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Category: breakfast

English Muffins

Yesterday I made my first attempt at english muffins. I don’t eat them often, but Justin loves them. And it’s one more thing I could save money on by making myself. I got the recipe from Pete Bakes. I’ve had it tagged for a long time but never made the time to try them. My first attempt…so-so. As usual I had rising issues. The flavor is good and they look ok, but they are quite dense. They are more like rolls than english muffins. I think one of my main issues with bread making is I’m not sure what dough is supposed to feel/look like when it is ready/when it has enough flour, enough moisture and has been kneaded enough. I need to get that first step right. Then the rest is easy. I’m thinking my dough wasn’t moist enough or hadn’t been kneaded enough. I used my stand mixer…which adds another factor since I’m still experimenting with that. Anyway, I’m glad I tried them. And I’m sure I’ll give them another try at some point. I made a double batch (not so sure that was a good idea now :P) since I didn’t want to go through all the work for just 6 english muffins. Justin had one for a snack last night. He said it had good flavor but was quite heavy (as you can see from the picture of one cut open). As usual Rebecca enjoyed them 🙂  She loves to munch on rolls, bagels, etc. She just carries it around with her as she plays 🙂  I guess I just have to keep practicing. Eventually I’ll get good at bread making 🙂  The original recipe says it makes 6 english muffins. I think it would work well to make it into more than that…each ball of dough seemed like a lot. I thnk having less dough in each one would have helped with the baking/density issue too.

English Muffins

2 1/4 cups flour (I used a mix of all purpose and white whole wheat)
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 Tbsp. shortening or butter (at room temperature) (I used butter)
3/4 – 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
cornmeal for sprinkling

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. mix in the shortening and 3/4 cup of the milk. add the remaining milk if the dough is too dry. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes (I used my stand mixer for this). Place in a lightly oiled bowl and roll to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour (I let it rise for about 1 1/2 hours…still didn’t rise much).

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into balls. Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray or lightly coat with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal (I used silpat). Move the dough balls to the baking sheet evenly spaced apart (giving them room to rise more). Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for another hour.

Heat the oven to 350 F and heat up a skillet on medium heat on the stovetop. Brush the skillet with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the skillet a few at a time. Allow them to cook on the skillet for 5-8 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. Carefully flip and cook the other side for about 5-8 minutes more. They should flatten as they cook.

When the muffins look as if they are about to burn, remove them from the skillet with a spatula and transfer quickly to a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes. Do not wait until all of the muffins have been cooked on the skillet before moving them to the oven – as the first batch is baking, move the second batch of muffins to the skillet.

Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving. Store them as you would muffins you buy in the store – in a sealed ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer.

Bread Pudding

Since I’m focusing on bread this month I decided to make bread pudding last night. It’s really more of a dessert. But I served it as a side dish with our quiche. I usually serve quiche with some kind of sweet bread, so it’s really not that different. I love bread pudding. But I’ve actually never made it before. And haven’t had it in years. This is my mom’s recipe. So simple and so good!! We all loved it. It’s hard to stop eating it 😛  It’s soft and sweet and has kind of a custardy feel to it from the eggs. And the great thing about it is that everyone pretty much always has the ingredients on hand. And it’s a great way to use up the end pieces of bread (that normally get thrown away in our house). They actually work better than regular slices. A very budget friendly dessert! And a great way to use up those last few slices of bread in a loaf. This is great on it’s own, warm or cold. And it’s also good with some vanilla ice cream on top. I bet it would be good with some apple slices baked in too. Maybe I’ll have to try that some time. Can’t wait to have more tonight! And I just thought of it…I bet this would even be a good breakfast…bread, eggs, milk, raisins…sounds good to me! That may be on our menu soon 😉

This post is linked to Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager.

**Edited 4/24/10 – I made this today with a peeled and chopped apple. Yum!!!! Makes it even better.

Bread Pudding

4 cups bread, cubed (whole wheat, sourdough, cinnamon raisin…whatever you like) (just tear it into rough chunks)
2 cups scalded millk (heated to almost boiling)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or sucanat (honey or maple syrup would probably work too)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins (optional, but they really do make it so much better 🙂
1 tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg (I used cinnamon)
1 apple, peeled and chopped (optional – to make apple raisin bread pudding)

Place bread crumbs in a large bowl. Pour milk over top. Let cool slightly. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Bake at 325 for about 1 hour, until knife inserted in center comes out clean (I baked mine for a little over an hour).

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

I baked my first loaf of bread for the month yesterday. I did a quick search for easy whole wheat bread, and this is first recipe I found. It’s from All Recipes. It had great reviews and didn’t sound too complicated. It’s not 100% whole wheat, but I bet you could replace some of the bread flour with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour to make it closer to 100%. I just stuck with the original recipe for my first try. This turned out really well! It was quite simple to make. And I used my mixer! No kneading by hand 🙂  Definitely a good turnout considering some of the bad breads I’ve baked in the past. I think part of my problem has been patience. Yesterday when I was making the bread I was also playing with Rebecca, making dinner, getting her to bed, etc. So each of the rise times I let go a lot longer than usual since I was busy. And it really made a difference! I still have a ways to go to become a decent bread baker, but this was a good attempt. I didn’t get it out of the oven until about 9:30 last night, but I still couldn’t resist cutting into it and tasting a sliver while it was warm. YUM!! Very soft, moist and mildly sweet. Not too heavy either. I can’t wait to try it tonight for our sandwiches. See how it holds up for sandwich bread. I only made a half recipe, so I did one full loaf and one small loaf.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 oz.) packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp.)
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour

3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp. salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a large bowl (I did this right in my stand mixer bowl), mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly (I let it set for about 45 min.).

Mix in 3 Tbsp. melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky – just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour (I kneaded it in my mixer for a few minutes). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough (I used my mixer bowl for this too…only got one bowl dirty:). Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled (I let it rise for about 70 min.).

Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch (I let it rise for about 90 minutes).

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 Tbsp. melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard (I used a little butter spray). Cool completely.

**Edited 3/4/10
This makes awesome sandwich bread!! I used my electric knife to cut normal size slices. So good! I hope I can keep up with the bread baking. This is far better than boughten bread. It’s homemade for us!

Cinnamon Applesauce Bread

I am bringing a meal to one of my sister’s friends today (that my sister made). I decided to do some baking yesterday to add to it. I searched through my recipe box and found an old recipe for cinnamon applesauce bread. I don’t even remember if I’ve ever made it. I’m pretty sure I’ve had the recipe since before I got married. It was very easy to make. And it tastes very good!! I was able to use my mixer…with no problems! The recipe is for a loaf of bread. I made muffins instead (then I can give most of them away but keep a few for us to try :). We had some for breakfast today. Yum!

**Edited 4-9-10 – I made this in loaf form yesterday. Very good! A fairly dense bread, but moist and sweet. I used raisin bran (natural version) and added raisins. A very easy bread. Great to make wtih kids.

Cinnamon Applesauce Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup chunky applesauce (I happened to have about 1 cup left in a jar of homemade chunky applesauce in the fridge)
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup skim milk (I used 1%)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 1/2 cups bran flakes (I used Wheaties)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (my optional addition…I just added them to the few we were keeping)

Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat the egg. Stir in the applesauce, sugar, milk and oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir until moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in cereal (and walnuts/raisins).

Pour inot a greased 9×5 loaf pan. (I poured it into 12 paper lined muffin cups.)

Bake at 350 for 55 min., or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (I did about 30 min. for the muffins). Cool 10 min. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

After prepping yesterday’s dinner I had a little bit of pumpkin left. So Rebecca and I did more baking! I tried another pumpkin muffin recipe from All Recipes. This is a recipe for muffins. I made a few muffins and a couple mini loaves. The muffins turned out great! The loaves weren’t as good…a little dark on the outside, not as done as I would like on the inside. A lower oven temp might help. I’ll definitely be using this recipe for muffins in the future. It is a good recipe. And very healthy. I had a little more applesauce and pumpkin than the recipe called for, so I just skipped the oil. And they still turned out great. A whole wheat muffin with no oil or butter plus fruit and veggies added…sounds good to me! Of course we added a few chocolate chips to the muffins 😉 But they definitely don’t need them. I added some walnuts to one of the mini loaves. This recipe is easy, healthy and kid-friendly. A keeper for sure. And it’s pumpkin…yum!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I added some extra cinnamon too since I love cinnamon)
2/3 cup brown  cane sugar, firmly packed (or sucanat)
1/3 cup cane sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup coconut oil or melted butter (I skipped this)
1/2 cup applesauce (I added just over a half cup)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (I added just over a half cup)
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line the cups with paper muffin liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, oil, applesauce, pumpkin, buttermilk, and beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins and pecans, if desired.
Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.
*I baked the muffins for about 20 min. I baked the loaves for 35-40 min. I think they would have worked better at a lower temperature.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Last night for dinner I tried a recipe from Heavenly Homemakers for pumpkin pancakes. One more pumpkin recipe to try 🙂 These were ok. But the like/dislike had nothing to do with the pumpkin. It was just a kind of weird pancake recipe. I think it was largely due to the butter in the recipe. The batter didn’t pour and spread out like a normal pancake. It just sat in a big lump. I tried spreading them out a bit, but they just kind of slid around on the pan. And then they didn’t seem to cook all the way through. The flavor was fine. Just not the light, fluffy pancake we’re used to. I did add a little sugar to the recipe to give it a little sweetness (about 3 Tbsp.). I used less butter than the recipe called for (if I try them again I’ll cut it out completely). And I tried soaking my flour (never tried that before). I don’t really know how to do that. I just mixed the flour and buttermilk and put it in the fridge until it was time to make dinner. Maybe that made a difference. Maybe I didn’t do that correctly. Anyway, I served them with homemade strawberry topping, whipped topping (for Justin) and walnuts. With all that yummy stuff on top they tasted just fine 🙂 Justin and I both thought they were fine, but nothing amazing. I did make a double batch, so now we have some pancakes in the freezer again. I debated between this recipe and one from Two Peas and Their Pod. I’ll have to try that one sometime with the cinnamon syrup. I bet they are really good!

*Edited 7/10/10 – Just realized I never updated this the last time I tried these. I made these a while back (a big batch to freeze), soaking them first. They turned out pretty good. I think I skipped the butter, which helped a lot. Just be sure to spread the batter well and don’t make them too thick.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. melted butter (I used 2 Tbsp…I’ll cut it out all together next time)
Butter for skillet or griddle
*I added about 3 Tbsp. sugar to a double batch
Whisk all ingredients together thoroughly. Heat skillet or griddle. Melt and spread butter over the surface to prevent pancakes from sticking. Pour 1/3 c. batter onto skillet for each pancake. Once bubbles begin to form, turn pancake over. Cook until golden brown. Makes about 8 pancakes. For my family of 6, I usually triple this recipe.

To soak grains:

Soak the flour in the buttermilk (or yogurt or kefir) overnight, then add the remaining ingredients the following morning before cooking.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

As usual after Rebecca’s nap yesterday the first thing she wanted to do was bake 🙂 She goes to the kitchen and says “pour, pour…table, table.” So I bring her little table into the kitchen and put on her apron. I didn’t have any recipes planned, so I did a quick search in my recipe box. And I found a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe. I don’t know where I got it. And I don’t remember if I’ve ever made it before. But I had just enough pumpkin left for it. And Rebecca loves chocolate chips. Plus she likes to put the muffin cups in the muffin pan. So I gave it a try. These were super easy to make. And they taste great!! Definitely a keeper. I’m starting to wish I had given pumpkin a chance a long time ago. I guess in reality I just don’t like pumpkin pie. And I’m not a fan of the taste of plain pumpkin. But I do like things with pumpkin in them 🙂 I modified the recipe a bit and did 2-1 white flour to whole wheat flour. And I used a mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. I think the white chips go well with pumpkin. That’s one more thing that’s growing on me…white chocolate. I used to not like it at all. But since I’ve been using it quite a bit lately I’m realizing that now I do. Funny how your tastes change as you get older. This recipe made 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

3/4 cup sugar (I did half white and half light brown)
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet and white)

Heat oven to 400. Line muffin pan with baking cups or grease. Mix sugar, oil and eggs w/ whisk. Add pumpkin and water. Mix well. In a large bowl mix flour and spices. Add wet mixture to dry mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 min.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Yesterday afternoon Rebecca and I made some pumpkin pie muffins. I had pumpkin and buttermilk to use up after making the pumpkin scones. And I’ve been wanting to make these for a while. I found the recipe a couple months ago when I read through my Ellie Crieger cookbook. Plus it’s one more attempt at pumpkin. These are very easy to make. And they taste great! Since Rebecca thinks everything tastes better with “coca chips” I let her sprinkle some mini chips on a few of the muffins 🙂 They are good with the chocolate added. Some dried fruit or chopped nuts would be good too. The recipe says it makes 12 muffins. I made 16. And they took a little longer than 20 min. to bake for me. And I didn’t add the pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour or whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (I used light brown…that’s all I had)
3 Tbsp. unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack

Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones

Last night for dinner I made quiche. And I always like to make scones when I make quiche. I saw a recipe for pumpkin white chocolate scones recently on Two Peas and Their Pod, and I knew I had to try them! These were so good!!! All 3 of us loved them. Simple to make, like most scones. I love that. Plus I had some buttermilk to use up. I didn’t add the glaze last night. I might try that tonight or if we have them for breakfast some day this week (**Update…the glaze is awesome!!! I didn’t think they could get any better…but they did 🙂. I got 8 scones out of the dough. I baked 3 and froze 5. I’ll bake another 3 with dinner tonight and save 2 for a breakfast. Some dried cherries might be good in these, but definitely not necessary. The chocolate chips added just the right amount of sweetness. There aren’t enough to make them super chocolatey. But you get a little hint of chocolate in most bites. I bet milk chocolate would be good too in place of the white. Definitely a keeper recipe. And that’s one positive pumpkin experience for me. Hopefully there will be many more this month 🙂
Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones

Scone Dough:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. pure vanilla
1 Tbsp. cream
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top

Spice glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
sprinkle of nutmeg
milk
Add as much milk until desired consistency. Drizzle or spread over cooled scones.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. I use my hands! The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the white chocolate.

In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles) (I cut it into 8 triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the cream and sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar on top.Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and drizzle scones with the glaze.

Baked Egg Puffs

These baked egg cups use cooked squash as a thickener. It works so well! They are sort of like mini souffles. There was no way I would have  known that there was squash in the eggs. Definitely a keeper! I love that we got some extra veggies. 

Serve baked egg puffs with your favorite veggie and some homemade bread for a complete meal.

Baked Egg Puffs
 
5 large eggs
1/2 cup butternut or buttercup squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato puree
2 Tbsp. shredded cheese
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour or white rice flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
bacon, ham or sausage (optional add-in)
cooked broccoli or spinach (optinal add-in)
2 Tbsp. non-fortified nutritional yeast
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat 4 (1/2-cup) ramekins or coffee cups (I used my little glass pyrex dishes) with butter and set on a baking sheet.
 
In a large bowl whisk all the ingredients until combined. Divide the mixture among the ramekins or cups and bake until the tops are puffed up and the eggs are no longer runny in the center when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.