It’s official: I am doughnut obsessed. Ever since I bought my doughnut pan and made these beauties, I am hooked. I can’t stop looking up doughnut recipes. There are so many amazing ones out there! But I am pretty sure this one from Joy the Baker might be the most amazing. A brown butter doughnut with chocolate glaze. And sprinkles. OMG yes please! …
Archives for September 2013
Skinny Chocolate Cake made with Greek Yogurt
There is absolutely no oil or butter in this Skinny Chocolate Cake, but you wouldn’t know it! Greek Yogurt helps it stay rich and moist – you won’t miss the fat!
It is no secret that I love baking with yogurt (see here, here, and here). Yogurt can replace most or all of the fat in a lot of recipes while still giving you moist and tender baked goods. It allows me to make “skinny” recipes that taste (almost) as good as the real thing! The nice people at Chobani sent me a bunch of yogurt to try out in recipes (thank you!), so of course the first thing I made had chocolate in it! Skinny Chocolate Cake to be exact. The original recipe calls them fudgy brownies – I think the texture is more like a cake, but call them whatever you want – this chocolate creation is delicious! And it was so quick and easy to make. There is absolutely no oil or butter – ½ cup of Chobani and one egg does the job instead. The cake is so moist and fudgy . It is perfect on its own, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
…
Baked Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts
I can’t even tell you how excited I am to post this recipe. I have seen so many delicious doughnut recipes on Pinterest lately, and I just had to get involved. So I bought two of these doughnut pans the other weekend and literally could not wait to put them to use! And what better recipe to start with than a pumpkin doughnut! I am happy to report they did not disappoint. Thebetterhalf, a doughnut connoisseur, was skeptical about the concept of a baked doughnut, and he LOVED these.
The texture is remarkably similar to a cake doughnut, but a bit lighter. The pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices give the most delicious flavor and the cinnamon sugar coating ties the whole thing together. I snuck a few bites plain and these doughnuts are fantastic even without the cinnamon sugar.
This recipe makes enough for 15 doughnuts, and the pans only make 6 each. Luckily in my doughnut pan buying binge, I also picked up this adorable pan. So I used my extra batter to make some pumpkin doughnut holes! You could just bake the doughnuts in a second batch though. I see many more baked doughnut recipes in my future … these are on the menu for Saturday. How incredible do they look?? These new doughnut pans are going to be trouble! …
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Some nights you just need a cookie. I mean right now. Immediately. And that is why I am so happy that I recently discovered cookie bars. Because on those nights that you just need a cookie right away, you didn’t think ahead to soften butter to room temperature, nor do you have time to let dough chill. Enter the amazing cookie bar. Specifically a chocolate chip cookie bar with salted caramel sauce swirled inside and sprinkled with sea salt. Sounds complicated, right? It is not at all!! Especially if you have some caramel sauce leftover from making these brownies. Just melt some butter (no waiting for butter to soften in this recipe!) and mix it with sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, and you are ready to go! There is no chilling this dough, just plop it right into the pan. Well there is one little extra step, but I promise it is worth the time because it involves caramel! Press half the dough into the pan and then pour caramel sauce all over it. Then you dollop the cookie dough in little scoops over the top (it looks so cute!) and lightly press it down. Sprinkle everything with some fleur de sel, and that’s it! In about 30 minutes, warm gooey cookie bars are ready for almost immediate consumption! Now I will say that the texture changes a lot as these sit. The bars firm up and become like actual cookies. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with sneaking a square (or two) of the warm bars when they are still doughy and gooey! …
Modena, Italy
Our last post on Italy (until next summer…) centers on the small town of Modena. Modena is located within the Emilia-Romanga region and is home to some of the best food in the world. Traditional balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and Lambrusco are all geographically protected specialities of the region. In addition to the incredible food, we loved walking around the small city center. Unlike many of the stops on our trip, Modena is not a tourist destination. There was little English spoken, every menu was in Italian, and no one ventured outside during “siesta hours” (something I can get on board with). …