Old Fashioned Corn Bread

OLD FASHIONED CORN BREAD


2 C freshly milled popcorn
2 C freshly milled high gluten flour (or straight from the cannery in my case...)
1/2 C sugar
1/3 C powdered milk
1/2 c canola oil
1 tsp. salt
2 TB baking powder
2 C water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp bacon grease, or other grease substitute

Mix all ingredients except grease for 2 minutes. Preheat oven to 400. Place large cast-iron skillet in oven with 2 TBS bacon grease. When skillet is very hot, remove from oven and pour in batter. Place back in oven and bake for 15-20 min.

Swedish Cardamom Desserts

Swedish coffee bread: A Christmas tradition

As soon as I saw the Swedish coffee bread on Elise’s Simply Recipes, I knew I’d make my own. The original plan was to bake it last Sunday because I thought that Sam would just love to drizzle the glaze over the newly baked bread but she went back to the condo early Sunday morning, I lost momentum and baked nothing on Sunday. Yesterday, I was by myself in the house and I decided to do some baking. I made one wreath of Swedish coffee bread and eight cheese and sausage rolls.

According to Sara, Elise’s reader who sent her the recipe, coffee bread is a traditional Christmas dish in Sweden. So, although most recipes yield a braided bread, Sara likes to form her coffee bread into a wreath which I found lovely. My Swedish coffee bread closely follows the recipe from Simply Recipes (Elise is one of the few food bloggers whose recipes I trust) although I did make a few tweaks here and there (I didn’t add any egg), and I used my own concoction for the filling.

Ingredients
1/2 c. of full cream milk
1/4 c. of water
1 tbsp. of instant dry yeast
1/8 c. of melted butter, cooled
6 tbsps. of sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of ground cardamom
1 c. of all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
1/2 c. of bread flour
1 tsp. of vegetable oil

For the filling, mix together:

1/4 c. of butter, softened
1/4 c. of dark brown sugar
1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of ground nutmeg
1/2 c. of chopped pecans

Instructions
Make the bread. Whisk together the flours, salt and ground cardamom.

Scald the milk. Pour into a mixing bowl. Stir in the water. Leave until lukewarm. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture. Leave for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and melted butter to the yeast mixture. Stir. Add half of the flour mixture. Mix. The dough will be wet, sticky and lumpy. Add the rest of the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together.

Dump the dough into a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, dusting with flour sparingly, until no longer sticky. Form into a ball.

Brush the inside of a bowl with vegetable oil. Put the dough in the bowl, turning it around to coat the surface with oil. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise for about two hours.

Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Form into a log. With a rolling pin, flatten the log to make a long rectangle.

Spread the filling on the dough.

From one of the two long edges, roll the rough…

… keep rolling until you have a neat log.

Take the log and transfer to a lined baking dish (I used a pizza dish), forming the dough into a ring. Pinch the two edges together so that everything is neat.

Using kitchen shears, slice the dough diagonally at two-inch intervals without cutting all the way to the inside of the ring. Ideally, the slices should be an even number.

Take one slice of dough and pull it toward the inside of the ring. Do this alternately. And this is why the slices should, ideally, be an even number. But I’m bad in Math, I cut and cut without counting so I had an extra slice which, I hope, you won’t notice.

Leave the dough to rise for another 30 to 45 minutes.

Ten to 15 minutes before the dough is done rising, preheat the oven to 325F.

Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes.

The bread should be nicely browned on top by the end of baking time.

Make the glaze. Place 1/2 c. of sifted powdered sugar in a bowl. Add a teaspoonful of water. Mix. If the mixture is pourable, drizzle over the bread. If the mixture is still too thick, add more water, a few drops at a time.

The Swedish coffee bread is so called because it is best served as an accompaniment to coffee. I had mine with iced coffee yesterday. When Speedy got home, he had his with hot coffee. And he loved, loved, loved the Swedish coffee bread. It just might become a tradition in our family, Christmas or not.

Cooking time (duration): about 4 hours
Number of servings (yield): 1 14-inch wreath

Torbjörn's recipe for Swedish Cardamom Rolls
For dough

• 1 1/4 cups warm water (105°F.)
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• two 1/4-ounce packages active dry yeast (5 teaspoons total)
• 3 large eggs beaten lightly
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons cardamom seeds, ground in a mortar with a pestle, or in an electric spice/coffee grinder
• an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg with 2 tablespoons water

Make dough:

In a large bowl combine water, butter, and sugar. (Note: Add the cardamom with the warm liquid so the spice delicately permeates the roll. The taste of the sprinkled cardamom was too harsh.) Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand 5 minutes or until foamy. Stir in eggs, salt and dry milk until combined. With a wooden spoon stir in 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir mixture until a dough is formed.

On a floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make dough smooth and elastic. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, and let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Roll into a 15- by 20-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough and sprinkle with granulated sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. (Note from above: Add the cardamom with the warm liquid so the spice delicately permeates the roll. The taste of the sprinkled cardamom was too harsh.)

With a long side facing you, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion and cut crosswise into approximately 1 1/2-inch-thick slices with a cut side down. Working with 1 slice at a time gently twist opposite ends of slice around twice to form a figure eight. Crimp ends together. Arrange rolls, a swirled side up, on a buttered baking sheet about 2 inches apart and let rise in a warm place until increased 1 1/2 times in bulk, about 1 hour.

While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350F.

Brush tops of rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar (IKEA). Bake rolls in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, about 25 minutes.

Note: My Swedish mother taught me to roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Spread butter on the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll the dough lengthwise to make a log. Beginning at the top of the log use clean kitchen scissors and snip about 3/4 of the way into the log every inch. Begin at the top of the log to "Flower" out each snipped piece, laying each piece left, then right. It will almost look braided on the cookie sheet.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Swedish-Cardamom-Rolls-14327#ixzz1YsQlFWFT

Cranberry-Cardamom Muffins

Rated: Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes Servings: 24

"This cranberry muffin recipe was handed down to me from my Swedish mother and grandmother, who liked using cardamom in almost anything! You'll enjoy the light cake-like texture."

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups sugar 1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries 4 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups sour cream 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Add cranberries; stir to coat. In a small bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, butter and vanilla; mix well. Add to cranberry mixture; stir just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-10 minutes or until muffins test done. Remove from pans; serve warm

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=124122&origin=detail&&Servings=24

Hearty Muffins -- to sink your teeth into

Cold winter mornings call for something hearty and wholesome and whole grain muffins are perfect.

Reading about mixing methods seems about as exciting as broccoli. But it’s so helpful to recognize and understand mixing methods when tackling new recipes. Once you understand mixing methods, you’ll quickly pick out the method in a new recipe like an old friend in a crowd. You can even switch from one method to another with slightly different results.

There are two methods for mixing muffins (and many other baked goods like cookies). In the muffin method, the liquids and the dry ingredients are mixed separately and then stirred together until just combined. In the creaming method, the butter or other fat is creamed with the sugar.

To use the muffin method, whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl to make sure that the baking powder and other ingredients are well combined. Set aside.

Whisk the egg in a separate bowl with a whisk or fork. Add the other liquids and whisk again. (Some recipes will instruct you to stir the sugar and salt into the liquids, rather than add them to the dry ingredients, to make sure that they dissolve completely and are evenly dispersed. We prefer to divide liquids from all dry ingredients with most of our muffin recipes.)

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid all at once. Stir with a spatula until mixed well and moistened—some lumps will remain. Do not over stir—stirring too much will develop the gluten in the flour and the muffin will not be tender and crumbly. To avoid over stirring, we prefer a spatula or a large spoon to an electric mixer.

If you are using fruit in your muffins, fold them in gently at the end of your mixing with a minimum number of folds. Fruit crushes easily in the thick batter and the juice will stain the batter.

For the creaming method, cream the butter or shortening and sugars together. The sugar crystals cut through the fat creating tiny pockets of air. In the heat of the oven, the pockets will expand and help lift the muffins. After creaming, add the eggs and beat until the mixture turns a lighter color and is soft. Then add the flour followed by the liquids in three or four additions mixing after each. You always start with the flour. Oil and water don't mix and adding the liquid to the creamed mixture will often create an unattractive, curdled mess. The flour will act as a buffer between the oils and water in the liquids.

For either method, grease the muffin tins well. We like spray oil from an aerosol can to reach the corners of the tins. Be sure to cover the top edges where the muffins will flow when baking. (You can use paper liners but since the batter adheres slightly to the paper, you will have slightly less volume to the muffins.)

Temperature is one of the secrets to those nicely domed muffins that you find in the better bake shops. Make sure that the oven is completely heated before baking. We like to let the oven sit at full temperature for at least ten minutes before baking so that the heat is well-absorbed into the structure of the oven. The temperature should be set to 400 or 425 degrees though you can turn the heat down to 350 degrees after five minutes. The higher heat creates a burst of steam that lifts the batter. (We have experimented with turning the heat down immediately and waiting as long as six or eight minutes before turning it down. It doesn't seem to matter. Just test your muffins to make sure they are done.) Place the muffins in the upper third of the oven where it tends to be hotter and the heat more constant. Bake until done.

Tips for Better Muffins

* Always measure flour precisely using a scale if you have one. Muffin recipes are sensitive to the ratio of flour to liquid. Too much flour and the muffin will not rise properly and will be dry. Too little flour and the muffin will flow over the edges of the muffin cup rather than dome nicely. If you need to fine tune your favorite recipe, change the flour by a tablespoon or two.
* To make cake-like muffins, use a lower protein flour—all-purpose or pastry flour. Higher protein bread flours will make a muffin that is chewier and more bread-like.
* Fill the muffin tins with a large spoon or ice cream scoop. Make sure that the muffin tins are evenly filled so that they bake evenly.

Most recipes direct that the muffin tins be filled 2/3 full to allow room for expansion. If you want high-domed muffins, fill them fuller than that. Bake the muffins until they are a light golden brown. The muffin top should spring back when gently pressed with the finger and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Over-baked muffins will be dry and tough. Under-baked muffins may be moist and heavy with a doughy center.

It is easy to tear apart hot muffins trying to lift them from the tins. Instead, let the muffins sit for a few minutes and you should be able to easily lift them out intact. Place them on wire racks to continue cooling. One of the most used tools in our kitchen is a soft-sided silicone spatula that will gently remove muffins and other baked goods from their pans without scratching nonstick surfaces.

Alaskan Apricot Muffins

These are hearty, whole grain muffins—the kind your mother would approve of—but they are still very good. They are not overly sweet muffins.

2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled whole oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup 1/4-inch chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin pan. This recipe will make eight high-domed muffins or ten smaller ones.

1. Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. Add the sour cream. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon together.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Stir only until combined. Add the fruit and the nuts.
4. Spoon the batter into the greased muffin cups.
5. Bake for 15 to18 minutes or until done. Baking times will vary. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Raggedy Ann Cinnamon Chip Muffins Recipe

These muffins are made with cinnamon baking chips. In the high heat of the oven (the oven is set to 425 degrees), the cinnamon chips melt leaving swirls of cinnamon through the muffins. With all that melting cinnamon, the tops are often roughhewn and ragged and hence the name, Raggedy Ann cinnamon Chip Muffins. These are very good muffins.

This recipe makes ten large, well-domed muffins or 12 smaller ones.

Ingredients

2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole rolled oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup Prepared Pantry or equal cinnamon chips

For the topping:

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a muffin pan.

1. Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Stir only until combined. Add the cinnamon chips.
4. Drop the batter into the greased muffin cups. Mix the two tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together. Spoon the cinnamon sugar over the muffins.
5. Place the muffin pan in the oven. Immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes or until done. Baking times will vary depending on how well your oven holds heat. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Muffins by Dennis Weaver
Meridian Magazine
March 4, 2011
Link Here
http://ldsmag.com/index.php?option=com_zine&view=article&Itemid=146&ac=1&id=7593

Bread Sticks

Breadsticks

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.
Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it's okay if they're close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life's greatest pleasures!
Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. Look how fat and happy they are...

When there's about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt.

Or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. I did that once. It was awesome.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/

Philadelphia-style Pretzels

These old-fashioned "Philadelphia-style" pretzels are almost like bagels -- smooth and shiny on the outside, chewy within. This is a great recipe for baking with kids.

1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups room-temperature water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups 100% White Whole Wheat Flour *
2 teaspoons non-diastatic malt powder or sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/2 to 3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

* Hard white spring wheat, rather than traditional red wheat, makes lighter-colored, milder-tasting baked goods.

Mix the sugar, water and yeast; stir to dissolve. (If you're using instant yeast, skip this step, simply combining all of the ingredients at once.) Add the white wheat flour, malt, salt, and enough unbleached flour to make a soft (but not sticky) dough. Knead well, place in a bowl, and let rise till doubled.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a log, and shape the logs into pretzels. In a large pot, boil together 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons baking soda. Put 4 pretzels at a time into the boiling water, and cook for 1 minute. (The baking soda bath changes the PH of the dough, allowing it to develop the dark brown exterior without burning it. If you skip this step, the pretzels would be very light and unevenly browned.) Transfer the boiled pretzels to a lightly greased baking sheet.

When all the pretzels have been boiled, paint them with an egg glaze (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with salt, then bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pretzels are well-browned. Yield: 16 soft, chewy pretzels.

Manti Temple Wheat Bread

I've been trying a different recipe just about every week. While my family really likes the one with white flour "Honey Whole Wheat", I think it has too much white flour. This one is awesome and has a higher wheat flour ratio. I have been grinding Red Wheat for this on a coarser setting.

I was told that if you use local honey it helps lessen the severity of allergies once spring rolls in. I hope that is true.

This recipe is from Cookin' with Home Storage by Peggy Layton. A great book that I highly recommend. It literally has a recipe for everything. I don't really want to make my own yeast. It's so much easier to get the big package from Costco. But there is a recipe to do it.

Bread Recipe:

12 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups white flour

8 cups warm water

1 c. melted shortening

1 c. powdered milk

1 1/2 T salt

6 T honey

5 tsp. yeast

These are the steps I personally follow:

Put warm water (the hottest your tap water will get) into mixer. Add powdered milk, yeast, honey and salt. Start mixing. Add white flour and melted shortening. Gradually add wheat flour. Let it mix about 10 minutes. This isn't a very stiff dough. Let it rise until doubled in size. Spray bread pans with non-stick cooking spray. I get 4 large loaves.

Put dough in pans. You will need extra flour to do this because it is sticky dough.

Let rise no longer than 15 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. I bake all of the loaves at the same time and it works out great.

Honey Wheat

This recipe is the one Katie gave me that she now swears by. We had some for lunch and it is yummy!

HONEY WHEAT
3 3/8 C water
7 1/2 C white bread flour
1 1/2 C wheat flour
4 1/2 Tbs. dry milk
4 1/2 Tbs. honey
4 1/2 Tsp. salt
6 Tbs. butter

6 tsp fast rise yeast
-or-
9 tsp active dry yeast
Bake 350 for 40 minutes

The only altering I did here was up my wheat flour to 3 1/2 C wheat and 5 1/2 C white... Soooo good right out of the oven!

Wheat Bread

Annee- here is the wheat bread recipe I originally used from the wheat grinder recipe:
100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
5 C warm water
2/3 C oil
2/3 C honey
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. tofu drink mix (optional)
2 Tbs. SAF instant yeast
2 Tbs. Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tbs. Dough Enhancer
10-12 C freshly milled wheat flour

In your mixing bowl, put water, 5 cups of wheat flour, oil, honey, yeast, gluten, dough enhancer, and tofu. Mix on speed 1 until combined. Then add approximagely 5 more cups of flour and salt. Mix, and continue to add flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Then knead for another 4-5 minutes. The dough should feel soft, not rainy. Form it into loaves and place in pans. Let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 for 30min or until the top is golden brown. (makes 6-8 1lb loaves)

*** due to lack of ingredients, I omitted th etofu, gluten and enhancer. because of this, I did 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat. The bread tasted great. Maybe it'd be even better following the directions:)

MELINDA- correct me if I'm wrong, but rumor has it you have said the gluten and dough enhancer is not necessary when using fresh wheat???

Harvest Soup Bowl and Stuffed Pumpkin Dinner

My neighbor served these at her son's baptism luncheon on Saturday. They were delicious and looked great too.

Harvest Soup

2 c water

6 c chopped potatoes

1 c chopped celery

1 1/2 c chopped carrots

1/2 c chopped onion

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

dash pepper

2 tsp chicken bouillon

____________________

3 c milk

4 T flour

1 lb Velveeta cheese

Add vegetables and seasonings to water and gently simmer on LOW heat until tender. Do not drain. Heat milk/flour in saucepan to boiling point, but do not let boil. Add cheese and stir constantly until cheese is entirely melted. Add vegetables and heat through. Fill bread bowls.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Remove seeds from a 10" round pumpkin.
Rub the inside with 2 Tbsp. butter and 1/2 tsp. ginger.
Rub the outside of the pumpkin with vegetable oil.
Bake it alone with the top on for 30 minutes at 350.
Brown 1 lb. hamburger and 2 lbs. sausage.
Sauté 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1 chopped onion.

Stir 1 cup of brown sugar into 2 Tbsp. orange juice and mix with 4 cups of Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing or croutons of your choice.
Fold the stuffing, meat, and vegetables together and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill pumpkin. Bake 30 minutes at 350 uncovered.
To serve, scoop pumpkin squash out with meat mixture.

Cheese Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.
Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 12.

These have a different texture than an average muffin—crispy around the outside and airy and extremely cheesy on the inside. Though they’re tasty at room temperature, warm is definitely best.