Author: longdistancebaking

Huckleberry Scones

Huckleberry Scones

My name is Stephanie and I have a problem. I buy things in season in bulk, then freeze them…and then never use them. And now my freezer is FULL! Between hatch green chiles, rhubarb, huckleberries, zucchini, homemade pesto and brown bananas I have no room 

Brussels, Belgium in 24 Hours

Brussels, Belgium in 24 Hours

Any time we told people we were stopping in Brussels on our trip they would almost always ask “why?”. To be honest, we didn’t really have a reason other than it is about halfway between Paris and Amsterdam and would give us another country to 

Orange Cranberry Bread

Orange Cranberry Bread

Christmas is right around the corner and this Orange Cranberry bread is the perfect recipe for your holiday breakfast. Not only are the flavors festive, just look at that cranberry icing!

Orange Cranberry Bread | longdistancebaking.comTo be honest, I usually shy away from breads and stick to muffins instead if possible (things like banana or zucchini). I’m always so afraid of drying out the bread by cooking it too long that I end up with a middle that isn’t done all the way through. Not the case with this bread! It reminds me more of a pound cake consistency and the buttermilk helps keep everything moist. There is fresh orange juice and zest in the batter, so every bite is full of flavor.

Orange Cranberry Bread | longdistancebaking.comI really liked how the original recipe calls to chop the cranberries. It is an extra step, and could easily be skipped, but cranberries can be tart and biting into a whole one may come as a surprise. The smaller pieces also mean more bites of cranberry spread throughout the loaf!

Speaking of cranberries, why do we only eat them at the holidays? I pretty much only make cranberry sauce to go with turkey but after eating this bread, I’m thinking I need to be eating it year round! I knew it was going to be tasty of course, but I didn’t think we would eat an entire loaf in 24 hours. And, umm…we did.

Orange Cranberry Bread | longdistancebaking.comI also think this would be a super cute gift to friends or neighbors or even brought to a holiday party! It is sweet enough to be dessert but different than the millions of Christmas cookies, so I’m sure it would be appreciated.

Hope you are you enjoying the holiday season and slowing down to enjoy this time of year. Merry Christmas!

~Stephanie

Orange Cranberry Bread | longdistancebaking.com

Orange Cranberry Bread (recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

For bread:

  • 1 1/2 c  flour 
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 c granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 3/4 c buttermilk
  • 1/2 c vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp orange juice
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 c fresh cranberries, chopped

For cranberry glaze:

  • 1/4 c fresh cranberries
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp orange juice 
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 1 c powdered sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and orange zest. Mix together with your fingers until combined and fragrant.
  3. In separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add sugar mixture and whisk all together.
  4. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla.
  5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until combined. Gently stir in the cranberries. Pour batter into loaf pan and smooth evenly.
  6. Bake for 65-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If loaf starts browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil until finished.
  7. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. After 15 minutes remove bread from pan using parchment paper and continue to let cool on wire rack.
  8. While the bread is cooling, make the glaze. In a small saucepan add cranberries, orange juice, orange zest and water. Cook over medium heat until cranberries have broken down and a sauce is formed, about 15 minutes.
  9. Carefully strain the liquid into a small bowl, discard of the cranberry remains. Add the powdered sugar to liquid and whisk until smooth icing forms. If icing is too thick, add a few drops of water at a time until desired consistency is reached.
  10. Drizzle cranberry glaze over the loaf, slice and serve.
Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. I received sample products for recipe development, however all opinions are honest and my own. The final installment of this year’s #Choctoberfest: double chocolate walnut cookies. They taste just as good as they sound! I’m not sure when 

Fudgy Chocolate Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Fudgy Chocolate Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar. I received sample products to use in recipe development  however all opinions are honest and my own. Chocolate. Cream Cheese.  Brownies. You’ve all had these before, I don’t even need to explain them to you. They are 

Nutella Pie

Nutella Pie

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Barlean’s. I received free products for recipe development, however all opinions are honest and my own.

This may come as a shock to everyone, but Kelly did not make this Nutella Pie. Although maybe it’s not that surprising, because she probably would have already eaten the Nutella straight from the jar and it never would have made its way into the pie. But I digress.

Nutella Pie with Barleans | longdistancebaking.comLast year my parents hosted a foreign exchange student from Italy for the entire school year. Lorenzo loved most sweets, but oddly hated peanut butter. Who doesn’t like peanut butter?! He explained they eat Nutella in Italy. And if you have Nutella…you don’t need peanut butter. While I disagree, I guess I can understand that (side note: did you see that article hiring Nutella taste testers to come live in Italy??). 

When Lorenzo’s birthday rolled around, we knew we needed to have a big birthday dessert as is the American custom (much to his protesting) and remembered him mentioning Nutella Pie once upon a time. A quick google search showed this was in fact a real thing, and amazingly only required a few ingredients and minimal baking.

Nutella Pie with Barleans | longdistancebaking.comIt’s kind of dangerous how easily and quickly this recipe comes together. The graham cracker-pretzel crust is a game changer (talk about that salty-sweet combo) and the filling is simply Nutella and mascarpone cheese. You’re 5 ingredients away from this insanely decadent pie!

While I meant to share this recipe with you ages ago, I knew it would be perfect for #Choctoberfest, our weeklong celebration of all things chocolate. I also knew when I saw this Barlean’s butter flavored coconut oil that it would perfect in the crust. I was right on both counts! I haven’t seen any other brands with butter flavored coconut oil, and you can really tell the difference here. No coconut flavor at all and smells just like butter, yet has all the health benefits of coconut oil!

Nutella Pie with Barleans | longdistancebaking.comMy birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, and while I know we’ll already have pumpkin, apple and pecan pies…I kind of think this might be my birthday dessert of choice. It is rich without being heavy and who can turn down Nutella?!

If you haven’t entered our #Choctoberfest giveaway yet, don’t forget to do that by the end of the weekend! Included in the prize pack are more Barlean’s goodies so you don’t want to miss yout. Until then, enjoy all of the chocolate recipes by following the hashtag on social media and stick around to see what else we have to share with you.

~Stephanie

Nutella Pie (recipe adapted from Epicurious)

  • 1 1/2 cups small pretzels
  • 1 sleeve graham crackers
  • 1/2 c melted Barlean’s Butter Flavored Coconut Oil
  • 2 cups Nutella
  • 8 oz mascarpone cheese
  • chopped hazelnut pieces for garnish (optional: I found these at Trader Joe’s)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place pretzels and graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Slowly pour in the Barlean’s coconut oil and pulse until combined
  3. Pour the crumb mixture into a 9×9 pie tin. Press the mixture evenly throughout the bottom and sides of the tin, pressing very firmly as to keep crust together.
  4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes then remove from oven and set aside.
  5. In medium mixing bowl, add the Nutella and mascarpone cheese. Beat with mixer until fluffy and fully combined.
  6. Pour Nutella into pie tin and gently spread the filling evenly into crust.
  7. Top with chopped hazelnut pieces if desired.
  8. Refrigerate at least one hour then serve.
  9. Keep covered and refrigerated.

 


#Choctoberfest 2018

#Choctoberfest 2018

Welcome to #Choctoberfest 2018 with Imperial Sugar! Get ready for all things chocolate, because #Choctoberfest is here! If you’ve missed past years, over 100 bloggers from around the world celebrate chocolate  for an entire WEEK by putting chocolate in basically everything. Our previous entries have included Peanut Butter Chocolate Sauce Brownies 

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Maple Cream Sauce

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Maple Cream Sauce

Happy Monday!! Why am I so excited about a Monday you may ask? Well, that’s because today is one of the best days of the year! It’s the Virtual Pumpkin Party! An annual event where almost 100 bloggers post everything PUMPKIN all day long. Even 

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart

If you know me at all you know I’ve been fully embracing fall for the past month. At least. I’ve had to stop myself from watching Hocus Pocus already and have had “This is Halloween” stuck in my head on repeat. BUT. I just spent the weekend sweating in New Orleans, which reminded me summer isn’t over everywhere yet. I have two more summer recipes to share with you, then it’s going to be all pumpkin everything from here until Christmas, because that’s just who I am.

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart | longdistancebaking.comI have a very bad habit at farmers markets of buying everything that looks good, which in turn means I have way too much produce because EVERYTHING looks good when it’s fresh at the market. Last month I came home with donut peaches, dinosaur egg pluots (so cute!!), cherries, blackberries, raspberries and more…the fruit all looked incredible! Then as per usual, I let it sit on my counter until it was on the verge of being over ripe.

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart | longdistancebaking.comI clearly needed a fruit recipe but it was still pushing 100 degrees and I’ve been boycotting the oven, so no-bake was the obvious choice. Not only is this tart surprisingly easy to make, it is quick and only uses a few dishes. All very important factors when you put off making a dessert to bring to your monthly book club until the day of your meet up. Hypothetically of course…

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart | longdistancebaking.comThe base is a simple graham cracker crust made even more simple by the “rustic” shape of the tart (aka it doesn’t matter what shape it ends up). The custard is creamy and vanilly without being over powering, because the star of the show here is all the fruit. You could use whatever you have on hand which is what makes this tart so versatile! Apricots, plums, peaches, cherries, berries, kiwis…I think just about any fresh summer fruit would go perfectly here.

No Bake Summer Fruit and Custard Tart | longdistancebaking.comBook club gave this tart two thumb’s up (which is more than we can say about the book we read…) and the husband asked “can you make that again?!” when he saw these photos. Go grab the last of the fresh summer produce and make this tart before it’s too late!

~Stephanie

No Bake Summer Fruit Custard Tart (recipe from Half Baked Harvest)

For Crust

  • 2 1/2 c (about 2 sleeves) crushed graham crackers
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c butter, melted

For Custard

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/4 c cornstarch
  • 1/3 c honey
  • 2 c whole milk
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 c assorted fruits and berries (slice and pit fruits as appropriate)
  • fresh thyme and mint for garnish, optional
  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, salt and butter and mix until combined. Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper and use your hands to press the crumbs into a rectangle shape, about 1/4 inch thick. Place in freezer to cool.
  3. In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch until fully combined. Add the honey, milk, and salt to egg yolks. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes. (stir constantly!) Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla and butter then let cool 10 minutes.
  4. Remove crust from the freezer and spread the custard evenly over crust, going almost to the edge. Gently cover and chill in fridge for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
  5. When ready to eat, arrange the fruit over the custard. Drizzle with additional honey and garnish with thyme and mint if desired. Slice and enjoy!
  6. Leftovers will last a 2-3 days covered and refrigerated.
Paris, France – What to Do and What to Eat

Paris, France – What to Do and What to Eat

I’m a little behind on sharing, but I went to Europe for the first time! My husband and I spent about 9 days in total, traveling through Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam. I’m so excited to share all of our European adventures with you! I’m a little