Apple-oat muffins

Ingredients:

1 large apple, diced

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch of cloves

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

2/3 cup dried cranberries (orange flavored if you can find them!)

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

2 eggs

1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or plain milk)

3 TBL vegetable oil

1 cup unsweetened applesauce (OR apricot preserves)

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Peel and dice apple.  In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour through cloves), then stir in walnuts, diced apple and dried cranberries.  In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, milk, oil, applesauce and vanilla.  Pour into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Spray a muffin tin with non stick spray.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way, topping with oats and/or cranberries.  Bake until muffins begin to brown around edges and are firm to the touch, 25-30 minutes.  Remove muffins from tins and allow to cool.  This recipe will make 6 muffins and a loaf of bread.

  

Honey yeast rolls

Ingredients:

1 packet yeast

1 cup warm water (110*)

1/4 cup honey

3 TBL canola oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

3 2/3 cup flour

2 TBL butter, melted

2 TBL honey

2 TBL sugar in the raw (optional if you don't have honey)

Directions:
In the bowl of  a stand mixer, combine yeast and warm water.  Let sit 5 or so minutes till the yeast starts to foam.  Add honey, oil, sea salt and egg and mix on low.  Add flour, one cup at a time, and mix with a dough hook for 8 or so minutes, till the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl and is elastic.
Smooth the dough into a large ball.  Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place 2 hours or until dough doubles.
Preheat oven to 400.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute.  Let rest about 10 minutes.  Divide dough into 10 equal little balls.  Make the balls of dough smooth by rolling in between your hands, then "pinching" the dough at the bottom so it doesn't show.  Place rolled balls in a 10 inch round baking dish that has been oiled or sprayed with cooking spray.  Space the dough evenly in the baking dish.  Cover with a towel and let rise 30 minutes.
Melt butter and honey (or sugar in the raw) in a sauce pan.  Brush butter mixture over the rolls before baking.  Bake at 400 for 15 min.  Cover with foil so they don't get too brown and continue to bake for another 5 minutes.  They should be a nice, rich, golden brown.

Cool lightly before eating.

Pretzel bread soup bowls

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups 110 degree water
1 tsp sea salt
1 TBL sugar
5 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
olive oil (for oiling the bowl)
8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
1 tsp water
course sea salt

Directions:
Combine sugar and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes till foamy.  Add flour and sea salt and mix on low till blended.  Turn the speed up to medium and mix 5 more minutes till the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.  Dump the dough out of the bowl and oil the bowl.  Return the dough to the bowl and cover with a towel.  Put in a warm place and let dough rise till doubled, about an hour.
Preheat oven to 450.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  When the dough has risen, divide into 4 or 5 equal pieces and roll into balls.  Place on baking sheet and cover with a towel to rise a little longer, about 15 minutes.  While the dough balls are rising, boil the 8 cups of water and add the baking soda.  Add one dough ball at a time to the water for 1 minute.  Place back on baking sheet and make an "X" on the top of the bread bowls.
With a fork, mix the egg yolk and water and brush egg mixture over bread bowls.  Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut around the "X" and scoop out the dough to use as a soup bowl.

Home made tortillas

I finally found a tortilla recipe I love!  All the credit goes to Hilla Kariv.  The recipe was easy, tasty and best of all, cheaper than store bought with no added ingredients.
Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 TBL vegetable oil
2 TBL butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups warm water

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, mix flours, salt, and baking powder.  Add oil and butter and mix with a pastry blender or just use your hands.  Mix till butter is well blended into the flour.  Add the water, slowly, and mix with a fork.  **NOTE**  I only needed 1 1/8 ish cups water.  Depending on where you live and the humidity level, you may not need all 1 1/4 cups water.  Once the dough has come together, knead for a couple of minutes.  Form a ball with the dough, cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.  The dough should be pliable, but not sticky.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces and form each one into a ball.  Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rest again for 20 minutes.

Heat a heavy pan (a cast iron skillet would be perfect!) over med-high heat.  While pan is heating, roll out one ball of dough at a time with a rolling pin to the desired thickness you  like.  I made some small and some big tortillas, but made them very thin.  Cook for about a minute on each side till bubbly and browned.  Flip and cook another minute or so.  Here's what I did different.  While cooking in the pan, I set a smaller pan on top of the tortilla so it would brown more evenly and not bubble up.

That's it!  I froze mine and put sheets of wax paper in between.  I got 16 out of this batch.  If you will be eating right away, keep covered with a towel to keep them warm!

Gramma Rock's Easter Bread

There is nothing better than this Easter bread!  This recipe was adapted from my grandmother..."Gramma Rock".  Back then, she used cakes of yeast.  They are hard to find these days, so I just used packets.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
2 packets yeast
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour, plus a little for kneading, dusting
1 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
8 TBL butter, melted
1 TBL olive oil

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 TBL water

Directions:
Heat milk to 110.  Add yeast and 1 TBL sugar.  Mix well and let sit till foamy, about 5 minutes. ( I just used a small saucepan)  Whisk eggs and vanilla and set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl, combine flour, (King Arthur unbleached white OR 365 brand unbleached white) lemon juice, the rest of the sugar and salt.  With the dough hook attached, start mixing on low and slowly add milk mixture.  Add the egg mixture.  Keep mixing on low and add the melted butter.  At this point, bump the speed up to med, but hold on to the stand mixer so it doesn't move around on you.  Add a few sprinkles of flour if needed.  Mix till stiff, but not sticky.

Pour onto a floured surface, and knead into a ball.  Rub the ball with the olive oil and place in a bowl covered with a towel to rise for about 1 1/2-2 hours.

After the dough has doubled in size, you can punch it down, turn onto a floured surface, and begin to make your "shapes", braids, or even make individual loaves.  I chose to do all three.  I made individual loaves for my mom and froze them so she could pull them out one at a time and eat a loaf within a couple of days.

You could also add hard boiled (colored if you like) eggs to your braid since it is for Easter!  Preheat oven to 350.  

After you braid your dough, cover it with a towel again and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Whisk an egg with a TBL of water in a bowl and brush the top of your bread loaves with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 for approx 20-25 minutes.  I remember my Gramma's bread was very yellow in color.  I think she actually added a dozen eggs to her recipe, but that would change the flour ratio as well.  Either way, it's so sweet and good, not to mention fun to eat when you are a kid!!  Enjoy!!

Gramma Rock making pizza (she was always in the kitchen!)

Sweet potato muffins with streusel topping

I think muffins are good any time of the year!  Especially with a good cup of tea or coffee!

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/3 cup softened unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar ( I used sugar in the raw)
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup whole wheat white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup half-n-half, plus 1-2 TBL more
2 medium sweet potatoes, steamed, and jackets removed
zest from 1 orange

Streusel topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat white flour
4 TBL unsalted butter softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon

***OPTIONAL***
Orange glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Juice from 1 orange
1 tsp orange zest

Whisk together till sugar dissolves.


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Cream egg, butter, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add vanilla and flour and mix.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix with the wire whip until thoroughly blended.  The half-n-half amount may need to be adjusted according to how you like the batter.  Spray muffin tins with non stick spray.  Fill tins halfway and top with streusel topping.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
**NOTE**  I did 6 large muffins, 12 mini muffins, and a mini loaf (7X4).  The loaf took over half an hour to bake.  Just keep checking if you decide to make a loaf.  Stick with a toothpick to make sure it's done.

Cheddar biscuits

These taste similar to Red Lobster!  They are so easy and good!

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1 cup baking mix
1 cup shredded cheese
2 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 stick melted butter

Directions;
Preheat oven to 350.  Mix baking mix, milk, sugar and cheese in a large mixing bowl.  Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a baking sheet pan.  Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add oregano and garlic.  Brush biscuits with melted butter mixture before baking.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Pepperoni bread

This is so yummy!  It's like a pizza "loaf".  Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup unbleached flour
2 tsp. sugar in the raw
1 tsp. sea salt
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1/3 cup whole milk or half-n-half
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, room temp
2 TBL olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup Mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan blend
1 stick pepperoni, rough chopped (found in the deli)
2 TB unsalted butter, melted
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano

Directions:

In a mixer bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast.  Set aside.  In a saucepan, combine milk and 3/4 stick butter and heat over low until melted.  Remove from heat and cool to 120 degrees.  Pour milk mixture over flour mixture.  Stir a few times with a spatula, then mix with a dough hook for about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs and mix for 3 more minutes.  Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup flour and mix for another 2 or so minutes.  Add more flour by the tablespoon as needed until dough is soft, but slightly sticky.  Lightly flour a work surface and turn dough onto your surface, kneading a few times.  Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with a towel and let rest in a warm place till dough doubles in size.   Make your tomato sauce while the dough rises.  Add the tomato paste, water and some spices in a bowl.  You can use whatever spices you like, I just happen to be on a thyme kick right now!  Mix thoroughly until it is the thickness you like.   Gently deflate the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface.  Melt 2 TB butter in a small saucepan and add minced garlic.  Saute' for a few minutes and remove from heat.  Roll out your dough ball while the butter is melting and the garlic is being sauteed.  Roll into a rectangle shape, maybe 1/4 in thin.  Brush dough with garlic butter.  Brush tomato sauce on top of the garlic butter.  Sprinkle with cheese and chopped pepperoni.  I just sliced my pepperoni thick, then rough chopped it into chunks.  Next, I used my loaf pan as a "measuring guide" to cut my dough into strips.  I cut the dough into 5 equal strips width wise.  Then, stack the strips on top of one another.  At this point, cut the stacks of dough into 4 pieces, so you have nice little stacks of square dough.  Lightly oil a 9"X 5" loaf pan.  I love, love, love my stoneware loaf pan for pepperoni bread!  Now place the stacks of dough in the loaf pan so they are touching one another as shown below.

Preheat the oven to 350 and cover the dough with a towel and let it rise until it is above the top of the pan.  As you can see, there is room at each end of the loaf.  That's OK because the dough will rise and fill the pan.  It should rise for an hour or so, till doubled in size, depending on how warm your kitchen is.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven, and brush with any leftover garlic butter you may have had and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let it rest 10 minutes before serving.  Turn the loaf upside down onto a plate and pull apart to serve.  Y-U-M!

Artisan bread

This is so easy!  Recipe adapted from Natasha's Kitchen.  This version is a no knead recipe.  I think the next time I make it (which will be very soon!), I'll add some rosemary to the dough.

Ingredients:.
1 1/2 half cup warm water ( 100- 115 degrees)

1/2 TB salt
1/2 TB sugar (I used sugar in the raw)
3/4 TB yeast
3 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 TB cornmeal 
plus extra flour for dusting

Directions:

Add sugar and salt to a large bowl.  Add water and sprinkle in yeast.  Let sit a couple of minutes, then mix well.  Measure out and add flour.  Stir until well blended.  Let sit 2 hours  in a warm place till it is 2-3 times the size.  Turn dough onto a floured surface and fold dough over twice.  Sprinkle cornmeal onto counter (or surface you are working on)  and place dough on top of cornmeal.  Let sit uncovered 40 minutes.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Make 3 slits with a very sharp knife in the top of the dough ball.  Fill a pan (not glass!) with 1 cup hot water and place on the BOTTOM rack of the oven.  Place the dough ball on a pizza stone, or a lightly greased cookie sheet turned upside down.  Bake at 450 for 20- 25 minutes or until golden brown.  I use a pizza stone that has been very well seasoned.

The browner or blacker the stone, the better!  

Let cool before cutting!  Enjoy!! 

Banana bread

This is by far the best recipe I've tried!  It comes from Cook's Illustrated July/Aug 2010.  It's a little more labor intensive, but so worth it.  The secret to this recipe is the reduced banana juice.  Let me preface this recipe by saying I freeze my old bananas.  They're great for smoothies, and now, this bread recipe!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 large bananas, peeled

8 TB unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray.  If your bananas are frozen, pull them out and let them thaw for 5 or so minutes before you peel them.  Peel and slice bananas and put them in a glass bowl covered tight with plastic wrap.  Cut a few slits in the plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes.  While the bananas are in the microwave, mix flour, soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Set aside.  When bananas are done, strain them over a small sauce pan and simmer that lovely "banana juice" for about 5 minutes until it reduces.  While the juice is simmering, put the bananas in a food processor and process till smooth.  Place the banana mash in a large mixing bowl, then mix in the banana juice.  Add eggs, butter, brown sugar and vanilla and whisk till well mixed.  Fold in dry ingredients, just until the dry ingredients are blended in.   Fill loaf pan half way with batter and sprinkle the top with sugar.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  My batch made a large loaf, plus 12 mini muffins.  I absolutely love the stone loaf pans for baking bread!

Pumpkin bread

I had a "Meam" and a "Gramma" for grandmothers.  This recipe comes from Meam.

**Note**  In these pictures, I added 2 diced honeycrisp apples to the bread batter.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cup flour
3 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.  Spray and flour 3 loaf pans.  Put the above ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a hole in the center and add:
4 eggs
1 cup cooking oil
2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and pour into 3 loaf pans.  Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
*variation*  Add nuts before pouring into loaf pans.