Strawberry Wholemeal Bread Loaf

Strawberry season is so exciting! Trays of ripe and beautiful strawberries in various shades of bright red can be found everywhere in open-air markets, green groceries and supermarkets. The fresh and sweet fragrance hits you in the face as you walk past them.
I've had this recipe for a while and I finally had the chance to test it out. It is such an easy-to-follow recipe it only took me 15 minutes of preparation time before it was ready for the oven.
The cake loaf does not rise much and is quite filling. I have more than halved the amount of sugar from the original recipe and found the sweetness is just right. The lightness and the freshness of the strawberries really stand out and help balance out the sugar.

Strawberry Wholemeal Bread Loaf

1 punnet of 250g fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs, well beaten

1) Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2) Dice strawberries into small chunks. Place in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Set aside.
3) Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Blend oil and eggs and combine with the strawberries. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the strawberry mixture. Blend until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
4) Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Leave in pan for about ten minutes. Turn the loaf out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serves 8

Nutritional value per serve:
Calories 191.1
Total fat 8.6g
Saturated fat 1.4g
Polyunsaturated fat 1.0g
Monounsaturated fat 5.5g
Carbohydrate 25.5g
Dietary fibre 3.8g
Sugars 8.1g
Protein 4.9g

PS Nutritional value is calculated using the recipe calculator by SparkRecipe

Cranberry & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

I have been so sleep deprived this week. Having worked six days in a row did not do much good to my energy level either. I wish I am one of those people who can sleep in for as many hours as they want. I was craving some sweet treats so I ended up making these cookies.
I love oatmeal cookies for their chewiness. These have dried fruits in them, giving them a lighter and fruity sweetness. I suspect they would taste really good with choc chips in them too~

Cranberry and Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, adopted from Baking Bites

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla extract.
3) In a separate bowl, mix together flour, wheat germ, baking soda and baking powder. Add in dried fruits.
4) Slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the butter mixture. Add in the rolled oats and stir well.
5) Drop 2.5cm balls on the lined baking sheet, about 2cm apart. Slightly flatten the balls. Baking for approx 11-12 minutes or until the edges start to turn brown. Leave cookies on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Wholemeal oatmeal muffins with mixed dried fruits

After making all those sugary cakes and sweets I feel like baking something healthy. Something I can snack on during the week and not feel bad about it. Something that can help me through a eight-hour day and stop me from reaching for more jelly beans.
These muffins are exactly what I need. They are made with mainly wholemeal flour and rolled oats so they are really filling. They are quite light in texture but have a lot of bite in them. The muffins themselves are not sweet at all but the dried fruits make them really flavoursome. I used raisins, dried cranberries and dried goji berries but any other dried fruits, chopped toasted nuts and seeds should work well too.

Wholemeal oatmeal muffins with mixed dried fruits
(from Baking Bites)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup pack brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda pinch salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup mixture of raisins, dried cranberries and dried goji berry
1 cup rolled oats, slightly chopped
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water

1) Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in dried fruits and oats. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and water.
3) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredient and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Let stand for 20 minutes.
4) Spoon batter into prepared tins using a 1/4 C measuring cup.
5) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed.

These muffins smell absolutely amazing !!

According to my dad and many websites, goji berries are meant to be packed with antioxidants and really good for you. They are a bit dry and hard to bite into so probably not the best thing as snacks on their own. But they are great with porridge or muesli.
Plus they have an orangey-red colour that is so pretty!

PS As suggested by the original recipe, I divided the batter into halves and store one half in the fridge. It has kept very well over an entire week. It is still very moist and lumpy and easy to scoop out. And the muffins turned out to be equally delicious. I ended up adding three more minutes to cooking time.

Baking with wholemeal flour

In the attempt to improve the nutritional values of my baking, I bought some wholemeal flour the other day and incorporated it into a muffin recipe. It's a really versatile recipe that allows you to add different ingredients to make it your own.
Muffins turn out so perfect. The wholemeal flour adds a slightly course texture and these muffins have more "bite" than the ordinary ones. Great for on-the-go breakfast! Adapted from Best Ever Muffins from allrecipe.com

1.25 cups all-purpose flour
0.75 cup wholemeal flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup pack brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
30mL olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
Frozen mixed berries

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
2) Stir together flour, baking powder and sugar. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil. Pour the liquid at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a folk until moistened. Foil in berries. Do not overbeat or the batter will be lumpy.
3) Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.
4) Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

I ♥ yoga!

Three months into my yoga practice and I am already addicted to it!!! I want to practise every day. I want to fit it in the morning when I have a late start at work, or in the evening if I am so lucky to come home early. Every time I practise it releases all my muscle tension and gets rid of all the aches and pains. I feel stronger, softer, longer, taller, lighter, steadier. My shoulders feel broader. My breathing feels deeper. My legs have more strength. My spine feels taller. And it's perfect for lazy people like me 'coz you don't even have to go outside of your house to do it. So go try it out. 'Coz I know you'll love it too!
I can't wait til Sunday again!

And I made Berry Buckle again - This time not over-baked and heaps more cinnamon! yum!

My Mixed Berry Buckle

Today was one of those days when the Sunshine state got a bit wet. The streets were wet. The cars were wet. My shoes were wet. I like the rain. It's soothing. It's dreamy. It smells amazing. It almost takes you to another world just by listening to it. (it also makes the weeds in my front yard grow like crazy. but i'm ignoring them) Great soundtrack for a day of study (or procrastination). And in queensland it's a rarity not having to worry about your SPF for one day.

So I was deciding between two recipes that both look delicious and doable (for a beginner baker like me). Sure, blueberry boy bait sounds more appealing. But blueberry buckle got so many good reviews and looks like a much "safer" recipe. So I went ahead and made my own version of the Blueberry Buckle. I've only got frozen mixed berries so that's what I've used. I've cut down the sugar by 2/3 'coz that other cake recipes from allrecipe.com that I have tried have been too sweet. I skipped the topping because of laziness. And also because I was a bit reluctant to add another 75g of butter into the recipe after watching that Heart Foundation ad this morning. After all I don't want to become one of those people who go on a statin at the age of 35. Instead I just put a few mixed berries on top of the batter and sprinkled a mixture of ground cinnamon and sugar on the top, which was suggested in the blueberry boy bait recipe.

(please forgive the amateur photography!)

Turns out that I should have pushed in the berries into the batter 'coz they came out of the oven BLACK. Well I didn't think about that then so just like that it stayed in the oven for 40 minutes. And this is, once again, a lesson for me to never to trust the recipe 100%. 40 minutes were apparently too long and it came out a bit burnt and not as moist as it could have been. Probably 30-35 minutes next time. And more cinnamon on the top!!

This is a buttery, rich, sweet cake with refreshing berries in every mouthful. Great for afternoon tea or anytime you feel like a lift. Another recipe for my collection~

PS And I'm sorry I forgot the cookies Anna!! So here they are. Buttery chewy cookies with the perfect balance between Hershey's choc chip and dried cranberry.