Bake or Break

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

View a printable recipe or more photos The sight of over-ripe bananas on my kitchen counter always makes me want to make banana bread. Sadly, I don't always follow through with it. In those cases, it is most definitely not the thought that counts. Recently, however, I decided enough was enough and ventured into the kitchen with this recipe in hand. I have a tremendous weak spot for cream cheese, and the thought of adding it to banana bread was more than enough to motivate me.

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Blueberry Croissant Bread Pudding

View a printable recipe or more photos Sometimes fate has a hand in the kitchen. I had a lovely bread pudding recipe picked out for the holidays. It was simple and sounded delicious. All I needed was a package of Hawaiian bread. That seemed like a simple enough task until I realized that there is none to be found on the isle of Manhattan. Moments after that realization, I found this recipe in an ad for Smucker's in a food magazine. I had bread pudding on the brain, so I was immediately drawn to it. When I realized that it was made with croissants, I remembered the French bakery we had recently stumbled upon in our neighborhood. All signs pointed to making this.

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Pear Bread

View a printable recipe or more photos I bring you this recipe with a warning. After you try it, you may never want to bake anything else ever again. It is just that good. If I had pears in the kitchen, I'd be making it again right now.

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Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary

View a printable recipe or more photos One of the best cookbooks we've recently bought is Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Reading the title made me do a bit of an eye roll, thinking that this was some baking scam. After reading some other bakers' experiences with the book, I had a change of heart and bought it. I am not a bread baker. Honestly, I lack the patience for it. Quinn is the bread baker in our house. I am a big fan of my bread machine, but using it always feels a bit like cheating. With this book, however, I can now say that I can bake bread.

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Raspberry, White Chocolate, and Almond Loaf

View more photos Being a big fan of Williams-Sonoma, you can imagine that I am an even bigger fan of the Williams-Sonoma outlet about 90 miles from here. I try to keep my visits to a minimum, but I do love perusing the aisles looking at all of that lovely, mostly unnecessary stuff. Last weekend, [...]

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Chocolate Bread Pudding

View more photos I really wanted to make something chocolate-y for Thanksgiving, but I had a hard time figuring out what to make. I had thought about a chocolate cake, but that just seemed boring. The day before Thanksgiving, I remembered seeing this recipe from Paula Deen. I looked it over and decided it was [...]

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