English Muffin Bread

This is an old recipe that I found in my Grandmother's cookbook and I've wanted to try it for a long time.  And what better time to make some homemade bread than on a dark and rainy weekend.  With such a short list of ingredients this is also a great baking project for kids.  They will love the smell of fresh baked bread!

This bread gives you a nice crunchy exterior, just like an English muffin, with a light, moist interior, which makes it an ideal bread for jam or marmalade.  I tried this with my favorite blackberry jam and it was heavenly.  The only thing it needed was a cup of tea to go with it.

This recipe was really easy to make and the prep time only took about 5 minutes.  After that the bread needs to rest for an hour or so, then 25 minutes in the oven and you have 2 loaves of warm bread ready to serve.  The bread has a solid texture that is also great toasted.

1 cup  1% Milk
1 cup  Half and Half
1/2 cup  Water
5-3/4 cups  Flour, divided
2  .25 oz pkgs  Active Dry Yeast
1 TB  Sugar
1 tsp  Salt
1/4 tsp  Baking Soda
Cornmeal

Grease 2 - 9 X 5 inch loaf pans with butter then dust lightly with the cornmeal; set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, half and half and water over medium heat until very warm but not boiling.

Combine 3 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.  (A stand mixer with a dough hook works great.)

Add the warm milk and water to the flour mixture and beat well.  Stir in the remaining flour to make a stiff batter. (If the batter is too sticky, add one or two tablespoons of flour, as needed.)  Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, sprinkle the tops of the batter lightly with cornmeal, cover with plastic wrap, place a light towel over the top and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake the bread for 25 minutes, then remove loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.  Bread freezes well for up to 60 days.  Enjoy!!

Green Chili Cornbread

Home-style cornbread is a great side dish for many meals, especially soup or chili, and only takes a few minutes to prepare.  With the winter months just around the corner, this is a great recipe to keep handy.  We served this bread with Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and it complimented the dish nicely.

I got a little sneaky with this bread in order to get past my daughter's picky personality, and I actually loved the results.

Since my daughter does not like "little green things" in foods, I decided to puree the corn and chilies together and the results were delicious.  Not only did she not notice the little flecks of green chilies, the flavor of the chilies was infused into the cornbread. 

This same recipe can be used with white or yellow corn meal mix and you could also add some extra flair to the bread by adding minced jalapenos, grated cheddar cheese or even crumbled bacon.

I used my 12-inch "everyday pan" for this bread and it cooked beautifully, but you could also use a 9-inch cake pan for a thicker bread, just add about 5 minutes to your cook time.

2 TB  Butter
1/3 cup  Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 cups  Self-Rising White Corn Meal Mix
2/3 cup  Milk
2/3 cup  Buttermilk
2  Eggs
2 TB  Sugar
1 4-oz can  Diced Green Chilies, (pureed if desired)
1 cup  Frozen Corn, defrosted, (pureed if desired)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread butter in a large cast-iron or glass baking dish, making sure to coat up the sides of the pan.

In a medium bowl combine the remaining ingredients and stir until blended.

Place the buttered pan in the oven for 3 - 4 minutes or until the butter has melted.  Remove the pan from the oven, pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden on the edges.

Dinner Rolls in the Bread Machine

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that could not be more true than the creation of this recipe.  We had decided on a cool evening dinner of Chicken Salad sandwiches.  Nothing fancy, just a simple salad to use up some leftover baked chicken I had in the fridge.  Then along came this giant summer thunderstorm.  Not only was it pouring down outside, it appeared the rain would be with us for a few hours.

Dreading the thought of going to the store and getting soaked for just one package of sandwich rolls, I decided I would try making the rolls in the bread machine.  I know using a machine to make bread is not the most authentic process in the world, but it is quick and it easy.  So the experiment began.

 

I started with a basic dinner roll recipe, then added a few teaspoons of garlic powder and oregano to the other dough ingredients and everything went into the bread machine.  When the dough was finished it already smelled wonderful, but the dough still needed to rise a second time.  I portioned out the dough into 9 sandwich rolls and covered them with a tea towel, then gave them 30 minutes to rise.

After 30 minutes the dough had doubled in size and the rolls looked beautiful. I brushed the tops of the rolls with an olive oil and herb mixture then baked them for 25 minutes. You could also skip this step, but the olive oil on top was very tasty.

The finished product was delicious!  With the garlic powder and oregano inside the dough and the extra herbs on top, the rolls were so full of flavor and tasted much better than the plain store bought variety.  And, they made the chicken salad even better.

We tried this recipe a second time and made smaller dinner size rolls to serve with spaghetti, and we ended up with 20 rolls total, so you could easily divide the portions depending on your needs.  Enjoy!!

1  Egg, scrambled plus warm water (about 80 degrees) to equal 1-1/3 cups
1/4 cup + 1 TB  Canola or Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup  Sugar
2 tsp  Salt
2 tsp  Garlic Powder
2 tsp  Dried Oregano
4 cups  Bread Flour
2-1/4 tsp  Bread Yeast

Place all ingredients in your bread machine and select the DOUGH setting.  (On my machine this cycle will run for 1 hour 36 minutes.)

When the dough is finished, place the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Divide into pieces, 9 or 10 for sandwich or hamburger buns, 12 - 14 for large dinner rolls or 20 - 24 for smaller dinner rolls, and shape the dough into rounds.  Not much work here, just shape them a little.

Place the pieces of dough onto a greased baking sheet.  Cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel and place in a warm area for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

When the dough has risen, apply the seasoned olive oil mixture to the top of each roll using a pastry brush, then bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden.

Olive Oil Mixture to Brush on Top of Rolls
2 TB  Olive Oil
1/2 tsp  Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp  Italian Seasoning
1/8 tsp  Salt
1/8 tsp  Black Pepper
Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Brush the olive oil mixture over the top of the rolls prior to baking.

Recipe Variations:
(1) As an alternate, we later made these delicious dinner rolls without the oregano and garlic powder in the bread dough, and instead used 1 tablespoon of onion powder.  The rolls were wonderful and full of this great oniony flavor. The perfect bun for a grilled chicken breast sandwich.

(2) As another alternate, we made salted buns for French Dip Sandwiches.  For this version of the dinner rolls, we skipped the oregano and garlic powder in the bread dough, and continued with the standard recipe.

When the dough was ready, I placed the dough on an olive oil coated cutting board, divided the dough into portions, and at the same time coated the rolls with just a little olive oil. Next, I added a sprinkle of coarse kosher salt to the tops of the buns, covered the dough with a piece of plastic wrap, then a clean towel and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.  This resulted in a nice salted top to the buns, while the interior was light and fluffy.  Perfect for the French Dips.  Enjoy!!

Asiago and Black Pepper Drop Biscuits

If you are looking for a light and flavorful bread to serve with a bowl of soup or a light salad, this is a great recipe to keep handy.  The Asiago cheese adds just the right amount of richness to these biscuits while the generous amount of pepper adds a bit of a bite.

These savory drop biscuits are easy to make because you do not have to roll or cut the dough, you simply drop tablespoons of the dough onto a baking sheet and they are ready to bake.  If you prefer a bit more salt, sprinkle Kosher salt or sea salt on the tops of the biscuits before baking.  Enjoy!!

1-1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1-1/2 TB Butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup Fresh Asiago Cheese, grated
3/4 cup Fat-Free Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and stir. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or use 2 butter knives) until the mixture is a crumbly texture.

Add the cheese and toss well to combine, then add the buttermilk and stir just until moist.

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and drop dough into 8 equal mounds. Bake for 13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Nutella Bread

My children have developed a serious addiction to Nutella.  Although I had seen this product on the grocery shelf many times, I had never tried it myself.  I picked up a jar last year and it vanished in just a few days. 

So what was this Nutella stuff?  I knew it was a hazelnut and chocolate spread but what was the big deal?  It's delicious, that's the big deal!

I started to hear stories from the kids about how "everyone at school loves Nutella" and I realized we could have some fun cooking with this tasty spread.  Well, today was the day to attempt Nutella Bread and it was a big hit.  The bread was moist with almost a brownie-like texture and full of that familiar Nutella flavor.  The addition of a little smear of peanut butter was suggested by my youngest.  If you are a Nutella fan...you've got to try this bread.  Enjoy!!


2 1/4 cups  Flour
3 tsp  Baking Powder
1 tsp  Salt
1/2 cup  Sugar
1 cup  Milk
2  Eggs
1 cup  Nutella Spread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the milk, eggs and Nutella together until creamy, then add dry ingredients and beat until blended and smooth.

Pour batter into greased 8x4 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.   Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf.  When the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is ready.

Banana Bread with Oat Flour

Nothing tastes better than a slice of warm banana bread.  This recipe is very easy to make and makes use of a few bananas that may have been sitting on the counter for a little too long.  Prep time is only 15 minutes, so this recipe is simple to throw together and it can bake while you're having dinner.

This Banana Bread also provides some health benefits.  I am always trying to incorporate oat flour into standard recipes and I love the difference in texture and the added health benefits of the oats.  To add oats to your favorite recipe, try replacing 1/3 of the regular flour with oat flour.  I have found that with most recipes you can replace up to half of the flour with oat flour and not need to change the amount of liquid in the bread.  If the batter does seem a little too thick, just add 1-2 tablespoons additional liquid as called for in the recipe (milk, applesauce, water, etc.).  Enjoy!!

2 1/2 cups  All Purpose Flour
1 cup  Oat Flour (ground Quaker Oats work great)
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Butter or Margarine, melted
4 Eggs, well beaten
1 cup Sugar or equal amount of Splenda
2 tsp Vanilla
4 medium Bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350. Combine both flours, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. In separate bowl, combine butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla; add to flour mixture and stir only until flour is moistened. Fold in mashed bananas. Pour into 2 well-greased 8" x 4" loaf pans and bake for 60 - 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

** Time Saver -- For quick and easy clean up, line the loaf pans with foil and do not grease.

Sweet Potato Bread

This recipe was so much fun to work with!  I'm still amazed how many different ways there are to use leftover sweet potatoes, and this is the best yet.  When I came across the original recipe, although it contained one of my least favorite ingredients (Crisco), I was determined to find a way to lighten up this bread.  I know Crisco has been around a long time and many cooks swear by it, but the only time I use it is for the occasional batch of Snickerdoodles.  Otherwise, I try to find alternate ingredients that are a little healthier and applesauce is my substitution of choice.  I still kept the Crisco, only using 1/3 of the original amount, and replaced the missing portion with applesauce and apple butter.  Since these do contain sugar, I reduced the sugar by a full cup and the results were outstanding!  The taste of sweet potato, which had almost a pumpkin pie flavor, combined with cinnamon and cloves came together perfectly.

The topping added a nice finishing touch, although I did reduce the portion by half, otherwise it seemed like WAY too much icing.  Just a light drizzle of icing makes this a tasty sweet treat that might just be breakfast in the morning.  Enjoy!

   

 

  

1/3 cup  Crisco Vegetable Shortening
1/3 cup  Apple Butter
1/3 cup  Applesauce (sweetened or unsweetened)
2 cups  Sugar
4  Large Eggs
2 cups  Mashed Sweet Potatoes (leftovers work great here)
3 1/2 cups  Flour
2 tsp  Baking Soda
2 tsp  Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp  Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp  Salt
1/2 tsp  Ground Cloves
1/2 cup  Milk

For Glaze
1/2 cup  Confectioners Sugar
1/4 cup  Pure Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare 2 loaf pans by lining with foil; set aside.  ** Using the foil liners makes cleanup easy and also allows the bread to cool faster since you can lift the bread out of the pan using the foil liner.

Using an electric mixer on low speed cream together the shortening, apple butter, applesauce, sugar,  eggs and sweet potatoes.  Blend until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until combined.

Pour batter into the 2 loaf pans and bake for 65 - 75 minutes.  Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of each loaf.  If toothpick comes out clean the bread is done, otherwise return loaves to the oven and check for doneness in another 10 minutes.  Since my oven is a little wacky sometimes, mine were done just short of 90 minutes.

Cool bread on wire racks for 15 minutes, then lift the foil liners out of the loaf pans, peel back the foil and let loaves cool completely.

Combine the confectioners sugar and maple syrup until creamy and smooth, then drizzle over bread.

Easy Irish Soda Bread

Baking a loaf of Irish Soda Bread is total culinary therapy!  The smell of fresh bread baking and the texture of that first bite are heavenly.  This recipe is a great way to teach kids about their Irish heritage and their ancestors, while also teaching them the art of breadmaking.  If you like raisins or caraway seeds in your Soda Bread add them to the dough along with the buttermilk.

4 cups All-Purpose Flour
4 TB White Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 TB Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Margarine, softened
1 cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/4 cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.

Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk and brush lightly onto loaf. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. If desired, continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes for a golden top crust.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Here's a little history on this family favorite. Soda Bread, in it's authentic state, dates back to the 1840's, and did not contain whiskey, candied fruit, caraway seeds or raisins. Adding raisins resulted in a bread called Spotted Dog, and it's not the authentic Irish recipe. This bread was a diet staple in Ireland and was made almost daily as the bread does not keep long. Also, the cross on the top was said to ward off evil.

4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly grease and flour a round cake pan.

In a large bowl sift all the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place dough on a floured surface and lightly knead (too kneading much allows the gas to escape).

Shape into a round flat shape in the pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped to show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

Although it is not the traditional recipe, this makes a sweet tasty loaf of bread that tastes great for breakfast.

4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Soda
1/4 cup Sugar
2 cups Currants or Raisins
4 TB Unsalted Butter, cold
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1-3/4 cup Buttermilk or Sour Milk
1 TB Milk
Sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375° F. (If you are using dark nonstick pans, preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and sugar. Add butter and cut in until crumbly. Stir in the currants.

Combine egg and buttermilk and add to dry ingredients. Stir until blended.

Turn the dough out onto a wooden board sprinkled with flour. Knead the dough for a minute, no longer. If the dough is a little sticky, dust with some extra flour. Take care not to overwork the dough, or the bread will be tough.

Divide dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Place each loaf into an 8-inch round cake pan. Cut a cross on top of each loaf, about 1/2-inch deep. Then brush each with milk and sprinkle sugar on the top.

Bake 35-40 minutes until golden. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Slice to serve.

Note: This bread freezes well. Double wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag.

If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand, you can make it yourself. Mix 3 tablespoons white vinegar and add milk until you have required amount for recipe. Allow to sit on the counter for 15 to 20 minutes to give it time to curdle.