Food

Name: Crab Cake Eggs Florentine (Sous Vide)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 prepared crab cakes; 4 English muffins; Old Bay Seasoning; 4 large eggs; 1 tbs olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 4 cups baby spinach, loosely packed; kosher salt; 1 tbs apple cider vinegar; 1 tbs shallot, minced; 4 egg yolks; 2 tbs lemon juice; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 2 tbs water

Crab Cake Eggs Florentine (Sous Vide)

April 24, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

Crab Cake Eggs Florentine is a delicious, decadent, and downright fancy brunch dish. Sous vide-ing the hollandaise sauce and eggs makes things so much easier!

Even though you might not immediately know what the difference between Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine is, you’re probably familiar with both of these popular brunch dishes. They both involve a toasty English Muffin, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. Florentine has spinach instead of Canadian bacon or ham (a la Benedict). Now you know.

Both options are so good. I opted for Eggs Florentine here. That spinach means it’s healthy, right? No? Okay.

I figured that pretty much the only thing that could make this dish better is the addition of a crab cake. And don’t forget the Old Bay. I professed my deep love of Old Bay here, in this post about Air Fryer Chicken Wings.

This post contains affiliate links.

This is the first sous vide recipe on this blog!

So, what is sous vide? Sous vide means “under vacuum”. Basically what you do is place uncooked plastic pouch (and vacuum all of the air out) or maybe a glass jar and cook the food in a water bath at a precise temperature. I know, it sounds kind of weird. But if you have more questions, I suggest that you head over to the blog A Duck’s Oven. She’s an expert!

After a little hemming and hawing, I ended up getting this Anova model. I’ve been really happy with it. So far, we’ve made steaks (several times), stuffed burgers, along with the hollandaise sauce and soft poached eggs in this post.

I’m pretty excited to share this first sous vide recipe with you all. Stay tuned for more in the future!

This is a fancy looking recipe, but don’t be daunted!

I know that there are kind of a lot of steps involved in making this recipe. Despite this, all of the steps are very easy. Even the hollandaise sauce is super easy. Basically, all you do is dump the ingredients in a jar, let them cook in the water bath, and blend! Easy peasy. And honestly, the payoff at the end of this recipe is sooo worth it.

Before we get to the recipe, I need to make a couple of plugs:

The beautiful plate in these photos was made by Matt Hallyburton. Please head over to Hallyburton Pottery and check out what he has to offer!

The recipe for the sous vide hollandaise sauce comes from Chelsea over at A Duck’s Oven. Go check her blog out for lots of tasty recipes (especially those involving sous vide)!

Crab Cake Eggs Florentine (Sous Vide)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Crab Cake Eggs Florentine is a delicious, decadent, and downright fancy brunch dish. Making the hollandaise sauce and eggs using sous vide makes things so much easier!

Ingredients

Sous Vide Hollandaise Sauce

1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs shallot, minced
4 egg yolks
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs water

4 large eggs

Garlicky Spinach

1 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
kosher salt

Everything Else

4 prepared crab cakes
4 English muffins
Old Bay Seasoning

Instructions

To make the Sous Vide Hollandaise Sauce

Using your immersion circulator, preheat the water bath to 167 degrees F.
Add all of the ingredients to a wide-mouthed Mason jar. Screw the on lid to just “finger-tight.”
Once the water has preheated, add the jar. Make sure all of the ingredients are completely submerged under the water line. You might have to stack a mug or something on top of the jar to keep it from floating up and around in the water bath. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the jar from water bath. Remove the lid. Insert the immersion blender into the jar and blend until the hollandaise is smooth and thick (should take about 2 minutes).
If you'd like to thin it out a bit, you can add some water and blend again.

To make the Sous Vide Soft Poached Egg

Using a slotted spoon, gently slide the eggs into the bottom of the preheated (167 degrees F) water bath.
Allow them to cook in the water bath for 12 minutes.
Again using the slotted spoon, remove the eggs to an ice bath (to stop the cooking) for a about 1 minute.

To make the Garlicky Spinach

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat.
Add the garlic and sauté just until fragrant.
Add the baby spinach, one handful at a time (and stirring occasionally), until wilted.

Season with kosher salt, to taste.

To assemble everything

Heat the prepared crab cakes according to package directions.
Toast the English muffins and place 1/4 of the cooked spinach on the bottom half of each English muffin. Reserve the tops for sopping up the egg yolks and hollandaise.
Place a crab cake on top of the spinach.
Place one soft poached egg on top of each crab cake. To remove the eggs from their shells, you want to gently crack into the bottom of each egg. Once you peel away the shell at the bottom of the egg, the soft poached eggs will slide right out.
Drizzle some hollandaise on top of the poached egg and dust with a little Old Bay seasoning.

Notes

If you prepare the crab cakes, spinach, and English muffins while the hollandaise sauce and eggs cook, you can have this fancy brunch on the table in about 30 minutes of active cooking time!
Hollandaise sauce cannot be reheated. Trust.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 665 Total Fat: 37g Saturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 27g Cholesterol: 529mg Sodium: 2131mg Carbohydrates: 45g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 4g Protein: 38g

Looking for other breakfast and brunch recipes?

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

April 19, 2019 by laurenpacek 5 Comments

Air fryer chicken wings are crispy and delicious, but don’t require you to use any oil! Your favorite bar snack just got a little bit healthier!

The air fryer is a game changer

When I received an air fryer for Christmas last year, there were quite a few things that I knew I’d have to make in it: fries, tater tots, pickle chips, and so on. But the number one item on my list was definitely chicken wings. I knew that I needed to make chicken wings.

As it turns out, chicken wings are stupidly easy to make using the air fryer. You start out by patting your fresh wings dry, seasoning them the seasoning(s) of your choice, toss them in the air fryer, and flip them around ever 5 minutes or so. Et voila: crispy, delicious chicken wings. AND they are a bit healthier than the traditional deep fried wings you’ll usually come across given that there is ZERO oil involved.

Flavor your wings however you’d like!

In addition to being less bad for you, the cool thing about making your own chicken wings is that you can season them in any way that you choose. I’d recommend always starting with salt and pepper, regardless of what seasoning route you take. But, from there, the sky is the limit.

In the past, we’ve used a variety of seasonings, both dry and wet. We’ve done buffalo wings, BBQ, and a pre-made Chipotle BBQ seasoning blend from Buffalo Wild Wings. But, hands down, our favorite way to season our chicken wings is with good old Old Bay Seasoning. Maybe it’s because we were indoctrinated into the Cult of Old Bay while living in Baltimore, or maybe we’ve just correctly recognized that it’s the world’s most versatile, delicious, seasoning blend. You decide. Either way Old Bay is so, so good on these chicken wings.

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Air fryer chicken wings are crispy and delicious, but don't use any oil! Your favorite bar snack just got a little bit healthier!

Ingredients

4 lbs fresh chicken wings, see notes
kosher salt and pepper, to taste
dry seasoning or wet sauce of choice, optional (see notes)

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with foil; top this with a layer of paper towels.
Set the chicken wings on the paper towels in a single layer; pat dry with additional paper towels.
Season both sides of the wings evenly with kosher salt and pepper (and any additional dry seasonings of choice).
Spray the basket of the air fryer with a bit of cooking spray.
Add the seasoned wings to the air fryer basket and cook for 25 minutes at 380 degrees F. Flip the wings over approximately every 5 minutes.
Turn the heat up to 400 degrees F for the last 5 minutes to really crisp the wings.

Notes

You can use whole wings (leave them whole or break them down into sections yourself) or wings that have already been broken down into sections. We've been getting our fresh wings from Costco. They're very conveniently broken down into the first and second sections (i.e., drumettes and flats).
We really like to season our wings with Old Bay seasoning (plus salt and pepper).
If you prefer a wet seasoning, put it in a large bowl and toss the crispy, cooked wings around in it.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 522

Looking for other snacky bites? I gotchu. Check these delicious recipes out!

Pickled Deviled Eggs

April 15, 2019 by laurenpacek 7 Comments

Pickled Deviled Eggs are as tasty as they are gorgeous. They’re the perfect way to use up leftover hard boiled eggs.

For those of you who observe it, the Easter holiday is right around the corner. That likely means lots of leftover hard boiled eggs. I mean, I really like hard boiled eggs, but one can only eat so many of them. It’s a shame to let them go to waste after the holiday celebration is over. I’d recommend making these deviled eggs as a great way to use them up!

Or, heck, go ahead and make a batch of eggs just to make these deviled eggs! That’s exactly what I did. Well, first I made some Homemade Beet Pickled Eggs. But, those pickled eggs were destined to be made into pickled deviled eggs, and I knew it all along.

These deviled eggs are savory and delicious, just like any good deviled egg should be. And thanks to the vinegar and beet juice bath that the hard boiled eggs took, they are also tangy, pickle-y (Is that a word? No?), and a beautiful vibrant purple color. They’re sure to be an impressive (and tasty!) addition to your table, no matter the occasion.

Do you love deviled eggs as much as I do?

Want more deviled egg recipes? You know you do. Check out:

Pickled Deviled Eggs

Yield: 12 egg halves; 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Pickled Deviled Eggs are as tasty as they are gorgeous. They're the perfect way to use up leftover hard boiled eggs.

Ingredients

6 beet pickled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/4 tsp kosher salt
black pepper, to taste
fresh chives, minced

Instructions

Slice the eggs in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and place them a fine mesh strainer set over a medium-sized bowl. Set the whites on a platter.
Push the yolks through the strainer with a spatula and into the bowl. Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mix to combine well.
Spoon or pipe the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with minced chives.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 99 Total Fat: 8g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 35mg Sodium: 246mg Carbohydrates: 6g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 4g Protein: 2g

Homemade Beet Pickled Eggs

April 11, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

Homemade Beet Pickled Eggs are as tasty as they are pretty. Know what’s even better than that? They’re super easy to make, too!

What does making pickled eggs involve?

Truth be told: not much! After just a few easy steps, plus a little time stashed in the fridge, you too can have delicious beet pickled eggs. Just combine beet juice, vinegar, sugar, and spices in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool a bit before letting your eggs hang out in this liquid (after adding sliced beets and red onion) for at least 24 hours and voila! Pickled eggs.

What should I do with pickled eggs?

You may be wondering “what should I be doing with these beet pickled eggs?” Well, first of all… just eat them! I like to sprinkle them with a little kosher salt and go to town. Pickled eggs are a classic bar snack, so I’d also recommend enjoying them with a cold beer.

But really, pickled eggs also good in pretty much any case when a regular hard boiled egg is needed. They’d be good when sliced up and added to a salad. Or! Make pickled egg-egg salad! That could be really good.

Speaking from personal experience, they’re fabulous when made into deviled eggs. Stay tuned for that recipe!

Pickled eggs are often pegged exclusively as a bar snack. And there’s a good reason for that. However, with Easter right around the corner, these purple beauties would be a fab way to use up leftover hard boiled eggs. Orrrr a great excuse to make some hard boiled eggs specifically for the purpose of making beet pickled eggs. You choose.

Looking for other eggy recipes?

Classic Deviled Eggs are a classic for a reason
Buffalo Deviled Eggs are 10/10

Homemade Pickled Eggs

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Chill time

1 d

Total Time

15 mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 pickled eggs

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

12 hard boiled eggs, see notes
2-14.5 oz cans sliced beets
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs whole black peppercorns
4 tbs pickling spice
1 small red onion, sliced thinly

Instructions

Combine all of the liquid from canned beets (reserving the beets), apple cider vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, and pickling spice in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring everything to a slow simmer for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally to combine. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool.
Once the liquid is cool enough to handle, add approximately half of the reserved sliced beets, sliced red onion, and peeled hard boiled eggs.
Transfer the entire mixture to a large container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 7 days.

Recipe Notes

Cook the hard boiled eggs using whatever method you like. However, if you have an electric pressure cooker, the method detailed in my recipe for Classic Deviled Eggs is particularly easy.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

April 5, 2019 by laurenpacek 5 Comments

These Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes have tender yellow cake, zingy lemon curd, and sweet buttercream studded with poppy seeds. They are the perfect Springtime dessert!

What says “Springtime” more than lemon??

I know that Winter is citrus season, but I think that lemony desserts are pretty Springy. Especially these cupcakes. They get their lemony flavor from rich, tangy, homemade lemon curd. It’s the perfect complement to sweet cake and buttercream frosting.

These cupcakes may look complicated, but don’t be intimidated!

I know that there are quite a few steps involved assembling these cupcakes. But trust me, none of them are difficult. Plus, the payoff is more than worth it.

This recipe makes excellent use of the Homemade Lemon Curd that I shared with you earlier in the week. If you haven’t already eaten all of it with a spoon (no judgement), I highly recommend filling these cupcakes with it!

The yellow cake recipe comes directly from the cookbook Homemade Decadence, and the buttercream is a variation of the recipe in that book, too.

5 from 4 votes

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Prep Time

35 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

1 hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 36 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

4 cups cake flour, see notes
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
16 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups buttermilk

For the lemon curd

1 recipe homemade lemon curd, see notes

For the buttercream (makes more than you will likely need)

32 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbs milk or heavy cream
2 tbs poppy seeds

Instructions

To make the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 muffin tins with liners (or use fewer muffin tins and work in batches) and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt together. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to fully incorporate. Add the vanilla extract.
Add half of the flour mixture, and beat well. Add the buttermilk in a slow stream, and beat well. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the 36 cups of the muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tins for 15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack and allowing them to cool completely.

To make the poppy seed buttercream

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for a couple of minutes, or until soft.
Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, along with the kosher salt and vanilla extract. Beat on low to combine. Add another 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat to combine along with 2 tbs of the milk/cream.
Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tbs of milk/cream to achieve the desired consistency of frosting.
Beat on medium speed for a few minutes until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

To assemble the cupcakes

Insert a paring knife into the top of a cupcake at a 45 degree angle. Insert the knife only about 2/3 of the way into the cupcake, so that the filling won't leak out of the bottom.
Cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake. Keep the tip of the knife inside the center of the cupcake. Rotate the cupcake while cutting around the top of the cupcake in a circle. Aim to make the hole about 1 inch wide. Pull the cone of cake out of the cupcake.
Cut the cone in half and discard (or eat!) the pointed part. You will use the top, flat part to plug the hole at the end.
Spoon the prepared (or store bought) lemon curd into the holes in the cupcake, filling not quite the whole way. Top with the reserved flat part of the cored out cupcake.
Frost as desired.

Recipe Notes

I've found that using cake flour (vs. all-purpose flour) really does make a difference here. When using all-purpose flour, the cupcakes can be a little dense.
The recipe for homemade lemon curd can be found here. You could also substitute your favorite store bought lemon curd.

Looking for more lemony desserts?

Try these Lemon White Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies! These Whole Lemon Bars are pretty great, too.

Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake with Irish Cream Glaze

March 12, 2019 by laurenpacek 2 Comments

This Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake (complete with Irish Cream Glaze) would be a delicious St. Patrick’s Day treat! The cake is dense and very chocolatey, while the glaze is sweet and a little boozy. I added some green and white sprinkles for fun.

Here’s a bit of a fun fact for you all: I’m writing this post while in Ireland! How perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day post.

My husband and I are on a much needed vacation. We flew into Dublin and rented a car to drive out to Doolin (on the west coast of Ireland). We’re staying there for a few days before heading back into Dublin for a bit. Then we’re off to Liverpool for a couple of nights before taking a train up to Edinburgh. After that we’ll fly back to Dublin for a night and then come home.

We only just got in yesterday, but it has been incredible thus far. The country is beautiful and green, and the food and drink have been 10/10. In very surprising beer-related news, it turns out that I actually like Guinness! Who knew? I’ll be sharing photos of our travels with you soon.

This recipe comes from the blog Handle the Heat, though it has been modified slightly to increase the overall amount of chocolate and Irish cream. Because who doesn’t want more of both of those things??

Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake with Irish Cream Glaze

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 5 mins

Total Time

1 hr 35 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

For the chocolate bundt cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup stout beer, such as Guinness
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream

For the chocolate Irish cream glaze

8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy hream
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tbs Irish Cream liquer

Instructions

To make the bundt cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan and set aside (see notes).
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan heat butter and beer over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and add the 12 ounces of chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugars on medium-high speed, until fluffy. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and the sour cream. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes mostly clean. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

To make the glaze

Add the chopped chocolate and heavy cream to a medium -sized saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously. Once melted add the vanilla extract and kosher salt. Remove from the heat, add the Irish Cream, and stir.
Put the sauce in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to allow it to cool a bit. Pour the glaze onto the cake and let the cake stand until the glaze firms up.

Recipe Notes

Notes: pan release goop from I Am BakerThis is legit.

Need more St. Patrick’s Day treats? I gotcha.

Try these Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars if you’re short on time but still need a fun, sweet treat.
Double Chocolate Irish Cream Cookies are sure to please.
A Chocolate Guinness Cheesecake with Chocolate Whiskey Ganache requires a little planning, but is well worth it.
Guinness Brownies with Caramel Fudge Frosting are 10/10.

Buffalo Deviled Eggs

February 20, 2019 by laurenpacek 2 Comments

These Buffalo Deviled Eggs are a really delicious twist on the classic deviled egg recipe. They’re very flavorful, a little spicy, and the perfect party food.

I make deviled eggs pretty much every chance that I get. Having a party? Deviled eggs are on the menu. Need some appetizers before a holiday meal? Better make some deviled eggs. Heading to brunch at your friends’ house? You see where I’m going here.

We went to brunch at our friends’ house this past weekend and agreed that we’d divide the work up along sweet/savory lines. They handled the sweet, while I handled the savory. For my part, I brought some cheesy baked grits and these deviled eggs. 10/10 would make and eat again.

Like this cute deviled egg plate? It’s Fiestaware. This is not sponsored (though hit me up, Fiestaware!). I just really like their stuff.

If Classic Deviled Eggs are more your thing, look no further. You can find that recipe right here.

Make sure to also check out these other recipes that feature hot sauce!

5 from 1 vote

Buffalo Deviled Eggs

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 halves

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

6 eggs
2 tbs mayonnaise
1 tbs ranch dressing
1.5 tbs hot sauce
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Garnish

blue cheese crumbles
chives, minced

Instructions

To cook the eggs in an electric pressure cooker

Fill the pressure cooker insert with ½ to 1 inch of water (check your manual regarding the minimum recommended amount of water). Place the steamer basket in the insert. The water level should be below the steamer basket.
Place the eggs on the steamer basket in an even layer. Seal the lid and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure.
Allow the pressure cooker to release naturally for 5 minutes. After that, do a quick pressure release.
Carefully transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Change the water out with cold water as needed until the eggs have cooled. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To cook the eggs on the stovetop

Place the eggs in a saucepan in a single layer and cover them with enough water that there is 1 inch of water above the eggs.
Heat on high until water begins to boil then remove the saucepan from heat, cover, and leave the pan sit for 14 minutes.
Carefully transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Change the water out with cold water as needed until the eggs have cooled. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To assemble the deviled eggs

Peel the eggs. Slice the eggs in half, remove the yolks to a fine mesh strainer, and set the whites on a platter.
Push the yolks through the strainer with a spatula into a medium-sized bowl. Add the mayonnaise, ranch dressing, hot sauce, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Stir to combine completely.
Spoon or pipe the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites.
Sprinkle each deviled egg with a bit of blue cheese crumbles and minced chives.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

January 30, 2019 by laurenpacek 7 Comments

This Gluten Free Banana Bread is dense, moist, and studded and topped with crunchy pecans. Know what’s even better? I subbed real maple syrup for brown sugar to make this banana bread refined sugar-free, too!

Part of me likes the idea of baking with less refined sugar. I’m thinking about giving dates a try as a sweetener. For, you know, nutritional reasons and whatnot.

Then again, part of me just really likes maple syrup. The real stuff. No Mrs. Butterworth’s here. I used this bourbon barrel aged variety (found at Costco), but use whatever kind that you like!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this banana bread is made with brown butter. Who doesn’t like brown butter? It is 10/10.

I’ve been slowly tiptoeing into the gluten free baking world, and definitely want to increase my GF repertoire. So far I’ve shown you Gluten Free Muesli Muffins and Coconut Macaroons. And now this gluten free banana bread!

5 from 5 votes

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Butter cooling time

15 mins

Total Time

1 hr 15 mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the brown butter

8 tbs unsalted butter

For the banana bread

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, see notes
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 eggs
2 large bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

For the topping

1/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 tbs real maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper sling. Allowing an inch or so of parchment paper to hang over the long edges. Spray the pan and parchment paper with cooking spray and set aside.

To make the brown butter

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes (stirring pretty much constantly) until the butter has browned.
Pour the brown butter into a bowl. Make sure to scrape all of the toasty, brown bits into the bowl as well.
Let the brown butter cool slightly for 10-15 minutes.

To make the banana bread

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the maple syrup, eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.
Once the brown butter has cooled slightly, whisk that into the wet ingredients, too.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold the wet and the dry ingredients together, but don't over mix. Add the chopped pecans and stir until distributed throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

To make the topping

Sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans evenly over the top of the batter.
Pour 2 tbs over the pecans.
Bake the banana bread for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

I use King Arthur's Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour

Looking for more banana bread recipes? (Of course you are) How about Hummingbird Banana Bread or Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread? How about some banana bread with chocolate chips and oatmeal? AND. Let’s not forget Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies!

Gingerbread Banana Muffins

January 15, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

These Gingerbread Banana Muffins are spicy like gingerbread, but super moist thanks to the addition of bananas. These delicious muffins will convince you to not limit your consumption of gingerbread goodies to Christmastime!

Even though the Christmas season has come and gone, I don’t think that that’s any reason to not enjoy the warm spicy flavors of gingerbread. It’s still the middle of winter, after all.

These muffins are moist (bananas), spicy like any good gingerbread should be, and have slightly sticky tops (thanks, molasses!). The crumb topping is sweet and keeps things interesting, texturally.

In creating the recipe for these muffins, I tinkered with the number of bananas, as well as various amounts of molasses and spices. I was looking for a muffin that had all of the moistness of a banana muffin without tasting too banana-y. If that makes sense. I also wanted the gingerbread flavor to be pretty prominent without being overbearing.

After three tries, I think I’ve ended up with a winner of a recipe. I hope that you agree.

Banana Gingerbread Muffins

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

40 mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 18 muffins

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
5 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extact
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup molasses

For the crumb topping

8 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

To make the muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set aside.
In another medium-sized bowl, combine the bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and molasses.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them approximately 3/4 of the way full.

To make the crumb topping

Toss all ingredients together with a fork until crumbly.
Top the muffin batter with the crumb topping, dividing it evenly between each of the muffins.
Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center of a muffin, comes out clean.

Need more gingerbread goodness in your life? Check out my Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies!

Or maybe you need more muffins? Of course you do. Try these Apple Oat Streusel Muffins and Gluten Free Muesli Muffins. You could also check out these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Double Chocolate Banana Walnut Muffins!

Spiced Cherry Spritz

January 9, 2019 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

This Spiced Cherry Spritz is a surprisingly complex little cocktail given that it’s made with only 3 ingredients. Okay, four, if you include the maraschino cherry.

The Cheerwine and Lambrusco make it a little sweet, while the Fernet Branca lends some bitterness and keeps it interesting.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been sharing a lot of cocktails lately. I’m not sorry about it.

It’s just a pretty good indication of where my head (and heart) has been lately. Between the stress of the holidays and associated travel, a grant deadline, and other life stress, booze just seemed like the right choice.

Let’s break these ingredients down a bit:

Fernet Branca is a variety of amaro (means “bitter” in Italian), which are Italian herbal liqueurs. If you can’t get your hands on Fernet Branca, you can substitute a variety of other amari.

Lambrusco is an Italian red wine. You may be familiar with the cheap, sweet, sorta fizzy Lambrusco. That is one option, but rest assured that there are plenty of other options, as well.

As for the cherry soda, I went with Cheerwine. We’ve talked about Cheerwine before (check out these ice cream floats!). It’s a really sweet black cherry-flavored soda made by a company that’s headquartered in North Carolina.

Now, onto the recipe: The recipe for this cocktail is modified slightly from Bon Appétit.

Spiced Cherry Spritz

Prep Time

2 mins

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

1.5 oz Fernet Branca, or other amaro
3 oz Lambrusco
Cheerwine or other cherry soda, for serving
1 maraschino cherry, for garnish

Instructions

Pour Fernet Branca and Lambrusco into a rocks glass over ice.
Top with Cheerwine. Stir to combine.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

In case you’ve missed them, check out the cocktails I’ve shared recently:Cranberry Gin and Tonic, Cranberry Rosemary French 75, and Holiday Gin Moscow Mule.