Free and Vegan)—Secret Recipe Club

I get to share three different cookies with you today for Secret Recipe Club.  I only picked one recipe from my assigned blog, Love & Flour, but I liked this Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookie so much that I played around with it and made three different versions using the basics of this recipe.  Of course, I love that they are made with agave for the sweetener.   Then I just made them gluten free with an all purpose gluten free pastry flour.

I love the texture of these cookies, they are almost a little sandy shortbread-like.  Oh, they are also vegan, I like that, too.  People who eat vegan are on to something—you can safely eat all cookie dough!  Instead of using canola oil, which was called for in the recipe, I used coconut oil.  And I used Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips.  These are so easy to whip up in one bowl (without a mixer), especially since I halved Leandra’s recipe, that I decided to try a couple other versions of the cookie.  All three are really good to me!

Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free and Vegan), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Love & Flour

1/3 cup agave nectar

5 tablespoons (70 grams) coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon ground flax

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

zest of 1 mandarin orange (or 1-2 teaspoons orange zest)

1  1/2 cups gluten free pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cream together in a bowl the agave and coconut oil until well combined.  Add the flax, extracts, and zest and stir together.  Then add the flour (you can use regular all purpose flour and not make these gluten free), xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.  Stir together until well mixed into a cookie dough.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Roll dough into 1-inch sized balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Makes 12-15 cookies.

*Raspberry Version.  Leave out the orange extract and add 1/2 cup freeze dried raspberries.

See, you know you want to just eat the dough.  The second time I made them, I left out the orange extract and zest and just added some freeze dried raspberries to the dough.  Delicious!  I love the combination of raspberry and chocolate.

Then I had the thought yesterday to try the cookies with honey instead of agave and replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder—double chocolate.  I really couldn’t tell you which of these I like the most. Here’s the quick recipe for the double chocolate cookies, since I changed the recipe a bit.

Double Chocolate Chip Gluten Free Vegan Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/3 cup raw honey

5 tablespoons (70 grams) coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon ground flax

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup gluten free pastry flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup organic semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cream together in a bowl the honey and coconut oil until well combined.  Add the flax and vanilla and stir together.  Then add the flour (you can use regular all purpose flour and not make these gluten free, if you do, you don’t need the xanthan gum), xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together until well mixed into a cookie dough.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Roll dough into 1-inch sized balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Makes 12-15 cookies.

I think I liked the dough for these double chocolate cookies the best, at least I think I tasted it the most. ; )  I forgot to take a picture of the dough for these.

I sure enjoyed “snooping around” Leandra’s blog, Love & Flour for Secret Recipe Club this month.  So many great recipes on all these wonderful blogs.  Really enjoying being a part of Secret Recipe Club.  Check out all the other good stuff people have made this month.

 

 

Orange Olive Oil Cornmeal Cake (Gluten Free)—Secret Recipe Club

For Secret Recipe Club this month I was assigned a new-to-me blog.  I enjoyed looking through Easily Good Eats.  There were so many recipes to choose from, many being somewhat different from the kind of recipes I make.  This blogger is in a different country, but I was not able to figure out what country.  I saw one post that mentioned something about Swedes, so maybe the blogger is in Sweden. ?  No matter, they love cooking and baking for themselves and friends outside their “real” life in finance and law.

When I saw this Orange Olive Oil Polenta Cake, I realized it didn’t have very much gluten in it—since most of the flours were cornmeal and almond flour.  New to baking gluten free, I emailed our Group A leader, Jane, and asked her what to use to replace half a cup of all purpose flour, since she does all kinds of gluten free goodies.  The direction she gave me turned out a wonderful cake!  I also wanted the cake to be made with unrefined sugar, so though I do use more often lately raw honey, coconut sugar or dates, I used organic natural cane sugar this time and called it a big splurge for me.   I know, living on the edge. ;)

The cake was simple to make once I got through the first step which was interesting.  I boiled two whole oranges for an hour, then let them cool to room temperature before cutting them up and pureeing them in the food processor.  I can certainly say that is something I’ve never done before, though for Tuesdays With Dorie a few years back, we made a lemon tart with whole lemons in it.  The whole oranges were something I was intrigued with using in a cake.  I would make this cake again for sure.

Boiled oranges ready to puree

Pureed Whole Oranges

The whole oranges definitely make orange the star of this cake.  If you haven’t made a cake with olive oil before, do not fear, you cannot taste the olive oil.  I did use a light olive oil instead of extra virgin olive oil but Easily Good Eats mentioned using extra virgin olive oil and it was still not detectible. 

I loved that the cake was dense but still plenty moist and was perfectly flat on top.  (Sometimes with the higher altitude I live in, my cakes sink a little in the middle and it irks me.) I loved the texture and slight nuttiness the almond flour and cornmeal gave the cake.  At Easily Good Eats it was referred to as polenta cake, I used cornmeal, so I changed that in the title and recipe, though I believe polenta and cornmeal to be pretty much the same.

Orange Olive Oil Cornmeal Cake (Gluten Free and Refined Sugar Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

For the cake:

2 oranges

1/2 cup light olive oil

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup organic pure natural cane sugar

6 tablespoons brown rice flour*

2 tablespoons tapioca starch*

pinch of xanthan gum*

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup almond meal/flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

For the glaze:***

Juice of 1 orange (about 5 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons raw honey

Boil two whole oranges in a pot of water for an hour.  Make sure they are completely submerged the whole time.  To do this, I put a smaller saucepan pan on top of the oranges to hold them under the water (otherwise, they float).  Once boiled, remove them from the water and let them cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly grease and flour (I used brown rice flour) an 8 inch round cake pan. 

Cut the oranges into quarters, remove any seeds and puree it in a food processor.  Whisk together the eggs, sugar and olive oil until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Add the orange puree and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, almond flour, the gluten free flour mixture and the baking powder.  Mix the dry ingredients in to the orange mixture and stir until just combined.    Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the glaze, juice the orange and whisk together with the honey.  Cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until it thickens slightly.    Drizzle the glaze over slices of the cake.  (You might want to double the glaze to have enough for the whole cake.  

Just for fun and because I think chocolate and orange are a great combination, I took a slice of the cake and drizzled it with some melted dark chocolate.  Mmm, that was good!

I am happy with the recipe I made from Easily Good Eats and have a number of other recipes there that I plan to try soon.  Check out all the other posts for the Secret Recipe Club.

 

Mama’s Bollos con Chocolate (Orange Rolls with Chocolate)—Special Tribute to Daniel from The Haggis and the Herring

Today’s post is done with a heavy heart.  Recently, on September 14, 2012, the food blogging world, and especially The Secret Recipe Club unexpectedly lost one of our bloggers.  Daniel from The Haggis and the Herring passed away suddenly.  He left behind a wonderful wife who is pregnant with their third child and two young boys.  His wife, Meredith, wrote a heartfelt eulogy about him which you can read at the above link to his blog. 

I didn’t really know Daniel very well, but through a couple of food blog forums and The Secret Recipe Club, I was certainly acquainted with his blog and his expertise in many things concerning computers, blogs, html, etc.   He even emailed me about a week before he passed with a simple question about the German Chocolate Chip Cookies I posted.  While I keep thinking about him and the loss his passing must be to his family, I believe he left quite a legacy, especially concerning food.  His blog will always be a way for his family (and everyone else, like a simple virtual acquaintance like me) to connect with him and his love of food.  Thank you for sharing so much, Daniel, and as well, his wife Meredith, as I know they cooked, baked and blogged together.  She mentioned that Daniel’s last act was making dinner for his family before he passed.  My deepest sympathies go out to all his family and friends.  He will truly be missed at The Secret Recipe Club!

A big group of Secret Recipe bloggers decided to make a recipe from his blog as a special tribute to him and all post together.  I spent quite a long time looking through his blog for just the right recipe to make.  When I ran across Daniel’s post for his Mama's Bollos con Chocolate (Orange Rolls with Chocolate, I decided they were what I had to make when he said his grandmother made them and they were always his favorite dessert.  He wrote in his post, which was almost a year ago, how he struggled to get the recipe from different family members, and then his aunt discovered it written down by his grandmother in Spanish.  After having it translated, he and his wife made the rolls and he was happy with them being just like he remembered his grandmother used to make.  

The recipe Daniel shares is huge—with eight eggs, lots of milk, orange juice, sugar and 11 cups of flour—oh, and at least a pound of chocolate!  While that would be fun to make sometime for a big crowd, I knew we didn’t need that many here.  I ended up quartering the recipe.  I loved these rolls.  They didn’t “need” the chocolate hiding in the center, but it was certainly good!  I actually think the dough is great for “plain” orange rolls or I’m also thinking about a rolled roll like cinnamon rolls.  The dough was sticky yet simple to work with. 

Please get the recipe for these rolls from the link above.  The halving and quartering of the recipe were quite simple.  If you do decide to make a smaller batch and have any questions, feel free to ask me.  I did end up using about a half of cup extra flour in the quartered recipe, but that is the only difference to Daniel’s posted recipe.  I used Lindt 70% Excellence chocolate in the center of the rolls. 

Brushed with an egg wash, they were ready for the oven after letting them rise for about 30 minutes.

 

Once the rolls were baked and cooled, they were sprinkled with some powdered sugar.  I ate a few more of the rolls than I had planned (no, not all in one sitting).  ;)  Thank you so much, Daniel!  You will truly be missed!

Thanks to Tandy from Lavender and Lime for Daniel’s Tribute Day logo.

TWD—Baking With Julia—Rugelach

Our Tuesdays With Dorie--Baking With Julia recipe this time is for a delightful cookie called Rugelach.  I loved these when we made them for Tuedays With Dorie BFMHTY way back in November 2008.  Todays recipe is a bit different from that rugelach, but is equally as good.

I did do a few things different from the recipe.  I can’t help it!  I made only 1/4 of the cream cheese pastry dough because I knew that Kevin doesn’t like this kind of cookie (like pie crust—which I love, too)!  Then as I read about the fillings and topping, I kind of decided to just do my own thing and I skipped topping the pastries with more sugar.  So here’s what I used—orange marmalade, the cinnamon/sugar mixture and some mini chocolate chips.  I just spread the marmalade on the rolled out dough, then sprinkled the cinnamon/sugar over that and added the chocolate.  I had no problems rolling up the dough.  And then I kind of cheated and instead of chilling the dough another 4 hours to overnight, I stuck it in the freezer while I preheated the oven.  After about 15-20 minutes, I cut the roll into slices and laid them flat on the baking sheet to bake them. 

They turned out really nice and taste great!  The ones in Dorie’s book look great as they are chock full of nuts and dried fruit and lots of cinnamon/sugar in them and more on the top.  I just felt a little lazy as I got ready to finish making them.  And I’m not disappointed at all. ;)

Check out the recipe and Jessica’s perfect looking rugelach on her blog, My Baking Heart.  She is hosting today along with Margaret from The Urban Hiker. 

I’m so happy to be taking this opportunity to bake from Baking With Julia along with the rest of the Tuesdays With Dorie groupies.  Can’t wait for more!

Uma’s Orange Cake with Raspberry and Whipped Cream Topping—Secret Recipe Club

September Secret Recipe Club is here!  I’ve got another good one for you.  The blog I had this month was Elana, the Cooking Rookie at Cookbook of Trial and Error.  I was not familiar with the blog, but I spent some time scouring the blog posts and from the looks of the photos and all the yummy recipes, I had a hard time deciding which recipe to make.  I love that she mentions that last year she lost 55 pounds in 7 months and a lot of her recipes are tweaked with substitutions to save on calories and fat—yet the food and recipes still look delicious.  Some might not know that from Sept. 2007 to March 2008 I lost 40 pounds doing The Biggest Loser online plan.  Still could lose another 20 or so, but am proud to at least be holding on to that 40 pounds gone AND have THIS blog. ;)

After choosing to make the orange cake, I was then surprised by the instructions for the cake.  The recipe calls for one egg and two egg whites and the egg whites are beaten with the sugar until it forms peaks—almost like a meringue.  I have folded beaten egg whites into cake batter before, but not with all the sugar added to it.  I was actually a little apprehensive, but decided to follow the recipe instructions.  Even once the cake baked---

      I was thinking it was just going to be “meh” and have that lower-fat texture to it that I often don’t care for.  I was happy to find out that it was actually very moist with a nice crumb and super flavorful with all the orange in it!

The recipe included nonfat yogurt (I used Greek) and also had margarine—for that I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks, which are a 50% less fat than butter, no trans fat, no hydrogenated oils “butter” that I’ve really been liking lately.  I have baked a number of things with Bestlife and have not been disappointed with any of them!  The orange  cake gets a lot of its moisture from a half cup of freshly squeezed orange juice also.

I was thinking that the cake would be a little boring to just serve with its light glaze over it, so I whipped up a little raspberry filling (frozen/thawed raspberries and a little sugar, cornstarch and water, cooked on the stove until thickened).  While the cake was definitely delicious served with the raspberries on top (think strawberry shortcake, but with raspberries) and some whipped cream—oh and some chocolate shavings, of course--

  

It was actually really good by itself, too!

Sometime when I make it again, I’ll use whole wheat pastry flour as well for a little extra fiber.  (I have a 50 pound bag of it!)  I also used a different recipe for the glaze than the one she posted.

Uma’s Orange Cake from www.cookingrookie.blogspot.com, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1  1/2 cups (180 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (my addition, the original recipe did not have any—Katrina)

1 large egg, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

pinch of salt

2/3 cup (132 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, room temperature

1/4 cup butter substitute (I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks), room temperature

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

zest of one large orange (about 1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon lemon juice (I put it in, but am not really sure it’s necessary—Katrina)

Orange Glaze--

juice of 1/2 an orange (was about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together in a small bowl until no lumps of powdered sugar remain.  Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.  Set aside. 

Beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer with a wire whisk attachment until soft peaks form.  Add the salt and beat for a minute or so, then gradually add the sugar a little at a time while beating.  After about one minute of beating once all the sugar is in is probably plenty—to firm, but not too stiff peaks.  Scrape the side of the bowl a few times in between additions.  Put the beaten egg whites with the sugar in a medium bowl so you can use the mixer bowl again.  (I didn’t wash it out.) 

Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.

In the bowl of the mixer, combine the butter substitute, yogurt, whole egg, orange juice, zest and lemon juice.  It will look curdled, but is okay.  Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the beaten egg whites, carefully folding them in with a spatula. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cake cook 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then carefully remove the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.  When the cake has cooled, drizzle it with the glaze.  You can smooth it all around the top of the cake with a pastry brush.

Serve with raspberry filling and/or whipped cream—and a little chocolate shavings for that "Katrina” touch!

 

Elana didn’t say much about this cake when she posted it, just that it was her friend’s mom Uma’s cake with her “calorie saving” substitutions.  I was drawn in by its simplicity and its calorie saving-ness. ;)  Check out Cooking Rookie's blog Cookbook of Trial and Error—everything looks so good, I find it hard to believe she’s a rookie!

The Secret Recipe Club is a great place to be—lovin’ it!

 

TWD—Citrus Pecan Sunshine Muffins and Dutch Apple Pie for Pi Day

This week’s recipe for Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins was chosen by Lauryn of Bella Baker.  Right off, I didn’t use currants.  I used pecans instead.  Right now, I’m out of town—visiting friends in Kansas and I forgot to bring the recipe noting the other changes I made.  I know for sure that I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour, but that is all I can remember.  The muffins are okay.   I always love mixing zest into sugar with my fingers.

I really liked the pecan crunch in these.  I sprinkled them with turbinado sugar before baking them and that made for a nice sweet crunch on top.

Monday (3-14) was International Pi Day and while it doesn’t really mean anything to me by way of math, it was definitely an excuse to make a pie! ;)  I’m staying with my friend, Mindy, here in Kansas and for fun asked her what her favorite kind of pie is and she said it was Dutch apple pie.  So I googled it and found one that Amy at Baking and Mistaking just posted for Pi Day that look really good.

Amy used a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.  I followed Amy’s recipe, which is different in that the apples are cooked on the stove and the crust is prebaked.  After cooking the apples, they had a good cup or more of liquid that I really wasn’t sure was supposed to go in the pie shell.  So I scooped the apples out and put them in the pie shell, but left out the liquid.  I really didn’t want a soggy crust.  After putting the huge mound of crumble topping over the apples, I was a little worried the crumble wouldn’t be moist enough……..it wasn’t. 

But the pie was still good!  I like that the apples are well cooked.  I don’t like apple pie when some of the apples are still just a tad too crunchy.

Too many crumbs.  A little vanilla ice cream helped with that.

TWD—Citrus Pecan Sunshine Muffins and Dutch Apple Pie for Pi Day

This week’s recipe for Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins was chosen by Lauryn of Bella Baker.  Right off, I didn’t use currants.  I used pecans instead.  Right now, I’m out of town—visiting friends in Kansas and I forgot to bring the recipe noting the other changes I made.  I know for sure that I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour, but that is all I can remember.  The muffins are okay.   I always love mixing zest into sugar with my fingers.

I really liked the pecan crunch in these.  I sprinkled them with turbinado sugar before baking them and that made for a nice sweet crunch on top.

Monday (3-14) was International Pi Day and while it doesn’t really mean anything to me by way of math, it was definitely an excuse to make a pie! ;)  I’m staying with my friend, Mindy, here in Kansas and for fun asked her what her favorite kind of pie is and she said it was Dutch apple pie.  So I googled it and found one that Amy at Baking and Mistaking just posted for Pi Day that look really good.

Amy used a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.  I followed Amy’s recipe, which is different in that the apples are cooked on the stove and the crust is prebaked.  After cooking the apples, they had a good cup or more of liquid that I really wasn’t sure was supposed to go in the pie shell.  So I scooped the apples out and put them in the pie shell, but left out the liquid.  I really didn’t want a soggy crust.  After putting the huge mound of crumble topping over the apples, I was a little worried the crumble wouldn’t be moist enough……..it wasn’t. 

But the pie was still good!  I like that the apples are well cooked.  I don’t like apple pie when some of the apples are still just a tad too crunchy.

Too many crumbs.  A little vanilla ice cream helped with that.

Orange Bran Muffins

Tis the season for muffins, I suppose.  I just recently posted Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins for TWD and now these.  I actually saw the recipe for these before I made the lemon poppy seed muffins, but just got around to making them today.  I got the recipe for these Bran Muffins from Joy of Baking.  I made some changes, but not too many.

The muffins are good (if you like bran muffins!).  They have a nice orange flavor from some zest, they are moist and rise well.  The only thing I think I’d do next time is add some raisins or nuts. The oats add a little bit of chew, but  I think they just needed a little contrasting crunch or flavor.  Overall, I’d make these again.  I love that on Joy of Baking, she puts cup amounts as well as metric measurements for the ingredients!  Especially because some of her amounts in grams are different from what I use.  So following the recipe, I used what the recipe says and not the amounts I would have used and that is what I will post here.  I most often weigh flour as 120 grams for 1 cup and 220 grams for 1 cup brown sugar—unless a recipe states their own tried and true measurements.  

Orange Bran Muffins, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Joy of Baking

1  1/2 cups (75 grams) wheat bran

1/3 cups (80 ml) boiling water

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (205 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups (280 grams) whole wheat pastry flour (Joy of Baking recipe called for one cup all purpose flour and one cup whole wheat pastry flour)

2/3 cup cup (70 grams) old fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup (180 ml) fat free milk

3/4 cup (180 ml) lowfat buttermilk

turbinado sugar

Put the wheat bran in a bowl and stir in the boiled water.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs.  Add the vanilla and molasses and beat until well blended.  Add the wheat bran and beat until combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients—flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder and zest.

In a small bowl, combine the milk and buttermilk.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the wet ingredients to the bran mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Cover and place the batter in the refrigerator until chilled (a couple hours).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners (or spray with cooking spray).  Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and sprinkle each with turbinado sugar. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Makes about 21 muffins.

*I would add 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans and/or 1/2 cup raisins next time.

Speaking of muffins, check out the Buttermilk Crumb Muffins Paige recently posted on her blog.  I can’t wait to try them!

Others you might also like--

Amanda’s Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins at Amanda’s Cookin’

Anna’s Jumbo Chocolate Banana Muffins at Cookie Madness

Judy’s Chocolate Chip Pecan Streusel Sour Cream Muffins at Judy’s Kitchen

TWD—“Cardamom” Crumb Cake (Cinnamon/Ginger/Nutmeg)

This week’s recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie, chosen by at great gal, Jill from Jill's Blog is Cardamom Crumb Cake on pages 38-39 in Baking From My Home to Yours.  I made the cake on Monday to take to a little family night we had going to sing carols with our friend Bob and some others at his apartments. 

The cake is supposed to have espresso and coffee, but I didn’t do that.  I left out the espresso and just used water for the coffee.  I also didn’t use cardamom, I don’t have any and after looking up information about it, it is expensive and not so easy to find.  I have wanted to get some, but have never used it.  In place of the cardamom, I used a combination of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  With three tablespoons of orange zest, that is definitely the key flavor to my version of this crumb cake.  The recipe calls for whole milk, but I just used 2%, which is fine.  I thought it was good.  The cake is nice and moist.  I just snapped a few quick photos before taking it to our activity.

My favorite part of crumb cake is the crumb topping.  This is a good one with even more orange zest in the crumb topping.  Thanks for the great choice this week, Jill.  You can get the recipe on Jill’s blog. 

Happy Holidays!

 

Chip loves this little, pink stuffed octopus with crinkly legs.  We’re having fun with this new addition to our home.