Desserts and Baking

Orange Cinnamon Yogurt Cake

• 3/4 cup butter, softened, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup liquid honey
• 1-1/2 tbsp finely grated orange peel
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1-3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp icing sugar

Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Line base and sides with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter, yogurt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, honey and peel in a medium bowl using an electric mixer until combined. In a seperate bowl, beat eggs and sugar using an electric mixer until mixture is thick and creamy. Stir egg mixture into yogurt mixture, along with flour and baking powder. Spread batter in preparerd pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cake stand in pan for 10 minutes before turning out into a wire rack to cool thoroughly. Combine icing sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Dust the top of cooled cake with mixture. Serve

Oatmeal Coconut Squares with Chocolate Chips

• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Optional: you can replace chips with dried cranberries or raisins, or even nuts.

Preheat oven to 375® F

Line a 9 inch square metal baking pan with 12 to 14 inch long sheet foil, letting excess hang over sides and butter foil in pan.

Toss together oats, flour, brown sugar, chips, coconut, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat together butter, egg, and vanilla with a fork in another bowl, then stir into oat mixture until incorporated. Spoon batter into baking pan, patting evenly.

Bake in middle of over until set, about 25 minutes. Remove from pan by lifting ends of foil. Cool on a rack and cut into squares. Should make 16 bars.

Coconut Pineapple Loaf Cake

This is so yummy and I find that even though it is in the shape of a loaf you can dress it up as a dessert with sliced pineapple on the side and then slice up the pineapple loaf and make a decorative platter out of it.

• 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
• 1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks in juice, drained well

Preheat oven to 350®. Spread coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, toss occasionally, 6-10 minutes, set aside. Butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Using a beater on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low, and alternately add flour mixture in three parts and sour cream in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until combined (don’t over mix)

Using a rubber spatula, fold pineapple and 1 cup coconut into batter. Spoon into prepared pan, and smooth top; sprinkle with remaining ½ cup coconut. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes (cover pan with foil halfway through. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way. To store keep at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 2 days.

Cranberry Scones

*When my Nonna was sick in the hospital with no appetite I brought her these and they were a hit. My kids take them to school and come home and want more. They are easy to do and you can replace the cranberry with blueberries. I have tried frozen blackberries and it was super messy, but they turned out really good.

• 2 ¾ cups flour (you can use whole wheat)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375®.

Mix this all together and then cut in ½ cup of butter with pastry cutter. Add ¾ buttermilk or yogurt (preferably plain or vanilla), 1 egg beaten, ½ sugar, 1 cup dried cranberries, and rind of one orange or lemon.

Mix into a soft dough, at some point you will find it is easier to mix with two hands, so take off your wedding ring (not fun to clean) and dig in, form them into 2 ½ inch rounds and flatten a little bit, you will end up with over a dozen, depending how big you make them. Cook for 18 – 20 minutes. While they are cooking, mix 1 tbsp of melted butter and ¼ cup icing sugar, as soon as the scones come out of the oven, just gently spoon some of this mixture on to each one and kind of spread it around. Enjoy!