Bready or Not Original: Marble Swirl Bundt Cake
This Marble Swirl Bundt Cake is not only delicious but pretty, as it contains a light and dark swirl inside!
Spices are the prevalent flavor through the darker portions of the cake, with the pale portions plain and sweet in balance.
There are a lot of ingredients in this cake, though the assembly is straightforward. Save yourself some effort at baking time by combining the spice ingredients a day ahead!
Bready or Not Original: Marble Swirl Bundt Cake
Equipment
- large bundt cake pan
- nonstick spray with flour or regular nonstick spray
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/3 cup almond milk or regular milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Move rack to lower 1/3 of oven; set to preheat at 350-degrees. Generously coat the interior of a large bundt pan with nonstick spray, preferably a baking spray with flour.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a big mixing bowl, place eggs, sugar, milk, butter, and oil, beating until creamy yellow. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, but reserve the empty bowl to one side. Scrape the bowl of batter as needed, mixing until it is smooth.
- Measure out 3 cups of the batter into the reserved bowl. Add the maple syrup, espresso powder or cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg, whisking until smooth.
- Pour half the plain batter into the greased pan. Top with half the spiced batter, spreading to the sides. Draw a butter knife through the layers, swirling up and down and around. Pour the remaining batters into the pan, repeating the swirl process with the butter knife.
- Bake bundt cake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should feel dry and the middle should pass the toothpick test. Let cool in pan for 1 hour, then carefully invert onto a cooling rack; if any chunks stick to the pan, try to nestle them back into place on the cake.
- Finish cooling. Slice into wedges. Store under a cake dome or otherwise wrapped; individual slices can also be wrapped in plastic.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ready for fall, even if only psychologically? These Chewy Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are loaded with apple, cranberry, and walnut. They are autumn in a single bite!
I will always prefer chewy cookies over crisp ones, and these are especially chewy thanks to the apple pieces, dried cranberries, and walnut bits along with the oats. They are such a great combination!
I love using apple butter in this recipe because of the deeper flavor, but by all means, you can substitute applesauce. It’s certainly cheaper and easier to find. (Just to note, I have a great Crock Pot Apple Butter recipe on the old Live Journal if you want to make your own.)
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- cookie sheet
- parchment paper
- teaspoon scoop or spoon
Ingredients
- 1 baking apple such Granny Smith or Gala
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats also called rolled oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup apple butter or applesauce
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 35-degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Peel apple and finely chop enough to fill 1/2 cup. This likely will not be an entire apple; eat and enjoy the rest.
- Mix together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, apple butter, and egg. Gradually incorporate the contents of bowls. Fold in the chopped apple, cranberries, and walnuts.
- Use a teaspoon scoop or spoon to place dough, spaced on, on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set but still soft. Let sit on cookie sheet on stove for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Continue to bake rest of dough.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Maple Pear Galette Redux
This Maple Pear Galette recipe is a must for any maple-lovers. I first featured it on Bready or Not in 2016, and it was high time to take new pictures and share the recipe anew!
This recipe laces maple sugar into every layer: the galette dough, the thick maple paste for the pears, and as a golden accent and perfect crunch for the top of the galette.
This is remarkably easy to make, too. The peeling and coring the pears is the biggest hassle. I like to make the dough a day ahead of time, which makes the assembly part go pretty fast.
I heavily modified this recipe from one found in this incredible cookbook called Maple by Katie Webster. [Affiliate link.] Seriously, if you love maple used in dishes for any meal of the day, get this cookbook! It looks like it’s now out of print, but used copies are available for decent prices.
Bready or Not: Maple Pear Galette
Equipment
- medium bowl
- large bowl
- Rolling Pin
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- pastry brush
Ingredients
Galette
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon maple sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 stick
- 3 to 6 Tablespoons ice water
Interior
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup maple sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 ripe pears peeled, cored, and cut into wedges
Topping
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 Tablespoon maple sugar
Instructions
Make the galette.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, maple sugar, and salt. Add butter and work into dough so that the butter is down to pea-sized chunks. Add just enough water to incorporate as dough, smearing butter chunks in the process. Shape dough into a disk and shroud in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Place parchment paper on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Make the interior.
- In a large bowl, gently stir together the flour, maple sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice; it will form a thick paste. Gently stir in the pears to coat. Expect the mixture to become more liquid as it sits with the pears in it.
- Use some extra flour to lightly dust a large work surface. Roll out the dough to at least a foot diameter circle. Transfer it to the prepared parchment paper on baking sheet; the dough might hang over the edges for now, but that’s okay.
- Arrange the pears in a circular pattern in the center; leave a 2 1/2 to 3-inch border. Scrape the rest of the maple paste over the pears. Fold the dough inward, with the center still exposed. Brush the egg over the top and sprinkle on the remaining maple sugar.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles. Let cool before cutting.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Crunchy Biscuits
These are Crunchy Biscuits in the British sense–that is, they are crunchy cookies with a satisfying snap.
I found the recipe in Bigger Bolder Baking by Gemma Stafford [affiliate link], a book gifted to me by my mother-in-law. Gemma is Irish-born and now lives in America, and her fantastic cookbook has ingredients and cooking temperatures in both British and American measurements.
This small-batch recipe includes a quintessentially British ingredient, golden syrup, that has no real American parallel. I’ve seen some recommendations to substitute with half measures of light corn syrup and honey, and while that works as a liquid replacement, the flavor isn’t quite the same.
That said, golden syrup isn’t hard to find in America, it just tends to be expensive. Even in the wastelands of Phoenix, I could find Lyle’s Golden Syrup in the small British goods section of my local Fry’s (Kroger) chain.
Bready or Not: Crunchy Biscuits
Equipment
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- tablespoon scoop
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons golden syrup
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 2 2/3 cup rolled oats also called old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until it is soft and light in color. Add golden syrup. Follow up with the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt, mixing until just combined.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to shape dough, rolling each lump briefly with hands to compress and flatten, then place spaced out two-inches apart on baking sheet. They will spread as they bake.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown and set. Let them idle on the cookie sheet about 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Cookie Butter and Jelly Bars (Big Pan)
This big casserole dish of Cookie Butter and Jelly Bars is chewy and sweet, perfect to feed a crowd! Customize it by using your favorite jelly.
I love cookie butter. You can find it in jars near the nut butters in a lot of grocery stores. There’s nothing healthy about it–it’s spice cookies pulverized with oil to make a smearable paste that you can use however you use peanut butter, such as on sandwiches or in baked goods like this.
Cookie butter makes everything taste inherently more cookie-like. It’s fantastic with jelly! I recommend using about 10-12 ounces of jelly here; less than that and the layer is thin, more than that, it can gush at the sides of the pan and stick to the foil.
These bars are best eaten within two days. After that, they will dry out a bit but they are still tasty.
Bready or Not Original: Cookie Butter and Jelly Bars (Big Pan)
Equipment
- 13×9 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- offset spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups creamy cookie butter such as Biscoff and Trader Joe's Speculoos
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 10-12 ounces jelly or jam or preserves
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and cookie butter. Follow up with the flour and baking powder.
- Spread about 2/3 of the dough in the prepared pan. Using an offset spatula, spread the jam in an even layer up to about 1/2 inch of the edge. Dollop the remaining dough all over the top. Use a knife to gently form into swirls with the jelly.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges start to brown and the middle is set and passes the toothpick test. Let cool completely on wire rack. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board to slice into bars. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies
These Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies are easy to customize based on your budget and ingredient availability. Go expensive and fancy and use a goat cheese log, or more budget-conscious and still-delicious with standard cream cheese.
I’ve done it both ways. Both are fantastic. For the goat cheese, I recommending hitting someplace like Costco or Sam’s Club. For cream cheese, my go-to has become Aldi.
Use any variety of jams or preserves, but the one necessity is that it is THICK. A watery one will sink to the bottom (says the voice of experience). I found the good basic Smucker’s Strawberry Jam was fine in this recipe.
Bready or Not Original: Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies
Equipment
- 9×9 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
Blondies
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cheesecake Swirl
- 8 ounces soft goat cheese or cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup jam or preserves
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the cheese, sugar, yogurt, egg, and vanilla to make smooth.
- Pour about half the blondie batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it out with an uneven spatula.
- Dollop on all of the cheese mixture. Then add spoonfuls of the jam to fill any gaps. Follow up by adding dollops of the remaining blondie batter. Use a butter knife to swirl the layers together for a marbled effect.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the middle is not jiggly and passes the toothpick test. Cool for at least an hour at room temperature, then chill in fridge. Once the pan is cool, use the foil to lift the blondies onto a cutting board to slice into bars.
- Enjoy promptly or store in a sealed container in the fridge to eat over the coming days.