Peach Muffins

It's time again for another muffin recipe.  My family loves muffins.....maybe because they are usually sweet and very dessert-like......for breakfast!  I give one to the kids in the morning with a yogurt and some fruit and they are good to go.  So I am always on the look out for new muffin recipes to try.  When I first saw this recipe I was thinking sweet, summer peaches when I saw "Peach" Muffins.  After some further reading I discovered I was going to be using canned peaches.  This kind of changed my idea of what these muffins were going to taste like.  But the kids like canned peaches and I already had a can in the cabinet.  These were super easy to make and were pretty tasty.  These seem like a good winter fruit muffin when there's not a lot of fresh in season fruit.

Peach Muffins
recipe slightly adapted from Talking Dollars and Cents

Yield:  10-12 muffins

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup all-purpose baking mix
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 15-oz can of sliced peaches, drained and diced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.

Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Mix egg, butter, milk and peaches in a smaller bowl.
Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients
Fill muffin tins 3/4 full making sure to distribute peach bits.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Peach and Gorgonzola Chicken Pizza

My children love fruit.  I love the summer when they can eat their fill of peaches, plums, watermelon, and berries.  Although I always give them fruit at breakfast, I've been trying to incorporate it into dinner too.....since they're not the biggest veggie eaters.  Our family loves pizza and I'm always trying out new pizza recipes.  I can't remember the last time that I had a pizzeria slice of pizza!  My son enjoyed this pizza but he loves cheese of all kinds.  I made half of a plain pizza for my daughter, my non-cheese loving child.  My husband and I loved this pizza!  The tang of the gorgonzola with the sweetness of the peaches and balsamic reduction was delicious!  I'm definitely going to be making this again.  I only had one piece of the pizza and my husband "accidentally" took the piece I was saving for lunch the next day to work with him for his lunch. 
 

Peach and Gorgonzola Chicken Pizza
recipe from Cooking Light, May 2011

Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pizza dough
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 medium unpeeled peach, thinly sliced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat pizza stone in oven to 400°.

2. Shape pizza dough to desired shape and thickness. Place on heated pizza stone Brush 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil evenly over crust. Top evenly with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, and peach slices. Top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 11 minutes or until crust browns.

3. Place vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 5 minutes). Drizzle balsamic reduction evenly over pizza.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Pepper Jack Chicken and Peach Quesadillas

My parents love to buy me small kitchen appliances that take up a lot of space.  We have a waffle maker, a quesadilla maker, and a chocolate fountain among many that are taking up real estate in our cabinets and closets!  Although many of the gadgets are rarely, if ever used, we do use our quesadilla maker a lot......or we did.  After I made this recipe, my husband was cleaning the quesadilla maker and ended up dropping it and it broke.  Quesadillas aren't too difficult to make in a pan, so I posted the original recipe with directions on making them in a pan.  This is the way I'll have to make them in the future because the kids love quesadillas!  They loved this recipe too!  The sour cream sauce was so tasty! Who knew that a little lime and honey could add so much flavor!  Quesadillas are a really quick and easy dinner to make.  Although the ingredient list is simple, these were really tasty.  I would definitely make these again since everyone love them so much.  I served them with yellow rice, which my son loves so much!

Pepper Jack Chicken and Peach Quesadillas
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches
4 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Combine honey and lime juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir sour cream into honey mixture; cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Place tortillas flat on a work surface. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese over half of each tortilla; top each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup peaches, and 1 teaspoon cilantro. Fold tortillas in half.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in the pan, and top quesadillas with a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are crisp and lightly browned (leave cast-iron skillet on quesadillas as they cook). Remove quesadillas from pan; set aside, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into wedges. Serve with sauce.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Peach Blackberry Cobbler

I know that not everyone likes carrot cake so I wanted to have another dessert available for guests.  While I did serve watermelon I didn't want to go to the trouble of making a fruit salad.  I ended up deciding on this fruit cobbler.  Both the peaches and blackberries were on sale too which was a plus.  This was easy to make.  I got it ready before we sat down to eat and while we were eating popped it in the oven to bake.  I served this with vanilla ice cream.  Everyone was raving about this.  I know my daughter isn't a big fan of warm fruit but she surprisingly ate some and enjoyed it.  I think there are too many cobbler-like recipes out there that I haven't made  that I probably wouldn't repeat this one again.  However, I highly recommend it!

Peach Blackberry Cobbler
Recipe from Cooking Light, May 2008

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, melted and divided
Cooking spray
3 cups sliced fresh peaches (about 1 pound)
2 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup 1% low-fat milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Pour 2 tablespoons melted butter into the bottom of a 2-quart dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Combine peaches, blackberries, and 1 tablespoon flour in a large bowl; toss gently. Add 1/4 cup sugar and ginger; toss gently to combine. Pour peach mixture into prepared baking dish. Lightly spoon remaining 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup flour, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter and milk, stirring with a whisk. Pour batter evenly over fruit mixture.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

The Weekend Chef: Peach, Prosciutto & Goat-Cheese Pizza

Another pizza recipe.  Believe me, I will never tire of eating homemade pizza.  Especially because the toppings are limitless!  Just the name of this pizza had me drooling.  Peaches, prosciutto, and goat cheese.....delicious!  My husband was nice enough to make this pizza the other night while I went to a zumba class.  So, when I got home my pizza wasn't as hot as I like I like it.  Regardless, I was expecting deliciousness.  Unfortunately, what I got was just okay.  The prosciutto got a bit hard and chewy.  I'm thinking maybe some caramelized onions might perk it up a little bit.  Maybe my expectations were too high!  I may have to try this one again in the future with some adaptations, because I feel like it has so much potential.

Peach, Prosciutto, & Goat-Cheese Pizza
recipe slightly adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 store-bought pizza dough
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 firm-ripe peaches, cut into thin wedges and halved crosswise
8 very thin prosciutto slices, torn into pieces
3 oz soft mild goat cheese, crumbled

Preparation:
Put pizza stone in lowest position of oven and preheat oven to highest setting 500–550°F.
Shape dough into desired thickness and shape.

Brush dough with some oil and top each with peaches, prosciutto, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake until crisp and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Drizzle remaining oil over pizza.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Meatless Monday: Dutch Baby Pancake with Sauteed Peaches

Breakfast for dinner is always a hit at our house.  I hadn't made pancakes, particularly, a Dutch Baby Pancake, in awhile.  With peaches being on sale this past week, I thought this sounded like a great meal.  It was super quick and easy to make. I served it with breakfast sausage and yogurt. The kids LOVED it and would have eaten more if I let them (they already had seconds but I had to save some for daddy!). 

Dutch Baby Pancake with Sauteed Peaches
from Every Day with Rachael Ray, August 2010

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole milk
3 eggs, at room temperature
4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 large peaches – peeled, pitted and sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
1. Place a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet in the bottom third of the oven and pre-heat to 425°F.

2. In a small glass measuring cup, heat the milk in the mircowave for 30 seconds at full power. Using a blender, mix the milk, eggs, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the salt briefly at low speed until combined. Add the flour and blend until just incorporated.

3. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the hot skillet to melt, then pour in the batter. Return the skillet to the oven and bake until the pancake is puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a medium size skillet, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons each granulated sugar and butter, the peaches and lemon juice and cook over medium-high heat until the juices are syrupy, about 5 minutes; remove from the heat. Dust the hot pancake immediately with the confectioners' sugar, cut into four wedges and serve with the warm peaches.

Family Rating:  2 thumbs up!

Meatless Monday: Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime Dipping Sauce

As I mentioned, the theme for our supper club was sauces.  I wanted a little appetizer that we could eat before we sat down for dinner.  I found this recipe and thought it sounded good.  I was a little nervous, since it isn't peach season and it was found in a "Summer Cooking" spotlight.  I bought the softest, ripest peaches I could find, but like one of the supper club members commented, marinating in the honey and lime both softened and sweetened the peaches up.  Let me tell you how much my kids loved this!  Although I do have to say they are BIG fans of lemon/lime (they enjoy sucking on/eating lemon slices), they were eating these up and spooning sauce all over their quesadillas!  We got to put our rarely-used quesadilla maker to use, so in the preparation, we didn't fold over the tortilla.  These are definitely best eaten hot, right off the pan/quesadilla maker! Unfortunately, my pictures do not do this dish justice!

Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime Dipping Sauce

Cooking Light, June 2005

Ingredients:

Sauce:
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

Quesadillas:
1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches (about 2 large)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 ounces Brie cheese, thinly sliced
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
Cooking spray
Chive strips (optional)

Preparation:
To prepare sauce, combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

To prepare quesadillas, combine peaches, 1 tablespoon chives, and sugar, tossing gently to coat. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange one-fourth of cheese and one-fourth of peach mixture over half of each tortilla; fold tortillas in half. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into 3 wedges; serve with sauce. Garnish with chive strips, if desired.

Note: Placing the fillings on one side of the tortilla and folding the other half over (like a taco) makes the quesadillas easier to handle. Whole wheat tortillas would also be great, offering a sweet, nutty taste. The lime-honey dipping sauce balances the richness of the buttery filling.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!


This recipe was shared at:

My Sweet and Savory

Meatless Monday: Peach, Basil, Mozzarella, & Balsamic Pizza

Okay, is your mouth watering from reading the title of this recipe?!!  Mine sure was.  As soon as I saw it I thought, "I have to make this!"  Lucky me, peaches were on sale at the grocery store for $1.49/lb!  I was definitely worried that they wouldn't be sweet enough since this recipe was originally posted in the summer, when peaches are in season, juicy, and delicious.  I made sure to pick out the ripest, softest peaches that I could find and they were surprisingly tasty. The original recipe made enough for two pizzas.  I knew my daughter wasn't going to eat this so I halved everything to make one pizza.  Maria and Josh also made their own pizza dough (check out the link below to go to their site for the recipe!). I liked the salty/sweet combo and the balsamic reduction was delicious!  This was also really quick and easy to make.

Peach, Basil, Mozzarella, & Balsamic Pizza
Recipe adapted From Two Peas and Their Pod 
Original Recipe found at: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/peach-basil-mozzarella-balsamic-pizza/

Ingredients:
For the balsamic reduction:
1 cup balsamic vinegar

For the pizza:
1 store bought pizza dough
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces fresh mozzarella-sliced
2 peaches-thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil

Directions:
To make the balsamic reduction:

1. Pour balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the vinegar has reduced to 1/4 cup. Set aside, and cool to room temperature.

To make the pizza:
1. Preheat pizza stone in oven at 450 degrees F.
2. Roll out pizza dough to desired shape/thickness. Lightly brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Top the dough with fresh mozzarella rounds, peach slices, and fresh basil. Drizzle the pizza with balsamic reduction.

3. Place the pizza in the oven-directly on the pizza stone.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until pizza crust is golden and cheese is melted.
4. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes and then cut into slices and serve warm.

Mommy & Daddy Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.