Category: Breads

Breads, Breakfast, Recipes

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Sarah

I love quick breads. They’re usually filled with fruit and/or yummy spices, so they have the appearance of a healthy treat… yet they’re sweet enough to masquerade as a dessert. Plus they are [by condition of their genre] quick. They only take a couple of minutes to mix up and after a turn in the oven, bake up nice and fluffy. This Lemon Blueberry Bread is no exception.

Lemon Blueberry Bread: Plump, sweet blueberries are accented by the light, tartness of fresh lemon… divine perfection!

Each slice is reminiscent of a warm summer day. Plump, sweet blueberries are accented by the light, tartness of fresh lemon… divine perfection! Though it’s March, spring isn’t quite here yet [at least not in Bloomington], but this bread will help ease the burden of late winter for just a little while longer.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

  • Servings: 12
  • Print

from the kitchen of Becky Bennett, Vera Bradley Product Development

Ingredients:

For bread

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 cup blueberries [frozen works just fine, but keep them in the freezer until ready to mix in]

For glaze

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

Stir together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. In the bowl of stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one by one, then mix in flour and milk alternately. Fold in lemon zest and blueberries, then pour into pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While bread is baking, prepare the glaze. Whisk together lemon juice and sugar, then heat in a small saucepan until sugar dissolves.

After bread has cooled for a few minutes, pierce with a fork all over. Pour glaze over the top. Cool completely before cutting bread.

Lemon Blueberry Bread: Plump, sweet blueberries are accented by the light, tartness of fresh lemon… divine perfection!
This is what happens when you do NOT wait to cut the bread. It falls completely apart and big chunks break off. Please, do yourselves a favor and wait to cut it! But if you do indulge earlier, leave it in the pan while cutting. 🙂

 

Breads, Breakfast, Recipes

Pumpkin Ginger Bread

Sarah
pumpkin & bread
A taste of fall goodness

Welcome to Day Four of Pumpkin Week on The Pajama Chef! Hope you’re not tired of pumpkin yet. 🙂

This is pumpkin that even the apathetic pumpkin-eaters in your life can enjoy. It is soft and sweet, nothing fancy–just pure pumpkin goodness with a touch of ginger to spice things up. A slice of pumpkin bread with a hot beverage of your choice makes a magnificent breakfast. This bread is even better the next day. Once the pumpkin melds with the ginger… oh my goodness you will not be able to keep your hands out of it! Mmmm.

view from above
beautiful, beautiful bread....

Pumpkin Ginger Bread [base recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything]

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons cold butter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • sprinkle salt
  • 3/4 cup apple cider
  • 1 egg
  • 1 heaping cup pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • cooking spray

Directions:

Grease a 9 by 5 inch bread pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and apple cider, and then pour into dry ingredients. Fold in pumpkin and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 45-60 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. [Be sure to check the bread at 45 minutes or sooner, because my bread was definitely done at 45 minutes but ovens do vary.]

Click here for the printable version:Pumpkin Ginger Bread

cat on tablecloth
"Uhh, did you put the tablecloth on the floor?"

So funny story: the other morning, I was getting ready in the bedroom, and my husband walked out in the dining room. All of a sudden, he cried out: “uhh, did you put the tablecloth on the floor?”

No, no, I didn’t… I guess Sheba Genevieve decided it would make a good bed for her, so she pulled it off the table and decided to take a nap on her conquest! Silly kitty!

Question of the Day: What do your pets do to make you laugh?

Breads, Breakfast, Recipes

Rebel Banana Bread

Sarah

Banana bread is a staple in my life. I love bananas and purchase them just about every week. We can go through a whole bunch in a few days if we’re not careful. But sometimes I instruct my husband to not eat them because I have plans for them. Banana bread is also my go-to remedy for eradicating fruit flies, because they inevitably show up when bananas have been chilling on the fridge for a little too long. This doesn’t happen too often, but when it does… ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?

Rebel Banana Bread... chocolate + coconut added to your favorite banana bread! Yum!

For much of my life, I’ve been an advocate of sticking with my Grandma’s recipe. It’s a classic banana nut bread, and it is 110% delicious. Sometimes when I’m feeling a little out of sorts and in the mood for some extra sweetness I might add some butterscotch chips. I am normally a follow the rules kinda person but I do have my moments.

On the rare occasion when I am feeling completely over the top, I know I have to be radical and seize the moment. It is rare after all. I was having one of those rebellious days last week, and this banana bread is the result.

This banana bread includes a smattering of chocolate chips and a burst of coconut flavor in every banana-y bite. The recipe is not mine, though I did tweak it a little bit but subbing coconut oil for the regular oil and adding coconut flakes for a little texture and chewiness. It’s great with a cup of cold milk for a bedtime [I just typed “breadtime”–that works too!], or with a mug of hot coffee for breakfast. You should make it really soon–even if you’re not in a rebellious state of mind. I probably will be making it again soon too… I was just informed by my husband that I may not be allowed to go back to a non-chocolate chip banana bread. Uh oh. I may have entered the dark side, and taken you all along for the ride! My sincerest apologies… and to make it up to you… the recipe.

Rebel Banana Bread

  • Servings: 12
  • Print

from Good (&Cheap) Eats

Ingredients:

  • 2 bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
  • cooking spray

Directions:

Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix bananas, sugar, oil, eggs, coconut milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flours and baking soda. Gradually fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients, then add coconut flakes and chocolate chips and stir gently to combine. Spoon batter into pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Use a sheet of aluminum foil to cover bread during baking if it starts to get too dark before it is fully cooked.

How do you like your banana bread? Plain? Or with crazy mixins? Please share! 

Breads, Breakfast, Recipes

Buttermilk Chocolate Bread

Sarah

So, this bread should really be renamed “Brownie Bread,” because that’s what it tastes like: a nice gooey, rich, chocolately brownie in bread form. Cakey. Fudgey. Chocolately. This bread is perfect warm out of the oven, with some fruit and yogurt in a bowl for breakfast, or right out of the pan as a late night snack. And… because it’s a bread, and not a pan of brownies, then it certainly must be healthy. A perfectly acceptable breakfast option. Right? Well, considering that chocolate chips kept literally jumping into my mouth as I was mixing this up and that there’s this odd gravitational force constantly pulling me to the kitchen, maybe the health factor is a bit debatable. But I’m not so sure. Regardless, just do yourself a favor and try this bread over the weekend. You probably have most of the ingredients anyway. You won’t regret it. Just trust me.

Buttermilk Chocolate Bread | thepajamachef.com

Buttermilk Chocolate Bread

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Print

from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5″ loaf pan with cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then pour in buttermilk and mix on low until fully incorporated.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Add in half cup increments to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

What’s your favorite dessert for breakfast?