Healthy Banana & Walnut Muffins

 I have never been much of a heath nut, this year however I decided to at least make an effort to put healthier food into my body, and dare I say it...cut back on sugar. Eeek!! I feel like a traitor for even speaking such blasphemy. 

These muffins have no sugar or butter, instead I used honey as a sweetener which helps keep them super moist. These bad boys are seriously delicious and I don't feel too bad that I just ate five of them. 

Healthy Banana and Walnut Muffins 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 egg

1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (reserve some to sprinkle on top of muffins) 

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with liners (yields 12)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add bananas, honey, vanilla, oil, egg, milk and yogurt to a food processor or blender. Blend on high until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chopped walnuts making sure to reserve some. Divide batter into muffin tin and then sprinkle the reserved walnuts directly on top of muffins. Bake for 20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy :) 

  

Favorites From 2014

It's been pretty quiet on the blog for the last part of the year. Fear not, I'm still very much alive. I have slowed down my orders almost completely due to the fact that there is a really cute baby girl that I can't seem to take my eyes off of. No really, she is super cute and loves to be held, and me...well I just love to hold her. Someday I will post a photo of her on the blog, then you will have the proof :)

Despite my absence, I have still managed to make my way into the kitchen from time to time and whip up some treats. And whats even more impressive... take photos of them! The above are some of my favorites from the past year. I actually made a ton more, but failed to photograph half of what I made. Which brings me to the new year...

My (baking) goals for 2015 include but are not limited to
- continue to post recipes.
- improve my food photography skills
- make more cakes
- improve my sugar flower skills

For those that follow along, Thank you!! Although my posts may be few and far between, I really do enjoy this little outlet that I have.

Happy baking in 2015!!
:)

Cherry Scones With An Almond Cherry Glaze

Scones: 
Ingredients
11 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
2 egg
1 cup milk
4 cups flour
2 Tbl plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 to 2 cups cherries, diced 

Directions

 Preheat oven to 450F. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Measure out the milk in a medium size measuring cup then add the eggs to the milk, whisk with a fork and set aside. 
Mix in the butter with the flour mixture using your hands until the butter is the size of peas. Keep the butter cold! Pour in the milk and egg mixture and stir with a fork just till it sticks together. Add in your cherries and add a bit more milk if it's still too powdery (do NOT over mix).
Dump out onto a lightly floured counter. Divide the dough in half. With each half, press together gently forming a circle and cut four times (creating 8 small triangle scones). Repeat with the other half of the dough. This batch yields 16 scones. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake around 15 minutes till done!

Almond Cherry Glaze:
Ingredients
1/4 cup of fresh black cherries diced
2 Tabl milk
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions 
Add the cherries, milk, and almond extract to your food processor and puree. Once done, add to a medium sized bowl and whisk in the confectioners sugar until consistency is smooth. Add more sugar if you prefer a thicker glaze! Drizzle over scones and enjoy!

Cantaloupe Sorbet

Cantaloupe Sorbet 

One whole cantaloupe
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

 In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Place in a bowl to completely cool.
Cut the cantaloupe into chunks, and the chunks and lime into a blender or food processor. Pulse until the melon is completely pureed. Combine with the cooled sugar syrup. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Pour the mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker. Mix until the sorbet has thickened, approximately 25-35 minutes.  The sorbet will have soft serve texture. You can enjoy right away or put the sorbet into an airtight container and place in the freezer until firm for about 2 hours.