Honey Whole Wheat

I found a new recipe for my whole wheat sandwich bread that is very tasty. It contains a couple different additions which seem to work well together. I know it sounds weird, but orange juice is one of those ingredients. Skeptical? Make it and taste some of this bread for yourself!

Activate 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast with 1/2 cup warm water and a pinch of sugar. Cover bowl and set aside for 15 minutes until foamy or bubbly.

I squeezed 1/2 orange juice but buying orange juice works just as well (and is what I would have used if I had it on hand).

Dissolve 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 3 TBSP sugar, and 1/2 c. orange juice together in a medium bowl.

Pour in 5 TBSP melted butter.

Add 1 c. lukewarm milk.

Next, Add 3/4 c. instant mashed potato flakes. 

Knead dough for around 10 or so minutes. It's much more dense than white bread dough and will be sticky but still remain intact. 

Roll into a ball and place in an lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a cloth (I also put a plate over to seal the bowl) and place in a warm place to rise for 90 minutes.

Next, form into a loaft, place in a greased loaf pan.

  

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 75 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake another 35-40 minutes.

It's called HONEY Whole Wheat. This is where the honey come in to play...the crust in sweetened with honey. Just pour over the bread after you remove it from the oven. Be careful, though, because it will drip.

TA DA!

Let it cool completely.

Serve or wrap it up for tomorrow's sandwiches!!

Recipe adapted from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/100-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-recipe 

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 c. lukewarm water

1 c. lukewarm milk

1/2 c. orange juice

5 TBSP melted butter

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 TBSP sugar 

3/4 c. instant mashed potato flakes

3 3/4 c. Whole Wheat Flour

Activate yeast by mixing it with the water and a pinch of sugar, cover, and leave for 15 minutes. Mix the yeast with all other ingredients, lastly adding the flour a cup at a time. Knead for 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm place for 90 minutes. Form in a greased loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 75 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and back for another 35-40 minutes. Drizzle honey over bread. Let cool completely before wrapping.

Super Muffins

Healthy muffins make a good breakfast, because anything in the form of a muffin taste better!

Mix white flour, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Mash up the bananas. Use overly ripe ones to make the muffins sweeter. If you want to speed up the ripening process moistening your bananas with a little water and microwaving them for a little helps.

Oh ya, add some pumpkin pie spice (no sugar) or/and some cinnamon to the dry mixture.

One lonely egg.

Beat the egg and add the applesauce.

Then mix the bananas and the egg mixture with the dry ingredients until moistened.

Place in greased muffin pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for around 10-12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

They look pretty good for no butter/ no sugar muffins.

Spread some jelly or whatever sounds tastiest to you on these and enjoy a healthy breakfast.

Best when served warm:)

Banana-Apple-Oatmeal Muffins

1/2 c. white flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. oatmeal

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2-3 bananas

1 egg

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

Mix dry ingredients. Beast egg and applesauce. Mash bananas. Mix egg mixture and banana mixture with the dry ingredients until moistened. Don't over-mix. Bake at 350 for around 10-12 minutes. 

Moist Lemon Bread

Lemon bread makes me happy because it's such a bright bread, bursting with lemony flavor. The sun is shining through the window, and I'm ready for a big slice of this lemon loaf to start my day! 

I will be using lots of fresh lemons, zesting and squeezing them into this bread to get that fresh, tangy flavor.

I used a total of five lemons for these two loaves.

Start by combining the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Blend the sugar, eggs (all EIGHT of them), lemon zest and lemon juice with electric mixer until combined.

Add melted butter, as the batter is mixing. 

Add sour cream and vanilla until mixed. Don't overmix.

Fold in flour 1/3 at a time, incorporating the flour fully each time.

Divide into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes on middle rack. Rotate pans and bake for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve lemon juice and sugar on stove top. Cook for 3 minutes and them set aside.

Remove bread, let cool. 

Place on parchment paper and using a toothpick poke little holes on the top and sides of bread. Then pour the lemon syrup over the bread and let soak or 15 minutes.

Then whisk together lemon juice and powdered sugar. Frost your bread and let harden for about 10 minutes. After the frosting hardened I covered it with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for awhile. I preferred the bread cold, but eat it at the temperature that is desirable to you.

Slice!

And make your guests happy!

Recipe adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

3 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups sugar

8 large eggs @ room temp

1/4 c. grated lemon zest (about 5 lemons)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 c. sour cream @ room temp

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Lemon Syrup

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

1/3 c. sugar

Lemon Glaze

2 c. powdered sugar

4-6 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Combine four, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Blend sugar, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice with an electric mixer and mix until just combined.

Add melted butter. Add sour ream and vanilla.

Fold in flour 1/3 at a time with rubber spatula.

Divide batter between the loaf pans.

Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes. Rotate and bake for another 30 minutes.

Let cool 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup: in  small saucepan heat the lemon juice and sugar over medium heat until dissolved. Cook for another 3 minutes and then set aside.

Place mostly cooled bread on parchment paper. Poke holes with toothpick and brush the lemon syrup over the top and sides of bread. 

Let bread cool completely for about 30 min.

Soaked but unglazed loaves will keep wrapped and frozen for up to six weeks.

Make the Lemon glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add more of either ingredient to achieve the desired texture. Spread glaze over the bread letting it drip down the sides. Let harden 10 minutes before serving or wrapped and keep at room temp for up to three days.

Best Cheese Biscuits!

I love biscuits so when I found this recipe I couldn't wait to try it. Suffice it to say, this will be my go-to biscuit recipe. You can make them plain if you don't want the cheese, but I usually add cheese whenever I can! 

Ingredients (also you'll need heavy whipping cream)

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.

Pour in the heavy cream

Stir in cheese until dough forms, knead for less than a minute and roll out so the dough is 3/4 inch thick.

I used the top of a mug as a circle dough cutter. It's works great!

Form your biscuits. I did mine a little thinner than normal biscuits so if you want thicker biscuits just don't roll out the dough as thin.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes and treat yourself to the best biscuit you've every had. They are soft, a little sweet and a little chewy. YUM

This is two biscuits on top of each other to show you what they would normally look like but I made them 1/2 as thin. 

Recipe modified from the November issue of Southern living

2 c. Flour

3 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

Mix all the dry ingredients, except cheese. Pour in cream and cheese and stir until dough forms. Knead for less then a minute. Roll out and cut into 3/4 inch circle. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8 biscuits.