Fresh Bread

I love making homemade bread. There is something very rewarding about producing something that is so much better than store bought out of simple ingredients like flour and yeast. Bread can be very time consuming, but I can not recommend this book/recipe enough-

Yes, you read that correctly- bread in 5 minutes a day! This book is full of recipes, but the master recipe is primarily what I use. It is simple- mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, add water, stir to combine and then leave for 2 hours. At that point you can bake some off, or put it all the refrigerator for later. It makes a large batch of dough, so the idea is that you make dough for a week or two and when ever you want fresh bread, you pull off a hunk and bake it.

Want some buns for burgers or our favorite, fried egg sandwiches? Pull off some dough, form into bun size pieces, bake and you have fresh buns for the week. Wants some fococcia? Done. Pizza dough? Done. Naan for lentils? Done.

Yes, I put an egg on it!

This dough is super versatile and so easy! The recipe is written in measurements and weights. I use weights because 1. It is more accurate, 2. You just put a bowl on a scale and dump everything in- no dirty measuring cups to wash 3. Easy to substitute- I ran out of wheat flour once when making this, so I made up the difference by weight in white dough and it worked great. When I first starting making this I had some trouble getting it to rise enough, until my friend Taryn recommended I try using filtered water. Since doing that, it has worked every time. Get this book from the library, borrow it from a friend or go out and buy it! You won't ever regret making your own bread or other bread products, I promise. Enjoy!

Almond Date Breakfast Loaf

I have been meaning to post about this bread for a while. The problem was that I ate the first loaf before I could take a picture (because it was so good) and then I made a second batch before Christmas, stuck it in the freezer and just pulled it out again this week. The bread is surprisingly tasty despite how it might look in the picture. It has almond extract in it which adds a unique flavor combined with cinnamon and dates. This bread is also very low in fat and sugar so you do no have to feel bad having it for breakfast or a snack. I like it best with a smear of almond butter- yum! I found the recipe in Cooking Light and the original has streusel topping and used figs instead of dates. I made the first batch with out the topping and thought it was just fine with out it. I used dates because they were easier for me to find, have as similar flavor and texture to figs, and they also always remind me of my grandmother. When I was younger, my mom's parents would spend winters in Arizona and every other Christmas we would hop in the car and drive down to visit. We would have a great time exploring the sand dunes, bartering in Mexico, eating fresh grapefruit for breakfast, and drinking date shakes. I now only vaguely remember the place where we would have them, but I remember a forest of date trees that we walked through and a little shop that sold date shakes. Right now as it literally " feels like" -22 outside according to weather.com I really wish I was in warm Arizona drinking that shake! Enjoy!

Almond Date Breakfast Loaf
adapted from Cooking Light
Yield: 2 loaves

~8-12 dates, pitted and chopped
2 egg whites
1 egg
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup chopped almonds or walnuts, toasted (I used walnuts)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 8 inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place egg whites and egg in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add applesauce, yogurt, oil, flaxseed, and almond extract. Stir well. Add sugar and stir to combine. Mix in dates.
3. Combine flours, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Add to applesauce mixture and stir to combine.
4. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes or a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Super Easy Brown Bread

I love my cast iron skillet. We received one for a wedding present (thanks cousin Elizabeth!) and I am amazed at how much I use it. It was one of the gift that Aaron really wanted us to get because he had read about cast iron skillet cooking in GQ I think. I really didn't know much about them except that are good to use for cooking because some of the iron leaches into food, increasing iron content of the food. Now  I use it at least once a week, and today I have already used it twice!
A favorite Saturday breakfast item for us is "skillet pancake." Heat the oven to 450 degrees and place cast iron skillet in oven to heat. Once oven is heated, melt 1 tbsp butter in skillet. While oven is heating mix together- 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs and a pinch of salt. Whip well and pour into hot skillet. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Cut into slices and enjoy! We especially love it with Nuttela and fresh strawberries.
Recently I saw a recipe on Dave Lebovitz's blog about  brown bread. It sounded delicious and easy, so I gave it a try with a couple of little twist on Dave's recipe- one being I baked it in my cast iron skillet! Who knew you could bake bread in a pan, but you definitely can. It  turned out great and I think you will enjoy it too! It went great with minestrone soup. Enjoy!

Brown Bread
adapted from David Lebovitz
 *I recommend weighing the ingredients if you have a food scale at home


2 1/4 cups (250g) whole wheat flour
2 3/4 cups (120g) wheat bran or wheat germ, (I used 120g of ground flax seed instead)
4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (I used kosher salt)
2 ounces (60g) butter, salted or unsalted
2 1/2 cups (600ml) buttermilk*
2 teaspoons molasses
1. Put the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. (180ºC.) Line a sturdy baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and put it on the oven rack.(or use a cast iron skillet like I did)
2. Mix the whole wheat flour, white flour, ground flax, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

3. Cut the butter into little bits and rub them into small pieces with the flour mixture using your fingers (or a pastry cutter), until as small as possible.
5. Stir in the buttermilk and molasses until the dough is uniformly damp. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead not-too-vigorously, until the dough forms a smooth ball. (If making two, divide the dough into two equal-sized pieces and roll each separately.)
6. Use a sharp serrated knife to slice a cross deeply into the top of the bread, about 1-inch (3cm) deep. Place the brown bread loaf on the hot baking sheet, being mindful that the baking pan is hot.
7. Bake for 45 minutes (mine took closer to 60 minutes), or until the loaf is firm on top and when you tap the bottom, feels hollow.
8. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for one hour.
*If you do not have buttermilk, like me, I added 1 tbsp lemon juice to the milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes or you can mix equal parts plain yogurt and milk according to Dave.

Zucchini Bread

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am going zucchini in my garden and it is growing very well. Almost every day for the past week I have been able to pick a ripe, medium sized zucchini. That starts to add up fast! I like zucchini because it is so versatile and has a very mild flavor. My goal this week is to prepare it in a way that my husband 1. eats it and 2. likes it!

Because he has told me that he doesn't really like "squash," I ate it  almost every day when he was out of town last week. When I still ended up with four ripe zucchini I decided it  was time to make bread. Zucchini bread is a great way to use up several zucchini at one time. I came across a Paula Dean recipe from The Food Network that had a lot of positive comments. Normally I steer away from Paula Dean recipes because she tends to use a lot of fat and cooks more comfort, southern foods that are not usually part of my repertoire. However, this recipe used oil instead of butter and had so many good reviews I thought it was worth a try. The first time I made this recipe last week, I made it in a bundt pan and it turned out amazingly good! I added whole wheat flour, changed up the sugars, and added in some ground flax. It was so moist, but also seemed a little greasy due to the amount of oil. I brought it into work one day and it was gone by that afternoon.

Today I made it again as muffins. This time I made a few more adjustments- less oil, less eggs, and less sugar. Normally I do not mess around with taking out eggs in recipes, but because of the fat content of flax that I added, I knew I could eliminate a couple of eggs as long as I added some water. The end result was just as moist with less grease. Success! Now I am waiting for my husband to try them. . . then we will know the true result. I think he will like them and I think you will too! Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread (adapted from Paula Dean)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup ground flax.
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten with 2 tbsp of water
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two standard loaf pans, one bundt pan, or two muffin tin pans with non-stick spray (if not using paper liners in muffin tins).
2. Combine the flours, flax, sugars, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl combine zucchini, eggs, oil, water, lemon juice and vanilla
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. Fold in walnuts if using. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake until browned and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For loaf pans- approximately 60 minutes, bundt pan- approximately 45 minutes, and muffins- approximately 30 minutes.