Living with the Webers - Baked Goods

Banana Bread or Muffins

Sarah — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 01:35:37 +0000

Delicious and moist banana bread or muffins that are perfect for breakfast. Makes one loaf or a dozen muffins. This is also a great base recipe for other muffins. Just leave out or replace the bananas with other fruit. Some variations are listed at the end of the recipe.

3 ripe bananas (with brown spots is extra good!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup milk or soy milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar (recommended to use less if the bananas are very ripe)
1 3/4 cups flour (I like it best with spelt flour, but a mix of whole wheat and white is good too)
1 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
Chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or other desired additions (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl. It sometimes is useful to add all or part of the liquid ingredients to get the bananas fully mashed up.

Mix all ingredients together except for the vinegar. Once everything is well combined, add the vinegar and just briefly mix. The batter should bubble up from the vinegar reacting with the baking soda.

Pour batter into muffin tins or loaf pan. Bake. The muffins take about 15-20 minutes and the loaf about 40-50 minutes. Remove from your oven when a toothpick comes out clean.

Some variations I like:
Blueberry: Replace bananas with 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries.

Apple Spice: Replace bananas with 2 grated apples. Add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Spice: Replace bananas with 1 cup pumpkin purée (can also use butternut squash). Add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

Carrot, Raisin and Nut: Replace bananas with 1 cup grated carrot. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of both raisins and chopped walnuts.

Zucchini and Nut: Replace bananas with 1 cup grated zucchini. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

Almond Poppy Seed: Leave out bananas. Add approx 1 tsp almond extract (to taste) and 1/4 cup poppy seeds.

Recommended With

Chai

Chai Latte

Cheese Crackers

si1ver2 — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 23:58:53 +0000

Quick and cheesy crackers. Dairy free.

Serves:

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp oil
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
water

Place all ingredients in food processor. Blend and add water until it forms a dough.
Kneed out dough and use cookie cutters to form crackers. Make sure they are thin enough otherwise they don't become crispy enough.
Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Until browned slightly on top and crunchy.

Carrot and zucchini flaxseeds muffins

Pia — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:02:10 +0000

Yummy and moist muffins which will always remind me of Berkeley Bowl in the Bay area and when I helped my daughter Sarah move back to San Diego. Try them they are very delicious!

1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup flour ( I use fresh ground spelt flour)
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup carrots, grated
1 cup zucchini, grated
1/2 brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
A dash of almond or soy milk if needed

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a bowl mix all ingredients well.
3. Fill into greased muffin pan.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean.

Apfelwähe or kind of a swiss apple tart

Pia — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:39:50 +0000

This is a wonderful cake which is not too sweet, rich in fruit and nourishing. It is the favorite cake of our oldest son Thomas. You can substitute any fresh fruit. Growing up in Switzerland this dish was cooked almost every Friday. First course was the same dish prepared with veggies; kind of a quiche really and the second course was the sweet version.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup water

Topping:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds, or ground hazel nuts or ground almonds ( optional )
2-3 apples washed and sliced into 1/4 inch slices ( or any other fruit )
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk ( or soy milk or almond milk )

1. Grease a pie or round baking dish of about 9 inches.
2. Put all the ingredients for the crust into a bowl and mix well.
3. Flatten the dough evenly into the baking dish including the side of the dish.

4. Preheat oven to 375F
5. If you are using ground flaxseed or hazelnuts or almonds spread it on top of dough.
6. Now put the apple slices on top, slightly overlapping.

7. In the bowl you mixed the crust in whisk together eggs and flour and then add all other ingredients.
8. Pour this iver the cake
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes ( if you move the cake the liquid is firm but still kind of soft and wiggle a bit)

Serve cake cold or still a bit warm

Cinnamon stars

Pia — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:13:34 +0000

Another of those yummy Christmas cookies we bake in Switzerland. This cookie contains mostly almonds and has no flour in it. A very good gluten-free choice.
Enjoy making and eating them.

3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
3 1/2 cups ground almonds

1 beat the egg whites until they are stiff.
2 add the powdered sugar and beat some more until the egg whites look shiny and smooth.
3 pour 1/2 cup into a cup and reserve for later.
4 add cinnamon, lemon juice and almonds to the egg whites and mix into a dough.
5 roll out part of the dough to about 1/4" on sugar, so it will not stick. Cut out stars, or any shape you like, and put them on to a greased baking sheet. Repeat until you used all the dough.
6 brush the cookies with the reserved egg white mixture.
7 let the cookies dry overnight.
8 preheat oven to 450F and then bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for only 3-4 minutes.

Chräbeli, Anise cookies

Pia — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:46:03 +0000

This is another traditional Christmas cookie we love.

4 eggs, beaten

2 3/4 cup powder sugar

1pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoons anise seeds

4 cups or more flour

Mix all the ingredients together to make a nice dough.

On a floured surface roll a hand full into finger thick roll and then cut it into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Make three half cuts into each piece and bend it slightly (see the picture).

Put the cookies on a greased baking sheet and let the cookies dry overnight.

Preheat oven to 300 F and then bake the cookies for 20-25 Minutes on the bottom part of your oven.

Nussknusperli

Pia — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:55:31 +0000

These are an easy and delicious type of Swiss Christmas cookies.

Dough:
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup ground hazelnuts
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour

Glaze:
125 grams chocolate
2 tablespoons water
Ground hazelnuts, approximately 1/4 cup

1. Mix all of the cookie dough ingredients together. Add the egg white if necessary to make the dough stick together.
2. Spread dough onto a lined cookie baking sheet. It should be about half a centimeter thick.
3. Bake in a 375F oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. While it is baking, prepare the glaze by melting the chocolate with the water.
5. When the cookies are done, immediately spread the melted chocolate on top. Sprinkle the ground hazelnuts on top and press slightly into the chocolate so that it sticks.
6. Immediately afterwards cut into 1 inch squares and let cool.

Spitzbuben

Pia — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:55:02 +0000

The name of these cookies means "mischievous boy." The jam peeking out is like a mischievous boy sneaking a peek.

1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg white
1 pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup white flour, add more as needed

Preheat oven to 390F.
Roll out dough to 2mm thickness. Cut out cookies into circles.
Arrange cookies onto a baking dish. Cut out the center of half of the cookies. These will be the tops.
Bake for 8-10 minutes in the middle of the oven.
Spread jam onto the bottom cookies, then place tops onto them.

Gewürzschnittli, Spice squares, one kind of Christmas cookies

Pia — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:05:32 +0000

Traditionally in Switzerland we bake at least 4 different kinds of Christmas cookies during the Holidays. Our family does about 6 kinds. This cookie recipe is quick and easy and very delicious.

4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
2 cups ground almonds or hazel nuts
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup candied fruits
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 3/4 cups flour
1 pinch salt

Glase:
1/2 cup powder sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix all ingredients except for the glase in a bowl. Pour mixture into a greased baking sheet about 1/4 " thick and bake for 20-25 minutes in 350F oven.
Mix ingredients for the glase and brush over still hot cookie rectangle. Cut into bite size diamonds or squares.

Store cooled down cookies in an airtight container or even better pack them into a freezer bag and freeze them. Take them out a half hour before serving. They stay really fresh that way.

Vegan, Low-Fat Pumpkin Pie

Pia — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:10:30 +0000

You would never guess that this pumpkin pie is vegan!

Pastry crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup water

Filling:
1 1/2 packages of Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
2 cups of cooked pumpkin
2/3 cup honey or sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 nutmeg
1/4 cloves

1. Mix all pastry crust ingredients in a bowl with a spoon or hands and press dough into a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Mix the filling with a whisk and pour into pie crust.
3. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 1 hour. Filling will be soft, but will firm as it chills.