While I’m not a huge fan of bananas themselves, I’m surprisingly a fan of banana bread. ?? It’s always good for breakfast or as a snack. This particular recipe for it, 17-17: Banana Bread with Pecans uses honey to sweeten it, which is a nice alternative to using processed sugar.
Simply Delicious gives you a nice blurb here on bananas–for a more in-depth look, check out 19-5: Bananas, part of the Cooking School series featured at the end of the cookbook.
Looking for a way to use up some apples? ? ? 16-45: Colonial Apple Cake is an easy way to do that with some very classic-looking results. This even looks like something American colonists would have eaten (take it from a former U.S. history teacher).
I made this to take to a get-together, but it’d even be nice as a simple birthday cake or for a dinner party.
EDIT: 16-45: Raspberry Tartlettes is also #45 for Group 16–someone at Simply Delicious messed up their numbering.
I’ve made quick bread from Simply Delicious before (17-51: Three Palms Quick Bread) and it turned out well–this recipe is no exception. 17-43: Orange Date Quick Bread is part of my big batch of assorted baked goods that I made as gifts for people this year–you can find the others linked at the end of this entry.
I chose to include this recipe in my holiday gifts this year because I wanted to include some different textures, flavors, and shapes, as well as reflecting the abundance of citrus fruit during winter in California. ?
Hopefully I haven’t caught you too late for this year’s batch of holiday baking. If so, keep this one around for next year–17-37: Holiday Cookies is a great butter cookie recipe for using cutters or presses. This is part of my big batch of assorted baked goods that I made as gifts for people this year–you can find the others linked at the end of this entry.
I got a new cookie press for Christmas last year, and finally got to test it out this year. This cookie press is AWESOME–so much easier than the old stubborn buggers from the past.
Another recipe that I intended to cover earlier (when it was more relevant). Whatever, you can totally still eat 17-53: Spiced Whole Wheat Muffins in mid-to-late November.
The recipe card says “not-too-sweet”…they’re not kidding. These are good, but only if you have some preserves or butter to go along with it. On their own, they’re a bit…dry.
? I started this one over a month ago, when it would have still been relevant/timely, but procrastination got the best of me. Late, but hopefully not too late, here’s 17-46: Pumpkin Streusel Muffins.
If you’re not totally over pumpkin yet, these are a nice option for breakfast or dessert.
I made these along with 17-53: Spiced Whole Wheat Muffins and 17-68: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies as part of a “fall” baked goods basket for the break room. These muffins were the first of the assortment to disappear. ?
17-51: Three Palms Quick Bread tastes delicious, but took forever to end up making, since I never seemed to have bananas, dates, and coconut all at the same time. ?
If you like banana bread, this is a really good take on that. Plus, 3 palms instead of 1! Such a deal! ?
I don’t know about you, but my grandma is not much of a baker. Or a cook. In fact, if it can’t be cooked in a microwave, she’s really not that interested. However, someone at Simply Delicious must have had a grandma who liked to bake, since they included 17-36: Grandma’s Spice Cake.
I suppose they called it Grandma’s Spice Cake because it’s “old-fashioned”. Regardless of if an actual grandma baked/created this, it’s actually pretty good.
5-23: Cheese Pie with Tomatoes comes with a bit of a story. About 10 years ago, I spent a week in Chattanooga, Tennessee with my college friend/roommate and his family. His aunt (who was hosting us) attempted to teach me some of her Southern-style recipes while we were there, and one of them was something called “tomato pie”.
Her tomato pie involved a pie crust, tomatoes, a JAR of Hellmann’s (it was the South), and a whole bag of shredded cheese. This one is slightly less heart-attack-inducing.
It’s feeling a bit unbalanced around here–we need more from the back of the book. Here’s one from a brand new group: Pies & Cakes. Just in time for the cooler weather, we have 16-47: Orange-Almond Pie.
This came out really well: it tasted great, and you can make it in a toaster oven!