Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Homemade Banana Bread Recipe



It seems with warmer weather, my bananas always seem to ripen a lot faster than I'd anticipated. Without fail, by the end of the week, I find myself with a handful of really brown, practically baby-food-soft bananas that just aren't appetizing to eat.

Unless of course, they're in banana bread.

Which is how I've been making use of these lately. Enjoy!





BANANA BREAD RECIPE
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or regular milk will do, too)
1/4 cup canola oil
3 medium or 2.5 large well-ripened bananas
2 cups whole wheat flour (preferably freshly milled)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl. (As you know, I've been milling my own whole wheat flour for the past couple of months now, thanks to my electric WonderMill Grain Mill.)



Using a hand mixer, blend all the ingredients so that they are smooth. Alternatively you can run the mixture through a food processor, but I find the mixer is sufficient.

Lightly grease a loaf pan (I like to use my Misto). Pour the mixture into the loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, until golden. I like to turn off heat and let it sit in the warm oven for another 10 or 15 minutes so that it fully sets without worrying about it getting too brown or tough.

Remove from oven, and let cool before slicing. (This is the bread knife I use and recommend.)

Enjoy!



Related Posts
A Few of My Favorite Things: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets
I Started Milling My Own Whole Wheat Flour... 
READ FULL POST >>

Homemade Whole Wheat Hot Dog Bun Recipe



What is summer without a good, grilled hot dog? Let me tell you, it's eating that hot dog on a homemade bun!

And, it's a lot easier than you might think!





This whole wheat hot dog bun is another that takes advantage of my already-established favorite kitchen: my bread maker. I use it to mix together the dough, and once that cycle’s completed, I can come back and shape the dough into the buns to bake in the oven. (If you’re looking for some other recipes to take advantage of using a bread maker, some of my favorites include making whole wheat sandwich bread, pizza dough, soft pretzels, and bagels.)

As I've mentioned before, I've recently started milling my own whole wheat flour, as well, thanks to my electric WonderMill Grain Mill, so that I can have super-fresh flour, anytime I need it. (You can read more about why I have started milling my own flour in this post here.)





So, without further ado, here's how to bake up a batch on your own!


INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm-ish water
1 egg (if you don't have an egg handy, find an easy substitute here)
¾ tsp. salt
¼ cup butter, melted (alternatively, you can also use canola oil)
¼ cup sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour, preferably freshly milled
3 tsp. bread machine yeast

DIRECTIONS
If you're milling your own whole wheat flour, measure out ⅔ cup of wheat berries and grind in your grain mill of choice (I use the electric WonderMill Grain Mill) to a fine flour, suitable for bread-making.

In your bread machine (mine is similar to this one), add ingredients from the water to the flours, in the order given in the recipe. (So, you'll add the water first and the whole wheat flour last.) 

Once you've added the last of the flour, use a spoon to hollow out a little dent in the middle of the flour. Into this, add your yeast. Program your bread machine on the "Dough" cycle. Press Start.

Let the bread machine mix the dough and go through the rising cycle. At the end, it will beep. Remove the ball of dough from the bread machine's pan, and turn dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Using a dough scraper (or a sharp knife), divide dough into 12 equal pieces for regular-sized hot-dog buns. Alternately, if you plan on using jumbo-sized franks, only cut the dough into 10 pieces.

Place each rope onto a lightly floured baking stone (here's the baking stone I use) or cookie sheet, leaving about two inches of space between buns. (For adequate spacing, you might need to use two baking stones.)

Here's how mine looks at this point:




Cover dough with a cotton dish towel or cloth napkin, and set in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes. (For an easy way to let your bread rise, read my breadmaking tips and tricks article.)

Turn your oven on to bake at 400-degrees. Remove the dish towel from the dough, and let it bake in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and let cool.

Once cool, split buns in half along the top, cutting only about three-fourths of the way deep, making sure not to cut all the way through. (Meaning, both halves of the bun should still be connected along the bottom.) Then, you can slide a hotdog into the slit, like this:


Store slices in a sealed bag or airtight container for up to a week, preferably in the fridge, or you can keep them in the freezer if you aren’t planning on using them right away. Makes 12 hot dog buns.

If you like this recipe, click here to pin it to Pinterest. You can also follow me on Pinterest here.

(Plus, take a peek at my breadmaking tips and trick article, which will provide some good insights about how to overcome common problems, easy substitutions you can make if you run out of some ingredients, and some of my favorite breadmaking essentials. Read the article here.) 

P.S. If you are new to this blog, thank you so much for stopping by! You can feel free to browse all my other posts about my journey toward a lifestyle of simplicity and DIY, as well as some of the ways my husband and I are learning to save money. I also write about my faith, my marriage and everything in between, which you can explore in the archives.

Related Posts
Homemade Black Bean Burgers Recipe
Chicken burgers: Recipe for the weekend

READ FULL POST >>

Pesto, Artichoke & Caramelized Onion Pizza on Homemade, 100% Whole Wheat Dough



As a part of my New Year’s resolution to try cooking with a new food each month, my challenge for the month of May was to use artichokes. In doing so, I discovered one of my new favorite recipes: Pesto, Artichoke & Caramelized Onion Pizza.

While on a trip to Washington, DC, my husband and I ordered a similar pizza, so when we came home, I knew I wanted to try to recreate it for my Adventures in Trying New Foods challenge. So, I went to task and came up with this veggie lover delight, which you can make with or without cheese. (Really it doesn’t need any additional cheese, but I’ll let you be the judge of that!)

I loved it so much that I whipped up two of these pizzas in one week and then have made another almost every week since. This recipe is a keeper.

So without further ado, the recipe for how to make Pesto, Artichoke & Caramelized Onion Pizza, from making a 100% whole-wheat crust to adding the toppings. Enjoy!



100% WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

⅔ cup hard red wheat berries
1⅓ cup hard white wheat berries

Grind the wheat berries in your grain mill of choice (I use the electric WonderMill Grain Mill) to a fine flour, suitable for bread-making.



1 cup water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
Freshly milled flour (alternatively, you can use my recipe here for making pizza dough with store-bought flour)
2 tsp. bread machine yeast

Combine all ingredients in a bread machine (mine is similar to this one) in the order listed above (meaning, add the water first and add the yeast last). For the yeast, make a shallow well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast there.

Select "Dough" setting on bread machine, and press "Start." When the dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep. Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. (I like to use my trusty baking stone for this.)



Use rolling pin to flatten dough into a disk. (It should make one 12-inch pizza, or you can divide the dough in half to make two smaller pizzas.)



PESTO, ARTICHOKE & CARAMELIZED PIZZA TOPPINGS
1 cup onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup pesto
1 cup tomatoes, finely diced
½ cup red pepper, finely diced
½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, finely diced

In a saucepan on the stove, combine the onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Let simmer until onions are caramelized.

Meanwhile, spread pesto onto rolled-out pizza dough. Add all the other toppings, including the caramelized onions.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until crust is starting to turn golden. Remove from oven, and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.



Related Posts
Build a Better Pizza: Make Your Own Pizza Dough 
A New Years Resolution: Adventures in Trying New Foods
READ FULL POST >>

Soft and Chewy Homemade Bagel Recipe


I mentioned awhile ago, that I've been doing some experimenting with my bread machine. Well, I am happy to report that I had an astonishing bit of success making something I would have expected to be a disaster: homemade bagels!

I'm pleased that the first batch turned out just like how you'd expect, golden and crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Perfect, with a little dab of butter.

(You might be interested to know that the trick to making them involves boiling a big pot of water and dropping the dough in there for a minute before baking them in the oven. Who knew?!)

See? I'm learning! And feeling very encouraged, culinarily-speaking. Maybe next time I'll put on a little apron and heels to feel every bit June Cleaver-ish...

Bread Machine Bagel Recipe
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 quarts boiling water
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
  1. Place 1 cup of warm water, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, flour and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting and press start. (By the way, here's the newest version of the bread machine I use.)
  2. When cycle is complete, let dough rest on a lightly floured surface. Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Stir in 3 tablespoons of white sugar.
    Cut dough into 9 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten balls. Poke a hole in the middle of each with your thumb. Twirl the dough on your finger to enlarge the hole, and to even the dough around the hole.
  3. Cover bagels with a clean cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle a baking stone (here's the baking stone I use) or an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal and set aside.
  5. Carefully transfer bagels to pot of boiling water. Boil for 1 minute, turning halfway through. Drain briefly on clean towel. 
  6. Once drained, arrange boiled bagels on baking stone with cornmeal. Glaze tops with egg white, and sprinkle with your choice of other toppings.
  7. Bake in preheated 375-degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.
 P.S. If you are new to this blog, thank you so much for stopping by! You can feel free to browse all my other posts about my journey toward a lifestyle of simplicity and DIY, as well as some of the ways my husband and I are learning to save money. I also write about my faith, my marriage and everything in between, which you can explore in the archives.

If you like this recipe, click here to pin it to Pinterest. You can also follow me on Pinterest here. 
    Related Posts
    A Love-Hate Relationship with my Bread Maker
    Misadventures in Cooking: From "Polenta" to "Placenta"

    READ FULL POST >>

    The Answer to a Long Day: Baking Brownies


    Yesterday, I understood for the first time what people mean when they say that baking is cathartic, therapeutic. A way to release tensions through the measuring, the stirring, the pouring of batter, the waiting for it to transform into edible delights.

    After a day fueled by running errands, waiting in lines, driving around and having to read a grisly novel for work, I was feeling drained. And so I decided to do something I hardly ever do.

    I decided to bake.

    I am always a sucker for sweets but never really feel inclined to make desserts, viewing them more as a luxury than a necessity. But yesterday was different. Yesterday, baking became a necessity, as I let the stresses of the day melt into the batter, sift through the ingredients, and turn out a sweet, happy-go-lucky confection: Brownies. Baked to perfect, bite-sized dimensions in a muffin pan, no less.

    Recipe for Making Brownies in a Muffin Pan
    1/4 cup butter, softened
    1 1/4 cup sugar
    2 large eggs
    1 tsp. vanilla
    1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp. water
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup cocoa
    1/4 tsp. baking powder
    1/4 tsp. salt

    Mix ingredients together until smooth. Pour batter into muffin pan, filling each section about halfway.
    Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until puffed but still soft to the touch. Be careful to not overbake!
    Makes 12, shallow muffin-sized brownies

    (Plus, see that beautiful green dish of mine? One of the perks from when I interned in Alabama after graduation. I worked at the same company that printed Southern Living, and a couple times a year, they would host prop sales, where you could buy items featured in their photoshoots for next to nothing. That scallop-edged bowl was one of the items I nabbed during my few short months there, and one that seems to cheer up any spread!)

    Related Posts
    Browse all my recipes
    READ FULL POST >>
    Previous Post
    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...