Quick Breads and Muffins

Since yesterday's post dealt with soup, I figured today's post should deal with Quick Breads and Muffins; the two foods just seem to go well together. Check out the Irish Whole Wheat Soda Bread, Mexican Chocolate-Zucchini Bread, or any of the other quick breads and muffins in today's post. Enjoy!

CLASSIC SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

This yummy recipe is from Diana Rattray, who has contributed to About.com and The Spruce Eats for years. For this recipe, she wrote, "Cornbread differs in flavor and texture depending on what part of the country you are in. Southern cornbread is unsweetened and more crumbly than the sweet cake-like recipes from the North; it's also cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet, while Northern cornbread is typically made in a baking dish. This cornbread recipe is for the classic buttermilk cornbread you'll find throughout the South. There's generally no sugar added to Southern cornbread, which makes it an ideal side dish for a savory meal. Serve it fresh from the oven, cut into wedges, with beans or collard greens or a big bowl of chili. It can also be used to make a delicious cornbread stuffing. If you want to go "old school," crumble some of this cornbread into a mug and enjoy it with a few splashes of buttermilk."

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 22 minutes; Total Time: 32 minutes; Makes 6 to 8 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-southern-buttermilk-cornbread-3054140.

Ingredients

1/4 cup melted shortening, divided

2 cups white or yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

Butter, for serving, optional

Directions

Gather the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Position the rack in the center of the oven.

Brush about 1 tablespoon of melted shortening in a 9- to 10-inch cast-iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to blend thoroughly.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of melted shortening.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until blended. Carefully remove the hot cast iron pan from the oven and set it on a metal rack. Pour the batter into the sizzling shortening in the hot skillet.

Return the skillet to the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 375 F, and bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until golden brown.

Cut the cornbread into wedges and serve hot with a pat of butter, if desired.

Enjoy.

How to Serve Southern Cornbread

Southern buttermilk cornbread is delicious served alongside soups, stews, chili, beans, or greens. Many people like to crumble their cornbread in a glass and fill it with cold milk. You can also turn a pan of cornbread into a great dressing to go with chicken, pork, or turkey.

Tips

If you find the cornbread is too crumbly, increase the amount of flour (decreasing the cornmeal proportionally); the additional gluten will help to keep the mixture together.

For the optimal cornbread, splurge on a quality stone-ground cornmeal, which will offer more flavor and an interesting, varied texture.

Recipe Variations

For a little extra flavor, add some bacon drippings or duck fat to the cast iron skillet.

Although it will break from tradition, if you prefer a sweeter cornbread, add a few tablespoons of sugar or honey to the batter.

BROWNED BUTTER JALAPENO CORNBREAD

This incomes from the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Renew by UnitedHealthcare, page 26. It begins, "Browned butter adds nutty depth and jalapeno adds a kick to this classic crowd-pleaser, made mildly sweet with honey and moist with yogurt." Makes 9 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup better

1/3 cup honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter foams, then turns to a toasty brown color, about 2 minutes. Remove rom heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the browned butter to a 9X9 inch baking pan, swirling to coat the bottom.

In a medium bowl, combine the remaining butter, honey, egg, yogurt and milk, whisking to combine.

Add the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder all at once. Stir together only until combined. Stir in the halapeno. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm.

Nutrition: Calories: 207, Total Fat: 6.6 g; Saturated Fat: 3.8 g; Cholesterol: 36.5 mg; Sodium: 87 mg; Carbs: 33.6 g; Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g; Protein: 4.3 g

CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY MUFFINS

You may remember me posting about Rollin' Oats, one of my favorite places to shop. It has two stores in the Tampa Bay (Florida) area, one in Tampa, the other in St. Petersburg. Since I live way closer to St. Pete, I frequently go to that store. It's really one of my favorite places to shop. (Hint: If you live in the area, or are visiting, I highly recommend checking it out.)

Anyway, whenever I'm in Rollin' Oats, I pick up a copy of Taste For Life. This is from the March 2021 issue of Taste For Life (page 12). Prep Time: 35 minutes, plus 30 minutes cool time; Makes 9 muffins

To view this online, go to https://tasteforlife.com/healthy-recipes/desserts/chocolate-raspberry-muffins.

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 large eggs

1/4 cup oil, plus additional for greasing pan

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9 of the muffin cups in a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla extract. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Gently fold in raspberries.

Scoop approximately 1/4 cup of batter into each greased muffin cup.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan for 1/2 hour.

CRANBERRY CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS

My son and I were both on several long-forgotten emailing recipe lists. This is one of the recipes my son passed along from one of those lists.

Makes 24 muffins.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries [dust with 2 Tbl. - flour] - can substitute blueberry or raspberry

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each.

In separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mix gradually; fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or til golden and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let muffins stand on cooling rack for about 3 minutes before removing from the pans.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE-ZUCCHINI BREAD

This comes from Deb Wise on MyRecipes. She wrote, “Got a boatload of zucchini? A loaf of so-simple quick bread is a delightful, kid-friendly way to put it to use. This decadent twist spices up classic zucchini bread with cocoa powder, cinnamon, a rich chocolate glaze, and roasted pepitas. Easy-to-make, incredibly moist, and intensely chocolatey, this Mexican Chocolate Zucchini Bread is sure to be a new favorite.”

Active Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes; Yield: Serves: 10 (serving size: 1 slice)

To view this online, go to https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-chocolate-zucchini-bread.

Ingredients

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini

1 2/3 cups (about 7 1/8 oz.) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. roasted and salted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), divided

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate baking bar, finely chopped

1/2 cup (about 2 oz.) powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan with baking spray.

Place eggs in a large bowl; lightly whisk. Add granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Stir in grated zucchini.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl just until combined. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the pepitas into batter. Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top with spatula. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour.

Cool bread in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of pan to loosen bread. Remove bread from pan, and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour.

Combine cream and bittersweet chocolate in a medium-size microwaveable bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM until chocolate melts, about 45 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds. Add powdered sugar, and stir until smooth. Drizzle glaze over top of cooled bread. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons pepitas.

IRISH WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD

This is from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. However, since it has nutritional info for diabetics, I have to guess that it was in a diabetic email.

Yield: Makes 1 Round Loaf

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add buttermilk all at once, stirring with a fork to make a soft, but slightly sticky dough.

With lightly floured hands, form dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently for 8 to 10 times. Pat the dough into a 6-inch thick round with a slightly flattened top.

Place dough on prepared baking sheet. With a shape knife or pizza cutter, score the top in the shape of a cross or large X. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from baking sheet onto a cooling rack immediately. Dust top with rice flour. Serve warm from the oven.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/12 of loaf): Calories: 123, Carbohydrate: 25 g, Fiber: 3 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 1 g, Sodium: 335 mg, Cholesterol: 1 mg

Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 Starch/Bread