baked goods

chocolate pecan coconut zucchini loaf

July 27, 2016 By Fareen Leave a Comment

When I planted my garden this past Spring, I didn’t really think anything would grow. It was a little experiment that I didn’t have a lot of confidence in. It was exciting when things started to grow, and we have enjoyed watching the garden blossom.

When I checked the garden yesterday, I was thrilled that there were zucchini! I was so excited, I picked one out and decided to do some baking after everyone had gone to sleep. My favourite use of zucchini is a chocolate loaf. I wanted this to be filled with all the things so loaded up this loaf with chocolate chips, pecans and coconut.

This zucchini loaf is made with yogurt and is chocolately and super moist. Definitely one to try!

Chocolate Pecan Coconut Zucchini Loaf

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup flaked coconut

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the nuts, chips and coconut and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients along with the egg and sugar. Stir into the zucchini. Pour this mixture into the dry mixture, and stir until combined.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

chocolate chip, coconut, pecan banana bread

January 20, 2016 By Fareen 4 Comments

I have a new helper in the kitchen. The little guy is always eager to see what’s cooking and to help out in any way possible. Z is 21 months and lately, when he thinks I’ll be doing something in the stand mixer, he pulls the chair to the counter, ready with measuring cups so that he can pour things in.

This morning we made banana bread, using up ripe bananas that we wanted to put to good use. We loaded up the batter with pecans, chocolate chips and coconut. The resulting bread was moist and full of character. We cut into it while it was still hot, it was too hard to resist!

Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Pecan Banana Bread

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Cream margarine and sugar together. Once combined, add eggs and vanilla. Next, mix in the dry ingredients – flour and baking soda. Add the mashed bananas, sour cream along with the chocolate chips, pecans and coconut.

Add the batter to a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

nutella brownies…and a baker’s secret giveaway!

December 1, 2015 By Fareen 35 Comments

If there’s anything that can bring people to the table, it’s a pan of brownies. Not just any brownies. Nutella brownies. These are not as dense as the 2-ingredient brownies I’ve made before. They are cakey and not as sweet, and totally satisfy a chocolate craving. The hazelnuts scattered on top roasted in the oven making it the perfect crunchy topping.

When World Kitchen sent me their Baker’s Secret Easy Store 5pce Bakeware Set, I knew that this would be the perfect recipe to test out the pans. I was very impressed with the set, each nonstick pan nesting together for compact, space-saving storage. They are also dishwasher safe, always a bonus when it comes to saving time.

Want a chance to win an 8″ Baker’s Secret Square Cake Pan and bake up your own batch of these brownies? Enter below and let me know what you’ll be making! Open to residents of Canada (including Quebec). Contest closes December 10, 2015 at 11:59pm MST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post has been sponsored by World Kitchen and I have been compensated monetarily and with product. All opinions are my own.

Nutella Brownies

1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking pwoder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped

In a glass bowl, heat the Nutella for approximately 30 seconds in the microwave. Add the sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients until everything is incorporated. Pour batter into an 8″ x 8″ greased pan. Top with nuts and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup pecans – See more at: http://www.foodmamma.com/2012/08/fudge-brownies.html#sthash.DhFS7GyH.dpuf

carrot cake

November 25, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Today is my mom’s birthday. She is a special person, always doing what she can for all of us. She doesn’t ask for anything. The least I could do was make her a cake.
This moist cake is warm from the cinnamon and packed with nuts
because that’s what she loves. And since there’s carrots, we can
convince ourselves that it’s okay to eat because we are eating our
veggies.

Carrot Cake

2 cups carrots, grated
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, chopped

In a blender, mix together the carrots, oil and eggs. Transfer to a bowl and add the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in the nuts. Put batter into a 9″ cake pan and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes. Top with cream cheese icing and nuts.

choco banana nut muffins

November 18, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

My first instinct when I see a bunch of ripe bananas is to make banana bread. I decided to change it up a little today and make some muffins. It’s always nice to have something baked for school lunches or for an afternoon treat.

These muffins feature bananas and are complemented with chocolate chips, coconut and pecans. It made the perfect after school snack!

Choco Banana Nut Muffins

1/2 butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup pecans

Cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Add the flour and baking soda and mix until incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients until well mixed. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.

pumpkin cinnamon rolls

November 12, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

I don’t cook often with pumpkin but for some reason, I got it in my head that I had to make some pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are one of Q’s favourites so he was totally on board and couldn’t wait to help.

I loved working with this dough – so smooth. It was easy to roll out and then cover in butter, sugar and spices. The house smelled amazing as they baked and we couldn’t wait to smother them in cream cheese icing before digging in. Q loved these, saying that these may be better than the original.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

2/3 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 TB ground cinnamon
1 TB all spice
1/2 cup butter, softened

Microwave the milk for 45 to 60 seconds. Then, dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, pumpkin and flour. Mix well. Allow the dough to come together with the dough hook of the mixer.

Put the ball of dough into a bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, all spice and cinnamon. Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a rectangle. Spread the softened butter on the dough and then sprinkle with the sugar and spice mix.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into rolls. Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased rectangular pan. Let the rolls rise another 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes.

Eat warm as is or with some delicious cream cheese frosting.

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Microwave the milk for 45 to 60 seconds. Then, dissolve yeast in warm
milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix
well. Allow the dough to come together with the dough hook of the mixer.

Put the ball of dough into a bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place
for roughly 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a 16 x 21″ rectangle. Spread
the softened butter on the dough and then sprinkle with brown sugar and
cinnamon.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into 12 cinnamon
rolls (or more smaller rolls, if you prefer). To even out the
rectangle, I cut off all the edges and the scraps made an additional 12
mini rolls.

Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased rectangular pan. Let the rolls rise another 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake
them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20
minutes.

Eat warm as is or with some delicious cream cheese frosting. – See more at: http://www.foodmamma.com/2012/05/after-discovering-last-month-qs-love-of.html#sthash.4jLTxXmR.dpuf

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banana cake

July 14, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

There’s something about a bundt cake. It looks great, provides comfort and always seems to impress.

My mom makes really amazing banana cupcakes.They are moist and flavourful and perfect for on the go. I decided to use her recipe but made a bundt to serve for dessert. The ripe bananas made the cake sweet and the chocolate paired so well with the fruit.

The cake itself was fine on its own but I thought I’d make it even better – I added chocolate on top! I made a quick ganache and once it was a little cool, I poured it on top of the cake. It took it to another level. Chocolate always seems to have that effect.

Banana Cake

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup whipping cream

icing sugar

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Mash the bananas and add to the mixture.

Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add in the yogurt and the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a greased bundt pan or muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

For the topping, heat the whipping cream until it starts boiling. Pour over the chocolate chips. Let cool a bit and then pour on top of the cooled cake. It’s best to place the cake on top of a rack placed on top of a tray. Dust with icing sugar.

cream scones

June 22, 2015 By Fareen 2 Comments

Happy belated Father’s Day! Hope all the daddies out there had a wonderful father’s day yesterday!

Our breakfast was a last minute arrangement so we wanted something that was quick and stress-free. We celebrated the dads with a breakfast of steak and eggs. I made a huge batch of scrambled eggs, thinking this would be better than making everyone individual omelets.

Hubby sprinkled some streak with lots of Montreal Steak Spiced which was done on the grill. The combo of the steak and eggs was just perfect for a celebration breakfast.

To go with the steak and eggs, I quickly whipped up a batch of cream scones. This is my favourite recipe for scones! It’s a great way to use up any extra whipping cream you may have lying around. It’s also a quick and easy way to make scones – no rolling, no cutting – it’s perfect when you’re in a hurry.

I discovered Julie’s recipe on Babble a couple of years ago and have loved it every since. Best served warm with butter and jam, they are sure to be a fave.

Cream Scones
From Babble

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cream and stir just until the dough comes together. Drop by the large spoonful onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm. Makes about 1 dozen scones.

2-ingredient nutella brownies

March 2, 2015 By Fareen 4 Comments

Hello March! You came by too quickly but we are very happy to see you! March is birthday month (yay?) but also Blogiversary month! It’s been 5 years since the creation of Food Mamma. We will be celebrating all month long with giveaways from some awesome folks – more on that to come!

When I saw the post about brownies with only 2 ingredients, I was intrigued. When I learned that one of the ingredients was Nutella, well, I just had to try it for myself. The recipe called for 4 eggs, I had 3 and I still needed to make breakfast. I used one egg for french toast and the other 2 to make a small batch of these brownies.

With two ingredients, the batter came together quite quickly. The waiting for the brownies to be baked and cooled, well, that seemed like it took forever. Q came into the kitchen every five minutes, is it done yet?

To make it look pretty, I did add powdered sugar, but you don’t have to. The brownies were dense and fudgy and oh so good. I kind of wish they weren’t so easy – it’s a dangerous recipe to have!

2-Ingredient Nutella Brownies
Recipe from Diethood

4 large eggs
1 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350.
Line an 8×8 brownie pan with parchment paper; set aside.
Place the eggs in your mixer’s bowl and beat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the eggs have tripled in size.
Heat the Nutella in the microwave for 60 seconds. Remove and stir.
Slowly pour a stream of the warm Nutella over the eggs, beating until mixture is thoroughly combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with very few crumbs.
Remove and let completely cool before cutting.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Cut into bars and serve.

corbeaux bakehouse

January 17, 2015 By Fareen Leave a Comment

After seeing all the delicious pictures being posted on Instagram about Corbeaux Bakehouse, I couldn’t wait to check it out for myself. Located in the former Melrose, the space had been transformed and it looked like a little bit of Europe in Calgary.

We arrived early on Friday and were happy to be seated right away. I had a cup of hot chocolate while I decided on breakfast. There were a lot of choices!

We knew we had to try the bread so we shared the bread basket which contained a few varieties along with butter and jam. The bread was so good and comforting and way more than two people needed to eat.

I was happy to see the buratta on the menu and we definitely wanted to try that. The cheese was soft and paired well with the tomato jam that it was served with. The jam was our favourite, sweet with a kick of spice.

I opted for the duo of poached eggs with salt, pepper and gremolata. We also ordered some bakehouse potatoes to go with our eggs. The potatoes were cooked up in duck fat with some caramelized onions and green onions. They made the perfect accompaniment to the eggs.

We also indulged and ordered some hollandaise sauce for the eggs. Definitely worth the splurge!

Our very delicious and filling breakfast was finished off with brioche donuts with lemon curd which were served nice and warm.

Along with their sit down menu, Corbeaux offers a huge variety of pastries and cakes that you can enjoy. With his sweet tooth, I knew Q would love the almond croissant which he devoured after dinner.

It was a great morning and I can’t wait to go back to try out all their lunch and dinner offerings. Definitely a place worth checking out!