Baking!

Phewww!  I have had a very busy couple of weeks and am just now settling back into my routine.  We traveled to North Carolina for a wedding.  Even a short trip with a toddler will set you back in more ways than one! 

Although I was busy, I was not too busy to bake quite a few things.  I did not take any pictures, unfortunately.  I thought I would be too busy to blog about them, and I was right.  Sort of.  I decided to blog about them now, because they were too good to keep to myself. 

In the past month or so, I have baked several recipes from the Tassajara Bread Book, and nothing really stood out.  The biscuits that were advertised as "flaky" were very dense and, well, the opposite of flaky.  The shortbread was ho-hum and so on.  I had just about given up on the Tassajara Bread Book when I decided to give it one last shot, and that recipe was an instant hit!  Then I tried two more and they were some of the best things that I have ever made.  So, without further ado...

Date Bars

3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice (I used Jamaican)
1 cup chopped dates or raisins or figs or prunes (I used dates and raisins since I had them on hand)
1/2 cup chopped nutmeats (I used almonds and walnuts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs until light.  Blend in the brown sugar along with the vanilla.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices, add them to the eggs, and beat until well blended (Note: I didn't sift the dry ingredients.  I never do!  I mix them with a whisk.  I've read for other sources that it does the same thing.  Martha Stewart even said so on her show last week!   And you know she would never lie, right?).  Fold in the fruit and nuts.  Pour into a buttered and floured 9 X 13 inch pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. 

These are delicious!  I am a big fan of spiced cookies (molasses, ginger snaps, etc.), and these don't disappoint!

Since this was a hit, I decided to keep going with the Tassajara Bread Book, and decided to make the Banana bread and the Almond Orange Butter.

Banana Bread

2 cups whole flour
1tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups banana pulp (about 6 bananas)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, soda, and salt.  Blend the oil and sugar, then beat in the lemon peel and eggs.  Add the dry ingredients in three parts alternately with the banana pulp, beating smooth after each addition.  Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Place the batter in a greased loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes.

This bread is so delicious.  It can be eaten for dessert or breakfast.  We ate it toasted and then spread with the orange almond butter below.

Almond Orange Butter

1/3 cup almond butter
1/2 cup sweet butter (I used Earth Balance spread instead - easier to spread and mix)
2 tbsps. freshly squeezed orange juice
zest of same orange
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. rum

Mix the almond and butter together.  Then little by little work the rest of the ingredients into the almond and butter mixture.  Once mixed, you can store up to 1 week in your refrigerator.

Greg, A.J., and I all loved the almond orange butter!  Once the banana bread was gone, we used the rest and spread it on toast.  Yummers!

I also baked some yummy things from the Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book, but I plan on baking them again for Valentine's, so I will blog about them later and be sure to take pictures.