pizza bread & macnut-less dessert

i found a recipe for a pizza quick bread that i thought would be fun for maia to try instead of giving her real greasy pizza.. i tried to make her flat bread pizza before too but she didn't like it. this has cheese, marinara sauce and cut up turkey pepperoni.

into the pan..

 but of course, as soon as i took it out it deflated. damn you bread.

 so the marinara part was supposed to be in the middle. clearly i didn't divide the batter evenly. oops!

still tasted good though! just a bit dry towards the top. oh well. 

maia loved it!

i also made a dessert for matt's work.. my mom's macadamia nut dessert.. but without the macadamia nuts (forgot to buy!).. i didn't use cool whip though. ever read the ingredients? it's like oil and corn syrup. eww. you read more labels when you have a baby i guess. so i made a stabilized whipped cream to replace. it's whipping cream with a little gelatin to help to stay up.

whip it good.. yummmm.

add in the cream cheese..

 cooling crust..

 and this is happiness, according to matt blas. 

 matt likes it super heath heavy.. so this is the star of the show..

pizza bread from pickypalate.com

Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Quick Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 cup quartered pepperoni slices, about 32 slices

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray small bread pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper into the bowl of a stand or electric mixer, mix to combine.  Slowly add in eggs, oil, buttermilk, Parmesan, Mozzarella and pepperoni until just combined.  Pour half of batter into prepared bread pan that measures 9x5x2 3/4-inches.  Top evenly with marinara sauce then pour remaining batter over sauce.  Top with Italian seasoning and additional Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.  Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan.  Slice and serve warm or room temperature.

Makes 8 servings