Easy bagel recipe!

I found my first 2018 baking inspiration in the form of these incredibly easy - and tasty - homemade bagels!

I first saw them from Skinnytaste's Instagram account and when she posted the recipe, I barely waited a day to try them.  If you like bagels and wish you could eat them more often (like me), you'll surely be tempted because they are practically 2-ingredient bagels that takes very little time to make from scratch!

Even if you don't use self-rising flour and break down the components (adding baking powder and salt yourself), you only need 4-5 ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, non-fat Greek yogurt, and an egg white to brush the top with, plus any optional topping you might like on them.  I had everything I needed to make these without going to the grocery store.  It sounds incredible but really, it works and it's tasty to boot!  

Did I also mention, they're only about 150 calories each, with 26.5 grams of carbs?  I don't know about you but though I adore bagels, I don't eat them very often as I try to watch my intake of refined carbs.  Making them myself and having this lighter option is a fabulous discovery.  Not to mention...I made bagels!  How neat is that!

For my inaugural batch of bagels, I used 2/3 all-purpose flour and 1/3 white whole wheat flour.  Next time (and there will be plenty of opportunities), I plan to increase the whole wheat proportion further.  

The non-fat Greek yogurt is key.  They work some kind of magic so that the bagels turn out with a nice soft texture and have a slightly tangy, salty bite.  These are not the traditional super-dense, heavy bagels.  My bagels were still very soft inside after 2 days sitting at room temperature.  

I toast them up and they're good plain, with butter, cream cheese, and almond butter - to name a few options.  All I can say is if you enjoy bagels and want a lighter option, try making these very easy ones!  These are going to have a place in our breakfast routine from now on.  I think that's a pretty great way to start of the new year in the kitchen!

Breaking in the baby bundts

I'm not big on shopping when it comes to clothes and things but I could shop for hours when it comes to housewares, kitchen, and food related items.  Leave me at Sur la Table and I could go missing for an hour or two easy.  I actually live minutes away from a mall - no Sur la Table there, unfortunately (or maybe it's fortunate), but I often find myself nipping into Williams-Sonoma or to Crate & Barrel and Anthropologie to check out the home section.

A mini spongy honey bundt cake

Inevitably, I often walk away with a little something - a plate, a mug, some kitchen tool I just realized I should have.  I do try to control myself because I feel like I have all the essentials I need nowadays (and, as importantly, no place to store much else!), but as you know, need and want are two separate things.  And about a week ago, I succumbed to the temptation of the bundt pan.  It's one of the things I don't have and probably don't really need but have always wanted.

Four cakes with toasted walnuts and two (on righthand column) have mini chocolate chips

Well, hey...Williams-Sonoma was running a sale and I was being practical here.  I bought a mini bundt pan - the smaller capacity works better for my small family and with the holidays coming around, I just know I'll have plenty of use for them by being able to make gifts of pretty little cakes.  Right?  Right!

So when you think Fall desserts, maybe you think bundt cakes like I do.  Why is that? I think it might have something to do with the rich, dense pound cake-like texture I often associate with bundt cakes.  They're great spiced with all the flavors of Fall and they conjure up hearty and homey, the kind of things you want when the weather turns cool and the leaves start drifting down.  Well, I know that sounds terrific but I went on a slightly different tangent with my inaugural batch of baby bundts.  

These little cakes are on the lighter side.  They are spongy honey cakes, with toasted walnuts.  I adapted a recipe I saw for Russian Honey Cake on Food52.  I messed with the recipe by scaling it down to make just enough batter for my 6 mini bundts.  That made it easy to then make the batter by hand.  Rather than sour cream, I used whole milk Greek yogurt instead.  I also added some vanilla extract for a little extra flavor. And I couldn't resist switching up the mix-in and making a couple of the little cakes with mini chocolate chips instead of walnuts (plus, I went with a more generous dose of them).  Using two kinds of mix-ins confuses the process a bit but I just couldn't resist.

Spongy honey cake with toasted walnuts

These sponge cakes are lightened by whipping egg whites separately from the yolks. Besides the Greek yogurt and eggs, there's no oil or butter added to them.  Don't expect cakes that are dense and rich like a pound cake though.  What we have here is moist as in spongy, practically bouncy, little cakes that have a sweetness in part from honey.  It was a good place to put the raw honey that I stock up at the farmer's market to good use. 

Spongy honey cake with mini chocolate chips

If you pick the cake with walnuts, you get a punch of nutty flavor from pre-toasting them (a must).  If you go with chocolate chip, well...you pretty much can't go wrong. My son was a big fan of those and they were reserved for him.

To be totally honest here, as dainty as these little cakes look, they're more like snack cakes, the 'pick up with your hands and eat with your fingers' kind of casual cakes.  If I was into sweets for breakfast, these are the types of cakes I'd reach for.

Mango-yogurt parfait

I've got something healthy and super simple to share today.  As a little balance against that rich triple chocolate mousse I made recently, I'm offering another parfait - but one that's far lighter. This everyday parfait is perfectly good for you and makes a beautiful and very tasty breakfast, snack, or even dessert.  It so simple - just pureed mango and Greek yogurt.

Yes, it's totally like the yogurt cups you buy with the fruit at the bottom or in a separate compartment, but homemade, without all the added sugar. It's the best kind of DIY because it tastes better and is better for you, plus it doesn't require a lot of work.  All you have to do is puree some mangoes until smooth and you can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week to enjoy with your yogurt as you like.

I'm actually amazed I'm writing about yogurt like this because I didn't start eating it - really eating, not just baking or cooking with it - until just a few months ago. I didn't think I'd ever get into that extreme tang or tartness, and the whole idea of dousing it with sweetener seemed to defeat the whole eating-healthy purpose. I don't know what's happened to me but this chocolate "junkie" has turned into a bit of a health-food junkie as well in recently years so I gave yogurt another try and now I'm fairly hooked on Greek yogurt (and going broke buying those big tubs every week)! My standard way of eating it is without any sweetener but with crunchy toppings like nuts, sunflower seeds, and a little flaxseeds thrown in.  

I love mangoes so when I came across this mango-yogurt parfait idea from Martha, I had to try it.  Now that I've made it and been enjoying it thoroughly, I'm reluctant to eat my yogurt without some mango puree these days.  It almost tastes too good to be natural and good for me but it truly is.

Let me make a little confession: I didn't have any ripe fresh mangoes on hand and impatient to give this a try, I simply used frozen mango chunks. Yes, I did! To be specific, I used Trader Joe's organic frozen mango chunks, which I heard and can now confirm is very good. I simply defrosted the mango overnight and gave it a blitz in my blender in the morning with a splash of water.

And would you believe I did not add any sugar to my mango puree!  Seriously. Essentially, my parfait is a 2-ingredient one of pure mango and Greek yogurt. You may choose to add sugar but I encourage you to taste the puree before sweetening it. I realize it's a matter of preference and it all depends on how much sweetness you need/want to go along with your yogurt.  It also depends on the mangoes. The frozen mango chunks were truly sweet enough on their own for me and I imagine it'd be even more so if I'd been using some fresh ripe Champagne mangoes (my favorite).

I'm sure you could try this with other fruits.  I just love mangoes and with the frozen chunks working so well, I can make this year-round.  

Now I know why those fruit yogurt cups are so popular.  I hope you give this simple homemade version a try.  It's really delicious, with minimal work. The healthy aspect is a huge bonus.