greek yogurt

Blueberry Muffins, Revisited

by Lisa on November 28, 2012

You know how there are some food blogs {ahem} that make you want to cook and bake every single recipe on it? Shutterbean is that way for me. Every time I see something that Tracy whips up I want to run to the kitchen and get started. When she posted a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins that were fluffy and light with a perfect shape, I knew I had to make the recipe. I thought Tracy must have the answer to perfect muffins. Try as I might, mine are always a bit tough and never achieve a beautiful dome. Let me tell you, she does have the answer. After one bite, these blueberry muffins swiftly kicked my other blueberry muffin recipe to the curb.

Blueberry Muffins, Revisited

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 24-30 minutes, until tops are

Keywords: bake bread breakfast Greek yogurt muffin

Ingredients (12 muffins)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare a muffin tin with baking spray, generously spray the cups and tops.

Into a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda.

Using a wooden spoon, mix in the salt and sugar, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, milk, eggs and vanilla until well combined. Add the blueberries {if using frozen, I like to rinse them well so that the batter doesn’t turn blue.}

Return to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal.

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just enough to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Be very careful not to over mix the batter–lumps are good!

Fill twelve muffin tins with batter, then bake on the middle rack for 24-30 minutes until the tops are puffed up and golden brown.

Allow to set in the muffin tin for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. If you can wait that long. We couldn’t.

I never thought I could make muffins with muffin tops like this. They’re airy, slightly sweet with a great burst of blueberry in almost every bite.

I think the secret is using Greek yogurt.

I made these for my family at my parents’ house on Sunday morning. By Monday morning, they were gone.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Shutterbean.

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{ 5 comments }

Creamy Smoked Salmon Salad

by Lisa on July 30, 2012

smoked salmon main

As much as I love, and I mean, LOVE, creamy dressings and sauces, I rarely prepare them at home. To me, it’s not worth the extra calories. So when I come up with a recipe that accomplishes the creaminess that I’m after with only a fraction of the calories, I do a little happy dance. And then I make the recipe over and over and over again.

My absolute favorite breakfast sandwich is smoked salmon with cream cheese, red onion, tomato and capers on a poppy seed bagel. My goal was to take the flavors of that breakfast and turn it into an entrée salad without using a large block of cream cheese.

Mission accomplished.

Creamy Smoked Salmon Salad

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients (serves 6)

Israeli couscous {I box, prepared according to package}
2.5 oz. goat cheese {about a quarter of a small log}
1 cup 0% Greek yogurt
1 lemon, juiced and zested
Salt and pepper
1/8 cup chives, snipped
1/3 cup chopped parsley
8-10 grape tomatoes, quartered {add as many or as few as you’d like}
4 oz. wild sockeye smoked salmon

Instructions

Prepare the couscous as directed by the package; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, goat cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, chives, parsley, salt and pepper.

Flake or chop the salmon into bite size pieces. Add the salmon, tomatoes and couscous to the yogurt dressing. Stir well to combine. Serve immediately.

I like to serve this warm, but it can also be served cold.

The tanginess of the goat cheese and the lemon give this salad a great brightness. The combination of Greek yogurt and goat cheese achieves the creaminess I was after without being heavy. The smoked salmon provides a bit of richness and I just love being able to walk out to my garden to grab any herbs I want. In this case, parsley and chives. I added tomatoes for a bit more texture on top of the chewiness of the Israeli couscous.

This would be a great dish to bring to a potluck. Just don’t expect to have any leftovers to take home.

Enjoy!

{ 2 comments }

12 Minute Pancakes

by Lisa on May 22, 2012

I’ve been craving pancakes for about two weeks.

Two.Weeks.

So when Caroline woke up an hour earlier than normal on a work from home day, I took advantage and headed into the kitchen. You’d be surprised at how entertaining cooking can be for a nine month old.

I turned to one of my favorite recipes and kicked it up a bit by adding heart healthy rolled oats, chia seeds and ground flaxseeds. It’s safe to say I have a new favorite pancake recipe.

12 Minute Pancakes

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6-7 minutes

Ingredients (8-10 pancakes)

For the Pancakes

1 1/2 cups Vanilla 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 tablespoons ground flax
1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds

For the Berries

2-3 cups of berries, cut up or whole {strawberries, quartered, blackberries, raspberries and blackberries whole}
2-3 tablespoons light brown sugar

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the berries and brown sugar. Set aside to macerate.

Whisk together the yogurt, egg and almond milk; set aside.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine.

Once just combined, add the oats, flax and chia seeds.

Pour 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto a greased skillet or griddle pan over medium-high heat.

The pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles begin to pop. Flip and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the pancakes are golden brown.

Serve topped with the macerated berries.

Okay, I can’t guarantee that these will take you exactly 12 minutes, unless you cook all of the pancakes at the same time. But I can guarantee that they’re worth the time.

I loved the texture; the oats, flax and chia add heartiness to this fluffy pancake.

The sweetness of the berries and the natural sauce that’s rendered from macerating is wonderful on top of the pancake.

The only way I could improve this dish would be to add a dollop of whipped cream to the top. What better way to start the day?

Enjoy!

{ 2 comments }

Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

by Lisa on May 8, 2012

Whenever I use a Bundt cake pan, I can’t help but think of that scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

As a girl from a half Greek and half Lebanese family, I can very much identify with the characters in this movie. The first time I saw it, I fell off my seat in the movie theater because I was laughing so hard. I really did, ask my mom.

Anyways, last month there was a water leak in my office and three floors of people were displaced for three weeks while it was cleaned up and remediated. My entire team was spread throughout the building and some of us worked from home for the duration. I wanted to bake something for my coworkers to celebrate being back on our floor all together and seeing as my team is kind of obsessed with chocolate and tea, this cake seemed like the perfect thing.

The cake seemed like it would be very rich, so I added a sweet glaze to cut the richness. It worked, but I would have liked to add orange zest to the glaze and I would have liked to make it a little thicker. Next time!

Earl Grey Chocolate Cake with Orange Glaze

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate Greek yogurt cake

Ingredients (1 Bundt cake)

For the Cake

6 Earl Grey tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey
1 cup water
1/2 cup {1 stick} butter
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

For the Glaze

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons orange juice

Instructions

For the Cake

To prep the ingredients, melt the chocolate and steep the tea for 3-5 minutes. In order to melt the chocolate, place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave again for 15 seconds. Stir. Repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt and mix with a fork. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, eggs and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the chocolate and blend.

Finally, beat in the flour mixture, Greek yogurt and tea.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before turning out the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Glaze

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice and almond milk. For a thicker glaze, use 1 tablespoon less of the almond milk.

Pour the glaze over the warm cake. Allow the glaze to set in the refrigerator before serving.

It’s funny, I’ve always thought that chocolate cake was okay, preferring to get my chocolate fix from brownies, cookies or straight up chocolate, but after being pregnant, I discovered a love for chocolate cake that I didn’t even know existed.

This cake? This cake is good. I mean really, really good. I love that the spiciness of the earl grey tea subtly plays against the chocolate and is enhanced by the orange glaze.

I was glad to have my team at work to share this with, otherwise Jeromy and I would have been in some serious trouble. In a face off, I am pretty sure this cake would win.

Make this cake. Serve it with milk. Your coworkers will thank you.

And remember, it’s a BuuuunndT.

Recipe adapted, just barely, from Real Simple.

{ 4 comments }

Vanilla Yogurt Pancakes

by Lisa on February 27, 2012

Sunday morning rolled around this weekend and even though I was staring at a to do list a mile long, I decided to remember one of my goals for 2012 and look for balance. To enjoy my time with my family. So I set my to do list aside for the morning and enjoyed spending time with my husband and our daughter. And I made some awesome pancakes.