Five Spice Bread

Caleb claims that this is the best bread he's ever eaten in his whole life, EVER! Better save the recipe then.

Five Spice Bread

• 3/4 c milk
• 1/2 c water
• 1.5 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c honey
• 1 tsp molasses
• 1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
• 2 Tbs oil or melted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 c whole wheat white flour
• 1.5 c bread flour

Start by proofing the yeast in warm, but not hot water.  In a large bowl prepare the other wet ingredients with the whole wheat white flour, salt and spice.  Next add the yeast, water and milk and stir together. Add one cup of the bread flour, mix together. Add the last half cup of bread flour little by little as you knead the dough. Keep kneading and adding the flour until you have a soft texture that is tacky, but releases from your hands easily.

Cover with plastic wrap, sprayed with cooking spray, and let rise in a warm spot for about an hour.

Punch dough down and work into balls for rolls (I usually make 16, smaller sized rolls, but can make 12 good size rolls too). Place dough balls on a baking sheet with non-stick foil, cover again with the sprayed plastic wrap and let rise again for about 30 min-1 hour depending on warmth of rise location.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Will lightly brown on top and feel set when touched on the sides.  Cool on wire rack.

Fluffy Pumpkin Biscuits (Vegan)

If you're nervous about vegan food than this is a great place to start, because you'd never know these are "healthy."  I expected them to be over-the-top sweet, but they aren't. They'd go wonderfully alongside a winter stew or slather them with honey for an after-dinner treat.

Fluffy Pumpkin Biscuits (Vegan) (slightly adapted from An Opera Singer in the Kitchen)

• 2 cups whole wheat white flour  
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoon real maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 Tablespoon Earth Balance margarine (vegan margarine, it's WONDERFUL, but use what you have/like)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup plain soy milk or another non-dairy milk (original recipe calls for So Delicious coconut milk)
• 2 Tablespoon honey

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, no stick foil, or another non-stick surface.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Blend in the margarine using a pastry blender, wisk, or other splitting tool (I used an avocado masher, he he).

In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin, coconut milk, maple syrup, and honey.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture holds together. Knead lightly on a floured surface and roll out to 1″ thickness. Using a 2″ biscuit cutter (or thin cup edge), cut the dough into circles.

Re-roll the scraps and cut out biscuits until you have used all of the dough. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Banana & Berry Bread (Vegan)

Don't let the vegan name throw you, this banana bread is awesome.  Hubby and I stood around devouring it while it was still hot all the while saying, "It doesn't taste like health food!"

Banana & Berry Bread (Vegan) - from Chocolate Covered Katie.com, slightly altered by me

• 2 c spelt flour (I did a mix of 1.5 c all purpose & .5 c whole wheat white, but I'm going to play with the ratio & types of flours in the future)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt 
• 1/3 c nondairy milk (I used plain soy milk) 
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T more sweetener (could be agave, honey, syrup, or sugar)
• 1 and 2/3 c tightly-packed, mashed banana (measured after mashing)
• 1/3 cup berries of choice, or more banana (I used the triple berry mix from Costco & some dark cherries as well - I first defrosted them, then pureed them in my food processor)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix into dry. (Mix by hand, and don’t over mix.) Pour into a greased loaf pan and cook for around 40-45 minutes. Check, if the top is getting dark, but the inside still feels mushy with a toothpick test, cover the bread with foil & bake another 10 minutes & test again (this method worked perfectly for my bread).

When it's done, remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack for ten minutes before slicing. Goes great with natural peanut butter!

After the first day, this bread is best stored in the fridge. You can also cut into slices and freeze for later.

Yogurt Muffins

These muffins are intended to be a healthier muffin.  If you’re looking for the super sweet, leaves-grease-on-your-fingers type muffins then you shouldn’t read on.  However if you want a muffin that’s warm, not too sweet, and not going to kill you on calories, then this is a great option.
I did want a little more sweet, so I tore mine open and drizzled honey on it.

Then I died because it was so good.

Try the honey, I’m telling ya.

Yogurt Muffins

• 2 c. flour
• 3 Tbs. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 oz light lemon yogurt*
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 Tbs canola oil
• 1 Tbs natural applesauce
• 1 cup frozen blueberries and dried cranberries (I used about 2/3 blueberries then topped off the measuring cup with cranberries)

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.  Mix together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, making a well at the center.  In a smaller mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients (save berries for later) and mix until well blended.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing until everything is moistened – this batter is VERY thick; it’s okay if it’s a little lumpy.

Next fold in the berries, until just dispersed, don’t over mix.  Drop batter into the greased muffin tin dispersing the batter evenly between all 12 cups (each cup should be about 2/3 full).  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

*Kim’s note:  the lemon yogurt doesn’t add a strong lemon taste.  If you want even more lemon in your batter, add about a tsp. of fresh lemon zest.  Is amazing with honey!

Whole Wheat Cornbread

My man loves cornbread, but it wasn't something I grew up eating, so I didn't really know how to make it for him.  This recipe is awesome to give him what he loves, but without tons of butter or oil.

Whole Wheat Cornbread (adapted from Set for Life)

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 eggs whites
• 2 Tb canola oil
• 2 Tb applesauce, unsweetened

Mix all ingredients until combined.  Spray nonstick cooking spray into a 9X9-inch pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

English Muffin Bread Loaf

This is a new favorite!  No oil, no eggs, soft on the inside, tough on the outside, and such a mild flavor that you can pair it with savory soups or sweet jams or honey.  Here are the glamour shots for this awesome bread:

English Muffin Bread Loaf (from Better Homes and Gardens)

• 3  cups  all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. bread machine yeast
• 1/8  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1  cups  milk
• 1/4  cup  water
• 1/2  tablespoon  sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• cornmeal

Add wet then dry ingredients to bread machine pan, ending with yeast.  Set to dough cycle. When finished, move dough to a bread pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Sprinkle top of dough with cornmeal. Cover with a moist cloth and let rise in a warm oven for about 45 min - 1 hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Wheat and Oat Bread

New favorite bread here!  Oats, whole wheat, no white sugar, and wonderful flavor.  Plus with only 1 Tbs of oil for the whole loaf and it earns the name Healthy in our house.

Day one is was moist and dense - great for soups or sandwiches. Day two it's still good, and is great for toast.

How do those whole rolled oats disappear like this?  So mysterious.

Wheat and Oat Bread (adapted from Spark Recipes)

• 1 1/4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbs olive oil (I used extra virgin)
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 2 c. whole wheat flour (I use 1 c whole wheat white & 1 c regular whole wheat for best results)
• 1 c. bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast

Put ingredients in bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions (for me it's wet ingredients, salt, then dry ingredients with yeast on top).  Set to dough cycle.  After cycle finishes, remove dough, form loaf and place in a sprayed bread pan.  Cover very loosely with plastic wrap that's also been sprayed with cooking spray and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (30 minutes in a warm oven is perfect, I've found that this bread can over-rise which changes its consistency). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Also makes fab rolls or crescents.

Wheat Rolls

This recipe is seriously worth bragging about.

Wheat rolls that are smooth and soft, but are actually a combo of wheat and regular flours so no added gluten or softeners are required. 

Wheat Rolls

• 1 c. warm water
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 Tbs milk
• 2 Tbs canola oil
• 2 Tbs honey
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour or bread flour if you have it

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then turn off once it has preheated.  Combine warm water and yeast is a small dish, let stand until yeast gets frothy.  Meanwhile, combine milk, oil, honey, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  When yeast mixture is ready, add it to the large mixing bowl, then add the whole wheat flour, stirring until combined.  Next add the all purpose flour (I find that this smoother flour works in better as the dough begins to stiffen compared to the whole wheat). Knead the dough in the bowl by hand until all flour is incorporated and the dough becomes mostly smooth.

Remove dough, lightly spray the mixing bowl, then return the dough and give it a quick shot of cooking spray as well. Cover bowl with a cloth and put dough in the preheated oven for an hour to rise.  After an hour, punch the dough down and divide it into 12 equal pieces.*  Work the pieces into smooth balls and place in a lightly greased baking dish, cover and put back in the warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, remove from warm oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for around **13 minutes and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

*Having a hard time getting equal sized rolls? Start by cutting the dough ball in half, then in half again.  Break each quarter piece down into 3rds and you'll have a dozen equal rolls.
**I noticed that my rolls cooked faster (11 minutes) when in a metal pan.  When I made them in glass, they weren't ready that fast and I had to put them back in for an additional 2 minutes.  Watch your rolls and feel their sides, not the tops, to know when they're done.