June Berry Muffins with Lemon and Cardamom

June berries are also called service berries.  We are so lucky to have many of them grow at the park across the street.  When it comes to mid-June, the berries will become purplish-red and attract many birds to eat them.

My son is familiar with these little tiny juicy berries and he knows exactly which trees in the park produce the best berries.  He often suggests to pick some berries on the way home to add into pancakes or muffins, but he usually ends up snacking on them instead of bringing them home.  Now, eating June berries is a highlight for my son in the summer after he plays at the splash pad at the park.

Actually June berries are a very common botanical plant in Toronto.  If you pay attention, you will certainly come across them in parks, gardens, or sidewalks.

I froze the June berries before I used them for the recipe here.  It is only because I didn't have time to make the muffins for that few days and I didn't want them to go bad.  However, fresh berries are equally good.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup June Berries, frozen

1 cup Cornmeal

2 cups All Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 handful of Quinoa (optional)

3 Eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Butter, melted

1 cup Milk, 2%

1 Lemon, zest and juice

2 teaspoons Cardamom, ground

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

pinch of Salt

材料：

1 杯  Juneberries，冷凍

1 杯  玉米粉

2 杯  麵粉

2 茶匙  泡打粉

1/2 杯  棕糖

一把  藜麥 (隨意)

3 隻  雞蛋，打勻

1/2 杯  牛油，熱溶

1 個  檸檬，皮和汁

2 茶匙   豆蔻粉

1 茶匙  薑粉

少撮  鹽

DIRECTION:

1. Preheat the oven at 360F.

2. In a large bowl，combine butter, eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest together; mix well.

3. Add in cornmeal, flour, quinoa, cardamom, ground ginger, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Mix everything thoroughly into batter.

4. Gently stir in the frozen June berries.  Divide the batter equally into the paper muffin cups.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

做法：

1. 預熱焗爐至360F。

2. 在一只大碗內，加入牛油、蛋、檸檬汁和皮；拌勻。

3. 下玉米粉、麵粉、藜麥、薑粉、棕糖、泡打粉，鹽；拌勻成麵糊。

4. 輕輕拌入Juneberries。把麵糊平均倒入小蛋糕模。焗若20分鐘。

Basic Cornbread | 玉米麵包

Cornmeal is made of a type of corn called dent corn. Unlike the sweet corn we usually use for salad or barbecue, dent corn has little sweetness and contains higher starch. After drying and various grinding processes, dent corn becomes cornmeal that is fine to coarse in consistency, depending on the range of grinding. Cornmeal is widely used for making cornbread, polenta, or tortilla, and it comes in yellow or white colours.

Actually, cornbread originated with Native Americans. Before the European settlers set foot on America, the Natives had already had a long history of using the dried cornmeal to make cornbread as their staple.  But the original recipe is very basic, combining just cornmeal and water, or sometimes lard.  So the taste was rather bland. Later the Europeans adopted the recipe and added milk and butter to make it more flavourful.

We should really thank the Native Americans.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup Butter

1 cup Milk

2 Eggs, large

1.25 cups Yellow Cornmeal

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

2 tablespoons Baking Powder

pinch of Sea Salt

做法：

1/4 杯  牛油

1 杯  牛奶

2 隻  雞蛋，大

1.25 杯  黃玉米粉

1 杯  多用途麵粉

1/2 杯  糖

2 湯匙  泡打粉

小撮  海鹽

DIRECTION:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Melt butter in microwave; let it cool.

2. In a large bowl, whisk two eggs.  Add melted butter and milk; whisk again until it is combined.

3.  Add all the remaining ingredients.  Gently mix until it is incorporated.

4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Pour the mixture into the tray and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.

5. Bake it for about 15-20 minutes, or until the corn bread rises up and is firm.  Let it cool completely on a rack before slicing them.

做法：

1. 預熱焗爐至350F 。 用微波爐熱溶牛油；放涼。

2. 在大碗內打勻兩隻雞蛋。下牛油和牛奶；攪打至均勻。

3. 加入剩餘材料；拌勻成麵糊。

4. 焗盤上舖上焗紙，倒入麵糊，用匙背舖平。

5. 焗15-20分鐘。取出，置架放涼。

Honey Oatmeal Quick Bread | 蜂蜜燕麥無酵母麵包

I often make a big batch of pancakes, muffins, or granola for our breakfast that is enough to last for the whole week.  Since I was so busy, I didn't continue this practice for quite awhile.  My son began to complain about it.  Well, he sounds a little spoiled here, but I am glad at the same time that he likes my cooking so much.

Usually my son doesn't pay much attention on what flavour of quick bread I make because I just bake often enough that he has the rotation.  But this time, after months of just munching on the store-bought cheerios, he said he had something to say.  "I want cinnamon and pumpkin," he suggested.  We negotiated and talked about the flavour of four seasons, and finally we both settled on the honey and cinnamon flavour for spring.

It is only a little piece of our funny story.  I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Honey Oatmeal Quick Bread

蜂蜜燕麥無酵母麵包

WET  INGREDIENTS:

3 Eggs, large, beaten

1/3 cup Milk

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Raw Honey

DRY  INGREDIENTS:

2.75 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tablespoon Cinnamon, ground

1.5 tablespoons Baking Powder

pinch of Salt

濕材料：

3 隻  大雞蛋，打勻

1/3 杯  牛奶

1/4 杯  牛油，熱溶

1/4 杯  菜油

1/2 杯  蜂蜜

乾材料：

2.75 杯  全麥麵粉

1 湯匙  肉桂粉

1.5 湯匙  泡發粉

少撮  鹽

METHODS:

1. Preheat the oven to 360F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add all the wet ingredients; mix well.

3. Add the dry ingredients. With a spatula, gently mix until it is totally incorporated and becomes a sticky batter.

4. Pour the batter in a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper.  Transfer it to the oven.  Bake it for about 30-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of the batter.

5. To test the doneness insert a toothpick into the bread.  It is ready if the toothpick comes out not sticky.  Allow the quick bread to totally cool before slicing it to prevent it from breaking apart.

做法：

1. 預熱焗爐至360F。

2. 在一只大碗內，加入所有濕材料；拌勻。

3. 倒入所有乾材料；拌勻至濃稠麵糊。

4. 焗盤舖上焗熱；倒上麵糊。 放入焗爐；焗約30-40 分鐘，在乎麵糊厚度而定。

5. 要看麵包焗好沒有，把一支牙簽插入麵包。如取出牙簽沒有麵糊黏任做成。把麵包完全放涼後才切件，避免散開。

Baked Polenta Fries + Vegan Mayonnaise | 香焗玉米糕條 ＋素食美乃滋

This vegan mayo is absolutely healthy and simple enough to make at home often.  The silken tofu does a good job to provide lots of protein while forming a substantial texture.  It is the mayo I don't worry about my son having so much of.  The polenta fries have a slightly chewy texture and are as good as the traditional fries.  If you are looking for the substitute for the yam fries, polenta fries will not disappoint you.

Baked Polenta Fries + Vegan Mayonnaise

香焗玉米糕條 ＋素食美乃滋  

Ingredients for Polenta Fries: (yield about 1 portion)

100 gram Polenta

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

2 tablespoon Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Ingredients for Mayonnaise: (yield about 2 cups)

250 gram Silken Tofu

3/4 cup Canola Oil

1/4 cup Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

Sea Salt to taste

焗玉米糕條材料： (1人份)

100 克   玉米糕

1/2 茶匙   甜紅椒粉

2 湯匙   橄欖油

海鹽

黑胡椒碎

素食美乃滋材料: (約2杯)

250 克   滑豆腐

3/4 杯   芥花籽油

1/4 杯   初榨橄欖油

2 湯匙   鮮榨檸檬汁

2 湯匙   芥辣醬

少許   海鹽

DIRECTION:

Almond Cuddle Bear Cookies ｜ 抱抱熊果仁曲奇

People who have tried these almond cookies love them, just as they love buttery or chocolate chip cookies.  When I was little, my dad often bought these cookies on his payday.  Whenever I received one, I would nibble it as slowly as I could to enjoy every bit of the sweet and nutty flavour.  These cookies lived through my childhood.

  I made these cookies into some cute bears today for Ethan and his friends.  They each held a piece of cookie, and thought about where they should set their teeth in first before munching the bears from head to toe.  Although they were still too little to tell me how much they enjoyed the cookies, their smiles and the crumbs on their faces already told me.

Almond Cuddle Bear Cookies

抱抱熊果仁曲奇

Ingredients for cookie dough: (make about 32 cookies)

1/2 cup Almond

2.5 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Brown Sugar, packed

1/4 cup Soy Oil

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

 4 tablespoons Disaronno Originale Amaretto

*Disaronno is a sweet liqueur that has intense almond flavour that it can drastically enhance the fragrant in this recipe.  I also tried to bake another batch of cookies that without the liqueur and they also turned out delicious.  So it's totally fine if you choose to give this liqueur a pass.

Ingredients for decoration:

Almond

Mini Pretzels

Chocolate Rocks

Coco Powder

DIRECTION:

1. Finely chop the almond; set it aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the liqueur and soy oil until it's totally corporate.

3. Add rest of the cookie dough ingredients and the chopped almond.  Mix well and form it into a dough.  The dough should not be sticky.  Add more flour if it's needed.

4. Place the dough on a big piece of parchment, and then place another piece of parchment on top.  Roll the dough into a 1/2 cm piece.

5. With a bear shape cookie cutter, carefully cut out the dough.  The dough is very easy to break, so you will need a spatula to help transfer the bears to a baking tray.

6. Make the eyes, noses, and mouths with any utensils or tools available in your kitchen.  I used two different sizes of chopsticks to make the eyes, and a teaspoon to make the mouths.

7. With a finger, dab some coco powder on the bear ears. 

8. Decorate the bears with the pretzels, almonds, or chocolate rocks.  Bake the cookies at 360 degree F for 12 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool on a rack before bagging them.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

I also upload the video that I made a few years ago when I was baking these cookies.  You may find there are a few ingredients are different than the one above, but the technique is the same.

Lavender White Chocolate Cookie Bars | 薰衣草白朱古力曲奇

Lavender White Chocolate Cookie Bars

薰衣草白朱古力曲奇

Ingredients: (yield 12-15 bars)

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 Eggs

2 tablespoon Whole Milk

1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1.5 cup All Purpose Flour / Plain Flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

2 tablespoons Dried Lavender

材料：（做12-15 件）

1/2 杯   無鹽牛油，室溫

1/2 杯   黑糖

1 隻   雞蛋

2 湯匙   全脂奶

1/2 湯匙   雲呢拿油

1.5 杯   麵粉

1 杯   全麥片

1 杯   白朱古力

2 湯匙   乾薰衣草

DIRECTION:

Beet and Chocolate Chips Chocolate | 紅菜頭巧克力曲奇

Beet and Chocolate Chips Chocolate | 紅菜頭巧克力曲奇

Ingredients: (yields about 28 cookies, 70 gram each)

3.5 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Unsalted Butter, melted

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup dark Chocolate Chips

3 Eggs

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

3 tablespoons Red Beet Juice (grate the beets and squeeze out the juice)

1/8 teaspoon Sea Salt

材料: (做約28 塊曲奇, 每塊 70 克)

3.5 杯   麵粉

1 杯   無鹽牛油，熱溶

1 杯   黑糖

1 杯   黑巧克力

3 隻   雞蛋

2 茶匙   泡打粉

3 湯匙   紅菜頭汁 (磨碎後搾汁)

1/8 茶匙   海鹽

DIRECTION:

Summer Zucchini Cornmeal Muffins | 胡瓜玉米小蛋糕

Summer Zucchini Cornmeal Muffins

胡瓜玉米小蛋糕 

Ingredients: (yields about 12 muffins)

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup Yellow Cornmeal

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

3/4 cup Unpeeled Zucchini, finely shredded

1 Shallot, chopped

4 Dried Tomatoes, chopped

70 gram Parmesan Cheese

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Whole Milk

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

材料：(做約12個)

1 杯   麵粉

1 杯   玉米粉

1/4 杯   黑糖

1 湯匙   泡打粉

3/4 杯   胡瓜(連皮刨絲)

1 個   乾蒜，切幼粒

4 片   蕃茄乾，浸軟

70 克   帕爾瑪乾酪

2 隻   雞蛋

3/4 杯   全脂奶

2 湯匙   菜油

DIRECTION: