Countdown to 2012 - Bread Recipes

Today's countdown features our favorite Bread recipes of 2011. Although bread is one of my favorite things, I didn't blog about it much in 2011.



However, hands down my favorite bread recipe of 2011 was Nutella Banana Bread. I decided to substitute Nutella for peanut butter in banana bread. If you're like me and love Nutella, you'll love this bread.

You'll find lots of other great bread recipes over on Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

Check back for tomorrow's countdown, soup and stew!

Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread - Revisited

In honor of Mother's Day, I am featuring recipes from some of the mother's who have touched my life. Today's recipe is from my good friend Larry's mother. If you like banana bread, give this recipe a try! She always said it was the glaze and really ripe bananas that made this bread so delicious.



Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread

Cream together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Add two eggs, 3 mashed RIPE bananas, pinch of sale, 1 teaspoon of soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 3/4 cup flour.

Bake in greased and floured loaf pans at 350 for 45 - 60 minutes. Makes two medium size loaves.

Glaze while still warm with a glaze of powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk.

I am linking this to Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday's and Tuesday Night Supper Club.

Chocolate Nut Loaf - Chocolate With Francois

Most of the recipes we've made so far from Chocolate With Francois have been shall we say a little challenging. I was thrilled when I read this month's recipe. The recipe read like a basic quick bread recipe and except for the almond paste, I had all of the ingredients on hand.

I decided to make my own almond paste, of sorts. I combined the "dust" from the almonds I had chopped for the bread, with a teaspoon of almond extract and a little powdered sugar. As well, I substituted macadamia nuts for the hazelnuts. The baking time for this recipe is 50 - 60 minutes. When I checked my bread at 45 minutes, the butter was bubbling around the sides of the pan and had run over in the oven. Fortunately, I use an oven liner. If you don't have one, I strongly recommend buying one!!! After the bread cooled, most of the butter seemed to absorb back into the bread. It did create an interesting crisp edge around the bread. I decided to skip glazing the bread. The bread was moist and the combination of nuts were delicious.


Thanks to Leslie of Lethally Delicious for hosting this month. You can find the recipe on her blog. The links to the other Chocolate With Francois Bakers can be found here!

Rosemary Corn Muffins

Spoiler alert - if you haven't watched the Top Chef Just Desserts finale, don't read this! Before we talk Rosemary Corn Muffins, did you watch Top Chef Just Desserts? Were you happy with the winner? I wanted Yigit to win but I was thrilled that Morgan didn't win.

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. I love it's wonderful scent and flavor. I brought my rosemary plant inside and hope to continue growing it inside this winter. In the meantime, just in case it doesn't like the indoors, I am trying to use as much as I can.

I love corn bread or corn muffins. This recipe takes corn muffins to a whole new level. The addition of the corn kernels adds depth and the rosemary gives them an earthy fragrance and flavor.

Rosemary Corn Muffins
Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart Whole Living
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus leaves for topping
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh corn kernels (from 2 to 3 ears of corn)
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, rosemary, and 1 cup corn.
2.Combine buttermilk, egg, and oil in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture, and stir until just combined.
3.Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling three-quarters full. Top with remaining 2 tablespoons corn and the rosemary. Bake until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool in tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn out muffins onto rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Balloon Boy Bread

They always say it's good to be able to laugh at yourself. It's okay, I know you're laughing, too. I'd made this bread before and it turned out great. I love the flavor of rosemary in bread. The taste is amazing and the smell in the kichen is heavenly. The second time I made it, I made the mistake of leaving it in the bowl for the second rise. Not sure what I was thinking. As I tried to take it out of the bowl and put it on the baking sheet, it fell and became a blob of dough. Because we liked the flavor so well, I decided to bake in anyway. As it was baking, I looked in the oven and laughed. It was balloon boy bread. The texture was a little more glutenous than it should have been but the flavor was still delicious.

Romano's Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
Courtesy of Hunter at Recipezaar

1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.
Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.
Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary.
Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.
Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.
Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.
Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired.).

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesday's at the Table.

Throwed Rolls - Foodie Friday

Lambert's is a wonderful restaurant in Southern Missouri. As you travel on Interstate 44, you see signs about Lambert's being the home of Throwed Rolls. Everyone who's traveled Southern Missouri knows about Lambert's Throwed Rolls. The staff at Lambert's does just as the name would describe, throws the rolls.

A few months ago, I ran across a copycat recipe for Throwed Rolls on Dine and Dish. Kristin's recipe says you can make these in a bread machine. Having never mastered the art of kneading bread by hand, I decided to make them in my Kitchen Aid. They turned out great. Although we didn't throw any around, they were a wonderful addition to Sunday dinner.



Just Like Lambert's Throwed Rolls
SERVES 12

1 teaspoon sugar
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry active yeast
1/4 cup tepid water (105-110 degrees)
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten (at room temp)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
Combine sugar and yeast in tepid water.
Let stand 5-10 minutes until yeast begins to foam.
Thoroughly mix milk, butter, sugar, egg and salt in large bowl.
Stir in the yeast mixture and 3 1/2 cups of flour, adding a bit more if necessary to make a soft, pliable dough.
Turn dough out on floured board and let rest while you clean and butter bowl.
Knead dough gently 4-5 minutes, adding flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and silky.
Return to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size (1 1/2 hours appoximately).
Butter a 12 cup muffin tin.
Punch down dough.
Pinch off pieces that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, (enough to fill one-half of muffin cup), and roll into smooth spheres.
Place two such pieces in each prepared muffin cup- it will be a tight fit.
Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap for 45 minutes.
Bake rolls in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until light brown.
Serve as soon as they are cool enough to throw.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

No SMS Today - No Knead Bread

After being on the scales at the doctor's office recently, I was reminded to cut back on baking sweets. I don't know about you but if they're in the house, I have NO willpower. I eat them!!

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe, Roasted Pecan Cake, was chosen by the creative and talented Leslie at Lethaly Delicious. Sorry, Leslie but I had to pass one this one! You can also find the links to the other SMS bakers here!

Instead I am posting about another food I love, bread. Okay I think I see why those scales are going the wrong way, desserts and bread!! But what's better than the warm, wonderful smell that fills the kitchen while bread is baking? Maybe eating it while it is warm?

Last week while browsing the blogsphere, I found this recipe for No Knead Bread. No Knead Bread seems to be all the buzz these days. Sounds easy enough, why not give it a try?

The recipe calls for cracked peppercorns. Not easy to do. I ended up using my wooden meat mallet. Even with that, I ended up with some uncracked ones! Next time, I think I will use my coffee grinder. The dough is very, very sticky. Basically it's the type of dough you would expect with out kneading.

No Knead Bread is known for it's beautifully browned, crisp crust. None of my dutch ovens are safe in a 450 degree oven, so I used a glass casserole pan. My crust was browned but not as crisp as I would have liked. I am browsing the aisles at Goodwill in hopes of finding an old cast iron dutch oven.

We enjoyed the peppery flavor of this bread. We used the leftovers for grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum! I want to try making this bread with rosemary and garlic. I love the smell of rosemary while something is baking!

What ingredients would you like to use in this recipe?






Peppercorn, Potato, and Parmesan No-Knead Bread
- makes one 1 1/2-pound loaf -

Adapted from The Art of Eating In by Cathy Erway.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
About 3 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked (I placed mine in a Ziploc bag and rolled over it with a rolling pin several times)
1 5/8 cups water that was used to boil a potato, slightly cooled
Parmesan

Procedure
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, and pepper. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 (or two days), at warm room temperature, about 70°F.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball, tucking folded parts underneath. Sprinkle and gently pat grated Parmesan across the top of the loaf. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, semolina, or cornmeal, and place the loaf seam-side down in it. Coat another towel with flour and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, the dough will me more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least half an hour before dough is ready, preheat oven to 450°F. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slid your hand under the towel and place dough Parmesan side up in the pot. Cover with lid and bake 20 minutes; then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

One Year Ago Champagne Asparagus Risotto.

Buttermilk Cornbread

Have you ever made cornbread from scratch? I must admit those little blue Jiffy Mix boxes have been in my cabinets for years. Not the same boxes :)

In my never ending quest to "Use It Up", this weeks leftover ingredient was buttermilk. I found this recipe on All Recipes.

This recipe makes a delicious, moist cornbread. It's easy to put together and I think if you didn't have buttermilk, regular milk could be substituted. Of course, we'd have to change the recipe title!

Buttermilk Cornbread
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2.Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

One Year Ago - Mint Brownie Pie

Kitchen Aid French Bread

As you read this post, we're in Roatan, Honduras. Tim's looking forward to snorkeling the world's second largest barrier reef.

In keeping with my 2010 resolutions, I made another batch of homemade bread. I am encouraged about my bread baking skills. My biggest challenge in making homemade bread is the kneading, so I am trying to make recipes using my Kitchen Aid to do the kneading for me. I really want to start making whole wheat breads, since we all know the story about white flour but I didn't have any whole wheat flour in the house, so it's white bread again this time.



Kitchen Aid French Bread

2 packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups water (105F to 115 F)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon melted margarine or butter
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, butter, and flour.
Attach bowl & dough hook to mixer, turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute or until well blended. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer. Dough will be really sticky.
Put dough in large greased bowl, turning to coat.

Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into 12" x 15" rectangle. Roll dough tightly, from longest side, tapering ends, if needed/wanted. Place loaves on greased baking sheets, dusted with cornmeal.

Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. With sharp knife, make 4 diagonal cuts on top of each loaf.

Bake at 450F for 25 minutes. Place 3 -4 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven. Remove from the oven. Beat egg white and water together and brush each loaf with this mix. Return to the oven and bake 5 minutes longer. Immediately remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

My notes on this recipe: This dough is really, really sticky. Next time I make it, I am going to try kneading a little longer and seeing if that helps. My loaf turned out pretty flat. I think I didn't roll the dough tightly enough. I didn't use the egg wash and the crust was beautiful. The color of the finished bread was a golden color, not the typical white you think of with French Bread. The bread was denser than I would have liked but the flavor was still very good. After learning some things about this bread recipe, I will try it again.

Old World Rye Bread - Recipes To Rival (RTR)

Homemade bread...there isn't anything better than Homemade Bread!!! I've never baked much bread. One of my reasons for blogging was to be challenged to make recipes I normally wouldn't make. I was thrilled to see this month's Recipes to Rival was Rye Bread.

Since I am now the proud owner of a scale, I used the scale to measure my flour. So much easier than the standard cup measurement method. Also, for bread making so much more accurate! I did not make any changes to this recipe. Not being an experienced bread baker I wanted to follow it exactly. Of course, rye flour wasn't a staple in my kitchen. When I looked at my supermarket a couple of weeks ago, a 5 pound bag was a little pricey. Especially when you know you are buying it to make on specific recipe. I love the bulk section at Whole Foods, perfect when you only need a little of something.

Oh the smell of bread baking!!! This bread smelled especially wonderful, almost smelled more like a cake than bread.

I am so excited!! My bread turned out beautifully!!! The flavor and texture were wonderful! I am not a big fan of rye bread but this bread is a milder rye bread. I really enjoyed this bread. I will make this again. Thanks Recipes to Rival for helping me conquer my bread baking fears!

Old World Rye
A World of Breads by Dolores Casella, 1966

2 cups rye flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 T yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup molasses
2 tsp salt
2 T caraway seeds
2 T butter
2 1/2 cups white flour or whole wheat flour

Combine the rye flour and cocoa. do not sift.
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
Mix molasses, 1 cup warm water, salt, and caraway seed in large mixing bowl.
Add the rye/cocoa mix, the proofed yeast, the butter and 1 cup white flour or whole wheat flour.
Beat until the dough is smooth.
Spread the remaining flour on a breadboard and kneed it into the dough
Add more flour if necessary to make a firm dough that is smooth and elastic.
Place in buttered bowl and cover. Allow to rise until double (about 2 hours).
Punch dough down, shape into a round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
Let rise about 50 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

My notes for this recipe: I used my kitchen aid. For the intial mixing, I used the paddle attachment. Once the ingredients were mixed together, I switched to the door hook. I kneaded this about 10 minutes.