Italian Sesame Seed Bread

Italian Sesame Seed Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

• 3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp milk powder
• 2 tsps active dry or instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsps salt
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups water

Topping:

• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp egg replacer (this helps the sesame stick)
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds

Mix everything together except for the topping ingredients. Knead for 10 minutes.
Let rise in a greased bowl (I use olive oil) for 1 1/2 hours or until double.
Punch down the dough and divide into three even pieces.
Shape each piece into a 20" log.
On a parchment lined baking sheet braid the three pieces tucking under the ends.
Brush the loaf with milk and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until double.
Mix 2 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp egg replacer together.
Brush the bread with the milk mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Eggless Banana Bread

I always find myself letting the last few bananas sit on the counter until they are starting to turn brown just so that I can make this banana bread.  This is a recipe that was passed down from my grandmother that I converted to be eggless.  I love it warm, smeared with soft butter for breakfast.

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 dollops sour cream (a dollop is a heaping tablespoon)
• 1 cup mashed bananas (usually takes about 3 bananas)
• 1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl mix the sugar, nuts, sour cream, mashed bananas, and melted butter.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix until just combined.
Spoon the batter into a lightly grease and floured 8x4" loaf pan. I use a glass loaf pan for all my quick breads so that the crust doesn't get too dark.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Flaky Layered Biscuits

I made these biscuits a fews weeks ago. They tasted very good and were fun to pull apart.

Flaky Layered Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cold butter
• 2/3 cup cold milk
• extra flour for dusting

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients.
Using a pastry blender cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in the milk and stir just until the dough holds together. The less mixing the better.
On a floured surface roll the dough out until it is about 1/4” thick.
Lightly flour the dough as needed while you are rolling and folding the layers.
Here's the trick for the layers, fold the dough as if you were folding a letter: fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough up and the top 1/3 down over the part you just folded.
Roll the dough out until it is 1/4” thick again and then fold the dough in the same way but perpendicular to the last folds.
Roll the dough out until it is 1/2” thick and cut biscuits with a sharp biscuit cutter. Make sure that you do not twist while cutting as it will make the layers stick together and you won't get nice fluffy biscuits.
Bake on an un-greased baking sheet at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.

Italian Whey Bread

Ingredients:
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tbls. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/4 & 1/8 cups hot whey
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/2 tbls. butter, melted

Extras: cornmeal

Directions:
1. Add dry ingredients to the bowl and stir.
2. If the whey has cooled, heat whey and water. Slice butter and stir into the hot liquid to melt.
3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir well until combined. Or! Use your mixer and the dough hook to mix and knead. Either way, stir and knead for an additional five minutes, until the dough is smooth and warm.
4. Pat the dough into a rectangle and then roll up into a cylinder. Pinch seams and edges and shape a little bit more.
5. Place onto a sheet pan that’s been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
7. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes.

Corn Bread Muffins

I was in a Southern Food kind of mood today and made some white beans (I used Great Northern Beans). What goes better with rice and beans than corn bread? Nothing, that's what!
Mom usually makes corn bread in a round cake pan, but I love the crispy edges the muffins get.
Corn bread is easy to make from scratch, and it's cheap too. Stop buying that box mix and try this instead. It's better this way.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal (you can use yellow, white or blue)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 dollops sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease muffin tins. Makes 12 muffins.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
When the oven is hot add the sour cream, milk, and cooking oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. The batter will be a little lumpy, and you shouldn't over beat corn bread batter.
Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, they should be about 2/3 full.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the muffins are light brown.

If you want to make these in a greased 9" round cake pan, prepare the same as above but bake at 425 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

It's fall, and that means the zucchini is ready to be picked. We've had more zucchini this year than we know what to do with. After eating and freezing tons of zucchini I thought it was time to make some zucchini bread. I found my grandma's old recipe for zucchini bread, one which my mother had never tried, and went to it. My mom was skeptical, she doesn't remember my grandmother ever making zucchini bread. Well, it turned out AMAZING and will be my go to for zucchini bread from now on.

We had a bunch of zucchinis already grated and I just took what I need.


Ingredients:
2 dollops sour cream
1 egg replacer equivalent
1 cup oil
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups sugar
2 cups peeled grated zucchini
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:
Mix sugar, oil, sour cream, egg replacer, zucchini, spices and flavorings.
Add dry ingredients and nuts.
Grease and flour two 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 45 to 60 minutes. (Mine took the entire 60 minutes.)

French Bread - Made in under an hour!!!

I have been craving bread all day, but didn't feel like spending all day making fresh bread. If you had told me yesterday that French Bread could be made, including baking and rising time, in under an hour I would have thought you were crazy. But, it's true, AMAZING French Bread can be made in under an hour. This is by far the best bread I have ever made, and no crazy kneading or waiting for it to rise and rise again.

All you need is:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1/2 Tbs salt
• 1 1/2 Tbs active dry yeast or 1 packet
• 3 to 4 cups flour

Pour water into a medium mixing bowl and add the salt, honey, and yeast.
Gently mix just to slightly dissolve the yeast and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.
Slowly knead in most of the flour. I ended up only needing 3 1/2 cups of flour. Your dough should be moist but not sticky.
Shape one large or two small loaves, place them on a cookie sheet and let rise 20 minutes.
Use a knife to slash the tops diagonally.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Another way to tell when your bread is done is to knock on it, the bread should sound hollow.
Let the bread cool 10 minutes before serving.
Because this bread doesn't contain any preservatives it will go stale faster than store-bought bread.
Enjoy!

Dinner Rolls

Mmmmmm bread!

I make these whenever I have a little time. They go great with almost any meal, and we eat them as snacks or use them to make mini-sandwiches for lunch. They are BY FAR the best dinner rolls I have ever had.

• 1 1/8 tsp. yeast
• ½ cup warm water
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. egg replacer + 1 ½ tbs water (equivalent to half an egg)
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ cup milk, scalded and cooled to warm
• 4 Tbsp. melted butter + 1 Tbsp. for basting
• 3 cups flour
  

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand 5 minutes. The yeast should look bubbly, similar to this:
Add the sugar, egg replacer, salt, warm milk, and melted butter, mix well.
Slowly add the flour, mix well and knead for 5 minutes or until dough doesn't stick to bowl. The dough will still be pretty wet feeling.
Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour until doubled in size. To tell if a dough has doubled press on it with your finger and the indention shouldn't immediately bounce back.
Punch down dough and form into 1 ½ inch balls.
Place balls in greased and floured 9 inch round pan and let rise 20-30 minutes.
Brush with 1 Tbsp. butter.
Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or store in the fridge for later.