April 1, 2012 by Aylin - 1 Comment

Surprise Chocolate Bread Muffins

With a lot of leftover dough from yesterdayâ€™s post, I used some to make bread muffins, only with a hidden piece of dark chocolate in each one. They bake to a perfect warm and fluffy bread muffin in just under 10 minutes. The chocolate surprise keeps things interesting.

So moist and bready and delicious!

by Aylin @ Glow Kitchen

Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Keywords: dessert snack side bread vegan vegetarian chocolate whole-wheat muffin

Ingredients (Servings vary)

For the Dough

1.5 cups whole-wheat flour (give or take depending on conditions)
1.5 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt

For the Stuffing

Dark chocolate bar

Instructions

For the dough, in a large bowl, add to the lukewarm water the salt and yeast. Add the whole-wheat flour in 1/2 cup increments until the mixture thickens. You may find yourself exceeding the recommended flour amount. Feel it out.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes Â on a floured surface until it smoothens and can form a pretty little dough ball. Place into a bowl that has sides covered in olive oil (to prevent sticking), and cover with a moist towel. Store in a warm place until the dough doubles in size â€“ approximately 1 hour.

You know itâ€™s ready when you poke into the dough and the hole you create doesnâ€™t puff back up.

For the dough recipe’s pictures, check out yesterdayâ€™s post.

For the prep, fill oiled tin muffin cups halfway with dough, layer with a small piece of chocolate, and then top the chocolate with a chunk of dough to seal it off.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 8-10 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

xo Aylin

December 24, 2011 by Aylin - 0 comments

Warm Pepper Corn Bread

Open wideâ€¦

I love cornbread, although I rarely have it, since itâ€™s one of those things I only eat when other places or people make it. The best I ever had was a jalapeno corn muffin from the bread basket at Bobby Flayâ€™s Mesa Grill in New York City.

Inspired by my good olâ€™ BF, hereâ€™s the vegan (except for the above pictured butter) cornbread. Thereâ€™s no need for excuses. With the â€œveganâ€ tag or not, this stuff is good.

Pepper Cornbread

by GK

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Vegan red bell pepper and hot green pepper cornbread — moist, crisp, and best served with a slab of butter.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

2 cups corn flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups almond milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 hot green peppers, or 1 jalapeno, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Â Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First combine the corn flour, the whole-wheat flour and the baking powder in a big bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, honey and olive oil. Fold in the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Meanwhile, chop the green peppers and red bell pepper. Add them to the corn bread mixture and fold them in with salt and pepper until well combined.

Spread mixture into a baking dish as opposed to a bread pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is crispy and a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve aside chili, soup or cooked veggies. My favorite: alone with butter.

Bon Appetit!

xo Aylin

December 18, 2011 by Aylin - 0 comments

Fig Toffee Cake

Seriously.

Right now my home smells like Christmas cookie comfort, only itâ€™s not a batch of cookies that just popped out the oven.

Inspired by my forever-craving for the fig season to come back in full swingâ€”sigh, until Augustâ€”and Angelaâ€™s creation, this cake is nut-less, dairy/egg-free and made with whole-wheat flour.

It’s dense like a pie, but lighter than most pies and worthy to be called a more-than-one-piece occasion. It’s better warm, because it is softer and the scent of the cinnamon and fig is so comforting. You will absolutely love this one!

Fig Toffee Cake

Ingredients:

For Cake:

– 1 1/2 cups figs, chopped

– 1 1/2 cupsÂ almond milk

– 1 tsp baking soda

– 1/4 cup butter

– 1/4 cup brown sugar

– 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

– 2 tsp cinnamon

– dash of salt

For Syrup:

– 1/4 cup brown sugar

– 2 tbsp butter

– 1 tbsp honey

– 1 tbsp almond milk

– dash of salt

Makes 1 cake that youâ€™ll be hesitant to shareâ€¦

Directions:

Cut the figs into fourths and boil in the almond milk for 1-2 minutes, making sure not to burn. Remove the pan from the stove and add the baking soda.

Meanwhile, mix the softened butter into the brown sugar. When evenly mixed, combine with the almond milk and fig mixture. Mix until well combined.

Next add the dry ingredients until evenly distributed.

Spread evenly into a glass baking dish.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. Keep an eye out. When it is ready, it should be firm, but moist.

Prick with a fork and the pour syrup on top so that it sinks into the holes and gets into the fiber of the cake.

The syrup involves simply melting together the honey, butter, brown sugar, and almond milk in a saucepan. Do not burn!

Cut your piece and enjoy.

The first of manyâ€¦

Enjoy next to a warm glass of almond milk, spiced with some chai, vanilla or cinnamon.

Bon Appetit!

xo Aylin

August 7, 2011 by Aylin - 0 comments

Cinnamon Banana Soft-Serve Crepe

Sunday mornings arenâ€™t complete without a hearty breakfast. And it can be guiltless when using fresh, simple ingredients! Who says you canâ€™t have ice cream for breakfast?

This recipe uses a thin crepe with nothing but a few ingredients (no eggs, milk or white flour here) and brings the cinnamon flavor that Mr. Banana knows and loves too well. Banana soft serve is the easiest and most surprisingly decadent desert to have up your sleeves. Itâ€™s a crowd pleaser without the compromise in taste or texture. Together, the crepe and banana ice cream make the most satisfying and healthiest Sunday treat!

Ingredients:

– 1/2 cup of homemade banana soft serve

– 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or any flour of choice)

– 1/2 cup water

– 1 tsp honey

– 1/2 tsp cinnamon

– dash salt

– 1/2 tbsp butter

– 1 tsp honey

Serves 1-2

Directions:

Combine the flour, water, cinnamon, pinch of salt and honey.

Combine well and then spread evenly into a circular shape over melted butter in a pan on medium heat.

When cooked through, drizzle the other tsp of honey on one side of the crepe.

Have the banana ice cream ready to plop on top of the honey.

Fold.

And indulge.

Sister tested. Sister approved!

Bon appetit!

xo Aylin

June 28, 2011 by Aylin - 1 Comment

Chunky Marinara Spaghetti

Nothing like a kick-butt spaghetti with a chunky homemade tomato sauce.

This is as simple as it gets, but it still bears the density, the flavor and the comfort we all love and need.

Ingredients:

– whole-wheat/grain/etc. pasta, cooked according to instructions on package (make sure to add about 1 tbsp salt to boiling water)

– 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

– 1 large white onion, diced

– 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

– 1 tsp salt and pepper, each

– 1 heaping tbsp of tomato paste

– 2 large tomatoes, chopped (don’t drain its juices!)

– sprig of basil for garnish (I used parsley, cuz I can)

Directions:

Salt the water you plan to cook the pasta in. This is super important for flavor! I also sometimes add a good jooj of olive oil. A little trick for some even more flavor is to use garlic salt instead of normal salt.

Whole-wheat spaghetti, wassup.

Place the spaghetti in the boiling water, wait til it softens enough so you can bend it all in there. Then close the lid and when the water begins to boil, reduce the temperature to low, with the lid closed.

Now time for the chunky oh-so-delicious sauce. Chop the onions.

My garlic cloves were insanely small, so I had to use 4 or 5 where only 2 normal sized cloves would suffice. The trick with chopping garlic to a mash is to add a little salt after you chop it and begin smearing the edge of the knife back and forth over the mixture, pressing the edge of the knife against the cutting board. The salt helps release the garlic’s juices and make it more mashable.

Begin to cook the garlic and onions in 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat.

Add the salt & peppa and give a good stir.

While the onions and garlic soften to transparency, chop the tomatoes.

When the onions are transparent (this picture was taken a bit prematurely, but the onions will be a bit more obviously cooked on your end), stir in the tomato paste.

…then the tomatoes.

Let simmer on medium-low heat until the tomatoes reduce and the mixture resembles a sauce with chunky galore.

Remove the finished pasta from the hot water, drain it, rinse it to stop the cooking process, then return it to the now empty pot to warm up again before servings.