Blueberry Coconut Macadamia Muffins

Goodness gracious, are these muffins delicious!  They're packed with lots of different flavors that blend very nicely into a moist, crunchy but yet soft, delicious muffin.  I found the recipe on EatingWell.com, through a google search looking for healthy but yet delicious brunch-type items.  I gave this recipe a try last night and on all accounts, it is a fabulous recipe.  I didn't have any problems with the batter, not baking time.  The only problem I had was waiting the suggested time after they came out of the oven.  I still burned my mouth a little because I couldn't wait, but it was definitely worth it!

Topping
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut
2 Tbl. flour
2 Tbl. brown sugar
2 Tbl. chopped macadamia nuts
1 Tbl. oil

Muffin
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 Tbl. chopped macadamia nuts
1 Tbl. canola oil
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 c. nonfat buttermilk
2 Tbl. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. coconut or vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen (though not thawed) blueberries

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  I used baking liner cups and sprayed them with spray.
2.  Combine all topping ingredients and set aside.
3.  Mix together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
4.  Whisk brown sugar, oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk and extract in a (different) medium bowl until well combined.
5.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
6.  Add blueberries and remaining macadamia nuts, stir just to combine.
7.  Divide batter among the muffin cups (about 1/4 c. of batter per muffin).  Sprinkle and gently press the topping on the tops of the muffins (about 1 tsp. per muffin).
8.  Bake muffins about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts (per muffin)
calories: 204
total fat: 8.8g
sat. fat: 2.6g
cholest.: 23mg
sodium: 44mg
carb.: 28.9g
fiber: 1.8g
sugar: 13g
protein: 4g

Turkish Baklava

I made this recipe for the Bethlehem Dinner we had with Zak's family in Connecticut.  I was pretty nervous because I had never made baklava and while I've cooked for his family, it's always been recipes I've made before.  But I am super proud to say that this turned out very well!  Next time we will be sure to add pistachios and raisins and to work on letting it sit to soak up the syrup for a longer period.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it did require some skill.  Zak was a great helper with assembling it and I plan on making this again for our friends.

Filling
2 c. (8 oz.) finely chopped almonds
1 c. (4 oz.) finely chopped walnuts
1/4 c. caster (superfine) sugar (used regular sugar)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
Syrup
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 stick cinnamon
1 Tbl. lemon juice
Cover
12 oz. packet filo pastry, thawed
melted butter

1.  Place all filling ingredients in a bowl, combine until well blended.
2.  Place syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Simmer for 10 minutes and leave to cool.
3.  Brush a 9" x 13" baking dish with butter.  Add 10 sheets of filo, brushing each with butter before placing on top of the other.
4.  Spread the filling evenly in the dish.
5.  Add 10 - 12 sheets of filo, brushing each with butter as needed.  Be sure to press down on the layers to get it soaked in well.
6.  With a large knife, score the top into large diamond shapes.
7.  Bake in oven preheated to 325 degrees for 1 hour or until top turns slightly brown.
8.  Remove from oven and slowly pour the syrup over the top.
9.  The most difficult part: letting it sit for at least 5 - 6 hours before serving.

right after pouring syrup on, don't have any of it after

Spinach Salad

I have been on a big spinach salad kick lately.  I have never been a big salad eater, but I adore this salad.  It might just be because there are other tasty things in it rather than raw vegetables, which aren't my favorite.  But I'm trying to eat better and this is one of the salads I take to work with me (sometimes I'll take a chicken Caesar salad).  And this salad, with dressing, is about 350 calories, which is great!  I have a food scale that I love, so I will list the gram/oz measurement as well as a normal measurement of each ingredient.

2 c. (38g) spinach
5-6 (1.45 oz.) cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 (30 g) dried cranberries/craisins
2 1/2 Tbl. (21 g) walnut pieces
2 Tbl. (21 g) crumbled feta cheese
1 tsp. sunflower seed kernels
2 Tbl. (28g) Annie's Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette

everything you need

all ready for work tomorrow!

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

I made this recipe last night and it was a pretty simple recipe, and it smelled so good while it was cooking!  In the future, I think I'll add a little bit of salt to the chicken, because it needed just a touch.  But overall, a great recipe and will be rotated into our food menu.

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thigh or breast tenders (I used about 26 oz. and cut them up so there were 18 pieces)
1/4. flour
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbl. canola oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbl. rice vinegar
2 Tbl. ketchup
1 Tbl. brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. cashews

1.  Combine flour and pepper in resealable ziplock bag.  Add chicken and shake to coat.
2.  Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  Brown chicken pieces about 2 minutes on each side.  Place in slow cooker.
3.  Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger & pepper flakes in a small bowl; pour oven chicken.
4.  Cook on low for 3 - 4 hours, turning chicken over once, after 2 hours.
5.  Add cashews and stir; serve over rice.

all ready to eat

side picture

Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 8
amount per serving

Calories: 195.3
Total Fat: 6.9 g
Saturated Fat: 1.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 3.6 g
Cholesterol: 53.4 mg
Sodium: 612.2 mg
Potassium: 312.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 9.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Sugar: 3.9 g
Protein: 23.5 g
Vitamin A: 0.4 %
Vitamin C: 2 %
Calcium: 1.9 %
Iron: 8.6 % 

Hazelnut Toffee Crunch

So I made this on a whim, because I had leftover hazelnuts from attempting to make hazelnut coffee creamer for Zak.  I'm debating to post that recipe, because I wasn't too thrilled with the result, but Zak was impressed and liked it, so there you go.  Anyways, I wanted to find another use for the hazelnuts because I spent like, 1 1/2 hours toasting them and rubbing the stupid skins off of them.  This time I went with this recipe; but I did find a recipe for homemade Nutella, and that might become a reality soon.  But anyways, I made this toffee, and it was my first time making a candy that needed a candy thermometer, but it turns out that my meat thermometer was a decent substitute.  I took a bunch over to our friends' house, and they raved about it, so that made me feel better about a recipe I wasn't 100% on!

1 1/2 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. hazelnuts, chopped
2 Tbl. light corn syrup

1.  Toast hazelnuts in a single layer at 275 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes, until skin starts to crack and turn golden brown.  To remove skins, pour hot nuts in a damp towel, wrap up and let steam for about 5 minutes.  Rub skins off with towel until most of the skins have been removed.  This website & this one was helpful.
2.  Once hazelnuts have been skinned and chopped, line 9x9" or 8x8" pan with aluminum foil extending up the sides.
3.  Melt chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Set aside in fridge until chocolate has cooled a little.
4.  In a small saucepan, combine butter, chopped nuts, sugar and corn syrup.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly until butter melts.  Heat the mixture to between 250 - 265 degrees F; it will start to bubble a lot.
5.  Pour candy mixture over cooled chocolate and spread evenly.  Return to fridge to cool.  When cooled completely, break into bite-sized pieces; I got about 64 pieces out of this recipe.  Store in an airtight container.

after two hours in the fridge

yum!

another shot

Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 64
amount per serving

Calories: 58.2
Total Fat: 4.3 g
Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 4.7 mg
Sodium: 14.3 mg
Potassium: 34.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 4.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Sugar: 2.2 g
Protein: 0.7 g
Vitamin A: 1.1 %
Vitamin C: 0.3 %
Calcium: 1.1 %
Iron: 1 %

Kung-Pao Chicken

I found this recipe on a cute blog, called Six Sisters' Stuff, and decided it would be worth a try.  It's entitled '500 Calorie Kung Pao Chickn' and thought it'd be fitting because we are trying to watch our caloric intake AND we love Chinese food.  But Chinese food isn't known to be super healthy!  So anyways, I made this is and it's delicious.  The chicken's so tender and I love the bites with cashews in it.  I decided to sub in cashews for the peanuts the original recipe called for, mostly because we love cashews more and also because we didn't have peanuts.  I used a package of frozen vegetables called "Asian Medley", that had carrots, broccoli, snap peas and baby corn in place of the snow peas.  I think I'll use a little bit more next time, because they were so good in it!  Also, the sauce was pretty hot with just 1/2 tsp. of the red pepper flakes, so I am sure I'll go a little easier on those next time.  But this recipe is awesome and I am so so so happy with it!

2 Tbl. dark sesame oil (I used toasted sesame oil and it was just fine; the original recipe subbed olive oil)
1 c. chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 c. water
3 Tbl. low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 c. vegetable medley/snow peas/sugar snap peas
2 Tbl. chopped unsalted, dry-roasted cashews/peanuts

1.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion to pan, saute for 3 minutes or until tender.
2.  Add garlic and saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add chicken, saute 3 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle.
3.  Combine water, soy sauce, cornstarch, brown sugar & red pepper flakes and stir until sugar dissolves.  Add to pan and bring to a boil.
4.  Add vegetables and cook for 2 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender and sauce has thickened.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Perfect with 1/2 - 3/4 c. rice in a bowl.  It makes 4 servings, at 250 calories per serving (excluding rice).

it smells so good!

nom nom nom

Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 4
amount per serving

Calories: 249.7
Total Fat: 10.8 g
Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 4.2 g
Cholesterol: 65.7 mg
Sodium: 830.2 mg
Potassium: 413.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
Sugar: 2.2 g
Protein: 28.7 g
Vitamin A: 4.2 %
Vitamin C: 14 %
Calcium: 4 %
Iron: 8.5 %

Won Ton Skins Salad

This is one of my absolute favorite meals. I request it every time I go home, because I don't have a deep fryer to fry the won ton skins. We even had it at our reception, and it was a hit. I was talking to my mom awhile ago about maybe having this when we were home for Kenny's homecoming, and she told me they've tried something new with the salad: instead of getting out the deep fryer and frying up the won ton skins (a big task in it of itself), she's replaced the won tons with crispy chow mein noodles and won ton skin salad toppers. I was a bit hesitant at first, but we had it in CA and I was convinced it was delicious, a decent replacement, and that I could make the salad myself now!

So yesterday I decided to go for it, and it was pretty much perfect, and just what I wanted. The only problem is, I ate two huge bowls, and probably could've gone for a third. It is so yummy and easy to eat. And it's even delicious the next day (some family members argue it's the best the next day, I prefer it the first day, because I love the crispy won tons, but I will eat it any way possible).

The following recipe is what is in our family cookbook. This easily makes 8 bowls' worth, and was plenty for us (and leftovers, yay!). So there are 'measurements' for some of the ingredients, but you can add or subtract amounts of most anything for this. I toned down the almonds, because I tried toasting them on the stove and ended up burning the majority of them. And I really like the mandarin oranges, so I might add some more next time. Anyways, this salad is the best and I will eat it all summer long!

Salad

~2 c. cooked chicken (I probably used 12 - 16 oz, didn't measure, just did it)

1 head lettuce (or romaine, or a mix of iceberg, romaine, green leaf)

4 green onions

1/2 c. - 1 c. crispy chow mein noodles (eyeball it)

1 small bag won ton skins salad toppers (found near croutons and salad ingredients in Safeway)

4 Tbl. slivered almonds (can be toasted for optional/optimum flavor)

2 Tbl. sesame seeds (same goes)

1 can mandarin oranges

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, cook and set aside.

2. Tear/cut lettuce, slice green onions and toss.

3. Add rest of ingredients, dressing and toss.

4. It's often best when it's chilled a little, so if you can resist, chill salad at least 20 minutes before serving.

Dressing (mix all ingredients, make ahead of time and chill well)

2 Tbl. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 c. oil

1/2 - 1 tsp. accent seasoning (optional)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbl. unseasoned rice vinegar

Nutella Cookies

My family told me they had this recipe for Nutella cookies awhile ago. At first, I was a bit hesitant, because I was unsure of how Nutella would translate in cookie form. They even sent some cookies up when my sister came to visit. I wasn't crazy about them; they tasted more like chocolate in my opinion. But I reasoned that maybe I would like them better if they were super fresh, right from the oven. Then I realized that my parents had given us 2 two-packs of big jars of Nutella, and we had barely gone through one in the past year. So I decided to make these cookies; I had Nutella to spare! This was a classic example of mistaking first impressions, because these cookies were amazing. And they tasted like Nutella, which is what I wanted. They are just yummy; Zak had more than he should've yesterday when I brought some to his work. However, this recipe makes a lot of cookies; probably about 4 dozen. I had a friend over and made her take a ton of them; I gave away at least a dozen, and frozen a fair amount of them as well. But it's worth it, Nutella cookies = brilliant. Enjoy these with a cold glass of milk, mmm.

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. packed dark brown sugar (we used light, and they were just fine)

1 c. white sugar

26 oz. Nutella (one large jar)

1 c. chopped hazelnuts (did not use this time [my dad's not a nut person, so I'm always hesitant about putting them in cookies, etc.], but I think they'd be great with them!)

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

2. In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.

3. Mix in Nutella (do not heat it in order to make it easier; it takes some time and it is messy, but heating it will ruin everything (not from experience, just know that)), beat until all incorporated.

4. Add in chopped hazelnuts if you're going that route, then eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Mix well.

5. Add in flour slowly and/or in three stages, making sure after every addition that it's mixed in well.

6. Chill dough while oven preheats to 350 degrees. Scoop dough into balls and cook for about 10 minutes.

we had enough leftover dough for about 4 cookies, so instead, we just made a giant one

yum!

Chinese Sundaes / Hawaiian Haystacks

This is a family tradition. We often have it a few times a year, but the most memorable time is at the beach. My family has been going to the same motel, on the same beach, since my dad was a baby. It is one of my favorite places to be! My mom almost always makes this meal for the family, which has now grown to at least 30 of us. It's an ordeal, but it's tradition, too. Zak was wary of this, when I first talked about making it a few years ago. He was hesitant, but being the trusting guy in his woman's cooking that he is, ventured forth and came out a fan. Now every time I mention I'm making Chinese Sundaes, he gets all excited. They are that good. And we don't call them Hawaiian Haystacks, but I guess some people do, so whatever floats your boat. It's a simple meal to throw together, the only thing that takes time and a recipe is the chicken gravy, oh man. It's hard to not dump it all on your sundae because it's so good. Mmm. Well, I'll post the 'order' of the sundaes, as well as the chicken gravy recipe. Enjoy!

1. Rice

2. Chow Mein Noodles (crunchy)

3. Chicken (diced, cooked)

4. Chicken Gravy

5. Tomato (diced)

6. Celery (diced)

7. Cheese (grated)

8. Gravy again (optional, but if you're feeling indulgent, go for it)

9. Crushed Pineapple

10. Green Onion

11. Sliced Almonds

12. Coconut

13. Cherry

the perfect sundae (without celery)

Chicken Gravy

6 Tbl. butter

6 Tbl. flour

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1 c. milk

salt & pepper to taste

*our microwave is crazy powerful, so I usually cook the recipe starting around 50 or 60% power, working my way up and checking often, so it doesn't overflow*

1. Melt butter for about 1 1/2 minutes.

2. Once butter is melted, whisk in flour; cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, or until bubbly and thicker.

3. Add in liquids, slowly and whisking as you go. Once all the liquids have been added, microwave for 3 minutes.

4. Whisk, cook 2 minutes.

5. Whisk, cook 1 1/2 minutes.

6. Repeat until sauce is fairly thick, or until however thick you want it to be. Salt & pepper to taste.

(this recipe makes about 3 cups)

everything all laid out

close-up

Chicken Salad Croissants

I don't know why I haven't posted this yet, because it is one of our favorites! It's so simple and very tasty, and you will always want extras. It's always sad when it's all gone. Zak and I both like our croissants with both the sprouts and cashews; the sprouts give it a good 'earthy' taste, and the cashews are a wonderful salty counterpart to the sweet of the apples. I made these last night and we devoured them. Guess I'll need to get some more croissants to make another batch-gotta use all those sprouts and cashews up, right? Enjoy!

4 large croissants

2 c. cooked, diced chicken (about 2 half breasts; last night I used about 12 oz., which was plenty)

about 1/2 c. mayo

1/4 c. chopped cashews (I don't know about this amount; since we have Winco, I just go get a small bulk bag of nuts, no idea how much I got, so just eyeball it)

1 small box alfalfa sprouts

1/2. apple (usually a whole apple, depending on size-in my opinion, more apple won't hurt anyone!)

1/2 c. chopped/diced celery (about 1 stalk; we're not big celery people, so I use probably less than this amount)

8 oz. whipped cream cheese, softened a little

1 head leaf lettuce (optional)

salt & pepper to taste

1. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, celery and apple.

2. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper (to taste) and toss together lightly. Cover and chill.

3. Spread cream cheese on each slice of croissant. Place lettuce leaf (optional, I haven't tried it with lettuce yet) and some sprouts on each croissants.

4. Spoon chicken salad over lettuce and sprinkle with cashews.

I usually lightly cream cheese both sides of a croissant, place a sufficient amount of sprouts of the top half, and a handful of nuts on the bottom half.

Lemon Cheesecake Cookie Bars

So I found this recipe on some site, and decided to make them because I had a lot of cream cheese sitting around. And cream cheese is my favorite dessert component of all time (sorry, chocolate), so I figured, why not? The original recipe didn't call for so much lemon/lime, but I wanted to use up the ones in the fridge. Plus, I know Zak likes citrus flavors. Oh, and I added in raspberries from the freezer to balance out the citrus zing.

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup melted butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
5 -6 Tbl. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbl. fresh lime juice
1 - 2 Tbl. grated lemon zest
1/2 Tbl. grated lime zest
10 or so raspberries
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix brown sugar, nuts & flour together.
2. Stir in the butter and work until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture for the topping; press the rest firmly into the bottom of an 8x8" pan.
3. Bake at 350° for 12 - 15 minutes; leave oven on.
4. While crust is baking, cream the cream cheese and sugar together.
5. Add the egg, lemon & lime juices, milk, vanilla, zests, vanilla. Beat thoroughly. Add raspberries (if desired), beat thoroughly. Pour over baked crust
6. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over top of cream cheese mixture; bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Makes 16 2" cookie bars.

Banana Nut Muffins

I found this recipe online and decided to give it a try, since we had a ton of bananas about to go bad. They were easy to make and very yummy! I froze some, I hope they freeze well! I've been playing around lately with making recipes with whole wheat flour, applesauce...so far everything I've tried has worked out, and no one even notices!

1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbl. baking powder
1/4 c. salt
3 c. mashed banana
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt (I only had vanilla at the time, still worked fine)
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 -2 dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin pan.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together banana, sugar, egg and vanilla.
4. Stir in the yogurt.
5. Add banana yogurt mixture to flour, stir until just combined.
6. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool before serving.
Makes 24 muffins.

Granola Bar - take 2

Here is the recipe for the second granola bar recipe I tried. I'm not sure if I like this one more, or the first recipe. They are both pretty tasty. This one smelled sooo yummy while it was cooking, but I think next time I'll cook it at a lower temperature and/or less time, because the edges got a little burned.

2 c. granola cereal (I just used the granola I used in the first recipe, I don't know if it matters if it's 'cereal' or not)
4 egg whites
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. walnuts
1/4 c. cranberries
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. ground flax seeds
1 Tbl. cinnamon

1. Mix all ingredients together and press into 8"x8" baking pan.
2. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (or until golden brown, don't over-brown).

Granola Bites

The other week I got the urge to look up recipes for granola bars. We love them, but unfortunately, a lot of the ones on the market have a lot of palm/coconut oil and other unhealthy (but delicious) things. I looked for a long time and came across two recipes that sounded good.

I made this recipe last week and to a good degree of success. The few notes I have for next time include thinking of something to get the bars to stick together better (they tended to be very crumbly) and cooking it perhaps on a lower heat and/or less time. Other than that, they are very good and I will most likely make them again! I'll post the other recipe once we've tried them and determined their taste validity.

Oh, and since we have Winco nearby, this whole things cost something like $5 total to make because of their plethora of bulk food items. I probably wouldn't have made it if I had to buy individual boxes, bags of the items.

1 1/2 c. granola (I used a combination of three that we picked out-french vanilla, honey almond, apple cinnamon)
1 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 c. dried cranberries (we thought cran-raspberries would be most tasty)
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 egg whites
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbl. vegetable oil

1. Spray 8"x8" baking pan, preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine granola, oatmeal, cranberries, raisins, flour, almonds, and cinnamon in large mixing bowl.
3. In smaller bowl, lightly beat egg whites. Stir in honey, brown sugar, and oil.
4. Stir in honey mixture into dry ingredients until all is coated.
5. Press evenly into pan.
6. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown (less is more, in my opinion).
7. Let cool fully, then cut into bars and wrap up in plastic wrap or foil.

yum!

another close-up

Nutritional Facts

servings per recipe: 16

amount per serving

Calories: 185.5

Total Fat: 4.8 g

Saturated Fat: 0.5 g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.1 g

Monounsaturated Fat: 2.7 g

Cholesterol: --

Sodium: 79 mg

Potassium: 127.3 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 37.4 g

Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g

Sugar: 25.2 g

Protein: 3.5 g

Vitamin A: 5.4 %

Vitamin C: 0.4 %

Calcium: 5.1 %

Iron: 9.9 %

The Most Delicious Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

So at Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a copy of Cook's Illustrated and in this edition was a recipe for cream cheese coffee cake. I am a total sucker for cream cheese, especially in desserts. So for weeks I was lusting after this coffee cake, but with no justification to make it. A few weeks ago, I decided to just go for it because I was starting to drool each time I thought about it (yes, it was that bad). There is a whole article about why this recipe is the best, and all the tests they went through, but I'm not typing that up.

*Also, I never put two & two together until Zak did it for me last week--I've been watching America's Test Kitchen without realizing that was the t.v. show that accompanies Cooks Illustrated. Duh! I've watched a few episodes whenever I get the chance and just love the show. Someday I hope to get a magazine subscription or the cookbook or something...

Lemon Sugar-Almond Topping
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 c. sliced almonds

Cake
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
10 Tbl. (1 stick + 2 Tbl.) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 c. + 7 Tbl. sugar
1 Tbl. finely grated lemon zest
4 tsp. lemon juice
4 eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 sour cream
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together sugar & lemon zest amounts for the topping until combined and then add almonds.
3. Spray 10-in. tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in medium bowl, set aside.
5. In stand mixer, beat butter, 1 c. + 2 Tbl. sugar, and lemon zest at medium speed until light and fluffy: about 3 minutes.
6. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Remember to scrap down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula!
7. Add 4 tsp. vanilla and mix to combine. Reduce speed to low and add a third of the flour mixture. Then add half of the sour cream, mixing after each addition.
8. Repeat, using half of the remaining flour and all of the remaining sour cream. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at low speed until batter is thoroughly combined.
8. Reserve 1 1/4 c. of batter and set aside; spoon remaining batter into tube pan and smooth top.
9. Return (now-empty) bowl to mixer and beat cream cheese, remaining 5 Tbl. sugar, lemon juice, remaining tsp. vanilla on medium speed until smooth.
10. Add 1/4 c. of reserved batter and mix until incorporated.
11. Spoon cream cheese filling mixture evenly over batter, keeping filling about 1" away from sides of pan; smooth top.
12. Spread remaining cup of batter over filling and smooth top.
13. With butter knife, gently swirl filling into batter using a figure-8 motion. Firmly tap pan on counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any bubbles.
14. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter.
15. Bake until top is golden and just firm--about 45-50 minutes. Remove pan from oven & tap on counter 2 - 3 times. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 1 hour.
16. Carefully invert cake onto rimmed baking sheet, remove pan, place wire rack on top of cake and invert cake sugar-side up. Cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

*Store leftovers in the fridge, covered tightly with plastic wrap. Allow cake to return to room temperature before serving again.

Ok, I am salivating again now that I've typed up the recipe. It's not as hard as the recipe in the book seems, the worst part is waiting once it's cooked. I used my bundt pan since I am tube pan-less, and it seemed to be just fine. I also didn't use almonds, but next time I might! It was so yummy that we ate it up pretty fast.

Yum!