Banana Bread Muffins and Giveaway!

When I have time on Sundays (which isn’t terribly often), I like to make a batch of muffins so I have breakfast for the week. Because I had some overripe bananas, this week I decided to make Banana Bread Muffins. I was recently sent some coupons to try Kretschmer Wheat Germ products so I thought adding some of the Honey Crunch would add some nice texture and flavor to the muffins. So what exactly is wheat germ? Wheat germ comes from the wheat kernel, which is the part removed when refining whole grains into white flour. Wheat Germ is a great source of Vitamin E, B vitamins and folic acid. You can find it in the cereal aisle. Wheat germ can be used in recipes calling for flour or breadcrumbs so its quite versatile. I’ve also used it in smoothies. So that you can try wheat germ for yourself, Kretschmer is giving away some coupons good for free wheat germ products to an I Can Cook That reader! More on that below. Ingredients (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins, of 6 large muffins): 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup Kretschmer Honey Crunch Wheat Germ 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon … Continue reading

Lemon Tart with Raspberry Shortbread Crust

Almost every citrusy post I have on my blog is dedicated to my mom. She is obsessed with orange, lemon, bergamot, etc. So in honor of Mother’s Day, here’s another one! As a Walkers Official Blogger Ambassador, Walkers Shortbread sent me an awesome assortment of treats my way to make a spring/Mother’s Day themed post. Walkers Rapsberry Thins was in the mix, my mom also loves raspberries, so I decided to use the rapsberry thins to make a shortbread crust for a lemon tart. To make it even more citrusy, I topped the tart with candied orange peel. I also have a 20% off coupon code for all readers! When ordering from www.walkersus.com, enter #ICCTSPRING and you will receive 20% off full priced items. The code is active until May 27th so be sure to use it before then! Ingredients: Candied Orange Peel: 2 oranges Water 1/2 cup sugar Crust: 1/2 cup finely ground Walkers raspberry shortbread thins cookies (about 6 cookies) 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup salted butter (cold cut into small chunks) Lemon filling: 3 meyer lemons 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup meyer lemon juice … Continue reading

Matzo Ball Soup

One of my favorite parts of learning to cook is having the chance to learn about cultures through different foods. I love paging through cookbooks that contain recipes I’ve never tried and learning something about the history and tradition behind these recipes. In preparation for Passover, I was sent a copy of The New Jewish Table, written by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray of Washington D.C.’s Equinox Restaurant. The cookbook takes traditional Jewish recipes and turns them into beautiful modern dishes. The cookbook is filled with a ton of re-imagined comfort foods, and is broken into seasons to make the most of seasonally available product. The last few pages of the book also has suggested menus for Jewish holidays. I hope to cook through the Passover menu over the coming days because it all sounds so delicious (besides the gefilte fish, sorry haha.)   The Grays’ have filled the cookbook with personal stories and notes throughout that give a family feel and a background to their traditions which is a really nice touch. Each recipe is also labeled by type of recipe to make it easy to keep kosher: dairy, meat, parve, or mixed. Todd Gray’s childhood traditions are … Continue reading

Huevos Rancheros Tacos

There is something so fun about having breakfast for dinner. Not only is it an easy way to whip up a meal with things you probably already have on hand, but it is so nice to have something so familiar and yet out of the ordinary. Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth (of Love and Olive Oil) have compiled a cookbook filled with breakfast treats with a spin, making them perfect for  dinner. The cookbook, Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Fritatta Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! is plain drool-worthy. The photos are fantastic and each recipe sounds better than the last! It has a little bit of everything in its pages, including main dishes, appetizers, and desserts. Each recipe has an inventive twist on a traditional breakfast dish, which made it so difficult to decide which recipe to try first! When I asked my boyfriend to help choose, he responded, “Mmm… can’t we just make every one of them?” We were finally able to decide on the Huevos Rancheros Tacos because we are big taco fans (I have 7 listed on this blog as of this post) and I loved the idea of turning Huevos Rancheros into delicious dinner! … Continue reading

Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole

I love recipes that make it easy to serve a bunch of people with minimal effort. A slow cooker is usually a go-to for those types of recipes but I’ve never considered using it to make breakfast before. The Ninja Cooking System is the perfect tool for it though. They sent over this recipe for an Apple French Toast Casserole and I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so I could make it. This recipe makes 8 servings so it would be great for breakfast for a larger group but I also packed up the rest of my servings to reheat during the week. Ingredients: ½ cup butter 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ½ cup packed brown sugar ½ cup pure maple syrup 1 loaf challah bread (about 1 pound), cut into cubes 6 large eggs 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or normal milk) 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Pinch salt Confectioners’ sugar

Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade

I realized I have never posted a recipe for crab cakes.  That is ridiculous! So today’s the day. I found this recipe in one of my Cooking Light recipes and altered it a bit for what I happened to have in my pantry.   Crab cakes: 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed 2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 2 green onions, finely chopped 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1 cup bread crumbs, divided 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided Remoulade: 1/4 cup canola mayonnaise 2 teaspoons minced shallots 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 3/4 teaspoon capers, chopped 3/4 teaspoon champagne vinegar 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Tiramisu Brownies

I am a huge fan of coffee and coffee-related foods, so tiramisu is obviously a favorite of mine. When the concept of a Tiramisu Brownie was mentioned, I was immediately excited. What a fantastic combination of desserts! Barista Prima  Coffeehouse® K-Cup® packs are four dark, rich coffee blends that really deliver an intense flavor that are more bold and robust than other K-Cup offerings. The four flavors offered are: Colombia, House Blend, Italian Roast, and French Roast. I’ve had a Keurig for years now (I just had to retire my original Keurig and buy a replacement, sniffle) and am always really pleased with the coffee choices that can be found in K-Cup form. I tend to use coffee grounds in a bunch of recipes, especially ones that use chocolate, to really up the flavor. Barista Prima was nice enough to send me a box of their House Blend K-Cups so I naturally wanted to make a dish that used these delicious grounds as well as a dessert that would be perfect paired with a cup of House Blend coffee. Many thanks to Barista Prima for also sending me this mouthwatering recipe! Ingredients: 12 oz. chocolate chips 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup … Continue reading

Mini Chocolate Swirled Pumpkin Pies

Just because Thanksgiving has passed doesn’t mean I can continue to deliver pumpkin-y goodness on this blog. This recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Pie was featured on The Chew and I just loved the idea of it but wanted to make it a little bit my own. I didn’t want the pumpkin flavor to be lost in the chocolate so I decided to swirl a bit in at the end. And, because I’m apparently on a mini kick, I went with mini pumpkin pies!   Ingredients: 3 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (cut into small pieces) 1/2 teaspoon Coffee or Espresso Grounds 1 15 oz Can Pumpkin 1 12 oz Can Evaporated Milk 3/4 cup Packed Light-Brown Sugar 3 Large Eggs 1 tablespoon Cornstarch 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg Pinch of Ground Cloves Mini pie crusts

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

This year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.The Cookie Swap is in its second year and helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.   I wanted to make a cookie that was a spin on a traditional cookie. This Cooking Light recipe was perfect: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, AND Pecans!   Ingredients 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces) 1 cup Steel Cut oats 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 large egg 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Rainbow Cookies (a.k.a Seven-Layer Cookies)

If you’ve never heard of these lovelies, you are not alone. Rainbow cookies are made of almond cake died fun bright colors with apricot preserves all sandwiched in between two thin layers of chocolate. They really aren’t cookies at all, more like thinly packed cake. But whatever the heck they are called, they are delicious.     I don’t really recall these cookies growing up, but my boyfriend (who is from Long Island) absolutely loves them. In fact, he was kind of taken aback when I mentioned I didn’t really know what they were. One of his friends was absolutely horrified; he basically forced me to eat one right then and there which I didn’t complain about. I love them now!   So I wanted to try to make these little guys… I’m not sure why. They are awfully difficult (well, more time consuming than difficult). But I was so darn proud of myself when they were done, I don’t even care about the effort I had to put in! The cookies go by a ton of names … Rainbow, Seven Layer, Neapolitan, Tricolor… but I’m pretty sure they tend to be a Christmas staple in Italian households. I found … Continue reading

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