Gluten Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

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Oh Sweet Mercy

Breakfast today was very pumpkiny. Pumpkin smoothies and these amazingly delicious Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins I found on food.com. The poster of the recipe says they are like Starbucks, but honestly it's been so long since I've had one I can't remember well enough what they taste like to say how true that claim is. You'll just have to make them and decide for yourself. Or, just make them anyway because they are really, really good.

 I used the gluten free all purpose flour from C. C. Dolch that I used to make that amazing cornbread the other night, and was not at all disappointed (other than the batter was rather bitter, but the muffins were not bitter at all after they baked). I'm not sure what made it bitter, I'm just guessing it was the flour since I've made pumpkin muffins before going GF and the batter was never bitter. Yes, I sneak a taste of batter with raw eggs in it. Been doing it all my life. Started off with licking the beaters when I was a kid...you know how that goes...at least if you grew up in the 70's and 80's or before people got all freaked out about raw eggs.

I will definitely make them again, and if I'd thought of it when I was making them I would have added ground flax for the extra nutrition. Please see the chef's notes for tweaks, as I made a few.  They really bake up nice with the C. C. Dolch gluten free flour, I think I've found my "forever (GF) flour"! I am not getting any kickbacks for promoting their flour, I am just really, really happy with it and can heartily recommend it!

(Gluten Free) Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins 

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c gluten free all purpose flour, I recommend C. C. Dolch's
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum, if your flour does not already contain it
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 pinch cardamom (optional, but I added it...probably 1/8 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 c sucanat, or sweetener of your choice
• 1 c pumpkin
• 5/8 c light olive oil
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tsp vanilla, divided...more or less to your taste
• 2-3 Tb powdered sugar or sweetener of your choice
• nuts or seeds (such as pecans, walnuts, pumpkin or sunflower) if desired for topping
• demerara sugar for topping, if desired

method:

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla until well combined. Using a piece of wax or parchment paper, form cream cheese mixture into a long log (you'll need 12 slices, one for each muffin). Place in the freezer at least half an hour before starting to mix your muffin batter.

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together gluten free all purpose flour, xanthan gum (if using) and spices. Whisk in salt, baking soda and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, oil, pumkin and remaining vanilla. Mix pumpkin mixture and dry ingredients until combined, being sure not to over mix...a few lumps are fine. 

Fill muffin cups half full. Remove cream cheese log from freezer and slice into 12 pieces. Push one piece into the batter in each muffin cup. Top with nuts and sugar, if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin (not the cream cheese center) comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Be very careful, the cream cheese filling is very hot.

Chef's Notes:

The original recipe called for white sugar, which I try not to use any more than I have to. And vegetable oil. I would have used coconut oil but just didn't feel like melting it. I also didn't really measure it (5/8 of a cup...yeah), but eyeballed it. I should also note that the measurements above are half of the original recipe as well. The vanilla is also an addition, but if you know me at all you know I put vanilla in everything, especially since I learned how to make my own vanilla that is out of this world good. I didn't have allspice, and since the substitute for that is cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in equal parts, I just did heaping-ish measurements of those spices. 

Visit the original recipe on food.com and read through the reviews. Some people thought they were too spicy, some not spicy enough. Some added cocoa powder. Even though I "winged" it on the spices, I found it to be nicely spiced but not overpowering the pumpkin. The original recipe said to just use plain cream cheese, but many said it needed sweetening and I knew I would prefer it that way. I think next time I will mix the cream cheese with maple syrup instead of powdered sugar. I love maple, nuts and pumpkin together. 

Be sure to get that cream cheese in the freezer at least half an hour before you're going to need to slice it. I didn't, and didn't want to wait any longer so I just went ahead and cut it and it was very messy. It needs to be fairly solid, but not necessarily like an ice cube.

This could also be made with regular flour. The C. C. Dolch flour is substitutable at a 1:1 ratio so no adjustments in flour measurements should be needed.

The Best Cornbread Ever...Seriously!

My husband is not as "into" food as I am. Food is just something you have to have to live, nothing to get excited about, really...at least for him anyway. I'm just the opposite...it's not just something you have to have to live, it's something to experience. Being a very sense-oriented person means that every aspect of a bite of something to eat is experienced...the way it looks, smells, and feels is just as important as how it tastes. 

If my husband says something is "very good", that is akin to receiving a Michelin Star in my book.  I've learned to not get offended if I just get an "it's good" or "it's OK" when I ask him how supper was. It's just not a big deal to him. I've also learned to relish those rare "very good" compliments and strive to get them more often.

This little number below really surprised me because it garnered a "wow this is really good" (a wordier version of the Very Good), which really amazed me because my husband does not particularly like cornbread. I'm not really crazy about it myself, although alongside a hearty bowl of chili or bean soup it's simply amazing, or can be anyway. I've been looking for "the" cornbread recipe and I think I've found it in this Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins recipe from The Baking Beauties, a site I plan to further explore as the tagline reads "gluten free recipes for everyday living."  While I like a good corn muffin, I just didn't feel like washing my muffin pan so I baked it in my lovely cast iron skillet. Mmmmmm. One of these days I'm going to get a cast iron muffin pan...

I loved this cornbread because it was moist, not dry and crumbly, and just had an amazing flavor. I used butter, "homemade" buttermilk (aka emergency buttermilk because I had none on hand...the old vinegar in milk trick), butter, and gluten free all purpose flour by C.C. Dolch Bakery. It contains millet, white rice and tapioca flours, tapioca starch and xanthan gum. I've been very happy with this flour so far.

GLUTEN FREE CORNBREAD MUFFINS (or cornbread, if you feel lazy)

ingredients:

• 1/2 c butter
• 2/3 c sugar (or less if you want)
• 2 eggs
• 1 c buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 c cornmeal
• 1 c gluten free flour 
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt

method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan and set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in sugar.
3. Add eggs and stir to combine.
4. Stir in buttermilk.
5. Add dry ingredients, and stir until few lumps remain.
6. Scoop into prepared muffin tin. (or pour into greased, preheated cast iron skillet)
7. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (30-40 minutes if using a skillet or baking dish instead of muffin pan)
8. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Best served warm.

chef's notes:

I used my favorite and trusty cast iron skillet in which I put about a tablespoon of beef tallow and put in the oven while it was preheating. It baked for about 35-40 minutes and turned out with a lovely crust, a little brown on top, and ooooh so yummy. The only change I would make is to omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe because my all purpose flour already contained it. This is one recipe I don't feel the need to tinker with! Although I could see myself adding cheese or chilies or something like that some time, but honestly it's just perfect like it is.

BREAD! BROWNIES! Oh My...

One of the things that I mourned at the thought of HAVING to be gluten free (instead of just choosing...very different, you see...) was bread. There is nothing so comforting as the smell of a delicious, yeasty wheat bread baking in the oven and filling the house with wheaty, carbolicious joy. And, God has given me a gift with bread making...I can usually turn out a pretty mean loaf. Then there's cookies, pies, biscuits...sigh...

Of course, I have been searching online for easy, tasty GF recipes and the two I tried today did not disappoint. In fact, I was quite impressed with the GF Sandwich Bread from Serious Eats. Seriously. I read through all the comments and the only changes I made were adding a tablespoon of honey (there is no sugar in the recipe, and someone suggested it to make the gf-ness less obvious, especially for someone new to GF eating) and I used whole milk...not a big fan of powdered milk here. I used 1 cup of water and 3/4 cup whole milk. Be sure to read through the directions and comments before making this, if this is the first time you've tried a GF bread. There is a lot of great information there regarding GF baking. I half expected it to flop, since I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to using GF flours, but it was definitely a success and a keeper as far as I'm concerned!

The taste and texture are slightly different than wheat bread, but not in an offensive way. Sister LOVES it, so you know it's good. Mister likes it too (and so does the dog...he dropped a chunk on the floor).  I'm happy that tomorrow, we can have sandwiches for lunch!  Doesn't it look delicious? It looks like real bread!

We were having my mom over this afternoon, and company for dinner so I decided we needed some brownies. I found a great recipe for Gluten, Casein and Soy Free Brownies at the Bob's Red Mill website. I didn't have unsweetened chocolate, so I used the old stand-by substitute of 3 Tbs cocoa and 1 Tbs oil (coconut) and they turned out great! I prefer a fudgey brownie over a cakey one, and this one was nice and fudgey.  The Teenager asked if I made them differently and when I told him I used a gluten free flour he didn't like them. Oh well, his loss...and more for the rest of us! This made a 9 x 13" pan and I cut it into 20-24 brownies, I should have counted but didn't, and only four were left when I cleaned up from supper.  Really now, do you think you could pass these up?

My daughter said today "Well, maybe this gluten free thing won't be so bad after all." Yeah, I think she's right. I don't know why I had my knickers in a bunch now...

Attempted Homicide Biscuits

Have you heard people refer to white flour as White Death Flour? That’s how I’ve come to think of it…but, my family is still rather fond of that stuff.  They eat what’s in the house…and since I’m in charge of all things food, well, they don’t eat a lot of stuff made with that White Death Flour – at least not at home.  And, truth be told, every now and again I get a hankerin’ for some biscuits or tortillas or a nice, thick hunk of white bread fresh out of the oven and kissed with butter.

I made biscuits the other night. Killer biscuits, to be exact. When that descriptor went through my mind, I immediately thought of White Death Flour…BUT, I reasoned, since these biscuits were made from scratch and had raw milk, coconut oil and butter in them…well, they were at least healthier than biscuit mix or those refrigerated cans of dough.  They couldn’t really be classified as killers, could they? Wouldn’t it just be more like attempted murder?

Whatever helps me sleep at night, right?

Strict Real Foodies are probably cringing as they read this. The ones that have banished white flour and sugar completely from their diet…and honestly, I wish I could say that’s where I’m at! I have to emphasize here the Real part of Real Foodie, for me anyway, also includes “being real” about my budget, my time, and my family…and sometimes, well, sometimes we eat stuff I really don’t want to. My family eats what I cook because they’re hungry and their choices are eat that or make your own meal. Which they would, probably, if we had ramen noodles, frozen pizza and blue boxes of mac ‘n cheese in the house.

BUT…making a meal that no one but myself will eat defeats the purpose, too. I certainly don’t have room in my budget for throwing out food, nor do I want to – that is not good stewardship of God’s blessings.  So, I compromise on occasion…and make a loaf of white bread, or pizza dough, or tortillas, or biscuits. We’re still eating healthier versions of store-bought foods, and sometimes that’s just the best we can do. As long as the majority of the time we’re eating better (or the best!) foods, we’re still coming out ahead.

Check out the killer biscuits I made:

Right before baking...click on the pic to see it bigger and you can see the layers

You know that nice looking chunk of dough up there in the first picture? Apparently, there was so much rise on  that biscuit it toppled over!  I think If I had cut them wider, say 6 biscuits instead of 9, they wouldn't have fallen over like they did. But the flaky layers are very evident!

When I was still at home, we loved "flakies" - those refrigerated biscuits with the flaky layers.  I won't buy them now, no matter how cheap they are. They just taste gross to me. Besides, I can make my own flakies  (:

It's all in the technique, the cut and the fat: Don't overwork it while mixing, then FOLD the dough over on itself 5-6 times, don't knead it like the recipes usually say. You can see evidence of the folding in this biscuit. For higher rise on biscuits, USE A SHARP KNIFE OR BISCUIT CUTTER. The right side of this biscuit was the edge of the dough, the left side was cut with a Cutco bread knife...ubersharp! I don't make round biscuits anymore but squares because a knife is sharper than a glass dipped in flour and I get much taller biscuits that way. Sometimes I trim off the edges of the dough and have darned near perfect biscuits. And the fat secret? Most recipes say cut in the fat until it resembles cornmeal, but you actually need small chunks of fat to improve rise and flakiness. You need to leave some pea-sized chunks of fat in the flour. Also make sure the fat is COLD. I also use a baking stone and preheat it in the oven while making the biscuits.

These biscuits not only looked beautiful (in spite of some oddly-shaped ones) but tasted  absolutely divine! If  I'm gonna die from eating white flour, this is the way to go...

No self-respecting biscuit would be caught dead dressed in anything but real, honest to goodness butter...at least not at MY house!

I debated on whether or not to include this recipe, since the "best" results (as far as rise goes, anyway) come from using White Death Flour. But, since I started out on this Real Food journey in baby steps, switching from canned biscuits or biscuit mix to making them from scratch, for example, I decided maybe someone else who is in that same place would like this recipe. I usually make these now with half whole wheat flour...and am journeying into the world of soaked grains...but I still fall back to this recipe when the urge for Death by Biscuit hits.

KILLER BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 c traditional fat (coconut oil, lard, butter or combination)
• 2/3 c milk (raw, whole fat, or buttermilk will work wonderfully)

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 450, throw in your baking stone to preheat if using one. Mix dry ingredients, cut in fat with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs, making sure to have some pea-sized chunks. Add milk and stir gently with a fork just until moistened and the dough will follow the fork around the bowl. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and gently pat into a ball, then press out and fold the dough over onto itself 5 or 6 times. I usually try to shape it into a square or rectangle during this process to eliminate handling it too much before cutting. Using a SHARP knife or biscuit cutter, cut out your biscuits. Place on stone or baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

CHEF'S NOTES: 

It takes practice to get good at doing anything, and baking and cooking are no exceptions. Especially when learning to cook from scratch or learning traditional methods of preparing food...so give yourself some grace if they don't turn out perfectly the first time. Sometimes it's your flour, sometimes it's how you worked the dough, sometimes it's the weather (seriously...humidity will jack up a baking day, trust me!). I've been working on biscuits for over a year now and believe me, I've had some flops. But when they do turn out oh man, there's just nothing like a good homemade biscuit!

Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine)

Why make homemade buns when you can buy them so inexpensively at the store? If you read labels at all, and are put-off by ingredients that you can’t pronounce and would be hard-pressed to locate in your local grocery store, then making them yourself with ingredients that you recognize is a healthy, and satisfying option.

 

I love Money Saving Mom’s website. She recently posted a D-I-Y Experiment  list to work on this year and one of those items on her list was making homemade hamburger buns. She used a recipe a reader posted from Food.com, Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine). I had to make some adjustments in the ingredients, as my bread machine is apparently on the small size, and I used part whole wheat flour, natural sugar, and coconut oil instead of butter.

I was especially intrigued by her technique, which involves rolling the dough out and cutting it with a glass, like to make biscuits. She wasn’t especially thrilled with the shape of them after they rose, and I suggested in a comment to use a sharp biscuit cutter. I’d learned a while back that when making biscuits, you should use a very sharp cutter or knife to get maximum rise – using a dull edge presses down the dough, hindering its ability to rise.  I thought the same might work for the buns.

I conveniently needed hamburger buns for supper tonight so I thought what the heck…why not play around a bit while preparing for tonight’s meal?  I discovered that I do not, in fact, have a biscuit cutter, sharp or otherwise. I’ve always just cut them into squares. So, I rolled the dough out into a rectangle, instead of a circle and used a nice, sharp Cutco bread knife to cut them into squares. They stretched out a bit in the transfer from counter to baking stone, so I smushed them back into a more squarish shape and let them rise.  I was quite pleased with how they looked, kind of like the fancy rolls you can buy at the grocery store.  

 I was afraid they’d get monstrously big in the oven, but they didn’t. They were light and fluffy, overall, I’m very happy with these. I just need to figure out a way to make them round!


HOMEMADE HAMBURGER BUNS (BREAD MACHINE) 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 c milk, slightly warmed
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 Tb butter (or coconut oil)
• 1/4 c sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 3/4 c bread flour
• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

METHOD:

Place ingredients in bread machine according to manufacturer’s directions, set on dough cycle. When cycle is complete, remove dough and place on floured surface. Roll dough out and cut with sharp knife or biscuit cutter. Or use a floured drinking glass for a round shape. Bake at 350, checking after 9 minutes, until golden brown and baked through.

CHEF’S NOTES:

 

I used baking stones to bake these, one a rectangular bar pan with sides and one a round pizza stone. The pan with sides took longer to bake, about 15 minutes, where the round pan only took 12.

I adjusted the recipe using the tool on the food.com recipe site, had to play around a bit to get it to a flour amount that wouldn’t exceed my bread machine’s capacity. I ended up with some weird measurements, which were quickly figured out using the conversion table I downloaded from Carolina Clipper’s site.

These buns turned out great, light and fluffy and delicious. We had them with Mexicali Chicken and Cheese Sandwiches. I think I will cut back on the sugar by about half next time, though, they were just a bit too sweet for my taste. Definitely a keeper recipe and one I look forward to making more often!

Healthy Convenience Food: Breakfast Hot Pockets

Convenience food is not necessarily known for being particularly healthy.  While it's quick and easy and yes, tastes good, in the long run the toll on one's health from subsisting mainly on pre-packaged, processed foods just may not really be worth the time you save in the kitchen at all.

Fortunately for me, I love to cook. However, I also have an extremely busy 2 1/2 year old BOY. As in I can not usually maintain any kind of productive activity for more than 30 seconds at a time because the remainder of each minute requires me to take immediate action to prevent him from destroying something or hurting himself. This makes cooking difficult some days, especially in the morning if Mister doesn't sleep late. As if 7 am is really late, but I'm just sayin'...

I have for some time now wanted to make some healthy (or at least healthier) homemade "convenience foods" to toss in the freezer but just haven't had the time/ingredients/organization/motivation lately. My youngest stepson, who is almost 16 and a football player, has inspired and motivated me to give it a whirl. So, today I whipped up some breakfast hot pockets. They're really rather easy, although as  you'll see below I do need to tweak my technique. They may look strange, but they are pretty tasty! I've always had trouble with this sort of thing...ravioli, those pizza-like things of which I can not remember the name...the dough always ends up too thin in the middle and the stuffing pokes out or leaks out, then the edges are super thick. I think with practice, though, I'll be able to nail it one of these days.

I used my favorite pizza dough recipe for these, it only takes maybe 10 minutes to make...no first and second rise like with bread dough, and it's tasty and has nice texture too. Since my football player was headed out to a game this morning, I decided it would be a great time to try this. I added a bit of Frank's Red Hot to his, because I know he likes that on his eggs.

BREAKFAST HOT POCKETS 

• 1 RECIPE 5 MINUTE PIZZA DOUGH, BELOW
• 6 EGGS
• 1/4 C MILK
• 1 TB SEASON SALT OR TO TASTE
• 1/2 TO 1 LB BACON, SAUSAGE OR OTHER MEAT, COOKED TO YOUR LIKING
• 6 SLICES CHEESE (I USED WHITE AMERICAN)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES. BEAT TOGETHER THE EGGS, MILK AND SEASON SALT AND SCRAMBLE. AFTER MAKING THE DOUGH, SCOOP OUT A BALL THE SIZE OF A LARGE SERVING SPOON OR SO AND PRESS OR ROLL INTO A CIRCLE, MAKING SURE TO NOT GET THE MIDDLE TOO THIN. PLACE CHEESE, TEARING OR CUTTING TO FIT INSIDE THE DOUGH PIECE IF NECESSARY, A SLICE OF BACON (OR A COUPLE TABLESPOONS OF SAUSAGE OR OTHER MEAT), AND A COUPLE TABLESPOONS OF SCRAMBLED EGG ON TOP. CAREFULLY FOLD THE DOUGH OVER AND SEAL THE EDGES. CHECK POCKET TO MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO HOLES FOR THE FILLING TO LEAK OUT WHILE BAKING. PLACE ON BAKING SHEET AND BAKE 20 MINUTES OR UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN. COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE WRAPPING AND FREEZING.

YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET 6 HOT POCKETS OUT OF ONE BATCH OF DOUGH. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE EGGS OR MEAT LEFT OVER, I'M REALLY JUST GUESSING ON THOSE AMOUNTS SINCE I'M A THROW-IT-TOGETHER COOK! I MADE TWO BATCHES, USED A DOZEN EGGS, WITH A SERVING OR TWO LEFT OVER, AND ABOUT A POUND OF BACON.

5 MINUTE PIZZA DOUGH  (REFERS TO HOW LONG IT SITS!)

• 2 1/2 C FLOUR (I USE 2 C BREAD FLOUR, 1/2 C ULTRAGRAIN WHOLE WHEAT
• 2 TB SUGAR (I USE ORGANIC EVAPORATED CANE JUICE)
• 1 tsp SEA SALT
• 1 TB YEAST
• 2 TB OLIVE OIL
• 1 C WARM WATER (105-110 DEGREES)

MIX DRY INGREDIENTS, ADD OIL AND WATER AND MIX UNTIL DOUGH BALL FORMS AND FLOUR IS MOSTLY MIXED IN (DON'T OVERWORK IT OR IT WILL BE TOUGH, IT'S OK FOR A TEASPOON OR SO OF FLOUR TO BE LEFT). SET IN WARM PLACE FOR 5 MINUTES. (FOR PIZZA, PRESS INTO PAN AND ADD TOPPINGS)

 And now for some pictures of my first attempt at these delicious morning goodies:

 Dough ball, this is roughly the size of my palm

 Dough circle...I just press them out but you can roll if you want

 I take a slice of cheese and tear it in half, then put on bacon and eggs. I found putting the bacon on last ends up with bacon poking out of the dough. Not good!

 On this one, I decided to fold each side up to meet in the middle, since folding it over completely, like what commercial hot pockets look like, results in a big hole in the middle. Definitely not good!

 I pinched the dough together, this is the bottom.

 Four pockets ready to bake...notice the variegated forms LOL

 This is the first batch I did. The one in the foreground I used a fork to pinch/seal the edges. I had to do some "repairs" on that one because the filling ended up poking out of some holes.

 Second batch turned out a bit more uniform looking

 Inside...warm, cheesy breakfast goodness! I was afraid the bread-to-filling ratio might be too much, but it was ok. I'm finding it's tricky to get enough filling and be able to cover it all.

My dear friend Mary from church suggested using two circles, like making a pie. Easier to work with...I think also that if I rolled out two dough sheets in a rectangular shape and cut them in rectangles that would also work. She also suggested brushing them with melted butter after them come out of the oven. I'm going to try those suggestions next time!

This is really a a versatile recipe. You can add herbs and seasonings to the dough, use fancy cheeses. You can leave out the meat. You can add veggies or mushrooms. Salsa and jalapenos. Cream cheese flavored with herbs. Or cream cheese and fruit...that sounds great! I'm planning a "baking day" here soon and want to make some with pizza fillings or other sandwich fillings for lunches and suppers too. 

Use the freshest, healthiest ingredients you have or can procure. I know bacon isn't necessarily the healthiest food in the world, but we love it anyway. And the fact that this wasn't loaded with preservatives and other chemicals makes it far more healthy than what you can buy in the store.

So, now I have some quick and easy breakfasts in the freezer. Since I'm trying not to use my microwave these days, I figure I can get a couple out the night before to thaw and then heat them in my cast iron skillet to warm them up. I'm glad I finally got these done!

The Moist Amazing (Blueberry) Banana Bread Ever

While searching for a recipe for blueberry banana bread, I came across this little gem of a recipe. The author at GreatGrub gives credit to Martha Stewart for the "secret ingredient" in this recipe...something I would never have thought of adding to a quick bread. Normally, I find Martha to be rather pretentious, especially considering her stint in prison, but I must say this recipe makes up for that and then some. The result was a delightfully moist and flavorful bread that has far exceeded the many banana breads I have whipped up in years past. I can't wait to make this again!

SUPER MOIST (BLUEBERRY) BANANA BREAD

EQUIPMENT:

• Electric mixer
• Sieve
• Spatula
• 9x5x3 bread loaf pan
• Parchment paper
• Cooling rack
• Preheat oven to 350°F

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ pound (1 stick) butter, unsalted and at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup organic Sucanat sugar, or brown sugar of choice
• 1 ½ cups organic unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup mashed banana, super ripe
• 1 teaspoon Tahitian vanilla extract
• ½ cup sour cream (SECRET INGREDIENT)
• 1/2 cup or more of fresh blueberries (My addition!)

METHOD:

Sieve together the flour, salt and baking soda, then set aside. Cream the butter in the mixer. Once the butter is fluffy, add the sugar and blend the mixture well. Then, add each egg, blending in between. Mix in one third of the dry ingredients and then one third of the banana. Repeat twice. Add the vanilla extract. Blend in the sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Turn the batter into the loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Letter batter stand for 15 minutes. Bake for 1 hour. To test if it is done, insert a knife and if it comes out clean, it is ready. Turn the finished loaf on to a cooling rack. Serve when you can't stand to wait any longer.

***REMEMBER to never over work your batter, unless you want a tough, cakey finish!***

 =======================================

I didn't make too many changes or substitutions this time...I used about half Ultragrain Whole Wheat flour and half unbleached bread flour...salted butter (I never have UNsalted butter on hand...I've never understood the purpose of unsalted butter...) and cut back just a bit on the salt (not quite a full measure).  Using the organic sucanat was a new one for me, I don't usually use it in baking, but it rendered a sweetness that was dark and rich, with a depth of flavor you just won't find with plain old brown sugar.

Many thanks to Angela at GreatGrub for this unbelievably amazing banana bread recipe! Be sure to check out her website, it's full of great cooking info! Hopefully it will last longer next time and I can take some pictures...but trust me, this is one for the recipe box for sure!

Suppertime, You Used to be My Friend...

Recently, I realized that I am beginning to dread the hour or so immediately before suppertime at my house these days. Probably mostly due to the lack of planning on my part...but also because that time of the day has become vapid...I'm bored with food.  I don't even really want to try new foods. I don't want to bother with eating.

My family...well, they expect to be fed and fed well as I have set the bar high for myself. Now, I am bored with cooking simply because I am losing interest in food to some degree. There would be much more time in the day for snuggles and walks and splashing in the pool if I just didn't have to fool with meal preparation.

Like that's going to happen any time soon...

Today, the return of the familiar It's Five Thirty and I Have No Idea What to Make for Supper Villian came sauntering through my kitchen...well, dining room actually...that's where I was glued to the computer at the time. I finally decided to go face my arch nemesis...Suppertime.

Fortunately, I was armed to the gills with cookbooks and instant access to millions of recipes at a few strokes of the keyboard so my nemesis was doomed from the start. I also had my faithful sidekick Freezer on my side (though I wonder how well Little Freezer Over the Refrigerator will feel when Chest Freezer moves in this weekend...) who produced a bowl of chili thrown together a few weeks ago. Fire roasted tomatoes, navy beans, my secret mystery blend of spices (a mystery because I'm a "dump cook" and don't remember what I dumped in there), and some organic, free range, wild fed "forest beef" my husband bagged during deer season last year. Quite tasty. I had made it for some friends who came over to watch a race, and she (who is very finicky about chili and won't even eat her mom's) ate two bowls of mine. One bowl could be considered polite, but a second helping would indicate to me that it was good...or she was absolutely starving, perhaps.


Needing a side dish to go with the chili, I decided that corn bread sounded good. A quick perusal on the web and I realized I was woefully unprepared for making cornbread...I had forgotten to get eggs this week. And since I live in a rural town that apparently is infected with some kind of poultry bigotry, I can not have a couple of chickens in my back yard to keep me supplied with fresh, organic, free range chicken eggs. So, a change in search parameters to eggless cornbread dredged up a couple of promising recipes. Here's the one I went with (and my modifications):

EGGLESS CORNBREAD  

courtesy of theonlinerecipebox.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Combine the milk and vinegar and let stand.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Add the milk mixture and the oil into dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
5. Pour the batter into a lightly greased 9-inch square baking dish, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Kitchen Magician's Tricks...

• I halved this recipe, just in case I didn't like it...and since my hubby doesn't like cornbread anyway I didn't want a bunch of leftovers. 

• I was also concerned that it just wouldn't rise well. I've made a recipe called "Eggless Chocolate Cake" that used mayonnaise. Not actually eggless, since mayo is made with eggs, but if you don't have an actual egg, you can still make a delicious chocolate cake. I added a spoonful (regular eating spoon) of mayonnaise, just for good measure. 

• I used olive oil

• I used sea salt (I think the minerals in sea salt help give nice rise to baked goods, just a theory)

• I sprinkled crumbled co-jack cheese, onion powder, garlic powder and freshly ground black pepper on top

• I "baked" this in a cast iron skillet (covered),  with a couple tablespoons of melted butter,  on top of my stove over medium-high heat for around 20 minutes or so. The bottom of the cornbread got kind of, well, let's say extra done, but we just didn't eat that part.

The end result was actually very delicious. The cornbread had a nice, crispy outside, delicious cheesy, oniony, garlicky flavor with just enough pepper flavor to not be overbearing. Inside was moist and fluffy, yet with enough structure to not crumble as soon as you touch it. I think it was one of the best cornbreads I've ever made.

So, in the end, Suppertime was vanquished to the far-off realms of Stretchy Waistband Land and Mom has lived to cook another day. Will Suppertime return tomorrow, begging for a rematch? Tune in tomorrow...same batter bowl...same stove...but hopefully, something excitingly different to eat!

Recipe: Italian Herb Bread (bread maker recipe)

Most of you know I love to bake bread, and although I am a big fan of doing it the "old-fashioned" way and hand kneading, I have also been using a bread maker. For one, now that hot weather has arrived, I don't want to heat up my kitchen any more than absolutely necessary. And for two, since I am now making all of our bread it's a wonderful time saver!

Instruction manuals for kitchen appliances can come with recipes, but I have never been all that impressed with them. I have to say, though, that the recipes for the West Bend Automatic Bread and Dough Maker are actually quite tasty. And while I would love to make 100% whole grain breads here all the time, I have to kind of ease the family into this healthier eating style I have decided we all need to eat. So, I make the Country White bread and reason that even though it is white bread, I at least use unbleached flour, sneak some whole wheat in there from time to time, and can pronounce all of the ingredients I put into the bread pan so it is at the very least marginally more healthy than anything I can buy at the store.  Baby steps...baby steps...

This week, to go along with our delicious spaghetti and homemade sauce with organic, free range, wild fed forest "beef" (aka venison...it's a long, gruesome story!), I made the Italian Herb bread (on page 19 in this PDF file). Ok, I'll be nice and put the recipe here, too:

Italian Herb Bread 

1 Pound Loaf...see PDF file above for 1.5 Pound Loaf instructions

2/3 cup water, 80 degrees

1 3/4 cups bread flour

2 tsp dry milk

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 Tbs butter or margarine

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or 3/4 tsp bread machine/fast rise yeast

Put ingredients into bread pan in the order given. I set this for the "dough" cycle, then let it rise a second time in a deep dish stoneware pie plate until doubled (I wanted a round loaf, not a square one with a hole in the bottom), then baked in the oven at 350 until done, probably half an hour (we had company and I didn't pay attention to the time while we were chatting). I used a homemade Italian seasoning mix and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The result was a very flavorful, soft and delicious bread that went very well with our spaghetti. It was still very soft the next day and went great with our seasoned dipping oil, cheese and pepperoni for lunch. I will definitely make this again! Maybe next time I'll try baking it in the bread maker...especially if it's hot outside!