Pinch My Salt » Breads

Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips

Nicole — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:12:25 +0000

I’m sure you’ve heard me say that I prefer a somewhat healthy muffin. I know that I’ve told you before how I feel about overly sweet muffins – that if I wanted dessert, I’d rather just have a cupcake. But I did it anyway. I made these sweet, delicious muffins that offer very few nutritional benefits and really can’t be classified as anything but dessert.

You know what? I don’t regret it one bit.

These are the best muffins I’ve ever made and I wouldn’t change a thing about them. The banana and white chocolate are perfect together and the tart cherries help to balance the extra sweetness from the white chocolate. The streusel topping, perfect.

When I noticed three well-aged bananas sitting in the fruit basket (they grow up so fast, don’t they?), I figured I’d actually make some banana bread this time instead of banishing them to the back of the freezer. Since I’m in the process of eating down the pantry, I also pulled out a half-empty bag of white chocolate chips that had been hanging out for a while. I learned from Amanda that white chocolate chips are really good in banana-flavored baked goods so I was pretty excited to give it a try myself.

At some point during the ingredient-gathering stage I decided that muffins sounded like more fun than bread. Then all of a sudden tart dried cherries had made their way onto the ingredients list. I was obviously in one of those throw-it-all-in-there moods, so it should come as no surprise that I felt a streusel topping was necessary as well.

I’m glad I let go and followed my instincts on this one. These muffins were outstanding and I take back anything I ever said about muffins needing to be a bit healthy. I’ll never give up the healthy ones, but there’s certainly room for an occasional muffin indulgence. Enjoy!

Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips

Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter

Muffin Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped dried tart cherries

1. Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin (I use Baker’s Joy) or line with paper cups (I spray the inside of the paper cups with baking spray, too).

2. Make streusel topping: In a small bowl, blend together brown sugar and flour. Blend butter into the sugar mixture with your fingertips until it has a sandy, crumb-like texture. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar and vanilla; stir in mashed banana.

5. Pour banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined. Don’t overmix, but make sure all the flour has been scraped off the bottom of the bowl and mixed in. Fold in white chocolate chips.

6. Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle streusel mixture over the muffin batter, letting it mound slightly in the center of each muffin.

7. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let muffins cool slightly in pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Related Recipes:

Around the Web:

Nutella Banana Muffins from Delicious Days
Blueberry Banana Muffins from My Kitchen Snippets
Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins (gluten-free) from Gluten-Free Goddess
Banana Muffins with Pecans from Nami-Nami
Banana Nut Muffins from Simply Recipes

What is White Whole Wheat Flour? Delicious.

Nicole — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:58:41 +0000

I was searching through old photos today and found these whole wheat blueberry muffins I made a while back. Since I remember them tasting just as delicious as they look, I decided that they shouldn’t be kept hidden on my hard drive any longer.

The muffin recipe came from Elise at Simply Recipes and the only change I made was to use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all-purpose flour. If you haven’t started baking with white whole wheat flour yet, now is the time to start!

The name “white whole wheat flour” might seem confusing since we are used to associating the term “white flour” with something that has had most of the nutrition processed and bleached right out of it. But white whole wheat flour is a whole grain flour that has been milled from hard white spring wheat, rather than traditional red wheat. It offers all the same nutritional benefits of traditional whole wheat, but has a milder flavor, lighter color, and finer grind, making it perfect for quick breads.

I happen to really enjoy the flavor of traditional whole wheat flour and still use it for yeast breads, but I find myself turning to white whole wheat for things like cookies, quick breads, pancakes, pizza dough, and even pie crusts. It’s wonderful stuff! And if you’re new to baking with whole wheat flour, white whole wheat might make for an easier transition – especially if you’re baking for picky eaters!

I haven’t tried any brands other than King Arthur Flour, but I know Trader Joe’s (who unfortunately stopped selling King Arthur) is now stocking their own brand of white whole wheat and Hodgson Mill is also producing a white whole wheat flour. I’m sure there are even more brands out there now.

If you’d like to try experimenting with white whole wheat flour, I think a batch of muffins is a great place to start. You can use it in any recipe, just replace the all-purpose or traditional whole wheat flour with an equal part of white whole wheat flour.

One thing to keep in mind: while white whole wheat flour does bake up a bit lighter than traditional whole wheat, it is still a whole grain flour and will not perform exactly like the processed all-purpose version. Your quick breads might not rise quite as high, and the crumb might be a bit more dense than in breads baked with all-purpose flour, but I really enjoy the flavor and texture of whole grain baked goods and think you will, too.

And really, who is going to say no to a blueberry muffin that looks like this?

If you’d like to try these blueberry muffins, head over to Simply Recipes and print the recipe. Just don’t forget to use white whole wheat flour!

Related Recipes:

Around the Web:

The Bottom Line on White Whole Wheat Flour at Dani Spies
White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough at 101 Cookbooks
White Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls at Baking Bites
White Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil at Kalyn’s Kitchen
White Whole Wheat Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting at The Perfect Pantry

Cherry Pecan Bran Muffins

Nicole — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:22:30 +0000

Sometimes I think I would be perfectly happy in the kitchen making nothing but muffins all day long. Quick to prepare and endlessly adaptable, muffins are fun, easy, and delicious – and I believe everyone should learn to bake them.

If you’ve been reading about my kitchen adventures for any length of time, you already know that I tend to make a lot of whole grain muffins. While I do love sweet, cake-like muffins, I decided long ago that if I’m going to snack on something that tastes like dessert, I’d almost always rather go for an actual cupcake.

So while my muffins might not fall into the category of health food, I do try to find a nice balance between flavor, texture, and nutrition. These cherry pecan bran muffins are no exception. The muffins are packed with fiber but aren’t overly dense or heavy; the tart cherries and pecans lend a wonderful flavor, but also pack a nutritional punch. Tart cherries are filled with antioxidants, are a natural source of melatonin, and might help to ease the pain of arthritis, and when taken out of the pie, pecans are good for you as well.

I’ve been eating these muffins for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt, but they also make a great mid-afternoon snack. You may substitute other dried fruits or nuts for the cherries and pecans, but I found this combination to be a delicious one.

Cherry Pecan Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with butter, nonstick baking spray, or paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together wheat bran and boiling water; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. When wheat bran has cooled, whisk in the egg, milk, oil, and brown sugar. Pour wet bran mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined. Fold in the chopped cherries and pecans.

3. Divide batter between the twelve muffin cups (a regular-sized ice cream scoop works well). Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the top of the muffin springs back lightly to your touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t let them over bake.

Nutrition Info per serving (one muffin): 252 calories; 11 grams fat; 37 grams total carbohydrate; 4 grams fiber; 15 grams sugars; 5 grams protein. Nutrition information is approximate – analyzed through NutritionData.com

Related Recipes:

Around the Web:

Baby Bran Muffins from 101 Cookbooks
Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins from Chocolate & Zucchini
Basic Bran Muffins from Erin Cooks
Sour Cream Bran Muffins from Smitten Kitchen
Farmgirl Susan’s Basic Bran Muffins from Farmgirl Fare

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Nicole — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:24:23 +0000

Although this was my first time making them, I’m beginning to think that these warm and spicy pumpkin doughnuts are going to become a fall tradition around here. Filled with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and even a hint of cardamom, these doughnuts will warm your soul on a crisp autumn morning.

Have you ever made doughnuts from scratch? The closest I had ever come to making doughnuts was back in my college days when I learned how to make faux doughnuts (fauxnuts?) by poking holes in refrigerated biscuit dough rounds and frying them up in a skillet. They were pretty good if you dipped them in sugar and ate them warm, but not quite the real thing. Ok, not even close.

I have memories of the real thing, though. You see, my mom made homemade doughnuts for us once. They were yeast-raised doughnuts, the kind which are lightly glazed or sugar-crusted on the outside, but only slightly sweet and impossibly soft and fluffy on the inside. Though I was small, and the recollection is a bit fuzzy, I know in my heart that they were the best doughnuts I’ve ever tasted. While the “hot now” sign at Krispy-Kreme may make your heart flutter, I’m telling you that nothing compares to a doughnut fried up in your own kitchen. My mom only made doughnuts once that I can recall, but that one memory fills me with so much warmth, I know that I have to make doughnuts from scratch one day for my own children. Yes, food memories are powerful.

My favorite doughnuts are yeast-raised and glazed, and rarely do I stray from that standard when visiting a local doughnut shop. But after deciding to make doughnuts at home, I thought it would be best to start with a simple cake doughnut on my first go-round. And while I generally prefer plain cake doughnuts to flavored ones, I decided to give pumpkin doughnuts a try when I noticed that the leaning tower of organic canned pumpkin that had been perched precariously on my counter since that last trip to Trader Joe’s (when rumors of canned pumpkin shortages briefly got the best of me), was finally threatening to topple and, perhaps, hurt someone.

After looking through several pumpkin doughnut recipes, I chose to use one from Bon Appetit found on Epicurious. And since I can never leave a perfectly good recipe alone, I made a few changes like doubling all the spices and adding a touch of molasses. I also chose not to add the white glaze, and instead dusted the finished doughnuts lightly with powdered sugar mixed with a bit of pumpkin pie spice. They were absolutely delicious!

The dough is very sticky when it’s first mixed, so you need to chill it in the refrigerator for a few hours before you can work with it.

The next step reminded me a lot of making biscuits, and in fact I did use a biscuit cutter. Just dump some of the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then pat it out lightly with your hands.

Since the dough is still rather sticky, even after refrigeration, I dipped the cutter in flour before cutting each round.

After you cut out some rounds, it’s time to cut the holes. I wasn’t sure what to use, since I don’t have a one-inch round cutter like the recipe specified. But I do have an apple corer, and it worked well, even though the holes were a bit smaller than one inch. Again, I made sure to dip the apple corer in flour before cutting each hole.

When deep-frying, you need to make sure you control the temperature of the oil. Although it’s hard to keep it at the same exact temperature all the time, you should adjust the heat to try to keep the oil between 365 and 370 degrees as much as possible. If it’s too cool, the doughnuts will absorb too much oil and if it’s too hot, the doughnuts will brown too fast and the middles won’t be fully cooked. Make sure you have a thermometer clipped to side of your pan to make it easy to monitor the temperature of the oil.

Cook the doughnuts in batches, without overcrowding the pot. Adding too many doughnuts at once will cause the oil temperature to drop rapidly, resulting in greasy doughnuts.

Cook the doughnuts until they are golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon to a tray lined with paper towels.

After the doughnut holes have cooled, they can be rolled in cinnamon sugar, or whatever topping you decide to create.

I decided that I like these pumpkin doughnuts plain, but I did sprinkle a few with powdered sugar and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Perfect!

Pumpkin Doughnuts
(adapted from Bon Appétit)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon molasses
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
Canola or Peanut Oil (for deep-frying)

toppings:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
powdered sugar

1. Whisk first 9 ingredients (flour through cardamom) in a medium bowl to blend well; set aside.

2. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended (mixture will be a bit grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks, then vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk and molasses, then beat in pumpkin, in four additions.

3. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in 4 additions, blending gently after each. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours.

4. Lightly flour two baking sheets. When dough is well-chilled, lightly flour a work surface. Starting with about 1/3 of dough, gently press it out to a round that is 1/2- to 2/3-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes. Arrange doughnuts and holes on the baking sheets as you go. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used. If dough is very sticky, dip the round cutters into flour before cutting each doughnut.

5. Line two baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet or dutch oven to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pot and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely.

While doughnuts are cooling, mix sugar and cinnamon. Roll doughnut holes in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Lightly dust doughnuts with powdered sugar, if desired.

Related Recipes:

Around the Web:

Pumpkin Doughnuts from A Mingling of Tastes
Pumpkin Donuts with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting from Pete Bakes!
Baked Pumpkin Donuts from Culinary Cory
Pumpkin and Hazelnut Doughnuts from Canelle et Vanille
Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts from Recipe Girl

Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

Nicole — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:51 +0000

While some muffins are little more than cupcakes without the frosting, these hearty, flavorful, and nutritious whole grain apple muffins will help you power through your morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a fan of cake-like muffins, but I think they generally make a better dessert than breakfast. Made with whole wheat flour and heart-healthy oat bran, these muffins offer a bit more staying power than something you might pick up at a cafe on your way to work.

I made these using King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, which I have found is great for quick breads. But traditional whole wheat flour will work fine, and if you can find it, whole wheat pastry flour would be even better. As always, you may substitute all-purpose flour for any portion of the whole wheat, although you’ll lose some of the nutritional value.

One of my favorite muffin tips is to use a mechanical ice cream scoop for portioning out the muffin batter, it’s quick, easy, and reduces the chance of dropping globs of batter all over the muffin tin and counter (although I still usually manage to do that).

I think these muffins make a great breakfast-on-the-go, but I also enjoy them as an afternoon snack. They freeze well, and will defrost quickly at room temperature. I hope you enjoy them!

Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup sour cream, at room temp.
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 granny smith apple (or your favorite type of baking apple), peeled and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

cinnamon and sugar mixture (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in apples, raisins, and nuts (if using).

5. Divide batter between the twelve muffin cups (a regular-sized ice cream scoop works well). Sprinkle tops of muffins with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar if desired.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Around the Web:

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins from Smitten Kitchen
Gluten-Free Apple Pear Muffins from Karina’s Kitchen
Maple-Drizzled Apple Muffins from Recipe Girl
Apple Cinnamon Crunch Muffins from Andrea’s Recipes
Apple Muffins from Cooking for Seven

Pumpkin Recipes!

Nicole — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:35:22 +0000

Click any of the photos above to be taken to the recipe. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Cranberry Scones Recipe

Nicole — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:00:35 +0000

I’m sitting here on this beautiful Sunday morning eating the best scone I’ve ever made in my life. Days like this are bittersweet. On one hand, there’s almost nothing better than a lazy Sunday morning spent baking and lounging in my pajamas. But what’s the fun in eating such a wonderful treat, when there’s no one to share it with?

So, as as soon as I’m done writing this, I’m heading out to deliver a few scones to my friend Caron who lives nearby. And my sister, who is coming over this afternoon, will get the rest. My husband will be home in a few days, but scones are always best eaten on the day they are made. I’ll just have to make a new batch for him next Sunday!

Scones are simple to make, especially if you already know how to make biscuits from scratch. The key is to keep the ingredients cold and work quickly. Read completely through the recipe before starting and make sure you have all your ingredients and tools ready and nearby. And make sure you start preheating the oven as soon as you start thinking about making these.

Buttermilk Cranberry Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped fine
finely grated zest from one small lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
heavy cream (optional, for brushing tops of scones)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add butter chunks and toss lightly with flour; place bowl in fridge.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest; place bowl in fridge.
4. Get organized: measure out and chop the cranberries; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat; set aside. Lightly dust a counter top with flour. Pour a little bit of heavy cream in a bowl and have a pastry brush handy.
5. Remove bowls of flour and buttermilk from fridge. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cranberries and stir to combine.
6. Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until the mixture clumps together. Dump mixture out onto floured counter top and, with floured hands, gather into a ball and knead once or twice to combine everything. Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 8 slices, like a pie, or cut with biscuit or cookie cutters into whatever shape you prefer. Put scones on lined baking sheet and brush lightly with heavy cream (optional).
7. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack.
8. Enjoy with someone you love!

Recipe notes: Since I make these only on rare occasions, I buy and use the best quality unsalted butter I can find. Brushing the scones with heavy cream is optional, but will add a nice shine to the tops. I think these scones are perfect the way they are, but if you want to get fancy, you can drizzle a lemon glaze over the top. Lemon Glaze: Combine about 1/2 cup powdered sugar with a couple teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and whisk to combine. Adjust sugar/juice amounts to get the consistency you prefer. Drizzle glaze over cooled scones.

For those of you who have never made scones or biscuits from scratch before, you can read a more detailed account of the process, with photos, at How to Make the Best Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch. Although the recipe is not identical, the process is the same. Scones are simply a lightly sweetened biscuit.

If you like this recipe, you might also like to try my Apricot Cream Scones.

For those of you just tuning in this month, I’m happy to say that I’m participating in the National Blog Posting Month challenge. For this year’s edition of NaBloPoMo, I’ve pledged to post a new recipe every single day for the month of November. If you don’t want to miss a recipe, sign up to receive my recipes by e-mail. You’ll only receive an e-mail when I write a new blog post, and your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose. Interested? Sign up now!

Holiday Recipes with a Twist: Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls

Nicole — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:00:26 +0000

So this is the second installment of our holiday recipe series, and I couldn’t be happier to share this dinner roll recipe with you!

In my family, the dinner rolls at our holiday meals are never homemade. For years, my grandmother would pick them up at a local bakery, but at some point we switched to the big bag of dinner rolls from Costco. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong it. My sister and I still love those rolls from Costco. And really, even supermarket bakery rolls taste pretty good if you pop them in the oven for a few minutes.

But there is definitely something to be said for homemade bread. And the first time I tasted my mother-in-laws homemade dinner rolls at Christmas I realized what a difference it makes. While the dinner rolls are always an afterthought at the gatherings on my side of the family, the bread takes center stage at the meals we eat in Oregon. Everyone looks forward to Sharon’s warm and buttery dinner rolls and those rolls are one of the (many) reasons I’m happy to be spending Christmas in Oregon this year!

While I’m not going to share my mother-in-law’s dinner roll recipe today, I do have a great recipe for Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls that I can’t wait for you to try. Since Amanda and I wanted to put a new twist on some holiday recipes for you this year, I decided it would be fun to experiment with turning some plain old potato rolls into sweet potato rolls. While using sweet potato puree in these rolls adds beautiful color, the combination of sweet potato and buttermilk also results in a wonderful flavor!

When I made these the first time at our big pre-holiday dinner, I tried adapting a Potato-Buttermilk Roll recipe from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking. While it’s a great book, and I’m sure the Potato-Buttermilk Rolls would have been great if I had followed the recipe exactly, I was less than impressed with the Sweet Potato Rolls I created that night. I mean they were good, and everyone except me seemed to enjoy them, but they weren’t what I was looking for. So, I decided to give it another try and ended up creating my own recipe for Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls.

I finished the final batch last night and took the still-warm rolls to my sister’s house for dinner. I am happy to report that we were all more than satisfied with the outcome! We ended up eating them with that leftover Curried Turkey Salad and the combination was terrific. So now I know that these rolls will not only be great with a big turkey dinner, they’ll also be perfect for your leftover turkey sandwiches.

I used my stand mixer to knead the dough for this recipe, but if you aren’t afraid of getting your hands messy, these can be made completely by hand. And please, don’t be afraid of the yeast! You will need a few hours to make these, but the majority of that time is spent just waiting for dough to rise. The best thing about making homemade bread is that it’s possible to take care of other holiday preparations while the dough is rising. But unless you’re planning on being really organized on Turkey day, I suggest making them the day before then reheating for a few minutes in the oven right before serving.

Sweet Potato Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

1 cup mashed sweet potato or yam, slightly warm or at room temperature*
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 – 7 cups bread flour

1. In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together mashed sweet potato, buttermilk, egg, butter, sugar and yeast. (I learned the hard way that it is best to whisk these ingredients by hand rather than using the mixer. I ended up with buttermilk splattered all over the kitchen when I tried using the paddle attachment!) Now let the mixture sit for a few minutes while you measure out about 7 cups of flour.

2. Using the paddle attachment for your stand mixer, stir in one cup of flour along with the salt. Gradually add more flour, about a cup at a time, until a soft dough begins to form. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook (use a wet hand to pull the dough off the paddle attachment and it won’t stick to you) and knead on medium speed (speed 4 on the kitchen aid) for 6-7 minutes, adding a little more flour as needed to make a moderately soft dough that mostly clears the sides of the bowl (the dough should eventually clear the sides of the bowl, but continue to stick to the bottom as it’s being kneaded). My dough took about 6 1/2 cups of flour, but yours made need less or more. If mixing and kneading by hand, dump the dough out onto a floured surface when it gets too hard to mix with a spoon. Using well-floured hands, knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to work surface and hands.

3. When you finish kneading, the dough should be moderately soft and tacky, but not sticky. To remove it from the bowl of your stand mixer, a bowl scraper is handy. If you don’t have one, a plastic spatula will also work. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form a smooth ball of dough. If you kneaded by hand, form the dough into a smooth ball. Cover dough with a towel, and clean out your mixing bowl. Spray the inside of bowl with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter or oil. Place ball of dough, smooth side down, into the greased bowl. Turn the dough over to grease the other side, then cover with the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Put bowl in a warmish place and let dough rise for a little over an hour or until it has doubled in bulk.

4. When dough has doubled (you can check by pushing your finger into the dough. If an indentation remains without filling in, the dough is ready to go), push it down with your fists to deflate it and dump it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half with a knife or bench scraper then cut each half into 8 equal pieces (or more if you want smaller rolls). Cover pieces with a towel and let rest for a few minutes before shaping. While dough is resting, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and move two oven racks towards the center of the oven. Also, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Shape rolls by rolling against the work surface or between your hands to form balls. I like to pull the skin taut over the top of the roll and pinch at the bottom to form a smooth roll, but use whatever method works for you. Divide the rolls between the two baking sheets, and cover with a towel. Let rolls rise for about 20 minutes then remove towel and sprinkle the tops very lightly with flour. Place baking sheets in preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are puffed and lightly brown. Rotate sheets halfway through baking time (move bottom to top and vice versa).

5. Let rolls cool slightly and serve immediately. Or, if making ahead, let rolls cool completely on wire racks then place in Ziploc bags. To reheat, wrap rolls in foil and place in 375 degree oven for a few minutes until heated through.

Recipe Notes: *For sweet potato puree, I microwaved 2 medium sweet potatoes for about 7 minutes (poke holes all over with a fork first). Let cool then peel off skins. Pass the potatoes through a ricer if you have one, or mash well to remove any lumps. Measure out one cup (it’s ok if you have a little less) and proceed with recipe. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature, if the dough is cold it will take longer to rise. The amount of flour is an approximation, you dough will use more or less depending on many different factors. Don’t worry too much about how much you use, just mix a dough that you are comfortable kneading. I made 16 rolls and they were on the large side, perfect for making little sandwiches. If you prefer small rolls, you can cut the dough into 24 pieces or even more. Keep in mind that smaller rolls will probably bake a little faster. If you have any questions or my directions are unclear, feel free to e-mail me or leave a question in a comment at the end of this post!

This my dough after kneading for 7 minutes.

A dough scraper is inexpensive (usually about a dollar) and makes removing dough from a mixing bowl much easier!

Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop.

Knead the dough lightly and form into a smooth ball.

Place dough smooth side down in a greased bowl then turn over so both sides are coated.

Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.

To check if dough has doubled, push your finger into the dough. If the indentation remains, it

This dough doubled and ready to go in just over an hour.

Push dough down with your fists to deflate it then turn it out onto your lightly floured work surface.

Cut the deflated dough in half with a knife or bench scraper.

Divide each half into eight equal pieces for a total of 16 (or more if you prefer smaller rolls).

Shape the rolls into balls by rolling against the countertop or between your hands. For smooth rolls, pull the skin taut and pinch together at the bottom.

Forming a smooth roll.

Pinch the bottom together to form a taut skin.

Place rolls on parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

After they have risen, dust lightly with flour then place in preheated 375 degree oven.

Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy warm with lots of butter!

I hope some of you give these a try, they were really tasty! In the meantime, make sure you head over to What We’re Eating to see the Herb Roasted Turkey Breast Amanda prepared during our pre-holiday feast! It was delicious and would perfect for a small holiday gathering!

In case you missed any of the other recipes in our holiday series this month, you can see them all below. Click on a photo to be taken to the recipe. Happy holiday planning!

Sourdough Stuffing with Apples and Bacon

Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese

Cranberry Applesauce with Fresh Ginger

And the Holiday Recipe Series continues over at What We’re Eating with:

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Wrapped in Prosciutto

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce with Rosemary and Persimmon

Basic French Toast Recipe

Nicole — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:48:19 +0000

Do you really need a recipe for French Toast? I’m not sure. But this is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast and I just want to make sure that everyone knows how simple it is to make french toast at home!

The best thing about french toast is that most households have all the necessary ingredients on hand at any given time: bread, eggs, and milk. Really, that’s all you need! Of course you can fancy things up by throwing in dashes of cinnamon and/or nutmeg. You can vary the richness by switching between skim milk, whole milk, or even half-and-half. And don’t even get me started on all the different types of bread you can use! The possibilities are endless.

As a kid, we regularly ate whole wheat french toast for breakfast. On special occasions, it would be sourdough. But what I really loved was the diner-style french toast made with thick-sliced white bread. We never ate white bread at home, so when we would go out for breakfast, it was always so hard for me to decide between that white fluffy french toast and a short stack of blueberry pancakes. The french toast usually won out. And it still does to this day!

But now that I’m an adult, I can choose whatever bread I want for my morning french toast. And sometimes I do buy that thick-sliced Texas Toast style sandwich bread. But now my favorite french toast is made with stale sourdough bread. Sometimes it’s my homemade bread or sometimes, like today, it’s made with a crusty levain from my favorite local bakery.

But whatever bread you choose, french toast is always best made with bread that’s stale. Unfortunately, with all the preservatives they put in grocery store sandwich breads, most of those don’t really ever stale. But if you leave it out unwrapped overnight, that usually does the trick. Or you can just dry it out in a low oven for a few minutes. But in a pinch, you can use fresh bread and I think it works just fine.

The formula is simple. For each person you plan on feeding, use one egg plus 1/4 cup milk. That will be enough for about three big slices of bread. You will need a shallow bowl or dish that’s wide enough to fit one slice of bread and deep enough to hold your liquid. A square baking dish usually works quite well if you don’t have a bowl that will work.

You can beat the eggs and milk right in the dish, using a fork. At least that’s what I usually do!

Now you need to set up your french toast making station! Sliced bread on one side, egg mixture in the middle, and a hot pan or griddle on the other side. Start heating your pan over medium heat as you get everything organized. It’s also helpful to turn the oven on warm and keep a plate in there to keep the french toast warm if you don’t have people waiting to gobble it up immediately.

Now just soak a couple slices of bread in the egg mixture, making sure to flip them so each side of each slice gets wet. I don’t like my french toast soggy in the middle so I don’t let them soak too long. But it’s completely up to you how long you want to soak it. When the bread is ready to hit the skillet, drop a small pat of butter in the pan, swirl it around, and then add your slices of french toast. Flip the toast when it’s browned to your liking.

See, wasn’t that easy? Perhaps I’m preaching to the choir here, but I think a big breakfast of french toast is one of the simplest, most satisfying breakfasts around. I love mine with lots of melted butter and powdered sugar, or sometimes maple syrup. My husband prefers to eat his with raspberry jam. And of course it doesn’t hurt to add a side of bacon or sausage!

Basic French Toast

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 slices of bread

1. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
2. Dip bread slices in egg mixture, one at a time, making sure to soak each side. Hold bread slice above bowl to allow the excess egg mixture to drain off and then place in the hot, buttered skillet. Repeat with as many slices as will fit in the pan at a time.
3. Cook the french bread over medium heat and flip the slices when they are browned to your liking. When both sides are browned, remove to a warm plate in the oven, or serve immediately.

Recipe Notes: I often add a splash of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to the egg mixture, depending on which type of bread I’m using. If I use sourdough bread, I don’t add anything extra. But the vanilla and cinnamon go really well with other types of white or wheat breads.

Related Recipes:

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Bacon and Thyme Recipe

Nicole — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:28:59 +0000

Before last night, I had never even tasted a sweet potato biscuit. But they’ve been on my list of new foods to try for a few months now. I’ve been collecting links to sweet potato biscuit recipes and have noticed that there is a pretty wide range of recipes.

Some people make a very sweet biscuit, using lots of mashed sweet potato and sugar. My husband, who has a major sweet tooth, would love this version from Pots on the Stove. While others seem to prefer just a slightly sweet, buttery version, like these from Orangette.

It wasn’t until last night that I decided which version I was going to try. The bacon version! Ok, I hadn’t actually seen or heard of a bacon version, but, like my friend Curt said this morning on twitter, “Everything is better with bacon!”

The inspiration actually struck when I was relaxing in the bath yesterday. Yes, I know, that’s kind of weird. But it’s true. I was laying there, trying to soak away the last of the lingering tension left over from what we all have to admit was a pretty stressful election year, and all of a sudden the idea popped into my head. Sweet potatoes, fresh herbs, and bacon! In a biscuit!

Although at first it seemed to just magically appear out nowhere, I quickly realized where I got the inspiration. My friend Amanda has been experimenting with prosciutto and herb-wrapped baby sweet potatoes and I was lucky enough to taste them a couple weeks back. That woman is a genius! And this photo of her latest version made me start thinking of them again. And looking at that photo again last night, I almost threw some crumbled blue cheese in the biscuits.

Maybe next time.

Now this is one of those recipes that is pretty much fool-proof. You can toss the bacon and herbs into any sweet potato recipe you like, but I went the easy route. I decided to make them using Bisquick, because it’s always nice to have a few Bisquick recipes!

You should know that I do make the majority of my biscuits from scratch now. In fact, the post about biscuits is the most popular on this site by far. But there will always be a place in my kitchen and my heart for a box of baking mix. I have fond memories of making Bisquick drop biscuits for myself as an after-school snack when I was a kid. Mmmmm…honey butter…

I decided to use only a small amount of sweet potato in these. I just wanted that little something extra while still somewhat maintaining the texture of a regular biscuit. I also only added a touch of sugar. I wanted to enhance the natural sweetness of the potato without actually making the biscuits sweet. Does that even make sense?

They turned out to be just the way I wanted. A tiny bit sweet, slightly salty and smoky from the bacon, and the fresh thyme adds that extra dimension to set these apart from anything you would expect to come from a yellow cardboard box.

I love them! And I can’t wait for one of you to try this recipe. I’m home alone for a few days so I haven’t even had feedback from my husband yet. Although I am driving up to my sister’s house today to deliver the leftovers to my brother-in-law. I’m pretty sure these will be right up his alley.

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Bacon and Thyme

2 C. Bisquick baking mix
4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1 heaping teaspoon fresh chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mashed sweet potato
1 T. brown sugar
all purpose flour for dusting counter

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust a counter top lightly with flour.
2. In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, bacon, and chopped thyme. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sweet potato, milk, and brown sugar.
3. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Dump mixture out onto a floured counter and knead a few times just to finish mixing the dough.
5. Pat out into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut biscuits and arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes until just lightly browned on top.
7. Enjoy warm with a little butter.

Yield: 8-10 small biscuits

Recipe notes: To make 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes, I just peeled one smallish sweet potato, cut it into chunks, and boiled it for about 15 minutes until it was fork tender. I put the potato through a food mill, but you can mash it however you like. Just make sure that it’s tender enough not to leave little chunks in your biscuits! You could also mash a leftover baked sweet potato.

In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, chopped bacon, and chopped fresh thyme.

In a separate bowl, combine sweet potato, milk, and brown sugar.

Whisk together the sweet potato, milk, and brown sugar.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Stir until the dough just barely comes together.

Dump the dough out onto the floured counter.

Knead the dough just a few times until it's completely combined. Don't overwork the dough!

With your hands, gently pat the dough out into a circle, about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut biscuits with biscuit cutter. Mine is 2 1/2 inches wide.

Combine scraps of dough to cut an extra biscuit or two. The final scraps can be shaped to form an extra tiny biscuit.

Place biscuits on parchment-lined baking sheet. You can see my tiny scrappy biscuit on the right!

Remove the biscuits from oven when they are just barely starting to brown on top.

And finally, enjoy a biscuit warm from the oven with a bit of butter!

Related Recipes:

Around the Web:

Sweet Potato Biscuits from CHOW
Sweet Potato Biscuits from Pots on the Stove
Sweet Potato Biscuits from Orangette
Sweet Potato Biscuits from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen
Sweet Potato Biscuits from A Veggie Venture