Apple Banana Bread

We took the kids apple picking last weekend, and I couldn't wait to start baking with our selection!  My husband has been asking for an apple pie, and I'll get there, but I needed something easy to do that first night.

I loved this recipe because it gave me a use for some of the bananas in my freezer.  It was nice and sweet and made a great breakfast the next morning.

Apple Banana Bread

very slightly adapted from cooks.com

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 stick butter
  
• 3 ripe bananas
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
  
• 2 c. flour
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 or 3 peeled, chopped apples
  

Beat sugar, eggs and butter. Slice in bananas. Let mixer do the mashing. Add baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon, and flour. Fold in chopped apples. Fill greased and floured bread pans 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

American Sandwich Bread

I am very slowly breaking my way into the yeast world. The hamburger rolls were a relative success, and I decided to try another of Annie's recipes. After work the other day, I headed into the kitchen to make her American Sandwich Bread.


Though there are a lot of steps, this was really easy and didn't require much work for me at all (yay for stand mixers!!). And my house smelled so fantastic while it was baking!

I do think that it wasn't as light and airy as it could have been; perhaps too much mixing? But it was still really good, and I'm pretty damned proud of myself.


Ingredients

• 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup warm whole milk (about 110°)
• 1/3 cup warm water (about 110°)
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 1 envelope (about 2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200°. Once the oven temperature reaches 200°, maintain the heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the oven.

Mix 3 ½ cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix the milk, water, butter, honey and yeast in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the liquid. When the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and satiny, stopping the machine two or three times to scrape dough from the hook, if necessary, about 10 minutes. (After 5 minutes of kneading, if the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time and up to ¼ cup total, until the dough is no longer sticky.) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead to form a smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.

Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl, rubbing the dough around the bowl to coat lightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warmed oven until the dough has doubled in size, about 40-50 minutes.

On a floured work surface, gently press the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches. With a long side facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap; set aside in a warm spot until the dough almost doubles in size, 20-30 minutes.

Keep one oven rack at the lowest position and place the other at the middle position and heat the oven to 350°. Place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack. Bring two cups of water to boil in a small saucepan. Pour the boiling water into the empty pan on the bottom rack and set the loaf onto the middle rack. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted at an angle from the short end just above the pan rim into the center of the loaf reads 195°, 40-50 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.

Homemade Hamburger Rolls

A miracle occurred in my kitchen this past weekend; I decided to face my fear of yeast.

I've been seeing yeast-iful recipes on my reader for ages but never had the nerve to try them. Finally, I found this recipe for hamburger rolls on Annie's Eats. Luckily, I somehow failed to notice her note about not recommending this to an inexperienced yeaster like myself; I never would have attempted this otherwise!

I do absolutely agree with her observation, however, that I needed to add more flour than the recipe calls for. I also wish I had kept them in the oven for a bit longer; I took them out right at 15 minutes. They did have that golden color, but they look more like dinner rolls and less like hamburger rolls.

They were still damn yummy, though, and I just might never buy hamburger rolls again!


Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast
• ¼ cup warm water (105°-115°)
• 1 cup warm milk (105°-115°)
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 to 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. cold water
• sesame, poppy or caraway seeds, or coarse salt, for topping

Directions:

In a bowl of an electric mixer, dissolve the sugar and then the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, oil, salt and 1 ½ cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. Gradually add flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Switch to the dough hook and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough, about 7-9 minutes.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough in oil. Cover with a tightly-woven dampened towel and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Working with oiled hands, divide the dough into 9 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, and flatten into 3 ½ -inch disks. For soft-sided buns, place them on a well-seasoned baking sheet a half-inch apart so they will grow together when they rise. For crisper bun, place them three inches apart.

Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

15 minutes before you want to bake the buns, preheat the oven to 400°. Just before baking, brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with any desired toppings.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 190°. When the buns are done, remove them from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.

* Note: This particular dough should be quite slack, i.e. very relaxed in order to make soft and tender buns. So you want to add only enough more flour, past the 3 cup point, to make the dough just kneadable, sprinkling in only enough more to keep it from sticking to you or the work surface.

Garlic Cresent Rolls

This really doesn't need a recipe, but I am so not the type to think of things on my own, so when I do? I gotta go with it.

I had a tube of crescent rolls in my fridge and felt like some bread with the Baked Gnocchi. I thought about it and improvised, and voila!


Ingredients

• 1 tube crescent rolls
• Butter
• Minced garlic (I used jarred)
• Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven according to the tube and unroll the dough. Spread butter across each roll - as much or as little as you'd like.

Add a small blob of garlic on each roll and then roll up. Sprinkle the tops with the Italian seasoning and back according to the directions.

Stuffed French Toast

On Saturday, my friends from the cooking board came over for a brunch get-together (more about that later). My contribution was a delicious Stuffed French Toast, courtesy of Ellie Krieger.

For the most part, I kept the recipe in tact except for two minor changes: I left the crusts on, and I used cream cheese where she used ricotta. Cream cheese just seemed to be a better choice for me!

I really thought this recipe was not only easy, but also delicious. I can definitely see making this on a regular basis!


Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups nonfat milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 8 slices of whole-wheat sandwich bread
  
• 1 (8-ounce) container strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 4 teaspoons bittersweet chocolate chips
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Set aside.

Place 1 tablespoon of cream cheese in the center of 4 of the pieces of bread and spread around slightly. Top with about 6 slices of strawberries and a teaspoon of chocolate chips. Cover each with another piece of bread to make a "sandwich".

Spray a large nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and preheat. Carefully dip each of the "sandwiches" into the egg mixture until completely moistened. Then place on the skillet and cook over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the outside is golden brown and the center is warm and chocolate is melted.

Transfer to serving places. Top with remaining strawberries and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Double-Chocolate Banana Pound Cake

I think that this bread was God's way of telling me that I need to stop baking and cease making my ass so fat.

I was looking for some kind of cakey bread to bring to work, and this one from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody seemed perfect. It looked easy enough, and Ryan was more than happy to be my little helper.


My first clue to stop should have been when I decided to get creative. I thought that I would add some cinnamon-sugar to the top, and then maybe another handful of chocolate chunks.

I was happily (and LIBERALLY) sprinkling the cinnamon-sugar when I had to stop to think about the smell. I suddenly smelled a very strong, very smoky, very distinctive odor. But why would my preheating oven smell like cumin?

Well, as I'm sure you can guess, yes, I grabbed the wrong container from my spice shelf and sprinkled a ton of CUMIN all over my precious bread. I grabbed a spoon and started slicing away at the top layer, determined to get it all off. (Thank GOD I didn't sprinkle on the chocolate chunks - I would have been PISSED if I'd have wasted all that chocolate!)

I'm not really sure what caused problem #2, but my cake completely and totally fell apart as I tried to gracefully slip it out of the pan. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves...



I gotta say, though, crumbly or not, this was some damn tasty bread... once I got the cumin out, of course. :)

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup mascarpone cheese
• 6 ounce unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp cinnamon (the recipe didn't say how much to use - I guessed!)
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 fully ripe bananas, pureed
• ½ cup white chocolate, chopped into chunks
• ½ cup chocolate covered toffee pieces (if you can’t find, chop up a Heath or Skor bar) (I just used plain old chocolate chips)
  

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9-x-5-3-inch loaf pan. I used 4 mini loaves.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the sour cream and mascarpone cheese in a small bowl and set aside.

Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter with the cinnamon on high speed until soft and creamy, about 1 minute. Slowly add the sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, beating continuously on high speed. It should take 5 to 10 minutes to add the sugar. The mixture should be light, fluffy and creamy white in color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the eggs, one at a time. Be sure each egg is completely incorporated and scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the next.

Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat until it is just incorporated. Add one third of the mascarpone cheese mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add the flour and mascarpone mixture in two more additions, mixing until addition is incorporated before adding the next. Fold in the bananas, white chocolate chunks, and toffee pieces.

Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. If using mini loaves, fill 2/3 of the way full and bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and set on rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Will keep for one week in fridge or 3 weeks in freezer.

Source: Adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Brooke for making this bread and blogging about it, thus bringing it into my life.

I love pumpkin, and though it's available in canned form year-round, something seems a bit "off" when you try to use it outside of autumn!

Funny, unrelated pumpkin story: I looove pumpkin. Love it. So every year I am so excited when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice latte. And every year I giddlily skip into the store and order a venti, nonfat. And...

Every year I remember that I hate the pumpkin latte.

Oh well.

Anyway, this bread was SO easy to make, and it smelled amazing in the oven. And the taste? To die for. Even my pumpkin-hating husband ate two slices!

I brought one of the loaves to my in-laws' house and kept the other one here; I am sure it won't last very long, though!

Oh, and Brooke was right about the 32-servings-is-a-crock thing. Who slices their loaves into sixteen slices? Crazy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield32 servings (serving size: 1 slice)Nutritional InformationCALORIES 152(30% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 10mg; SODIUM 137mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.5g

Amish Friendship Bread

My good friend Brooke gave me a baggie last week with goo in it and told me to make bread. At first I had NO idea what she was talking about... but she explained that it's a "starter" bag for Amish Friendship Bread. Awesome!


So I kept the bag on the counter and followed the directions to the letter. I squeezed, I added ingredients, I let out air... and I didn't let the yeasty smell deter me. Nor was I put off by Pat's questions about the "goo," or my mom asking me why I had a "bag of slime" on my counter.



Well, let's just say (again) that if I didn't already adore Brooke, I sure would now. This bread is just so obnoxiously delicious that I am tempted to not give away my new three bags and keep them all to myself!!

(PS - Brooke is FAMOUS!)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Combine the ingredients in a large deep glass or plastic pitcher and cover tightly. Store at room temperature and stir every day with a wooden spoon for 17 days.

On day 18 do nothing.

On days 19, 20 and 21 stir.

On day 22, stir and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir again.

On days 23, 24, 25 and 26 stir.

On day 27 add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. You will now have 4 cups of starter.

Give three friends 1 cup each of the starter, with the below instructions, and keep one for yourself to bake your bread!

Amish Friendship Bread
Helpful Hints: Do NOT refrigerate the mixture! Do not use metal spoons or bowls for mixing. If the bag puffs with air, let it out.

Day 1 - receive the start

Day 2-4 - squeeze the bag

Day 5 - add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk to the bag; squeeze to mix

Day 6-9 - squeeze the bag

Day 10 - baking day! Squeeze the bag, the pour the batter into a glass bowl. To the batter add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk and mix with a wooden spoon. Fill three gallon sized Ziploc bags with 1 cup batter each and give the bags to three friends with a copy of this recipe.

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add the following:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Grease two loaf pans and coat the pans with cinnamon sugar. Divide the batter between the loaf pans and top with more cinnamon sugar. Bake for 1 hour. Cool loaves in pans for 10 minutes before removing.

Barefoot Bloggers: Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread

Not only am I several days late in posting this recipe for Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread, I'm also committing another blog sin - no photo!! My batteries were charging when I made this, and by the time they were ready to go, there were only crumbs left. I didn't think anyone would want a picture of crumbs...

Anyway, this is my third (I think?) BB recipe, and so far, my least favorite. I am not a big jalepeno fan to begin with, and I just didn't really love this one. As far as cornbread goes, let me plug Brooke's cornbread - super yum!!

I did, however, really like the flavor of the scallions on top, so I might try to mesh that (and the cheese topping) with the ones I linked above.

Sorry Ina - I never thought I would not like one of your recipes...!

(I halved this recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
• 8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
• 3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers
  

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Corn Muffins

I really have to be in the mood for cornbread. I am not usually a fan; when we go to Boston Market or something, Pat is always snatching my little pieces, and I am happy to see them go.

Lately, though, I've kind of wanted it... and when I saw this recipe for muffins on Brooke's site, I starred it for later use. Today, I was totally feeling the cornbread, had all the ingredients, and went for it.

Not only was this good, but it was FAST. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make! And though it pains me to admit this, I ate three. And pieces of a fourth.

*hangs head in shame*

This is a recipe that is sure to make future appearances in my kitchen!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

WC Recipe Exchange: Banana Bread

See? Now THIS is why I love the What's Cooking? board.

I entered, for the second time, the recipe exchange. You submit a recipe of your own, and you get "assigned" someone else's to make and blog about. This time, the theme was "Family Recipes."

I would never, ever have thought to put pineapple in banana bread. And making it with Bisquick?? That is PERFECT for a not-very-great-baker like me. The woman running the exchange must know me very well. :)


I had this loaf in the oven in no time. Seriously. I preheated the oven, started the bread, and I was done before the oven was ready. And my oven is quick.

The only addition I made to this recipe was to sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. Really, what CAN'T be improved with the addition of some chocolate chips??

This was DELICIOUS. I will for sure make this again. My husband and son LOVED it; Ryan even cried when "his" piece was gone. THANK YOU for a wonderful addition to my files!!


Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 over-ripe mashed bananas
• 2 cups Bisquick
• Small can crushed pineapple, mostly drained

Beat first 3 ingredients until fluffy. Add bananas and blend. Add last 2 ingredients and beat until mixed well. Put in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is best served warm with a pat of butter.