Baking

Cream Cheese Strawberry Banana Bread

March 27, 2017 by The Partial Ingredients

Who doesn’t love a big slice of banana bread and coffee for breakfast? I’m not even that into breakfast myself but this is probably my favorite. Simple, flavorful and easy to make ahead of time! The best part about the concept of banana bread is that it can be made as simple as you want or as fancy as you want. Occasionally I like to mix things up and add some different flavors. This time I had a few extra things lying around, namely some frozen strawberries and cream cheese. And of course some over-ripe bananas. As soon as my bananas start to turn I start thinking about the possibilities. Really what other food allows for that other than glorious bananas? It’s the only fruit whose possibilities open when they start to “go bad”… more like “go better” am I right? Frozen strawberries mash better than fresh so these worked out nicely, just thaw them out in a little warm water before using. You can definitely use fresh strawberries but they will show more in the batter. Mashed frozen strawberries will blend into the batter more than the former but the flavor will remain. If you want nice big red berries leftover after it’s cooked, you might want to mash less and use fresh instead.

The texture reminded me of pound cake but with a lot of moisture and richness. I’m guessing this was probably due to the cream cheese which added a little extra something to the flavor as well. The bread’s crust browned perfectly in the oven and didn’t get too dark. I cut back on the sugar on this one. You can always add about 1/2 cup more but I honestly liked it a little less sweet. As spring is getting underway this was a nice recipe to enjoy for this time of year.
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Dark Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

December 24, 2016 by The Partial Ingredients

If you are a chocolate lover and want a deep, dark chocolate flavor these are the cookies for you! I call these babies “chocolate chip cookies on steroids.” I’m normally not super into sweets but at this time of the year you gotta indulge a little bit. These cookies get the name “crinkle” from the confectioner’s sugar the dough is rolled in. It creates a pretty crinkle pattern once the cookies are baked. They are very easy to make and simple to throw together. These cookies have a brownie-like texture on the inside so they will come out of the oven very soft looking. They are seriously amazing with coffee. I added a touch of cinnamon to give it some extra flavor depth but this is optional. If you don’t want to bake the whole batch you can conveniently freeze the dough for up to three months in the freezer.
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Blackberry Lemon Quick Bread

July 19, 2016 by The Partial Ingredients

Lemon Blackberry Quick Bread 5

Apologies that it has been so long since I have last posted! I have been working on some exciting new things for the blog and an update will be happening on that soon. Until then I wanted to update with a great new breakfast recipe. A quick bread is perfect for when you’re short on breakfast ideas and just want something already made for busy mornings. This bread takes inspiration from my typical banana bread recipe. The typical banana bread is so full of moisture and fluffiness that I wanted to recreate it with different flavors. I love the combination of lemon and blackberries because it gives just the right amount of sweetness and tart. The final result was a moisture rich bread full of tart berry flavor, perfect for breakfast mornings. You can use frozen blackberries–just let them thaw completely before using. I use room temperature water to thaw the berries and it takes about 10 minutes to get them completely thawed. I minimized the amount of sugar on this recipe as much as possible but you can add more if you prefer a sweeter bread.

Lemon Blackberry Quick Bread 2
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

October 20, 2015 by The Partial Ingredients

The other day I just up and got a craving for carrot cake. It kind of came out of nowhere and I didn’t really have the right pan for carrot sheet cake, hence the cupcakes. Cupcakes that aren’t too sweet with a little bit of tanginess are my favorite kind. These babies had just the right amount of bite from the cream cheese and the carrot cake portion had a light, fluffy texture. Minus the task of shaving and grating the carrots (not bad at all really), these cupcakes came together quickly and easily. I got a bit cocky with my spice grinder thinking I could go and make my own powdered sugar (I happened to be out) for the frosting-haaa. No such luck and back to the store I went for powdered sugar (Protip: just buy the real stuff.) Make sure to have the cakes cooled completely before frosting, that way it will remain firm. I personally like the cake portion to be a bit taller so this batch yielded 9 large cupcakes but you can portion it out smaller which yields 1 dozen.
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Beef & Guinness Hand Pies

August 10, 2015 by The Partial Ingredients

I never knew how diverse hand pies could be until I started looking around for them. Turns out hand pies can be made savory or sweet, depending on what you fancy. In theory, you could have hand pies for dinner AND dessert if you so desired. You can definitely get creative with these recipes, but hopefully not as creative as Sweeney Todd (sorry). These are actually a lot of fun to make though they are a bit labor intensive. Probably best for a weekend project since it will take you a couple hours assembling the dough and pies together. The process of making the filling made the kitchen smell amazing and after this I resolved to start cooking with Guinness more often! The alcohol burns off and what you’re left with is a wonderful flavor from the Guinness. The filling is also flavored with Worcestershire, thyme and aged white cheddar. The outside of the crust is made with pastry dough which gets nice and flaky after baking.
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Double Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Muffins

April 19, 2015 by The Partial Ingredients

Who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast? These buttermilk muffins are the perfect excuse to have chocolate in the morning. They are full of chocolate flavor but won’t make you feel like you ate a heavy dessert. I reduced the amount of all purpose flour by half and subbed in a cup of whole wheat flour. If you’re out of buttermilk you can easily make “acidified milk” which is just milk with a dash of white vinegar mixed in. The milk curdles slightly and overall I’ve found it to be a good substitute for buttermilk. If going this route make sure to use at least 2% or whole milk as it does help with the flavor. While this is optional, you can add a little espresso powder to bring out even more of that chocolate flavor and give it some complexity. The texture was fluffy, delicate and perfect with tea and coffee!
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Banana Bread Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

February 16, 2015 by The Partial Ingredients

Pop Quiz: How are bone broths and banana bread similar? Besides that they are both alliterations of the letter ‘b’, they transform normally “throw away” items into delicious food. These kinds of recipes are some of my favorite things to make. I think I just like the efficiency and, in my opinion, the transformation of these ingredients. This recipe elevates the humble brown banana (that arguably belongs in the compost bin) to a delicious dessert!

To make this recipe a little bit healthier I put in a small amount of whole wheat flour along with cake flour. I really liked the resulting texture from these two flours and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I was worried that the wheat flour would make the texture too rough but it seems that the fineness of the cake flour balanced out the roughness of the wheat. If you don’t have these on hand, all purpose flour works just fine. As for the frosting, I wanted a frosting that doesn’t have a whole lot of sweetness since the cake isn’t very sweet either. My goal was to make a muffin/cupcake hybrid so that it wasn’t overly sweet but still retained some of the finer qualities of a cupcake. The frosting was especially addictive and combined well with the banana flavor!
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Pumpkin Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust

December 7, 2014 by The Partial Ingredients

I love pumpkin pie and it has been a must for me to make every year for the holidays. Usually I make it with an all butter crust but this year I went with something that adds a bit of texture. The graham cracker allows for a crunchier crust and I would say it compliments the pumpkin pie filling nicely. The filling is deliciously spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and cloves. Make sure to whip up a batch of fresh whipped cream for topping and serve with vanilla ice cream.
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Classic Cornbread Muffins

November 25, 2014 by The Partial Ingredients

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and there are so many different side dishes that accompany the big meal! Many tables feature rolls as a side dish but I thought it would be nice to try a slightly more rustic cornbread recipe. The muffins are surprisingly not too crumbly and retained a good amount of moisture on the inside. The outside was golden and just slightly crusty on top. Slightly sweet, not too crumbly and a pretty yellow color makes for a nice display on any Thanksgiving table! Slice open a warm muffin and pair with butter or a healthy dollop of cranberry sauce–or if you’re gunning for a food coma make it both!
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Pumpkin, Banana & Oat Breakfast Muffins

October 16, 2014 by The Partial Ingredients

I have been really into breakfast muffins lately. They’re not too sweet and more fulling than regular muffins because of the rolled oats. They’re quick to make and easy to grab and go in the mornings. For October, I thought a pumpkin based muffin along with bananas would be a delicious combination. One of the benefits of never going through bananas fast enough is I always have plenty of over-ripe ones to get creative with! These muffins are flavored with seasonal spices to compliment the pumpkin. They also freeze well so keeping them as a back up snack or breakfast in the freezer is a great way to go!
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