Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes

Several weeks ago I bought a Cooking Light magazine called "Quick Baking." It intrigued me because it was a Cooking Light magazine with healthier baking recipes. It is full of all kinds of yummy things that I can't wait to try.  I just happened to have the ingredients for this one on hand, so it is where I started....

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  baking soda

1/2  teaspoon  salt

2  cups  sugar

3/4  cup  butter, softened

1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

3  large eggs

1 1/3  cups  low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.  Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); stir with a whisk...

Place sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl...

beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy...

Add eggs, 1 at a time...

beating well after each addition....

Add flour mixture and buttermilk to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

The finished batter is super fluffy, creamy and vanillay!  I used Haitian vanilla my aunt brought me from her mission trip there.  It's really strong and I swear has a hint of cinnamon and coconut to it.  Regardless, it makes any dish I use it in a tad more yummy!  It was tempting to just grab a spoon and eat the batter raw...  it smelled and looked that good....

Spoon batter into pans coated with cooking spray.   It had very specific instructions about the pans you should use.  I, of course, ignored those specs and chose the ones I wanted to  use.  That is how the Princess rolls!  I used a mini bundt pan that had six wells in it and I still had batter left over, so I slammed it in two mini loaf pans.  

They look way bigger in these pics than they are because I didn't use anything as a point of reference.  But trust  me, they are mini loaf pans.  Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.  And viola, Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes!  

I think I may have let mine go just a tad too long, they got a little too golden brown.  But they are still delicious!

Here is the original recipe.  If you use the pans that they specify, they also give you the nutritional info on them.  To me, this is much lighter than a pound cake.  It doesn't just sink to the bottom of your stomach like a rock after you swallow it.  It's super fluffy and light.  Because I used that Haitian vanilla, mine taste like they have a hint of cinnamon and coconut in them somehow.  These turned out much better than I expected.  They were really simple and they taste much better than they look!  Enjoy!