Minoo made a Raisin Banana Bread while Zoe was preparing her ingredients for the Vietnamese Shrimp Roll. The Banana Bread recipe is upon the request of Tony. Tony joined the community kitchen with no knowledge of how to cook at all. But for his daughter’s sake, he came to the community kitchen and has learned a lot. Tony always goes back and tries every recipe he learned.

This Raisin Banana Bread is a healthy breakfast or snack item. I love the mini loaf pan Minoo used as it yields some cute mini loaves. This mini loaves are good as a gift.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas
• 1 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 stick melted butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon mace (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange rind (optional)
• 2 heaping tablespoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Raisin Banana Bread"

Andrea made some savoury muffins in the South Arm Community Kitchen. The savoury muffin is something different from the usual sweet ones like banana muffin, chocolate chip muffin, blueberry muffin and more which you can find in the quick bread category in chowtimes.com.

These savoury muffins are great for school lunch or picnic. It is a complete meal with all the basic food group like grain products, vegetables, milk and meat. What I like about this muffin is its portability. It can be easily fit into a lunch box and can be easily transported in a cupcake caddy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, cooled slightly
• 4-5 green onions, diced
• 3/4 cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 3/4 cup cooked ham, cubed (about 200g)
• 3/4 cup grated cheese (Cheddar or Harvarti), about 100g

The buttermilk can be substituted with the following:

• For each 1 cup buttermilk called for in a recipe, use 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream or
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup or
• 1 cup milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar or
• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder and 1 cup water

Usually, when a recipe use baking soda as a leavening agent, it needs an acidic environment for the chemical reaction to take place.

A little side note here, the South Arm Community Centre will be starting a cooking club for seniors in January 2008. It will be held in the South Arm Community Kitchen every 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 10am to 12:30pm. The cost for this program is $3 per session, to cover the cost of the ingredients. This cooking club is intended for seniors to come and meet regularly and cook healthy and nutritious meals. For those interested, you may contact Stella of South Arm Community Kitchen @ 604 718 8070.

continue reading "Savoury Muffin"

Back to basic baking, I made some Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin for breakfast. Muffin is little cake that can be prepared quickly.

This muffin recipe has cinnamon in it and I love baking with cinnamon because the kitchen will be filled with the aroma of cinnamon as when the muffin is baking.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

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Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin"

In the Caring Place community kitchen, Jean made a Banana Loaf Cake and Matrimonial Squares.

Jean also shared with us the benefits of eating bananas. The benefits include healthy bowels, healthy cardiovascular, protection from strokes and ulcers, improve blood pressure and boost of energy.

Bananas are rich source of vitamins B, C and A. Bananas are also low in calories and fat, plus they have a high water content and potassium levels. A diet high in potassium foods and low in sodium-loaded processed foods can help reduce water weight.

The Banana Loaf Cake was moist and very rich in banana flavour.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3 large very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup nut pieces if desired

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Banana Loaf Cake"

October is the month for cranberry harvesting. Do you know that the cranberry farm is flooded to harvest the cranberries? This year, the cranberry farm has a bumper crop due to the warm weather in Vancouver.

Cranberries are a source of polyphenol antioxidant, chemicals which are known to provide certain health benefits to the cardiovascular and immune system. Regular consumption of the cranberry juice is supposed to reduce the rate of urinary tract infections. Cranberries also act as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial lactobacillus bacteria (those found in yogurt) while inhibiting the growth of harmful E.coli and listeria.

I made this Cranberry Bread in Minoo’s kitchen at Caring Place. This quick bread is good for breakfast or snack with a cup of coffee or tea.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup undiluted orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons butter/margarine, melted
• 1 cup raw fresh cranberries

continue reading "Cranberry Bread"

Minoo’s second recipe is a healthy Blueberry Muffin made with whole wheat flour and honey. Minoo uses frozen blueberry because blueberry season is over. The frozen blueberry is as good as the fresh one.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup blueberries

I will not blog in details of the process of making the blueberry muffin as I had blogged about a Banana Blueberry Muffin earlier. The steps will be similar.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper cups. Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk, butter, vanilla and honey together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Minoo’s Blueberry Muffin is not very sweet and has all the goodness of whole wheat flour, blueberries and honey. A great recipe for kid’s breakfast or lunch box.

This Banana-Blueberry Muffin is a recipe from Betty Crocker. Banana and blueberries blend well together with the sweetness from the banana and tartness from the blueberries.

I got this recipe from the web in my early days of learning how to cooking six years ago. Since then, it’s been a classic in my family every blueberry season.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana (1 medium)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and well drained) blueberries.

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Banana Blueberry Muffin"

During the summer months, I try not to use the oven that much as it heats up the whole place. So, I normally bake my favourite Banana Bread in muffin tins. By doing that, I can reduce the baking time to about one third of the normal time require for baking in a loaf pan.

I have this Banana Bread recipe which bakes in a loaf pan for 70 minutes but I made it in muffin tins in for only 20 to 25 minutes. This way, it’s also cost effective as we can save on hydro bill.

Here is the Banana Bread which I made in the muffin tins.

The muffins turned out beautifully with nice colour.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Banana Bread Muffin"

Out of the blue, I just wanted to bake a quick bread for breakfast. Looking through my recipe file for something which my kids will eat, I found this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread which sounds delicious. I just happen to have some ripe bananas in my fridge and it must be lucky day.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 2 large VERY rip bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnut

Click link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Chocolate Chip Banana Bread"

This is a bread good for breakfast or tea. I love the little crunch from the poppy seeds and give a slightly nutty aroma. This bread is not too sweet and it’s just right with your favourite jam or butter.

I am not sure if this is true but I heard that poppy seeds are banned in Singapore because they are suspected to contain some traces of morphine! Any Singaporeans able to confirm this?

This recipe yields two loaves of bread. If it’s too much for your family, you may freeze one loaf for later consumption. To freeze it, you just need to wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep in an air tight container or ziplock bag.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup poppy seeds (or 1 cup sesame seeds)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups yogurt (lemon yogurt if you can find it)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh squeezed)

Click on link below for cooking instructions.

continue reading "Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf"