Low Fat Monkey Bread

 So I contemplated going on a fast from sugar for awhile.  That lasted about one day until I decided to make this.  I'm telling you, I think my relationship with sugar is borderline stronghold status.  Someday soon I probably ought to go cold turkey for awhile, but not today.

I'm not really sure why it is called Monkey Bread, it contains absolutely no monkey and no monkeys were harmed in the making of it.  Perhaps, it is because it is so easy maybe even a monkey could make it.

There are certainly a lot of versions of Monkey Bread out there and I think between the various sleepovers I went to as a kid, I've probably tasted a lot of them.  This is my favorite.  It's made with frozen bread dough and instead of using gobs of butter, you make a cinnamon caramel sauce on the stove with just a touch of butter, milk and (I admit, quite a lot of) sugar.

The Monkey Bread pictured is actually a half batch.  I made a full batch of the sauce, though, which meant I had leftovers to experiment with.  My initial research findings: it makes an excellent dip for sliced pears and when stirred into coffee with cream, it makes a darn close imitation of a Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Latte (the coffee that tastes like a cinnamon roll--how could you go wrong?). 

Monkey Bread
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 (1-pound) loaves frozen white bread dough, thawed (or 24 unbaked balls of dough for dinner rolls, cut into fourths)
cooking spray

Combine 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, butter and 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cook 1 minutes.  Remove sauce from heat; cool 10 minutes.

Combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow dish, stir well.  Cut each loaf of dough into 24 equal portions.  Roll each portion in sugar mixture; layer dough balls in a 12 cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray.  Pour sauce over dough; cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts 35 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover dough, bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately loosen edges of bread with knife.  Place a plate upside down on top of pan and invert bread onto a plate.  Drizzle any remaining syrup over bread.  Serve while still warm. 

Recipe Source: The Best of Cooking Light
P.S. I'm linking this recipe to The Frugal Girls Chic & Crafty Party! 

Waffles with Two-Berry Syrup

Making waffles presents quite a problem.  Unless you have multiple waffle makers or like soggy waffles, you have to eat in shifts.

Being a waffle-loving girl, my third-grade self tried to tackle the problem of soggy waffles.  In school, we had an Invention Unit where we were required to create something.  Mine was a waffle rack to keep them upright and to prevent sogginess.  I was a little ashamed of my decidedly unflashy invention.  Compared the shampoo-dispensing shower head by Jimmy Woolmann or Cecily Schraeder's Robot Butler, my idea seemed pretty weak.

Until...I actually saw my exact idea available for purchase in a fancy cooking gadget catalog.  Seriously, missed, opportunity.  I bet that inventor made a (very, very small) fortune. 

Never fear, I've provided a way for everyone to eat crispy waffles all at once.  Lay them on a cooling rack placed on top of a cookie sheet in a warm oven.  Pretty pedestrian, I know, but in our house it was pretty revolutionary...

This recipe is adapted from my beloved The Best of Cooking Light Cookbook (haven't made a bad recipe from it yet!) and this one does not disappoint.  Served Crispy(!) with the berry syrup, they'll make a breakfast crowd very happy indeed.

Waffles:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Syrup:
1 12-oz package frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions: In a medium bowl, combine ground flaxseed meal, flours, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Combine milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. 

Preheat oven to warm (170-200 degrees F).  Place a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and place in the oven to keep cooked waffles crisp while cooking the rest of the batch.

Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray, preheat.  Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per 4 inch waffle onto the hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges.  Cook 5-6 minutes, or until steaming stops; repeat process with remaining batter.  If you're not eating the waffles right as they come off the iron, store cooked waffles in warm oven on prepared rack.


To prepare syrup, combine frozen berries and syrup in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated.  Serve over warm waffles.  Serves about 6.

You can also freeze waffles individually and then reheat in the toaster.

Recipe Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

Banana Bran Muffins

I seem to always have at least a couple brown bananas hanging out in my fridge.  Perhaps you can relate.  Sometimes I take initiative and peel them, put them in baggies and freeze them so they're ready for smoothies.  Other times, they demand to be baked into something delicious.  This time, they're baked into something delicious and healthy! 

I like the individual portion size of a banana muffin (over bread where I'm prone to keep hacking away at the loaf until there's not much left).  These muffins are also more portable, which make for great grab-and-go breakfasts (especially split open and spread with peanut butter!).  And (as a wise sage from my mom's group taught me to do with banana bread), after baking, I brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to up the "treat-factor."  Sweet.

Banana Bran Muffins

• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, (2 medium)
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran, (found in baking or health section, can substitute oat bran)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or distribute paper liners.
2. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, yogurt, milk, wheat bran, oil and vanilla.
3. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they’ll be quite full).
4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
5. Mix together granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Brush baked muffin tops with melted butter and top with cinnamon sugar, if desired. 

Source: Closely adapted from Eating Well's Banana-Bran Muffins

Best Blueberry Muffins

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with blueberry muffins.  Even though they sound so appealing, just about every blueberry muffin I've come across in stores or coffee shops remind me more of how my Strawberry Shortcake doll's best friend smelled than a delicious baked good.  Add to that, muffins are notoriously high in fat and calories makes me usually pass.

Until now.

Come to Mama

This recipe unashamedly belongs wholly to America's Test Kitchen.  I saw them make these muffins on an episode of their PBS show (love it) not too long ago and couldn't stop thinking about it.  What makes these special (besides the fact that those kitchen testers probably churned out 157 batches of blueberry muffins before landing on this particular recipe) is that they have really deep, concentrated blueberry flavor thanks to making a "jam" to swirl in to the batter and a crackly topping of lemon sugar.  Those steps add a few minutes to the process but they're totally worth it.

Beware you might consume your day's worth of calories in muffins.  These are best shared with a friend over a cup of coffee (make her take the leftovers).

Blueberry Muffins
Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Muffins:
2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over (*see note if using frozen)
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (**see note)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping, stir together the 1/3 cup sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a small sauce pan, bring 1 cup of the blueberries and 1 teaspoon of sugar to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook, mashing the blueberries with a spoon and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes.  Allow to cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining cup of sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick and well mixed.  Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined.  Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla.  Fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened (the batter will be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix).  Gently fold in blueberries just until dispersed. 

Fill muffin cups completely full with batter.  Spoon 1 teaspoon of the cooked berry mixture into the center of each cup of batter.  Using a chopstick or skewer, gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure-eight motion (see picture below and also admire my antique muffin tins courtesy of my late Grandma Kaye).

We're swirling, we're swirling...

Sprinkle the lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.

Bake until the muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17-19 minutes.  Cool the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove them and transfer to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving. 

*Note: If using frozen berries, cook 1 cup of berries as directed above.  Rinse the remaining 1 cup berries under cold water and dry well.  Stir blueberries in as directed above as well.

**Note: You can make your own buttermilk substitute.  Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup milk and let sit for 2 minutes or combine 3/4 cup plain yogurt with 1/4 cup milk.

Source: The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010

Pinepple Upside Down French Toast Bake

This is a breakfast dish that is probably not going to win too many health awards.  I think it ranks pretty highly in the delicious category, though.  French toast is really elevated to the next level when baked with a layer of caramelized pineapple.  Sometimes I dream of running a bed and breakfast someday, and if I did, this dish would likely make a frequent appearance.  Here, it is pictured (don't mind that the last piece available to photograph after we'd had brunch with our church happened to get a wee bit dark--ahem, that's just "extra caramelization" : ) alongside Honey-Lime Drizzled Canteloupe and Blueberries (scroll down for my extremely precise recipe! : ). 

Pineapple Upside Down French Toast Bake
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple in juice, drained and juice reserved
6 large eggs
1 cup half and half or milk
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8-10 1" slices of bread (French, Sourdough, Italian), day-old is great

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in brown sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add pineapple and mix well.  Remove from heat.  Spread in an even layer over bottom of baking dish.  Arrange slices of bread in a single layer over top of pineapple mixture.

In a bowl, mix together eggs, half and half, reserved pineapple juice, salt, vanilla and cinnamon.  Pour over bread.

Bake French Toast in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until bread is golden, eggs are set and knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to sit 10-15 minutes before serving.  Cut into squares, and lift out of pan with a pancake turner (you can flip it over so the pineapple part is actually upside down, if you like). 

French Toast can be made a day ahead of time, covered with foil and refrigerated overnight.
Remove from fridge 15 minutes before baking.

Source: Pineapple-Upside Down French Toast presented by The Bouldin House Bed and Breakfast

Honey-Lime drizzled Cantaloupe and Blueberries
Slices of cantaloupe, rind removed
blueberries
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil or mint leaves

Arrange melon and berries on a platter.  Sprinkle lime zest over fruit.  Whisk together lime juice and honey.  Drizzle over fruit.  Garnish with thinly sliced mint or basil leaves.  Serve immediately.

Mini Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Crumble

 

And, while I'm on a tropical theme (see the last post on Key Lime Bars)...
Last week, I needed to throw together a baked good (and something that I actually had ingredients in my pantry for) for my Bible study girls quickly!  I came across the concept of a pineapple muffin with coconut crumble and I'm so glad I gave these a try!  These sweet little muffins are buttery but still light and the pineapple makes them moist.  The coconut crumble topping adds a perfect, caramel-y, crunch to the soft muffin underneath.  The mini size was perfect for toddlers and mommies alike and there were plenty to go around.  If you don't have access to a mini muffin pan, don't despair, you can bake them regular size too, just increase the baking time to 18-20 minutes!

Pineapple Muffins:
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coconut Crumble
1/2  cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons reserved flour mixture
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray (or fill cups with paper liners).  Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking powder.  Remove 2 tablespoons of mixture and reserve for crumble.  Set aside remaining flour mixture for later.

To prepare crumble, stir together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour mixture and butter with a fork until butter is worked in and mixture is crumbly.  Stir in coconut and set the mixture aside.
 
For muffin batter, in a medium mixing bowl, cream together 6 tablespoons softened butter and sugar.  Beat until fluffy.  Add in egg, milk, pineapple with juice and vanilla.  Blend together just until combined.  Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula and fold in the flour mixture, stirring just until combined.  The batter will still be lumpy.  Spoon or scoop by tablespoons into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle teaspoons of crumble topping on each muffin and press down gently.  Place muffin pan in the oven.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with a finger.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Use a butter knife around the edge of each muffin to remove if necessary.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Adapted from: "Cupcakes! From the Cake Doctor" by Anne Byrn

Grapefruit Drop Scones

A couple weeks ago, I thought myself very lucky to have been gifted a very giant bag of citrus fruit fresh from Arizona.  Does it strike anyone else as ironic that there are a ton of grapefruit grown in a state where there is a large, ahem, "mature" population who uses medication prone to dangerous reactions with grapefruit?  Apparently, there are RV parks down there where people can not even give  grapefruit away.  So many grapefruit left uneaten...so sad...

Anyway, now that a couple of weeks have passed, we ran out of steam using the grapefruit and until this morning, a couple were still languishing in my fruit bowl.  I am such a hypocrite.  Determined to use them and needing to bake up something for my Bible study this morning, I came across a recipe for Grapefruit Scones and was intrigued.  They ended up light and tender, and had just a hint of grapefruit flavor hidden in their flakey, biscuit-y goodness.  I made drop scones (instead of the recognizable triangular shape) because the dough ended up pretty sticky, and what can I say, I'm lazy like that.

Grapefruit Drop Scones
2 small-ish grapefruit or 1 large beast of a grapefruit
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove zest from grapefruit and place in a small bowl.  Add sugar and stir together to make really lovely, fragrant grapefruit sugar.  Set aside.  Cut the remaining peel off of the grapefruit and lop off the top and bottom to show a nice, naked grapefruit.  Using a small paring knife, cut out segments by running your knife along the lines of the membrane out of the grapefruit.  It's okay if some of them fall apart.  Sometimes grapefruit are even so cooperative that you can just peel the membrane off with your fingers.  However you do it, just remove the flesh of the grapefruit and set it aside as well.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and half of grapefruit sugar mixture.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives (or your fingers if you work fast and not too much) until flour mixture is crumbly and there are still tiny chunks of butter (about the size of small peas) in your flour mixture.  Fold in honey, yogurt and grapefruit segments just until the mixture is combined and comes together.  Drop by large tablespoonfuls a couple inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet (or if you want pretty, shaped scones, you can turn dough onto a floured surface, pat it out into a dish and cut wedges a la a pizza pie, then place evenly spaced apart onto greased cookie sheet).  Sprinkle remaining grapefruit sugar evenly on top of scones, pressing lightly if needed.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on baking sheet. 

Recipe adapted from: Grapefruit, Honey and Yogurt Scones by Joy the Baker

Lemon Butter Muffins

Mmmmm....muffins!  Especially sunny lemon muffins topped with a tangy lemon glaze.  These are simple to prepare and are the perfect balance of sweet and tart.  And there's something about lemons that makes me think of Springtime.  It must be the cheerful lemon yellow color.  Bake up a batch to have with a lazy weekend breakfast or serve with brunch.  They're sure to be such a hit that perhaps the saying should go, "When life hands you lemons, make lemon butter muffins."

Lemon Butter Muffins
Muffins:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice or milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare 12 muffin cups with paper liners.  Prepare the muffin batter.  Place the butter and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer until mixture is fluffy, about 30 seconds.  Add the egg, milk, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest (reserve the rest for the glaze) and blend on low speed just until combined.  Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt and fold into wet ingredients, stirring just until combined.  The batter will be a little lumpy.  Spoon batter into muffin cups (each about 2/3 full).  Bake at 400 degrees until the muffins are lightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed, 18-20 minute (you can also do miniature muffins just bake for 8-10 minutes).  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan.  Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool another 15 minutes before glazing.

While the muffins are cooling, prepare the glaze.  In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or milk.  Add more juice or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed, to make mixture pourable from a spoon.  Stir in lemon zest.  When muffins have cooled, spoon a teaspoon of glaze over each muffin and let them rest a few minutes to allow the glaze to set.

Recipe adapted from: "Cupcakes! By the Cake Mix Doctor," Anne Byrn (I really like her books and the chapter on muffins is one of my favorites--check it out!)

Happy Mardi Gras: King's Cake

 In honor of Mardis Gras today, we put together a King's Cake: a cinnamon roll-like cake with sugary icing and traditional Mardis Gras colors: gold (for power), green (for faith) and purple (for justice). King Cake is a New Orleans tradition served after January 6th until Mardi Gras Day. The cake has a small trinket (often a small toy baby or half of a pecan, sometimes said to represent the Christ child) inside.  The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket gets to be "King for a Day" (and historically, gets to be in charge of providing the next cake, but that doesn't seem as fun).  

Celebrating Mardis Gras has not been much of a tradition in my house, but we thought this looked like a fun kid project (what kid doesn't love frosting and sprinkles?) and an opportunity to talk about the season of Lent, Christ's sacrifice for us and the joy of Easter to come! We skipped talking about how you get beads and so forth... : )

You may notice that the dough of the King's Cake is startlingly similar to the recipe for Challa.  You can use a half batch of Challa dough instead (and you can use either dough recipe to make homemade cinnamon rolls!).  There's also some shortcut hints at the end (like using packages of crescent rolls). 

Mardis Gras King's Cake
dough:
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
Roughly 6  cups white unbleached flour (can substitute up to a couple cups of whole wheat flour)
small plastic toy (baby shaped) or pecan half

Filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
6-8 tablespoons butter, softened

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons milk
green, yellow and purple colored sugar or white sugar and food colors (just stir together white sugar and food color in a small bowl until desired color) for decorating

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine water, yeast and honey.  Allow to sit for a few minutes (3-5) or until yeast starts to bubble and looks creamy.  Beat in eggs, and melted butter.  Once thoroughly combined, stir in salt and flour, one cup at a time, until dough is thick enough to turn out onto a floured surface.  Knead, continuing to add flour as needed, until dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticky (about five minutes).   Return to bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Meanwhile, stir together all filling ingredients except for butter.  Set aside until ready to assemble.

After dough has risen, punch down and turn out onto floured surface again.  Divide dough into two equal sized chunks and roll out on a floured surface into a big rectangle (about 9x13).  Spread half of softened butter onto each rectangle.  Then, sprinkle half of filling mixture onto each rectangle of dough (kids like to help with this part a lot).  Roll lengthwise (you want long and skinny, not short and fat), jelly-roll style until you have a long tube of dough (also at this point, you can use this to make cinnamon rolls, just use a piece of string or dental floss to cut into rounds and place in a greased baking dish).  Shape into a circle or oval, pressing ends together.  Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-minutes to an hour). 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned on the outside. If hiding a trinket or nut in the cake, cut a small slit in the side of the baked cake (on the inside of the ring) and push the prize into the cake so that it is hidden from view.

In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk gradually, stirring until smooth and pourable.  Drizzle frosting over warm cake.  Immediately sprinkle with colored sugars, alternating each color. 
 
Note: If you're looking for a real shortcut, thaw out frozen, packaged bread dough and use as above or press together crescent rolls (you'll need 12) in a circle (long, skinny points toward the middle so it ends up looking like a bunch of slices of pizza), fill and fold the points back up and over the filling, tucking the points underneath the ring.  A great step by step tutorial: http://homecooking.about.com/od/cakerecipes/ss/kingcakesbs.htm 

Challa, or Jewish Braided Egg Bread

I would never claim to be a baker.  I am far too impatient and too imprecise for calculated measurements.  Hopefully, when I say that it should give anyone who may feel a little intimidated by baking to know that I have been turning out loaves of challa bread like it's going out of style.  For those of you unfamiliar, challa is a traditionally Jewish egg bread that is typically in a braided style.  This recipe (adapted from one I had found on AllRecipes.com) appears to be foolproof.  It takes a bit of time (mostly unattended), but is unbelievably simple and you will feel so accomplished when you turn out your very own loaves.  Since this recipe makes two huge loaves, you can share one as a gift with someone (include a bottle of syrup--day old challa makes unbelievable French toast--and you will have a friend for life!).  Push off the New Year's diet for a couple more days and ring in 2011 with delicious, white carbs.  You only live once, right?


Challa Bread
makes 2 large loaves

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey or 2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
8-10 cups white unbleached flour (can substitute up to a couple cups of whole wheat flour)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine water, yeast and honey (or sugar).  Allow to sit for a few minutes (3-5) or until yeast starts to bubble and looks creamy.  Beat in 3 of the 4 eggs, and vegetable oil.  Once thoroughly combined, stir in salt and flour, one cup at a time, until dough is thick enough to turn out onto a floured surface.  Knead, continuing to add flour as needed, until dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticky (about five minutes).   Return to bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

After dough has risen, punch down and turn out onto floured surface again.  Divide dough into two equal sized chunks and knead individually (adding more flour as needed to keep dough from being sticky, about five minutes each).  Divide each half into thirds and roll each third into a long, evenly thick, rope (about 1-1 1/2 inches thick and about 15-18 inches long).  Pinch the ends of each of the three ropes together and braid together.  Pinch the other ends together.  At this point, you can leave as a long braid or curl the braid around in a circle to form a wreath, either shape is nice.  Transfer braided dough to a greased baking sheet.  Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for an additional hour   Repeat with other half of dough.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  After braids have risen about an hour, beat the remaining egg and brush over the surface of the braids.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes (a lot of recipes I've seen call for much longer baking times, but I have found every time I've made this recipe the loaves are done after about 20 minutes of baking time, so keep a close eye on them after that).  The loaves should be a rich golden brown color and make a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.

Ideally, you should let your bread cool completely before slicing, but we can never wait and tear off pieces (and burning our fingers in the process) to eat it almost immediately.  Leftover bread makes the best French toast you've ever had...

Perfect Pancakes

Growing up, I never cared much for pancakes.  I think that might have had something to do with the fact that the only kind of pancakes I ever had came from a box of Bisquick.  No offense to my mom (or anyone else who prefers boxed pancake mixes), but I think these homemade pancakes taste way better than ones from a box (and are nearly just as easy to throw together as any coming from a "Mr. Hungry Jack" or "Aunt Jemima").  They're light and fluffy with a hint of sweetness from the vanilla.  And should I mention again how easy they are (I bet you have all the ingredients just sitting in your pantry right now!)???  In fact, this recipe is even simple enough for a weekday.  Or, you can do like we do (because we rarely have our act together on days we need to be out of the house early) and make a double batch on the weekend and then microwave the leftovers right out of the fridge (or freezer). You will rarely see a four year old as happy as when he can have pancakes just about any morning he wants!).  

Perfect Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

butter for greasing the griddle

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl (or on a piece of waxed paper--it saves dishes and you can pull up the sides to "funnel" into the wet ingredients later).  In another bowl, combine milk, eggs, oil and vanilla.  Pour dry ingredients into wet and stir with a wire whisk just enough to combine thoroughly.  Heat a griddle over medium high heat.  When hot, quickly run a stick of butter over the surface to grease the griddle (just enough butter to coat the surface). Pour approximately 1/4 cup-fulls of batter onto griddle.  Allow to cook for about 2 minutes or until edges become dry and bubbles are formed on top of pancake.  Flip and allow to brown on the other side.  Serve hot with warm maple syrup.

Cinnamon Banana Bread

Everyone has their own favorite banana bread recipe.  I wanted to add another to your list.  But hear me out, this one is healthy but still feels incredibly indulgent.  I was inspired to bathe a low fat banana bread recipe (adapted from "The Best of Cooking Light") in butter and cinnamon sugar.  The cinnamon sugar idea came from constantly making Amish Friendship Bread (aka Crack Bread--because it's so addictive!) back a few years ago.  I think this banana bread is an excellent substitute for the friendship bread and there's no starter to worry about maintaining! 


Cinnamon Banana Bread
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4  teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine banana, sugars, oil and eggs in a large bowl.  Beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth.  On a sheet of waxed paper (or in another bowl, I just hate to dirty extra dishes), combine flours, cinnamon, cream of tartar and salt.  Pour into wet ingredients and stir just until combined.  Melt butter and pour about half into a loaf pan.  Spread around so that the entire surface is covered (like greasing the pan).  Pour about half of the cinnamon sugar mixture into the loaf pan and shake around until the buttered surface is covered with the sugar.  Pour batter into loaf pan and smooth out.  Pour remainder of butter over top of banana batter and sprinkle remainder of cinnamon and sugar evenly over the top.  Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Turn banana bread out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool. 

We especially like it toasted with peanut butter! 

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

If you're anything like me, you anything that involves custard is an easy sell (and that's really what bread pudding is, a baked custard with bread in it). It's just one of those food buzz words that makes me immediately think I'll like it. A few more: caramel, goat cheese, spinach, artichoke, portabella mushrooms...(not together, mind you, but certainly any of those ingredients listed on a menu and I'm likely to order).

Anyway, in my constant quest to not let anything go to waste, I used last week's stale Kaiser rolls for this week's dessert (or a rather indulgent breakfast made out of the leftovers--I felt like Bill Cosby rationalizing chocolate cake for breakfast because it has nutritious things like eggs and milk in it. But really, guilt aside, it really is like a big French Toast casserole, so it's perfectly acceptable for this to appear for brunch. You hear that? You have my permission!). It tasted kind of like a chocolate croissant. And that, friends, should probably be added to my list of buzz words!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
About 5 cups leftover, stale bread torn into bite sized pieces (a French-type bread or roll is good)
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2-1 cup chocolate chips (depending how chocolate-y you like it--I used a combination of milk chocolate and mini chips)
Whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 casserole dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, thoroughly beat eggs. Whisk in sugar and vanilla. Add milk and whisk until combined. Stir in bread pieces and toss just until bread is soaked through. Add chocolate chips, stir once more and then pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes-1 hour, until a knife comes out clean and the bread pudding is golden brown and puffed around the edges. Serve warm, topped with whipped cream (or at room temperature, or cut into slivers directly from the fridge and furtively eaten while still standing in the open fridge).

Note: you can also cover this and refrigerate overnight if you want to make ahead of time for in the morning. Just allow for a longer baking time if it goes into the oven right from the fridge.
Additionally, you can substitute blueberries and cubed cream cheese for the chocolate chips if you'd like to take more of a "breakfast-y," French Toast Casserole approach. In that case, you might want to also cut down on the sugar and pass maple syrup for serving, but that's just me...