Eggless Boy Bait / Blueberry Coffee Cake

A 15 year old teenager from Chicago named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake in 1954 to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe and Baking Contest, which happens to be the precursor to today's Pillsbury Bake - Off contest, The girl scored second place in the youth division for her creation, which she called boy bait.  She found that the teenage boys found it irresistible and so decided to attribute this blueberry coffee cake, a special adjective. I found the name not so odd after I tasted it since one can bait anyone they wish with this tempting cake or one need not be a teenager to be lured in. 😋 I am the proof since I truly detest eating blueberries as such but I have baked and enjoyed this cake many times over the years though I never got around to sit and post it until today. These images are at least a couple of years old.
Cook's Country magazine tweaked the original recipe 'to improve it' as they say. They swapped the shortening and granulated sugar used in the original recipe with butter and a combination of granulated and brown sugars. And they topped the cake with a light, sweet sugar - cinnamon topping instead of streusel. I replaced half the butter with oil and used only half the quantity of the sugar mentioned. I don't like overtly sweet stuff and so the 1/2 cup sugar in the cake plus the sugar topping was enough for me. I swapped the 3 eggs in the recipe with plain yogurt. I used a springform pan to bake this. Still, the final coffee cake is a tender and sweet one with a 'melt in mouth' kind texture. This 'easy to make' rich cake is an addictive one and one would add it to their repertoire if they try this berry packed cake once. 

Ingredients:
2 cups + 1 tsp. all purpose flour (divided)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter + 1/2 cup oil (or use 1 cup butter / 2 sticks butter instead.)
3/4 cup sugar * 
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup blue berries (fresh or frozen)**
For topping:
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh / frozen) **
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

* The original recipe uses 1 cup sugar. I used only 1/2 cup and I think 3/4 cup makes it sweet enough.
** Don't thaw if using frozen blueberries.

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan or a square pan. 
* Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
* Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  
Next add oil, 1/2 cup yogurt and vanilla and beat to mix. Next fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, half of milk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the rest of the milk, then the remaining flour and finally the remaining yogurt, mixing well after each addition.
* Toss the blueberries with a tsp. of flour. Fold 1/2 cup blueberries gently into the batter. If using frozen berries directly add them to the batter without thawing.
* Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the remaining berries over the top of the batter. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top evenly.
* Bake until a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 45 - 50 minutes.
* Let it cool completely before slicing.

It goes to Bakeathon  and Blogging Marathon #95 under the theme 'cake recipes' events.


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Savory Semolina Loaf

There have been bookmarked recipes over the years that I have tried and loved so much that they have become a permanent part of my repertoire. This savory semolina loaf which is dubbed as upma loaf in my home is one such recipe that I have been making for nearly a decade now. It is my go to bread when I am packing snacks for our road trips. It is like upma served as slices and can be a great 'to go' snack for savory food lovers without all the mess or need of cutlery. 

Fine or regular variety semolina can be used here without toasting. Today I used roasted variety which was closer to the one called in India as bansi rava. Other finely chopped vegetables like green beans and capsicum can be added as well. I omitted onions in this particular loaf and accidentally switched the quantities of water and yogurt. The bread with the yogurt quantity mentioned below usually yields me more porous bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup semolina
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup water (or more)
1 tsp. salt 
2 pinches of ground turmeric
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. baking soda
Sesame seeds (optional)
For seasoning:
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 finely chopped spicy green chillie
Few curry leaves, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 grated carrot
A handful of green peas

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Grease a mini loaf pan.
* Combine the semolina, yogurt, water, salt, turmeric and cilantro in a mixing bowl and keep it aside.
* Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to pop and sizzle add grated ginger, chilies, curry leaves and vegetables. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off the stove. Pour this seasoning mixture into the semolina bowl and mix well to combine. Add extra water if the batter appears too thick.
* Finally add in the baking soda and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle white sesame seeds evenly over the top of the batter.
* Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
* Remove from the oven and let cool a bit before slicing.

It goes to Bakeathon event.


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Blackberry Cobbler

Call me weird but I don't like to eat berries unless they are in some form of a baked dish. Strawberries are an exception though. My share of sweet blackberries were lying in the refrigerator and a one minute online search landed me at 'Food Network' site which featured this baked berry dessert recipe. It captivated my attention immediately as it is an easy breezy kind of recipe besides being made with the every day ingredients found in most of the kitchens.
 
This is not a biscuit based cobbler but the batter based one, perfect for lazy bodies like me. It is a great recipe to try when looking for ways to enjoy the summer's berry bounty. All it takes is a few minutes to mix the batter, dump the berries and stick it in the oven. In case if you don't have berries on hand, other fruits such as peaches, apples and others will work fine. This is a no fuss dessert made with minimal efforts and great results. One ends up with a beautiful cake like consistency at the bottom and slightly crispy top with fruit embedded in between. A perfect dessert to prepare on a lazy day. I had to scale down the recipe since I didn't have the required amount of berries on hand. 

Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 cup self raising flour or 1 cup all purpose flour + 1.5 tsp. baking powder + 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup + 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar (divided)
1 cup milk (Non-dairy milk can be substituted.)
1/2 stick or 1/4 cup butter, melted + extra for greasing the pan
2 cups fresh blackberries (Frozen ones can be substituted.)

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 3 quart baking dish with butter.
* Rinse the berries and pat them dry.
* Whisk self rising flour, 1 cup sugar and milk in a mixing bowl. Add melted butter next and whisk to combine.
* Pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle the berries uniformly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup sugar over the berries.
* Bake until bubbly and golden brown, about an hour. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp. sugar when 10 minutes of the baking time remains.
* Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

It goes to Bakeathon  and Blogging Marathon #95 under the theme 'Meal Time Dishes' events.



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Mixed Millet and Lentil Kadambam

This dish is one of my favorite one pot meals and gets made very frequently in my kitchen. At least twice a week, I should say. Kadambam is a flavorful, spicy and wholesome meal from Tamilnadu, prepared with a medley rice, lentils and vegetables. When I started to incorporate millets into our diet, the first thing I did was converting all one pot rice meals that were being cooked in my kitchen to millet based dishes. No surprise, this one among those is being made again and again for the ease and comfort apart from it being a tasty meal on it's own. 

The kadambam can be cooked with a single variety millet and pigeon peas. This can be pressure cooked for a quicker version and I do so when I am using toor dal aka pigeon peas to cook it faster. I choose to go with masoor dal if I am cooking in a pot over stove-top since the dal cooks in around 20 minutes. The same time it takes for the millet and the vegetables to cook. This dish takes around 30 minutes to go from stove to plate even if pressure cooker is not used.

In this recipe I used a combination of millets and lentils. I used proso millet, barnyard millet and kodo millet. I used toor dal (pigeon peas), moong dal (yellow lentils) and masoor dal (red lentils). Any combination of vegetables that hold shape while pressure cooked can be used here. Sometimes I add a bit of jaggery too to the kadambam. The sambhar powder, tamarind and chili powder quantities I mentioned below can be taken as guidelines since the potency varies from one variety to another one when it comes to those ingredients and we eat somewhat on the spicier side. Taste and adjust the quantities according to one's preferences.

Ingredients: (4 servings)
1/2 cup mixed millets
1/2 cup mixed lentils
1/4 cup peanuts (optional)
1 onion, peeled and diced (optional) 
2 tomatoes, chopped 
3 cups chopped mixed vegetables (1 used 1 big sized potato - cubed, 2 carrots - peeled and cubed, 20 green beans - cut into 1 inch pieces and peas. Vegetables like drumsticks, brinjals can also be used.)
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste (I used about 1.5 tsp. salt.)
1 to 2 tbsp. sambhar powder (The quantity depends upon how spicy and strongly flavored the sambhar powder is. I used homemade sambhar powder.)
About 2 tbsp. thickly extracted fresh tamarind puree
2 tsp. mild chili powder
2 tbsp. ghee and/or oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds (optional)
10 - 15 curry leaves
 2 pinches of asafoetida powder

Directions:
* Wash lentils and millets in two exchanges of water and drain. Add millets, lentils, peanuts, vegetables, turmeric powder and 2 cups of water to a 3 ltr. pressure cooker directly or to a container that fits into a big pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 3 whistles and turn off the stove.
* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid and add salt, sambhar powder, tamarind puree, chili powder and 3 cups of water to the millet - lentil mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasonings if preferred. Also add water if it appears too thick. Please note that the kadambam thickens once it cools down.
* If using a pot to cook kadambam, follow the same procedure but keep adding the water as needed.   
* Heat ghee / oil in a small pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. When mustard seeds start to sizzle and pop, add curry leaves and asafoetida to the pan and turn off the stove. Add it to the kadambam and stir well to combine.
* Serve warm with papad / chips.
 
This post goes to Blogging marathon and check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Eggless Applesauce - Oatmeal Bread

This applesauce based bread is one delicious, moist and flavor filled one that can be served as a breakfast or brunch item or even as a dessert if you ask me. Even after cutting the sugar by half from the original recipe, this quick bread tastes really awesome and is filled with the goodness of oats, wheat, apple, dry fruits and nuts. I got to clear one more bookmarked recipe from KAF with this bread and it was rich and yummy even after making substitutions and omissions to suit my preferences. 

Ingredients:
2 flax eggs*
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole white wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon*
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup sugar*
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1.5 tsp. vanilla or boiled cider
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce* 
1/2 cup chopped walnuts*

* The changes I made:
I substituted eggs with flax eggs. 
The original recipe used a cup of sugar. I used half of it and it was still perfectly on the sweet side.
I substituted all purpose flour for wheat flour.
The original recipe has 1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg as well which I left out.
I used homemade applesauce that was prepared with about 3 apples and increased it's quantity from 3/4 to 1 cup.
I added  sweetened dried cranberries and raisins along with walnuts.


Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Lightly grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. (The specified loaf pan is bigger for this bread and the loaf filled about 2/3rd of the pan.)
* Combine 2 tbsp. flaxmeal and 6 tbsp. warm water in a mixing bowl and keep it aside for about five minutes. Then add sugar, oil and vanilla to the flax eggs and mix well.
* Combine flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder. cinnamon, all spice, and nutmeg (if using) in another bowl. 
* Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix in the rolled oats, applesauce and walnuts. 
* Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake it until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes.
* Remove the bread from the oven and let cool.
* The bread can be stored well wrapped at room temperature for few days or can be frozen for later use.

It goes to Bakeathon  and Blogging Marathon events.


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Eggless Zucchini Cranberry Scones

 
These zucchini based scones are inspired from KAF website and can be a great addition to your tea time / breakfast / brunch table. They are quite easy to make and quick to put together like any other scone recipe and a good one to try when one needs to put that zucchini in surplus to use. Zucchini adds moisture to the otherwise dry dough and the cranberries add a pop of color along with that welcoming sweet - tart flavor. The recipe yields tender and flavorful scones. Double the recipe for big sized scones or make rounds using tablespoon scoop if smaller scones are preferred. The smaller scones may take less baking time and check them around 12 to 15 minutes into baking.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 flax egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 to 4 tbsp. milk (I added 1/4 cup.)


Preparation:
* Combine 1 tbsp. flaxseed meal and 3 tbsp. water in a small bowl and keep aside.
* Peel and grate zucchini.
* (I usually) Freeze the required amount of butter beforehand and then grate it while mixing the ingredients. If not using the frozen butter, cut the cold butter until it's the size of peas.

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F / 200 deg C. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a greased aluminum foil or grease the moulds of a scone pan.
* Whisk together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter that is grated or cut into small bits and stir in the dried cranberries. Next add the zucchini and the lemon zest but don't stir them yet.
* Whisk the flax egg, vanilla and milk in another small bowl. Add it to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough is moistened. The dough will appear quite dry at first but zucchini will start to release water as you keep stirring.
* Stop stirring when the dough starts to hold together. Scoop it onto the prepared baking sheet and gently pat it into a circle of about 1/2 inch thick or scoop into the greased wells of a scone pan.
* Cut the dough into 8 wedges. 
* Bake the scones until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, about 22 to 25 minutes. 
* Remove the scones from the oven and serve them warm. 

These scones go to Bakeathon event. 


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Oat - Beet - Carrot Brownies

The beet - spinach brownie from Jessica Seinfeld's 'Deceptively Delicious' cookbook has been doing rounds over the internet for years now and I have been eyeing them for quite sometime. These brownies are made with a healthy twist without compromising the texture or the flavor. They are made with oat flour sneaking in veggies for added nutrition. One can never notice or taste the vegetable flavors in the brownies. The final brownies are moist with slightly dense texture. My daughter was surprised to see the red puree while mixing and asked me whether beets were being added. She licked the spoon and the residue batter from the mixing bowl and told me that the batter tasted yummy. Without any prompts, she told me that the brownies are so good that she could not find any difference between the regular and the beet version ones and she couldn't even taste or smell the beets / carrots.
I substituted carrot for spinach since I wasn't feeling that adventurous. However only beet or carrot puree can be used in the recipe. I replaced the egg whites with apple sauce after seeing Madhuram's recipe. However you can just replace it with some more beet or carrot puree instead. I peeled, chopped,  pressure cooked beets and carrots and then pureed them in a food processor. I prepared my own apple sauce as well. I just peeled, chopped and microwaved an apple and pureed it. I ground oats finely and sieved it to get oat flour. All purpose flour can be substituted instead of oat flour. Skip salt and baking powder from the recipe if using self raising flour instead. I used dark chocolate and so my brownies were not overtly sweet and they were good served with ice cream.

Ingredients:
3 oz. semi sweet or sweet chocolate (I used dark from Ghiradelli.)
2 tbsp. butter / margarine spread / oil
2 tsp. vanilla essence
1/2 cup cooked beetroot puree
1/2 cup cooked carrot puree
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup oat flour 
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 8 inch square pan.
* Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven in a medium sized microwave safe mixing bowl, taking care to check at 30 second intervals so that it doesn't burn.
* Add butter if using to the same bowl and mix. The butter will melt because of the hot chocolate. Add vanilla essence, vegetable and apple purees, sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl and whisk well.
* Next stir in the oat flour, baking powder, salt and walnuts.
* Pour the prepared batter into the prepared oven and bake it for about 35 to 40 minutes. It should spring back when touched. Mine was done in about 35 minutes. (And it doesn't raise much. It came only up to half of my 8 inch square pan.)
* Let it cool on a wire rack and then cut into squares.

It goes to Bakeathon  and BM - 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Vidyha this month with 'Vegetables sneaked in' theme.


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Millet Tomato Uthappam / Spicy Indian Millet Pancakes

I came across a quick version uthappam with a twist on a Telugu cooking show and tried them, choosing to replace the rice in the recipe with millet. The uthappams on the show were prepared using a 'grind but no ferment' kind of batter. I have tried both that instant and fermented batter versions and I definitely prefer the texture of the uthappams prepared using fermented batter. One can add tomatoes and coconut to the batter while grinding if choosing not to ferment the batter. They can be ground and added to the batter just before making uthappam if you are going to ferment the batter. If you have anyone at home (like my daughter) who prefers not to see veggies on their uthappams, then grind carrot, onion and green chillies (if using) along with tomatoes and coconut and add to the batter. Vegetables and some extra nutrition can be sneaked in that way.

Ingredients: (Yield 15 uthappam)
1 cup millet
1/2 cup urad dal / skinned black gram
Salt to taste
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut (optional)
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. chopped ginger
2 finely chopped green chillies (Skip of serving kids)
1 chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and grated
Cilantro
Oil to make uthappam

Directions:
* Soak millet and urad dal in water for about 3 hours. Rinse and drain the water. Grind them together adding salt to a thick, fine batter, adding about 1/2 cup water. (Midway, add tomato pieces and coconut to the batter and grind if choosing not to ferment the batter.)
* Allow the batter to sit and ferment overnight. Add tomatoes and coconut to the batter and grind fine just before making uthappams.  
* Heat a griddle / rimless pan. Pour about 1/4 cup batter and spread just enough to make a circle, keeping it thick. Immediately sprinkle onion, carrot, green chillies, ginger, cumin and cilantro over the dosa. Pour 1/4 tsp. oil around the edges. Cook until the bottom side is cooked and the top starts to appear dry, about 30 - 40 seconds. Flip and spread oil around the edges again, only if preferred. Cook until the bottom side cooks well, about 30 seconds or so. Remove the uthappam and transfer onto a plate. 
* Repeat the uthappam making steps with the remaining batter. Serve them warm with some spicy chutney.

 

This post goes to Blogging marathon and check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking. It is posted for 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Vidyha this month with 'Vegetables sneaked in' theme.

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Eggless Carrot - Ginger Muffins

I was on a blogging hiatus again as I wasn't faring well this past month. What I assumed to be a slight reaction to something I ate tuned out be a case of hives and a viral infection that put me in bed for two weeks. Ironically, it took me another additional week or so of medication for the lingering effect of high doses of pain and allergy medications that I had consumed earlier to go away. Hopefully I am back and won't be on anymore blogging breaks until at least summer time. :)😌

I had signed up previously for blogging marathon and Bakeathon events for this month, not knowing how unprepared I was going to be for both the events. These muffins which I came across at  KAF site suited my purpose well for today as they involve baking (for bakeathon event) and have a vegetable sneaked in (for 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Vidyha this month with 'Vegetables sneaked in' theme). These muffins are really good according to my teenager though I wasn't that much sold as I usually do with KAF recipes though I could not pinpoint why. It maybe just because that I am not a fan of cinnamon flavor or partially maybe I deviated from the original recipe owing to the ingredients I didn't have on hand.

I had run out of wheat flour and used all purpose flour which shouldn't be a problem as such but one of the reviewers was mentioning that the all purpose flour one was a dud compared to the wheat flour version. I used about 1/2 tsp. ground ginger as I didn't have crystallized ginger. I added an egg substitute instead of an egg and threw in some sweetened, dried cranberries into the mix. I ended up adding a few tbsp. of extra liquid as my muffin batter appeared dry and also I had to bake a few extra minutes than the time mentioned originally. 

Ingredients: (Yield 9 medium sized muffins)
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. white wheat flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup golden flax meal
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 - 3 tbsp. sweetened crystallized ginger
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
1 egg substitute
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup grated carrot
2 tbsp. raisins / sweetened cranberries (optional)

Directions:
* Combine all the dry ingredients including ginger in a mixing bowl. Whisk together egg substitute, buttermilk and oil in another small bowl. 
* Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in the carrot and raisins if using. 
* Grease a muffin pan or add liners to muffin cups. Scoop in muffin batter, filling each cup almost full. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. 
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F while the batter is resting. 
* Place the muffin pan in the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. 



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Dutch Hagelslag & Bread

Here is a quick breakfast / treat from Netherlands with hagelslag aka a 'hailstorm' of Dutch sprinkles on buttered bread. I have been making these sprinkles n' bread for my daughter ever since I came across the Australian version, fairy bread. While fairy bread is considered a kids' treat, this bread with hagelsag is commonly eaten in Netherlands by all ages and is a popular one. Dutch hagelsag (sprinkles) were invented in 1936 by a Dutch company named Venz which became popular because of it. They created the first machine to produce the tiny cylindrical shaped treats and named them after their resemblance to a local weather phenomenon of hail. All sprinkles seem to not qualify for being called hagelsag. Only those sprinkles with cacao percentage of more 32% can bear the name chocolade hagelslag. Nowadays hagelslag comes in all shapes, sizes and flavors. 

A good quality chocolate sprinkles should do for those who don't have access to the original deal. All one needs to make this treat are some bread slices, good quality butter and sprinkles. One can use the white bread or the brown one. (They can be toasted if preferred.) Slather the bread slices with softened butter generously and sprinkle on hagelslag. 

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