Summer Squash Lemon Bread

Ah, squash. That tasteless, mushy vegetable that grows in abundance in every neighborhood garden. Does anybody really like that stuff?  Not me, that's for sure. Believe me, I've tried to like it.  I've baked it, sautéed it, even breaded and fried it. I've seasoned it with every spice in my cupboard. I've even hidden it in casseroles and skillet dishes. But no matter what I do with it, I still find it disgusting.

Well, then why do I keep buying it, you ask? I don't! People keep giving it to me! Friends, neighbors, coworkers, clients--everyone seems to think squash is an appropriate gift for a girl like me. I don't know what I do to give them this impression.  Do my fashion choices say, "squash enthusiast?" I do not understand this.

Did you know there's even a national "Leave some zucchini on your neighbor's porch day?"  I think that's because nobody likes squash, and everyone is trying to get rid of it!

Now, I can accept that a nice, buttered slice of zucchini bread is a good use of that particular variety, but what about the bland, yellow squash? What are you supposed to do with that? Well, turns out, you can do pretty much the exact same thing!

Now, I'm over 40 years old, and I've eaten a lot of zucchini bread in my time, but never once have I even heard of summer squash bread. But it's a thing! And it tastes amazing! The method and final outcome are similar to zucchini bread, but the taste is very different. With the addition of lemon juice and zest, this gives lemon pound cake a run for its money.

Have it for breakfast, have it for dessert, have it for a midday snack. Don't worry if you eat it up fast. More squash is coming.

Summer Squash Lemon Bread
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 60 min
Serves 16 (makes 2 loaves)

1 cup melted butter
2 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup plus 2 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ cups grated summer squash

Glaze
2 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbs lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two loaf pans with baking spray.
Combine the sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a mixing bowl. Melt the butter. Add the butter and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, (about 2-3 minutes.)
Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and barely combine into a batter. Add the grated squash and mix until just combined.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
Let cool until the pan is just cool enough to handle, then remove from pans.
While the bread is cooling, make the glaze. Melt 2 Tbs of butter. Add the 3 Tbs of lemon juice. Whisk to combine. Add the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. Add water to thin to the desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the loaves.

370 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Homemade BoBerry Biscuits

My coworker was talking about making homemade apple fritters all week, and they sounded so good I decided to make some, too. I searched Pinterest for my favorite apple fritter recipe, but you know how it first shows you all the results and then you have to click on "your pins" to find the recipe you saved? Well, right next to all the yummy apple fritter recipes was a recipe for blueberry fritters!

They looked awesome, so I decided to give them a try. Only problem was, the recipe called for 2 eggs and I had no eggs, because I used them all for some delicious egg salad the day before. Bummed, I decided to go back to my apple fritter recipe, only to discover it called for an egg, too! Double-bummed, I went back to Pinterest and saw the blueberry fritter recipe again, which reminded me of the BoBerry Biscuits they sell at Bojangles.

If you don't know what Bojangles is, well, I am so sorry!  Bojangles is a Charlotte, NC-based fast food restaurant with franchise locations pretty much everywhere south of the Mason-Dixon. They specialize in chicken and biscuits, and sticking with the theme, for dessert they offer their amazing buttery biscuits, speckled with blueberries and drizzled with glaze. I decided to search for a copycat recipe for those, and low and behold, I found one--and it didn't even call for eggs!

These turned out great and took about as long to make as it would've taken me to drive to my local Bojangles and buy some. I used some frozen blueberries, but fresh or even dried would be just fine.


Homemade BoBerry Biscuits

Prep time: 10 min  Bake time: 10 min
Serves 12

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs shortening
1/2 cup butter, cut into 1/4 in cubes
5 oz blueberries

Glaze
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
4 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450F.

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening and butter. Add buttermilk and stir till just combined.  Fold in blueberries.  Add additional flour if dough is too sticky.

Place dough on floured cutting board, rub rolling pin with flour, and roll dough out to desired thickness. (I like 3/4 inch)

Use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.

Bake for 8-10 minutes till desired brownness.

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over biscuits. These are great warm or cool!

*If you don't have buttermilk and can't be bothered to go get some, just add 1-2 Tbs of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes till it starts to curdle. Voila! You have buttermilk.

244 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

French Onion Cheese Toast

I've had this recipe saved for more than a year but I never got around to making it because the prep time is so long! If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm into instant gratification. I don't want to slave over the stove for hours. Very few foods are worth all that! But my husband LOVES sautéed onions and I love cheesy bread, so I finally decided to break down and make this.

I AM SO GLAD!!!! This was so freakin' delicious. The onions were AMAZING. I lost count of the number of times my husband said something along the lines of "this is so good." And making it really wasn't that bad--most of the prep time was hands-off.  You could probably even make the onions ahead of time and then bake this when you're ready. This would be great as a party appetizer, but we had it as a side dish with steak and it was perfect. I couldn't find Gruyere or Fontina cheese at Wally World today, so I just used some mozzarella and parmesan, but the fancy cheese might've been better. Hard to imagine it could get much better, though!

French Onion Cheese Toast

Prep time: 90 min Bake time:15 min
Serves 16

3 Tbs butter
3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 loaf french bread, sliced 1 inch thick
2 cups Gruyère or Fontina cheese, shredded

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower heat to medium low, cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add sugar, kosher salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.

Add balsamic vinegar and cook for another 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized.

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place bread slices on a baking sheet. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese then spoon caramelized onion on top.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted and bread turns golden brown.

Garnish with extra thyme leaves if desired.  Serve immediately.

100 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits

I remember when I was a little kid my mother served slices of white bread with every dinner.  Not exactly gourmet, but it satisfied my dad who used the bread as a kind of scoop to shovel the goods into his mouth.  I love bread of any kind; I usually stuff myself on dinner rolls whenever we go out for dinner, but I rarely make bread to serve to my own family because bread seems time-consuming and complicated. However, I have recently been trying more quick bread recipes with some really interesting results.  These pumpkin biscuits came together super quick and had a unique flavor that tasted amazing when slathered in the accompanying pumpkin butter.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 6 
 
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp sugar
6 Tbs unsalted butter, frozen
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs sugar
 
For the Pumpkin Butter
4 Tbs butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a Silpat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.  Using a cheese grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture.  Stir lightly to incorporate.  Pour in the buttermilk and gently mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until the dough just starts to come together.  Add the pumpkin and mix through the dough.

Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and gently pat until it's about 1-1 1/2 inches thick.  Using a 3 inch wide round cookie cutter, cut out 6 biscuits.  Place the biscuits onto the parchment paper, side by side.  Keep the biscuits tight beside each other on the baking tray to ensure they rise upwards.  Glaze each biscuit with a little milk and sprinkle sugar on top.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all of the butter ingredients in a stand mixer and beat until well combined.

Serve biscuits warm, slathered in pumpkin butter.  If you run out of pumpkin butter, regular butter and a drizzle of honey tastes great too!

381 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!