Brittany's PantryHoney Cardamom Snack Cake
Brittany wrote this on 5 April 2014
honey, sour cream, whole wheat flour
A year or so ago, my friend Thea and her family stopped by to visit on the way through town. Aside from the fact that I have know her more than 20 years and she remembers what I looked like in the mid 90’s, she is a professional baker. She has been mostly special occasion cakes for the last 8 years, but recently opened up a store front, giving the general public a chance to enjoy her creations on a day to day basis. Needless to say, we talk flour, butter, sugar, and eggs whenever we are together.
On this particular visit, I was baking something. For the life of me I canNOT remember what it was, but I assure you, it wasn’t cake. Of all the things to feed a professional baker, I avoid baked confections as much as possible. Usually I lean toward things like creme brûlée, fruit bars, and puddings. Whatever it was I was making, Thea walked into the kitchen, sniffed, and her eyes lit up. “Are you using cardamom?” was her immediate question. Yes, I told her. Why? “It is one of my favorite spices,” she declared. “But it is so under-used!’
I agreed. Even though it is a warm flavor with an almost herb-y quality to it, and is often mixed with Christmas spices, you don’t often see it used completely on its own. I happen to love it. I add it to my plain banana bread, shortbread cookies, and most recently, as the feature flavor in snack cakes!
As you can see, my two year old wasn’t willing to wait until I was done photographing. The honey is the only sweetener in this recipe so please please PLEASE use local, raw honey if you have the chance. The flavor is incomparable to the stuff from the grocery store. It also gives it the perfect level of sweetness. Paired with a simple, sour cream snack cake base and the warmth of the cardamom, it is just homey. If you want to use it as a dessert, fresh strawberries and sweet whipped cream are outstanding with this cake. But generally, I just like to pick it up and take a bite.
Thea would approve.
One Year Ago: Loaded Black Bean Quesadillas
Two Years Ago: Cream Cheese Banana Bread
Three Years Ago: Honey Carrots & Non-Traditional Shepherd’s Pie & One Bowl Chocolate Cake
Honey Cardamom Snack Cake
This tastes great on day two so whip it up when you have time and enjoy as an after school snack!
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, room temp
1 c honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c white whole wheat or whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
large pinch of salt
3/4 c sour cream
Preheat the oven to 325.
Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the butter and honey until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and add half of the mixture to the honey mixture. Mix slowly until starting to combine, and add half the sour cream. Still mixing slowly, add the last of the dry ingredients and the last of the sour cream. Mix until just barely combined, finishing by hand and scraping down the bowl at the end. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 inch cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on the counter for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a rack and let cool the rest of the way. Slice into wedges and serve!
Whole Wheat Naan
Brittany wrote this on 28 March 2014 whole wheat flour, yogurt
A few days ago I posted this recipe for Butter Style Chicken in the slow cooker. At the end of the recipe, I casually mention that you should serve it with naan. What I really wanted to say was, “Eat it with naan or you will regret it.” Or even, “If you don’t eat this with naan, you are dead to me.”
Naan, if you are not familiar with it, is an Indian flatbread that is usually baked in a fire oven. Tandoori oven actually. Not having access to one of those, and being a bit leery of cooking near open flames with a rambunctious 2 year old, I make do with what I have. A dry pan on the stove works great and while I am sure it can’t even TOUCH the flavor of authentic naan, it works out fine for me and my family.
I replaced some of the flour in it with white whole wheat flour, but feel free to stick with regular ‘ol all-purpose if you like. This is so wonderfully chewy and yeasty with just a bit of char on it. Do me a favor and make the chicken and then make this naan to go with it. Then we can stay friends.
On that same note, I like to do nice things for my friends! Which is why I am giving away a copy of the fantastic, healthy cookbook, Cooking With Greek Yogurt, by Cassie Johnston. It is ridiculously easy to put your name in the hat (click here to head to the post), costs nothing, and heck! You may win! Just ask the winners of my past giveaways! Loot actually shows up in your mailbox! From me! Sweet deal right?
One Year Ago: Cream Cheese Ice Cream
Two Years Ago: Root Beer Baked Beans & Lime Sherbet Punch
Three Years Ago: Speedy Glazed Salmon
Whole Wheat Naan
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest
This is so great fresh, we never have any leftover. It is really best eaten right after it is made, but I have heard of other people freezing the extras and then warming it in a low oven.
2 c white flour
2 c white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 T sugar
1/4 c warm tap water
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 c warm, low fat milk
1 c nonfat yogurt
Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add the yeast. Stir to combine and let the mixture sit and bloom-bubble and grow a bit as the yeast activates! Meanwhile, combine the flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the warm milk and yogurt to the yeast mixture, combine and stir into the dry ingredients with a fork. When it starts to stick together, use your hands to gently combine it evenly into a ball. Do not over work the dough. Cover with a piece of cellophane and let sit and rise for about an hour or so. When ready to cook, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. I just eyeball it, but you can use a kitchen scale to be 100% accurate. Place a dry, cast iron pan, or other heavy bottomed skillet, over medium to medium high heat until very hot. You can even grill it!! While the pan heats, roll the dough pieces out one by one on a bit of flour. Traditionally, it should be rolled in to an oval or tear shape, which is fortunate for me because they never seem to turn out round anyway. Brush both sides of the dough disc with olive oil or grape seed oil. Toss quickly onto the hot, dry pan and let set, without moving, until it puffs a bit and is good and toasted in spots. This should only take a minute or two-tops! Flip it (Careful! Its hot!) and let it toast on the other. Remove them to a tea towel lined plate and wrap gently to keep warm. Immediately brushed with butter and dipped in Butter Chicken, Curry, Tikka Masala, or any other saucy dish, may be the best thing you have ever eaten. Sometimes, I drizzle a piece or two with honey while the butter is melting. That would make anyones day.
Slow Cooker Butter Style Chicken
Brittany wrote this on 24 March 2014 brown rice, chicken, coconut milk, cream, ginger, gluten-free, rice, tomatoes, yogurt
Branching out of your comfort zone is never easy. Wether it is trying a new fashion trend (No, not everyone can wear skinny jeans.) or talking to people you don’t know at a party (The weather is a safe topic…) or reading a book from a section you don’t normally pick from (Try EXODUS by Leon Uris), it can all be a bit intimidating.
As with most things, I believe being adventurous with your food splits people into two categories: those who are and those who decidedly are not. There are those of us who order something different every time we step foot in a restaurant, get excited about pot-lucks because of the variety, and never give a dinner invite at a friends house a second thought. The flip side is one who orders strawberry at every ice cream shop they frequent, prefers to go to only one restaurant because they know they can order something there they like, and sweats a bit at dinner parties because they just don’t know exactly what they will be eating!
Between our families and friends, both groups are well represented. Thankfully, I have a recipe that takes care of everyone!
This recipe is easy and quick to put together, but wonderfully convenient due to the use of the slow cooker. While some of the spices may be a little foreign to you, nothing is all that out of this world in terms of flavor. There is chicken, which everyone loves, and rice, which everyone can eat! There are no weird veggies lurking in the sauce to make your kids wrinkle their noses, and I have lightened it up so bonus-its healthy!
Butter chicken and chicken tikka masala are very similar dishes. Butter chicken has…well…butter in it. But after messing around I couldn’t tell the difference wether I added it or not, so mine is without. I luuuuuuurv buttah, but if I can’t taste it, there is no sense in adding the calories. The other separations of the dishes are less obvious and depending on where your recipe comes from and who you ask, often contradicting. Out of habit, I call my version Butter Chicken.
Bottom line, this isn’t as odd or as crazy as you may think. So if you are trying to branch out in your meal repertoire, this is a super easy option. Not knowing you or those you cook for, I cannot guarantee they will like it. You just never know. All I can say is that it has become a favorite in my house and my family begs for it often. Testing this recipe over and over to get it juuuuuust right was a task they were more than equal to. Adventurous eaters or not!
One Year Ago: Cranberry Maple Pudding Cake – Holy majoley this is so good!
Two Years Ago: Honey Cheesecake Bars
Three Years Ago: Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars & Lemon Spaghetti
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
This lightened up version is still rich and flavorful. The bit of cream at the end can be left out, but it finishes off the flavors nicely so please don’t skip it if you can at all help it! Leftovers freeze wonderfully. This recipe makes a lot on purpose! I portion it out in individual servings so that my husband can take a single container of sauce to work with him. I just make him a fresh batch of rice the night before to go with it!
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast and/or thighs, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 large or 1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T grated fresh ginger
pinch of cinnamon
2 tsp thai red curry paste (use 1 tsp if you want almost no heat)
2 T garam masala
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne or to taste, optional
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz) can lite coconut milk, regular is all right too
1/2 c plain, nonfat yogurt
1/2 c heavy cream, optional
cooked brown rice for serving
Naan, recommended but not required
In the bowl of a standard size slow cooker, add all the chicken and onions. In a medium bowl combine the remaining ingredients through the yogurt and pour over the chicken and onions. Cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours, or until the edges are bubbling and the chicken is cooked through. If possible, stir once halfway through. On high for four hours is fine as well. Turn the heat off and stir in the cream. Sauce will thicken wonderfully when it cools a bit from bubbling! Serve over brown or white rice, couscous, quinoa, or even whole wheat noodles. A great whole wheat naan is ah. may. ziiiiiing. with this. You could skip it, but why would you want to?!
Note: Stay tuned for a GIVEAWAY and Part 2 of Things You Should Be Doing In Your Kitchen!
Love a Good Recipe?
Then you’ve come to the right place! I’m Brittany, and I share tested, trusted recipes you’ll love. I prepare & photograph food, obsess over the perfect recipe, and enjoy grins of delight when I serve up something awesome. Enjoy!
