Let’s Bake, Baby!

The weather is cooling down, at least here in Minnesota, and I am loving it. I love the fall weather and warmly welcome fall dishes to make their way into my weekly menu. Beyond the soups, chili’s, roasts, and slow cooker meals, I find myself wanting to bake more often this time of year.

For our family, I find myself baking more breads and muffins than anything else. They are easy enough to double or triple the batch and make enough to store extras in the freezer for a later date. But the best part? They’re a great option to use all forms of produce to embrace the fall flavors. I can’t say I have a list of my tried-and-true recipes that I consistently go back to because I am one who enjoys browsing Pinterest and other websites to try a new recipe. Lately I’ve been bookmarking breads and muffins with the best fall flavors including pumpkin, maple, apple and nutty pecans or walnuts.

Recently I found a banana lentil muffin recipe that I’ve really enjoyed, and my 16 month old son is a BIG fan! Now that we’ve turned the corner to fall, I’m going to swap some of the mashed banana for 100% pumpkin puree and tie in more cinnamon and crushed pecans. They’ll taste great, introduce a new produce item, and make my kitchen smell amazing!

For breads, I love baking Zucchini & Apple Bread, Pumpkin bread, and Maple Banana Bread with crushed nuts. When it comes to fall flavors, I think maple is trending a bit higher this year than pumpkin, so I’m leaning in and embracing the fall flavors in our favorite baked goods.

Get your family involved in the baking process and enjoy this new season. Experiment with new recipes, try new produce items in your dishes and be creative! Baked goods are a great treat to have in your home and they make an awesome gift for friends, family, neighbors and teachers.

Happy baking!