dessert explosion!

this is quite possibly the most i've ever baked in one morning...it's a little over the top when i'm just hit with the inspiration to bake this much. but enough chit chat, happy dad's day (most of these were for him). and on to the yummy stuff!

Blueberry Yogurt Loaf 

(adapted from smitten kitchen)

makes 1 loaf

1 1/2 c + 1 T all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 c plain yogurt

1 c plus 1 T sugar

3 extra large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c olive oil

1 1/2 c frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

* Comes out very wet/dense. Not sure how I feel about that. Would be great with the lemon flavor but didn't have lemons on hand. Or spread with lemon curd. 

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip cookies

(from Ocean Spray)

1/2 c + 2 T (1 stick and 2 T) butter, softened

2/3 c brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 5-oz Ocean Spray Craisins

2/3 c semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs mixing well. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Stir in craisins and chocolate chips. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let cool.

* Would taste better without chocolate chips and nuts in their place

Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Cookies

(from SugarHero)

1 1/3 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 c chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella)

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c chopped toasted hazelnuts

2/3 c semi sweet chocolate chips

To toast hazelnuts:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coarsely chop 1/2 c filberts and place on baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10-15 min, lightly tossing throughout. Let cool.

For cookies:

Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a larger bowl cream the butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Slowly mix in flour until just combined and then add hazelnuts and chocolate chips.

Scoop small spoonfuls onto cookie sheet, bake until lightly golden about 10 minutes. They will smoosh and spread but if tiny not too bad.

Makes  about 3 dozen cookies.

*These are sweet cookies and are very thin on the crunchier side.  

Olive Oil-Basil Cornmeal Cake with Strawberry sauce

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

1 c all-purpose flour

1/2 + 1/3 c yellow cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4  c granulated sugar

1/2 c skim milk

1/2 c olive oil

1 T dried basil

1/2 T sparkling sugar

Strawberry Sauce recipe

2 c frozen strawberries, thawed

1 T granulated sugar

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan, set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, milk and olive oil. Mix dry ingredients and basil into wet mix and pour into prepared cake pan, spread evenly. Sprinkle with sparking sugar. Bake about 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes and then remove cake from pan. Cool cake completely and when serving top w/ Strawberry sauce.

For the sauce, combine strawberries, sugar and balsamic vinegar until smooth. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.  

*This one comes out very cornbready, might be b/c i put in too much cornmeal. but w/o the sugar would make great cornbread for thanksgiving.

still with me??? sugar rush hasn't gotten to you yet? just one more and it's my favorite of the bunch!

Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

(from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen)

Ingredients

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 c shortening

1/2 c white sugar

1/2 c packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 T water

1/4 c molasses

Icing (optional)

1 c powdered sugar

1-2  T water

splash vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets w/ parchment paper or silpat. In a medium bowl mix all dry ingredients (flour through cloves). Set aside. In a large bowl cream butter, shortening, white sugar, and light brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, water, and molasses until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until combined. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Roll dough into desired size (I went with about a 1/2 T size) and flatten hand (will stick completely to the bottom of a glass cup) and place about 1/4" apart on cookie sheet. Bake for about 7 minutes. Remove and cool. Prepare frosting if desired by mixing powdered sugar, water and vanilla and frost.

*She's not lying when she says you have to make these cookies ASAP. If you are a ginger cookie fan these are amazing. Soft and chewy, gingery and molassy. By far my favorite gingerbread cookie yet.

up to speed

it's hot in md. not sure how i feel about that. taught muscle works last night at CP as a spontaneous decision. boy, is it weird to teach not only able bodied people but also people who are used to physical activity so they pick up moves really quickly, which means i had to pull from everything i learned this summer and teach them every muscle group i remembered! i also stayed to take cardioboxing, after a summer of teaching to 130bpm going back to 136+ and doing burpees and pushups my body feels like it got the crap kicked out of it...so disappointing how quickly your body adapts, but i'll get back

lunch today! a day off (sort of, got a cakebite order to get done but pushing it off a bit...)
half a whole wheat pita
tuna salad made with yogurt, olive oil, capers, celery, and black pepper
carrot slaw tossed in my tamari ginger dressing with some parsley (that dressing needs to be used up!)
arugula salad w/ leftover tomato/feta/onion/yellow pepper salad

happy tummy!

when healthy is too healthy...and my love affair w/ greek yogurt

hello hello! it's not as humid today! 3 cheers for that. so i don't think i got to tell you but i'm giving a one hour little talk on healthier sweets to a group of kids at an at-risk summer camp. the goal is to give them a healthy cupcake and this is becoming a major difficulty! i figured the diet cola cupcakes just didn't have enough nutrients to make it worth it to give the kids so i took a regular chocolate cupcake recipe and substituted in some whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil and got this weird thing. they're pretty (it helps that i stuck some reese's cups in the middle, just to kill the "healthy" factor) but they just taste too...

healthy.

which i guess was the point, but if they don't taste almost as good as the real thing, personally, i would just go for the real thing. why have dessert (in moderation) if you can't enjoy it to it's full buttery, oily potential. phew. i just needed to get that off my chest. but yes, this is my sad attempt at a healthy cupcake. i'll try again tonight or tomorrow. i might just mess with a cake mix box since i like the fluffiness i usually get from those.

this lovely cup is a bowl of greek yogurt, a chopped peach, handful of raspberries and sunflower seeds. i've had this for dinner in some combination of this (bananas, blackberries, strawberries, walnuts, etc.) for at least the past month and i still haven't gotten tired of it. amazing how much i love this stuff. especially now that it's so hot outside, nothing like yogurt with a bunch of fresh fixings to make my day. yum yum

oh, and i swam my 900 yds this morning in less than 30 minutes (but i probably still look like a drowning rat, but that's a work in progress)