i’ve been trying to keep my healthy eating in top shape lately, but i’ve really been missing the baking! so, when i got home from work last night it was so beautiful out, i popped this strawberry bread in the oven and went out for a run while it was baking. i felt very accomplished! anyway, i adapted this recipe from martha’s strawberry bread but made it a bit healthier.

i was nervous it wouldn’t come out right because of all of the substitutions, but it worked out great! make martha’s version if you’re not into the flavor and density of whole wheat flour, or you can even do half and half. i put the nutrition info under the recipe in case anyone’s curious! it’s a great, healthy way to start your morning!

healthy strawberry bread

serves 12

ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon buttery spread, like smart balance
• 1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, quartered, and mashed with a fork
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons flax seed, ground (optional)
• 2 large eggs

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with baking spray. In a small saucepan, bring strawberries to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, mix buttery spread, honey, and eggs in a mixing bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in reserved strawberries.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with foil after 45 minutes if top is getting too dark). Cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges; invert onto a rack. Reinvert; cool completely.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving (80.6 g)

Calories 186
Total Fat 6.1g    Saturated Fat 1.4gCholesterol 35mg
Sodium 49mg
Total Carbohydrates 29.9g
    Dietary Fiber 3.5g
    Sugars 13.1g
Protein 4.7g


enjoy!

this past sunday, my baby sister graduated from high school. that means, in a few short months, she’ll be a college student. i feel like it wasn’t so long ago that i was a college student, but we’re 10 years apart.

left: my high school graduation day, with my sisters and uncle; right: lynzi’s high school grad, with just the sisters.

left: lynzi’s first day of school           right: grad day

left: lynz and her bff circa 1999        right: lynz and her bff on grad day

since the graduation was at the local minor league baseball stadium (the only place that would fit a graduating class of almost 1000 plus their families) we decided to tailgate before the ceremony. i made strawberries and cream cupcakes (lynzi’s flavor request) and put little white chocolate graduation caps on top. i also made the new york times best chocolate chip cookies, which is now my go to chocolate chip cookie since they come out so good.

now onto the cupcakes…

yellow buttermilk cupcakes with strawberry frosting

recipe adapted from martha’s website

makes 36 cupcakes

ingredients:

• 3 cups cake flour, (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
• 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

after the cupcakes cooled completely, i whipped up some heavy cream, put it in a pastry bag with a large plain round tip, and just stuck it right in the middle of the cupcakes and filled them up! you can also use an apple corer to take out the middle of the cupcakes so that you make sure you have ample room for your whipped cream. i was in a bit of a rush, and i kind of like watching the cupcakes expand with cream!

this is my go to frosting. it is so easy and delicious, and you can make it any flavor you want. i learned how to make it at a class i took at the butter lane cupcake shop in nyc.

vanilla bean frosting

ingredients:

1 lb of butter
4 oz cream cheese
7 cups confectioners sugar
1 vanilla bean 
1 splash of vanilla extract

directions:

yay for strawberry season! while i haven’t gone to pick my own yet, i really can’t wait! there’s a “pick your own….” farm really close to my parent’s house where i grew up. i remember driving down the street and seeing all of the strawberry pickers out the window. my dad and my sister (only one sister at the time, sorry lynz!) made up a song that we used to sing whenever we’d go by:

“butts and elbows, knees and toes, KNEES AND TOES! butts and elbows, knees and toes, KNEES AND TOOOOOOES!” (to the tune of head and shoulders, knees and toes.)

anyhow, it brings back good memories, and there’s nothing better than biting into a hot strawberry straight off the vine. since strawberries are pretty cheap right now, i decided to make these, just because they looked pretty interesting and i was curious.

the dough was awesome. so pretty.

and the recipe:

strawberry shortcake cookies a la martha stewart

makes about 3 dozen

ingredients:

• 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.

2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

these were really good right out of the oven. today they’re a bit more biscuit like than cookie like, but still really fresh and delicious. i might have baked them a bit more if i had to do it over to try to get them a little crispier on the outside.

definitely worth trying for strawberry season!

if there was a flavor for spring, this would be it.

these cupcakes are so light and fluffy, almost like lemon angel food cake. the frosting is amazing, definitely my go to frosting. it’s a vanilla bean frosting that i added home made strawberry jam to. amazing flavor combo.

lemon cupcakes

adapted from mybakingaddiction.com

makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• lemon zest from two lemons
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon pure lemon extract

getting ready: center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. prepare cupcake tins by using liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. beat in the extracts, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Place the batter into the cupcake tins.

bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch.

strawberry vanilla bean frosting

adapted from butter lane cupcakes

makes enough for 1 batch of cupcakes

• 1 lb of butter
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 7 cups confectioners sugar (i usually end up using less)
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 splash of vanilla extract
• home made strawberry jam, to taste (substitute anything here that you want the frosting to be flavored with. i’ve used peanut butter, other flavors of jam and nutella of course!)

cream together butter and cream cheese. scrape and add one vanilla bean. add sugar a bit at a time, mixing until incorporated. add a splash of vanilla extract. mix in the jam or any other type of flavor!

it’s the perfect spring cupcake.