Lime-Raspberry Bread

In the ongoing love affair that I'm currently having with lime, it was only a matter of time before I made this. First spotted over at Baking Bites a few months ago, the fates would have it that I was lacking in an ingredient, which led to me find this recipe again.

Before I get into that, I must say this: we finally got to the closest Whole Foods today. It's over in Providence, right near the downtown area, which is about a 35 minute drive. This is a far cry from my one-quarter-of-a-mile walk down the street. I am not pleased by this, and I've already written to Whole Foods, suggesting a great place that they could move in. Plus, my city's known for it's fishing. There'd be fresh, local seafood every day. And we're near UMass Dartmouth; they even say on the WF website that they try to build near colleges. I really think they should listen to me. ;)

Back to the bread. It's dense, but the lime flavor gives it more of a lightness. The tartness of the raspberries go quite well with the puckering lime flavor. In other words, I would absolutely make this again. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp. lime zest
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 egg, well-beaten
1 cup raspberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, zest, butter, and egg. Pour into flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Gently fold in the raspberries. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake at 250F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, before running a knife along the edges and turning the bread out onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Swirled-Chip Blondies

Hello, Humidity. It's 9:30pm and I think it's past your bedtime.

Yep, we're on the verge of some rain and storms, and in the summer here, that means serious humidity. Humidity with a capital H that makes my long, thick hair completely disagreeable, and that makes me question my sanity once having the oven on for twenty minutes. But did that stop me? Nope. I baked earlier in the day. I figured I would go with something everyone in the house would like, in case they don't like my lime/raspberry combination that I'm working with tomorrow morning. :)

These are super-simple blondies. Minimal bowls, just one measuring cup, etc. It's a good thing. Target had the swirled morsels on sale, so I grabbed a bag of those. As a side note, for those sometimes-forgetful folk: if it's over 80F outside and you're shopping, buy baking chips at the END of the errands. Otherwise you'll have a nice peanut butter/chocolate mixture that has to be put in the fridge and later eaten as a snack. Hmph. *shakes fist in anger*

On that note, my dad's already eaten three of these. Two of which were before dinner. And I like using my dad as a food-gauge, because he's the type that can eat the same kind of sandwich every day for lunch without a problem. He eats because he has to. Obviously I get the food-love from the Portuguese side of the family, not the English/Irish. ;)



Ingredients:
2½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup butter, melted
1-3/4 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 bag of chocolate/white chocolate swirled morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, beating until fully incorporated. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup of morsels. Spread into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining morsels on the top.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Nutella Brownies

Finally! I was starting to get twitchy from the lack of baking. Can you believe I went just over two weeks (15 days!) without making a thing? Incredible.

This was one of the easier times of baking at my parents' house. Because my good ol' HG (Holy Grail... aka: the KitchenAid mixer) is here. He has spoiled me mercilessly for any other mixer and I am quite fine with that. But, even with HG and my own usual items, it still felt awkward because I'm not used to the kitchen. The stove is different and I have to get used to the way that it works. The counter, while larger, is still set up differently. I know I'll adjust in time, but it'll take some getting used to.

To get to the recipe, I was telling my mom the other day about Nutella. She had never even heard of it! I started searching through recipes this morning, trying to find something that would combine my dad's desire for brownies and my mom's curiousity of Nutella. Which led me to discover Windsor Eats' Nutella Brownies. It's a match made in heaven.

I'm happy to report that both of my parents and Dave enjoyed them, especially as they were still a bit warm from the oven. Even happier to report that I only ate a little bit out of the jar myself. Really, there was self-restraint. ;) These are super-moist and have just a hint of hazelnut flavor. My mom said they reminded her of the Ferrero Rocher chocolates that she loves. I highly doubt there'll be any left come Monday morning. :)



Ingredients:
½ cup flour
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup Nutella
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.

Sift together flour and salt; set aside.

Beat eggs, Nutella, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Alternately add butter and flour mixture, beating until well incorporated. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 325F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 16 brownies

We made it!

After spending five-and-a-half days on the road, we finally made it to MA yesterday afternoon. With stops in Phoenix, Albequerque, Tulsa, Richmond (Indiana), and Scranton, PA, it's really a wonder that we didn't kill each other. ;)

But the work has barely just begun. We have to buy a new mattress, put together the bed, and then the fun starts with unpacking. Dave's lucky, he goes to work on Monday. LOL I go back on the 23rd. Which is the day after the Boston Stevie Nicks concert. :)

I miss baking as much as I missed the internet and Jeopardy this past week. But as soon as things get settled, I'll be posting again. :)

Lime Loaf Cake

Sure, part of me could say that I made this because I needed to use up that lime and lime juice. And, really, that was part of my reasoning. But I also just wanted to make one more thing with lime, and I hadn't done this pound cake-like beauty. I have a strange feeling that I'm going to forever associate lime with California.

Speaking of which, this is the last thing that I made while living in Mountain View. And even though Johanna's told me not to, I've been doing this all week. Today was my last library trip. My last time at the park. I even brought some bread and fed the squirrels. They're photogenic squirrels, too. Whether they had a choice in that or not is a whole 'nother thing.

(Oh, dear. So I kinda already packed all the pans we're bringing. We're now heating up broccoli in the oven using a cupcake pan.)

So, where was I? Photogenic squirrels? ;) Nah, I'll move on from that. Actually, I should just get on with the recipe since I need to eat soon.

Found originally at Baking Bites, it's definitely more pound cake than regular cake. The top gets a little bit crunchy in the oven, but it's a nice contrast against the soft center and bottom. And very limey. I think it'll be a good treat on the road.

Ingredients:
1½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
2½ Tbsp. butter, softened
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Zest of one lime
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and crumbly. Add eggs, one at a time. Then add juice, zest, and vanilla. Gradually add in the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Let cool briefly in pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

York Peppermint Brownies

I am so freakin' tired. The trailer is loaded. And I mean loaded. We're taking a break now, and let me tell you, that shower has never felt so good. We still have the cleaning of the bathroom and the kitchen to do. The computer's the last thing to be packed, of course. :) Right now I'm sitting down and I do not want to move for at least half an hour. Oh, sitting gods, please smile upon me and let me sit for half an hour. Pretty please?

I thought last night was pretty busy, between running to Whole Foods and wanting to bake some things. Wanted to do one or two more than what I did, but I ran out of sugar. That's the quickest way to finish up baking. LOL

At our last trip to Big Lots, I found miniature York Peppermint Patties. I guess Hershey isn't making them anymore? Which is a shame. They taste just like Junior Mints, but flatter. I went with this recipe because I had exactly half a cup left of cocoa. In fact, I purposely sought out a brownie recipe needing that amount.

These are a very moist, cakey brownie. And unfortunately, some of the patties sank and stuck to the bottom of the pan, despite greasing it first. But they're yummy. Half of them are going to our usual Starbucks tomorrow morning, and we've gone through the other half today. It's good refuelling, energizing food. ;)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1¼ cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 bag Hershey's York Peppermint Patty Baking Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth, then add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in baking bits. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 brownies.

Peppermint Cheesecake Bars

We're really coming to the end of the line. Tomorrow's the last day. And tomorrow will also probably be the last time I bake on the west coast. (Yes, I am one of those people that thinks about every little thing being the "last" time. It's the same way before every birthday.) This one has some backstory, though.

I first met Mo probably about five years ago. We got along great almost instantly, and yeah, I had a crush on him for a while, which 90% of the time he says he had no clue of. LOL I soon discovered that he harbored a huge love of cheesecake. In fact, he even proposed to me one day over a chocolate cheesecake. Anyways, he went into the management program and we kinda lost touch. There was a fall-out, what with him lying and I held that grudge for a while. But we discussed it about a year ago, and we're back to normal. So I sent him an email saying that Dave and I were leaving and that he better get his butt into my store to see me before I leave. And I hinted that maybe there'd be cheesecake involved, just as an added bonus. In his excitement, he came in last Thursday as well, in hopes of an early piece. LOL

So these are for tomorrow, and if Mo doesn't come in, I'm so kicking his butt. And I'll make sure that he knows how much everyone enjoyed these. ;)



Ingredients:
1 cup crushed chocolate cookies
¼ cup butter, melted
2 pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup sour cream
1½ Tbsp. flour
½ Tbsp. peppermint extract
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Mix together cookie crumbs and butter until well combined and press onto the bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream, flour, and peppermint extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Refrigerate for at least four hours before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 bars.

Chocolate-Caramel Chip Cookie Bars

Dave and I both have two days left of work. Which is oddly comforting at times. LOL I knew that I'd be bringing some treats in to work (which I'll post about after this), so I asked Dave if he wanted something to bring in. Who's going to say no to that, right?

I went for simple and for using up another bag of morsels. Sure, there was a trip to Whole Foods since the brown sugar decided to skip town early, but for the most part, it could've been done while sleeping. Tastes just like a regular Toll House cookie, but with a hint of caramel from the swirled morsels.



Ingredients:
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate/caramel swirled morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Stir in chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before cutting into bars. Makes about 4 dozen.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Yesterday did not start off well. At all.

Around 7:30a or so, as Dave was leaving for work, I closed the door and locked it, as normal. Something told me to turn, and I'm really glad that I did. Because my stack of book boxes (all eight of them) were falling right towards me. Thankfully I had turned, because otherwise I would've been hit in the head and back, instead of just my arm. Which has a lovely multi-colored odd-shaped bruise now. Not a good way to start the day. So I went back to bed for a few hours. LOL

Thankfully the day improved. :)

I wanted to make something specifically for Henelyne and that girl loves cheesecake more than anyone else I know. So that part was the easy part. I remembered her love of Ferrero Rocher, and figured I could do a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, and it would also use up the rest of the hazelnut extract.

After debating a few recipes, I went with this one from the Kraft Foods website, just using hazelnut instead of vanilla. It came together very easily and I'll definitely use the recipe again. No picture of the actual cheesecake, but I did make Henelyne pose outside with the piece she was eating. :)

Oh! And the hazelnut flavor was actually recognizable this time! Yay! :)



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used the Newman's Own Chocolate Cookies)
¼ cup butter, melted

2 pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. flour
1½ Tbsp. hazelnut extract
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F (300F if using a darker colored springform pan).

Mix together the cookie crumbs and butter until moist. Press onto the bottom of pan.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream, sugar, cocoa, flour, and hazelnut extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake at 325F for 50-55 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

Spiced Oatmeal Jam Bars

This worked out amazingly well, both in the time-wise sense and the "needing to use things up before moving"-sense. Because we're now 4 days out from moving and only my "vital" baking things aren't packed.

Time-wise, this works because Rachel of Coconut and Lime, one of my fave blogs, is holding a Blogiversary Contest. It's quite simple - make a recipe she's posted at some point, blog about it, and send the link. Good deal. Timing never works out so well for me. Seriously. Timing and gravity often seem to have vendettas against me.

But, yes, this worked very well. Super easy to put together and it leaves the flavor options open. I used two kinds of jam - huckleberry jam from Ashland, OR, and Ikea's Queen's Blend Jam (it's a strawberry/blueberry mix and simply DIVINE); one on each side. The bars are very reminiscent of the jamwiches I made a while back. (Which I can't seem to find on here; did I ever post them?) They also work really well re-heated as a breakfast treat, too. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups oatmeal
1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
3/4 cup jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Mix together the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, and spices; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Gradually add dry ingredients. Remove 2 cups of batter and press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Spread jam over dough. Crumble remaining pieces of dough onto of the jam.

Bake at 400F for 22-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in pan on wire rack, then cut into bars.