Category Archives: Breads

November 11, 2011 · 11:56 am

Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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These pumpkin rolls have had a place at our Thanksgiving table for more than a dozen years now. They are a savory roll, not sweet. The pumpkin flavor is not strong, but the pumpkin and spices add a subtle flavor that goes perfectly with a Thanksgiving meal. When we are not eating them with Thanksgiving dinner, I like to serve them with honey butter (1 stick butter mixed with 1-2 Tbs honey).

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I usually make crescent shaped rolls and knots when I make dinner rolls. To make crescent rolls, divide the dough into thirds. Roll each third into a circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Roll up beginning with the large end. Pinch end into bottom dough of the roll so that it doesn’t unravel when rising. Place rolls on a greased baking sheet (or use a silicon baking sheet), curving ends toward the center as you place them on the baking sheet.

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Brush or spray dough crescents with oil, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. For a shiny finish, brush rolls with an egg white wash (room temperature egg white mixed with 1 Tbs water) before baking.

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To make knots: pinch off a golf-ball sized piece of dough. Roll it in your hands to make a long rope (about 8-10 inches long). Tie rope in a knot (just like you are tying your shoes) leaving the two ends about 1-2 inches long. Fold two ends around to the back of the knot and pinch them together to seal. Place the knot on a baking sheet with the pinched ends on the bottom.

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When making rolls for Thanksgiving, I like to make them ahead of time and then reheat them just before serving. I parbake the rolls and then freeze them until I am ready to serve them. Parbaking (or slightly underbaking) keeps them from overbrowning when you reheat the rolls in the oven just before serving.

To make and freeze: Shape rolls and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Let rise as usual. Bake rolls for 10-12 minutes, or until rolls just barely begin to brown, but are cooked in the center. Rolls should look slightly underdone (not completely brown). Remove from oven. Cool completely. Place in Ziploc freezer bags. Freeze.

On serving day: Place frozen rolls on a baking sheet, bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until hot and golden brown. If rolls are thawed, bake for 5-6 minutes, or until browned. Brush tops with butter and serve immediately.

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RECIPE:

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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1 ¼ cups warm water
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 Tbs honey
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs molasses
4 cups whole wheat and/or white flour
1/3 cup wheat gluten
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice ***
2 tsp salt
1  Tbs instant yeast

about 1 additional cup flour
1 egg white, mixed with 1 Tbs water
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Mix wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, gluten, sugar, spices, salt, and yeast. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add additional flour, if needed, a little at a time until dough just begins to form a ball. Knead for 5-6 minutes, or until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl and springs back slightly when touched.

Shape into rolls (knots or crescents are what I usually make). Place on lightly greased baking sheets. Spray or brush with oil and cover with towel. Let rise for 30-60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Brush with egg white (room temp) mixed with 1 Tbs. water. Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes.

***Pumpkin Pie Spice substitute: 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp each allspice, ginger, and cloves.

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If desired serve with Honey Butter: 1 stick butter mixed with 1-2 Tbs honey

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To make and freeze: Shape rolls and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Let rise as usual. Bake rolls for 10-12 minutes, or until rolls just barely begin to brown, but are cooked in the center. Rolls should look slightly underdone (not completely brown). Remove from oven. Cool completely. Place in Ziploc freezer bags. Freeze.

On serving day: Place frozen rolls on a baking sheet, bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until hot and golden brown. If rolls are thawed, bake for 5-6 minutes, or until browned. Brush tops with butter and serve immediately.

Makes about 2 dozen rolls

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October 14, 2011 · 10:20 am

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake with Lime Glaze

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I love the smells of fall baking. That combination of fruits like apples and pears with heavily fragrant cinnamon, cardamom and other spices. This recipe makes a highly adaptable batter that can be made into a bundt cake, quick-bread loaves, or muffins. Or if your bundt pan is on the small side, like mine, a combination of both cake and muffins. Breakfast and dessert all in one shot!

The lime glaze provides a tart, but sweet contrast to the fragrant fall flavors in the pear cake.

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I love cinnamon, but I don’t enjoy large amounts of nutmeg. Small amounts are fine, but I find that it can be very overpowering. One of my favorite fall spices to bake with is cardamom, and I will often swap out nutmeg in a recipe and replace it with cardamom. Cardamom is in the same family as ginger, but it is the seeds and pods that are ground and used for cooking, unlike the root with ginger. It is often used in Indian cooking, but is also a great compliment to cinnamon. It is a versatile spice that can be used in both sweet and savory cooking.

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The recipe below makes enough batter for a 12-cup bundt pan. My bundt pan only holds 10 cups, so I use the recipe to make 6 muffins (measure these out first) and the smaller bundt cake. Without the glaze, the muffins make a great breakfast, and they bake up light and airy.

The pears in this recipe are very finely chopped, or grated. I use a food processor to chop them finely. Pear skins are very thin, so I leave those on. They are not noticeable at all in the baked goods.

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RECIPE:

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake with Lime Glaze

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Cake:
3 medium pears
about ½ cup buttermilk, milk or plain yogurt (see recipe for exact amount)
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
1 ½ cups brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Lime Glaze, recipe below (optional)
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour desired pans: one 12-cup bundt pan; one 10-cup bundt pan plus 6 muffin cups; 2 loaf pans; or 24 muffin cups.

Core pears. Finely chop or grate unpeeled pears (I use a food processor) and place in a 2-cup measuring cup. Use a fork to slightly mash the pears (you should have about 1 ½ cups chopped, mashed pears). Add buttermilk to the pears to equal 2 cups. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in pear/buttermilk mixture.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and cardamom. Mix into pear batter just until combined. Fold in nuts. Pour batter into desired pans and bake as directed below.

FOR A 12 CUP BUNDT PAN: Bake for 50-60 minutes.

FOR A 10-CUP BUNDT PAN: First scoop batter into 6 muffin cups. Pour remaining batter into 10-cup bundt pan. Bake bundt for 35-45 minutes and muffins for 18-20 minutes.

FOR TWO LOAF PANS: Bake for 50-60 minutes.

FOR 24-26 MUFFINS: Bake for 18-20 minutes.

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Lime Glaze (optional):
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs heavy cream
1 Tbs lime juice
zest of one lime

Combine all glaze ingredients and mix until smooth. Add additional lime juice or cream until glaze can be drizzled over cake. Cool cake or loaves completely before drizzling with glaze.

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June 7, 2011 · 9:48 am

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

051711 074-1After bringing these muffins to our early morning seminary class, I have had several requests for the recipe. So I am going to take a break from days full of never-ending weeding in my yard and nights full of endless softball games to share them with you. Strawberries are just beginning to arrive at the farmers markets and pick-your-own farms here in western PA, so it is a perfect time to make these muffins. And everything tastes better with a little Nutella swirled in!

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I found this recipe on Two Peas & Their Pod, and just couldn’t resist making them. The only changes that I made to the recipe were to add more strawberries than called for, and probably more Nutella. I didn’t actually measure the Nutella; I just scooped it out of the jar to put in the center of the muffins.

As with most muffin batters, to keep them from being dry and dense, you do not want to overstir the batter. There should still be some streaks of flour in the batter.

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Fill the muffin cups halfway with batter. Place a dollop (about a tablespoon: I just used a soup spoon straight from the jar) of Nutella on the batter. You do not need to spread it around. Nutella can be kind of thick at room temperature. I warmed the Nutella first in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This made it really easy to drizzle the Nutella from a spoon onto the batter. My jar was almost empty, so I just heated the Nutella in the jar. If you are only using part of your jar, you might want to spoon some into a small bowl before heating it.

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Top with another scoop of batter, until the muffin cups are about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. This is a coarse raw sugar. You could use regular sugar if you don’t have it, but turbinado sugar does make a nice crystally (I’m sure that’s not a real word, but it should be) crust.

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These are best served warm while the Nutella is soft and gooey.

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Here is the original recipe from Maria, with my notes at the end on the slight changes that I made.

RECIPE:

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

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1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/3 cup Nutella
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

3. In a small bowl, combine canola oil, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Use a fork or whisk and mix until well combined.

5. Incorporate the wet ingredients into flour mixture.  Add slowly and gently stir, you don’t want to over mix.  The batter will be thick. Carefully fold in the strawberries.

6. Fill each muffin cup half way with batter. Next, add a small spoonful of Nutella to each muffin cup. Cover the Nutella filling with the remaining batter. Sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar.

7. Bake muffins for 17-20 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

Makes 9 muffins

Kelly’s notes: I used coconut oil instead of canola oil. I didn’t measure the Nutella, I just used a spoon and scooped straight from the jar, but I probably used a little more than 1/3 cup. I heated the Nutella for about 30 seconds in the microwave before using (to make for easier drizzling). I also used more strawberries than called for (about 1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups). I ended up with 12 muffins, and I needed to bake mine for 23 minutes before they were cooked through.

Recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod

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May 27, 2011 · 1:21 pm

How To . . . Make Great Waffles

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Basic Waffle Tips & Strategies

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  • Make sure that your waffle iron is very hot. Cool iron = lots of sticking. My new Calphalon waffle iron is non-stick and does not require any oil or spray to keep the waffles from sticking.
  • Don’t overfill the waffle maker pockets. Spillage is not fun to clean. Start with a scant amount of batter on the first few waffles, until you are sure of the right amount. Different recipes will rise more or less while cooking, so don’t think that the same amount of batter will work with different recipes.
  • Once your batter is mixed, do not keep stirring batter between batches. The air pockets in the batter (from the baking powder/soda or whipped egg whites) will collapse with over-stirring.
  • Use a ladle or measuring cup (1/2 cup size works well for my waffle maker) to scoop batter. This minimizes the stirring or pouring which will deflate your batter.
  • If you are using add-ins like blueberries or chocolate chips, sprinkle them on the batter in the waffle iron (instead of in the batter in the bowl); then use a heat-safe rubber spatula (or the back of your ladle) to move some batter over the berries/chips so that they don’t stick to the top plate of the waffle maker. If stirred into the batter in the bowl, these heavier items tend to sink, requiring more stirring, which will deflate your batter.
  • Cool waffles on a wire cookie sheet, not a plate. Letting the air circulate around the waffles will keep them from getting soggy.
  • If you are not serving the waffles immediately, place the wire cooling rack in a warm oven (200°F or lower) until ready to serve.
  • Waffles are great for making in large batches and freezing in Ziploc bags for busy mornings. Reheat in the toaster to maintain crispy edges.
  • Buttermilk substitute: Place 1 Tbs lemon juice in a one cup measure; add milk to one cup line. Stir; let sit for 5-10 minutes before using. Or try dried buttermilk powder that stores in the fridge. Or use kefir.
  • Oil (in the batter) makes for crispier waffles; melted butter makes for softer, more cake-like waffles. I prefer using oil in most recipes. Use a mild flavored oil.

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May 25, 2011 · 8:08 am

Waffle Week: Lemon Yogurt Waffles

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Desserts in our house usually have to come in both a chocolate and non-chocolate variety. So, alongside our Double Chocolate Waffles, we had these Lemon Yogurt Waffles.

These waffles are a little sweeter than regular waffles (even after I cut the sugar in half from the original recipe), so I don’t think I would want them for breakfast. Little A had no problem eating them anytime of the day, however.

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The waffles are made with plain yogurt and flavored with fresh lemon zest. They have more of a light cake consistency than regular waffles.
The berry sauce was a perfect accompaniment for the sweet lemon taste of the waffles.
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For Waffle Tips & Suggestions, click HERE.
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RECIPE:

Lemon Yogurt Waffles

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1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
½ tsp vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Use a ladle or measuring cup to pour batter evenly into hot waffle maker (about 2 scant cups for the 4 small Belgian waffles in my waffle maker). Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or according to directions on your waffle maker. Remove waffles from waffle maker and place on a wire rack (not a plate). Serve immediately or keep warm in a warm oven (very low heat).

Makes 2-3 large Belgian waffles (8-12 small squares)

To freeze: Cool waffles on a wire rack. Place in Ziploc bags and freeze. Reheat individual frozen waffles in a toaster (for crispier edges) or microwave (for a soft waffle).

Recipe adapted from The Perfect Pantry

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May 24, 2011 · 5:11 am

Waffle Week: Double Chocolate Waffles

050711 010-1Dessert Waffles:
AKA, How to convince your mom to let you eat dessert for breakfast

We ate these Chocolate Waffles the first time for dessert topped with black raspberry ice cream and a triple-berry sauce. The kids convinced me they would also be good for breakfast the next morning, without the ice cream but with whipped cream instead. I don’t think that really changed the sugar content any!

These chocolate waffles are not too heavy, but with the addition of mini chocolate chips in the batter and topped with ice cream and berry syrup, they are reminiscent of a brownie sundae. Next time I would like to try them topped with vanilla ice cream and buttermilk syrup.

For Waffle Tips & Suggestions, click HERE.

RECIPE:

Double Chocolate Waffles

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2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup corn starch
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp (scant) cinnamon
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/3 cup oil
6 Tbs granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ cup mini chocolate chips

Combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon. Use a whisk to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Whisk for a minute so it gets a little frothy. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry a little at a time, whisking to combine. Just stir until they’re combined and don’t over mix.

Use a ladle or measuring cup to pour batter evenly into hot waffle maker (about 2 scant cups for the 4 small Belgian waffles in my waffle maker). Sprinkle about 1/3 of the chocolate chips (for a large Belgian waffle maker) over the batter in the waffle iron. Spread lightly with a heat proof spatula so that a small amount of batter covers chocolate chips. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or according to directions on your waffle maker. Remove waffles from waffle maker and place on a wire rack (not a plate). Serve immediately or keep warm in a warm oven (very low heat).

Makes about 3 large Belgian waffles (12 small squares)

To freeze: Cool waffles on a wire rack. Place in Ziploc bags and freeze. Reheat individual frozen waffles in a toaster (for crispier edges) or microwave (for a soft waffle).

Recipe from Our Best Bites

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