Coffee Cake Muffins

Having a dozen freshly baked coffee cake muffins in your kitchen is like having all 12 new episodes of House of Cards waiting for you on Netflix, brand new and ready to be enjoyed. In fact, I think the muffins are even better, because I can make more of them whenever I want. Once I finish watching that last House of Cards episode, I'm out of luck for a long time.

Can you tell that I've already watched all of Season 3 (and eaten all of these coffee cake

muffins)? What is left for me to look forward to?

Cinnamon Hazelnut Date Cake

The humble date is much more delicious and versatile than one might guess based on its appearance. Dates are appealingly sticky and sweet, and their complex flavor makes you think a few aromatic spices like cinnamon and allspice may already be inside the fruit.

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I had the pleasure of perusing Ros' blog, The more than occasional baker. As someone who also tends to fire up the oven more than occasionally, I was excited to see all the fabulous baked goods on her site.  From classics like chocolate peanut butter squares to innovative treats like parsnip cake, her blog has it all.

As soon as I spotted this cinnamon date cake, though, my mind was made up.  A beautiful Bundt cake sweetened with dates and flavored with cinnamon sounded like just the thing for a snowy January weekend, and it was!

For this recipe, you pit a bunch of dates and soak them in very hot water. (The pitted dates look just like hearts, so I had to stop and take a few photos. Looks like I'm in a valentine's mindset already!) The soaked dates and then blended into a paste in the food processor so they can permeate the batter with moisture and flavor.

Vanilla Chai Spiced Ghee + Chai Ghee "Latte" (Whole30 Day 26)

I am so obsessed with ghee.  Ever since I followed Nom Nom Paleo's instructions and made my first batch, it's been a staple in my kitchen.  First of all, it smells amazing.  Second, it's easy to make.  Third, it has a high smoke point, which means it won't burn like butter does during high-heat cooking.  Fourth, it tastes great with everything.  And bonus--it's lactose and casein free.

I've even been putting a teaspoon or so of ghee and coconut oil in my morning coffee (inspired by Stupid Easy Paleo).  After a short blitz with the immersion blender, it's foamy like a latte.  Delicious.  Basically, ghee is saving my Whole30 life.

Mexican Brownies (Gluten-free, Paleo)

These brownies are SO good!  Rich and fudgy in the middle and irresistibly crunchy around the edges--I can't stop thinking about them.  Their flavor is enhanced by a dose of a cinnamon and a hint of cayenne pepper, but you can totally leave those out if you want a more classic brownie.

I made a big pan of these (doubled the below recipe) for the first meeting of my school's Spanish Club, and they were a huge hit!  The meeting was at ten am, but nobody complained about being served brownies for breakfast.  I made them again day before yesterday in these Christmas molds, and I was going to give them as gifts . . . but we ate them all.  Restraint is futile when faced with Mexican brownies, especially if they are shaped like Christmas trees.

These brownies do not taste gluten-free to me at all!  The original recipe called for a relatively small amount of flour, so I knew it would be a great candidate for using my paleo flour blend.  If you don't have the flour blend on hand, I've also provided measurements for each individual type of flour.  The ratio is slightly different from that of the flour blend for ease of measurement, but I have made the brownies both ways and did not notice a difference in taste or texture.

If you're looking for a last-minute edible gift, why not whip up a batch of these Mexican brownies?  Just make sure to give them away quickly before you break down and eat them all.  Or, go ahead and make them for yourself for breakfast!  ¡Feliz navidad a todos!

Spiced Honey & Corn Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream (Gluten free, Paleo)

I wanted to make a fabulous end-of-summer, beginning-of-fall cupcake, and here it is!  These have corn kernels baked right in, and a batter laced with fall spices.  The frosting is my favorite part: butter and coconut cream are delicious together, with a little honey and maple sugar for sweetness.  I tested the frosting with and without butter, and it's great both ways.

Some people don't include corn in their paleo diet, so feel free to leave it out.  If you wanted to substitute something else, I bet these would also be delicious with little chunks of apple instead.  Let me know if you try it!

Oh, and do you love these parchment cupcake cups as much as I do?  I got the idea from this post on Alexandra's Kitchen.  They take a few minutes to make, but I love their rustic look.  The BEST part is that NONE of the cake crumbs stick to the paper!  And, the cup unfolds into a nice little placemat to put your cupcake on between bites.  You can also use parchment to line a loaf pan if you are making banana bread or something like that, and you don't even need to grease it.

Caramel-Stuffed Snickerdoodles (Paleo, Gluten free)

Some people go crazy for snickerdoodles, but I'm not usually one of them.  Snickerdoodles have a lot of cinnamon, which is nice, but they don't have chocolate, caramel, or fruit.  Usually I require one of those three things in order to truly fall in love with a dessert.  Several weeks ago it occurred to me that snickerdoodles could be stuffed with caramel, and ever since I've been eager to try it.  I'm not the first one to try stuffing caramel inside a snickerdoodle, but I think I'm the first to try a paleo and gluten free version.

I made this honey caramel yesterday to drizzle on top of an apple honey cake that I'm working on for Rosh Hashanah.  The cake was delicious, but it still needs a little work.  I had half of the honey caramel left (it wouldn't all fit on top of the apple cake!) so I decided I needed to make the snickerdoodles.

These are easy to make (no creaming!) and fun to eat.  Before the photo shoot, I tried two cookies, one straight from the oven and one after they'd cooled.  (As a food blogger, I have to do these things.  You know, for science.)  Then, after I took my pictures, I had to eat all the cookies that had suffered casualties (been broken open) during the shoot.  I had to drink all the milk, too, because it would have been really hard to pour it back in the carton without a funnel.  The things I do for this blog!  Anyway, it was a fabulous snack and I think you should make some today.

Lemon Coconut Vegan Ice Cream in a Cinnamon Sugar Bowl

I've been seeing a lot of ice cream recipes made with coconut milk lately, and I wanted to try one myself.  I love coconut milk, and I also like to create vegan treats that I can potentially share with my sister, who can't have any dairy (although I have to admit, she didn't get any of this ice cream--but now that I know how to do it I'll be able to make some just for her).

I'd also been wanting to try the lemon ice cream recipe from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.  I like the idea of lemon ice cream because I love lemon, but I hate sorbet.  For me, sorbet is such a copout.  I've never eaten a sorbet without wishing with every spoonful that I were eating ice cream instead.

So, good news!  Vegans and people who can't eat dairy can still have fabulously creamy ice cream.  Coconut milk is so amazing here.  The main flavor is lemon, but there is a subtle coconut flavor.  But the main reason coconut milk is such a star is that it makes this ice cream just as rich and creamy as its from-a-cow counterpart.  Even if you can eat dairy, you should still try this!  If you stock your pantry with lots of coconut milk, you can be ready to make this pretty much anytime.  I can't wait to try the coconut milk ice cream base with other flavors.  All I did to make this recipe vegan was omit the cream cheese from Jeni's recipe, substitute light coconut milk for the whole milk and regular coconut milk for the cream, and add a little vanilla (I have to have a little vanilla in pretty much all my desserts--it rounds out the flavors).  The results are super delicious.

Oh, and the bowl!  I was going to just serve this ice cream in a regular bowl, until I saw this brilliant idea over at Two Peas & Their Pod (a fabulous blog that I highly recommend).  All I did was swap coconut oil for the butter in Maria's recipe, and I got this fabulous vegan cinnamon sugar ice cream bowl.  The flour tortillas I buy (Maria & Ricardo's) are certified vegan; check yours just to make sure.  This bowl takes the dessert over the top because it's like eating your ice cream inside a big crunchy piece of cinnamon toast.  It's also so easy to make that I may never serve ice cream in a real bowl ever again.

Ingredients for the ice cream (makes one quart; adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home):

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 lemons
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar (use vegan sugar to make the recipe vegan) plus 2 tablespoons, divided
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon sugar for serving (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and a couple of tablespoons of the light coconut milk to make a smooth paste.

Use a vegetable peeler to zest the lemons, making long strips of zest.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the remaining light coconut milk, the regular coconut milk, 2/3 cup of the sugar, and the corn syrup, lemon zest, and salt.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil for four minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture.  Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute or so, stirring, until thickened.

Remove the mixture from the heat and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until completely cold.

Meanwhile, roll the lemons under the heel of your hand to prime them to release more juice.  Juice the lemons (you want about half a cup of juice).  Heat the lemon juice with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Refrigerate the syrup until cold.

When the ice cream mixture is chilled, pour it through a strainer into your ice cream maker.  While the machine is spinning, pour in the lemon syrup.  Once the ice cream is ready, freeze in an airtight container for at least three hours before serving.

If you want to add a little crunch and make your ice cream extra fabulous, serve it sprinkled with some lemon sugar.  Just grate some lemon zest and mix it with a little granulated sugar.  Yum!

Ingredients for the cinnamon sugar bowls (adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod):

For each bowl:

1 flour tortilla
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350.  Lightly grease one small ramekin (1 cup capacity) or ovenproof bowl for each bowl you want to make.

Spread 1 teaspoon or so of coconut oil on each side of the tortilla.  Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, and sprinkle evenly over both sides of the tortilla.  Carefully place the tortilla in the ramekin, folding it as necessary to help it form a cup.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until browned and crisped on top.  Cool completely before filling with ice cream.  Cinnamon sugar bowls can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two days.

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake with Brown Butter Streusel

This morning when I woke up, I wanted to bake something to celebrate being on summer vacation.  I didn't have anything fun like berries, but I always have cinnamon, so I decided to make my first coffee cake.  Pretty soon I realized I was totally out of regular sugar, so this recipe doesn't have any.  It has plenty of brown sugar and agave, but no white sugar.  That, along with part whole grain flour, makes this a teensy bit healthier.  But don't worry, it still tastes really good!

This recipe requires the use of way too many bowls (one for the streusel, one for the swirl, one for the batter, one for the milk and yogurt...).  But, in my opinion, it's worth it in the end.  Plus, most of the bowls are small and you could probably use a measuring cup for some of them.

Coffee cake needs that rich, dark swirl and the crunchy topping, right?  I think so.

Ingredients (adapted from King Arthur):

For the streusel:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown butter
Pinch of salt

For the swirl:

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cocoa

For the cake:

6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light agave nectar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
3/4 cups whole grain pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.

To make the streusel and swirl, combine the ingredients for each in two small bowls and set aside.  For a tutorial on how to brown butter, see this post on How Sweet It Is.

To make the cake, cream the butter, salt, agave, brown sugar, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and yogurt.

Add the flour to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and yogurt mixture.  Stir just until smooth.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle on the swirl, then top with the remaining batter.  Use a butter knife to swirl the layers together a litte.  Sprinkle the streusel evenly on top.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.