Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake and an AWESOME Giveaway!

I have exciting news for you all today.

1)  I get to do a really big and awesome giveaway thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics.  You guys do not want to miss this one.

and

2) I made a really delicious chocolate bundt cake, also thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics because I got the same package that I get to give away.

and

3)  I’m now obsessed with Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics… can you tell?

I had never tried lactose free yogurt or kefir before, but I honestly can’t tell the difference.  The only difference is that the lactose free kefir is not as thick as regular kefir.

Redwood Hill has all sorts of recipes, news, events, and other information on their website.  Definitely make sure to check it out!

Okkkay, now what you guys have been waiting for…

GIVEAWAY:

The prize package (minimum value of about $57.55) will include:

– 1 Eco-friendly insulated green “Get Your Goat, Have a Cow” co-branded tote bag (approximate value $5)

– 1 t-shirt (winner’s choice of Redwood Hill Farm Goat, Green Valley Organics Cow OR RHF kid-size shirt; approximate value: $15)

– 6, 6-oz cups Redwood Hill Farm Goat yogurts or free product coupons (valued at about $2.19 each = $13.14)

– 6, 6-oz cups Green Valley Organics Lactose Free yogurts (valued at about $1.59 each = $9.54)

– 1 32-oz bottle Redwood Hill Farm Kefir (about $6.39)

– 1 32-oz bottle Green Valley Organics Kefir (about $4.49)

– 1 12-oz Green Valley Organics Sour Cream (about $3.99)

Are you excited yet? Because when I received my package, I felt like a little kid in a candy store.

To enter, all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment saying why you want the prize package.

For extra entries:

1. Like Green Valley Organics on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
2. Like Redwood Hill Farms on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
3. Like What Katie’s Baking on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
4. Follow Redwood Hill Farms on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
5. Follow What Katie’s Baking on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
6. Subscribe to my RSS feed and leave a comment saying you did so.

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, October 2nd at 12:00 am.  Good luck! 🙂

If you don’t win, don’t worry, you can just buy their products!  Redwood Hill Farm and Green Valley Organics products are available at Whole Foods Markets, natural food stores and specialty grocers nationwide. To find a store near you, go to redwoodhill.com/store and greenvalleylactosefree.com/stores/

Now, for this deliiiiicious recipe (which got devoured extremely quickly in my house):

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

Adapted from: Leite’s Culinaria

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
• 1/3 cup (1 ounce) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Green Valley Organics plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, plus extra for pan coating

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ½ stick butter
• 1/3 cup Redwood Hills plain Kefir
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and sprinkle cinnamon in a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and water and place over medium heat.
3. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Place the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
5. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended (the mixture will be quite thick). Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended before adding the next egg. Whisk in the Green Valley plain yogurt and vanilla until smooth.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.

Make the glaze:

1. Just before glazing the cooled cake, combine the Green Valley kefir, cocoa powder, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip and dribble down the sides.  It will soak into the cake and taste delicious.

 

Vanilla Cinnamon Donuts with Vanilla Cinnamon Glaze

When I was exploring my town the other day, I found a cute little donut pan!  They’re all over the blogosphere and I’m probably the last to jump on the donut pan train, but I finally did!!

Reasons why you should get a donut pan:

1.  They make donuts healthier.  Donuts are usually deep-fried, but with a donut pan, you can bake them!
2.  All of these delicious baked donut recipes:


Brown Eyed Baker’s Baked Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar:

Mama Pea’s Chocolate Glazed Cake Donuts:

Amy’s Baked Chocolate Donuts:

Megan’s Strawberry Doughnuts:

Katie’s Cake Batter Donuts:

Got No Milk’s Blueberry (Dairy Free) Donuts:

Angela’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Glazed Doughnuts:

Don’t those all look so good???

The donuts I made were so awesome!  They were moist and vanilla-y witch just a hint of cinnamon.  The glaze was the BOMB, too!

Vanilla Cinnamon Donuts with Vanilla Cinnamon Glaze
Adapted from: The White Library

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs,beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk flour and baking powder in a medium bowl, then combine with sugar.
2. Beat egg one at a time with milk, oil, applesauce, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until well blended. Then combine with flour mixture.  Mix vigorously until well blended.
3. Lightly spray donut pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into molds up to 2/3 full. *Optional: Sprinkle the unbaked donuts with brown sugar before baking.
4. Bake 10 -15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched and donuts are golden brown. 
5. Remove from oven and let cool down before glazing.


Glaze:


Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioner’ s sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon 

Directions:
In small bowl, stir together sugar, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until sugar is completely dissolved. If mixture is too thick, add a little more milk. If too thin, add more sugar.  You can add a couple of drops of food coloring for different colored glazes. Dip top of donuts in glaze and let the glaze set and dry before serving.

Brown Sugar Blackberry Bundt Cake

I’m baaackk!!

Wowowowow! I had a great family reunion and Stuart’s and Jane’s (Kellen’s brother and now sister) wedding was amazing! Portland is absolutely beautiful and it was such a bummer coming back to such hot and humid weather.  It’s 112 degrees here today, can you believe that?!  It’s hell…literally!

I’m just going to do what I did when I went to New York and let the pictures I took describe the trip because words can’t do it justice. *Warning: This is a picture heavy post.

Chicago: 

Had to do it!  The Bean in Millennium Park.  P.S. My cousin just played there!

Portland:

All of the pictures so far have been taken at Jane’s parents’ beautiful home.

At the coast!

My poor attempt at a heart.

Yakuza Lounge… where I had the BEST burger of my life. Not even exaggerating.

Original Pancake House!

VOODOO!!

Demolished.

Candy seeds?? Awesome!

Completely homemade.

My favorite picture. Such a ridiculously good looking family.

Anyway, like I said, I had an awesome time in Chicago with family and my aunt did a great job setting up and preparing everything for us.  It was so good to see all of my family that I haven’t seen in such a long time!  I couldn’t have asked for a better time in Portland.  The scenery is beautiful and we were so lucky to have been able to see the best of Portland right in Jane’s backyard.  The wedding ceremony was breathtaking, the weather was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the hospitality was outstanding.  I can’t use enough positive adjectives to describe the time we had.

Buuttt, that was vacation and vacation always ends, so here I am!  I’m happy to be back and baking, though, especially since I have something so yummy to share with you all.  This recipe turned out awesome!  I wasn’t expecting the best of it because it’s one of those “I have too much of something, so I need to get rid of it” kind of recipes.  I had a surplus of blackberries just sitting in the freezer, so I decided that I’d make blackberry budnt cake.  I didn’t have any eggs, so I used flax eggs and the cake came out a little dense, but the taste is phenomenal!  I was pleasantly surprised at how great this tastes.  A+!

Brown Sugar Blackberry Bundt Cake

Adapted from: Baseball Baking and Books

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9″ bundt pan. 

2. Place blackberries in a small bowl and toss with 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp lemon juice.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs one at a time; stir in sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir it into the butter mixture until well blended; gently fold in your “floured” blackberries.  Carefully pour or spoon the batter into your prepared bundt pan.
4. Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes in a preheated oven. (I took mine out at 50 because a toothpick came out clean, but it could have stayed in a little longer; the center ended up being a little gooey.)  

5. Cool cake (in the pan) on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate.  

*I added a lemon glaze on top of mine!

Chewy on the Inside, Crunchy on the Outside Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies with Chocolate Drizzle

So is the title long enough? 

If not, tell me because I can definitely think of more adjectives for these delicious blondies!!

They are exactly as the title says:  chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside… they are also chocolate-y with a hint of mint and they have a delicious chocolate glaze that compliments them perfectly. 

If you don’t like mint, you’re in luck, because these are so adaptable it’s ridiculous (for a few ideas, click the Smitten Kitchen link).  Sometimes I swear my head isn’t attached to my body, and tonight happened to be one of those nights.  My Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies are actually PEPPERmint Chocolate Chip Blondies.  I grabbed the peppermint extract instead of the mint extract, but luckily these are extremely hard to mess up and they still turned out wonderfully.  I guess I just wanted to get started early on Christmas recipes.

Make sure you make these with people around or that you’re making them for a party.  If there are no people around, plan on eating the whole batch of them. 

Mix melted butter and sugar.

Add flour.

Mix in chocolate chips and mint extract.

Pour into greased dish.

Make glaze.

Eat, eat, eat!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies
Adapted from:  Smitten Kitchen

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp mint extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Optional:  Chocolate Glaze

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
4. Add salt, stir in flour until just combined. Mix in mint extract and chocolate chips.
5. Pour into prepared pan/ dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. They won’t get dark, so make sure you check with a toothpick!  Cool on rack before cutting them.
6. Make glaze and drizzle (our pour, in my case) on top.

Chewy on the Inside, Crunchy on the Outside Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies with Chocolate Drizzle

So is the title long enough? 

If not, tell me because I can definitely think of more adjectives for these delicious blondies!!

They are exactly as the title says:  chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside… they are also chocolate-y with a hint of mint and they have a delicious chocolate glaze that compliments them perfectly. 

If you don’t like mint, you’re in luck, because these are so adaptable it’s ridiculous (for a few ideas, click the Smitten Kitchen link).  Sometimes I swear my head isn’t attached to my body, and tonight happened to be one of those nights.  My Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies are actually PEPPERmint Chocolate Chip Blondies.  I grabbed the peppermint extract instead of the mint extract, but luckily these are extremely hard to mess up and they still turned out wonderfully.  I guess I just wanted to get started early on Christmas recipes.

Make sure you make these with people around or that you’re making them for a party.  If there are no people around, plan on eating the whole batch of them. 

Mix melted butter and sugar.

Add flour.

Mix in chocolate chips and mint extract.

Pour into greased dish.

Make glaze.

Eat, eat, eat!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Blondies
Adapted from:  Smitten Kitchen

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp mint extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Optional:  Chocolate Glaze

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
4. Add salt, stir in flour until just combined. Mix in mint extract and chocolate chips.
5. Pour into prepared pan/ dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. They won’t get dark, so make sure you check with a toothpick!  Cool on rack before cutting them.
6. Make glaze and drizzle (our pour, in my case) on top.