Tag Archives: bake

Milk and Honey Bread

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As I ate a slice, I was reminded of these Austrailian Toaster Biscuits that my grandma gave me when I was a kid. Sadly, those are no longer available, but these are a great substitute 🙂 The loaf is rich and delicious;  and a nice crumb, soft, but sturdy enough for your sandwiches. It’s much more rich, (read: fat-filled) than your average sandwich bread and the loaves disappeared quickly in this house :/ I will make this one again soon! Thanks for reading, enjoy 🙂

Milk and Honey Bread – adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian

  • 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets)
  • 2-1/2 cups warm milk
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 6 – 7 cups all-purpose flour ( 750-875 grams )
Directions –
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, warm milk and honey.  Swirl with your fingers or a spoon to dissolve the yeast.  Allow to sit until the yeast starts to bubble and becomes aromatic, about 5 minutes.
Add butter and 4 cups of flour, mix on low using dough hook, until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (mine takes the whole 3 additional cups) add salt.  Allow to knead for about 5 minutes.  You should have a ball of tacky (not sticky) dough at this point.
Turn onto a floured board; knead about 10 turns. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350° for glass and dark pans (375° for light metal pans).  Brush tops with melted butter.
Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown

Slow Baked Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce

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Quick Post: I served this with my favorite roasted green beans and this garlic rice pilaf – oh, and don’t forget to splurge a little and cover the whole plate with lemon butter sauce. I have baked salmon several times before, but I was curious about this “slow” baking method. It is easy to overcook fish, and there isn’t much you can do to redeem it; so using a lower temp and a little longer cook time is a safe bet. The salmon came out perfectly moist and flavorful – almost custard like in the center; and the addition of the tangy, rich lemon butter sauce made for a crave-worthy fish dinner. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

**Slow Baked Salmon – adapted from Epicurious

  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 6-ounce boneless salmon fillets, skin on
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh lemon, sliced thinly

Directions –

Preheat oven to 275°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Place salmon fillets, skin side down, on prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper, and lay lemon slices over top the fish. Bake salmon until just opaque in center, 12-15 minutes.

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**Lemon Butter Sauce – adapted from Food Network 

*This is half the original recipe, and we had more than enough for a pound of fish*

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 lemon, peeled and segmented
  • 1 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 tablespoon minced shallots
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 turns freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 dash Tabasco sauce
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut up, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Heat a large nonreactive skillet over high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the wine, lemons, garlic, and shallots. Cook for 3 minutes, breaking up and mashing the lemons with a wire whisk. Stir in the salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and hot sauce and cook until the mixture is somewhat syrupy, for about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for 1 minute. Over low heat, whisk in the butter a few pats at a time. When all of the butter has been added, remove from the heat, but continue whisking until all of the butter is incorporated into the sauce. Strain the sauce, pressing all of the liquid into a bowl. Stir in the parsley. Serve immediately, or keep warm for a few minutes until ready to use.

 

 

Apple Crisp II

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Quick Post: I served this with vanilla ice cream and my new favorite – salted caramel! Next time I think I will use a variety of apples to change-up the flavor and textures because the Granny Smith apples became mushier than I would have liked. Thanks for reading, enjoy 🙂

Apple Crisp – adapted from Martha Stewart

  • 3/4 cup AP flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
  • 1 stick butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 1 cup Old Fashioned oats
  • 3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice
  • lemon zest, optional
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions –

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Cut butter into flour, using a pastry blender or two knives, until mixture is the texture of coarse meal. Add oats, and use your hands to toss and squeeze mixture until large, moist clumps form. Transfer to freezer to chill while you prepare apples.

In another large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart baking dish, and sprinkle with topping mixture. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until golden and bubbling, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

French Toast Sticks

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My kids loved these, but what’s not to love? I like that the whole pan is finished at one time, so no standing by the stove waiting to flip each piece of bread. I used four thick slices of this egg bread, and there was just enough custard for them. Next time I will have to double the recipe so we have quick, no-effort school breakfasts perfect for those mornings when I just need five more minutes of sleep! 😉 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Baked French Toast Sticks – adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

  • 4 slices Texas Toast (or other hearty, thick-cut bread)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoon melted butter, slightly cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • a pinch of salt

Directions: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees then spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray very well and set aside. Cut bread slices into thirds then set aside.
  2. In a large shallow dish, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and cinnamon. Dunk bread sticks into batter, let excess drip off, then place onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 16-18 minutes, spraying the tops of the French Toast Sticks with non-stick spray before flipping halfway through.
  3. To freeze: Let French Toast Sticks cool then place onto a baking sheet and freeze in the freezer. Transfer to a freezer bag or container when hard. To reheat, microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Egg Bread

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This dough is rich and yeasty and will be the perfect bread to use for French toast. My kids and I are in for a treat this weekend 🙂

Verdict: I made the kid’s French toast sticks with this bread (a huge hit), and I’ve toasted this for a quick (ahem…lazy) breakfast. It became golden brown and even more delicious – my toaster rarely gets it right! All the egg and sugar helped with that I’m sure 😉 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Homemade Egg Bread for Texas Toast – adapted from Just a Pinch

  • 6-7 cups AP flour (750g- 875g)
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs

Directions –

1. In a large mixer bowl combine 3 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat milk, sugar,butter and salt until warm (115^)and butter is almost melted; stir constantly. Add to flour mixture; add eggs,one at a time. Beat at low speed of electric mixer for about 1/2 minute; scraping bowl.Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can mix in with a spoon.

 2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a semi-stiff dough this is smooth and elastic about 6 minutes. Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly buttered bowl; turn once to butter surface. Cover; let rise in a warm place till doubled,  about 1 1/4 hours.
3. Punch down; divide dough in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Shape into 2 loaves. Place in 2 sprayed 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Cover; let rise till nearly double about 35 minutes.

4. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Re-Post: Pumpkin Bread

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pumpkinbread

It’s my favorite cooking and baking time of year again! I love the weather change, (which wont be happening here anytime soon), and all the comforting and hearty dishes that I wait all year to make. As soon as it cools down here, I want to make this chili,  arroz con leche, this pot roast, and of course – Thanksgiving dinner!

Anyone who loves pumpkin anything, really enjoys this bread. I have been making it for years, and in this re-post I have added all my modifications. Even my husband who isn’t at all a fan of pumpkin anything said that it tastes “okay” 😉 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread – adapted from Allrecipes

  • 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup oil or butter – I used 1/2 grapeseed, 1/2 unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (437 grams)
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg – fresh is best
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions –

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare two 9×5 loaf pans.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
  3. Bake for about 60-70 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Parmesan Garlic Bread

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When in doubt – add more carbs and cheese, right? I wanted a quick garlic bread recipe to go along side this loaded potato soup for our dipping pleasure. The garlic/butter mixture added great flavor to this simple french loaf; and it’s less work that our favorite garlic bread recipe. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

garlicbread
Parmesan Garlic Bread – adapted from Simply Scratch

  • 1 loaf of Italian Bread (*I used a loaf of this bread*)
  • 4 TBSP Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
  • 2-3 TBSP olive oil
  • 3 cloves of Garlic, minced
  •  1 tablespoon Shallots, minced
  • 1 tablespoons Parsley, minced (I used about 1 tsp of dried parsley)
  • Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
  • Salt and freshly cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Directions –

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut your french bread in half and then take the two halves and split those down the middle lengthwise. Combine the garlic, shallots, parsley, salt, black pepper, softened butter, olive oil and Parmesan. Mix until all the ingredients are combined. Slice the Italian loaf lengthwise and heavily smear half of the butter mixture on each of the halves. Bake for 7 minutes – take the bread out and sprinkle your grated cheese over top each piece. Place back in the oven until the cheese melts and is nicely browned – about 3-5 minutes. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Snicker’s Cake

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When it comes to making a cake (especially the three layer, super involved kind), I need a good excuse to make one. My husband on the other hand would have liked me to make this because it was a Monday – no real reason and no company to help us eat it. I know better! The last thing we need is a giant cake all to ourselves,  not to mention how selfish that would be 😉

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I have used this particular chocolate cake recipe many times before, so I knew it would be really good. Also, for quality control sake, I had to taste the fluff and salted caramel I made – so I knew those were also really good. This is definitely not a cake I would have wanted to make in one day because of all the components; also, it’s much easier to work with when the cake layers have been frozen. On Friday, I made the salted caramel and the chocolate cake – let the cake cool completely, wrapped them up individually in plastic and then placed them in the freezer. I made the fluff on Sunday, stored it in a glass container and let it sit on my counter. Monday I made the nougat and I decided to reduce the amount of peanuts added; but other than that modification, I made it as directed. Also, I totally forgot to add the salted caramel to the top of the nougat filling – boo! I figured no one would care especially once i poured ganache and more caramel sauce over the top 😉

Verdict: This cake tastes as good as it looks – maybe even better. All the guests at our Labor Day party really enjoyed it and we only have about 1/4 of it left! 🙂  I’m glad that all that work I put into it paid off, and I’m sure I will get requests for it in the future 🙂 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

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Snickers Cake – adapted from Punky Purls via Brown Eyed Baker

For the Cake:

  • 2½ cups AP flour (312 grams)
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1  teaspoons salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups hot water
  • 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil (*I used grapeseed oil)
  • 4½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Nougat Filling:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup evaporated milk
  • 1½ cups marshmallow fluff
  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups salted peanuts, roughly chopped

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup salted caramel sauce
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

For the Milk Chocolate Ganache:

  • 8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
  • 4 ounces (½ cup) heavy cream

For the Assembly & Garnish:

Directions –

1. Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, grease the parchment, then flour the insides of the pans, tapping out excess; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand mixer), sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 20 seconds (the batter will be very thin).

4. Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pans in the oven. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool the cakes (in the pans) on wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.

5. Make the Nougat Filling: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring until dissolved, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and add the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, and vanilla extract, stirring until completely smooth. Fold in the peanuts. Let the nougat mixture cool to room temperature before using it in the cake. You can do this leaving it at room temperature or you can pop it into the refrigerator to speed up the process. Be sure to give a stir occasionally as it cools.

6. Make the Frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 5 minutes (I like to use the whisk attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it’s not necessary). Pour in the salted caramel and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional two to three minutes, until light and fluffy.

7. Assemble the Cake: If your cakes baked up uneven or have domed on top, level off the tops. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Cover with half of the nougat filling and then spread a couple spoonfuls of the salted caramel sauce over top to evenly cover the nougat filling. Top with a second cake layer and cover with the remaining nougat filling and top with caramel sauce. Place the final cake layer on top face-down. Frost the cake with the salted caramel frosting, finishing it as smoothly as possible. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour, until the frosting is set.

8. Make the Chocolate Ganache: While the cake chills, make the chocolate ganache. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside. Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and warm until it just comes to a boil. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Begin whisking the mixture in the center, gradually working your way outward until the ganache is completely smooth. Set aside to cool, whisking occasionally, until it has thickened slightly, yet still a pourable consistency.

9. Garnish the Cake: Transfer the ganache to a 2-cup measuring cup. Slowly pour the chocolate ganache into the center of the cake, letting it push itself outward and flow over the sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes, giving the ganache a chance to set up. To finish garnishing, drizzle some additional salted caramel sauce over the top and side of the cake, and top with chopped peanuts. Keep the cake refrigerated, removing it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to serving.

Pita Chips

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It was Mediterranean night for the group this week, (and because I am a food snob) I knew I would need to make pita chips to go with my fave tzatziki sauce. After a quick search, I stumbled upon this simple recipe. Caution: These are highly addictive! the kids and I eat them plain – they are perfectly crunchy, salty and a little savory 🙂 I think they’ll be a great addition to their school lunches instead of pretzels or chips. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

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Pita Chips – adapted from King Arthur Flour

  • 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Topping –

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • sea salt to taste

1) Mix and knead the dough ingredients together to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until just about doubled in bulk.

3) Preheat the oven to 450°F, with a pizza stone on the bottom rack. If you don’t have a pizza stone, see tips, below.

4) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces.

5) Shape each into a ball, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.

6) Working with two pieces of dough at a time, roll each into a 6″ circle. Transfer them to the hot stone.

7) Bake for 4 minutes, until puffy. Turn them over, and bake for an additional minute. Remove from the oven, and place on a rack to cool.

8) Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

9) Once the pitas are cool, carefully separate the two sides of each to make 16 thin rounds.

10) Brush rounds with oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

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11) Cut each round into 8 wedges. Divide the wedges between two parchment-lined baking sheets.

12) Bake the chips in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp; turn the chips over after 10 minutes of baking.

13) Remove chips from the oven, cool completely on the pan, wrap airtight, and store at room temperature.

Cinnamon Rolls

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cinnamonrolls

I wanted to try a new recipe for cinnamon rolls besides our go-to fave. I love the richness of the dough, but it does require 5 eggs and it makes 12 huge rolls. I sent a batch of these with my husband to share with volunteers this weekend; and made this smaller batch with some minor changes just to suit our preferences. Instead of white sugar, I used brown sugar for the filling and significantly less cinnamon. I also swapped the water and milk for buttermilk; and I used less butter in the filling – only two tablespoons. Oh, and instead of making 11 rolls (weird number) I made 8 slightly larger rolls that fit in the baking dish better.

Verdict: These were okay, and I guess good in a pinch if you don’t have lots of eggs on hand. The glaze is missing something too – cream cheese in my opinion. The dough was not nearly as easy to work as the other recipe, and it was actually really frustrating to cut into rolls. The differences were much more obvious because I had just made the overnight rolls…so I was really aware and very picky. I probably won’t bother making these again only because we’ve already found the best recipe. Thanks for stopping by!

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Easy Cinnamon Rolls – heavily adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Rolls-
  • 2 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 packet)
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg
Filling-
  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
Glaze-
  • 1 cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons milk

Directions –

  1. Make the dough: Set aside 1/2 cup of flour. In a large bowl, toss the remaining flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together until evenly dispersed. Set aside.
  2. Heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot to touch. About 125F-130F degrees. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and only enough of the reserved flour to make a soft dough. I only needed 1/3 cup, but you may need the full 1/2 cup. Dough will be ready when it gently pulls away from the side of the bowl and has an elastic consistency.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk – about an hour.
  4. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape in a 14×8 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it all over the dough. Add more cinnamon/sugar if desired. Roll up the dough tightly. Cut into 8 even pieces and place in a lightly greased 9-inch round pan. Loosely cover the rolls with plastic wrap and allow to rise overnight in your refrigerator.
  5. In the morning, take the rolls out and allow to rise until they become puffy. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned.
  6. Make the glaze: Right before serving, top your cinnamon rolls with glaze. Mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth and drizzle over rolls. If you prefer a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar and then add salt to cut the sweetness, if desired.