Lemon Yogurt Cupcakes

Prior to going back to work, I found myself baking regularly which was quite weird since I never thought of myself as much of a baker. I guess I really liked the idea of having something baking when I had visitors or bringing baked goods to a get together. In any event, I have to say that I got more of the hang of it in the recent past and am enjoying baking at this point. I did however have quite an epic baking fiasco when I was making baby’s birthday cake. I am happy to report that it ended well though and everyone was quite impressed with the finished product. I will have to see when I have a little time to blog about baby’s tiger cake since it was quite a production.

In terms of these cupcakes, these are definitely something you can make in a time crunch. I have been loving baking with yogurt and buttermilk in general since I find that the results are usually very moist and everything I’ve been baking with which includes either ingredient has been turning out almost perfect.

(makes approximately 12 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp. Lemon Zest
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners or grease pan.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, oil and lemon juice.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients, whisking until combined. (If you like, you can also add fruit at this point)

Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop batter into cupcake liners or greased pan.

Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden. Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Strawberry Summer Cake

Since today is the first day of summer, I thought it would only be fitting to blog about a strawberry summer cake that I made a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, now that I am back at work, I think that baking will be put on the back burner. I have however been surprised by how much I have been baking recently so I still have a few other recipes that I plan to share in the near future.

I thought this cake was super easy to make and was a great way to make use of some strawberries. The whole family seemed to enjoy it, particularly with a scoop of ice cream!

from Smitten Kitchen
INGREDIENTS:

6 tbsp. unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp. Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 lb. Strawberries (hulled and halved)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pan.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes.

Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined.

Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack.

Sprinkles Cupcakes' Strawberry Cupcakes

Recently, I had a bunch of strawberries laying around so I found myself searching for recipes involving strawberries (note: more to come!). One recipe that seemed to leap out at me as soon as I googled "strawberry cupcakes" was a recipe from Sprinkles Cupcakes. I am now really curious to try the cupcakes from this place and it will definitely be on the list of places to go if I ever head to one of the cities that they are located in. The owner has made appearances on several tv shows. She had demonstrated this particular recipe on Oprah, which is probably why it popped out at me.

I decided to make mini cupcakes since I was bringing them to a party so I reduced the time in the oven. I didn't even really get to taste one for myself but everyone who had one told me they were good! I had a feeling they were good though from just having a taste of the batter!

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:
2/3 cup fresh or frozen whole Strawberries (thawed if frozen)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour (sifted)
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. coarse Salt
1/4 cup whole Milk (room temperature)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 cup Sugar
1 large Egg (room temperature)
2 large Egg Whites (room temperature)

Frosting:
1/2 cup whole Strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted Butter (firm and slightly cold)
Pinch coarse Salt
3 1/2 cups Confectioners' Sugar (sifted)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin or 24-cup mini muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Place strawberries in a small food processor and process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree. Add a few more strawberries if necessary, or save any extra puree for frosting.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla and strawberry puree.

Cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes for regular size cupcakes, and 15 to 18 minutes for mini cupcakes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Icing:
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.

Beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar, beating until well combined.

Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice or simply using an offset spatula, pipe/spread frosting on each cupcake. Add any other decor of your choice (I decided to use little pieces of strawberries). Enjoy!

Spanakopita Triangles

As my parental leave is quickly coming to an end, I have been definitely finding it hard to find the time to blog. This is not to say that I have not been cooking...in fact, I have had several theme nights and random baking occasions that I've been meaning to blog about. I will have to definitely make it a point to start catching up on this.

I had hosted a greek night several weeks back now, and I've been meaning to blog about several dishes from this night. This is one of the recipes that I attempted. I did however blend in some mozzarella as I knew a few of my friends (and hubby) are a little weary about strong cheeses. This is definitely a personal choice and you could definitely opt to use all feta if you like.

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

Filling:
1 tbsp. Butter
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 bunch Spinach (stems removed)
1/2 Onion (minced)
1 cup Feta (crumbled)
1 cup Mozzarella (grated)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Phyllo Triangles:
approximately 10 (17- by 12-inch) Phyllo sheets
1/2 cup Butter (melted)

In a pan, melt butter over moderate heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until browned.

Add spinach, stirring, until wilted and tender. Remove from heat and cool.

Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then coarsely chop or cut with scissors.

Transfer to a bowl and stir in feta, mozzarella and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Take one phyllo sheet and brush with some butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack vertically, using your own judgement as to how big you would like your triangles to be.

Put a heaping teaspoon of filling near one corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip, maintaining the triangle shape. Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush top with butter. Repeat until all the filling has been used up.

Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly before serving.

Lemon Cranberry Scones

About a week ago, I had a couple of friends and their babies come over for a playdate. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe for scones. I had never actually made scones before so I was a little worried they wouldn't turn out. Thankfully, they were a perfect pale golden when the oven timer went off that morning. There is definitely nothing like the smell of freshly baked scones (or bread in general)!

adapted from Smitten Kitchen
INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 tbsp. freshly grated Lemon Zest (approximately 2 lemons)
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 stick (6 tbsp.) cold unsalted Butter (cut into bits)
1 1/4 cups Dried Cranberries
1 large Egg
1 large Egg Yolk
1 cup Cream

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add dried cranberries to the flour mixture.

In another small bowl, beat egg and yolk, then stir in cream. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

On a well-floured surface and with floured hands, pat dough down until it is approximately 1" thick. With a 2-inch round cutter or a rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling scraps as necessary.

Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven for 15 to 20 minutes until pale golden.

Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes

After making a red velvet cake, I was left with some remaining buttermilk. I was determined to finish the remaining amount of the buttermilk and found myself searching for recipes which included the ingredient. With some ripe bananas also at hand, I decided to make these cupcakes. I was really pleased with the results! They were super easy to make, and everyone agreed that they were really moist and were enjoying them. So if you have some left over buttermilk and ripe bananas, I would definitely recommend making these cupcakes!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Butter (softened)
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
3/4 cup Banana (approximately 2 bananas - mashed)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Once fluffy, beat in egg, mashed bananas and vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of buttermilk.

Spoon into paper-lined or greased muffin tins.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This is another recipe that I received from my friend C, who is the author of the blog "Kitchen Slave". Unfortunately, her site was recently hacked so it is unavailable at the moment. I remember reading this recipe a long time ago, and I never considered making these cookies until she brought some of these cookies over as dessert and I absolutely loved them. It was not long that I decided to make them, particularly since the prep and cook time is pretty short.

INGREDIENTS:

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 egg

For the filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 - 2 cups Confectioners’ Sugar (sifted)
2 tsp. Vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together and can be formed into a ball.

Using two spoons, spoon batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, flatten the dough to 1/2" thickness.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how crispy you would like your cookies to be. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat butter at low speed, then add in the sugar and vanilla, adding 1/2 cup of icing sugar at a time, periodically tasting the cream until you reach the desired sweetness. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies: In a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. You can also use a teaspoon or an offset spatula to cover one cookie with cream and then cover with the second cookie. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Buttermilk Berry Muffins

It is very strange to find myself baking two times in the last two weeks. I find myself simply to not be a very good baker and I much prefer to make savory dishes. In any case, mother in law thought it would be wise to make use of the buttermilk that was left over, so I reluctantly agreed to find another recipe that could make use of it. I am happy to say that I was quite pleased with the results. These muffins were super easy to make, and they are really yummy as well. With a little butter, it makes a great breakfast!

INGREDIENTS:
Makes 12 muffins

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
Zest of 1 Orange or Lemon
1 Egg (lightly beaten)
3/4 cup Buttermilk
2/3 cup Canola Oil
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen Berries

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter/spray with a non stick cooking spray or line with muffin liners 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract.

In another large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Gently fold in the berries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result. The batter will be quite gloppy.

Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter. Bake about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Note: If you are using frozen berries, you may have to bake the muffins a little longer than the stated time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Over the weekend, I hosted a baby shower. While I was struck with the flu earlier in the week, I still forced myself to go ahead with making the cupcakes that I had planned on making from the start. Hopefully, they turned out okay. I found the recipe to be on the sweet side, and perhaps not as red as I would have liked a red velvet cupcake to be. I will definitely cut down on the sugar and increase the amount of red food coloring the next time!

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups Cake Flour (sifted)
2 tbsp. unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
2 large Eggs (room temperature)
5-6 drops Red Food Color
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. White Vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups Cream Cheese (room temperature)
4 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
3/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

For frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth.
Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe frosting on each cupcake in a circular pattern, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak in the center.

Banana Bread

I have always loved bananas, which is probably why it was pretty hard to keep away from bananas for the entire time I was pregnant (according to Chinese superstitions, pregnant women should not eat bananas). This has consequently led me to endulge in basically anything with bananas since Jory's birth.

I adapted this recipe from a chinese cookbook that my mom has had for as long as I can remember. The ironic thing is that when rifling through my mother in law's cookbooks, I found that she had the exact same set as my mom. Apparently, this woman's (Maria Lee) cookbooks were very popular at that time. Her recipe is different in that she includes walnuts (1/2 cup walnuts added at the same time as the vanilla essence, in case you would like to include this ingredient). I also added the banana decoration on top.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 1/2 Bananas
3/4 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla Essence

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until milky white. Separate egg yolks from egg whites, adding egg yolks to butter mixture and separating egg whites into a separate bowl.

Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder.

In a small bowl, mash 2 bananas with a fork. Add to butter mixture alternately with flour mixture, then add vanilla essence and blend well.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the batter delicately until combined.

Line bread pan with wax paper (or grease pan), then pour batter into the pan. Slice the 1/2 of the banana and decorate the top of the loaf.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Toasted Coconut Cake

I made this dessert in another attempt to find a dessert that hubby likes. I was pretty disappointed after he informed me last time that he didn't like cookies...I mean...how can anyone not like cookies? Anyways...I digress...I married him after all.

In the coming weeks, I will have to warn my readers (hopefully, there are a few readers) that there may be some gaps in entries. My lovely family actually took me out to eat a couple nights in a row anticipating that I will probably be cooped up in the house for a while after the birth of the baby. Also, the fact that cooking in general is pretty tiring right now makes it a welcome change to me. I honestly don't anticipate I could put together a theme night in the near future in any case. There is also the possibility of me going into labour at any time, in which case, I think it would be a reasonable excuse to have gaps in entries as well.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/3 cups unsweetened Flaked Coconut
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup + 3 tbsp. Coconut Milk
2 large Eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 cup + 1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F and grease or line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.

Spread the coconut onto a baking sheet and toast until outside edges of pan have browned. Remove from the oven. Mix the coconut around on the baking sheet to mix in the browned coconut and set it aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, 1 cup of coconut milk and egg yolks until evenly blended.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add flour to coconut milk mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in 1 1/3 cups toasted coconut. Reserve the rest of the coconut for topping the cake (after it has baked).

In a third bowl, whip egg whites with remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until they hold a soft peak. Fold in whipped egg whites.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until top turns light brown and springs back when touched.

While still warm, brush top of cake with remaining 3 tbsp. coconut milk and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of toasted coconut. Let cool completely before slicing.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Originally, I actually made these cookies thinking that hubby would like them because they were peanut butter. However, afterwards to my chagrin, he told me that he doesn't really like cookies. I don't know if this is a recent development but I guess the search to find a dessert that he loves will continue. I myself, actually quite liked these cookies though...and making them was simple yet fun with the little bit of creativity needed for the design on top of the cookies. Being SO pregnant though...I was still winded by the end of the process and had to lean over the sink to relief a bit of the pressure in my hips while washing up...I guess there's not much I can do...and I am determined to stay mobile!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla extract and combine. Add peanut butter and continue to beat.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

Pour flour mixture into wet ingredients and combine with a spatula until everything comes together.

Spoon onto cookie sheet using a fork to create a criss cross design.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Chinese Egg Tarts

I guess by now, it is pretty obvious that I love eggs. There are endless possibilities, both savory and sweet. The recipes are also usually pretty simple as well, which makes it even better - minimal effort with still great taste and results. I did however take a short cut by using tart shells instead of making my own. I will definitely invest the time at some point, but this was a last minute little dessert craving I had...I am pregnant after all!

INGREDIENTS

2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
8 Tart Shells

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven for 350 C.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat vigorously. You may want to use an electric mixer, but that's up to your discretion.

When all the bubbles have disappeared, pour into tart shells.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Strawberry Muffins

I've found that making desserts is actually a lot harder than creating savory dishes. It just never seems to turn out the way that you thought they would turn out. Unfortunately, this recipe was much of the same. I had a pint of strawberries sitting around and I was searching for a simple recipe to use them up. While I didn't think it was awful, it just didn't seem to hit the spot either. The dough didn't seem sturdy enough to hold up the juicy strawberries and I ended up eating my muffin with a fork as if it were a delicate cake. In any case, I would love to hear from you if you have a good strawberry cake/muffin/cupcake recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Milk
2 cups Fresh Strawberries

DIRECTIONS

Mix all purpose flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut the strawberries into bite size piece, toss them in a sieve with 1 1/2 tsp. of all purpose flour to lightly coat them.

Mix the butter and sugar together and beat it with electric handheld mixer until they become fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Mix the vanilla extract.

Add the flour now and beat them until they are mixed. Add milk and beat till all are mixed well. Don’t over beat as muffin would become rough. Using the rubber spatula fold (mix gently) the strawberries in the mix and keep it ready.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare the muffin pan by spraying some oil or coat with a layer of butter. We can also use cupcake wraps and coat them with oil or butter. Divide the batter among the cups evenly using an ice-cream scoop or two spoons.

Cook it for about 20 to 25 minutes if it’s a mini muffin tray or 25-30 min if it’s a regular muffin tray. Rotate the muffin tray in the middle for even cooking. Before remvoing the tray from the oven check to make sure its cooked by inserting a tooth pick and check if it comes out clean.

Transfer it to the wired rack to cool them. Tilt the muffins on their side to cool them for a tleast 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Apple Coffee Cake

I have always loved dessert with warm fruit. It is definitely a weakness of mine. Particularly being pregnant, desserts have been even more of a friend to me. I've found that I could have dessert with every meal it seems! When I came across this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it because it seemed like a cake variation of apple pie which is one of my favorite desserts. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint! Even hubby who doesn't really like eating sweets said it was good. He did however have to point out that it would've been much better with some ice cream though...

INGREDIENTS

5 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tbl of cinnamon

3 cups All Purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. of vanilla
4 eggs
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven at 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss sliced apples, 1/3 cup of sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder,vanilla, eggs, salt, orange juice, apple sauce, and vegetable oil. Using an electric mixer, blend together until mostly smooth 5 minutes. Pour half the batter into baking dish and arrange apple slices on top.

Pour and spread the rest of the batter on top of the apples. Bake for 60 minutes or until done. Cut coffee cake into squares and serve warm (preferably with ice cream). Enjoy!