Blake Makes

That’s right…You CAN have chocolate for breakfast. Why not? These muffins are a delicious way to start the day…or end it! 3 kinds of chocolate combined with fresh, sweet cherries and a little cream cheese just screams EAT ME!

Okay, maybe you noticed. I’m new to Blake Bakes but boy am I excited to be here! That’s why I had to come up with a recipe to really make my entrance noticeable, you know? Thus, the Triple Chocolate Cherry Muffin was created just for the readers of Blake Bakes. Filled with a smooth dollop of sweetened cream cheese, this flavorful muffin is just the right amount of sweet without making your poor teeth ache! Make these for your next Sunday Brunch or impress those visiting in-laws with this muffin…you’ll be glad you did…they’re so easy and yet so decadent!

Triple Chocolate Cherry Muffins

(an original recipe by DoughMessTic)

For the Muffins:

• 1 3/4 cups AP Flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Tablesoons Melted Butter
• 4 ounces chopped Bittersweet Chocolate
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Chocolate Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Sweetened Chocolate Powder
• 1/2 cup Sweet Cherries, pitted and chopped
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Cherry Preserves

For the Filling

• 4 ounces softened Cream Cheese
• 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 and arrange a rack in the center.
2. Combine Cream Cheese and 3 T. sugar until smooth. Set aside.
3. Combine butter and chopped chocolate in Microwaveable bowl and melt until combined and creamy. (Approximately 30 seconds in the Microwave will do it.) Set aside.
4. Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk egg with vanilla and milk. When well combined, add to dry ingredients, along with melted chocolate and chopped cherries. Mix only until just combined. Stir in preserves.
5. Grease or line muffin pan placed on top of a baking sheet. Divide approximately 3/4ths of batter (it is quite thick) into equal portions and fill tins. (6 Texas Sized or 12 Regular Size) Then dollop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin, followed by the remaining batter. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional) and bake until toothpick comes out clean. (roughly 27 minutes for Texas Sized, 21 minutes for regular muffins.) Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature (if you can wait that long!) Enjoy!

Susan is the Susie Homemaker behind She’s Becoming DoughMessTic, a blog about her journey to have it all…a happy family, a clean house, and a kitchen full of things worth eating. Married to a great husband and Mom to a beautiful baby boy, Susan does her best to juggle the little things…and a few big ones. Since her debut in blogging, she has created the cooking group My Kitchen, My World, as well as the Troop supporting Operation Baking GALS. But if you just want to know more about plain old Sus, you can visit her site here.

HOUSE SPECIAL Organic Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

To prepare the dough, I generally use the dough cycle on my bread machine, but you can just as easily use your mixer. I’ll guide you through both methods in the recipe below.

Even though I’m a fan of whole grains, this particular bread is best with organic bread flour, but if you prefer, you can use a mixture of half organic bread flour and half organic whole grain flour.

Dough Ingredients:

• ¼ cup organic milk, whole or 2%
• 1 large or extra large organic egg, slightly warmed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¾ cup filtered or bottled water, tepid+
• ¼ cup organic butter, softened
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 3 ½ cups organic bread flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup hearty organic raisins ( I like Earthbound Farm’s jumbo premium gourmet raisins)

Cinnamon Swirl Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup organic butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon organic cinnamon
• ¼ cup organic sugar
• ¼ cup organic brown sugar

For the top of the bread:

• 1 organic egg white
• 2 teaspoons of filtered water
• 1 ½ teaspoons organic sugar

Bread Maker Instructions:

1. Place the egg and the milk into a measuring cup and add just enough of the tepid+ water to bring this mixture to 1 cup.
   
2. Add the mixture to your bread machine, followed by the salt, butter, and flour in this order.
   
3. Finally, add the yeast.
   
4. Set your bread maker for a large loaf and start the dough cycle.
   
5. Add the raisins when the beeper signals.

Without a Bread Maker: This bread is just as yummy when made without the bread machine, it just takes a few extra minutes for the mixing.

1. Following the above instructions, use a mixer to combine the ingredients and then knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes to get it good and elastic.
   
2. Roll the dough into a ball. Place it in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow it to rise till about double in size. I often warm my oven to 100 degrees ahead of time, turn it off, and place the bread inside. A warm refrigerator top, sunny window sill, or warm lamp also work well to speed the rising process along a bit.
   
3. When done rising, knead the dough again for about 5 minutes, adding the raisins after a couple of minutes, and making sure they are well incorporated. From here you can follow the instructions below.

Both Methods: If you miss the bread machine’s signal to add the raisins (I often do), just knead them in after you remove the dough.

1. When well kneaded, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 10” X 12”. Be patient with this; it takes a few minutes to roll to this size, as the dough is quite elastic. Spray your loaf pan with organic cooking spray, or use organic oil and a dust it lightly with flour.
2. To create the cinnamon swirl, brush the egg white over the dough, followed by the melted butter. Combine the organic sugar and brown sugar with the organic cinnamon and sprinkle it evenly over the dough, without sprinkling all the way to the edge. Starting from the short side (about 10”wide) roll the dough snugly, pinching the ends as you go to retain the cinnamon swirl mixture. Tuck the ends under before placing the loaf seam-side down in the loaf pan.
3. Cover the pan with a clean cloth and put it somewhere warm to rise. Allow the bread to rise until it is a good inch above the top of the pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. With a fork, whisk the water and egg white together, and brush the top of the bread, carefully coating it completely.
   
5. Finally, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bread and bake in the center of the oven for 35 minutes. When done, remove promptly from the pan to cool on a rack. It can be sliced when slightly warm, and is especially delicious served warm with a pat of butter—absolutely decadent.

Carrie at Organic Journey Online

I became passionate about eating and cooking organic during a brush with cancer. Since then my family and I are working at eating healthier and living greener. After 30 years of marriage and 3 children, I have many recipes to share. Find more info on eating organic at my blog, www.OrganicJourneyOnline.blogspot.com/.

Hello again sweet readers!
Gosh! I feel like it’s been ages since my last Blake Bakes post!
Well, here I am again with another batch of cookies. Not only are they another batch of cookies, they are another shortbread variation from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours“. If you don’t have this book already, you should definitely invest in it. Since receiving mine, it has become my baking bible!
Shortbread lovers and coffee lovers alike will truly appreciate this cookie! It has a light coffee taste with delicious dark chocolate bits, and that undeniably satisfying shortbread texture. They are the perfect compliment for a morning cup of coffee! (That’s right, I’m eating them for breakfast!) :-)

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Baking: From My Home to Yours By Dorie Greenspan

Makes 32 cookies

• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I didn’t have any so I used instant coffee.)
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (TCHO), finely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. (This technique is BRILLIANT!) As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. I use one sheet and keep the second half of my cookies in the refrigerator while the first half bakes.

5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. My cookies never work out to exactly 1 1/2, even with a ruler. I just make them as close a size as I can. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (18 minutes on the nose for my oven), rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving. Since these cookies aren’t terribly sweet to begin with, I say go ahead and dust with the sugar.

Carrie began baking cookies on her own at the tender age of ten. Her passion for baking has only grown from there. She is a newly wed and has recently started her own photography business, www.cerr.etsy.com. Although Carrie loves baking both savory and sweet, sweet treats are definitely her specialty. Visit Carrie’s blog at Carrie’s Kitchen Creations.

4 Comments

Hello! Steph Chows here and I just took part of Operation Baking Gals. We are baking cookies for the troops in Iraq! ANZAC biscuits are an Australian cookie it stands for Australian New Zealand Army Core and back in the day they were sent out to the troops since they ship well and don’t spoil easy. What could be more perfect to send out to our troops in Iraq! PLUS they are super easy to make and super chewy and delicious. They are a bit on the sugary sweet side but I actually found this recipe in Cooking Light years upon years ago. I hope you love them! And if you bake and want to help out go to Operation Baking Gals and join in on the baking fun!

Anzac Biscuits
Ingredients

• 1 cup regular oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons golden cane syrup (such as Lyle’s) or light-colored corn syrup
• Cooking spray

1. Preparation
   Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Add water, margarine, and syrup; stir well.
3. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
   
4. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes or until almost set.
   
5. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 98(27% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 1g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 11mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.3g; SODIUM 59mg; PROTEIN 1.2g; FIBER 0.6g

Steph from steph chows is on a chowing journey into the world of healthy eating, while making it taste just as good as the “bad” stuff. As Nana said “everything in moderation” but as Grandpa said “Life is short, eat dessert first!” Chow!

Sure, double chocolate cookies are great, but why not have double-PEANUT chocolate cookies?? Actually, it originally started out from Epicurious.com as “double-peanut double-chocolate cookies”..but I suspected that doubling a double could perhaps cause some trouble…… Okay, I apologize for that. But really, I just wanted lots of peanut butter flavor!! (Although next time I make these cookies, I would definitely consider restoring the half pb chip/half chocolate chip ratio of the original recipe…I don’t think anyone would complain)

These were delicious, as expected. I LOVE peanut butter chips..and I LOVE the combination of chocolate and peanut butter… sooo.. yes, great soft and moist cookies. At first I was worried about overbaking these cookies, but mine needed longer than the 10 minutes in the recipe, almost closer to 14. And they are still incredibly moist! So no fear, and use chunky peanut butter for maximum peanut enjoyment!

Double-Peanut Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from Epicurious.com

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 10-oz bag of peanut-butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. 2. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream butter, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture and stir in chocolate chips and peanut-butter chips.
3. Drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto buttered baking sheets and bake cookies in batches in middle of oven 10 minutes. Cool cookies on racks. Cookies keep in airtight containers 5 days.

Emily’s love of baking grew out of her desire to eat lots of warm chocolate chip cookies that her Taiwanese mother never made. Although she loves the Taiwanese food she grew up with, she also loves devouring sugar and chocolate laden desserts, which she now creates to share with family and friends. When she’s not in her St. Louis home baking away, she attends school in Philadelphia, eating through the city as much as possible.

How do you get people to like you? Provide them with delicious, fresh-baked goodies, of course! It’s my first post as a Blake Baker and I naturally want you all to like me, so what better recipe to share than Amish Friendship Bread? Moist, sweet, cinnamony - you know you want to be my friend…

I had heard of Amish Friendship Bread before, but never thought to try to make it. But last week I was given a starter for the bread and was excited to see how it would turn out. According to Squidoo, the history of Amish Friendship Bread is sort of vague, but the “Friendship” part refers to the custom of sharing the starter with friends - its known as a culinary chain letter! The base of the bread is a sourdough starter of flour, sugar and water. The starter sits out for 10 days, during which airborne yeast causes the mixture to ferment. Apparently this was a staple to early pioneers in bread-baking, before active dry yeast was available. The starter can be used to make pancakes, breads and cakes. In this case, we’re going with the bread!

I followed the instructions that came with my starter to a T and patiently waited for day 10 to arrive so I could bake my bread. I was beyond curious to try it at this point - would the foamy, sour-smelling mixture that had sat on my counter for a week and a half actually turn into something tasty? The answer? Yes, indeed!

This bread is absolutely delicious! It’s dense and soft and sweet, not to mention that it smells like heaven with all that yummy cinnamon in it. The pudding gives the bread great moisture and a wonderful vanilla tinge. I was thrilled with the way this came out! If you’re not lucky enough to have a starter given to you, you can make one yourself with below recipe. Then you too can start winning friends.

Amish Friendship Starter

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Combine the ingredients in a large deep glass or plastic pitcher and cover tightly. Store at room temperature and stir every day with a wooden spoon for 17 days.
2. On day 18 do nothing.
3. On days 19, 20 and 21 stir.
4. On day 22, stir and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir again.
5. On days 23, 24, 25 and 26 stir.
6. On day 27 add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. You will now have 4 cups of starter. Give three friends 1 cup each of the starter, with the below instructions, and keep on for yourself to bake your bread!

Amish Friendship Bread

Helpful Hints: Do NOT refrigerate the mixture! Do not use metal spoons or bowls for mixing. If the bag puffs with air, let it out.

Day 1 - receive the start

Day 2-4 - squeeze the bag

Day 5 - add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk to the bag; squeeze to mix

Day 6-9 - squeeze the bag

Day 10 - baking day! Squeeze the bag, the pour the batter into a glass bowl. To the batter add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk and mix with a wooden spoon. Fill three gallon sized Ziploc bags with 1 cup batter each and give the bags to three friends with a copy of this recipe.

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add the following:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease two loaf pans and coat the pans with cinnamon sugar.
2. Divide the batter between the loaf pans and top with more cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake for 1 hour. Cool loaves in pans for 10 minutes before removing.

Brooke is a food lover (desserts in particular!) from Hamilton, NJ who enjoys trying out new recipes and treating her friends, family and co-workers to nice fattening baked goods whenever possible. She always has plenty of help in the kitchen - her two cats, Roy and Roger, are only too happy to supervise her chopping, mixing and stirring while her husband Joe and dog Tucker are perfect taste-testers. Brooke can be found at …and a cookie for dessert.

Get a sneak peek.

With only 4 eggs left in the refrigerator, I really couldn’t be bothered or afford to run to the store. So I decided to do what I can to make them last longer than 1 or 2 days. After reading posts on a low-carb message board, I decided to come up with my own version of a breakfast muffin that doesn’t require any flour or baking mix.

The best way to describe the muffin is an omelet you can eat out of the palm of your hand. Taking a traditional omelet and turning it into a muffin I thought was genius! So I just had to try out my own recipe and see how they could come out.

Since I love spinach omelets, and enjoy anything with Parmesan cheese in it, I had to have them in the recipe. I’ve been on a turkey bacon kick lately. So that had to be included too, along with some chopped scallions, heavy cream and spices. I was really looking forward to the results.

I have to say that I was quite surprised. I expected the muffins to be “heavy” and dense. Instead, they were light and fluffy with a lot of flavor.

INGREDiENTS:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 strips of turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 12-muffin pan with paper liners. Spray liners with non-stick spray.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients.
4. Spoon egg mixture into liners to about 3/4 of the way.
5. Place in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

These muffins are great especially if you are craving a big breakfast but don’t have time to make it. They can be made in advanced and stored in the freezer until you’re ready to pop one in the microwave to heat and eat.

Carmella is the female half of The Food Duo, a blog started in March 2008 with her husband, Carlo. While growing up in New York City, her South Carolinian mother was the baker of her family with her specialties involving traditional Low Country and Southern desserts with fruit and/or nuts. Now, that her mom has retired from work and baking, Carmella has stepped up to become the baker for her now larger family, often experimenting and making treats for everyone to enjoy – many being sugar-free variations.

So, here I am - one of the newest members of BlakeBakes.com - making myself comfy-cozy and right at home in our little gingerbread cottage! Speaking of comfy-cozy, these brownies are the perfect warm, gooey treat for any occasion!

When I was trying to think of what to submit for my very first BlakeBakes post, I considered all sorts of options- layer cakes, breads, pies…something really impressive, you know? But the more I thought of it, the more I decided I should make something that I was totally familiar and comfortable with - like an old pair of comfy pants- you never get tired of wearing them! Well, I never (and I mean never) get tired of making brownies - I’m always on the lookout for a fantastic brownie recipe. These didn’t disappoint -perfectly fudgy and chocolatey! The addition of chocolate chips gives them an added fudgy texture and sweetness that my hubby and I loved!

Perfect Fudgy Brownies

Recipe - Joy of Baking.com

• 1 1/2 pounds semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

(I added 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a nonstick cooking spray) a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) pan and then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk (or use a hand mixer) together the eggs and sugar. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, whisktogether the flour, baking powder, and salt and then fold into the chocolate and sugar mixture until well combined.
5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. These freeze very well.

Makes 24 - 2 inch brownies.

Amy is an Opera-singing (that’s right, Opera singing!) North Texan with a love for all things chocolaty and gooey. Her cooking/baking experience comes from two years of marriage to the world’s most un-picky eater. I know what you’re thinking – two years isn’t long. Don’t worry – her food’s good. Real good. You can find her at Sing For Your Supper.

I’m definitely not pregnant, but according to a story in Vera Bradley’s Cooking With Friends, pregnant ladies love this cake. The story also said that the cake induced labor the day after it was eaten. Seriously?? This I’d love to see… however, I have no way of testing this theory out. I can tell you, though, that this cake is uber-yummy. I had a slice for dessert and another for breakfast the next day. If I was pregnant, I’d want my baby to try it. :)

Ruth’s Italian Pound Cake

• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 3 c sugar
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 1 c milk
• 6 eggs
• 3 c flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp almond extract

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup tube or Bundt pan. With an electric mixer, beat the butter in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly. Beat in the oil and milk. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Gradually beat flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Stir in the almond extract. Pour into pan. Bake for 90 minutes or until toothpick inserted close to the center comes out clean.

Jessica is a 20-something Native Texan & TCU alumna who enjoys spending time with her family & friends. She also loves cooking and baking… with a little shopping, TCU football and collecting Longaberger on the side. :)