Sourdough Surprises: Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein bars

I'm all about pumpkin everything. Any squash, for that matter. My breakfast yogurt is sweetened with butternut squash daily. And if you have a glut of zuchinni over the summer, I'll eat it a lot faster than you might think.

However, I don't do much with pumpkin baking wise because I'm generally the only one that eats it. This has already been pretty much the death of this blog...me, the one who behaves around food, eating one piece of cake a day and the rest of the family forgetting it was there.

So how did I get around that for this month's Sourdough Surprises challenge? Make something only I was going to eat anyway – protein bars!

I've mentioned my love of protein and snack bars on this blog before. Getting my protein needs in is especially challenging now as the holidays and family birthdays drag me from one party to the next where I'm pretty much eating snack food. So, I decided to try and make the changes I wanted to my old bar recipe, using pumpkin in place of banana!

The new recipe:

Sourdough Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein Bars

Makes 9

1 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup flavored peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup (3 scoops) vanilla whey protein powder

2 cups quick cooking oats

Combine all ingredients. Carefully spread in an 8x8” greased baking pan. Bake at 350 just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cut into bars and enjoy!

I probably shouldn't have increased the oats by that much...a cup and a half probably would have been sufficient and it cut into the sweetness of the bar. Still, it's another lesson learned and a potential recipe for my other project, Junk Food Fittie.

Check out our other awesome pumpkin creations!

Sourdough Surprises: Autumn Spice English Muffins

English Muffins were the first Sourdough Surprises challenge I took part in. It was something I never thought of making before. The thing is I did something I very seldom do ever: I stuck to the exact recipe.

This time around, I decided to spice things up. Literally. Because while I'm still seemingly in the middle of summer in sunny Florida, it is fall. And with that, the front of my local grocery store has a stack of cinnamon scented broomsticks to give me inspiration.

I used the same recipe I did before with 2 changes:

1. I replaced the sugar with Truvia Baking Blend (still 2 tblsp, so the equivalent of 1/4 cup)
2. I added a whole tblsp of Pumpkin Pie spice.

My one problem: impatience. I fed the starter at night and completely forgot that the dough had to proof too. So I did that at 7am and made the muffins at 4pm.

While I was letting them rest, I took the one that didn't quite fit into a round and microwaved it for 1 minute:

And it was a little chewy, but not bad. I see potential in more sourdough microwave baking.

But then the muffins:

Yeah, they needed a little more time to proof.

Still, once popped in the toaster oven, they were pretty good. First with cream cheese and apple butter, and then as a long-night-at-work ice cream sandwich:

Be sure to check out our other awesome English Muffins/Crumpets!

Sourdough Surprises: Lightener Coffee Cake

One of the first recipes I made when I attempted to blog was coffee cake. It wasn't on my to-do list; rather it was a spur of the moment craving.

Now my to-do list is about 100 times longer, I spend my summers in a bathing suit due to my divemaster job, and Sourdough Surprises picks coffee cake as the August Challenge. So what did I do? I took my old recipe and lightened it up a touch!

Of course, my desire to look decent in a swimsuit wasn't the only motivating factor. I still used regular sugar as opposed to the stevia blends I've been experimenting with some. The egg shortage, even though my original recipe called for just a single egg, did as well. Fortunately Greek yogurt makes an excellent substitution for oil and eggs.

On that note, I'm also moving up in the world. No more endless binders full of recipes. Now I'm reading them off of a tablet:

The new recipe:

Lighter Sourdough Coffee Cake

Adapted from food.com

Serves 9

Cake:

1 cup ripe sourdough starter

1 5.3oz container vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Yoplait Greek 100)

1 cup flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Streusel

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tblsp butter

1 tblsp flour

1. Combine sourdough starter and yogurt. Mix dry ingredients, add to starter mixture.
2. Pour into prepared 9” square pan
3. Combine streusel ingredients, sprinkle over batter
4. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes

I made 1 major mistake – I absentmindedly melted the butter for the streusel. I just went with it. But as you can see in the picture, the streusel kind of...disappeared:

There it is. Upside-down coffee cake, anyone? But it still tasted delicious – and unlike many fat-free baked goods, retained it's moisture for the three days it took us to finish it. For 190 total calories a slice!

Check out our other awesome coffee cakes!

Sourdough Surprises: Cinnamon Mini Shortcakes

I didn't have much luck with my firstattempt at making Sourdough Biscuits.

Blame it on the recipe, or the starter, or the humidity, but that shortcut method wasn't going to work. Besides that, my need for a good recipe decreased, and like so many other recipes, further attempts got put on the back burner. Now with Sourdough Surprises picking biscuits, I had to make another attempt.

Once again, I turned to SourdoughRecipes by Richard Packham. Almost everything I've made from his site has turned out wonderfully. Since I don't need to make bowls for scrambled eggs anymore, and since I've been looking for a reason to break out my Seashell pan, I opted for the shortcake variation.

Sourdough Cinnamon Shortcake Minis

Adapted from Sourdough Recipes

Makes about 3-1/2 dozen

1 cup fresh sourdough starter

1/3 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1-1/2 cup flour, divided

1 egg

3 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons dry milk powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Reserve 1/2 cup flour. Sift remaining flour and other dry ingredients to combine. Cut in shortening.
2. Mix remaining flour, egg and sourdough starter until just combined. Allow to rest 30 minutes.
3. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour by scant tablespoonfuls into cavities.
4. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy!
5. 
   
   

Unlike so many of my other recipes, these rose a lot. They more than doubled in size. Because of that though, they were light and fluffy. However, they were not as sweet as I would have liked.

I will be making this recipe again with more sugar. Until then, check out our other awesome biscuits!

Sourdough Surprises: Pretzel Bagels

So, Sourdough Surprises opened up this month. Anything. My head was officially spinning. There's so much I want to redo (I am going to perfect Sourdough Kimmelweck Rolls one day, and I sorta did tell Peanut Butter & Co's

social media director I would make peanut butter filled croissants...) and so much I missed...pie, pizza, bagels, pretzels...

In my pre-blogging days, one of my first successes was a pretzel recipe I found on a party recipe site and turned into sourdough. Then I remembered an age old conversation I had with my father, in which he asked if I had ever thought of trying bagels.

Well, why not combine the two?

Sourdough Pretzel Bagels

Adapted from Sourdough Recipes

Makes 8 smallish bagels

1 cup fresh sourdough starter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup warm water

2 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 cups flour

1/4 Cup Baking Soda

Cooking Spray

Kosher Salt for sprinkling

Combine all ingredients and knead until smooth. Let rise until doubled in bulk. Divide into eight portions, and form each into a smooth ball. Punch a hole in the center of each and

stretch evenly until about 3 or 4 inches across.

Place on a floured surface and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add baking soda. Boil the bagels (four at a time if the pot is large enough) 3 minutes on each side. Drain and place on a greased baking

sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake about 15 minutes at 450.

As you can see, a few things happened. First and formost, they look weird. Second, maybe the baking soda treatment with the boil wasn't the greatest idea.

I wouldn't say they were inedible. My mother's first reaction was “they're not sweet.” When I said they weren't supposed to be, she said “,Well, maybe 'sweet' isn't the word I was looking for.” In a sense, I have to agree with her.

Well, maybe this is one to tuck away and maybe think about once in awhile. Still, it was worth a college try. And with work slowing down again, you can bet I'll be playing with it.

Check out our other awesome creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: Baked Beinegts

I do love my donuts on Fat Tuesday.

The tradition in my family is of course pączki, the Polish variant that, at least from the bakery in my extended family's neighborhood, are filled with an overly sweet fruit filling, are roughly the size of a human head and last long after Fat Tuesday (or Pączki Day, and yes my father still calls it that) is over, kind of defeating the purpose of ridding the house of said foods. However, there's no Polish bakery down here. So last year I bought a donut pan and attempted to make baked banana bread donuts, a variation of the Mocha Hazelnut Donut Muffins I've made in the past. I never perfected the recipe, and the pictures are still on my computer waiting for that to happen.

But Sourdough Surprises picked Beingets for February's challenge. French for “fritters,” beinegts are soft pillows of dough that typically deep fried and are NOLA's answer to donuts. Banana Bread donuts are on the back burner. And that back burner does not contain a pot of frying oil. I'm still not going to burn myself, so I did a little searching and found Good Housekeeping's Baked Beinegts recipe, which I modified for sourdough:

Baked Sourdough Beingets

Adapted from Good Housekeeping

Makes 36 Beingets

1 cup fresh sourdough starter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold butter or margarine, cut up

1 large egg

1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1. In large bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and remaining granulated sugar until combined. With pastry blender or 2 knives used scissors-fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Beat egg and sourdough starter. Make well in flour mixture; pour in starter. Stir until combined and soft dough forms.
3. On lightly floured work surface, knead dough lightly several times until dough is smooth. Spray same bowl (no need to clean) with nonstick cooking spray and place dough in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes.
4. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Punch down dough. On floured work surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough to 9-in. square. Cut dough into 6 strips, then cut each strip into 6 pieces, making 36 pieces. Transfer Beignets to prepared cookie sheets, placing about 1½ inches apart. Spray sheet of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray; cover beignets with wrap, sprayed side down. Let rise 20 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake Beignets 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating sheets between upper and lower racks halfway though baking. While Beignets are hot, toss with confectioners' sugar.

No matter how much I was telling myself that they were for breakfast the next day, I couldn't resist:

They were good. They didn't brown too well (probably because I was running low on cooking spray) but they were soft and light. But they were missing something. I will be adding a touch of vanilla if I make these again.

And then while making our Fat Tuesday dinner of Sourdough Pancakes...

I promptly burned myself on bacon grease. Well, I can't avoid it all!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: Stollen

Well, it seemed like a long time off from baking anything. My mother monopolizes Thanksgiving, and work took it's toll. But I had a whole week off and just in time to make some Stollen for December's Sourdough Surprises.

I don't have too many Christmas baking traditions. I make sugar cookies for my mother as a joke, as I mentioned a while ago. So it gave me plenty of time to make something completely new and different:

Without further ado:

Sourdough Stollen

Adapted from The Cheerful Agrarian

Makes 2 loaves
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2 cups sourdough starter

3/4 Cup candied fruitcake mix

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and let proof overnight.
2. Fold in fruit and pour into loaf pans
3. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

My first attempt, I halved the recipe...and it came out dense and almost blondie-like. I thought it would make a good biscotti, so I popped a slice in the toaster oven for 5 minutes. It didn't even brown. Time to try again....

It still didn't rise as much as I'd like (I suppose lack of use has left my sourdough starter a little too dormant). But taste wise they were wonderful. So good, in fact, that my mother consumed about 3/4 of the first loaf in an 18 hour span.

I've still got a whole container of candied fruit, so I may make this again in the not so distant future. And I officially made my New Year's Resolution:

Get back to baking!

Check out our other tasty takes on stollen!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: Red Velvet Filled Croissants

I'm a bad food blogger I suppose, seeing how many pictures of recipes I've made are on my computer with no corresponding blog post. It's one of the things I love about Sourdough Surprises. Once a month at least, I need to sit down at my computer and blog. Oh, that and I am challenged to make something either a). I've never heard of or b). Would never intend to make in a million years.

This month's Sourdough Surprises falls into the latter category. While I can't say I've taken completely after my nothing-from-scratch mother, I'm also not one to put hours of effort into one project. Still, a challenge is a challenge...and I am up for that task.

I've made several recipes from Sourdough Recipes from Richard Packham and can honestly say I've yet to be disappointment. I chose to start with his croissant recipe (modified, since despite the recent cold front I inevitably need less liquid and more flour for any bread recipe). And since I seldom approach Sourdough Surprises with plain in mind, I found some Wilton Red Velvet Candy Melts I had bought on clearance after Valentine's Day that I thought I should use up.

Sourdough Red Velvet Filled Croissants

Adapted from Sourdough Recipes

Makes 12 croissants

Ingredients:

1/2 cup starter

5 tablespoons sugar, divided

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups flour, divided

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter

36 pieces Wilton Red Velvet Candy Melts

Combine starter, water, 2 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 cup flour. Let sit, covered, overnight.

Slice butter onto wax paper. Cover with more wax paper and press into 9x9” square. Chill at least one hour.

Add remaining ingredients to starter mixture. Chill for about 1/2 hour.

On a well-floured surface, quickly roll out the cold dough into a

rectangle about 15" x 10". Cut the cold butter in half and place

one slab of butter across the center one-third of the dough. Fold

one end of the dough over the butter, and then place the other half-

slab of butter on it. Then fold the last third of the dough over

the butter, forming a package of dough-butter-dough-butter-dough,

about 10" x 5". Pinch the edges together so that there is no butter

showing.

Quickly roll out this package of dough and butter into a rectangle

about 10" x 15". Fold it again into thirds, forming a package about

10" x 5"; roll it out one more time, fold into thirds, and chill in the

refrigerator at least an hour.

Repeat the previous step once more (roll out to 10" x 15", fold in thirds,

roll out and fold again, roll out, fold, chill).

Prepare a large jelly-roll pan by greasing lightly. (Do not use rimless

cookie sheets.)

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 10" x 15". Cut the dough

into six 5" x 5" squares, then cut each square diagonally forming

twelve triangles, 5" x 5" x 7". Flatten each triangle to about 1/8 thick-

ness, by rolling from the longest side to the point, stretching it until

the point is about 8" from the longest side. Place 3 candy melts along long edge. Starting at the longest side, roll it up tightly. Turn so that the point is underneath the roll, then bend the two ends so that they curl around toward the point. Place each croissant on the pans. Let rise in a warm place about

one hour.

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. Bake the croissants 20 minutes,

then turn off the oven and let them sit in the warm oven an additional

10 minutes.

This ranks as one of the most intensive and messy recipes I've ever made. Again in spite of the cold front, the dough was still getting warm by the time I was rolling them, getting butter all over my kitchen counter and causing them to fall apart. And in spite of their bad looks...it was worth it. They were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately the rest of my family thought so too. They were gone within a day.

So perhaps I will have to do this again...both to use up the rest of the candy and so I can get more than two!

Check out our other awesome croissant creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter Biscuits

When my aunt is in town, I must bake breakfast bread.

While my Mocha Cappucino Hazelnut biscuits were in the category of “pretty good”, I've also been eager to do more experimentation with Peanut Butter & Co's flavored peanut butters. With an open jar of White ChocolateWonderful calling my name, I wanted to do some playing around.

I used the same Fabio Viviani recipe as I did for my Mocha Cappucino Hazelnut biscuits, only this time swapping the White Chocolate Wonderful for the Nutella JifMocha Hazelnut Spread

White Chocolate Wonderful Biscuits

Adapted from Fabio Viviani

Makes about 8-3” biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp salt
• 3 Tsp butter at room temperature
• 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful
• ¾ cup milk
  
  
  

Start by combining all the dry ingredients. Cut in butter and spread. Then add milk.

Mix until well combined. Drop into greased muffin tins. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.

The first thing I noticed is the dough was a lot wetter than the previous incarnation (which is why I made the last minute decision to make them drop biscuits). Once baked, they took on a similar texture to the Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut version.

My favorite thing about this recipe is its sheer simplicity. Most people have the ingredients handy. It only takes a few minutes and a few steps. Someone who is a little better at functioning than me could easily get up a half hour earlier than everyone else and get a fresh variation of biscuits out for breakfast.

Oh, and these even got a little attention from Peanut Butter & Co themselves!

Sourdough Surprises: Double Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

Having learned to play seven total musical instruments in my life (not counting for the differences between numerous types of traditional flutes, and acoustic and electric guitars), of course I'm familiar with hot cross buns, being the first song I learned to play on five of those instruments. My first experience in tasting them actually came at the age of seven, when I had learned to play it on the recorder and wondered what they were. Like so many similar baked goods, I found them palatable but not anything noteworthy.

Sourdough Surprises chose Hot Cross Buns as the challenge this month, and despite a crazy work schedule and a project that I promise will end up on this blog (which combines sourdough with healthy eating) I was bound and determined to do something. It also helped me come to a realization:

I hate most dried fruits in baked goods.

I'm a fruitivore really and pretty much will devour any fruit aside from most stone fruits. Dried fruits aren't a problem. I have a box of raisins handy at work for when my electrolyte levels get too low, and I eat dried cherries every night (their health benefits are no myth – I saw the difference in the first night!). Oatmeal raisin muffin? Give me the butter rum, pumpkin, or chocolate.

So even though raisins are one fruit my family will all agree on, I decided to indulge in the sweet stuff. With no official recipe this month, I turned to one of my trusted resources and modified the recipe.

Sourdough Double Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

Adapted from Food.com

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 cups flour, divided, more as needed
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tblsp butter, melted, divided
• 3 tablespoons instant dry milk powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tblsp milk (I used almond milk)

Directions

1. Mix the starter, water and 1 1/2 cups flour together and let proof, covered, overnight or 8 to 12 hours.
2. In a large bowl, mix proofed starter, 1/4 cup butter, milk powder, egg, and sugar together.
3. In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup of remaining flour, salt and allspice.
4. Add to dough mixture in large bowl.
5. Mix well, adding remaining flour if needed and knead by hand until dough is smooth and satiny.
6. Pat dough out into a flat shape and spread chocolate chips over dough.
7. Fold dough over fruits a couple of times and then knead until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
8. Cover dough and let it proof until doubled.
9. Gently deflate the dough and press into greased 9x13 casserole dish
10. Cut into 12 equal rolls
11. Cover rolls and let them proof until almost doubled.
12. Brush with remaining 1 tblsp butter
13. Bake rolls at 425 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes.
    
14. Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and milk together. When rolls are cool, drizzle over rolls into a cross shape,
    

I ran into a few issues. One, thank you Florida weather, it's humid (and I did this as a front was still lingering around), so I had to add more flour, meaning the bread was denser. Two, in order to help it rise, I left the bowl on top of the oven as I was baking a lasagna. So a few chips on the outside got a little melted (which is why I took the lazy route of pressing it into the dish and cutting the dough...no more chocolate on my hands!). Three, between the almond milk not being stark white and a little too much vanilla, there wasn't all that much contrast in my icing.



Taste wise, though...they were sufficiently sweet, with just a hint of the allspice, and, more than other breads I've done recently, the sourdough flavor was there in all it's glory.



Family tradition never called for hot cross buns...we usually have donuts for Easter breakfast. This recipe though is tempting. The whole family enjoyed them. So while it may not replace my love of donuts, it's definitely one to keep in the Rolodex.



Check out our other hot cross buns!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: S'mores Monkey Bread

Oddly enough, my first encounter with “Monkey Bread” wasn't until I was a sophomore in college, when one of my speech classmates made it for her demonstration and brought in the obligatory sample. Of course I only got a bite, and I remember the buttery mess of the classroom as much as I remember the cinnamon doughnut-like taste. It's not something I ever made. After sitting out a month of Sourdough Surprises, they chose that as the February challenge. Biscuit dough thrown into a pan? I could do that.

In all actuality, I used my tried and true scone recipe (halved) for the bread. I had some miniature marshmallows I'd bought for a recipe I can't seem to get around to trying, some chocolate chips, some graham cracker crumbs...why not make one of my favorite dessert inspirations?

As I mentioned, the mess the monkey bread made was one of the more memorable things about it. So I chose to be inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Kirbie's Cravings, for the recipe. She simply rolled the dough in sugar rather than slathering it in a buttery mess and let the marshmallows create any stickyness.

So my recipe:

S'mores Monkey Bread

Adapted from Group Recipes and Kirbie'sCravings

1 cup flour

1/2 tblsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 1/2 tblsp butter

2/3 cup sourdough starter

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tsp sugar

1. Sift the first 5 ingredients together. Cut in butter.
2. Add sourdough starter and vanilla, kneading on a floured surface until dough is no longer sticky. Knead in chocolate chips
3. Mix graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Divide dough into 12 equal parts and roll in crumb mixture. Place in a greased loaf pan. Top with marshmallows and remaining graham cracker crumbs.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Allow to cool before enjoying!
   
   
   

It's a good thing I snapped that photo right away. My family certainly enjoyed it. It had the same soft and chewy consistency that the scone had with all the s'mores goodness added. My only complaint? I only got two pieces!

I suppose it's something to keep in mind for next time...

Check out our other awesome monkey breads!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: Brown Sugar Spice Pancakes

Pancakes and waffles. Easy to make the batter and then...I'm a notoriously bad pancake flipper, and the last time I went to make waffles, with the batter prepared, the waffle maker wouldn't heat up. So, neither are things I have great luck with. Still, I knew there would come a day when Sourdough Surprises picked that for their monthly challenge.  It came as no surprise when that was picked for September.

Since the waffle incident, I have replaced the waffle maker, but having just made them (from a mix), I opted for pancakes...with my new toy:

I know As Seen on TV products normally aren't all they're made out to be, but my aunt has one and likes it, so for $18 (in free gift cards!) I decided it was worth a try.

I used my favorite pancake base, substituting brown sugar and adding a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice.

The pan has a little bit of a learning curve (you can't watch for bubbles, so you have to know your timing). A few got a little burnt on one side, and one that I flipped and opened the pan before it was cooked through got a little mushed. Still, I was quite happy with the results, and the pancakes were delicious.

With the right tools, I suppose I can fix even my biggest kitchen weaknesses. I just got another round of new toys...so who knows what's next!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pineapple Bread

I don't know exactly why I wanted to save this recipe when I saw it. It was just a peanut butter quick bread that happened to be filled with jelly. Maybe it was gut instinct that some other ideas would come together so I could create a version of my own.

On another note, there was the PeanutButter and Co. peanut butter. I'd heard about them and definitely knew I would like to try them, but no way was I going to pay that much...under normal circumstances. Then my mother saw it. I don't know if she was hungry or what, but she wanted to try it. And if she thinks its okay to spend money on something, chances are it is – even better when I can get it buy one, get one free.

So I bought a jar each of Dark Chocolate Dreams and White Chocolate Wonderful. Now I have flavored peanut butter, an amount of crushed pineapple right about equivalent to the amount of jelly...

I talked about serendipity when I made the hummingbird cake. But I'd say that this is equally serendipitous.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pineapple Bread

Adapted from Mr. Food

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 4oz crushed pineapple, drained
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan with baker's spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in peanut butter with an electric beater on medium speed, until well combined.

Add egg and milk; stir until well blended. Spread half the batter into prepared loaf pan and spoon preserves down center of batter.
 

Top with remaining batter, covering preserves completely. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Slice and serve.

I was a little nervous about some residual pineapple juice that had drained, but it baked off and came out...White Chocolate Wonderful-ly! Seriously, this was one of the most addictive and (unfortunately for the calorie counter) high calorie recipes I've made in a while.



But finally, I'm out of bananas, and I'm out of pineapple. So I can get back to baking and forgetting to write about it. Now I just need to get myself more of some Peanut Butter & Co. Peanut butter...

Sourdough Surprises: Pineapple Coconut Cinnamon Rolls

Ah, cinnamon rolls. Way back when I first started baking with sourdough, they were one of my first successes. So naturally, despite dealing with the July heat and humidity, I was excited that Sourdough Surprises picked them for this month's challenge.

I decided to stick with my old recipe (even though it's so old, the website it's from seems to have been taken down), but halved it. Then I had to deal with the leftover pineapple from the hummingbird cake. While totally not traditional, something about a pineapple cinnamon roll sounded really good. Besides, also having a bag of shredded coconut in the freezer, it would make a perfect summery tropical treat.

I did have the humidity related issues with the dough (I ended up using a whole 2 cups of flour)

The recipe:

Pineapple Coconut Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from otherpeoplesrecipes.com

Dough:

3/4 cup sourdough starter
1/3 cup milk
1 tblsp sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tblsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 cup flour
1/4 tsp soda

Filling:

8oz crushed pineapple

2tblsp sugar

2 tblsp flour

1 tblsp cinnamon

Topping:

2 tblsp melted butter

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Mix together first 5 ingredients of the dough in a large bowl.  Stir in salt and enough flour to make a soft dough just stiff enough to handle. Turn onto a well-floured board and sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour which has been mixed with soda.  Work flour in and knead for 5 minutes or more, adding more flour as necessary.

Place in a buttered bowl and turn once to butter top.  Cover and let rise until double, about 3 hours.

Punch down, turn onto a floured board and roll into 9" square.  Mix filling ingredients and spread over dough.  Roll and cut into 1 inch slices.  Arrange with sides touching in a 9" cake pan.  Cover and let rise until doubled, 2-3 hours.

Toss topping ingredients and sprinkle over rolls.  Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

Overfilled, much? But it made them that much better. Although I can't say I'll be making these often – I hope I plan better and not buy a 20oz can of pineapple when the recipe calls for an 8oz again in the near future – they were definitely worth making. And worth eating.

The only trouble? I've still got 4oz of crushed pineapple left. But...that's been taken care of. Watch for my next post!

Check out our other awesome cinnamon rolls!

Sourdough Surprises: “Oh, Crap” Crepe Cake

I had a gut feeling about the the challenge for this month's Sourdough Surprises. I was thinking pancakes. Maybe because I haven't done them in a while, and I have my tried and true recipe. It turned out to be crepes – so I wasn't too far off. And my first thought was “Oh, crap.” I have a hard enough time with pancakes. Crepes?

But a challenge is a challenge, and then I remembered a Crepe Cake I had seen on Delish. I had a plan.

I tweaked the suggested recipe just a tad for my tastes and my roughly 100% hydration starter:

“Oh Crap” Sourdough Crepe Cake

Serves 4

Adapted from heartlandrenaissance.com and Delish

1 cup sourdough starter
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup of milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 box prepared chocolate fudge pudding

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl. Add milk until it reaches a very smooth, thin batter consistency, I normally use about 1/3 cup of milk but depending on the consistency of your starter, you might use a bit less or a bit more.
In a not too big, but not too small frying pan (about 8″ – 10″ is perfect) heat the frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add a teaspoon or so of butter, allow it to melt quickly and then immediately pour in 1/4 cup of crepe batter, tilting the pan with a circular motion to allow the batter to coat the  bottom of the pan and create a circle of crepe.
Cook the crepe for about two minutes, until the bottom has splotches of light brown.  With a spatula, very carefully loosen the crepe and flip over. Cook for about 30 seconds and decant onto a plate.

Allow crepes to cool. Stack on plate, topping each with about 2 tablespoons of pudding and spreading to cover

As you can see, I got a little egregious. For one thing, the ladle I always thought was 1/4 cup is actually only about 2 1/2 tablespoons, so they turned out too small and therefore the cake ended up too tall. For two, I was assembling it while hungry. So hungry I cut into it before I remembered to snap a picture! So the “Oh Crap” thought that came to mind when I saw the challenge is now the official name of this cake.

The good news: In my nonstick skillet, they required very little extra butter. Plus, I actually found them easier than pancakes. And the cake was especially delicious with the almond extract.

You never know what you're capable of until you try. I'm definitely putting this recipe in the keeper file. And next time, hopefully it turns out even better.

Now on to the next challenge...

Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Biscuits

To my mother, holidays are all day eating events. She doesn't normally eat breakfast or a proper lunch, but for any holiday, it seems she ends up buying a tube of cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon rolls are okay – but quite frankly, I like my chocolate better. And sure, they even have prepared chocolate glazed cinnamon rolls now, but I decided that for this Easter, I would break tradition. I've been itching to do more with the Jif Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut spread. I've already used it in place of Nutella once. I had saved FabioViviani's Nutella Biscuits recipe a while back. It seemed like a good fit.

It's an incredibly simple recipe:

Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Biscuits

Adapted from Fabio Viviani

Makes about 8-3” biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp salt
• 3 Tsp butter at room temperature
• 4 Tbsp Jif Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut spread
• ¾ cup milk
  

Start by combining all the dry ingredients. Cut in butter and spread. Then add milk.

Mix and place the dough on top of a floured board and knead few times. Pat to 1-inch thickness and cut with biscuit cutter. Place them in a oven tray. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.

They were easier to mix than my lastattempt at making biscuits, but the small quanity did make them a little difficult to cut. Still, how food tastes is just as important to me as how it looks. I had two for breakfast this morning – one plain (to judge taste) and one with some caramel sauce.

The mocha flavor is subtle, at best. They are also not that sweet, if you're looking for more of a shortcake. Still, they were soft, chewy and otherwise perfect. Plus, they're not cinnamon rolls.

Have I started a new holiday tradition? Maybe, maybe not. But right now, I'm more looking forward to what's next. I have a brand new jar waiting...

Shine Supper Club: Microwave Peanut Butter Egg Pancake

Welcome to my world over the winter.

Working for a sports team means I usually work at night, when I don't get as many opportunities to cook for my family. When I do, I stick to old standbys like Baked Chicken. For dinner, I'm either scrounging leftovers, preparing some overly processed food from the freezer, or making something simple.

But simple doesn't always mean not creative. Someone recently posted her recipe for Nut Butter pancakes in a healthy living chat room. It couldn't have been more simple – a tablespoon of any nut or seed butter, one egg, and an eighth of a teaspoon of baking powder. A simple, egg-based pancake. It was the perfect meal for me – easy enough that I could whip it up when I get home at 11:30pm or after a workout when I'm exhausted and need food fast. Of course, being me, I played with the recipe. I got lazy and started cooking it in the microwave, like I might scramble my eggs. And with the Shine Supper Club doing egg dishes this month, I saw a perfect opportunity to share my even-easier – and in my opinion, tastier – version.

Microwave Peanut Butter Egg Pancake

(My apologies, as I forget which of my friends posted the recipe its adapted from!)

For each pancake, you will need:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Cooking spray

Topping of choice (in this case, spreadable honey, but maple syrup, bananas, yogurt, and applesauce would all also be tasty ideas).

In a small bowl, whip egg with honey, baking powder and cinnamon until well combined. Add peanut butter and mix well.

Spray a dinner-sized plate with cooking spray. Pour batter onto plate. Microwave for about 1 minute, until it appears just moist.

[Blogger's note: I do apologize for my photography. The reason I don't do too many step by step photos is that you are typically seeing pictures minutes after the food is made and often minutes before I am about to devour it. This is especially true with lunch meals, like this or my Mocha Oatmeal. I love to cook and eat and it's tough when things get between the two!]

Of course, this can be done in a skillet (the original was). You can sub any nut or seed butter you wish. Or whatever sweetener you wish. That's why I love recipes like this: They're easy to tweak and make your own, or so you don't get bored with the “same ole, same ole.”

It's also perfect for many other occasions. Family doesn't all get up at once? It only takes a few minutes to whip up a single serving as they come down for breakfast. Since it's only one serving, it's also good for single cooks like me. Or perhaps for modifying it for an individual family member's tastes. It's quick, it's high-protein, reasonably healthy, and delicious.

Now what's next? Perhaps an Asian Savory Egg Pancake? Fluffernutter?

With me, one never knows...

Shine Supper Club: Breakfast-in-Bed-Worthy Mocha Oatmeal

When I first saw that the Shine SupperClub was doing “Sexy Dishes” for February, I was at a loss. I'm a single girl, just cooking for family and friends. Romantic dinners for two hasn't been in my repertoire.

Then, after a hard workout, I was exhausted and looking for some carbohydrates. I turned to one of my quick and easy favorites: oatmeal. When I'm as tired as I was, I sometimes just make an instant oatmeal packet with hot brewed coffee. When it's plain, one of my favorite sweeteners is a packet of hot cocoa mix. At this point, I was so tired I wanted someone to just bring it to me.

And then it hit me: it's the perfect breakfast-in-bed food. And what's sexier than breakfast-in-bed and chocolate?

Of course, instant oatmeal and hot cocoa are easy enough to throw together. So for my next post-workout oatmeal dish, I set out to make a more from-scratch version.

So, a little coffee, a little sugar, a lot of cocoa powder (I like it dark!) and a coffee creamer and voilia!

Breakfast-in-Bed Mocha Oatmeal

Serves 1...but easily doubled

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

2/3 cup cold coffee (oatmeal will be on the thick side, use more or less to taste)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon sugar (use more or less to taste)

1 half-and-half coffee creamer, or flavor of choice

Splash of vanilla extract

Mix oats, cocoa, and sugar in a bowl, stir to prevent clumping when wet ingredients are added. Add coffee and vanilla, stir.

Microwave 1 1/2 minutes, or amount of time specified on oatmeal container.

Add coffee creamer, stir until well mixed.

I think this on a tray, maybe with a side of strawberries, would make anybody's sexy meal list. It's also a perfect breakfast food – get your caffeine fix in your morning oatmeal!

I'm not making any promises if you serve this to your sweetie. But I think it ups your chances. Now if someone would just make it for me...

Sourdough Surprises: Babka Almost like Ciotka Polly's Paska

If there is one thing I can appreciate Sourdough Surprises for more than getting me to try new things, it's all the things I end up learning.

This month's challenge was “a sweet, swirly, enriched bread with roots in Eastern Europe” known as babka. As I clicked through all of the suggested links, I came across this one. And my first thought was that it sounded like my great aunt's paska.

No, Jessica, that would be more like exactly like your great aunt's paska. It's just another name. (“Babka” is actually Polish for “grandmother,” whereas “paska” is the Ukranian spelling of pascha, meaning Easter - when it is traditionally served.)

My great aunt sends home paska much more often than she sends home pizzelles. Doing my research, I'm not sure how traditionally Polish hers is or not. It's a kind-of-sweetened bread with raisins mixed in, until you get to the streusel topping. I'm not totally fond of it, save for the streusel. But it's a challenge, and I had an additional challenge this month: Make my family proud.

The regional and cultural variations on babka/paska seem to vary from the brioche rolled out and filled with a filling, as Sourdough Surprises suggests, to a coffee cake that is traditionally made in a bundt-style pan flavored with raisins and orange peel. (So my great aunt's is more of a cross between the two.) After some searching, I found King Arthur Flour's recipe, which seemed pretty similar to Aunt Polly's. I played with it some to make it as close to the familiar recipe as possible.

My gut said that this might not work, owing to the small amount of liquid and the relatively large amount of yeast. My first attempt didn't rise, so I added a half teaspoon of baking soda.

And what do you know, it worked! It's cakier in texture than Aunt Polly's, and I used a different streusel. Otherwise, it's pretty spot on.

The recipe I settled on:

Sourdough Paska

Inspired by Ciotka Polly & adapted from King Arthur Flour

Makes 1 loaf

Bread

• 
  
  1/2 cup fresh sourdough starter

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup softened butter

• 2 cups flour
  
• 1/2 cup raisins
  

Streusel

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix well
2. Add all other ingredients except for raisins. Mix until combined. Dough will be very wet.
3. Gently fold in raisins. Cover and allow to rest for 1 hour.
4. Spread dough in a loaf pan sprayed with baker's spray. Cover and allow to rest 1/2 hour, while oven is preheating to 350 degrees.
5. Prepare the streusel. Melt butter in microwave. Mix in other ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spread over dough.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

Like I said, I've never been all that fond of paska/babka. But something about having made such an accurate analog to the family recipe was exciting. It happily became my breakfast:

Ciotka Polly (“Ciotka” is Polish for “aunt”) is well into her 80s now. I know that we won't be bringing home her paska for too much longer. Now, I have a sense of pride knowing that I've remade a family recipe, that I can now hand down.

And perhaps I can send one up to her next time...

Check out our other great babkas/paskas!