Tag: baked goods
The Best Zucchini Bread
The Best Zucchini Bread
I have made this zucchini bread countless times for the last 20 years and it’s one of my favorites. It’s pretty straightforward to make. The most important step that can’t be overlooked is to squeeze out all of the excess liquid from the zucchini. If you don’t, your zucchini bread won’t cook properly. Want carrot bread instead? Replace the zucchini with 1 1/2 cups of grated carrots and increase the flour to 1 1/2 cups.
Equipment
- grater
- paper towel
- 9×5” loaf pan
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups zucchini grated
- 1 1/2 cups ground walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt.
- Mix in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Squeeze out all of the water from the zucchini in a paper towel.
- Stir in the zucchini and walnuts to the batter.
- Using nonstick spray, grease a 9×5” loaf pan. Pour in the batter.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. Let cool on a rack.
Cherry Vanilla Almond Bread
Serve warm with a droll op of butter. Turn any leftovers into French toast.
Cachitos
Cachitos
Cachitos are little Venezuelan ham croissants that are eaten for breakfast. These particular croissants are closer to a dinner roll in texture, but nothing short of deliciousness.
Equipment
- standing mixer dough hook
- rolling pin
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp lard
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 1 lb deli ham cut into strips
- 1 egg white mixed with 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Bring the milk just to a boil. Pour over the butter and lard in the standing mixer bowl and allow to melt.
- Add 1 cup of flour, salt, sugar, and eggs. Mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed.
- Add the yeast and the rest of the flour. Beat on medium speed.
- Knead dough for 5 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
- Punch down the dough.
- Lightly flour a clean surface. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces.
- Roll out into an 8” cylindrical disc.
- Cut into 4 triangular pieces.
- Lay ham across the outer edge of the dough.
- Roll the dough towards the triangular point.
- You should yield 16 croissants.
- Place the croissants on 2 baking sheets. Brush with melted butter. Cover and allow to rise for another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375. Brush with the egg white/sugar mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Mandazi
Mandazi
Fried little donuts are a very popular street food throughout Africa. In West African countries, they make little donut holes called puff puff. In East African countries, they make a similar donut called mandazi. Mandazi are cut into triangular shapes. They have the flavors of coconut, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sometimes you will see them with a side of caramel sauce to dip them in.This is a simplified version of the donut. The original version has yeast in the recipe, needing time for the mandazi to rise. There is also a baked version for those who don’t want to fry. I will touch base on these in future posts.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Mix together all of the dry ingredients.
- Mix together all of the wet ingredients.
- Mix together all of the wet and dry ingredients until a dough is formed.
- Roll out dough to 1/2” thick on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut triangular shapes out of the dough.
- Fill up a small pot with an 1 1/2 of cooking oil over medium high heat. If using a thermometer, the oil should read 350 degrees. Add a few of the dough triangles to the oil. You will need to cook these in batches.
- Fry for about 2 minutes a side. Drain on paper towel.
- Sprinkle the powdered sugar/cinnamon mix over the donuts while still warm.
