This time of year I like to walk the neighborhood with baked sweets in hand because it’s beautiful outside and people really like you when you bring them treats like this whole wheat banana bread. It’s also fantastic as muffins- both ways shown below. This is my own recipe, it’s so easy and good, plus it’s a great way to sneak some flax and fiber into your kids breakfast. Not that it’s entirely virtuous, but breads and muffins that don’t taste good are a waste of everyones time. If you don’t have ground flax or wheat germ you can substitute with bran, or just a little more whole wheat, this recipe is very forgiving and it’s begging to be messed with so have at if you want to add some fruit, nuts, top it with raw sugar, or add some chocolate chips, which I do quite regularly because: obvious.
1/3 cup coconut oil (you can use vegetable oil or butter as well)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 medium sized banana’s mashed up
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon whole wheat flax
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
(if you’d like add 3/4 cup chocolate chips, nuts, blueberries, raisins, or whatever sounds good to you!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan -I also make a parchment sling, or a muffin tin or use cupcake liners and spray just a bit in the bottom of each.
Mix the oil, sugar, and eggs one at a time and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix up the flours, flax, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients and banana in 3 batches taking turns until it’s all incorporated. If you’re adding any extra’s do that last.
For bread fill loaf pan 3/4 full and bake about 55 minutes depending on the size of your loaf- start checking if a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs around 45 minutes. If a darker top bothers you, you can foil tent it the last 20 minutes or so- just don’t take out until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
For muffins fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. You can freeze what you don’t eat the first day – I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month.
There is something so warm cozy and welcoming about a cinnamon roll, cinnamon rolls just want to love you, cinnamon rolls understand. There are many versions of this beautiful pastry, but these are BY FAR the best I’ve ever tasted. I was introduced to them from our sister Kristin who learned about them from our other sister Courtney who got the recipe from her husband Greg’s Grandma Ruth. I never had the honor of meeting Grandma Ruth, but based on all accounts she was a character with a talent for cute one liners and cinnamon roll perfection. The thing that makes these the most magical is….well, all of the things. The dough is soft, but bouncy, not too sweet, and the filling has no strange flavors, it’s brown sugar and cinnamon, but perhaps the very most special ingredient is the really unique icing. I’ve never met an icing like this one and PLEASE take the time to make it instead of wussing out on some easy sleazy pow sug and milk silliness. You thicken it on the stove with sugar and flour then add the powdered sugar later. It harden’s as it cools so it kind of closes in on your roll making it stay fresh longer, plus it allows you to easily freeze them individually and as Grandma Ruth used to say “zip ’em in the microphone for 20” to have a cinnamon that tastes like it just came out of the oven for weeks after the effort. I have made a few adjustments, such as tripling the icing because a cinnamon roll without enough icing is truly tragic and I would never treat these sweet buns that way. This is not the easiest thing on the planet to make but it’s not a finicky recipe, have fun with it, get your kids involved and don’t stress out. They will turn out amazing and make for a magnificent morning guaranteed!
Rolls:
2 cups milk
2 rounded teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (cut up for easy melting)
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
6 1/2-8 cups flour (enough to make your dough curl and handle easily – I usually use about 8)
Frosting:
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
6-7 cups powdered sugar
1. Scald the milk, either on the stove or I usually just warm in up in a large (4 cup capacity) pyrex for 3 minutes so it’s really hot. Add salt, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter to the milk and let stand until sugar and butter are dissolved and milk is no longer hot but just warm, -give this a mix before adding to your yeast mixture.
2. In a separate bowl (I do this in a stand mixer) put your yeast into the 1/2 cup warm water and let sit with the extra teaspoon sugar until dissolved and starting to puff. Add the two beaten eggs. Next add milk mixture. Combine and slowly add flour starting a few cups at a time but once you get to 6 cups slow down and watch how it curls and handles. When your dough is ready it will start to pull off the sides of the bowl and stick more to itself than it does to your fingers. It will still be a bit tacky, you don’t want it dry, just to the point where you can handle it. It does not require a long knead, I just kneaded with the dough hook for about 4-5 minutes until all incorporated.
3. Work dough into a ball and put into a lightly greased bowl covered for about an hour – until doubled. Punch down once doubled and let them come back again about 15 minutes. Divide dough into two and roll on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Try to even up your corners as best you can.
4. For the cinnamon filling melt the butter and use half for each half of dough – about 2 and a half tablespoons butter for each. Spread out on your rectangle evenly then mix up your brown sugar and cinnamon and use half of this mixture over the butter reaching almost to the ends all over the dough. Starting on a short side roll your dough rectangle into a nice tight rope and do your best to seal it at the end by pinching the dough into itself. With a nice sharp knife cut rolls from your rope in about 1 1/2 inch sections and place them on a cookie sheet with either a silpat baking mat, parchment, or greased with butter or oil. I just cut as many as my recipe makes instead of trying to do a set amount. In my last batch I was able to make 30 total rolls. Repeat step 4 with the other half of the dough.
rolled out dough for cinnamon buns by twocarolines.com
5. Preheat oven to 350. Let the rolls rise under tea towels or plastic wrap for a good 20-30 minutes until nice and puffy. Bake one cookie sheet at time for about 12-14 minutes. Mine were done at 13. You want them lightly browned and gorgeously puffed up.
6. Make frosting – please don’t be lazy and do an easier frosting, the frosting for these is so unique and spectacular – it’s what makes them so super special! In a large saucepan put evaporated milk, sugar, salt and flour. Mix on medium heat until mixture is bubbling and thick. Stirring constantly add butter vanilla and powdered sugar. You might add a bit more powdered sugar to get desired consistency, but this magical icing hardens as it cools so don’t stress out about it. Once it’s done, I pour it through a strainer and push it with a rubber spatula to get all the lumps out so it’s nice and pretty smooth. You can also sift your powdered sugar as you add it, but this is too messy for me. You could also just leave the lumps in, they taste fine, but are somewhat unsightly and won’t do if you’re a dessert blogger like me. When they are hot out of the oven put icing on each bun generously, there should be enough to cover all your rolls easily. You might have a little extra which is in my opinion better than not enough – if you don’t insist on gobs of frosting you can cut this in half, but I like to have plenty.
7. We always freeze what we don’t eat the first day in individual sandwich bags then heat them for 25 seconds and they taste incredible. This magic icing doesn’t stick to plastic so they are easy to freeze.
Of all the white carbs I adore, legit, chewy, fresh bagels have my whole heart. Maybe you’re thinking “why would I make them, when I can easily just buy them?” but you’ve been decieved! It’s actually really difficult to buy a legitimate bagel these days – the distinction being a bagel that is actually boiled before it’s baked. Even some large bagel chains have switched from poaching to steaming, which is so weak sauce! In order to achieve that super chewy texture that makes a bagel so much more special than circle shaped bread, they need to take a little bath in boiling water, trust me, it’s a difference you can taste. The cool bonus is that they are quite easy to make and don’t require any super secret ingredients. And think of how impressed the people at your table will be when you bust out these beauties! I cut, wrap in plastic, and freeze anything we don’t eat the first day then we eat them for weeks by throwing them in the microwave on defrost for a minute or so. I’m way to much of a bagel purist to ever toast a bagel (BLASPHEME!) But I won’t judge you if you choose to warm yours up that way, this is assuming of course that you have any left after the first day….
6-7 cups white bread flour (I’ve used all purpose flour with great results, bread flour just makes a little smoother texture, it’s’ not essential)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast – (I like this saf instant one that performs well mixed in with flour instead of needing to hang around in water)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar for poaching in water (the recipe uses malt, but I’ve never found that and sugar works beautifully)
Combine the flour, salt and yeast together in a large bowl. Start with 6 cups flour but be ready to add 7 depending on how much your dough will take. Add the sugar and oil to the water in a different bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid, mixing to a dough with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Knead the dough either by hand or with a dough hook, trying to add more flour as it kneads- you actually want a quite dry dough vs. normal bread and yes, your dough will be stiff, but knead for a good 10 minutes until you have a really smooth, elastic dough. I use my kitchen-aid mixer with the dough hook and it takes about 11-12 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball, and put it into an oiled bowl (I just use my kitchen-aid one) turning once to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it to rise for about 1 hour. It should be well risen, and when you poke it with your finger the impression should remain.
Punch down the dough and give it a few kneads then divide it into 3 pieces. Using your hands roll each piece into a rope then cut each rope into 5 fairly even pieces. I line up my 3 ropes and cut with my pastry scraper that also helps me measure.
Roll each piece into another rope and curl it around to form a ring. Seal the ends by over-lapping them a little and pinching them together – I usually dip one side in a little water.
At this point put a large pot of water to boil and once it’s boiling add your sugar. Preheat your oven to 500 – I know it’s hot, but that’s what your bagels want!
Set the bagel on baking sheets, cover with tea towels and leave for about 25 minutes by which time they should be puffy.
To poach your bagels drop a couple at a time (I do 3-4 because I use a large pot) into the water and boil for only about 1 minute turning once. I use a slotted spoon for this which works great.
As you poach them put them back on your baking sheet that is either oiled or has a silpat on it.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until they’re shiny and golden brown. Let cool for a good 10 minutes, but they are incredible served warm.
Note: You are welcome to get creative with toppings etc. I like to sprinkle a coarse salt/flour mixture on some and it’s also yummy to do a cinnamon sugar/butter combo on top as well. If I have time I will even mix my last 5 with various things like chocolate chips, blueberries or cranberries before I boil them. They always turn out tasty but some of my combinations make them look a little busted. Do what sounds good to you!
brown sugar cinnamon pull-apart bread by twocarolines.com
I saw this beautiful pull apart bread a few months ago on King Arthur Flour who has an awesome blog with loads of great recipes and a really cute IG feed as well – I was certain to make it ASAP – as it turns out, it was truly weeks before I could get to that “P” in the ASAP. The last 6 weeks have been non-stop for us! I’m so glad I finally got down to my important baking business because this recipe was so much fun. I doubled it and made a savory loaf and a sweet loaf, and there was even enough for a bonus loaf! For the savory, I made an herbed butter compound by just chopping up fresh rosemary and adding some garlic salt, it was SO GOOD!! I will be making that again for sure. For the sweet, I slathered a mixture of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon into my folded rounds and glazed it with my fave glaze from our famous Grandma Ruth’s Cinnamon Rolls – and there are easier icings out there, but there are NONE that compare with this one, it’s magically not too sweet and it hardens as it cools. It was SUCH a treat, we loved it. And there are so many ways you could make this bread – have fun with it!
Dough:
pull-apart bread dough by twocarolines.com
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons potato flour (I didn’t have any, and they still worked out great, but I just bought some for next time)
Brown sugar butter filling:
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
(for an out of this world savory filling mix butter with a tablespoon or so chopped fresh rosemary and 1/2-1 teaspoon garlic salt)
Icing:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Warm your milk and pour it over your butter to melt it. Add the sugar and salt and let it cool slightly, then add your eggs, yeast, potato flour, and all-purpose flour – you want your dough to pull off the sides of your bowl, but not too dry, just workable. You may need to add a little as you knead.
Once you’ve mixed and kneaded your dough, let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size – this took me about an hour. A good way to quickly check to see if your dough is ready is to press it with your finger. If the indentation remains without springing back, it’s ready to go.
Roll your dough 1/2” thick. Using an English muffin ring, large biscuit cutter, or wide-mouth Mason jar lid, cut circles out of the dough. Roll out your leftovers and get as many circles as you can out of your dough.
To make the filling, just mix all the ingredients together until incorporated. Spread half of each circle generously with your filling then fold it and place it into your greased loaf pan. I pushed them to one side then the other alternating to get more circles in, but stack them in however you like.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the loaf for 22 to 24 minutes. It should be golden brown all over. After 5 minutes or so turn your loaves out of the pans to cool on a rack.
For the icing cook the evap milk, sugar, salt and flour until it starts to thicken, then add the butter vanilla and powdered sugar. You can sift the powdered sugar as you add it to avoid lumps, but I tend to just strain my icing after it’s done which is easier and it comes out beautifully lump free. Drizzle onto your slightly cooled loaves.
This version is without almond extract or slivered almonds due to my stepson’s tree nut allergies. It’s really great either way.
It’s a King family tradition for birthdays and celebrations that the person of honor gets to pick their favorite meals for the day. That means a favorite breakfast, dinner and dessert. We all had our different favorites and go-tos, but this coffee cake was probably the most requested by all of us, especially my dad. It’s best when made the night before, or if it has hours to cool to room temperature, ’cause the cream cheese can fall a bit if it’s too warm. But let’s be honest; a pool of creamy, jammy goodness can’t be a bad thing, can it? Also, Creamy Jammy Goodness sounds like a 70’s cover band, amiright?
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3/4 cup sour cream (or substitute with plain greek yogurt)
1 egg
1 t. almond extract
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour bottom and sides of 9 or 10 inch spring-form pan. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Using pastry blender or fork, cut butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture.
To remaining crumb mixture, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, 1 egg and almond extract. Blend well. Spread batter over bottom and two inches up sides of prepared pan. (Batter should be about 1/4 inch thick on sides)
In small bowl, combine cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar and 1 egg; blend well. Pour over batter in pan. Carefully spoon preserves evenly over cream cheese filling.
In small bowl, combine 1 cup reserved crumb mixture and sliced almonds. Sprinkle over top.
Bake at 350 for 45- 55 minutes or until cream cheese filling is set and crust is deep golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Serve warm or cool, cut into wedges.
Chocolate Date Nut Bars by twocarolines.comThese are the best breakfast treat/ energy bar/ snack your kids will actually eat / straight up chocolate dessert EVER! You don’t officially bake them, however you do need to toast the oats and nuts, so there’s an oven involved, but they are conspicuously missing flour and sugar, which is something you’ll notice happens almost never times in my posts, and probably don’t get used to it. But seriously, I love these too much not to share. After I cut them into the above squares I cut many of those in half so I can have some smaller portions for when a little afternoon pick-me-up is needed, because an entire square is quite filling. I especially love sharing these with Mom’s of new babies because I haven’t met a better nursing snack. And who doesn’t love a treat of the chocolate variety that is still giving you fruity fiber from dates, whole grain oats, plus the satisfying protein of nuts? I invite you to get creative with this recipe, my guess is they would taste great replacing pecans with cashews or even pistachios.
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 (heaping) cup pecans
1 cup slivered almonds (I usually use sliced which work great)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pitted dates chopped in half
1 1/3 cup dark chopped chocolate (chocolate chips work, but I love using decadent rich chocolate like this Scharffen Berger chocolate that has incredible flavor)
Pre-heat oven to 300 and line 2 rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil. Toast pecans on one and oats on the other rotating them a time or two. I do this for about 10 minutes on the oats and 7 or so with the nuts because you only want them fragrant, not burnt. The original recipe says to toast the almonds as well, but mine always burn so if I do put almonds in it’s only for a few minutes – the bars are fantastic even if your almonds aren’t toasted.
Put the oats and the nuts into a large capacity food processor (save parchment). Let cool about 20 minutes then add the dates and salt and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Next add the chopped chocolate and vanilla and mix until all combined. You may need to take a spatula and mix some of the dry into the chocolate here and there, but usually it all just comes together after a few long sessions in the food processor.
wrapped date nut bars by twocarolines.comUse the parchment from toasting nuts to line an 8×8 both ways so you can lift the ends up to easily deliver your bars. If you don’t have parchment around it’s not that big a deal, just spray your 8×8 and they should come out pretty well. Push your mixture into the pan pressing the top to make it all flat and uniform then put in the fridge for a good hour or so. Once they are cold they are easy to cut into bars and I then wrap the bars individually with plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge until I need a perfect snack.
Given the many choices of morning pastries scones aren’t always my first choice, they often seem like a less yummy, more dry, wannabe muffin. However, these Blueberry Cream Scones were just sweet enough, more moist because of the brush of butter and beautifully balanced with lemon zest and delicious fresh blueberry flavor. Everyone I introduced them too ended up eating more than one and they were gone in a day! You can use any berries you have on hand by the way so get your summer fruit supply in check and start baking!
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream (you can also use yogurt, but I prefer cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind (zest), or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing on top (optional)
2 tablespoons demerara or raw sugar, for sprinkling on top
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line with parchment.
Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; use your fingers, a pastry blender, or an electric mixer. Gently mix the blueberries with the dry ingredients.
Stir together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon zest or oil, and almond extract if using. Add to the dry ingredients and stir very gently, just until combined. The dough will be quite moist, like cookie dough.
I decided to shape my dough into a rectangle on a floured surface then I cut out squares using my pastry cutter, but you could also use a large scoop and drop the dough onto the prepared sheet in scant 1/4-cupfuls, leaving about 2″ between each.
Brush each ball or square of dough with melted butter (or you can use milk or cream), and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake the scones for 18-23 minutes, or until lightly browned and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into a scone comes out dry. Remove from the oven, and serve warm. To reheat, wrap loosely in aluminum foil, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Store scones, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days. Freeze
The makings of a perfect weekend must include breakfast sweets, a fact well supported by our ever growing plethora of sweet breads, muffins and coffee cakes. The one I make the most is our Apple Cake, which is awesome, and in the summer I like to use fruit and will often do a blueberry crumb cake which is also a treat. But this weekend I wanted something substantial and classic, and this cake is the ultimate brunchy crunchy chewy cinnamony streusel and glaze topped champion of all great coffee cakes! There’s so much that’s right about it – I really felt like I was staying at a fancy New York hotel or something with every bite- it’s simple, but has an elegant balanced delicious taste and the heavy crumb on top is the key to all breakfast cake successes. -CK 2.0
For the Streusel:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (Martha calls for an entire teaspoon, but I like it better with just a touch of the coarse salt then you get just that tingle of salty sweet, but you could also do 1/2 teaspoon of table salt)
3/4 cup cold butter cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (to toast – but on a cookie sheet in a 350 oven for about 7-9 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant)
For the Cake:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (or 1/2 table salt)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
For the Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons whole milk (I used 2 buttermilk and one whole milk)
Make the Streusel top and middle layers: Mix together flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers until small to medium clumps form. Mix in 1/2 cup nuts. Refrigerate topping until ready to use. Make the streusel center: Mix together remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 cup nuts, reserve for layering into the center of the batter.
Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch tube pan with a removable bottom (you can use a springform pan also. I used a 9×13 which is trickier to get the layer in the center to work out so I recommend a round pan). Sift flour baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.
With an electric mixer on medium beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with 2 batches of the sour cream. Beat until well combined.
Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter; spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle streusel topping evenly onto batter.
Bake until cake is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove cake from pan; transfer to a parchment lined work surface or serving platter.
Make the Glaze: Mix together the confectioners sugar and milk. drizzle over cake allowing glaze to drop down the sides. Let sit a few minutes before serving.
I have a well-documented history of food experimentation, and this is the latest in my pursuit of kitchen Dr. Frankenstein madness. I love cinnamon rolls, but sometimes they can be a bit too bready or dry, so I wanted to try a twist, rather than a roll, with really goopy filling and tons of glaze. What is a more gooey filling than sticky-buns? My mom’s recipe kills, so I went with that for the filling and the ever-famous Grandma Ruth’s icing (with one minor tweak). I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’m going to say that these twists may have broken a friends’s long-standing diet, and received their fair share of accolades. These will be the perfect weekend baking project, so get crackin’ y’all!
Ingredients
Butterscotch Cinnamon filling:
1 small pkg. butterscotch pudding (regular or instant)
1 ½ cubes butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
1 t. cinnamon
Brioche:
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs (room temp)
3 1/2 – 3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups soft butter
Grandma Ruth’s Icing (barely altered):
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
6-7 cups powdered sugar
Directions
Butterscotch filling:
In a saucepan melt butter and add brown sugar and cinnamon. Add nuts and butterscotch pudding and mix until combined. Cover and let ingredients “settle” for 4 hours or overnight. (You want the butterscotch pudding mix to have time to incorporate with the rest of the ingredients.)
Brioche dough:
Heat milk until lukewarm (about 100 degrees). In a large bowl lightly whisk together sugar and warm milk. Add 1 cup of flour, mix until smooth. Lightly beat the eggs then mix into the milk mixture until combined. Add in instant yeast and another cup of flour and continue to mix, adding salt and a half a cup of flour and mix till the dough comes together. Knead dough in machine for 3 minutes, incrementally adding the rest of the flour—dough should be sticky. Add 1/4 of the soft butter, mix until the the butter is completely incorporated, then add another 1/4 of butter, continue till all 1 1/2 c. of the butter is mixed in. Pour dough into greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to approximately a 18×12″ rectangle. (To be honest, I totally eyeballed all of these measurements and they can be adjusted to whatever you find easiest) Spread butterscotch filling evenly all over the dough. On the wide side, cut dough into three portions, then cut about 8 strips in each of those three portions. To assemble, lay two strips together—the filling facing inward—then twist. Place each twist on a prepared baking sheet and let rise for about 45 minutes. Bake twists for 15-20 minutes or until golden and filling is bubbling. Cool twists on a tray (could be a two spatula job to transfer while hot). Drizzle generously with icing while still warm.
Grandma Ruth’s Icing:
In a large saucepan put evaporated milk, sugar, salt and flour. Mix on medium heat until mixture is bubbling and thick. Stirring constantly, add butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Once it’s done—as instructed by 2.0 in the recipe for the original, glorious Cinnamon Rolls—pour it through a strainer and push it with a rubber spatula to get all the lumps out so it’s nice and smooth. Drizzle over warm twists.
I love all the sweet breads and muffins, but for me, none can trump my Mom’s Ultimate Zucchini Bread. The origins of this recipe are quite mysterious, my Mom got it from a neighbor who had a book of desserts for “Navy Wives” – and I guess everything she ever made from this book was incredible. I follow my Mom’s recipe pretty closely, just switched out the vegetable oil for coconut oil, added another egg, and I substitute some brown sugar for white because I like the flavor with some of both. It makes two loaves which is handy because people tend to eat it 3 slices at at time, but if you’re not in a house of hungry animals half the recipe or bring a loaf to your neighbor. I’m guessing they will lay off the next time you need to have a loud backyard dance party if you feed them zucchini bread on the reg. Plus, the smell this bread permeates your house with is absolutely BONKERS, it’s seriously one of the best smelling baked sweets this world has to offer. Now hop to it!
1 cup coconut oil melted
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons (or up to 1 tablespoon) cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini (I grate it finely, but my Mom likes to grate it with the standard grater)
(optional) 1 cup chopped nuts – either pecans or walnuts (I omitted the nuts because my kids are insane, but it tastes awesome with them if you’re into that kind of thing)
Preheat oven to 325. Prepare two standard loaf pans with cooking spray (I line the bottom with a small rectangle of parchment just to be sure my loaves come out clean every time.)
In a large mixing bowl mix your coconut oil and sugars for 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time making sure they are totally incorporated. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Add to the wet ingredients with your mixer on low until all incorporated.
Add shredded zucchini mixing just until there are no dry spots and the zucchini is consistent throughout your batter. If using add nuts last.
Divide batter into your prepared loaf pans and bake for 65-70 minutes until nicely golden brown and a toothpick in the middle comes out clean. Let rest in pans 5-10 minutes before turning out on a rack to cool, but get real, you’re going to want to eat this bread as soon as it doesn’t burn your hand!
Ultimate Zucchini Bread by twocarolines
Recipe courtesy of CK2.0’s Mom’s neighbor and her book of desserts for Navy Wives
whole wheat banana muffins by twocarolines[/
twocarolines.com 