Maple Snickerdoodles

After making my snickerdoodle bars I received a request to make more snickerdoodles. Now it's been a while since then but I never fail to deliver a promise if it involves baking.

To make these snickerdoodles more unique I added some maple syrup which added flavor and sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 ½ teaspoons plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup butter

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup real maple syrup

1 egg

1 cup plus ¼ cup white sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in one bowl. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup of white sugar until fluffy and then beat in the egg and maple syrup. Afterwards, gradually blend in the dry ingredients until mixed well.

Chill dough for one hour.

In a small bowl, combine the ¼ cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Roll the chilled dough into 1 inch balls and then roll them into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheets and immediately use a spoon to sprinkle some of the leftover cinnamon sugar on top.

Soft on the inside and a little crispier on the edges is the perfect consistency for a snickerdoodle.
When I told my friend I made these he was so excited you would have thought I bought him a new car. The next day when I gave them the cookies, he coveted them and wouldn't let anyone take one so he could save them for later.

Fortunately he does track so he can run off all that extra cookie he eats.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with my friend and she asked for a slice of pumpkin bread. I looked at it and said, “hey I bet I can make pumpkin bread that tastes better and is better for you than that.” My friend was glad to hear this remark because she knew it meant I would try it out and give her some, and since I don’t want to do any homework, that’s exactly what I did!

So here you go, a healthy version of pumpkin bread that doesn’t compromise health for taste.

Recipe:

Getting every last drop
out of the honey.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted melted butter

¼ cup honey

½ cup plus 2 ½ tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

A clever is perfect to chop up nuts.

Preheat the oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the melted butter, canola oil, honey, and ½ cup of the brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs and lightly beat and finally mix in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts last.

Crumble the brown sugar evenly
over the entire top layer.

Pour the batter into the greased pan, and tap the bottom so that the batter evens out. Take the last 2 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the batter.

Place the pan into the oven for 55 to 65 minutes.

Remove, and let cool before slicing.

If you don’t give the bread enough time to cool, then your slices will have no chance of coming out even.

The brown sugar on top is a perfect crumble, and especially perfect for people who love the texture of the muffin tops (and by that I don’t mean the rolls coming out on top of your pants).

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Bread

Granny smith apples are my favorite, but I am super picky about them. Because I’m so picky, we had some leftover apples in the kitchen that didn’t quite meet my strict specifications. Though I didn’t think they looked good enough to eat plain, I thought they would be perfect to put in a healthy bread recipe. With this in mind I came up with a recipe for semi-whole wheat apple cinnamon bread. Sprinkling the brown sugar on top just adds a perfect sweet touch.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole what flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup unsalted room temperature butter

1/3 cup agave

¼ plus ¼ cup drown sugar

1 egg

1 cup Greek yogurt

2 large peeled and cored apples, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350°F. Grease a 9.25x5.25x2.75 inch pan and set it aside. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and add the granulated sugar and ¼ cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy and then add the egg and the Greek yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon), and fold in the apple chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the last ¼ cup of brown sugar on top.

Bake for 55-65 minutes and cool before slicing.

You could also place the batter into muffin tins, but obviously the cooking tie would be less so insert a toothpick to check. When the inserted toothpick comes out clean, you know that they are ready to take out of the oven.

Didn't wait enough time to slice woops!
That's what happens when you're too eager to eat...

Snickerdoodle Bars

Tonight is Friday and also my friend’s birthday. She is having  big party and asked if I would bake for it, and obviously I said yes. I didn’t have a lot of time to bake though today so I wanted to make something that was quick but still tasted good. While cookies can be simple to make, I find the easiest think to make is bars. I still wanted to make something that wasn’t completely ordinary so I tried making regular snickerdoodles into a snickerdoodle bar recipe.

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 plus 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt and in a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread the batter evenly into the lightly greased pan. Combine the extra 2 tablespoons white sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter. (I had a little left over but I would still recommend making this much because it is a good sugar to cinnamon ratio.)

Just sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top is even

easier than rolling each individual cookie in it.

Bake 25-30 minutes and cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.