Category Archives: Bread

Dutch Oven Homemade Bread

This time of year is my favorite time to bake in the kitchen. The air is crisp and I often spend most my weekend mornings trying new recipes and baking. As the weather starts to get cooler outside that means I can bake more to heat up the house. I love the smell of fresh homemade bread permeating throughout the house. I do believe Yankee Candle even makes a candle with this fragrance but nothing compares to the actual process of baking.

Fresh homemade bread seems to complete a Sunday dinner at our house. I always remember my mom having an Italian loaf with every Sunday family dinner. My husband’s mom also always had Italian bread from a local bread bakery with all her supper meals she prepared which makes it all more nostalgic for my husband and I.

I made this Dutch-oven bread the other day with pork tenderloin in the slow cooker. It paired really well with parsley potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (bath water temp; 80° F–90° F)

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

3 ½-4 cups bread flour

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil for coating

Prework: Preheat oven to 500 degrees with large Dutch-oven in the oven.

Directions:

Place warm water, honey, salt, & yeast in a glass measuring vessel. Let the yeast proof (becomes foamy) for 5 minutes (if the yeast does not grow, throw it out).
In the meantime portion out the flour in a large electric mixer mixing bowl. Start with the 3.5 cups and add more (1/4 cup at time), continue to add if dough is too sticky. Once the yeast has proofed add the yeast water mixture to the flour and on low speed with dough hook attachment knead the dough until the dough forms a ball. This should only take a few minutes.
Remove dough from hook and knead with hands on a lightly floured surface to form into ball.
Place evenly one tablespoon of olive oil on the outside of the dough. Place dough ball back in the mixing bowl and cover with a clean cloth towel on top of the preheating oven. You may be tempted to use plastic wrap however trust me use a cloth towel this will allow the dough to breath.
Allow to dough to double in size this should take 45 to 60 minutes. Which works out perfectly because you want your Dutch-oven hot. The Dutch oven should be in the oven at 500 degrees for at least an hour. Don’t skip this step.
Once the dough is ready place on parchment paper and cut a few slits on the top surface of the loaf with sharp knife. This method will allow the steam to escape.
With oven mitts remove the lid from Dutch oven and place bread in center of the baking vessel. Using oven mitts cover with the lid. Decrease the oven temperature 400 degrees and bake the bread for 45 minutes. Do not peek, trust the Dutch oven.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack before slicing into.

Pumpkin Bread with Flaxseed

My wonderful neighbors brought us over some sugar pumpkins!

Which means I need to get to roasting & baking! Tonight I actually made pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread to start us into fall! Okay we still have a few more days of summer left and I am holding onto those a days.

This recipe yields 6 mini loaves of you use 1 cup of batter per loaf vessel.
Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/2 cup egg substitute

1 tsp high quality pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 canola oil

1/2 cup milled flaxseed

1 & 3/4 cup sugar

2 packets of Vanilla Sugar free fat free pudding mix ( I uses one sf ff cheesecake & one vanilla)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup ap flour

2 cups of fresh roasted pumpkin purée (or 1 can of puréed pumpkin)

Predirections: preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease up with cooking spray bread vessels.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin purée, eggs, egg substitute, & oil. Set aside.

2. In a separtate bowl mix together pudding dry mix, flours, sugars, salt, & baking soda.

3. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry using a whisk to fully incorporate. Make sure no dry residue remains.

4. Measure out 1 cup of batter into each mini pan loaf. I use my stonewear pampered chef 4 mini vessels per pan.

5. Bake for 40 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out clean.

6. Remove from pan and allow to cool before slicing into.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

I have made this recipe about a half of a dozen times and it never lasts more than a day. We are having a cookout today and my mom is making ribs! I thought this would pair good with some BBQ! All I can say is move over jiffy !

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup cornmeal ( we bought ours from a local farm)

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

6 TB unsalted room temp butter, chopped into 6 chunks

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 TB chopped pickled jalapeño (we pickled ours last year)

1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese blend

2 eggs

Predirections: preheat oven to 400 degrees and cooking my spray a 9 by 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Directions:

1. Place flour, cornmeal, salt, baking soda, & sugar in s medium bowl and mix well to incorporate all ingredients. Set aside

2. In a stand mixer bowl place butter in medium speed with paddle attachment. Whip for 2 minute until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and start to add in some of the flour about a 3rd of the total amount. Then add in 1/3 of the buttermilk. Make sure to decrease the speed of the mixer to low while adding in the flour. Continue alternating flour and buttermilk minutes until everything is incorporated.

3. Add in chives, jalapeño, green onions, and cheese. Fold additional ingredients to incorporate.

4. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Spread the batter evenly and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

Hot Pepper & Cheese Bread

One of my husband’s favorite foods is pizza. I love bread so this is the perfect marriage of the two. This a super quick recipe but very satisfying. I also love this recipe because I get to use the canned peppers we grew last year in the garden. See the link below for the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup canned hot peppers in oil

1/3 cup chopped pepperoni

4 cloves of chopped garlic

1/2 cup yellow bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup black olives diced

1/4 cup green onion chopped

1 TB pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning

1/2 cup Asiago cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or Italian blend reduced fat

1 tablespoon canolia oil ( I used the oil from the canned peppers)

Cornmeal for dusting

Optional marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

1.In a small bowl place yeast in warm water and left proof for 5 minutes. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl mix AP flour, sugar, & salt.

3. Pour yeast mixture over flour mixture and mix with wooden spoon until combined. The dough will be sticky. Sprinkle pepperoni, peppers, olives, cheese, garlic, green onion, and pizza seasoning over top the dough and using hands fold the ingredients into the dough until incorporated.

4. Cover the dough in the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for one hour.

5. After one hour has elapsed place in refrigerator and allowed to continue to rise for one hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 450°. Dust pizza stone with cornmeal to prevent dough from sticking. Place dough on pizza stone in a rectangle form approximately 11 by 17 inches.

7. Brush dough with canolia oil. Bake for 30 to 32 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy !

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

bananas rarely go bad at this house! I eat one daily and if they start to get too ripe, I freeze them for banana “ice cream”. My husband made the comment those bananas look like banana bread bananas so I took that literally and started baking.

Ingredients

4 medium bananas (pealed and mashed)
1 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup Ap flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 TB ground flax seed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray with cooking spray 4 mini bread loaf pans. Set aside.
Mash bananas in a large bowl until almost puréed consistency.
Add oil, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla.
Add one egg at a time.
Mix after each addition until incorporated. I used the fork I used to mash the bananas.
In a separate bowl whisk flours, salt, baking powder, flaxseed until mixed throughout.
Add dry ingredients to wet.
Mix to fully incorporate. Make sure no dry residue remains.
If you are going to add the additional peanuts now is the time. Fold them gently into the batter.
Place in prepared bread tins and spread batter evenly. Each vessel of the pampered chef stone mini bread loaf pan allows for scan 2 cups of batter.
Shake pan to settle the bread in the pan.
Place in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until tooth comes out clean.

Spiced Banana Zucchini Mini Loaves

I still have zucchini leftover from the fall harvest and I had some really ripe bananas that were just about to be placed in the freezer for a sweet treat.
But instead I decided to combined the two for a quick bread.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cup ap flour
2 ripe small/medium bananas mashed
2 cups of shredded zucchini (no need to peel)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp mace
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 egg
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 TB milled flaxseed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powered
1 tsp ground Vietnamese cinnamon
2 tsp pure Mexican vanilla extract

Yields: 4 mini loaves and 12 mini muffins.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray with cooking spray 4 mini loaf molds. Set aside.

2. Place sugar, mashed banana, zucchini, egg, egg substitute, sugars, vanilla in large bowl. Whisk to incorporate.

3. In a separate bowl mix spices, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, baking powder, & flours.

4. Add dry ingredients into wet. Mix with whisk to blend all dry into wet batter.

5. Place scant 1 1/2 cups of batter into each mini loaf vessel.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Let sit in molds for 5 minutes remove and allow to cool on wire rack for remainder of cooking process.

8. For mini muffins , use size 60 scoop and portion batter evenly in tins. Bake for 11 minutes on 325 or until toothpick comes out clean.

Wrap up in parchment paper and use festive string to decorate as gifts!

Whole Wheat Rhubarb Almond Bread

Spring time means rhubarb season! This year my very own rhubarb plants are producing rhubarb stalks. I’m very excited to start baking with this vegetable!

This morning I ended up baking rhubarb mini loaves! This is the second recipe on rhubarb bread on this blog. I tried to decrease some of the calories with this one.

I just love the way fresh rhubarb looks so colorful!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 TB milled flaxseed
1 tsp high quality cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 Cardamon pod ground
1 cup fat free butter milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cup chopped rhubarb ( frozen is okay just make sure to thaw it first)
1/3 cup slivered almonds
Cinnamon sugar optional
Cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Set aside.

In a large bowl mix oil, flaxseed, and sugar with a whisk.

Add vanilla, egg, substitute and buttermilk.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, Cardamon, and baking soda.

Pour the dry ingredients into the liquid batter.

Whisk together once combined fold in rhubarb.

Fold in almonds.

Fold until batter is fully incorporated.

Scoop 1 cup of batter into mini bread pans and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and remove.

Enjoy!

Cornbread Muffins Gluten Free

My husband’s mom is cutting the gluten out of her diet. Last weekend we were fortunate to have them over for supper after the hockey game. Making gluten-free options is easier than you might think. Traditionally cornbread is made without all-purpose flour (which contains gluten). Since this recipe does not contain any gluten and is made with cornmeal it yields a denser product. The buttermilk makes these muffins very moist. I think next time I might add some pickled jalapeno for an extra kick.

Ingredients
1/4 cup of egg substitute
1 tablespoon of raw sugar or honey
2 cups of yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk (preferably fat-free)
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 of a small onion finely grated
3 tablespoons of canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare 12 muffin tins
with paper liners and spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Place cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix until combined.

Add butter milk and egg substitute .

Whisk until Incorporated however be careful not to overmix.

Fold in grated onion.

Using a heaping size 16 scoop to perfectly portion your muffins place into the prepared tins.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool in tin for one minute.

Enjoy ! This recipe goes well with my Mom’s chili http://www.apinchofluv.com/wordpress/?s=Chili&submit=Search

Nutrition Facts Corn Bread Muffins Gluten Free
12 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories		106.5

Total Fat		2.4 g

	Saturated Fat	0.4 g

	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.7 g

	Monounsaturated Fat	1.0 g

Cholesterol		1.2 mg

Sodium		146.1 mg

Potassium		146.7 mg

Total Carbohydrate		18.8 g

	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g

	Sugars	1.6 g

Protein		3.2 g


Vitamin A	1.0 %

Vitamin B-12	1.1 %

Vitamin B-6	3.6 %

Vitamin C	0.6 %

Vitamin D	0.0 %

Vitamin E	2.0 %

Calcium	5.5 %

Copper	2.1 %

Folate	1.7 %

Iron	4.2 %

Magnesium	7.3 %

Manganese	5.2 %

Niacin	3.8 %

Pantothenic Acid	1.7 %

Phosphorus	10.5 %

Riboflavin	5.2 %

Selenium	5.4 %

Thiamin	5.9 %

Zinc	3.3 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Homemade Beer Bread

Everyone knows I love Penzey’s Spices! I received their quarterly catalog, Winter 2014, last week. I always at least make 2 to 3 recipes out of the magazine. I’m never disappointed! This beer bread recipe is on page 25 or on Penzey’s website. I decreased the butter amount significantly! Yikes the original was a little out of line with using 1/2 a stick.

Ingredients:
3 cups of AP Flour
1 1/2 TB kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 TB sugar
1/2 tsp dried Basil
1 12 oz bottle of light beer (room temperature)

Topping: optional

2 TB melted butter
1/4 tsp ground granulated garlic powder

Makes 12 slices of bread

Preheat oven to 350 degree and spray with cooking spray a 5 by 9″ bread pan.

2. Place in large bowl flour, salt, baking soda, Basil, and sugar.

3. Mix together using spatula. Add beer.

4. Mix together to incorporate dry and wet ingredients. Be careful not to over mix.

5. Add wet batter to cooking sprayed bread pan.

6. Bake for an hour to an hour in 5 minutes.

7. Set bread in pan on wire rack. And take butter in a small dish and melt in microwave mix garlic in. Brush garlic butter on warm bread. Add as much or as little as you would like

Let cool and cut into slices.

Enjoy!

Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

This year I was assigned the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving! I always like to try a new recipe and I am always trying to add wheat flour to traditional recipes. But I like to add the whole grain flour in small doses because not everyone likes the nutty flavor of wheat.

This recipe yields 3 dozen rolls.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cup warm skim milk (not hot it will kill the yeast)
4 1/2 tsp yeast (2 packets)
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB kosher salt
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs (farm fresh or egglands best)
6 cups of AP (all purpose flour)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 TB honey

Directions:

Place the yeast in the half cup of water and allow to foam ( the process can take up to 5 minutes)

If the yeast doesn’t foam you have bad yeast and throw it away and buy new.

Combine milk, sugar, honey , salt in a separate bowl and stir to dissolve.

Place milk mixture, yeast mixture, along with shortening,eggs, 1 cup of flour and beat until smooth with whisk attachment.

Add remaining flours (save 1/2 cup to add gradually and also for when you knead onto hard surface).

Using stand mixer knead with dough hook for 5 to 10 minutes on medium speed (gradually work your way up to medium if not flour will go everywhere!)

Remove from mixer once the dough no longer sticks to sides of bowl.

Lay the dough on a clean lightly floured surface.

And knead by hand for a minute until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and roll dough in the bowl to cover with the dough completely with the oil. Place parchment paper in top of the dough with a warm damp cloth.

Allow the dough to rise in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or go straight to allowing the dough to rise for 1 hour and form into shape desired for roll. Form dough into large grape sized balls and cover with plastic wrap and let rise again for another hour. As shown I divided them into 3 balls and placed in cooking sprayed muffin tins to rise.

They should double in size before baking.

Preheat oven to 375. Place oven rack in center of oven.

Bake for 14 to 15 minutes.

Let cool in place for 5 minutes and serve.

These go well with canned hot peppers or apple butter!

A Pinch of Luv

from scratch baking and cooking blog

Category Archives: Bread

Dutch Oven Homemade Bread

Pumpkin Bread with Flaxseed

Jalapeno Corn Bread

Hot Pepper & Cheese Bread

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Spiced Banana Zucchini Mini Loaves

Whole Wheat Rhubarb Almond Bread

Cornbread Muffins Gluten Free

Homemade Beer Bread

Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls