August 31, 2020

Recipe: Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

Ingredients

2 ½ cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ cup pure maple syrup

½ cup brown sugar (light or dark brown) loosely packed

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 large)

¼ cup full fat sour cream

1 large egg, beaten

¾ cup milk (any milk you prefer)

½ cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

1 ¾ cups fresh raspberries (frozen ok too)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350˚ Fahrenheit (177°C) with the rack in the middle. Grease a 12 count muffin pan with baking spray. If using muffin liners, spray them first so they don’t stick to the liners. This will make 15 muffins, if you have an extra muffin pan handy prep that as well.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and brown sugar getting out as many lumps as possible. Fold in the mashed banana, sour cream and beaten egg. Add the wet into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Batter will be thick. Mix in the milk. Fold in the chocolate chips, then carefully the raspberries. Be very gentle with the berries so they don’t turn the batter pink. Do not overmix the batter as it will toughen the muffins.

Evenly divide the batter between the muffin tins, filling to the top. Top with more chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 17-18 minutes, until you see light brown edges. A toothpick inserted into the centers should come out virtually crumb-free. If you are using the same pan for the three extra muffins, fill the empty muffin time halfway with water so the muffins bake evenly and your pan doesn’t warp.

Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes before removing from the muffin pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

~ Marla Meridith

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August 6, 2020

Recipe: Strawberry Almond Baklava

Ingredients

4 cups fresh strawberries, quartered

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided

¾ cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp cornstarch (if needed to thicken)

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo pastry dough

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted

1 cup slivered almonds

½ cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

1 pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle.

In a saucepan, heat the strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Bring to a boil then down to a simmer, cooking for 30 minutes until the sauce thickens into a jammy consistency. Whisk in the cornstarch if needed. Set aside to cool and thicken a bit more.

Brush the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish with melted butter, add a layer of phyllo pastry, brush with more butter and add another layer of dough. Do this until you have 6 layers of pastry dough lining the dish.

Layer on a thin layer of the strawberries and then the almonds. Place a layer of phyllo dough, then some melted butter. Do this for 5 layers of dough. Continue these layers until you have 3 layers of strawberries/almonds, always brushing melted butter in between layers of phyllo dough. For the top layer, use 10 sheets of phyllo dough brushing butter between each. Brush the top layer with butter too. Score/slice the dough with a sharp knife into desired portions.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Top with 1/2 of the syrup and let cool. Serve with more syrup.

While the baklava is baking make the maple sauce. Boil the remainder of the granulated sugar (1/2 cup) with the maple syrup, the rest of the cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves into the maple syrup forming a syrup.

~ Marla Meridith

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July 2, 2020

Recipe: Skillet Brown Sugar Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp Kosher salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup whole milk

1 cup + 1 tbsp light brown sugar

juice from 1 lemon

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups fresh blueberries

Serve with

freshly whipped cream

vanilla ice cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350˚ Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle. Melt the butter in the oven in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Remove from the oven when it’s melted.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl combine the milk, vanilla, lemon juice and 1 cup of the brown sugar. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth. Toss the blueberries with 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Pour the batter into the buttered skillet. Top with the blueberries.

Directions

~ Marla Meridith

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June 28, 2018

Recipe: Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake