Cinnamon Swirl Bread

For those times you crave a little something sweet that isn't complicated to make or requires a trip to the store...

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; set aside. 

In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 cup sugar. Combine egg, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. 

Pour half of the batter into pan. Sprinkle with half the reserved cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon/sugar mixture. Draw a knife through batter to marble. 

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap in foil and let sit overnight before slicing.

Tine's Changes: The only edit I did was use 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup coconut milk just to give it a little kick. I did notice that the bread was a little tougher than I would have preferred, maybe bread flour next time. It forms a nice crispy crust though!!

Butternut Squash Mac n' Cheeze

This recipe comes from the Oh She Glows blog which is a vegan blog I found in my recipe hunting adventures. Although I am not vegan, I was drawn to try this one out. Below is her unedited recipe. I'll share my changes below.

Butternut Squash Mac N' Cheeze

1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin
Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk (revised from 1 cup)
1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4-3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2-1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
4 servings brown rice macaroni (8oz or half a 16oz package) makes 3 1/4 cup cooked
Mix-ins of choice (e.g., kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, pumpkin seeds, etc)



1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the cheeze sauce in a pot on the stove top. Add Earth balance over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).

3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. The sauce makes enough to cover 4 servings of pasta.

4. In a blender, blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).

5. Add cooked, drained, and rinsed macaroni into pot, along with cheeze sauce & mix-ins. Heat and serve.

Notes: 1) My 3.5 pound squash made 5 cups cooked squash, so I had about 4 cups leftover. 2) The sauce does not cut in half well (the blender has a hard time blending it up), 3) I tried this recipe with canned pumpkin and it was awesome!



Tine's Changes: I did use a fresh butternut squash for this recipe. It was a pretty common vegetable around the house growing up. As I am NOT vegan, I used regular butter, but I did use almond milk. I used cornstarch and no nutritional yeast (which I hear is more for texture than flavor anyway). As for the pasta, I used regular old macaroni. I added peas for an additional veggie.