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:

• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Pumpkin Scones
• Pumpkin Spice Cake
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll
• Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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.

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!

Related Recipes:

• Spiked Eggnog French Toast
• Cinnamon Swirl Bread
• Biscuits with Sausage and Sage Gravy
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
• Whole Grain Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

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!

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!

Related Recipes:

• Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits
• Herbed Cheese Biscuits
• Sour Cream Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

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

It’s official, I’ve finally joined the Daring Bakers! And of all things, my first Daring Baker challenge was…pizza!

Pizza? That’s supposed to be a challenge?? Those were my first thoughts when I started reading about this month’s daring baker challenge.  And then I got to the part about how we would have to toss the dough in the air.  Ah yes, I thought. Therein lies the challenge!

You see, I make pizza all the time, but I refuse to toss the dough.  In fact, I pride myself on not tossing the dough.  I developed a method of pressing out the dough on parchment paper that creates a nice, round, perfectly thin pizza crust.  And once I perfected my method, I never thought I would have a reason to do it any other way.

And then I joined the Daring Bakers.

I will never again underestimate a Daring Bakers challenge.  I made the dough, I tossed the dough, but it wasn’t easy. And it wasn’t pretty.  Perhaps I’d become a better pizza dough thrower if I practiced a few more times, but now that this challenge is over, I’ll gladly go back to my favorite method of shaping pizza dough.  No more tossing for me!

With the assistance of my husband, I tried to get photos of some pizza tossing action.  But, we never seemed to be able to get a shot of the pizza in the air.  Here’s the best we could do:

I promise the dough did go up in the air.  The dough also flew off to the side and landed on the counter in a crumpled mess a few times.  Did I mention that I hate tossing pizza dough??

The biggest problem I had was that the dough stretched too much, too fast.  I love thin crust pizza, but when I tossed the dough, I ended up with a pizza crust that I could see through in spots!  But in the spirit of the challenge, I used that super extra thin dough and turned it into pizza!

And despite the fact that it had a few holes here and there, it turned into some mighty fine pizza!

Now let me go back to the beginning and tell you a little more about this month’s Daring Baker challenge.

This month’s challenge is hosted by Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yums and the recipe comes from Peter Reinhart’s wonderful book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

The rules were that we had to follow the recipe exactly and that we had to try hand tossing the dough for at least two of the pizzas.

The recipe is a two day affair because it uses a cold fermentation method for maximum flavor development.  In short, you want the dough to sit in the refrigerator overnight because it will taste better.  If you want a scientific explanation of why, you should buy the book, it’s a great one!

Here’s the recipe we followed:

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled –
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar

Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

~ Day One ~

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil (a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

~ Day Two ~

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.  During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

So far, I’ve made three of the six pizzas, and they’ve all been really great!  Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve had problems with the dough becoming too thin when I toss it, but the flavor of the crust has really been superb!

I normally bake on parchment paper directly on the baking stone.  I use parchment paper rather than dusting the peel with cornmeal because it just seems less messy!  But since the recipe specified using cornmeal or semolina to dust the the pizza peel, I did use that method for my first pizza:

This dough was hand tossed but it had to be tossed several times because it kept flying off to the side and landing in a crumpled mess.  I eventually got something that resembled the shape of a pizza and quickly transferred it to the cornmeal-dusted pizza peel.  I topped it with a garlic cream sauce, grated mozzarella, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, and toasted pine nuts.  These were ingredients that I just happened to have on hand.

I slid the pizza onto the stone in my oven that had been preheated to 550 degrees.  I’m pretty sure my oven never reached 550 degrees, but it was pretty hot.  Here you can see the pizza on the stone, viewed through the dirty glass on my oven door!

It took only about six minutes to bake, and the result was gorgeous (and delicious)!

The second and third pizzas were baked this afternoon and my husband got to help out this time around!  He opted for pepperoni and pineapple and I decided to make a traditional Pizza Margherita.  For the tomato sauce, I just heated a can of crushed tomatoes with one clove of minced garlic, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper.

I tossed the pizza dough then my husband got busy with his toppings:

As you can see, I opted for parchment paper this time around.  The cornmeal worked fine but it gets all over my oven and eventually burns.  We slid Justin’s pizza in, parchment and all, and baked it for about 7 minutes.

As you can see, the paper turns brown, but the pizza bakes so fast, the parchment doesn’t have a chance to burn.  That was some greasy pepperoni!  Justin actually blotted it with a paper towel after I took this photo!

Next up was my pizza!  This time around, the dough got so thin, it actually tore in a couple of places.  I just pressed it back together and added my toppings:

For my pizza margherita, I used the tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, a quick dash of olive oil, salt, and a bit of dried oregano.  I baked the pizza for about 6 1/2 minutes and then topped it with chopped fresh basil.

Bellissima!  Now, that’s my kind of pizza!

Yes, the crust was a little too thin in parts, and this last pizza did end up with a hole right in the middle.  But it was honestly the best pizza I’ve had since I left Italy!

Although I don’t foresee any pizza tossing in my future, I will definitely be using this pizza dough recipe from now on!

Thank you, Daring Bakers!

Wow, it’s been a while hasn’t it?

Well here’s a really good recipe to help us get back into the swing of things! I had planned on creating lots of new citrus recipes this past season, and I did get a few put together, but this last one comes straight from a cookbook. I did actually try making my own version of an orange yogurt bread but it wasn’t nearly as good as the one I’m about to share with you.

The Taste of Home Baking Book is one of the many cookbooks I picked up during my ‘welcome back to the states’ shopping sprees. I like this book because it is designed to be used. It’s hardcover and ring-bound so the cookbook will lie open flat on the counter making it easy to read while preparing a recipe. The pages are also removable in case you don’t want to have the entire book out. But what’s really great about this book is that it’s filled with photos and good general information about baking in addition to tons of wonderful recipes.

This Orange Yogurt Bread is the first recipe I tried from the book but I’ve already bookmarked several others. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Orange Yogurt Bread

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 teaspooons orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add yogurt, orange juice and peel. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.

3. Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly). Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

4. For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar and enough orange juice to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled bread.

Recipe notes: I followed this recipe closely. The only change I made was to grate an extra teaspoon of orange zest and add it to the glaze. I also poked holes in the top of the bread with a toothpick before spreading it with glaze. Make sure to check the bread early because the top did brown quickly. The bread freezes very well. I froze half the loaf by wrapping it in foil and then sealing it in a plastic freezer bag. It was still very moist and flavorful after defrosting.

Recipe source: The Taste of Home Baking Book

I’m back, and this time I really mean it!

I won’t bother apologizing for another extended absence. If you’ve been following my adventures at all, you know that I recently located back to the United States after four years in Sicily. If that’s not a reason to take a month off, I don’t know what is!

So, first things first. Happy new year to all of you! I spent the holidays with my family in central California and decided not to bother coming back down to San Diego until our furniture arrived from overseas. Aside from hanging out with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I did quite a bit of baking while I was there. Lots of muffins (some of which you’ll read about today), a couple pies, and several batches of sourdough bread were baked. Although I did sporadically scribble recipes down and even snapped a few photos here and there, I never managed to pull it all together for a blog post while I was there. And I have to admit that the break has been nice.

Well, the furniture finally arrived, along with my car! So I dragged myself back down here to beautiful, sunny San Diego and we’ve been unpacking, arranging and rearranging furniture ever since. Oh, and eating out a lot, too! You know the drill. But thanks to some extra help from my husband over the holiday weekend, I finally have a kitchen I can work with. And as much as I’ve enjoyed eating my way through our neighborhood restaurants, I’m definitely ready to start cooking and baking in my own kitchen again.

Now about those muffins…

I’ve made different versions of these muffins several different times over the last month or so. My aunt and uncle have an orange tree in their front yard and I took full advantage of it while I was staying there. Besides the occasional glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast, we had orange muffins, green salad with orange vinaigrette, orange salad with fresh garlic and crushed red pepper, and even some caramelized brussels sprouts with bacon and an orange glaze. It’s so much fun to create dishes around things that can be picked in your own front yard!

As I was leaving Madera to head back down south, the last thing I did was pick a large bag of oranges to take with me and I’ve been enjoying them ever since. This morning I was down to my last two oranges and decided to bake one more batch of muffins to make sure I had the recipe exactly right before sharing it with you. This was definitely the best batch yet!

The thing that’s so great about these muffins is that besides tasting great, they are actually pretty healthy too. They are made with 100% whole wheat flour and have the added nutritional benefit of ground flax seeds and walnuts. Each muffin provides you with 5 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein so they will keep you feeling satisfied much longer than a traditional store-bought muffin. I think they are perfect for breakfast on the go or as a mid-afternoon snack (sometimes, both).

The key to a great batch of muffins is preparation and organization. Once you get started, the process needs to move quickly so it’s best to have your tools and ingredients laid out and ready. But first, you must read carefully through the recipe and make sure that you have all the tools and ingredients required. This is an important rule for any recipe, not just muffins!

For this recipe you’ll need these tools: two separate mixing bowls, a few small bowls for holding ingredients, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a wire whisk, a wooden spoon (or any long handled spoon for stirring), a standard 12 cup muffin tin (or two six cup muffin tins), a citrus zester, some type of citrus juicer (or very strong hands for squeezing), and a wire cooling rack. None of these things are too expensive and they are all fairly useful in the kitchen so if you are missing a piece, it might be a good idea to head to the store or even a yard sale or thrift store.

Once you’ve located all of your baking tools, you need to read through the recipe and pull out all of your ingredients to make sure you aren’t missing anything. It’s much better to run to the store before you start baking! This recipe calls for flax seed meal and although it’s easy to find at most grocery stores now, it might not be sitting in your pantry yet! I also suggest using King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat flour. It’s really worth seeking out if you plan on doing much whole wheat baking.

Once you’ve located all of your ingredients, it’s time to prepare them! Some ingredients might need special treatment or preparation and it’s best to take care of this in the beginning. In this recipe you will first be zesting the oranges and then juicing them. Also, the recipe calls for chopped nuts so if you don’t buy them pre-chopped, you’ll want to chop and measure the nuts at the beginning. Once you’ve done any special preparations, go ahead and measure out your ingredients. For this recipe, all the dry ingredients can be measured into one bowl and the wet ingredients into another. For other recipes you may want to measure ingredients out into separate small bowls. Once your ingredients are measured, read through the recipe again and place your tools and ingredients in order.

Now you’re ready to bake!

It took me a really long time to get organized in the kitchen. Actually, I’m still not very organized and I always make a huge mess, but I’m much better than I used to be! It might seem time consuming to measure out everything ahead of time but believe me, it has made me a better baker.

Ready for some step-by-step photos?

Here I have measured out all of my dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. You can see that I have my chopped nuts ready to go and my muffin tin and scoop are ready and waiting. The wire whisk is used to ’sift’ the dry ingredients rather than a sieve because the whole wheat flour and flax seed meal are not fine enough to be sifted in the traditional way. I also use the whisk for the wet ingredients to make sure everything is well incorporated. You don’t want to overmix the muffin batter so it is important to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately before combining them for a quick final mix.

The wet ingredients get poured into the dry ingredients at the end because the leavening agents (baking powder and soda) become activated by the liquid. Once they are combined, you want to move quickly so that the muffins get into the oven before the initial reaction subsides. You will notice the batter getting puffy as you scoop it into the tins. Once they are in the oven, a second reaction occurs with the heat and the muffins continue to rise further (not a very technical explanation but I’m not a scientist!).

You want to stir the ingredients together quickly but you don’t want to overmix them or beat the batter too hard.

As you can see, this batter is coming together. There are still some bits of flour visible so I will mix it just a bit more until the flour is completely incorporated.

This batter has been mixed enough. I am now checking the bottom of the bowl to make sure that there are no flour pockets hiding out down there. It is important to scrape up the flour from the bottom of the bowl as you are mixing because pockets of flour often get stuck down there.

After the batter is thoroughly mixed, the nuts can be added and stirred in. They don’t get added with the flour because the nuts end up holding on to bits of the flour mixture, making it difficult to thoroughly combine the ingredients.

I prefer to use an ice cream scoop for my muffins because it hold the right amount of batter and the lever makes it easy to scoop the batter into the muffin cups.

You want the cups to be filled almost to the top. The batter doesn’t have to be smoothed over.

The muffin cups should be divided as evenly as possible. Any extra batter can be added to cups that don’t look as full as others.

Once the muffins are done baking, they should be cooled in the pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Then remove them and let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

And here’s the recipe!

Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal (ground flax seeds)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange zest
1/3 cup neutral flavored oil such as canola, vegetable or grapeseed
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Zest and juice 2 or 3 medium oranges, measure out juice and zest; set aside. Chop and measure walnuts; set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, flax seed meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Using a wire whisk, blend ingredients together very well. This is your dry mixture. Set it aside.

3. In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, buttermilk, orange juice and zest, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. This is your wet mixture.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just until all the flour has been incorporated. Make sure to scrape up all the flour from the bottom of the bowl as you are mixing. Once you no longer see any pockets of flour remaining, gently fold in the walnuts.

5. Using a large spoon or an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin cup almost to the top. Divide any remaining batter between the cups so that they are somewhat equal. Put the muffins in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If the toothpick comes out clean, they are done. If not, let the muffins bake an additional 2 minutes and check again. When muffins are done, let cool on a wire rack for five minutes then remove muffins from pan and let cool completely on the wire rack.

recipe notes: I suggest using King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour if you can find it. For best zesting results, use a microplane grater. I used two oranges to get the correct amount of juice and zest but you may use more or less depending on the type of oranges. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can make your own: 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ground ginger, 1/4 t. ground nutmeg and 1/4 t. ground cloves. Mix it together then scoop out one heaping teaspoon to use in the recipe. Mandarins, tangerines, or other sweet citrus may be used in place of standard oranges. Melted butter may be used in place of oil if desired.

Approximate nutritional value for one muffin: 286 calories; 8g protein; 5g fiber; 14g total fat; 1g saturated fat; 36mg cholesterol; 308mg sodium; 36g total carb; 15g sugars