Baked Caprese

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar, doesn't that sound like a match made in heaven? Add it to the top of garlic ciabatta bread and now I am drooling! 

The other day Mr. Q and I had a late lunch date at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant and so when dinner time rolled around we were still pretty stuffed. The kiddos did their usual homemade pizza Friday night ritual, but later I decided to whip up this amazing late night snack just for the two of us.

Baked Caprese

This is so easy to make, yet it looks fancy and tastes amazing, 

so I thoroughly recommend serving it up as an appetizer 

to wow your guests at your next dinner party! 

Here's what you'll need: 

Ciabatta bread 

butter

garlic

mozzerella 

balsamic vinegar

tomatoes

basil

Instructions:

Cut your bread in half. 

Since we weren't all that hungry I saved half of my baguette 

but if you're feeding a larger crowd use both halves 

or double the recipe if needed. 

Just know that you'll need about 8 oz. cheese and 1 large tomato per half loaf. 

Next mix softened butter and minced garlic and spread it over the bread.

Then sliced Mozzarella and place it on top. 

Bake the bread @ 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil on the stove, then let it simmer for 5-7 minutes to reduce. 

Slice tomatoes and chop basil.

Take the bread out of the oven, top with tomatoes, basil, and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Cut into slices. 

Enjoy!

This was adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Blueberry Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

This morning two brown bananas on the counter were 

just begging to become banana bread...

But I was also in the mood for cheesecake, 

(I'm basically always in the mood for cheesecake)

So I came up with this Blueberry Banana Bread 

with Cream Cheese Swirl.

(The blueberries were just sort of an an afterthought 

and probably the best idea ever!)

Here's what you'll need:

1 EGG

1/2 CUP BROWN SUGAR

1/4 CUP VEGETABLE OIL

1/4 CUP APPLE SAUCE

1/4 CUP LITE SOUR CREAM

2 TEASPOONS VANILLA

1 CUP BANANAS (MASHED)

1 CUP FRESH BLUEBERRIES 

1 CUP FLOUR

1/2 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

1/2 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

PINCH OF SALT

And for the Cream Cheese Swirl 

You'll need:

1 EGG

4 OZ. CREAM CHEESE

1/4 CUP SUGAR

3 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350, grease and flour loaf pan.

Combine egg, brown sugar, oil, apple sauce, sour cream and vanilla

in a large bowl with a wire wisk until smooth.

With a spatula fold in the rest of the bread ingredients.

Pour 2/3 of the bread mix into the loaf pan. 

(See: Step One)

Next mix cream cheese swirl ingredients until smooth.

Pour cream cheese mixture on top of bread mix in loaf pan.

(See: Step Two)

Then carefully pour the remainder of the bread mix 

over the cream cheese layer.

(See: Step Three)

Bake 45-60 minutes until toothpick is inserted in center 

and comes out clean.

Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Then cool another 20 minutes on wire rack.

   Enjoy!

Sweet Hawaiian Bread

Sometimes I surprise myself. 

 I have never had any luck at all with bread. Honestly, I made a banana bread once that could have been used as a weapon--it was bad! However I seemed to have turned over a new leaf or should I say, loaf! 

Although I must admit, I owe it all to my KitchenAid stand mixer. Ever since I bit the bullet and jumped on the KitchenAid bandwagon, I've managed to produce loaf after loaf of super tasty bread. I'm also happy to report that after a few "mushroom clouds" I've finally managed to get my bread to actually look like bread! 

I really hope this is not just a fluke!

Here's a recipe I adapted from Allrecipes "Amish White Bread" but I'm calling it Sweet Hawaiian Bread because I think it tastes exactly like those sweet Hawaiian rolls we all know and love except in loaf form. 

Start with 2 cups of warm water, 

2/3 cup of sugar, 

and 2 packets of active dry yeast. 

Let those ingredients foam up in large KitchenAid bowl. 

Am I the only one who is totally weirded out by yeast? 

It's kinda creepy, am I right?

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt 

and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

Attach the dough hook and mix at the lowest speed. 

Next Add 6 cups of bread flour, 

a half cup at a time. 

Alternate between speeds 1 & 2. 

This process seemed to take forever. 

But boy was it worth it! 

Now I'm certainly no expert but after adding all the flour, 

the dough seemed a little dry to me. 

So I added a splash of coconut milk. 

This may have been the secret ingredient!

Take out the dough, knead it by hand a bit,

and form a big dough ball.

Oil the bowl 

and roll the dough ball around in the oily bowl.

Then seal the bowl up with plastic wrap 

and drape a towel over it. 

Since it was a pretty cold day, 

I tried this trick I read in one of the reviews: 

Turn on the oven for about 30 seconds, 

just long enough to warm it up,

then turn it off and 

let dough rise in the oven for an hour. 

After the dough doubles in size, 

punch it down and 

knead it a bit more by hand. 

Divide it into two ovalish loaves 

and place in greased/floured loaf pans. 

Let those babies rise for 30 more minutes. 

Then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now eat your delicious sweet bread!

I served the bread with bbq chicken, mashed potatoes & corn 

and my family gobbled it all up!