Pumpkin Bread

It has been quite some time, but I finally have a new, Fall recipe for you!

For about a month now Christian has been asking me to make pumpkin bread and yesterday we finally made some! All of the recipes that I could find had a TON of sugar in them, so I decided to come up with my own recipe by making some changes to my banana bread recipe.

Baking is a science, so making changes to a recipe can be risky – up this one paid off! The bread is dense, flavorful, and has a delicious fall feel to it!

1 – 15oz Can Pumpkin Puree

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon Allspice

½ Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

2/3 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Butter (Melted)

2 Eggs (Or 3 Tablespoons Sour Cream)

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a medium mixing bowl add the can of pumpkin and the sour cream (or eggs), and mix well. Once the eggs or sour cream are incorporated add in the melted butter and sugar, and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Add half of the dry mix to the pumpkin mixture and mix until it comes together before adding the second half.

Be sure to mix well, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure that all of the dry mix is incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between into two greased loaf pans, and smooth it out so that it isn’t just a mound in the middle of the pan.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Allow the loaf to cool slightly before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a cooling rack

Slice and enjoy! .

Buckeyes

One of my favorite flavor combinations in the whole world is peanut butter and chocolate. Reese's Peanut Butter cups are my favorite candy, and these buckeyes are just homemade peanut butter balls. Yum!

What You'll Need...

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (Or other nut butter, or Sunbutter)
1/4 Cup Butter (Softened)
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups + 2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
8oz Chocolate Chips or Melting Chocolate

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and peanut butter. You can use a hand or stand mixer, but I prefer to mix them by hand.

Add the sugars and vanilla to the peanut butter mixture and mix until combined. This is where doing it by hand makes the most sense for me. You will need to use your hands to make the mixture come completely together.

Once the peanut butter mixture is completely combined form them into balls and place them on a tray. I like to make mine using about 1/2 Tablespoon of peanut butter mixture at a time. The last time I made these (last weekend) I weighed each one using my kitchen scale. 9g per ball was the perfect amount.

Once you have all of the balls formed place the tray in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Before removing them from the freezer melt the chocolate in the microwave in a deep, skinny microwave safe bowl or mug.

Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer and using a toothpick dip them in the chocolate so that they are 3/4 of the way covered.

Be careful, the peanut butter will start to soften, so you will need to refreeze the entire batch at times. I find that I can get 10-15 balls dipped before I need to refreeze.

Once they are all dipped all to set and then serve! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Cabbage Bowls

Last month we had some cabbage left over after St. Patrick’s Day and I wanted to do something with it besides make coleslaw. I had an idea and I went with it – it has become one of my new favorite things to make and to eat! The measurements in this recipe are in grams for the vegetables and ounces or even cups for other goodies. If you’re not looking for accurate measurements for calorie counting purposes you can eyeball the amount, however, a kitchen scale is a great tool to have. (We gave in and bought one the fall and use it multiple times a day. Definitely worth the ~$20 spent.

What You’ll Need…

Cabbage [Chopped] (200g per person)

Spices (Your favorites)

¼ Cup Water

Mix and Match Add Ins: (The amounts for these depend on what you like and how many people the dish is being made for.)

Onions (100 – 200g)

Zucchini (150 – 300g)

Bell Pepper (100 – 200g)

½ Cup Peas

3 – 8oz Meat of your Choice Cut into Bite Sized Pieces [Pork, Beef, Chicken, Sausage, etc.]  (Per person)

1 Serving Cooked Pasta

½ - 1 Cup Cooked Rice

Your Favorite Sauce

Start out by measuring out and chopping your chosen vegetables. Add the chopped cabbage to a deep 10in skillet along with the water. Cover the pan and allow to cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Mix twice to avoid sticking.

After 10 minutes add in your additional vegetables and your chosen spices. Cover again and allow to cook for at least an additional 10 minutes. Mix twice to avoid sticking. The longer you let everything cook the softer it will be.

While the vegetables are cooking prefer your additional items like meats, starches, and sauces.

Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking remove them from the heat and divide evenly for the number of people to be served. Add in your extras (meat, starch, and sauce) and mix to combine.

Enjoy!

Our current favorite combination is cabbage, peas, zucchini, red bell pepper, chicken, rice, sour cream and barbecue sauce.

Soda Bread

It has been quite some time since we shared a recipe, and I hope that now that I am done with school that I can find the time to share something tasty with you once a month.

St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend and I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Irish food. Traditional Irish Soda Bread doesn’t have any dried fruits or anything in it, but this version is quite good. So, today I give you my take on Soda Bread. This recipe is based on Ina Garten’s.

What You’ll Need…

4 Cups All Purpose Flour

4 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 ½ Teaspoons Salt

4 Tablespoons Cold Butter (Cut into cubes)

1 ¾ Cup Buttermilk

1 Egg

½ Cup Raisins

½ Cup Dried Cranberries

Preheat your oven to 375.

Place parchment paper onto a baking sheet. A well-greased pan or non-stick foil on a baking sheet will work, too.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl and mix with a hand or stand-mixer. While mixing on low add the cubes of butter and mix until the butter is mixed in.

With a fork lightly beat together the buttermilk and egg, With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture.

Combine the dried fruit with a tablespoon of flour so that they don’t all sink to the bottom and mix them into the dough. Don’t worry, the dough will be wet.

Dumped the dough out onto a flour cutting board or counter and knead it into a rounded loaf.

Place the loaf onto the prepared baking sheet and using a bread knife cut an X into the top of the loaf.

Bake for 45 – 55 minutes. It will sound hollow when it is done.

Cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold – plain, with butter, or with jelly. There really is no wrong way to eat this bread.

Enjoy!

Peppermint Bark

Things have been crazy lately, and for that I apologize. The good news is that we’re only a few days away from Christmas and I have the perfect simple and delicious recipe for you to enjoy the Christmas.

What You’ll Need…

1 White Chocolate Melting Wafers

2 Peppermint Candy Canes

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Place the unwrapped candy canes in a zip-top bag and break into pieces using a rolling pin.

Place the melting wafers in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir the chocolate, if it’s not melted all the way microwave again in 10 second increments, stirring in between.

Once the chocolate is fully melted spread it evenly on the parchment or sil-mat and sprinkle the peppermint pieces on top.

Allow the chocolate to set fully before breaking into pieces.

Enjoy!

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

It has been FOREVER since I last shared a recipe – or at least it feels that way. This got crazy busy for a few months, but now that I have a short break from school I can finally share a delicious recipe with you!

Today we have for you a delicious, protein packed new take on the cheeseburger.

What You’ll Need…

2lbs Ground Meat

1 Large Russet Potato

2 Tablespoons Ketchup

2 Heaping Tablespoons Mayonnaise

4 Slices Bacon

Cheese

Your Favorite Seasoning

Start off by cooking the ground meat all of the way through, adding your favorite seasoning to the meat as it cooks.

In a separate pan, or the oven, cook the bacon until slightly crisp.

While the meat is cooking, using a mandolin or a very sharp knife thinly slice the potato. In an air fryer, or the oven cook the potatoes slightly. In an air fryer this will take about 7 minutes at 400. In the oven it should take about the same amount of time.

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Next, in a small bowl combine the ketchup and mayonnaise.

Now it’s time to build the casserole! In a greased 9x13” pan lay down a layer of potatoes. 

Spread layer of the ketchup and mayo mixture over top. Next add all of the ground meat in an even layer and top that with the slices of bacon.

Top the meat with as much or as little cheese as you like – this can be any cheese you like. We recommend a good amount of cheese. Drizzle on the remaining ketchup/mayo mixture. Cover everything with another layer of potato slices.

Top that with some more cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Enjoy!

Chocolate Waffles

Here at the Whitaker house we love to have breakfast for dinner every once in a while, and that normally means waffles or pancakes if Christian has a say in the matter. Waffles and pancakes are great, and there are so many different ways to prepare them. Plain, blueberry, chocolate chip, topped with fruit or peanut butter or cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Recently we added a new option to our list, chocolate waffles! You should try them out, you’ll be hooked.

What You’ll Need…

1 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour

3 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

¼ Cup Sugar

¼ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

3 Tablespoons Butter (Melted)

1 ¼ Cup Milk

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa powder to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Add in the melted butter, milk, egg and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Add your desired amount of batter to a pre-heated waffle iron and cook until done.

Serve the waffles on their own or with your favorite toppings!