Tag Archives: chocolate chips

Mar17

Loving the Looneyspoons Loaf

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Pumpkin, Banana, Zucchini, Walnut, Chocolate Chip Bread

Pumpkin, banana, zucchini, walnuts, chocolate chips…yum.  There is a lot of stuff in this recipe from Janet & Greta Podleski.  The “Loaf of Your Life” recipe was in the original Looneyspoons cookbook, but the authors sent out a new and improved (and even healthier) version in the March 2012 issue of their Recipe Newsletter.

I made this bread with my daughter Samantha, and it was great to see her fascination with grating the zucchini after telling me how “gross” it was when we picked it up at the grocery store.  Of course, once baked into this delicious bread, she had no further issues with the zucchini.  There is hope.

 

 

Pumpkin-Banana-Zucchini Loaf with Flax & Walnuts (adapted from Janet & Greta Podleski’s March 2012 Recipe Newsletter)

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup each whole-wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

1 cup grated packed zucchini, unpeeled

1/2 cup low-fat greek yogurt (I used fat-free Fage)

1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used 1/4 cup and sprinkled on half of the loaf)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.  Don’t use a 8×4 pan.  Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.  In a large bowl, whisk together wet ingredients through egg until well blended.  Add dry ingredients and mix using a wooden spoon just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan.  Bake on middle oven rack for 50 to 60 minutes (my oven needed 60 minutes), or until wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Wrap leftovers well and store in fridge for up to 5 days; can also be frozen.

Feb27

That Sweet Salty Thing

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Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, & Chocolate Chip Cookies

As if I didn’t already have enough cookies around (with 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies at my front door waiting to be sold), I decided I wanted to bake a couple dozen more.  My daughter Samantha had a friend over for a play date, so I’ll use that as my excuse for needing to bake cookies.  I have a long-standing love affair with homemade peanut butter cookies, so this Looneyspoons recipe by Janet & Greta Podleski had been calling my name for some time.  It is very simple to throw together, and the saltiness combined with the chocolate chips is totally addictive.  But with oats, peanut butter, and whole-wheat flour (in my version), it’s a relatively healthier cookie.  Oh, Samantha and her friend liked them too.

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, & Chocolate Chip Cookies (Adapted from Janet & Greta Podleski’s Looneyspoons Collection recipe, “Cookies for Rookies”):

1 1/4 cups flour (I used 3/4 cup all-purpose and 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour)

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup peanut butter (the recipe recommends light, but I used regular peanut butter)

1 egg

1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, baking soda, and salt.  In another medium bowl, beat together brown sugar, butter, peanut butter, and egg on low speed of electric mixer until well blended.  Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips and mix well using a wooden spoon.  Dough will be stiff.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Using a fork dipped in flour, flatten cookies to 1/4 inch thickness.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Remove from tray immediately and cool on wire racks.  Makes 24 cookies.

Jan21

Pumpkin and Spice and Everything Nice

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I’ve been baking with vegetables again.  This Pumpkin and Spice and Everything Nice muffin recipe is from “The Looneyspoons Collection” cookbook my husband gave me for Christmas.  The authors, Janet & Greta Podleski, are Canadian sisters with a bunch of fun cookbooks, and it’s safe to say that most of the cooking I attempted in my early 20s came from the original “Looneyspoons” cookbook (the only cookbook I owned).  The book has improved from 15 years ago and I’m happy to report that my cooking has too.

These muffins turned out beautifully — filled with pumpkin, carrot, chocolate chips, and LOTS of pumpkin pie spice.  The house smells fantastic.  This recipe uses maple syrup instead of sugar for sweetness, which goes so well with the pumpkin.  I substituted 1/4 cup of wheat germ for 1/4 cup of the flour to bump up the health factor even more.  I also put walnuts on top of half the muffins instead of mixing them in, to ensure harmony in the household come breakfast-time.