Category Archives: Bread

Chad’s Versatile Pizza Dough

IMG_4434Chad and I met through yoga teacher training a little over two years ago. During our training we learned we were both passionate about cooking and baking for others. Our love language is doing for others.

A few months after the training Chad was asked to cook for a dinner party for some of the teachers at the yoga studio where we practice.   He asked me to be his sous chef that evening. Looking back now our first date was technically prepping for a dinner party. We made pizzas for a very special birthday for mutual acquaintances and got lost in the evening. We had so much fun in the kitchen cooking up a storm the evening flew by. We prepped the foods together so seamlessly it was love at first bake.

This recipe is our go to recipe for making pizzas in the ooni oven. We have made it for several occasions. Everyone who tries this pizza loves the dough (texture and taste). I cannot help but think a lot of the flavor has to do with the love that goes into the recipe by the happiness that is created in the kitchen when you are having fun and preparing it with and for the ones you love.

This past Christmas we were in a pinch for a quick homemade bread during the holiday so we made this pizza dough recipe for Christmas Eve. It was a success. How awesome!! One recipe two amazing tasty options for baking.

Below you will find the recipe in both weights and cups. I have learned a lot from Chad with cooking with him in the kitchen. He loves to use his scale for measuring out everything. I have found with using this practice I yield a more consistent product every time. Plus I no longer have to count cups. Sometimes when I count several cups of flour or sugar I lose count and have to start all over. Using a scale eliminates this dilemma.

Special note, once you starting using this recipe you may never order take out pizza again!

This recipe below makes 4 pizza dough balls or one large loaf of bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (342 grams) of bread flour

1 1/2 cup (210 grams) cake flour

1 1/4 cup (296 grams) of warm water (about 90 degrees)

1 tsp ( 4 grams) of yeast

1 tsp (6 grams) kosher salt (diamond)

Directions:

In a small measuring container add the yeast to the warm water, let it set for about 5 minutes or until it blooms. In the meantime, in a stand mixer bowl measure out the flours, and salt. Mix together using dough hook on mixer.

Once the yeast is ready & on a low speed start to add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Slowly increase the speed to medium/medium high. Keep the dough kneading until the dough completely pulls away for the side of the bowl. This can take 6-8 minutes. Once the dough is ready in the stand mixer bowl, form a ball and cover the dough for 90 minutes. I like to place my dough over the radiator heater.

After 90 minutes elapses cut the dough into 4 balls if making pizza. Left each dough rise again for 60 minutes. If you are making pizza after the 60 minutes elapses you can roll out & add your toppings place in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes on a hot pizza stone. I like my oven as hot as it will go so 500 or 550.

Alternative method if you want to make bread:

Start to preheat oven to 500 degrees (halfway through the 90 minute mark) and place a large dutch oven in the oven. The dutch oven should be in the oven for 60 minutes prior to baking the bread (which allows the bread to rise again).

After the 90 minutes time is complete place the dough on parchment paper and back into the mixing bowl. Let the dough rise for 60 minutes.

Tip: After the 60 minute time elapses do not divide the dough. Using a sharp knife deeply score the bread you wish. Using the sides of the parchment paper, place the dough in a hot dutch oven. (Use hot hands gloves or good oven mitts to open the lid and insert the dough). You might need a helper.

Place the lid back on the dutch oven. Change the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees. Let the dough bake for 40 minutes. Do not peek. I repeat do not open the oven or dutch oven during the baking time frame. Once the dough is ready take out of oven and open lid of the dutch oven. You can remove the loaf right away (use the parchment paper sides to pull the bread out of the oven) to a bakers rack and allow to cool completely before diving into it.

 

IMG_6D548955649D-1

 

Avocado Quick Bread Mini Loaves

IMG_0221

 

Avocado bread say what? I saw a bread recipe post that inspired me to give avocado bread a try. My sister loves avocados! And I am always trying new recipes with them to fill her love tank. I made mini loaves of the quick bread because it takes less time in the oven and you can share the love of homemade treats a lot further if you make minis vs one large 9 by 5 inch loaf. Also you can make minis in a smaller oven. I have been addicted to using the June oven.  The smaller oven cuts down on energy costs! Which is a double win in my book….Yay!

Bonus: Aldi just had avocados on sale for under a dollar a piece !!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, I prefer Bob’s Red Mill
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 1/2 cups of mashed avocado
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, fresh (about 1/2 a lemon)
  • 3/4 cup raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt, non fat plain (to make dairy free use soy or coconut yogurt)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/8 cup of ground pistachios (optional)
  • Cooking spray

Pre work:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  •  Cooking spray 3 mini bread loaf pans

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl place the avocado, lemon juice, sugar, yogurt and egg together and whisk to incorporates.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk together until no dry ingredients remain.

4. Place 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons into each mini bread loaf pan. Sprinkle with pistachio “crumbs”. 5. Bake at 375 degrees for 28 to 35 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out of the mixture clean.

Yields: 3 mini loaves

French Toasttins 


Since we are renting until our home sells. We don’t have our usual refrigerator & freezer space (which is killing me softly but I have to remind myself it is short term). I was organizing the freezer and came across my stock pile of leftover bread heels. I have a hard time throwing food away in general, which has leads me to be even more resourceful than usual with only one refrigerator. For years I have been up-recycling bread heels to make either my own bread crumbs, casseroles, or croutons. 

You can save money by throwing the heels into a large freezer bag every time you finish a loaf. Once I get a good amount, I figure out a way to incorporate them into a dish to free up freezer space. Today I thought what better way to start off the day with French toast… well French Toasttins :)

Yields: 9 French Toasttins

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 TB pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground Vietnamese Cinnamon 

1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoon pure maple syrup 

1/2 teaspoon raw sugar

10 slices of light whole grain bread heels (35-45 calories a slice), cubed 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cooking spray 9 muffin vessels in muffin tin. Set aside. 

2. In a large bowl whisk together the first 5 ingredients. 

3. Toss in the cubed bread. Fold with rubber spatula. Make sure the bread soaks up all the liquid. 

4. Take an 1/3 cup measuring device and portion out a heaping amount of the bread batter into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Place in center rack in oven. 

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy as is or additional maple syrup or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cinnaberry Quinoa Bars

Who is tired of expensive granola bars with ingredients you cannot even pronounce? I know I am. Especially when you can make them at home at a fraction of the cost and without all the extra sugar and unwanted preservatives. 

These bars are full of nuts, seeds, whole grains, and mother nature’s natural sweetness. 

Yields: 12 bars

Ingredients: 

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked 

1 teaspoon ground Vietnamese Cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon hemp seeds

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tablespoons Creamed Cinnamon Honey 

1 /4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 by 13 glass pan with parchment paper. 

2. In a large bowl, mix  together first 6 ingredients. 

3. Add the mashed banana and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix in with spatula. Set aside. 

4. In a small microwaveable glass bowl, place the peanut butter and honey and stir. Microwave the blend for 30 seconds and stir with rubber spatula. If the consistency is not smooth and easy to stir, microwave for 5 more seconds and try again. Once shiny and smooth, fold the honey blend into the banana oat batter. Continue to mix with spatula until honey blend is incorporated throughout. Lastly fold in the sunflower seeds, almonds & cranberries. 

5. Spread the batter evenly into 3/4’s of the prepared 9 by 13 pan. There is not quite enough batter to fill the entire pan. Bake the bars for 18 minutes. 

6. Remove pan from oven and allow the bars to cool completely on a wire rack. Once the bars have cooled use the parchment paper to pull the bars out of the pan. On a cutting board, cut bars into 12 servings. Wrap individually in sealable baggies for lunches or on the go snacks.  Or store in a sealable container. 

No Knead Homemade Dutch-Oven Bread


We are currently in the process of relocating to the Raleigh, North Carolina region. Which means I am not in my kitchen, and I don’t have all my standard kitchen appliances and utensils. My husband was visiting this past weekend from the burgh, and I wanted to make him a home cooked meal. 

What goes better with a home cooked meal then fresh homemade bread? I realized after I bought all the ingredients, I didn’t have my stand mixer. Oh geez, no worries, I’ll make a No Knead bread. 

This recipe turned out really well without having my stand mixer. After all, that is how our great-grandmothers used to make it. 

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose Unbleached flour, plus more for dusting

 1/4 teaspoon yeast (active dry or instant)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups warm water, not boiling (like bath water)

1 1/2 teaspoon Honey 

Directions: 

1. Combine flour, and salt in a large bowl and wisk together. Set aside. In a small bowl place water, yeast, & honey, allow to rest for 5 minutes or until yeast proofs. After water-yeast liquid proofs (aka bubbles), using a wooden spoon stir in the water mixture into the flour blend until it is well combined.

2. In same bowl, cover the dough with clean towel and let rise at room temperature for at least 3 hours.

3. After 3 hours, the dough will appear as to doubled in size, wet with air bubbles. Transfer the dough to a heavily floured surface and sprinkle dough with 1-2 additional Tablespoons of flour. Fold the dough over about 10 times and shape into ball. 

4. At this time, Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the Dutch-oven & lid in center of the rack.  In the same bowl, where the dough rised initially, line with parchment paper up the sides (there maybe some residual dough in the bowl, but don’t bother dirtying another pan. Place the dough on the parchment paper-lined bowl. Cut a line or two on top of the dough with a sharp knife to give a stream escape vent for the bread. Cover the dough again with towel to allow the dough to rise for a second time. Place the bowl on top of the preheating oven for about 35 minutes (the warmth from the oven will help the dough rise faster). 

5. After the 35 minutes has elapsed for the dough to rise and giving at least 35-60 minutes for the Dutch-oven to warm up in the oven. Wearing oven-gloves, carefully remove the lid from the dutch-oven and take the parchment paper on both sides of the dough and lift to place the dough and parchment paper in the hot Dutch-oven.  With oven-gloves remaining on, cover the dough with the hot lid. Decrease temperature of oven to 400 degrees and bake for 45 minutes. No peeking! 

6. Remove the Dutch-oven from the oven (always wearing oven-gloves). Remove the lid and place the dough on a wire rack to cool. Allow the bread to cool for 15-20 minutes, even though tempting to cut right away. 

Enjoy with dinner! I made a crockpot beef roast! There will be plenty of juicy beef sauce left for dipping your bread into to soak up the remaining goods. 

Apple Spice Mini Loaves

My grandpa gave me apples the other day! I do eat one a day religiously as the saying goes. In addition, I could not wait to use them in recipes and make homemade apple butter.  We did end up placing a batch of apples in the slowcooker for homemade apple butter to give out at the holiday this past weekend.

 I personally feel like there is nothing better than homemade thoughtful gifts to give out during the holidays to our friends and family. 

This recipe yields: 4 mini loaves

Ingredients:

3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

1 teaspoon ground  apple pie spice

1 2/3 cup granulated sugar or raw sugar 

1/2 cup egg white substitute 

1 whole egg

1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 

1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek nonfat yogurt 

3 cups of apples (peeled, cored, and diced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cooking spray mini loaf stoneware. Set aside. 

2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl mix together the liquid ingredients (egg substitute, egg, vanilla, oil, applesauce, yogurt). 

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet using a silicone spatula. Incorporate until all the ingredients are wet with no dry residue. Caution not to over mix. Lastly fold in the apples. 

5. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared  mini vessels ( each one takes about 1.5 cups).

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out without wet residue. 

7. Allow the breads to cool in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto wire rack for remainder of cooling process. 

Enjoy! 








Pumpkin Ale Bread

Tomorrow is Halloween and I have pumpkins on my mind. It is really rainy in the burgh so I thought I’d bake some beer bread to go with supper. I checked out the refrigerator and low and behold we had pumpkin hard cider on hand. 

I think this will make for a tasty fall bread. The bonus with this bread is you don’t have to let it rise. It is a quick bread. The only waiting period is allowing the Dutch-oven to heat up. 

This bread pairs well with butternut squash soup.

Prep Time:5 minutes 

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups of Bread Flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

12 of pumpkin hard cider (Ace is what I used)

3 tablespoons of honey

4 Tablespoons puréed pumpkin
Pre-work: Preheat oven to 500 degrees with large dutch-oven in oven. Allow to heat for 1 hour. 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together flour, salt, & baking powder l. Set aside.

2. Pour the hard cider, honey and pumpkin into the dry ingredients. Mix with wooden spoon just until all ingredients are moist. Knead on lightly floured surface for one or two times just enough to form a ball. If you sill have time for the oven to heat up, spray the bowl with cooking spray and wrap with saran wrap. 

3. Once an hour has elapsed carefully (with oven mitts) remove the Dutch-oven from oven. Continuing to use oven mitts remove lid and carefully place the dough in the center of the Dutch-oven. Scoring the dough with a knife make a “X”. Using the oven mitts place the lid back on the Dutch-oven and return the vessel back into the oven. Decrease the temperature to 400 degrees and allow the bread to bake for 45 minutes.

Zesty Banana Orange Bread


I was lucky enough to receive a special delivery of produce from my grandfather yesterday. My mom and dad drove down to my husband and I’s house for a home cooked dinner. I was pleasantly blown away by the two large boxes of goodies from his garden and orchard.

One of the treasures my grandpa gave me was his very last batch of rhubarb for the season, which inspired me to pick my last batch. As pictured below. 


Needless to say with all this beautiful Rhubard I am also making our most requested  jam. Today I am trialing it in the slow cooker. 
This recipe yields 4 mini loaves 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon of ground pie spice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup of very ripe mashed bananas (approximately 3 large)

1 teaspoon of fresh orange zest (1 medium orange)

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 cup chopped rhubarb

Prework & Tools for the job

  • Stoneware Mini bread loaf pan
  • Cooking spray the pan with canola oil spray
  • Preheat oven 350 degrees

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, pie spice, and baking powder. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl hand whisk together mashed bananas, orange zest, vanilla,& honey. Add one egg at a time and caution not to over mix. Lastly fold in the rhubard. 

3. Place scant 1 cup into each bread vessel. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes. Test the bread using toothpick method. 

4. Allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes in pan and then gently remove loaves from pan and allow to cool on wire rack. 

This bread is super moist you will not believe there is no oil or butter. 



Apple Cider and Honey Biscuits

October is here which means fall is in full swing. I love the fall colors and harvest.  Apple butter is one of my favorite things to make with local fresh apples and if I am lucky my grandfather’s apples from his orchard.

The combination of apple and cinnamon simmering is purely divine to me. Nothing says home and comfort like some freshly made baked treats with mother natures resources.

Happy Fall!!

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Recipe yields: 16 small biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoons of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon of apple pie spice

1/3 cup of cold unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of pure honey

3/4 cup of apple cider 100%

1-2 tablespoons, scant skim milk for brushing

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter & honey until mixture resembles sand like texture. Stir in cider just until moist.  Place batter onto a lightly heavily floured surface and knead 4 times.
  2. Roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a 2 inch. biscuit cutter. Place on parchment paper lined  half sheet baking pan.
  3. Brush with milk and plan in preheated oven at 425 degrees
    for 10  minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with apple butter.

Pumpkin Pecan French Toast


We had a sleepover last night with my nephew, sister-in-law & her boyfriend. I wanted to make a fall breakfast and this cannot be anymore fallish with puréed pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice!

The original recipe called for 8 eggs and I swapped out those for liquid egg whites to cut some of the fat.

This recipe yields 12 servings 

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of whole wheat bread (dried)

1 1/2 cups of liquid egg whites

1 Tablesppon of pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups of pumpkin purée

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup

Topping:

2 tablespoon of raw sugar

1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup chopped finely pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cooking spray 9 by 13 baking dish & set aside.

3. Cube up bread into 1 inch pieces & scatter in greased 9 by 13 pan. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl whisk egg whites,vanilla,spice, pumpkin purée, and maple syrup. Pour over bread and mix to coat well. Set aside.

5. In a small bowl mix butter, sugar, pecans,and flour. Sprinkle evenly over bread.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack until ready to serve.

7. If your guests would like they can  always add Extra Maple Syrup.

Enjoy!

 

Nutrition Label:

nutrition-facts-label-for-pumpkin-french-toast