Black Bean Quinoa Bread

Aaron found this recipe on Chef Brad's website.  He tweaked it a bit, and came up with this: 
Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp yeast 
• 2/3 Tbsp salt
• 1 c. bean flour (we've used black and red)
• 2 2/3 c. Bread flour
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 c cooked quinoa (we used black)

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients together.  Then add the water and quinoa. Knead in stand mixer for 8 minutes.  Add flour as needed.
2. Shape into loaf (round or oblong).  Spray baking sheet or using parchment paper. Let rise for until double in size, about an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450.  Place a pie tin of water on the bottom rack.  Put loaf in the oven on middle rack.  Spray loaf with water. Turn down oven to 400.  Bake for 40-50 minutes until done.

So hearty and delicious!  To get the bean flour he took dry beans and used a wheat grinder to make them into a flour.  There's a video on Chef Brad's link.

Pan Frances

This is the bread that Aaron remembers having in Argentina.  I had to translate it, so hopefully it's accurate.

Ingredients

• 3-4 c Flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 1 c water

Directions

Make a crown with the flour and salt. Add the yeast, and then the warm water slowly. Knead until the dough smooth and elastic.
Let the dough rest covered with plastic wrap. Cut into 8 portions, shape into small baquettes. Allow to rise until double the volume. Then bake at 350 º F. Placing a plate with water on the floor of the oven to produce steam.

Savory Summer Squash Quick Bread

Another way to use up our yellow squash.  Instead of a sweet bread like zucchini bread, this is savory, and delicious.  We made them into muffins since we were short on time.

Savory Summer Squash Quick Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for coating the pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups grated summer squash, such as round zucchini, pattypan, or crookneck (from about 1 pound squash)
• 2/3 cup finely crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with olive oil; set aside.
2. Place flour, cornmeal, baking powder, oregano, salt, baking soda, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk until combined.
3. Place eggs, buttermilk, and 1/4 cup olive oil in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold in squash and feta until evenly combined. Pour squash mixture into flour mixture and stir until flour is just incorporated, being careful not to overmix (a few streaks of flour are OK).
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown all over and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean (test several spots, because you may hit a pocket of cheese), about 60 to 65 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then turn the bread out onto the rack and cool for at least 15 minutes more before serving.

You can also use this recipe to bake savory muffins instead of bread. Just use a standard 12-well muffin pan. Coat the wells with olive oil and bake the muffins at 350°F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Molasses Oat Bread

Aaron found this recipe from Taste of Home and it was delicious!  It's a very dense bread, which is why he added the dough enhancer.  Apparently it is similar to the bread that is served at Black  Angus, although I don't eat there often enough to remember what it tastes like.

Molasses Oat Bread

Ingredients

• 4 cups boiling water
•  2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 9 to 10 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp dough enhancer

Directions

1. In a large bowl, pour boiling water over cereal. Add the molasses, sugar, oil and salt. Let stand until mixture cools to 110°-115°, stirring occasionally. Stir in yeast. Add 8 cups flour, and dough enhancer. Beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
3. Punch dough down and divide into thirds; shape into loaves. Place in three greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 3 loaves (16 slices each).

Easy Cream Cheese Danish

This is what I made for Father's Day Breakfast.  I don't make it very often and soon you'll see why.  It takes about an hour, which I don't usually have time for in the morning, and it's very rich and heavy on the calories.  This is another great recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Easy Cream Cheese Danish

Dough:

1 1/2 C warm water

2 T sugar

1 T yeast (I use active dry)

1 t salt

3 1/2- 4 C flour

2 T melted butter

Filling:

1 -8 oz package cream cheese softened

3/4 C sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

dash salt

1 C raspberry, mixed berry, or strawberry jam

Glaze:

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1/4 t vanilla

2 T milk

1 T butter

The Dough
1. Mix the water sugar, sugar and yeast in the bottom of your Kitchen Aid, or mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes until nice and bubbly.
2. Add the salt and the flour 1 C at a time while mixing  until the dough scrapes the edges of the bowl clean. When all of the flour is added mix on high for 5 minutes.
3. Pour the 2 T of butter into the bottom of a large jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Spread it all around to cover the pan. Set the dough on the buttered pan and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Your dough will be hard to handle unless it rests.
4. Press the dough out to the corners of the pan.

The Filling
1. In a small mixing bowl mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg and salt together. Mix on high for about 2 minutes or until all ingredients are smoothly incorporated.
2. Spoon the cream cheese filling onto the dough and spread it around to cover the dough with a knife.
3. Warm your jam up in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This will make it easier to spread. Spoon it onto the cream cheese filling in little globs.
4. Run a knife or spoon through the cream cheese filling and jam to make a marble like pattern.
5. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into 12 large (5 inches or so) squares. Then cut each square in half diagonally to make 24 triangles.
6. Let the dough rest and rise for about 10 minutes. You don't want it to rise very much. It should only rise up to be even with the rim of the pan. Just watch it carefully then  bake it when it reaches the rim of the jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until the top and the bottom both get golden brown. When they are done take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
7. Run your pizza wheel back through the cutting lines you cut before baking. It will be kind of sticky and gooey. Clean off your pizza wheel several times as you go.

The Glaze
1. In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the glaze until smooth and silky. Put into a Ziploc bag and cut a very small opening in the corner. After the danish is mostly cool separate the danishes from each other and remove from the pan, pipe the glaze onto the danish and serve!

Orange Cranberry Muffins

This comes from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.  However, I added the orange flavor to it, and the glaze option at the end.

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 ts baking powder
• 1/4 salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
• 1 tsp orange zest (or grated orange peel)
  

1. Grease twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of dry mixture; set aside.
   
2. In another mixing bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add egg mixture to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened. 
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each one 2/3 full. Bake in oven 400 F for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm. Makes 10 to 12. 

For a sweet muffin, top with a simple glaze: 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp grated orange peel, and 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice.  Mix together in a small bowl and drizzle over muffins after they have cooled for a couple of minutes.

Sticky Apple-Cinnamon Rolls

I probably shouldn't have made these after I started a new diet, but I was stuck at home due to the snow, and Amy wasn't feeling well, so I made these and so far have done fine just eating half of one for a snack , and part of Amy's for breakfast the following morning.  They are delicious, even if I did forget to add the cinnamon - oops!

Sticky Apple-Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients

• 6-1/4 to 6-3/4 cups  all-purpose flour
• 2 packages  active dry yeast
• 2 cups  milk
• 1/4 cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup  butter
• 1-1/2 teaspoons  salt
• 1   egg
• 1/2 cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup  all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup  butter
• 2 cups  finely chopped peeled apple
• 1 cup  chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
• 1 recipe  Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2-1/2 cups of flour and the yeast. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, the 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the 1/4 cup butter, and the salt just until warm (120 degree F to 130 degree F) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Then, add the egg. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping side of bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that's smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape the dough into a ball. Place dough in lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface of the dough. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled (45 to 60 minutes).

4. For filling, in a small mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 cup brown sugar, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the 1/4 cup flour, and the cinnamon. Cut in the 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

5. Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.

6. Roll the dough into a 24x16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with filling, apple, and nuts. Roll up from long side, jelly-roll style. Pinch to seal edge.

7. Prepare Caramel Syrup. Pour into baking pan. Cut dough, crosswise, into 12 rolls and place, cut sides down, into prepared pan. Cover and let rolls rise until nearly doubled (about 45 minutes).

8. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and rolls sound hollow when lightly tapped. (Place baking sheet under baking pan to catch any drips.) Invert onto serving plate while warm. Makes 12 rolls.

Caramel Syrup

In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Stir in 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup corn syrup. Cook and stir until sugar melts. Remove from heat.

Grilled Bread

This is a recipe we found about 3 years ago.  We always have trouble locating when when we need it.  So I finally decided to post it on the blog.  Most of the time Aaron makes this from start to finish, although I have made the dough a few times, and he grills it.  I think it originally came from the King Arthur website.

Grilled bread
2 teaspoons dried or fresh minced garlic mixed with 2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup (6 ounces) lukewarm water
2 cups (8 ½ ounces)  Flour
1 cup (5 7/8 ounces)  semolina (we just use more flour)
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk

1 ¼ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast 

Directions

1. Use the flat beater paddle of your mixer to combine all of the ingredients till they hold together.
2. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for about 7 minutes on medium speed, till the dough is smooth. Of course you can do this in a bread machine set on the dough cycle, or do it by hand.  Whatever kneading method you prefer is the one you should use.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and let it rise for 45 to 60 minutes, till it’s very puffy.
4. Divide the dough into four pieces, and place them on four greased pieces of parchment, about 9” x 12” each. You can easily make this size by tearing a half-sheet piece of parchment in half. You can put them on waxed paper or plastic wrap instead. We just set them on the greased counter and cover them with a towel.
5. Flatten the pieces of dough so they cover most of the parchment; they’ll be about 1/4” thick (or thinner). Spray them with olive oil spray, or brush lightly with oil, so they don’t dry out.
6. Let the breads rise for 30 to 60 minutes, while you heat your outdoor grill to about 400°F. You can bake these in the oven. They won’t have the grill marks or the charred/smoky flavor. Preheat your kitchen oven to 425°F.  
7. Grill for about 2-3 minutes per side.  We typically grill something else and put these on just before we eat.

Blueberry Zucchini muffins

This was a zucchini bread recipe, but I turned it into muffins.  It makes a lot of muffins, so fill those cups up!  I added a crumb topping before baking them. 

Blueberry zucchini bread

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping

• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190degrees C). Lightly grease muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared muffin tins. 
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. 
   
4. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  Let cool 5 minutes in tins, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Zucchini Bread

With the dozens of zucchini (not exaggerating) we have harvested this year I have had to come up with a lot of zucchini recipes.  So get ready for a plethora of zucchini recipes  All of them have come from allrecipes.com - Love that site!  Links to original recipes are included.  I can't believe I haven't included this recipe before now.  I love it!  So easy, and tasty.  I follow it as is, although you could easily substitute whole wheat flour in there, or applesauce for the oil.  I usually omit the walnuts though. 

Mom's Zucchini Bread

 (I don't know whose mom created this recipe)

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Blueberry Muffins

Since we had a lot of blueberries I thought it appropriate to post a blueberry recipe.   Blueberry pancakes are pretty obvious (just add blueberries after you pour the batter on the griddle), but I wanted to make blueberry muffins with a struesel topping.  I'm out of walnut and pecans right now, but this one was great.  I reduced the topping recipe by a lot.  The recipe shows what I usually do.  The recipe as is makes 12 regular muffins, or 8 large muffins.  I often double it.

Blueberry muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Topping

• 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp butter, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar,  flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Pita Bread

I've been wanting to make pita bread for a while now. I finally did last night. some recipes said to let the bread rise after rolling out, and some said bake it immediately. I compromised and let it rise for about 15 minutes. It turned out fine. 3 of the 8 didn't get puffy in the middle, but the rest did. I don't know what made the difference. The original recipe called for the use of a bread maker. Since I don't have one I changed the directions. I also substituted 1 cup of flour with whole wheat flour - so good!

Peppy's Pita Bread

• 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt oil and half of the flour. Mix well. Add remaining flour and knead (by hand or with dough hook in mixer) until smooth and elastic and not sticky. Place in bowl coated with cooking spray, cover with towel. Let rise until double (about 45 minutes).
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack.* Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

* I put a cookie sheet in the oven as it preheated. I cooked them 2 at a time on the cookie sheet - a pizza stone would work as well.

Buttermilk Cornbread

I've never really liked the cornbread recipe I've used in the past, so I decided to find a new one. And I'm so glad I did. It was so good! I never have buttermilk, so I usually use the sour milk trick. Where you put a tsp of lemon juice to the measuring cup and add milk until it's 1 cup. Let is sit for a good 5 minutes so it can sour. Do it first, then get everything else ready. this was just sweet enough, and just dense enough. Of course top it with honey butter. I served this with chili.

Buttermilk Cornbread

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate zucchini muffins

I acquired some too large zucchini which was perfect for this recipe today. I made it pretty close to the recipe, except that I didn't have cardamom, so I added a little extra cinnamon. I skimped on the oil a bit and added a little more zucchini. Next time I might add some chocolate chips. And fill the cups more full.

Chocolate zucchini muffins

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease or line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.
3. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store loosely covered.

Campbell House Scones

I made these a while back, but haven't posted the recipe. They are so good, and easy. Similar to biscuits, but so much better, and (I think) easier to make. If you don't have buttermilk, you can always sour some milk by using 1 tsp. of lemon juice and adding milk to equal one cup. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

For beautiful easy to follow pictures check out the link.
Campbell House Scones

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup firm butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt until thoroughly blended. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the butter/flour mixture and add the buttermilk all at once. Stir mixture with a fork until the dough pulls away from sides of bowl. With your hands, gather the dough into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Divide dough into four parts and lightly pat each part into a circle. Cut each circle into four parts and place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with honey.

Makes 16 scones.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

As I was searching for a dessert I came across this recipe. I took other reviewers' suggestions and made it breakfast friendly. I reduced the sugar to 1 c. and substituted one cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the white flour. I also used a little less oil. It was a lot of prep - especially the apples, but it was really good. The original title said there was a streusel topping - but it doesn't have nuts in it so technically it's not streusel, but it's still really good. Also I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so I put in 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. cloves and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. I didn't fill them very full so I got 23 muffins, but really it makes 18 if you fill them 3/4 full.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups finely chopped peeled apples
• TOPPING:
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Combine eggs, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; sprinkle 1 teaspoon over each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

zucchini muffins with caramel frosting

Originally these were zucchini cupcakes, but really they are the consistency of muffins, but with frosting. I think they are great by themselves, but the frosting is good too. I changed the frosting a lot. There was way too much butter and not enough powdered sugar. As is it would be a glaze, not a frosting. So the recipe reflects my changes. I got the recipe from my MIL's neighborhood cookbook, submitted by Jennifer G*

3 eggs
1 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. orange juice
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini

Caramel frosting
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar

In mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil and orange juice and extract. Combine dry ingredients; add to the egg mixture and mix well. Add zucchini and mix well. Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are done. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from muffin pan to wire racks.

For frosting combine brown sugar, butter and milk in saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until frosting reached desired spreading consistency. Frost muffins.

Rye dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops

I made these for the gourmet baby shower/dinner I went to on Tuesday night. Since other people were making the recipe too, I pretty much followed it exactly, except that I used the stand mixer to knead the dough, and I don't have parchment paper.

Rye Dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops

For rolls:

• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 scant cup warm water (105-115°F), divided
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
• 1/3 cup light or dark rye flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

For rye-crisp tops:

• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons light or dark rye flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large egg white

Make dough:
Stir together yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sugar in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

Stir flours, salt, and remaining scant 3/4 cup water into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and knead with lightly floured hands until dough is elastic and smooth but still supple and slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball.

Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft- free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 to 2 hours.

Make rolls:
Punch down dough (do not knead). Remove from bowl and fold into thirds like a letter. Divide into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball, transferring to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and loosely covering with plastic wrap (or towel). Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly brush each ball of dough with some of egg white. Gently lay a round of rye-crisp dough, egg-wash side up, on top of each roll. Bake rolls until golden-brown, about 20 minutes. Cool to warm or room temperature.

Make rye-crisp tops while rolls rise:
Stir together flours and salt, then stir in water and oil until a dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times. Divide into 16 very small pieces. Roll out each piece on lightly floured surface to a thin round (about 2 inches; shape need not be perfectly round) and arrange in 1 layer on a sheet of parchment.

Beat egg white with a pinch of salt and lightly brush some of it onto rounds. Let stand, uncovered, to dry slightly while rolls rise.

Assemble and bake rolls:
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.

Lightly brush each ball of dough with some of egg white. Gently lay a round of rye-crisp dough, egg-wash side up, on top of each roll. Bake rolls until golden-brown, about 20 minutes. Cool to warm or room temperature.

Cooks' notes: •Dough can be formed into balls and allowed to rise slowly, covered well with plastic wrap and chilled, 8 to 16 hours. Bring to room temperature while making rye-crisp tops.
•Rolls are best the day they are baked but can be frozen (first cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.

poppy seed muffins

I know I've made these before, so I don't know why I haven't posted the recipe. It's from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I added the almond extract.

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. poppy seed
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. cooking oil
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Grease twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of dry mixture; set aside.
In another mixing bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add egg mixture to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each one 2/3 full. Bake in oven 400 F for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm. Makes 10 to 12.

Classic 100% whole wheat bread

I got this off of the flour bag. I can't find one of my recipe books that has my favorite wheat bread recipe. I know I had it when we moved. I used it a couple of times, but a week later it went missing. So this will have to do for now. OK, so I like to cut corners. I just put all the water in and let the yeast sit in all the water. And I've never baked a loaf of bread longer than 30 minutes. This one went 25 minutes (no foil needed). So we'll see if it's any good.

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast ( 1 pkg active dry yeast) dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey, molasses or maple syrup
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 c nonfat dry milk
1 1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the side of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. (You can use bread machine or electric stand mixer). Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow to rise till puffy though not necessarily until doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface and shape it into an 8 inch log. Place log into 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the bread to rise for about 1 hour or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.
Bake the bread in a preheated 350 F oven for about 40 minutes tenting it slightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. Remove the bread from oven and cool it on a wire rack before slicing.