breads

While making another one of my favorite smoothies, seeing a bunch of ripe bananas in the kitchen gave me the urge to bake some banana bread. Then a light went off — why not combine a smoothie recipe with banana bread to make banana smoothie muffins?

Made with pureed banana, spinach, and strawberries, these muffins came out even more deliciously sweet and moist than anticipated. Skeptics might be turned off by the greenish hue, but just like green eggs and ham, "try them, try them," and this might become your new favorite banana bread recipe.

From Jenny Sugar, POPSUGAR Fitness

Banana Smoothie Muffins

Recipe Notes

These muffins taste best freshly baked, with the edges slightly crispy. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas
2 cups packed baby spinach
8 strawberries
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Puree the bananas, spinach, and strawberries in a blender.
3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, sugar, egg, oil, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Pour the smoothie mixture into the bowl and mix well.
5. Put paper or silicone muffin cups in a muffin pan (you'll need two pans for 14 muffins).
6. Spoon the batter, filling each cup about three quarters full.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Allow muffins to cool on a rack and enjoy!

Makes 14 muffins. Here's the nutritional information for one muffin.

Source: Calorie Count

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Look, I'm all for making traditional homemade-dough cinnamon rolls, but sometimes you just want the piping hot buns, dripping with butter and brown sugar, ASAP. When you're experiencing an uncontrollable jonesing for a homemade batch, but don't want to go through the whole trouble of making the dough, you'll want this easy cinnamon roll recipe that gets the job done in 30 minutes.

The secret's in the refrigerated crescent roll dough, which is the perfect cocoon for your cinnamon-brown sugar filling.

That — and drizzling lots of melted butter to ensure the filling will stay in place as you tightly roll the dough into a swirled log. Are you dizzy with desire yet?

Once you've cut the eight slices, the buns will fit snugly in the pan.

The cinnamon rolls will emerge from the oven sizzling and cracking, and that's when you should immediately cover them in a tangy vanilla, lemon, and cream cheese glaze.

I'll bet these cinnamon rolls will be eaten so quickly, the glaze won't even have a chance to ooze onto the napkin.

Keep reading for the quick cinnamon roll recipe.

While few kitchen endeavors instill a greater sense of accomplishment than baking up a loaf of yeasted bread from scratch, quick breads (like beer bread) are often more practical and fill the doughy void with panache. Take for example this tender, craggy, and all-around delectable loaf. Unlike its twice-risen brethren, it can be yours in just under an hour from start to finish — a boon for the instant gratification set. Even better, its yeasty aroma will perfume your home in an intoxicating manner as it bakes; it's a true twofer if there ever was one.

I prefer mine toasted and slathered in butter, but it's also an excellent accompaniment to soups of all stripes — especially this cheddar-beer showstopper.

Don't think you'll be able to finish up the whole loaf within a day or two? Slice up the remainder of the loaf and freeze it tightly sealed; the next time you're yearning for a slice just toast it up per usual (it may need an extra minute cook time); the freezer staves off staling exceptionally well. (This tip also translates well to near-all manner of bread, muffins, and unfrosted cake, though with cake, simply allow it to thaw at room temperature before frosting or devouring plain.)

Keep reading for the fast and easy recipe.

Chia seeds are a great source of protein, fiber, calcium, and omega-3s and have been shown to help some individuals with weight loss. They're also an easy ingredient to throw into a baking recipe, like these gluten-free blueberry muffins.

Adapted from The Dr. Oz Show

Blueberry Chia Muffins

Recipe Notes

If you are not familiar with xanthan gum, it's used in this recipe to keep the muffins moist. If you opt for wheat flour, this is one ingredient you can skip.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 1/2 cups gluten-free baking flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweet potato puree
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1/2 cup agave syrup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients; fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
3. Scoop mixture into muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serves 12.

Source: Calorie Count

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We're all familiar with tortillas as a Latin American staple, but it's time to befriend another quick bread from the same region: sopaipilla.

Originating from the Mozarabic word xopaipa, meaning bread soaked in oil, sopaipilla is a fried, leaven bread that puffs up upon cooking in the oil.

The result is a moist, rich bread with plenty of air pockets and crevices to store toppings. South Americans have savory and sweet applications for sopaipillas, often topping them with ingredients like cheese, meat, avocado, and even honey and powdered sugar.

If you've never attempted to make bread or pan-fry something, this recipe is deceivingly easy. Just be sure to freeze the leftovers so they don't go stale. This fresh bread, like all others, will toughen up and dry out within a day.

Adapted from Cat Barela

Sopaipillas

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons shortening
1/2 package (1/8 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup water, warmed
1/4 cup milk, warmed
Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

1. In a small bowl, add yeast to warm water and let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Rub shortening into flour mixture using your fingertips.
2. Stir warm milk into yeasted water. Then pour over flour mixture. Stir until a smooth, wet dough forms.
3. On a floured surface, knead out dough (adding water or flour as needed for consistency that is slightly wetter than pizza dough). Roll into a ball, and use a dough cutter to divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then stretch and pat out, until each piece of dough is 1/4-inch thick.
4. Place a large, thick skillet with a flat bottom atop a stove. Fill pan 1/3 full with a high-heat vegetable oil and heat on medium-high until it shimmers (about 325°F to 350°F). Add sopaipilla dough to pan (1 to 3 pieces, depending on how large the skillet is), and fry 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, then serve immediately.

Makes 8 sopaipillas.

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Quick breads are one of the easiest things to bake and one of the most enthusiastically received gifts. My grandmother must receive at least 20 loaves from friends during the holiday season! She stacks them high in her freezer and pulls them out throughout the year.

I have fond memories as a child, waking up to the smell of banana nut bread reheating in the oven on Christmas morning. Call me strange, but growing up, I soaked bits of toasted banana nut bread in corn grits along with bacon crumbles. I still think it's the most incredible sweet-salty combination.

This recipe is on the cakey side, and it's not overwhelmingly sweet. When I make breakfast breads, I prefer things that are slightly crunchy and complex, which is why I added some wheat flour and a hefty dose of walnuts to the mix. Remarkably, this banana nut bread tastes even better reheated; I recommend toasting thick slices in the oven until the edges become crunchy. Gift this banana nut bread the day of or day after you make it and include a card that recommends the recipient eat it within three days or freeze it for later use.

Learn how to make banana nut bread.

Cinnamon rolls are a prized breakfast possession in America, yet few families will attempt to make them from home. It's understandable why. Who wants to wake up before the crack of dawn to let dough rise for several hours? Ahem, well maybe me, but I'm in the vast minority. Luckily, I've included instructions to prep certain items the night before, so the cinnamon rolls will be ready to eat (the morning of) in one hour.

Like many Americans, I don't have childhood memories of anyone in my family attempting to make homemade cinnamon rolls — just memories of the Pillsbury canisters popping open to unleash the leaven dough. However, I learned the magic behind homemade rolls when I started a job at a bakery in high school.

Making the dough is fairly easy using a food processor. The hardest part is waiting the two hours to let the dough double. The moist, pliable dough rolls out to form a thin rectangular shape, which you slather with butter and cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon roll shapes are made by rolling the dough into a tight log, then cutting it into slices. As the dough bakes, your kitchen will be filled with the most excruciating scent that is sure to send even your farthest neighbors flocking. Once the buns come out of the oven, top them with the sticky cream-cheese icing. Watch it melt into every crevice of the steaming hot buns, and then get ready for everyone to take a dive for the spatula.

Nothing compares to homemade cinnamon rolls. It's mighty satisfying to unravel the seemingly infinite layers of the brioche-like bun to uncover the melted cinnamon sugar that has seeped into the buttery dough. While some people will add in nuts or top the buns with an orange glaze, I prefer to keep my cinnamon rolls this way — plain and simple — to evoke nostalgic memories of Winter mornings with my family.

Ready to put those buns in the oven?

Mornings can be crazy, but starting the day off right with a healthy breakfast is essential. Instead of filling the family up with sugary-sweet store-bought breakfast baked goods, these homemade muffins are quick and easy. And they are packed with healthy protein-filled peanut butter and potassium-rich bananas, working together to create a sweet and healthy breakfast muffin or snack. Turn a slow afternoon into a baking adventure with your lil one so the next day the whole family can enjoy an on-the-run breakfast that will leave tummies full and have brains boosted for the day.

Keep reading for the tasty directions.

Challah is a rich, dense Jewish bread, similar to brioche. It's often served during the weekend for Sabbath meals and is famous for its plaited appearance. During high holidays like Rosh Hashanah, the braided challah may be rolled into a circular shape to signify the cycle of a year.

>Making homemade challah is no easy feat — particularly the first time around, it may be a nerve-racking, less-than-pretty experience, but as long as the dough rises and it reaches the ideal temperature in the oven, you should end up with challah that has a crunchy, bright golden crust and soft, moist center.

Even though making challah dough is a several-hour-long process, it is incredibly rewarding to transform flour and yeast into fluffy balls of dough.

With practice, rolling and braiding the dough into intricate plaits will become easier. While you can top the bread with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, this recipe just contains a simple egg wash that bakes into a shiny exterior.

The recipe makes two loaves, but one is plenty for a table of five people. Feel free to half the recipe or freeze a loaf for another day.

See the challah recipe.

A word to the wise: if your boyfriend's mom makes you dinner, eat up, tasty or not. Luckily, I have no need to fake smiles through gummy pasta and dried-out pound cake; one of the best cooks I know just happens to have brought up my sweetie.

She introduced to me these robust feta-studded herbed biscuits, which I had no problem scarfing down (I may have eaten two, despite their large size). These biscuits have enough verve and spunk to enjoy unadorned, but I'd imagine that they'd make for a decadent breakfast sandwich, split in half and layered with fried egg, bacon, and a slice of gooey mild cheese like fontina.

Keep reading for the herb-flecked recipe.