Honey Wheat Bread fast

I definitely was in the experimenting mood this weekend. I decided to make up a bread recipe that would be a semi-quick bread.

Honey Wheat Bread recipe by Katie of http://cookinginatinykitchen.blogspot.com

1 rapid rise yeast packet (2 1/4 tsp.)
3 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (+1/2 to 1 cup more)
1 1/2 cups luke warm water
1/2 cup quick cooking oats

Lightly grease a large bowl and set aside. Combine water, honey and yeast, gently stir to mix. Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes. It should be foamy on top if the yeast activates properly, if not, start over. Meanwhile, whisk together the wheat flour, oats, salt and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. Pour in the water mixture all at once and stir until mixed. Add more flour until the dough is not super sticky. Turn out onto a floured board. Knead, adding more flour as needed, for 10 minutes. Add enough flour, so that you can lightly touch the dough and not come away with a souvenir. Shape the dough into a ball and put into the prepared bowl. Cover loosely with a light cloth.  Let it rest in warm place for 1 1/2-2 hours or until doubled. Punch the dough down and let rise again about 1 hour more. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Form into desired shape, place on a oiled baking stone, again cover with the cloth and let rise again about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt some honey and lightly brush on top of dough, use scissors to cut 2-3 slashes in the dough. Lightly sprinkle quick cook oats on top. Bake for 30 minutes, but keep an eye on it. When the bread has browned on top, and sounds hollow when lightly tapped, you are done. Take it out of the oven and place the bread on a wire rack to cool.

Scottish Shortbread

I finally made some shortbread. It is so yummy and buttery. Even now, when I am not eating it, my mouth absolutely waters at just the thought of its yummy goodness. You can double the recipe if you'd like. There is no doubt that its a hit!

Scottish Shortbread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 blocks butter at room temperature

1 cup superfine sugar (process granulated sugar in a food processor/coffee grinder)

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Use a 9-inch round cake pan. (Optional: line the pan with a parchment paper circle) Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl, and whisk. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Use your hands to gently mix the flour into the butter mixture until pea sized clumps. (As close as you can get is fine.) Do not overwork, this makes a lighter flaker shortbread. Pour the mixture into the pan and gently press down. Use your fingers and gently press along the edges. Then take a fork and poke holes all over the pan. Bake for about 1 hour. Until golden. Leave in the pan to cool completely. You can either cut into the desired shapes in the pan or invert onto a plate and then cut it.
(Next up Madeleine Cookies)

Pumpkin Bread

If you haven't noticed, i'm following an ingredient theme here, for at least two posts. Love love love pumpkin. Yum! I had left over pumpkin puree from the pumpkin bars I made over the weekend, so last night I decided to use it to make some miniature pumpkin loaves. You can easily use this recipe for mini breads, or standard size will do. Topping with a little Brummel & Brown spread makes this an extra special treat. This recipe is definitely in my favorites, I hope you enjoy it!

Pumpkin Bread Extraordinaire
yields approximately 12 mini loaves (2 1/2-inch square pans)
This is 1-1/2 x the original recipe, if you decide to cut it down by one-third, use only one standard bread loaf pan.

Bread ingredients:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (bleached is fine)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup oil (vegetable, olive, or canola)
1/2 cup fat free yogurt
3 large eggs
6 Tbsp. water
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. allspice
optional - add 3/4 cup nuts of choice or 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour pans, set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a second larger bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, yogurt, eggs, water, and spices, whisk well. Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, they should be 2/3rds full, do not over fill, as the bread will almost double in size. Bake for 25-35 minutes. This all depends on your oven temperature and the pans you use. If using a larger loaf pan, bake for 50-60 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick until it comes out clean.
Cool in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes. Invert pans, be careful, and give the pan a shake until the bread falls out. Quickly turn the bread right side up and let cool completely.

Apple Praline Bread

Ok, I lied. I could not make it until Friday with making something. I have to bake at least every other day or every other two days. It's a compulsion. This brought me to the following quick bread.
I found this recipe in a magazine and apples are in season, so I naturally had to make it. Get it, had to!

Land O Lakes Recipe Collection "Harvest Baking" Magazine, page 48
Apple Praline Bread
(my slightly tweaked/lighter version of the original)
Bread:
1 cup firmly packed Splenda Brown Sugar Baking Blend (or use regular brown sugar)
1/2 cup margarine/butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt or kosher salt
2 medium (2 cups) apples, peeled, grated
Topping:
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup margarine/butter
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 3 mini (5 3/4x3-inch) loaf pans as the recipe calls for, or 6 extra mini (5x2-inch) loaf pans as I did.
In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter until well combined, should be creamy. Add sour cream, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add all remaining ingredients and until well combined. Then stir in shredded apples. Pour evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes for the smaller loaf pans as I did, or 38-45 minutes for the larger pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. I was impatient, so I didn't wait until they were cooled all the way.
Meanwhile; for the topping, mix brown sugar and butter in a 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (3-4 minutes). Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until well mixed and smooth (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in pecans. Pour evenly over bread. I ate them while it was still warm. Yum! The topping was awesome!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Today was a typical drag on Monday. It didn't stop me from cooking when I got home though. I made Bran Muffins (I know, sounds healthy right). They weren't bad, but not my cup of tea. I also felt like making some kind of Zucchini bread and chose a recipe for it that sounded yummy. I have yet to taste it, so we'll see. Even so, i'm including it below. (I made some changes to it to try for a lighter version than the usual with vegetable oil, changed the sugar amount, plus added more chocolate of course)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2 one ounce squares unsweetened chocolate

3 eggs

1 cup Fat Free Yogurt

2 cups grated Zucchini (feel free to make it a heaping 2 cups)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. cocoa

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, packed (has half the amount of granulated sugar)

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda (I did 1 1/2 tsp.)

1 tsp. salt (just realized, I must have been in a hurry, totally forgot the salt, oh well :)

1 tsp. cinnamon (more is better)

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease and flour two 9x5 bread pans. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, zucchini, vanilla. Melt chocolate and mix in. The chocolate is not going to mix in smoothly, because of the cold batter, but it will melt when baking. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients, and chocolate chips (prevents sinking). Add to zucchini batter and mix until just combined.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake 60-70 minutes. Toothpick test to make sure the bread is done.

Ok, i've made myself hungry. I'm going to taste test some.
......
Chocolate is awesome!!! Even minus the salt, which I will make sure to add next time, it was beautiful. I darn near cried. Ok....not really, but you get the picture. Tomorrow i'm making Peach Turnovers. YEAH!