baking

An Easy Peachy Cobbler

~ agustinaskitchen ~ 3 Comments

 

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Fall is here.  Really, how? The Weather app tells me it’s going to be in the high 90’s this weekend.  This happens every year: fall comes around and in September/October we get a week or two of killer heat, blazing sun, AC-busting weather.  The only time I appreciated it was when I was living on the East Coast and it had been cold and rainy, when I came back to visit in October and laid by the pool for 5 days straight.  Bottom line is I’m ready for fall ya’ll.  Real true fall weather.  Until then, I’ll leave you with this super easy, and delicious Peach Cobbler that is perfect for a large gathering of friends and family on a hot weekend.

Disclaimer: this isn’t the prettiest cobbler in the world. I’ve made it dozens of times, it’s never “pretty” but it tastes incredible.  I guarantee it will be devoured. img_0592

RECIPE

Recipe Notes:

  • The recipe calls for nectarines, but I almost always use peaches. 5-6 peaches, instead of the 4 nectarines the recipe states.
  • I typically use less buttermilk: 2/3 cup instead of 3/4.
  • Sometimes, if I don’t have raspberries, I’ll use blueberries.  Just as good!

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Cheers!

Summer Zucchini Bread

~ agustinaskitchen ~ 2 Comments

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Zoooooochini Bread! A little while back this recipe popped up on Smitten Kitchen’s Instagram feed, I knew I had to make it.  I had a few zucchini sitting in the fridge, and I didn’t want them to go bad, bud I didn’t really feel like using them in anything.  Cue: Zucchini Bread.  Like Banana Bread is to bananas when they are starting to go past due, Zucchini Bread is to zucchini when it’s on its final days.

This recipe yields 2 loafs, which I love because you can keep one loaf for yourself and gift the other to friends, family, neighbors.  My brother lives really close, so I called him and told him there was a loaf of zucchini bread wrapped up and ready for him to pick up when he could.  A couple of hours later, he popped by and happily took his loaf home with him, to keep as a snack for his long hours studying and working.  It’s a win – win because I got to see him for 10 minutes and he got a loaf of bread.  Who wouldnt love that? Right? In fact, I think I’m going to get a few zucchini at the store this afternoon solely to make this bread again tomorrow…

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INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
3 cups  all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips (I used about half a cup of chocolate chips and half a cup of raisins)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease two 8×4 inch loaf pans.  I always take about a tablespoon of butter and smudge it all over the pans, then I sprinkle some flour over the butter, and pat it around to make sure the pan is greased well, and that the bread will fall out when it’s done.  There’s nothing worse than taking the time and energy to bake something delicious and then not be able to get it out of the pan!! Please tell me it’s happened to you too, no?
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the oil and sugar, then the zucchini and vanilla.
  4. Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add the nuts, raisins, and/or chocolate chips.  I added a combination of raisins, pecans, and chocolate chips, totaling almost 2 cups worth.
  5. Mix these dry ingredients into the wet egg mixture. Divide the batter into the prepared pans.
  6. Bake the loaves for about 60 minutes.  I start to check it around 50 minutes, then let it bake for another 10-15 before I take it out and let it cool.

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Cheers!

 

Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana – nana Bread

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

 

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Here’s the deal: I thought I had a great “banana bread” recipe.  I thought I had that one figured out.  But no.  No, I didn’t.  Until tonight that is.  Tonight, my husband devoured this within minutes of its debut.  Thereby demolishing any need to cook dinner.  So, I popped open a bottle of this William Hill Chardonnay and drank it with banana bread.  Banana bread and Chardonnay? Strange.  Very strange.  But so good.

I took this recipe from Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw for Williams Sonoma and made my own pecan and chocolate chip additions… check it out.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

3 ripe, large bananas, smashed

2 large eggs (room temperature)

1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp of unsalted, melted butter

1/2 cup of chopped pecans

1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Heat oven to 350. Butter and very  lightly flour two 9×5 loaf pans.
  2. In a large-ish bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon,  and nutmeg.
  3. In a mixer (or large bowl) mix together the bananas, eggs, brown sugar, sour cream, vanilla and melted butter.
  4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer or bowl with the wet ingredients.
  5. Stir in the chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
  6. Divide the batter between the two buttered and floured loaf pans.
  7. Bake about 35 minutes, give our take a few minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Let cool, then proceed to devour.

 

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Summertime Strawberries in a Pie

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

To me, summertime means STRAWBERRIES! Among other things, but mostly strawberries.  Their sweet scent, deep pink – red color, abundance at every farmer’s market across the state, and sheer yummy yummy yumminess – who can resist?! Actually, my son for one. He won’t eat them – but that’s something we’re working on.  Hence this Strawberry Lattice Pie:

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Cute sous chef: optional 😉
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Yes, those are my wedding and engagement rings. I tend to take them off when dealing with sticky messy dough…

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I got the recipe from Joy the Baker – her recipes are genius.  At least, all her recipes I’ve ever made.  Which, doesn’t always happen – I tend to have many kitchen failures.  However, thanks to Joy, this one was a winner! Be sure to place the pie on top of a lined baking sheet (as she states in the recipe) because the juices will spill over, and you wouldn’t want to clean up that oven mess!