Bean Flour (gluten free)

So I decided I wanted to expirement with different flours.  Our favorite berad mix (hodgson mill) uses fava and garbonzo beans in their mix.  In researching on the internet there is not a lot out there on bean flour. So here is my 3rd trial with bean flour.

These are Garbanzo beans also known as chick peas.  Below are Fava beans.

 The first step is I took 1-2 handfuls at a time and threw them in my dry container for my vitamix and turned it on 10 for about 15-20 seconds. Be warned it is LOUD.  It scared me the first time and my poor 18 month old ran screaming and shaking...   After the 15-20 seconds I turned it off and dumped the contents into my strainer (nothing fancy, a cheap one from ikea a few years back)  and shook it some.  What fell out went into a bowl and what didn't went back into the vitamix with another 2 handfuls of beans.  I did this process 44 times with the chick peas and 2 maybe 3 with the fava (sorry I lost count)  This is what it looked like after that.

 This is my nutramil grain mill and what I have it set on.

 I had to baby it a little bit as it doesn't flow as well as rice.  sometimes I had to pull stuff up so the chute was not clogged and other times I had to knock some in.it ended up making just over 6 cups.

This last picture is of the completed flour.  I mixed up some of the GF all purpose flour found here http://saltboxhouse.blogspot.com/2011/09/gluten-free-all-purpose-flour.html  So I did 6 cups sorghum flour, 6 cups rice flour (which was milled with equal parts rice, sweet and brown) 6 cups of the bean flour, 9 cups tapioca starch,4 1/2 cups potato starch or corn starch (I have switched to using corn because it is MUCH cheaper) 2T salt and 6T xanthan gum.

I have made cinnamon rolls ( a regular every day recipe just switched out this flour for wheat flour, no extra xanthan or anything) Cookies (Regular recipe again) and the classic white bread found here http://saltboxhouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/gluten-free-bread.html  For this one I used 4 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour replacing the flour,and the starches. and I did not add in xanthan gum since it is already in the flour.
They all have turned out well and have some added protein in them!

Oh and I made a really good coffee cake (I will post a recipe for that too) and pizza crust!

I feel this is till a little bit in the experimentation process though so if you find something that works well or something that does NOT work, please tell me!

Easy, Fast and Handy Homemade Artisan Bread

photo from motherearthnews.com

My mother-in-law introduced me to this recipe and it's absolutely delicious! It's quick and easy and you can make enough dough at one time to stick in the fridge and use for more than a week. All you have to do is pull out however much you want to bake at a time, throw it in the oven and there you have it! You can make homemade bread every day if you want without spending all day doing it. Here's the link to the site where she got it. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

The Master Recipe

The artisan free-form loaf called the French boule is the basic model for all the no-knead recipes. The round shape (boule in French means “ball”) is the easiest to master. You’ll learn how wet the dough needs to be (wet, but not so wet that the finished loaf won’t retain its form) and how to shape a loaf without kneading. And you’ll discover a truly revolutionary approach to baking: Take some dough from the fridge, shape it, leave it to rest, then let it bake while you’re preparing the rest of the meal.

Keep your dough wet — wetter doughs favor the development of sourdough character during storage. You should become familiar with the following recipe before going through any of the others.

The Master Recipe: Boule

(Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

 Makes 4 1-pound loaves

 3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

Mixing and Storing the Dough

 1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

 2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.

Source:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx?fb_ref=s=showShareBarUI:p=facebook-like&fb_source=profile_multiline

P.S. I tried this with whole wheat flour (subtracting a little less than 25%) to see if it works, and unfortunately I didn't like it. The white was much better. I'm going to keep toying around with it though and will let you know if I ever get it to work out just right. If you've had luck substituting wheat flour for white flour, please let me know your tricks. :) Thanks for all the great recipes!

A Good Loaf of Bread

This is my go-to bread recipe. The loaves always turn out moist and beautiful.

Bread

1/4 cup warm water
1/2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP yeast

Combine above ingredients in bowl and set aside
Scald 2 cups of milk (I do this by microwaving about 3-4 minutes in a large glass measuring cup). Let milk cool.

In large bowl, combine (I use my Kitchen-Aid):
3/4 cup honey
1/2 TBSP salt
1/4 cup oil
1 egg

Add yeast mixture to mixing bowl, then scalded milk.
Add 2 cups wheat flour and combine well. Now add white flour 1/2 cup at a time until you get the desired consistency. My bread usually takes about 5 total cups. Mix well.

Grease a large bowl and turn dough into it. Cover with towel and let rise until doubled. Grease 2 bread loaf pans. Punch down dough and split into two loaves. Let rise in pans until doubled. Cook at 325 for 25-30 minutes.

French Loaves

This is a recipe i found in a Taste of Home magazine. Is one of the fastest recipes i have so far. I love eating it with soups and stews!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 1/2 to 5 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon cornmeal

Directions:

• In a large bowl, dissolveyeast in warm water. Add the salt, sugar, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic( i usually use my kitchen aid), about 6-8 minutes. Place in a grease bowl, turning once to grease the top. Coverand let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 12 inch long loaves.
• Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. sprinkle with cornmeal.
• With a sharp knife, make 4 shallow slashes across the top of each loaf.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown( i also spray the inside of the oven with water several times to get really crispy crust).
• Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each)

gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

I used this recipe that I got from the Food Network  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pumpkin-bread-recipe/index.html

I replaced the flour with the gluten free all-purpose flour found here http://saltboxhouse.blogspot.com/2011/09/gluten-free-all-purpose-flour.html

Oh and of course I added chocolate chips :)   For some reason I had to end up baking it for about 30 minutes longer, I kept checking and adding time.

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, lightly bean
• 16 ounces canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 2/3 cup water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 9 by 5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients and water into wet mixture, alternating. Divide batter between two loaf pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

Gluten free bread!

Classic White Bread

3 cups rice flour (brown or white)

1 cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca starch

½ cup nonfat dry milk

2 tbsp sugar

1½ tsp salt

1 tbsp xanthan gum

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

2 cups warm water

1/3 cup oil or melted butter

1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

3 whole eggs

3 egg whites

2¼ tsp yeast (1 packet)

In glass measuring cup, fill with 1 cut water, 1 tbsp sugar and yeast. This will activate the yeast.

In a small mixing bowl, blend together the remaining wet ingredients.

In large mixing bown mix all the dry ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients; egg mixture first, then the yeast.

Mix on high speed for 4 minutes.

Spray 2 or 3 bread pans with cooking spray.

Pour dough into pans. Cover with plastic wrap (lightly) and let rise for 1 hour. Dough might stick to plastic wrap when rising. Spray bottom of plastic wrap with cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake bread for 1 hour.

After 20 minutes of baking, lightly cover with tin foil to prevent the bread from getting too dark.

Let cool before cutting. Best when fresh or warm.

Recipe from 101 Incredible, Edible Gluten-Free Recipes for Kids

Oh my, this is good!  it is the first bread recipe that we have eaten all of it.  this was my third time baking it too in less than 2 weeks.  I need to make more loaves at a time :) 

I mill my own flour and have been using a mix between white and brown rice.  I usually use sweet rice too but last time I milled I didnt have any.  I also buy egg whites rather than wasting the extra yolks.  oh and I prefer to use lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.  

I made french toast with this for dinner tonight.  Oh my, it was SOOO yummy!

Kids Cat Rolls

Kids Cat Rolls
We made these Cat for a Joy School Activity- so they are easy enough for one adult to help 4 three and four year olds in making. I used Rhodes Frozen Rolls, which I always have in the freezer. Each cat uses 4 rolls (in the above picture, ignore the big roll on the right- one of the kids snuck that into the picture).

Directions:
Pull out 4 rolls about 2 hours before activity or until thawed but still cold (I put mine in the fridge once they had thawed until we needed them.)
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
1. Take two rolls and smash them together. Roll them (like a snake). This is the cats body. Lay it on the cookie sheet.
2. Take one roll and roll it like a snake. This is the cats tail. Pinch it to one end of the cats body.
3. Take one roll (the last one) and flatten it out in the shape of a circle. Then using a pair of scissors, cut it in the shape of a heart with the bottom not so pointed. Pinch it to the other end of the cats body.
4. Take scissors and clip the dough. This makes it look like fur- see pictures below. You can clip as much or as little as you want.
Let rise for 20 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Orange Rolls

Happy Sticky Bun Day! I wanted to spotlight a blog that I have come to love over the past year. In fact, I asked to have her button placed on the right side bar. Have any of you heard of AThriftyMom.com? This recipe I tried of hers and it was such a big hit that I wanted to share it with everyone.

Orange Rolls

by A Thrify Mom

375 degrees for 25-30 mins.

In a bundt pan that is generously greased with butter (not shortening) add:

• 2 pkgs Pillsbury biscuits (suggests: Hungry Jack Flaky Biscuits, but I’ve even used the smaller

• ones). Separate them and stack them on their sides in the buttered bundt pan.

• Melt one cube of butter (1/2 cup)

• Stir in 2 Tblsp. orange peel (Found in spice rack)

• 1 c. sugar

• 2 Tblsp. Orange Juice

Stir together well. Then spoon over biscuits. Bake until light brown with brown edges.

Turn pan upside-down onto serving plate and serve warm! Enjoy!

* This recipe was directly copied out of athirftymom.com

For step by step photo instructions click here

Chicken Rolls

Photo from Madeline L.

This is a popular recipe that I have made on many occasions. I got the original recipe from a friend and since then have made my own version and I call them chicken rolls.

Ingredients:
1- 8oz can of crescent rolls
3- Chicken Breasts
1-8 oz package of cream cheese (softened)
1- small can of cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
Chopped Onions (about 1/2 small onion)
Chopped Celery (about 2 stalk)
Shredded Bacon (cooked) or soft bacon bits
* You can add more or less onion, celery, and/or bacon depending on how much you like.
* Sometimes I will add a little bit of Cheddar cheese for a cheesier flavor

Your favorite Chicken Gravy for the top

Directions:

Cook your chicken (I usually boil them from fresh or frozen) and then cube.
In a bowl, beat soft cream cheese and soup together. Stir in chicken and remanding ingredients.
Spoon mixture into each crescent triangle and roll them up. Place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake in a pre-heated oven set @ 350 for about 30 minutes. Check for doneness. Serve with hot gravy on top.

Photo by Madeline L.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup with Basic Bread

Food Challenge- Soup and Chili Cookoff
Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients
3-4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
3-4 cups fresh broccoli (can replace with zucchini, celery, peppers, etc.)
water to cover
1-2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
pinch of salt and pepper
4 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar is good)

Place vegetables in large pot and just cover with water. Stir in bouillon. Simmer until veggies are soft (30 min to an hour). When veggies are cooked through, mash with potato masher (do not drain).
In saucepan, melt 1 stick butter. Add flour, salt and pepper, and cook into a paste (medium heat). Slowly whisk in milk. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and creamy. Do not boil. Stir in cheese until well blended.
Add cheese mixture to the mashed vegetable stock. Stir and heat through.

Basic Bread

2 1/2 cups HOT water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar/honey
1 TBSP salt
1/2 cup flour
1 and a 1/2 TBSP yeast
4-6 cup flour

•In mixing bowl, combine HOT water, oil, honey and salt. Add 1/2 cup flour and quickly mix, add yeast and mix. Slowly add 4 to 6 cups flour until dough is soft but not too sticky. I usually replace a cup or two of white flour with wheat flour. This may decrease the total amount of flour you need. Knead dough for 5-8 minutes. I use the dough hook on my mixer (5 or so minutes).
•Turn dough out into large greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or clean towel. Allow to rise until doubled. Usually 30 minutes.
•Turn on oven to 175 degrees. Grease counter or table with spray oil. Flour rolling pin and table. Divide dough into thirds (for average size bread pans). Take each piece and roll out with rolling pin into oblong shape about 7-8 inches wide. Be sure all the air bubbles are popped. Roll into tight cylinder (width-wise, so cylinder is about 7-8 inches wide) and place in greased bread pan with ends tucked under. Repeat with other pieces and put all bread pans in warmed oven.
•Let rise again until doubled (about 1/2 hour).
•Turn up heat on oven to 350 and bake about 30 minutes (until loaf sounds hollow when thumped). If the tops are getting too dark before the center is done, cover with tin foil.
•Remove bread from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Slice and enjoy.

pineapple zucchini bread (gluten free)

I have not tried this recipe yet, I just got sent it through a friend yesterday.  but thought I would post it it may be awhile before I feel like making it (I'm 38 weeks pregnant) but it sounds really good so I thought I would share.

Pineapple zucchini bread

 3 eggs

1 cup agave

1 cup coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze to drain the water)

1 cup crushed pineapple (drained from juice)

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts

Bake in 2 medium (greased) loaf pans at 325 until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

The GF version above works MUCH better in a cupcake pan.

Non GFers sub the brown rice flour, almond flour and xanthan for 3 cups of regular flour.

If you don't care about it being low sugar, sub the agave for 2 cups of sugar.

Any oil can be used but coconut is the tastiest!

"Always Soft" Whole Wheat Bread

There is a story to this special recipe. A lady I know (who is still very close to me), makes this wonderful "always soft" whole wheat bread. In fact, I would take a loaf of this bread as payment for babysitting on many occasions when I was little and it was well worth it. Sometimes I happened to be there to watch her in action as she made this bread.What seemed to me like a whole day's worth of work and concentration was only a little over a hour out of her day and hardly worth sweating over. This all came right out of her head and never from a paper. One day, after I finished babysitting, she explained how to make this bread while I watched her and I quickly wrote it down. I was so exited to make it when I got home. It wasn't until yesterday (15 years later) that I pulled out that old paper along with a typed copy from a church cookbook that she submitted it to years ago. I was anxious to complete the challenge of making Rebecca's "Always soft" whole wheat bread and, I finally did. Now that I am older, it didn't seem nearly as difficult as I had made it out to be but, there is one thing that still separates hers from mine. Hers will always be the real thing and mine will always be a duplicate.

Thank you Rebecca for taking me down memory lane!  

Rebecca's "Always Soft" Whole Wheat Bread Recipe:

  This recipe is separated into parts and then combined.

Part 1: In a Sauce Pan

Ingredients- 1 medium potato 1 teaspoon of salt 2 cups of water

Directions: Scrub and wash potato really well and slice into disks. Simmer in water and salt for 30 minutes.

Part 2: In a blender 

Ingredients- Butter 3/4 Cup (melted) Honey  3/4 Cup 1 Tablespoon of Salt 

Directions: Blend until smooth.            

 

Add Part 1 into 2 and Blend until smooth.Allow it to get warm. You can't have it too hot to kill the yeast.

Part 3: In a Medium bowl

Ingredients-

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1/2 cup of warm water

3 Tablespoons of Active Dry Yeast

Directions:

Mix sugar in warm water until dissolved, add yeast to warm water in bowl and set aside.

(I mixed it together just a little bit)

It will begin to double in size. Mine went up to 2 cups.

Part 4: In a Large mixing bowl

Ingredients-

2 eggs

3/4 cup Evaporated Milk
Directions:

Beat eggs and milk together

  

Addition of ingredients

3 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups of Gluten Flour

Up to 8 more cups of whole wheat flour

Directions:

Add Warm blender mixture (Parts 1&2 blended) to Milk mixture (part 4).

Rinse blender with 1 1/2 cups of warm water and add back into large mixing bowl.

Mix together and began adding 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour and 2 cups Gluten Flour. Mix again.

Slowly add in yeast mixture (part 3). Rinse yeast bowl with 1 cup of warm water and mix back into dough.

Continue to add 2-6 cups of wheat flour until it reaches a gluten like stage (like thick bubble gum).

Mix for 10 minutes.

Let dough rest for 20 minutes covered with plastic or damp towel.

Knead with more whole wheat flour until it gets to the right consistency (up to 4 cups if needed).

Do not add too much flour, wheat bread is supposed to be sticky.

When it feels good, place back into bowl and coat with Olive Oil and cover.

Let it rest for another 20 minutes until it doubles in size.

Cut into 4-6 loaves and place into butter pans. Cover and let them rest in their pans for 5-7 minutes before pre-heating the oven. Allow them to rise for an additional 15-20 minutes and then bake @ 350 for 22-25 minutes.

*If your house is warm, you might have to reduce the raising time of the dough as it will rise faster. The dough is also affected  in a colder house (you might have to allow as much as 30 min for dough to raise).

A few Ideas: Re-use old bread bags to store your homemade bread. Make mini loaves using a mini loaf pan.

This bread is perfect for sandwiches and excellent when toasted.

I honestly felt like making chili or stew when I made this bread. It has the texture of a soft roll.

Bain taitneamh as do bheile! (Irish for- Enjoy the food!)

This is a bit late but better late than never, right? My family is Irish on both sides and so St.Patrick's Day is HUGE for my family! Now that I live out of state from my Irish relatives, I make the feast on my own but I love to do it! This year we had my in-law side of the family down to CA for St.Patty's and this is what I served up: Corned Beef, cabbage, carrots, and 'pratties'(aka potatoes)/ Champ/ Irish soda bread/ 'bangers'(aka sausages)/ Irish cheese tray with Waterford crackers/ and for dessert, Celtic Apple crumble. Most of these are easy to make and come from family recipes and also my favorite Irish cookbook: Irish Heritage Cookbook, By Margaret M. Johnson. Here is the recipe for the family favorite soda bread:
-4 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1 tsp. cream of tartar
-1 tsp. salt
-1/4 cup superfine sugar
-2 cups buttermilk
-optional: raisins, currants, etc.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan, 9-by-5 inch loaf pan, or my favorite- a pie tin.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, together in large bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in center, add buttermilk, and with your FINGERS(as in tradition), work milk into flour until a soft, biscuit-like dough is formed. Do not over mix. Turn into pan and bake for 10 min. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake until bread is golden brown and firm to touch, about 30-45 min. Will sound hollow if tapped on top. Best served (of course) with Irish Kerrygold Butter. Go Mbeanni Dia duit!

Irish Soda Bread

I was looking for some "Irish" recipes to try this month and decided to start with this bread. It was easy and turned out good. My outside was lumpier than desired, but I think maybe a little better dough shaping on my part would have solved that. I was sad because I like pretty loaves. Anyway, it tasted really good. The kids sure liked it.
Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 butter or margarine, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

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

2. In a large bowl, mix first six ingredients (to softened butter). Sitr in 1 cup buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk. Brush loaf with mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'x' into the top of the loaf.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. While baking brush loaf a few times with the butter/buttermilk mixture.

Traditional Pumpkin Bread

Photos by Madeline L.

Here is a traditional bread that I make for our neighbors and our family during Christmas. I got it from a very old cookbook that I have had since the 70's and since then has had all kinds of acidents cross its path by means of wear and tear. But, it still has some great recipes and worth holding on to. I hope all of you enjoy this one.

Pumpkin Bread:

2 cups of pumpkin                                         2 cups of sugar
2/3 c up of butter or margarine softened        1/2 cup of water
3 eggs                                                          2 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda                                         1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon                                             1/2 tsp cloves
2/3 c dates or rasins (optional)                      2/3 cups of chopped nuts

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease (not oil) bottom of two 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pans. In large bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, butter, water and eggs. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in dates and nuts. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove and cool completely.

Pumpkin Bread with a twist

I love pumpkin bread so decided this season I would work on making a slightly healthier version than most recipes. So here is what I came up with:

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Optional ingredients dried cranberries or walnuts.
• Makes 2 loaf pans
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 7x3 inch loaf pans.
• In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and cinnamon.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
• Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• 
  

Holy Cow, I Made Bread!

A few weeks ago I went to a dinner party. I brought along a hostess gift, a loaf of pugliese bread. A couple of days later, the hostess came up to me and said, "That bread was so good!" I could tell she thought I made it. I felt a little guilty. I confessed that the bread was store bought. But this little encounter got me thinking, "Why don't I try to make some sort of italian bread?"

So I did. And I must tell you, ladies, it was empowering. I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie "Castaway" when he builds a fire. "I...have made fire. I! I! Have made fire." Only this was over a couple of loaves of italian.

And the best part? It was EASY!

The Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons cornmeal

The Steps:

1. Combine brown sugar, water, salt, olive oil and yeast in a bowl. Let sit for ten minutes to get kinda fluffy.

2. Begin incorporating your flour. I transferred my yeast mixture to my mixer and, using the dough hook attachment, began mixing the flour in that way. I used all the flour and then some, mixing until the dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl. It mixed for about 10 minutes or so while I added the flour.

3. When dough forms a ball, place in an oiled bowl and let rise for about 60 minutes, or until double.

Before rising.

After rising.

4. When dough has doubled, turn out onto floured surface and form into two loaves. Place loaves on a pizza stone or baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with clean, damp tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until doubled. Sometime during that hour, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

5. When loaves have doubled in size (I think mine could have risen a little while longer), combine beaten egg and water. Make a quick slash in the top of your loaves with a sharp knife, then baste with the egg and water mixture. *For a crispier crust, spritz loaves lightly with water about 3 times during baking.*

6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes and, voila, my dears, you have made yourself some mighty fine italian bread. And that's nothing to shake a stick at.

Enjoy!

Judy's Banana Bread

This is a delicious and easy recipe for Banana Bread that a co worker, named Judy, gave me about 5 years ago. I am not a baker by any means, i seem to mess up even the easiest cookie recipes but i have managed to make this banana bread over and over again and its always perfect! The other thing reason i love to make this bread is because everytime I give my son, Gavin, a banana he only eats a few bites of it, so i started throwing the rest of the banana in a ziplock bag and sticking in the freezer. When i have three or four bananas I thaw them in the microwave and they are ready for the recipe and actually a little sweeter and easier to mash than before they were frozen. Hope you enjoy this recipe!






Judy's Banana Bread

2 1/2 C. all purpose flour 3 tbs. vegetable oil
1 C. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 C. milk 1 tsp. nutmeg
3-4 Bananas 1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 egg
*nuts are optional...use about 1/2 c. of your favorite nut*

Mash bananas and sugar together, add sugar, milk, vanilla and the egg. Mix untill well combined...then add flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir just untill dry ingredients are incorporated. Pour batter into a greased and floured bread pan and bake for 45 -60 minutes...untill top is deep golden brown.