Paleo Almond Flour Biscuits

Say what?  Yup, that's right, grain-free biscuits.  These are Paleo friendly biscuits!  I was quite skeptical at first because, well I'm from South Carolina.  This Southern girl can make a rockin' biscuit!  I've  been making biscuits for years.  I thought this would be dense and terrible.  Surprisingly, it was really tasty!  I'd make this again for sure.  It is light and fluffy.  A bit crumbly but I mean come on, it's grain-free!  A definite must try for anyone doing Paleo or steering clear of dairy and/or grains.  

Oh and this is the last post I'm going to put the word Paleo in the title.  I think I've made enough Paleo recipes lately to stop saying it in the title and just label it and mention it here.  Until otherwise noted, I'm a Paleo girl and hope to stay that way. 

The original recipe is from Food Renegade. 

Grain-Free Biscuits
Yield: 4 breakfast sandwiches

1 cup almond flour
4 egg whites
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

In a mixer (or with a fork) combine the coconut oil and almond flour until you have little broken up, pea-sized bits of butter distributed into the flour.  Depending on the temperature, your coconut oil may just melt in and mix without it being pea sized.  Add the egg whites, salt, and baking powder. Mix to combine. If the batter doesn’t seem stiff enough to retain its shape while baking, add more almond flour a little at a time until it does. (Based on the comments below, this step is essential. Different almond flours are more absorbent than others.) The original recipe calls for 1 cup of almond flour so I suggest starting with that.  I used more like 1 1/2 cups when I made the recipe.  Scoop the batter into 4 even portions and place onto a greased or silicone-lined baking sheet. The dough should be scoopable by spoon but not an actual hands on type of dough.  Bake at 350F for about 20-22 minutes, until slightly golden.

(**Note - These biscuits are roughly 280 calories a piece)

Amish Friendship Bread

One of my closest friends here in Japan gave me this friendship bread.  I've never had it before and never heard of it before but the idea of it is really a cute idea.  You make a starter and it has to sit for 10 days.  You add something to it on day 5 and day 10 then you split it into 4 batches.  You keep one batch and then you remove 1 cup and place it into three separate containers that you then give to your friends with the instructions for them to keep the starter and eventually end with bread while they then do the same thing and give three of their friends a starter.  It think it has been a while since making bread here in my house so everyone was very excited.  It certainly didn't disappoint either.  It was really tasty.  It has the texture and density much like a banana bread but with cinnamon instead. The original recipe claims that you cannot use anything metal and must use plastic or wooden utensils and a plastic or glass container/bowl when making this so not sure how true it is but passing that tid bit on as well. 

Amish Friendship Bread Starter:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.  In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.  Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread below.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)
Day 2 - stir
Day 3 - stir
Day 4 - stir
Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.
Day 6 - stir
Day 7 - stir
Day 8 - stir
Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread. After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
(**optional) 1 cup nuts/1 cup of raisins

Using a wooden spoon beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nut. Grease a loaf pan with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick and if it comes out clean it is done.  Otherwise bake an additional 10-15 minutes until done.  If it starts getting too brown while cooking cover with aluminum foil and finish baking. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pan. Makes 1 large loaf of Amish Friendship Bread.

Coconut Banana French Toast

I needed to do something with the leftover coconut milk liquid in the bottom of my can after making chocolate coconut whipped cream so I decided to use it for french toast.  I loved the flavors that the coconut and banana gave to the french toast.  My daughter wasn't pleased with the banana chunks part as the banana is mashed then added into the liquid and when cooking it bakes into the french toast.  I loved that, she wasn't pleased.

Coconut Banana French Toast

3 eggs
1/4 c. coconut milk
1 mashed overripe banana
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
6-8 slices of bread

Preheat your skillet or griddle and make sure it is greased with either butter or oil.  Whisk together the coconut milk, eggs, mashed banana, cinnamon and vanilla together.  Dip slices into the egg mixture and then place onto the hot griddle.  Cook until both sides are golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar to serve. 

Pumpkin Banana Bread

So you know how the story goes.  You buy one too many bananas and they are getting a little too ripe to eat so it turns into banana bread time.  Of course, what time isn't a good time for banana bread?  Banana bread is delicious.  Wanna know what is even better than banana bread?  Pumpkin banana bread.  My kids devoured this bread and begged for more.  What felt really good about that is the fact that it was healthy so I didn't mind them having an extra piece.  And of course, do you know how delicious banana bread is with a cup of coffee for breakfast?!  I tweaked this recipe I found here just a bit - Cooking Light.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
3 large bananas, overripe
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon 



Preheat oven to 350°.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.   Mash the bananas until desired consistency, I like a little bit of chunk left to mine.  Whisk in the pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil.  Add in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.  Now add the flour mixture into the pumpkin banana mixture and whisk until just blended but don't over mix.  Pour batter (it will be a thick batter) into a bread pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Pancake Cups

My kids beg for these almost every morning since the first time I made them.  I originally saw this recipe on pinterest (here - Real Mom Kitchen) and though they don't come out exactly as it says it is a HUGE hit in my house.  The middle sinks in just a bit so it looks like a bowl.  Of course, I modified it to fit what we like a bit better to make it healthier.  I actually love making these because everything goes directly into a blender then poured into a muffin tin so little mess and little clean up.  Plus my kids use almost no syrup this way which I really like.

We've done quite a few variations of this now.  We've done it with peanut butter and bananas.  We've done it with chocolate chips and peanut butter, we've done it with blueberries and lemon zest and we've done it melted jelly or jam over the top as well.  YUM!!!  This makes 24 pancake cups.  If you want just 12, cut the recipe in half.    

Lemon Blueberry Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Pancake Cups

6 whole eggs
1 c. almond milk
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. vegan butter melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add your eggs, milk, flour and vanilla into a blender and let it whirl until smooth.  Add in your butter and honey and again let it whirl.  Pour into a muffin tin (well greased) and fill it a little under half way full.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool a few minutes then remove from pan and add your toppings of choice.  I like to add a dollop of peanut butter, sliced bananas and chopped nuts to mine.

 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pizza Dough

This turned out much better than I thought it would.  I was skeptical.  I mean it is really hard to make whole wheat pizza dough without adding in some white flour to make it taste better but I was really pleased with this recipe!  I found this recipe on Give Me Neither.  I modified the ingredients to suit what I was looking for a bit better.  I didn't eat much of this since I'm avoiding dairy but my kids and even my husband really liked this.  I wouldn't make bread sticks out of this dough but with the cheese and sauce it works really well with the whole wheat oatmeal crust.  I will definitely be making this again.

 Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pizza Dough
 
1 1/4 c. water
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. whole wheat bread flour
2/3 c. ground old fashioned oats
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp. honey
3 tsp. yeast

Using warm water (about 110 degrees) put in your yeast and honey and allow to sit while you grind your oats.  In a food processor grind your oats until they are the consistency of flour.  Then switch your food processor blade to the plastic blade and add in the wheat flour, gluten and salt.  With the food processor on slowly add in the water yeast mixture and oil and pulse until it turns into a rough dough ball.  Sprinkle some extra flour on the counter and knead your dough until a ball.  Let rise in a greased bowl for about 2 hours.  Separate the dough into two halves.  Roll out until desired size.  Since this dough is completely whole grain it is a bit more difficult to work with and roll out just be patient.  It also will not rise as much as a normal white dough.  In the meantime, preheat your oven to 500 degrees with a baking stone.  Top your pizza with your desired toppings and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.  You can brush edges with olive oil if you wish as well.  

Now this nutritional information is just for the crust alone if you made 2 large pizzas and cut them into 8 slices (16 total).

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION - 157.2 Calories * 2.6 g. Fat * 29.3 g. Carbohydrates * 4.5 g Fiber * 2.3 g. Sugar * 6.5 g. Protein 

Quick No-Rise Monkey Bread

So I went to a friends house a while ago and her and her children had made monkey bread and I thought it would be something my kids would love doing.  Normally I don't by canned biscuits, in fact I haven't eaten a canned biscuit in probably 5 years now, but I wanted my daughter to be able to make breakfast all by herself for everyone.  The kids had a great time making it and they loved it.  Personally I could taste that it wasn't a homemade from scratch dough but the look on my kids faces making this and being able to say they cooked breakfast all by themselves beat out any negative thought I had about the canned biscuits.  I found this recipe at the Pillsbury site.   

Monkey Bread

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces. n small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Honey Cornbread

I like my cornbread sweet and this recipe always hits the spot.  I like making cornbread because it reminds me of home (South Carolina).  Of course, my kids love it because in their eyes it is like bread and they think we should eat bread every single meal.  I made this with a big bowl of chicken and dumplings and it made my night.   So good!


Honey Corn Bread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk (or alternative such as Almond Milk)
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted (or dairy-free)
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Pour into buttered 8X10 pan and bake 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.  To make corn muffins, place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Once a week I allow myself to have a white bread product.  This week I wanted to make homemade hamburger buns for a black bean burger we were having with dinner.  Unfortunately, I cannot buy buns anymore (unless I want 100% frozen whole wheat ones) because I can't have dairy so the only way to have them is to make them.  This was the first time I've made this specific recipe.  I was absolutely thrilled with the results.  I've made 3 different types of buns in the past for hamburgers and though they were ok and enjoyable they weren't the "it" bun.  This is "it".  This recipe was adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice.  My daughter took one bite and told me she didn't need a hamburger she'd have just the bun for dinner!

I will say that my cook book actually just says to do the first rise then form the buns.  But I've made these twice and both times I was needing to leave my house right as the first rise was finished so I punched down, let rise again and came back an hour or so later and formed the buns.  So you don't have to do the second rise but since I've done it twice now, by accident, and the results were great I decided to continue doing it that way.  

Hamburger Buns

4 1/2 c. unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/4 tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. yeast
1 large egg, slightly beaten
3 1/4 tbsp. butter (I use dairy-free butter), melted
1 1/2 c. - 1 3/4 c. warm water (roughly 110 degrees)

Egg Wash:
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. water

In a measuring cup add 1 1/2 c. water and add in 1 tsp. sugar and yeast and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.  Mix together the flour, salt and remaining sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer.  Pour in the water, melted butter and the egg.  Use your paddle attachment.  Allow the dough to come together.  If necessary add a tbsp. at a time of water to the dough until there is no flour pieces left in the bottom of the bowl and all dough has started to combine.  Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 6 minutes or by hand for about 10 minutes.  You want it soft and supple but not overly sticky.  Place dough in a large greased bowl and allow to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  Punch down and allow to rise another 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  You can omit this step if you don't have the time.  Separate the dough into roughly 18 balls for your hamburger buns or you can do rolls or hot dog buns as well.  Place on a greased baking sheet and spray the tops lightly with an oil spray.  Press down slightly to form a bun shape.  Allow to rise another 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush tops of buns with egg wash and add sesame seeds to the top if you want.  Bake until golden brown, roughly 15 minutes.   The internal temperature should be about 180 degrees. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Light Wheat Bread

Since I can't have dairy I find it very difficult buying store bought bread, especially here in Japan.  In the states it wasn't that big of a deal as there are many alternatives and breads are much more fresh than what I can buy here on base.  So I've been trying out a few different bread recipes hoping to find something relatively healthy, no dairy and great for things like sandwiches.  My husband bought me The Bread Bakers Apprentice book for Christmas and this was one of the first recipes I've tried from it.  I was very pleased with the results.  It is light and fluffy and definitely can be used for sandwiches.  It did take a bit of elbow grease and time because you have to knead it for about 10 minutes by hand before letting it rise.   I opted to not use the powdered milk the recipe calls for to keep mine dairy free and you can substitute the shortening for butter as well to give it an even nicer flavor. 

2 1/2 cups (11.25 oz) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz.) whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons (.75 oz.)  honey
2 teaspoons (.38 oz.) salt
3 tablespoons (1 oz.) powdered milk (*optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons (.17 oz.) instant yeast
2 tablespoons (1 oz.) shortening (or unsalted butter), at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) water, at room temperature
 
Stir together the high-gluten flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, powdered milk, and yeast in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the shortening, honey (if using), and water. Stir (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still flour in the bottom of the bowl, dribble in additional water. The dough should feel soft and supple. It is better for it to be a little too soft that to be too stiff and tough.

Sprinkle high-gluten or whole-wheat flour on the counter, and transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Add more flour if needed to make a firm, supple dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. Kneading should take about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine). Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Form it into a loaf by working from the short side of the dough, rolling up the length of the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension. It will spread wider as you roll it. Pinch the final seam closed with the back edge of your hand or with your thumbs. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch bread pan; the ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise. Mist the top with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.

Proof at room temperature for approximately 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough crests above the lip of the pan.
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf.  Place the bread pan on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the oven. The finished loaf should register 190 degrees F in the center, be golden brown on the top and the sides, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.  When the bread is finished baking, remove it immediately from the loaf pan and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before slicing or serving.

I used a little bit of egg wash and to make some oats stick to the top of my loaf just to make it look pretty.

Ginger Pumpkin Chia Muffins (Dairy-Free)

Up until about a month ago I had never heard of chia seeds.  These seeds apparently are some new little magical seed that has all these wonderful things for you in them.  They are high in omega 3's, fiber and protein.  These weird little seeds can be added to water and turn it to an almost solid gel.  I recently saw an episode of Doctor Oz talking about these seeds and giving me a recipe to try them in.  So I bought them and tried them.  These muffins call for ground chia seeds.  I have the whole seeds and just stick them in my spice grinder and grind them myself when I need them.  These muffins were really good.  I added ginger and cinnamon to mine and substituted sweet potato puree for pumpkin puree since I already had the pumpkin on hand.  I also added in dried cherries in addition to the dried cranberries.  I was worried they'd taste too healthy and not sweet enough but was pleasantly surprised that they were really good.  I could definitely eat one of these for breakfast and feel good about it.  The only thing I'd do a bit different next time is I'd add in some chopped nuts for a bit of a crunch, I think that'd really give a nice boost to these muffins.    

Ginger Pumpkin Chia Seeds

1 tbsp. ground chia seeds
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup 100% pure pumpkin purée
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 egg whites
1/2 cup agave syrup
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries (chopped)

Mix together wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Add in the dried fruit.  Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350˚F or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes w/ Blueberry Syrup

Just like everyone else that ate one too many desserts in the previous year, I'm starting the new year out right with some healthy new recipes and meals for my family.  My daughter wants nothing but pancakes, french toast and waffles for breakfast every single day.  Most mornings we have 1 hour for me to get everyone up, dressed, fed, showered and out the door before her bus picks her up.  That doesn't leave an abundance of time for me to cook breakfast.  So I decided to try to make my normal pancakes a bit healthier.  That was a success, she said they were the best pancakes she had ever had.  My next step was trying to get her to use blueberry syrup in place of our normal 100% Pure Maple Syrup.  That was not a success.  Everyone else loved the syrup but as you can see from the picture below she wasn't going to budge.  New pancakes, fine.  New syrup, no thank you.  My son on the other hand loved the pancakes and the blueberry syrup.  I also made these pancakes dairy free as I'm trying to get away from using dairy in my house.  I actually liked these pancakes so much I ate a few more than I should have!  My daughter hates nuts so the trick to get that extra added protein and the benefits of nuts was to grind them and use them as part of the dry ingredients.  Gave the pancakes awesome texture.   These also freeze really well so on school days you can just pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds each side and you are all set.   

Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour 

1/4 c. ground walnuts (or other nut of your choice)

3 tbsp. sugar (honey or agave nectar can be substituted) 
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, separated & room temp.
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 1/3 cups almond milk (original or vanilla)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
Pinch cream of tartar 

*Blueberry Syrup, recipe below

Add about a cup of walnuts to your food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Then add flour, ground nuts, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl. Add egg yolks, oil, almond milk, lemon juice and vanilla into a separate bowl and whisk to combine.  Allow to sit for about 5 minutes giving the chance for the lemon juice to work its magic (lemon juice and almond milk together take the place of buttermilk). Place the room temperature egg yolks into your mixer fitted with a whisk and add the pinch of cream of tartar.  Beat on a medium to medium high until nice relatively stiff peaks form.  Add wet almond milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just barely combined.  You don't want to whisk until all the lumps are out.  Once the egg whites are at relatively stiff peaks fold them into the pancake batter until just combined making sure to be easy enough to not deflate the egg whites.  Allow the batter to sit for a minimum of 20 minutes before pouring onto a hot skillet or griddle.  I like to use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to scoop out my pancakes and pour onto a griddle to make sure they are all relatively the same size.  Spray with a bit of non-stick cooking spray first.  Once you see bubbles on the top of the batter they are ready to flip.  

Blueberry Syrup

1/2 bag of frozen blueberries

zest and juice from 1 lemon

2 tbsp. maple syrup

Bring frozen blueberries, maple syrup and lemon juice and zest to a simmer on medium heat in a saucepan.  Allow to cook until thick and slightly reduced, about 8-10 minutes.  If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water.  If it is too thin you can cook longer to reduce or always cheat just a bit by adding a teaspoon or two of cornstarch with a bit of extra lemon juice.  

* A trick to get quick room temperature eggs.  Take your eggs out of the fridge and place in a large cup or bowl and fill with hot water from the tap.  Allow to sit in the water for 5-10 minutes.  Then dry off the eggs and use. 

Olive Garden Breadsticks

I love Olive Garden's bread sticks.  I mean, who doesn't!  They are awesome.  I get to see Olive Garden commercials on the TV here all the time and it makes me so sad that I can't just run out and have lunch there anytime I want like I use to.  Bread sticks and salad, yum!  So I saw this copy cat recipe on Moms Crazy Cooking and instantly decided that I was making these for dinner.  Granted this was a couple weeks ago but it is my little boy's nap time so I'm trying to catch up on my posts.  These bread sticks were awesome.  No one even cared about the spaghetti I made with them.  Everyone just wanted more bread sticks.  My husband was in love with these and said they are not only just like the Olive Garden's bread sticks but they were better and he wants them more often.  They actually made my poor spaghetti boring because they were so good!   

Olive Garden Bread Sticks

2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup; plus 1 tbsp warm water (105-115 degrees)
3 cups bread flour
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened

Topping:

2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water in a small bowl or measuring cup and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes foamy on top. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer to mix in the softened butter to the flour. Switch to your dough hook and add your foamy yeast mixture to the flour. Combine ingredients and then knead for 10 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover, let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, it will double in size. Once doubled, measure out portions to roll into bread sticks. The easiest way to roll is between your palms but you can also roll on the counter or a cutting board.  Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, or non-stick  sprayed baking sheet. Once all dough is rolled, cover baking sheet and let rise for another hour to 1 1/2 hours. Until the dough doubles in size again. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bread sticks  for 12-14 minutes till golden brown. Remove from oven and add the garlic salt to the melted butter and then brush it over the bread sticks.

Makes 12-13 bread sticks.

Profiteroles

This is the first time I've ever made this.  I saw it recently on Food Network and thought I'd give it a shot.  It was really really good.  My husband wanted pastry cream instead of ice cream in them so that is gonna be my next project sometime this week.  I was surprised at how easy this was to make.  It all came together pretty quick and I always enjoy doing new things, especially with a piping bag.  Makes me feel all pastry chef like.  The hot fudge sauce recipe is from Anne Burrell and the Profiteroles recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks Baking Illustrated.

Profiteroles

2 large eggs + 1 egg white

5 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. whole milk

6 tbsp. water

2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Ice Cream of your choice.

Chocolate Sauce, recipe below

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add butter, milk, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Then using a wooden spoon add in the flour.  Keep stirring allowing the dough to start to come together and then stir an additional 2-3 minutes to allow it to dry out slightly while cooking.  Turn the burner off and continue to stir another 1-2 minutes.  Pour hot dough into a bowl and all to cool slightly before adding your eggs.  When the dough is still warm but cool enough to handle and not scramble your eggs, add the eggs one at a time stirring and combining completely before adding the next egg.  It will take a bit of elbow grease to get it fully incorporated.  After the 2nd egg and egg white is added to the dough it should be a nice thick consistency but no so thick you can't shake it off your wooden spoon.  Scoop dough into a pastry bag and use either a straight tip or cut the corner of a ziplock bag.  Make sure to use parchment paper (or spray with non-stick spray) and pipe out 1-inch balls onto the parchment paper leaving plenty of space between each as they will puff up while cooking.  Dip your finger in water (to prevent sticking) and pat down the tip on the top of each ball, if necessary.  Bake 12 minutes then reduce temperature to 375 degrees and allow to cook another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  They should be light airy and dry inside.  If you take out too soon they will collapse and won't stay puffed up.  Allow to cool completely.  Slice lengthwise and add a small scoop of ice cream in the center and top with chocolate sauce.   

Chocolate Sauce:

4 ounces dark chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Bring a saucepan with 1-inch of water to a boil. Put the chocolate in a metal or heatproof glass mixing bowl and place on top of the saucepan with boiling water. Pay careful attention that the mixing bowl does not touch the surface of the boiling water. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the chocolate has melted and everything is combined. This is a pretty quick process, once the chocolate has melted remove it from the double boiler set up. Spoon over the filled profiteroles. This is best when served warm!

Pumpkin Banana Bread

As soon as the weather starts to cool off and it really feels like Fall I instantly go into pumpkin mode.  I absolutely love pumpkin but try to only cook with it this time of year so no one in my house ever tires of it and there is so much to do with it.  I had some overripe bananas and some leftover canned pumpkin from making pumpkin pancakes so decided I needed a loaf of pumpkin banana bread in the oven.  It smelled heavenly.  Like banana bread doesn't smell amazing enough on its own but then you add pumpkin, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and WOW.  The only ting I would change next time around is adding a bit more pumpkin puree to the bread because I felt it wasn't as prominent of a flavor as I would have liked for it to be.

2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 c. pureed pumpkin

2 large eggs

6 tbsp. unsalted melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease your loaf pan.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt together in large bowl.  Mash the bananas in a separate bowl.  Add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla into the bananas and whisk until combined.  Then slowly pour in the butter to the banana mixture while whisking.  Make sure you do it slow and whisk at the same time so you don't accident make your eggs start to scramble.  Pour the banana mixture into the flour and whisk until combined.  This is a thick and chunky batter so you may want to stir with a wooden spoon instead of a whisk at this point.  Mix until just combined.  Scrape into loaf pan and bake until golden brown, roughly 45-50 minutes.  Pierce with a knife and if it comes out clean it is done.  Let cool about 5 minutes before serving, but also great cold. 

Poviticia - Daring Baker's Challenge

 The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is an Eastern European Dessert Bread that is rolled paper thin, spread with an English walnut filling and rolled before baking in a loaf pan.  This was my very first time doing the Daring Baker's Challenge.  I was in need for some inspiration and to do something a bit different and fun.  I'm so busy being a mom that I sometimes don't have time left for some of the other things I love.  So I was determined to making some new and fun this week even if I had to do it with kids screaming at my legs!  This bread was pretty simply to make and turned out really pretty.  I would have preferred it a bit sweeter though.  I only made a quarter batch of the dough though, enough for one loaf so that is the recipe I posted was for one loaf.  

Quarter Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes one loaf)

To activate the Yeast:
½ Teaspoon Sugar
¼ Teaspoon All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
2 Tablespoons Warm Water
1½ Teaspoons Dry Yeast

Dough:
½ Cup Whole Milk
3 Tablespoons Sugar
¾ Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg
1 tablespoon (1/4 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
2 Tablespoons Cold STRONG Coffee
1½ Teaspoons Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

 

Filling:

1¾ Cups Ground English Walnuts
¼ Cup Whole Milk
¼ Cup Unsalted Butter
1 Egg Yolk From A Large Egg, Beaten
¼ Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
½ Cup Sugar
¼ Teaspoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
¼ Teaspoon Cinnamon

 
Dough:


In a small bowl, stir 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into 2 tablespoons of warm water and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Set aside. 
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top ofthe milk. You want it hot 
enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, and the salt until combined.  Add the beaten egg, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 1 cup of flour.  Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.  Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.  Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.


Filling:
 
In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.  Heat the milk and butter to boiling.  Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.  Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.  If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.


Dough Assembly: 

Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.  Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly).  Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.  Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons  (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.  Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.  As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.  Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.  Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.  Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. (See picture here The Daring Kitchen.  You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.  Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of the cold STRONG coffee and sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.


Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to moderate 350°F.  Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F and bake for an  additional 30 minutes, or until done. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter. Check the bread every 20 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.  It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

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Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Ahh, my favorite time of year is when I get to break out the pumpkin!  I'm a chocolate girl but the closest rival to chocolate for me is pumpkin desserts.  I saw this recently at Sugar Crafter and the second I saw it I knew I had to have it, and fast!  This bread was such a huge hit in my house.  Not a single complaint from anyone.  We ate it all pretty quickly too.  The next morning there was none in sight.  This was pretty easy to do, and if you have kids they love making a million little dough balls and helping out.  I always enjoy a recipe that I can include them in.  Plus they were able to help dipping the dough balls into cinnamon and sugar and tossing them into the pan too.  Definitely a hit that we'll be having many times over.

Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Dough:

3 1/4 cups flour, plus extra for kneading

1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Coating:

1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 stick melted butter

Glaze:
2/3 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. milk

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and spices.  In a separate bowl combine the yeast and warm water (make sure it isn't too warm so you don't kill your yeast).  Add 1 tsp. of sugar and allow to sit for a few minutes to active your yeast.  Add in the butter, milk,  pumpkin puree, and remaining sugar.  Add the wet ingredients into the flour and using a wooden spoon stir to combine.  You should have a very sticky dough.  Cover your work surface with flour and place sticky dough onto flour and knead until a smooth ball of dough.  Place in a large butter greased glass bowl (covered) and allow to rise until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.    Now go ahead and get your coating prepared by melting the butter in one bowl and combining the cinnamon and sugar in another.  Pull off tablespoon size pieces of dough and roll them into a ball between your hands.  Dip them into the butter, then the sugar and place in a buttered bundt pan.  Start placing the balls all around in a circle, one on top of another.  You should end up with about 35-45 balls.  Like picture above.  Allow to rise covered for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 28-35 minutes or until golden and just done.  You can stick a knife in to see if it comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter.  In a bowl that has a pouring spout combine the powdered sugar, syrup and milk and drizzle over the bread.  If glaze is too thin add more powdered sugar, too thick at more milk. 

Flatbread

I've been making this flatbread for a few years now and it is always a huge hit in my house.  It isn't a quick throw together bread though as you do have to start it about 4 or so hours before you actually want to eat it.  I love making this flatbread to dip into things like when I make something with extra sauce like Beef Vindaloo (recipe coming soon!).  The original recipe is a Bobby Flay recipe though I can't remember exactly where I saw him make it but I'm pretty sure at some point on Food Network as that is where I usually see everything.   This bread really is awesome and worth trying.



Flatbread

1 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
½ tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for bowl

Mix water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes to proof. Gradually pour in 2 cups of the flour and stir to incorporate. Mix for about 1 minute to form a sponge. Let stand, covered, for at least 1 hour.

Put sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, add the salt and oil, then add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a dough. Remove from bowl and knead. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours. Divide dough into 6-8 balls (depending on how big you want them).  Let rise again for 1/2 hour, and then roll out.  Heat skillet medium heat and add tbsp. butter and add one flatbread at a time browning on both sides (for about 45 seconds a side depending on heat), then repeat with adding more butter then browning flatbread.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

I made a cinnamon bread recently that was really good and it made me want more.  I love cinnamon.  So of course, I upted the amount of cinnamon.  This bread was really really good.  It was like a giant cinnamon roll that you just unrolled and pulled apart.  Next time, oh yea there will be a next time, I'm going to make a cream cheese glaze to drizzle over the top.  We actually all went out to lunch while this bread was sitting at home rising and I made it as soon as we got back.  Being that we were all full I didn't expect much to get eaten but between the 4 of us we ate the entire loaf in one sitting!  Absolutely amazing bread!  Like many amazing recipes I've made before I found this one at Chef in Training. 


Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

In the bowl of a your standing mixer add your water, yeast and 1 tsp. of your sugar a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar and salt and then set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add in vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture is warm, about 110 degrees. 

Pour the flour into the mixer, fitted with a paddle, and start to incorporate the flour into the yeast mixture.  Pour in milk and butter mixture, then add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.  The mixture will be very sticky.

Place the dough is a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling.  Set aside.  Melt 2 ounces of butter.  Set aside.  Grease and flour a 9×5x3-inch  loaf pan with butter.  Set that aside too.

Punch down the risen dough and pour onto a floured work surface.  Knead about 2 tbsp. or so of flour into the dough.  Simply sprinkle on work surface and over the top.  Until you have a smooth ball of dough, like the picture above.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be roughly 12x20.  I don't really use a measuring stick or anything I just roll it out nice and big. So try to roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with ALL of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. 

Next, it is time to slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. See picture to the right. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again, see other picture to the right.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.

Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book, like picture below.  Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 1 hour or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Then cover with aluminum foil and bake another 8 minutes or until brown and cooked through. That way the top won't brown too much while finishing cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.  Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the  upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.

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