Hello everyone! I’m only dropping by for a quick post (I still have about 3 essays to do before I’m on break), but I really wanted to share some great recipes with you all. These recipes are not mine, so I’ll just provide the link and any changes that I made. Either way, I hope you love them as much as I do!

Irish Soda Bread (E, N, D?) (also known as brown soda bread)
Adapted from: this recipe.

On Sunday night my family and I enjoyed a pot roast. I really wanted to make a quick bread, so after some online searching, I found this recipe.

It was a huuuuuuuge hit. I think I’ll make it every time we have a roast or stew, because this bread is so perfect for that kind of meal! It was very thick and hearty and held up really well. Plus, because of the slight changes I made to the original recipe (see below), it had both savory and sweet elements. Perfect!

My changes:
– I didn’t have any steel-cut oats, so I just used regular quick-cooking oats. It turned out just fine. 🙂
– I increased the amount of sugar from 2 tbsp. to 1/4 cup, hence the sweet/savory taste!
– Instead of wheat germ, I used ground flaxseed.
– We also didn’t have any buttermilk, so I simply put 2 tbsp. white vinegar in a measuring cup, then filled the rest up with skim milk. Ta da! Makeshift buttermilk! (I’m not sure if this method works with other kinds of milk, like rice or soy…anyone know?)
– I obviously used store bought egg-replacer for the egg.
– Finally, just before it went into the oven, I sprinkled some more brown sugar and oats over top, which gave the bread a delicious, beautiful crust.

Irish Soda Cake Bread (E, N)
Adapted from: this recipe

Right, so, I really have no idea what to call this stuff. My brother texted me last Wednesday night asking him if I’d help him make Irish soda bread for a class (they were looking at food heritage). After looking for some recipes, I found one that sounded pretty good. However, there was a lot of sugar in it. I asked Ian if he’d rather it be more like bread or more sweet, and he said that he’d only ever had sweet Irish Soda Bread. I’d never heard of that, but we went ahead and made it, and this is how it turned out:

It was literally a perfect combination between cake and bread. I can’t describe it better than that. It was very good and definitely worth a try if you’re a fan of the texture of bread but the taste of cake! 🙂

My changes:
– I put all five tablespoons of sugar in the batter, then Ian sprinkled more on top. Hey, he said he wanted the bread to be sweet, right? 😉
– Again, we didn’t have any buttermilk, so we used the previously mentioned method to make some.
– Before we even started making the batter, Ian heated up 2/3 cup water to almost boiling, then added the 2/3 cup of raisins. This helps by reconstituting the raisins, making them plump and delicious!

Pumpkin Muffins (E, N)
Adapted from: this recipe

Remember these? I made them a few weeks ago and many of you talked about how good they looked. Well, here’s the recipe (finally)! While these little muffins were just beautiful and very very good hot out of the oven, I’m not too sure I would make them again the same way.  The taste was verrrry good, but a little too banana-y. Think a combination of pumpkin and banana bread. If that’s your thing, definitely give these little guys a try! I just think that next time I’ll use applesauce or something in place of the banana. I also will spray the inside of the muffin tins instead of using liners – for some reason after a day the muffins/liners were super soggy.

My changes:
– I used store bought egg-replacer.
– I didn’t have any agave nectar, so I used honey instead.
– I didn’t make the frosting, but instead made an amazing crunchy cinnamon-sugar coating. Here’s how:
I combined a few tablespoons of sugar and a few teaspoons of cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Then, when I got the muffins out of the oven, I melted about 2 tbsp. unsalted butter (you could use margarine, too). After letting the muffins cool for about 10 minutes, I brushed the tops of each with a bit of the melted butter and then sprinkled the cinnamon-sugar on top. The result was a delicious crust: the sugar had somewhat melted into the muffins, and when the butter solidified again…oh boy. Amazing!

All in all, I think this was a great recipe, and definitely worth a try! It’s just that next time I’ll do some things a bit differently. 🙂

Well, that’s all I have for this recipe roundup! Have a great day!