Breads/Muffins

English Muffins

1 ½ Cups skim milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 large egg
4 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 ¼ tsp. yeast
1/3 cup yellow corn meal for sprinkling

1. PLACE ALL INGREDIENTS EXCEPT CORN MEAL IN A BREAD MACHINE PAN. PROCESS FOR DOUGH CYCLE (APPROX. 30 MINUTES OF MIXING – DO NOT LET RAISE). Dough will be soft and very slight moist. The softer you leave the dough, the lighter the muffins. You can always add a bit more flour when you remove dough from the machine.

2. Lightly sprinkle work surface with cornmeal. Turn dough onto work surface and with a rolling pin, roll out a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Sprinkle the tope with cornmeal to prevent sticking while rolling. Cut muffins with a 3" biscuit cutter. Cover with clean tea towel or place in the refrigerator if they are rising too fast while others are baking.

3. Preheat electric griddle to 350-375 until a drop of water dances across surface. Lightly grease griddle if recommended.

4. Immediately place several muffins on the hot griddle. Cook about 10 minutes on each side, turning when they are quite brown. English muffins take time to bake all the way through, and they will swell and be very puffy while baking. Remove muffins from griddle with a spatula and let cool on a rack.

5. I use a fork and poke in the middle and all around the edge while warm. Slice in half prior to freezing.

6. Also, after making this recipe, you may wish to experiment with adding other things such as, wheat bran or flax seed, or some whole wheat flour, etc.

THESE ARE JUST DELICIOUS, HEALTHY, AND EASY TO MAKE. IF YOU HAVE A LARGE LEFSE GRILL, YOU CAN FIT THE ENTIRE RECIPE ON THE GRILL.


Cinnamon Rolls
5 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 1/4 c. milk
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. yeast

Mix all ingredients. Knead until elastic, allow to rise until doublel; or program bread maker for dough cycle. Punch dough down. Cut in half. Roll each half into a large rectangle. Spread 1 Tbsp. softened butter over each half. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (1 Tbsp. cinnamon combined with 1/4 c. sugar). Roll up. Slice each half into 12 rolls. Put into jelly roll sized pan (10x15) cut side down. Allow to rise until double. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. margarine or butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
Milk

Mix all ingredients with a mixer adding enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.

Pumpkin Bread

4 beaten eggs

3 c. sugar

1 16 oz. can pumpkin

1 c canola oil
1/3 c. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

6 oz. mini chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in pumpkin, oil, water, and vanilla till blended. Stir together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add to pumpkin mixture, stirring till just combined. Fold in chips and nuts.

Pour mixture into four greased 7x3x2 pans or two greased 9x5x3 baking pans. Bake in a 350 oven about 55 minutes for smaller loaves; about 65 minutes for larger loaves or till a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean.

Cool bread 10 minutes on wire racks. Loosen sides; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 4 small or 2 large loaves.


Blueberry Breakfast Bread



Streusel
1/2 cup granola
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt

Batter
1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c. lightly packed brown sugar (use 3/4 c. for a dessert bread)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. whole milk yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup granola (the loose toasted oats kind, not the big glob kind)
1 1/2 c. frozen or fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" loaf pan.

For the streusel: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

For the batter: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing wella fter each. Add the yogurt and mix well.

Add the yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. The batter will be fairly stiff. Do not overmix. Fold in granola and blueberries.

Spoon batter into pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel on top in an even layer.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pan from the oven and cool 10 minutes then turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Angel Biscuits

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
5 cups all-purpose flour (about 22 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Preparation
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yeast mixture and buttermilk to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450°.

Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Roll dough to a 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush the melted butter over the biscuit tops. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until golden.

Rhubarb Muffins

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. diced rhubarb
Nuts (optional)

Mix everything together. Stir in rhubarb. Before baking sprinkle with:
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Makes 12-15 delicious muffins.


Steel Cut Oat Bread

1 c. steel-cut oats (I used Arrowhead Mills and this recipe is from the box)
1/4 c. sorghum syrup (I used molasses but you could probably use honey for a milder flavor)
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. boiling water
2 c. unbleached white flour
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 c. warm water (85 degrees)
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

Combine steel-cut oats, syrup, oil and salt. Pour boiling water over oats, and while this mixture is cooling, dissolve yeast in 1/4 c. water. (If using instant yeast, just combine it with flour.) After yeast mixture sits for 10 minutes, add the yeast mixture to the oat mixture. Work in whole wheat flour and white flour. Knead the mixture and place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down.


Place in oiled loaf pan. Let rise again to double in bulk.


Bake for about 40 minutes at 375.



Raspberry Streusel Muffins



1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. milk
1 to 1/2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries (I used blueberries in the photo above)

Streusel:
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a small bowl, blend together the milk, melted butter and egg. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture, mixing just until moistened. Spoon about a tablespoon of the batter into each of 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Put 3-4 raspberries on top of the batter. Top with the remaining batter, then more raspberries. For the topping, combine the ingredients until the mixture resembles moist crumbs; sprinkle this over the muffins. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let stand for 5 minutes before carefully removing from the pans.


Simply Super Crescent Cinnamon Rolls




2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2/3 c. finely chopped nuts (optional)
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 4. cinnamon
1/4 c. softened margarine


(I find this is enough filling for 2 batches when I make them.)
Combine all filling ingredients. Preheat oven to 375. Separate the 2 cans of crescent roll dough into 4 rectangles each. Press perforations to seal. Spread filling mixture on 4 of the rectangles. To with remaining 4 rectangles. Cut each rectangle "sandwich" into 6 strips lengthwise. Twist each strip and form each one into a coil. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

Glaze:
1+ c. powdered sugar 1 1/2 Tbsp. softened margarine
1-2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla.

Maple-Walnut Oat Bread
(Note: I didn't use the maple flavor or the glaze.)

Dough
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) lukewarm water
2 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) maple syrup
4 tablespoons( 1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 1/2 cups (5 1/4 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
3/4 cup (3 ounces) traditional whole wheat flour
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (1 ounce) maple sugar or brown sugar (1 3/8 ounces)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor, to taste (optional)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts

Glaze
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted

Combine all the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them--by hand, mixer or bread machine--until you have a soft, smooth dough. Cover and allow the dough to rise until it's puffy and nearly doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into a 9-inch log. Place it in the prepared pan. Cover it gently with lightly greased plastic wrap or a proof cover, and allow it to rise till it's crowned about 1 1/2 inches over the rim of the pan, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Near the end of the bread's rising time, preheat the oven to 350.

Uncover and bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it with foil after 15 minutes. The bread is dome when it's golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 190. To make the glaze, stir together the maple syrup and melted butter. Remove the bread from the oven, and after a minute or so turn it out onto a rack. Brush it with the maple glaze. Cool the bread for 30 minutes before cutting it.


Whole Wheat Muffins

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans

1. In a large bowl with a mixer, beat butter and sugar until very well mixed and no lumps remain. Add milk, yogurt, egg, and vanilla; beat just until blended. Add flour, soda, and pecans; stir until mixture is evenly moistened.

2. Spoon batter equally into 12 buttered or paper-lined muffin cups (2 1/2 to 2 3/4 in. wide).

3. Bake in a 425° regular or convection oven until muffins just begin to pull from pan sides and spring back in the center when lightly pressed, about 15 minutes.

4. Cool muffins in pan about 5 minutes, then invert onto a rack and turn rounded side up. Serve hot, warm, or cool. If making up to 1 day ahead, wrap cool muffins airtight and store at room temperature; freeze to store longer. To reheat, seal in foil and bake in a 350° regular or convection oven about 10 minutes.

Double-Rhubarb Strawberry Bread


2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb (I'd use more next time)
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup stewed rhubarb and strawberry, cooled (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a medum-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir in the chopped rhubarb.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and melted butter. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring gently until almost all of the flour is mixed in. Add the stewed rhubarb/strawberry, and swirl it into the batter.


Pour into the pan.

Bake the bread for 50 to 60 minutes, until it's golden brown and the top stprings back when lightly touched. Remove it from theoven, and let it cool for 10 minutes before turning the bread out of the pan onto a rack. Allow it to cool completely before slicing.

Stewed Rhubarb and Strawberries

1 cup chopped or thinly sliced rhubarb
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, to taste

Place the rhubarb and strawberries in a medium-sized saucepan. Sprinkle with the sugar to get the juices flowing. Let the mixture sit until you can see some juice, then cook over low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb is very soft and is losing its shape. Remove from the heat, and sweeten to taste. cool. (It's supposed to make 1/2 cups, but I got barely 1 cup.)


Cinnamon Bread


(On the right in photo)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup cinnamon chips
Cinnamon-sugar for topping

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, butter or margarine, and egg. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, beating till smooth. let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour, covered, then stir in the baking powder and cinnamon chips.

Pour the batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the cinnamon-sugar.

Bake the bread in a 350 oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until it tests done; a cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer it from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Banana Bread
(On the left in the photo above)
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Up to 1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Up to 1 c. mini chocoalte chips (optional)

(I do this all by hand--no mixer)
Cream butter and sugar. Stir in eggs, butter, bananas and vanilla until well combined. Combine dry ingredients. Gently stir into wet ingredients, just until mixed. Stir in nuts or chips if using.

Grease or spray pans. One 9 x 5 x 3 or four 3 x 5 pans. Heat oven to 350.
For 9 x 5 x 3 pan, bake one hour 15 minutes, covering with foil after 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes before removing from the pan. For smaller pans, bake 45 minutes. Cool 10-12 minutes before removing from the pan.


French Bread


7 to 7 1/4 cups all-purpose flour *
2 packages active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. shortening
1 Tbsp. salt
Yellow cornmeal
1 egg white (I omit this)

In large mixer bowl combine 3 cups of the flour and the yeast. Heat 2 1/2 cups water, sugar, salt and shortening just until warm (115 to 120 degrees), stirring constantly to melt shortening. Add to dry mixture. Beat at low speed with electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping bowl. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. (I mix for 2 minutes on 2 on my Kitchen Aid using the paddle attachment.) By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. (I mix in an additional 4 cups flour with the mixer, using the bread hook.)

Knead on floured surface till smooth (10 to 12 minutes). (I mix for 8 minutes on 2 speed with the mixer.) Shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rise until double (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Punch down; divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Roll each half to 15x12-inch rectangle. Roll up tightly from long side; seal well. Taper ends. Place each diagonally, seam side down, on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Gash tops diagonally every 2 1/2 inches, 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep.

Beat egg white just till foamy; add 1 tablespoon water. Brush tops and sides of loaves. (I omit this.) Cover; let rise till double (about 1 hour). Bake at 375 till light brown, about 10 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake 20 minutes longer. (I just bake them for 40 minutes). Remove from sheets; cool. Makes 2 loaves.


Banana Bran Muffins


1 egg
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/3 c. mashed ripe banana
1/2 c. raisins or walnuts
1/3 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 c. oat bran or unprocessed wheat bran
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin cups, or use foil or paper baking cups.

Beat egg and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. When smooth, beat in bananas, raisins or nuts, oil and vanilla. Let stand a minute.

Thoroughly mix flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add banana mixture and fold in with a spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Scoop batter into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until brown and springy to the touch in the center. Turn out onto a rack to cool. (Note: Bake for 15 minutes if using mini muffin cups--makes 36-48, or about 22 minutes for regular muffins--makes 12).


Blueberry Almond Crunch Muffins


Makes 12 muffins.

Almond Crunch Topping
1/3 cup finely ground almonds
4 teaspoons turbinado sugar

Muffins
2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), picked over
1 1/8 cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1/3 cup finely ground almonds
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (see note)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together almonds and sugar in small bowl until combined; set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and ground almonds together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla, and almond extract until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

4. Following photos below, use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle almond topping evenly over muffins.

5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.