There are about 500 things on my to do list right now. I promised my husband that last year would be the last we'd travel for the holidays but being so far from family is hard and somehow I convinced him to do it again this year. For one final time. :) So, to add to the normal list of things-to-do around this time of year, such as bake treats and buy presents and see Christmas lights and so on, we're also searching the house for travel-sized shampoos, dusting off the luggage and making travel bags to help our preschooler and toddler be entertained during the 7 hour flight journey across the country. 

During all this, I'm taking a brief break to post this recipe because I've been wanting to post it for 5 whole years. And for some reason, things always get busy, and I don't post it, and another year goes by with me wishing I had it on here. This is one of my family's favorites that I grew up eating every year and it's really almost sacrilege that it has taken me so long to share it. One, because of it being said classic, and two, because it's the best cranberry bread out there, in my opinion. It's a buttery, rich bread that lets the perfect, bright, sour flavor of the cranberries shine. It's not overly sweet, but there is plenty of sweetness from the bread and the golden raisins to tame the cranberries and just give a wonderful balance of sweet and sour. It is a perfect Christmas time snack, a great bread to give as a gift, or even a wonderful addition to a Christmas brunch. Whatever the reason you find to bake it, make sure that you do. Enjoy, and have a merry Christmas!

Cranberry Fruit Bread

By Heat Oven To 350 Published 12/19/2015

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 1/2 cups golden raisins
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. (Or 3 mini loaf pans). In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Using two butter knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in egg, orange zest and orange juice just until mixture is evenly moist. Fold in raisins and cranberries.
2. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pans and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes (large loaf pan; 35-40 minutes for mini loaf pans) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 large loaf (Or 3 small)
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.

Cook time: 01 hrs. 10 mins.
Total time: 1 hrs. 30 mins.
Recipe Source: Cranberry Thanksgiving (a children's book)

I'm just going to come out and say it - zucchini bread isn't the healthiest way to use up zucchini. It could be the oil. Or the sugar. Or the general carbification of a vegetable. I don't know what about it would be the most unhealthy, but it's just not the best thing for you.

I'm sorry if I ruined your day with that revelation. I just had to get it off my chest.

What zucchini bread is, however, is darn tasty. Tasty enough that most of the time I just don't care about the oil, or the sugar or the general carbification of what would normally be a healthy food. It is the reason I buy zucchini half the time, and it is something I crave so much in the winter that I freeze summer zucchini just so I can make it year round. 

If you like zucchini bread, like me, and want a slightly more healthy way to enjoy it, this recipe is for you. It is a lightened recipe I've tweaked over the years to make into the perfect zucchini bread. It is still moist, fragrant with spices, and deliciously sweet, but it only has 1/3 cup of oil in two loaves. It has wheat flour without being dense, and still uses a hefty 2 cups of shredded zucchini. It is everything you love in zucchini bread, with a lot less of the things you don't love. If you have garden zucchini coming out of your ears or if you just want an excuse to buy some at the farmer's market, give this bread a try. 

Light Zucchini Bread

By Heat Oven To 350 Published 08/12/2013

Ingredients

• 2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup egg substitute (or 4 egg whites)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• cooking spray

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place zucchini on several layers of paper towels, and cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes, pressing down occasionally to remove excess moisture from zucchini shreds.
2. Combine flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir together to mix.
3. In a medium bowl, combine zucchini, applesauce, egg substitute, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Stir together to combine. Add to dry ingredients and mix until dry ingredients are completely moistened. (The dough will be stiff)
4. Spray two (7 1/2 x3 inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly between two pans and bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hour 15 min

Recipe Source: adapted from Cooking Light

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Here is what has happened the last two years when I've tried to post the recipe for this pumpkin bread on the blog:

1) Make the pumpkin bread.

2) Eat a slice of the pumpkin bread to make sure it is just as good as I remembered from the year before.

3) Eat another slice for good measure.

4) Think about taking pictures of the bread while eating yet another slice.

5) Decide to photograph the bread later because suddenly I'm feeling very full and sleepy.

6) Return to the kitchen later to find the bread completely eaten.

This year I was determined to get a picture so I could finally share the recipe here, so I photographed a loaf hot out of the oven and then grabbed the last few slices for a picture before they were eaten. I'm telling you, this bread disappears fast. Super fast. It could be due to the sweet, pumpkiny flavor, the taste of the tart cranberries inside, the texture of a touch of cornmeal in it, or some combination of the three. The fact that it is a reduced fat recipe doesn't hurt, either. In fact, it makes me feel better about how much I've eaten of it already this year. Bake one up and see how long it lasts at your house.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

By HeatOvenTo350 Published 11/18/2012

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole raw cranberries, fresh or frozen, chopped coarsely (can substitute dried cranberries if needed)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 egg
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 4x8 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
3. In a medium mixing bowl combine egg and pumpkin until smooth. Mix in the oil.
4. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir just until blended.
5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until the bread has shrunk slightly away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes.
6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, turn onto a rack, and cool completely before slicing.

Yield: 14 slices
Prep Time: 10 min

Cook time: 1 hour
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from American Medical Association Family Health Cookbook

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

Do you rate recipes that you try? I can't remember when I started it, but every time I make a new recipe I give the end result a star rating so I can remember if it was a winner or not. 5 stars means it was excellent and I will make it again and again, 4 stars means very good, but maybe I will only make it again occasionally, 3 stars means it was okay but not worth the effort. 2 stars and 1 star recipes I normally don't have to rate since they were so bad that it would be impossible to forget them. When I lived with my sister and we'd try recipes together, she'd write her own ratings on top of the recipes, too. They weren't in star form, but they still got their point across. I still laugh when I run across a page of a cookbook I used occasionally and see a 2 star rating from me and a big "YUCKY" from her.

The rating system works pretty well for me, but every once in a while I come across a recipe that I like so much that 5 stars isn't enough for it. It's the kind of recipe that is perfection for me, and these few recipes get 6 stars. They often get an exclamation point after the stars, too, since I'm usually in food bliss when I write the rating down. This biscuit recipe is one of them. It makes buttery, fluffy biscuits that aren't dense or floury. They have a deep, rich flavor from the buttermilk and a lovely, soft texture. They are a slight modification of a drop biscuit recipe so they are less work than rolled biscuits, but they still look beautiful when they are baked. I only make them when I know other people will be around to eat them because I am likely to eat the whole pan in one sitting. The recipe isn't difficult, but do make sure that you move quickly once you add the buttermilk because the faster you get them in the oven, the fluffier they will be. Don't worry, though. Once you know what they taste like, you'll have no problem rushing to get them in the oven.

 

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups cold low-fat buttermilk

To form and finish the dough:

• 1 cup flour distributed in a rimmed baking sheet
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Spray the inside of a 1/4 cup measuring cup with non-stick spray. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pulse a few times to mix. Distribute the butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and pulse until the consistency of somewhat pebbly, coarse cornmeal, about 8-10 pulses. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add buttermilk. Mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. (Dough will be wet and sticky and slightly lumpy)
3. Working quickly and using the sprayed 1/4 measuring cup, scoop level 1/4 cup of dough and drop onto baking sheet with the 1 cup flour. (You may need to use a small spoon to help you drop the dough onto the sheet.) Repeat with remaining dough until you have 12 even mounds on the baking sheet. Using floured hands, scoop up a ball of dough and gently roll it in the excess flour. Shape gently into a ball, shake off excess flour, and place in prepared cake pan. Repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. (You should be able to fit 9 dough balls around the outside of the pan and three in the middle.)
4. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, taking care not to flatten them. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake an additional 12-15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from the oven, let sit in the pan for 2 minutes, then invert the pan on a clean kitchen towel and carefully break apart biscuits. Cool 5 minutes longer and serve.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20 min Serves: 6

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated July/August 2004 

Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins

Those of you familiar with Costco probably know about their muffins. They're roughly three times the size of a regular muffin and contain about a week's worth of fat and calories. They're pretty much round pound cakes. My husband had told me multiple times before we got married how much he loved this one particular flavor of muffin from Costco, and when the family dog got into the batch a few days before the wedding he was pretty disappointed.

Soon after my husband and I were settled into our new place I had the itch to bake something one Saturday and decided to make some muffins for my husband. I asked him what flavor it was that was his favorite and he said, "Poppyseed"

"Lemon poppyseed?" I asked.

"Yes, that sounds right. Lemon poppyseed." He answered.

So I set off to find a recipe for lemon poppyseed muffins. I baked up a batch and they had a lukewarm reception. Something wasn't quite right with the taste, he said. Not to be deterred, I tried another batch, but they weren't much better. Throughout the week I tried a couple more recipes and none of them quite measured up to what my husband was looking for in a muffin. I finally gave up.

Fast forward a few months and my husband is at Costco with me. We end up in the bakery section and I ask him if he wants to buy some muffins. He walks over and picks out a dozen almond poppyseed muffins and brings them back to the cart. Apparently Costco doesn't even make lemon poppyseed muffins. The reason all those lemon poppyseed muffin recipes never passed the taste test with my husband is that lemon just doesn't taste like almond.

Since that discovery I've avoided making muffins altogether, but when I found an almond cherry muffin recipe I decided it sounded too good to pass up. I added poppyseeds for my husband and made half the batch without cherries in case he didn't like them. It turned out that he liked them both ways and the recipe was a definite keeper. I love the combination of cherries with the almond flavoring and the poppyseeds give it just a bit of crunch. It's not a healthy recipe by far, but they are very moist and worth the splurge every once in a while. I have to say, finally having a muffin recipe be approved by my husband did give me a feeling of satisfaction. It didn't hurt to finally know the right flavor to make them.

Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T poppyseeds
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 2 muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and poppyseeds. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and extracts. Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Do not overbeat. Fold in the cherries.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full of batter and bake 20-25 minutes or until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20-25 min Yield: 24 muffins

Recipe Source: adapted from Penzey's Spice Catalog, Winter 2012

Blueberry Banana Bread

Many years ago, near the end of a very long Minnesota winter, a couple of my grad school friends came over for a summer beach party. I think you'd need to experience how long a Minnesota winter is to fully appreciate that we weren't crazy to do this. We needed a break from snow and down coats, even if it was for just one night. We turned up the thermostat, wore shorts and short sleeves, put floor plants on the table, (for more of a tropical feel, of course) ate summer food and watched South Pacific. I've always known how to have a crazy, rockin' time.

A few weekends ago, I had almost the opposite party for myself. It has been such a mild winter that when I saw that it was supposed to actually snow one weekend, I got excited. I hoped against hope that it would be a big storm, that my husband and I would be snowed in, and that I'd bake and we'd watch movies the whole weekend. The snow came - and then left. It snowed a measly few inches and melted in less than 24 hours. Rather than give up my dream of baking and watching movies, I ignored the bright sun outside, turned on my oven and a few great 90s classics and had my own little "snow day".

Sometimes you just have to be able to pretend in life.

This banana bread came in the midst of my baking "snow day." It started more out of necessity, as so many banana recipes do, because I had some overripe bananas needing a project. Since there were many more involved projects going on in the kitchen that day, I decided to keep it simple and make some banana bread. This recipe fit the bill perfectly. It's a quick recipe that makes a delicious, moist loaf of banana bread with great banana flavor. The addition of blueberries add nice bursts of flavor and color throughout the loaf. If you have a snow day coming up soon, whether real or pretend, I highly recommend baking this and curling up with a big, warm slice while watching your favorite old movie. 

Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed 
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen; do not thaw before adding to batter)

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Beat in bananas. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
2. Pour into three greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans, or 2 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes (small pans) or 40-45 min (larger pans) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 40 min Makes: 2 medium or 3 mini loaves

Recipe Source: allrecipes.com

Mock Sourdough Bread

Have you ever made a sourdough starter? If you have, how long did you keep it going? Is is still alive? Do you feed it regularly?

I'm just judging if you are a better person than me. If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, it's likely that you are.

I love the taste of sourdough. I love making my own bread. I think it's pretty cool that starters can been passed along to different people and develop flavor based on age and origin. I'm just not patient enough to keep one going.

In fact, the only experience I've had with a sourdough starter in my house was when my roommate moved in with one, put it in a tall cupboard we never used, and forgot about it. A few months later as I was fumigating everything in the apartment trying to figure out what that horrendous smell was (apparantly I was the only one who could smell it.) I found the starter again. Let's just say it didn't die a pretty death.

This recipe is for people like me that like the tangy taste of sourdough but don't have a sourdough starter. It uses yogurt as a cheater method to get some of that same great tanginess into a regular yeast bread. It is fast (excluding the rising times) and makes a nice, chewy bread with a light sourdough-like flavor. The recipe suggests spritzing the loaf with water throughout baking to encourage a nice, crispy crust, but if you were lucky enough to have received a large cast iron pan for your wedding from a good friend, feel free to use that to cook your loaf. Directions for both methods are written in the recipe. 

If you like sourdough, I highly encourage you to make this bread. It's one of my favorite things to come out of my kitchen for a long time. My husband ate it for lunch and dinner the first time I gave it a try. (Of course, that also might show you how bread-deprived the poor guy is.) And if you do make it, feel free to lie and tell people that it is real sourdough.

Unless, of course, you are a better person than me.

Mock Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain yogurt (I've never tried Greek yogurt in this recipe. If you do, you will likely have to add more water or reduce the amount of flour you use.)
• 1 T yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 T honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 T oil
• 4 - 5 cups flour, divided

Directions

1. Heat yogurt just to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in yogurt, honey, salt, oil and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Gradually remaining flour just to make a smooth dough.
2. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. (If using a heavy duty mixer, let dough knead for 7 minutes.)
3. Place dough in a greased bowl; turn once and leave greased side up. Cover and let rise until double, about 1.5 hours. Punch down. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions or form one large round loaf on a greased baking sheet. Let rise, covered, for 30 minutes. (If using a cast iron pot to cook your loaf, place dough to rise on a greased sheet of parchment paper set in a pie pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 450 with cast iron pan inside.)
4. For non-cast iron method: Heat oven to 375. Brush loaf (or loaves) with cold water and bake until it sounds hollow when tapped, about 30-35 minutes for small loaves or 45-50 minutes for one large loaf. Brush or mist with water every 10 minutes to get a crisp crust. Cool on a wire rack.
5. For cast iron method: Once cast iron pot has heated for 40 minutes in the hot oven and the loaf has risen, carefully remove the pot from the oven (using pot holders!) and gently place the dough inside using the parchment paper as a sling. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and let the loaf cook another 10-15 minutes or until browned. Remove pot from oven, carefully removed bread and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 50 min Ready in: 3 hours Yield: 1 large loaf

Recipe Source: 101 Things to Do With Yogurt

Toasted Coconut Pretzels

Unofficial "dos and don'ts" of riding public transportation:

1. If you are sitting with someone you do not know and the bus/train clears out enough that there are many extra seats, do get up and move to one of the extra seats. Being boxed in by someone is never fun. 

2. If you are on a morning bus/train and it is before 7:30 AM, please do not talk. Most people on the bus are trying to convince themselves they are still in their warm, cozy bed. Don't destroy that illusion by chatting.

3. Even during daylight hours, don't talk on your phone for the entire bus/train trip. Short calls to confirm dinner plans or to check on children are okay. Long calls to your mom about some weird rash that you have are not. The other riders can all hear you, and chances are one of they will have to sit with you in the near future. Don't make it awkward.

4. Don't skip the deodorant. Ever. And don't skip the deodorant, sit in front of someone trying to write a blog post about food, hold one arm on the baggage shelf overheard and point the air blowers on your face/armpit. No one likes BO blowing in their face, my friend. 

5. Do warn the person behind you if you are going to suddenly recline your seat. If there is a computer user sitting behind you, she will thank you. 

Following these simple rules on the bus will make you a very popular public transportation rider. I promise you. At very least I will be your new best friend. And just so you know I'm not a hypocrite, I follow these dos and don'ts myself. 

Some dos and don'ts that I don't follow, however, are the regular dos and don'ts for making pretzels. You might have noticed this from the picture. Did I boil these pretzels? Nope. Are they coated with salt? No. Do they taste good with mustard? Definitely not. 

Instead, they are sweetened, buttery, biscuit-like pretzels with a nice layer of toasted coconut. My apologies for breaking the rules. Hopefully you'll forgive me, because these things are tasty. They have just the right amount of sweetness and toasted coconut flavor. They get extra depth of flavor from letting the yeast rise slowly in the fridge and by cutting in small pieces of butter. The pretzels have a soft, chewy texture that just works perfectly. They are great as part of a breakfast or brunch, but would also be wonderful with a butternut squash or sweet potato soup. Or in multiples as a late night snack, or a wow-these-are-tasty snack. I think you get the idea. They're tasty just about any time. Just don't let yourself get boxed in by the traditional dos and don'ts of pretzels or you'll miss out on them.

Toasted Coconut Pretzels

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, sliced
• 1 (1/4 oz.) pkg. dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar,divided
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1
• 1 Topping:
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup coconut, toasted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Directions

1. Place flour in large mixing bowl. Cut in butter, with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Sprinkle yeast and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar over warm water in medium mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Let stand 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Add cream, egg yolks, salt and remaining sugar; stir well. Pour over flour mixture and stir until flour is just moistened. Cover and refrigerate dough at least 12 hours.
4. Punch dough down. Roll out on lightly floured surface into 16-inch square.
5. Fold dough over into thirds. Starting on the short side, roll dough out into approximately 10x20-inch rectangle. With pizza cutter, cut 10-inch strips approximately 3/4-inch wide. Form each strip into a pretzel shape. Brush each pretzel with egg white.
6. In small mixing bowl, combine coconut and brown sugar; gently dip pretzels into coconut mixture.
7. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 17 minutes.

Prep Time: 15 min plus 12 hours rising Cook Time: 15-17 min Ready in:  

Recipe Source: www.ifood.tv

Parmesan Zucchini Quick Bread

"You know, they say that you can tell how many friends you have by whether you have to buy zucchini or not." 

That's what the lady at the farm stand said to me as I picking out zucchini the other day. I'm assuming she was just trying to make conversation, but since I had loaded my arms with about 10 zucchini, I couldn't help feeling that it must look like I didn't have a friend in the world. 

There are always a couple options for how to react when someone mistakenly offends you. I thought for a second about telling her that life was a lonely, lonely journey for me and how most of the time I just try my hardest to forget how friendless I am. Maybe even squeeze out a tear or two.

Honesty won over, though, and instead I said, "Oh, I just really love zucchini bread."

Honesty really is the best policy, anyway, isn't it?

And I do really love zucchini bread. This is the time of year when I shred pounds and pounds worth of zucchini, lovingly measure it into ziploc bags and freeze it away to use during those dark days of winter. That yearly ritual happened last night at our house, and I saved out a couple cups to use for a batch of bread right then. Much as I love my regular zucchini bread, though, for one of the first times in my life I wasn't in the mood for something sweet. I blame the large quantities of saltwater taffy, ice cream, cookies and other goodies I ate this weekend while my husband and I were visiting his grandma. Also, the large amounts of saltwater taffy, cookies and other goodies I ate in the car on the way there and back.

Fortunately for me, this Parmesan zucchini bread isn't sweet at all. It's a perfect, herby, cheesy bread that lives up to the name of quick bread and goes so well with just about any soup, pasta dish or grilled meat. It's light and fluffy and moist without being oily. I love the salty Parmesan in it and the how easily you can adjust the flavor by changing up the herbs you use. My current favorites are fresh oregano with a pinch of fresh choped rosemary, but you can use any of your favorites. If you are lucky enough to have some fresh zucchini, (and I won't judge you if you bought it for yourself) give this savory zucchini bread a try with your next dinner.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, minced - rosemary and thyme work well
• 2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 cups grated zucchini

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° Prepare the loaf pans -­ brush with olive oil or use non stick cooking spray.

2. Whisk together the 2 flours, Davis Baking Powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add the oil, eggs, buttermilk, honey, herbs, 1 1/2 cups of the Parmesan cheese and the zucchini. Stir with a wooden spoon to mix together. Do not over mix or the dough will become tough.

3. Divide evenly among the prepared pans. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Source: Clabber Girl 

Ham and Cheddar Scones

Ham is almost a strictly Easter meal for me. I rarely think to buy or prepare it other times of the year, but it's tradition in my family to have ham on Easter. (Although this weekend I talked to my parents and they said they were making ribs this year instead. Why do parents always decide to break tradition once their kids get set in their ways about them? Don't even get me started on what they've done to Christmas.) 

One thing I love about ham is how versatile the leftovers are. They can jazz up omelets, be built into sandwiches, mix in a casserole, or star in this soft and buttery scone. Scones are generally sweet, not salty, but these savory scones are some of my favorites. They are little triangles of buttery bread goodness, packed with the salty flavor of ham and cheddar cheese and the mild flavor of green onion. They're easy to prepare and work as either a side dish or a breakfast. 

If you are not a fan of ham, you can always leave it out and the scones are still delicious without it. If you're on the other end of the spectrum about ham and can't get enough of it, you can always make the scones without ham and use them as bread for a thick ham sandwich. 

Not sure it gets much better than that.

Ham and Cheddar Scones

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) cold  butter
1 cup (4 ounces) very coarsely grated or  diced cheddar cheese
1/3 cup (about 1/2 ounce) snipped fresh chives, or finely diced scallion tops (the  green part, 3/4 ounce)
1 cup diced cooked ham
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) heavy cream or whipping cream, or enough to make the dough cohesive

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.

1) Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

2) Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.

3) Mix in the cheese, chives, and ham till evenly distributed.

4) Add ¾ cup of the cream, stirring to combine. Try squeezing the dough together; if it’s crumbly and won’t hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream until the dough comes together. Transfer the shaggy dough to a well-floured work surface.

5) Pat the dough into a smooth 7" disk about ¾" thick. Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet.

6) Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges apart a bit on the pan.

7) Brush the scones with a bit of cream; this will help their crust brown.

8) Bake the scones for 15-17 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Yield: 8 large scones 

Recipe Source: adapted from King Arthur Flour

English Muffin Brie Boat

I love when improvising in the kitchen leads to the discovery of a great recipe. And I love it even more when it isn't even me doing the improvising but I still get to enjoy the great recipe that resulted from it. This recipe comes from our friend Ben, who is a wonderful cook. He had made a batch of some English muffin bread and only had one loaf pan available to cook it in. He decided to cook the second half of the bread in an 8" springform pan. That happy accident made the perfect base for a brie boat, which is basically a hollowed out bread bowl with melted brie inside. If any of you have had melted brie before, you know it's up there with whipped cream and cream cheese as dairy foods that just shouldn't exist they are so sinfully good. I'm not sure where the boat part of the name comes from, but it's one of my favorite parts of the recipe. I just imagine sailing in a sea of brie.

Once the bread is made, it's a breeze to put together, plus you get to practice your carving skills when you hollow the bread out.

You can decide if you want to leave the white rind on the brie or not. I'm not a fan of it, so I cut it off. Cube the brie and scatter in the bread pit you just made.

Bake until the cheese in melted, add some cheddar and bake some more and you're done! This recipe is great as an appetizer, side dish, (super bowl snack perhaps?) or whatever you can use as an excuse for making it. It tastes great by itself, dipped in pizza sauce, or even with a little red pepper jelly. 

English Muffin Brie Boat

1/2 English Muffin Bread recipe, baked in a 8" springform pan or pie dish for about 20 minutes

8 oz wheel brie cheese

1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Pizza sauce for dipping

Cut out the center of the loaf to make a bowl. Do this by running the knife blade at about a 30 degree angle, pointed to the inside of the loaf, rotating the loaf until the top can be lifted out. Cut the brie into cubes and distribute within the bowl (remove the rind if desired). Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until the brie starts to bubble. Add the cheddar cheese to the top of the bread around the outside of the brie. Return to the oven and bake until the cheddar is melted and bubbling. Remove from the oven, allow to cool about 5 minutes. Cut and serve with side bowls of spaghetti sauce. 

Recipe Source: ben-kt.momillett.org

Cream Cheese Banana Bread with Peanut Butter Glaze

My favorite part of this recipe is the cream cheese. One, because it actually calls for light cream cheese, which I always can use as a justification for making it ("Oooh, banana bread! It's light!") and two, because it gives the banana bread a different flavor and texture. It's not too sweet or spongy, which is the way a lot of banana breads turn out. I like it even without the peanut butter glaze, although it's the glaze that brings it from the "Great to serve as a snack" level to the "Give to a friend as a gift" level. If you can bear to part with it.

 

Cream Cheese Banana Bread 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup chopped pecans, divided

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (1 1/4 lb unpeeled bananas, about 4 medium)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 3/4 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 12 to 15 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring after 6 minutes.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

3. Combine whole wheat flour and next four ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in bananas, 3/4 cup toasted pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans.

4. Bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or until long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides of bread pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Let cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool 30 minutes.

Peanut Butter Glaze:

2T water

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

3T creamy peanut butter

Stir together the water, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth, adding more water or powdered sugar as necessary to get a good consistency. Drizzle over completely cooled loaves.

Yield: 2 loaves

Recipe source: adapted from Southern Living Classic Southern Desserts

Parmesan Pretzel Rolls

These are a nice “twist” on regular dinner rolls. I know, I'm too punny. It’s true, though, that these pretzel rolls are a fun change from the usual bread and rolls offerings at the dinner table. Fun shape aside, they are easy to make and require minimal kneading. I also like that the mixing is done the day before, leaving just the shaping to be finished when you want to serve them. The dough is like a cross between a biscuit and a dinner roll, meaning it’s plenty buttery but still soft. You can mix some fresh herbs into the dough if you want, but usually a layer of parmesan is enough to make me happy. Asiago cheese is also a delicious choice to put on top.

Parmesan Pretzel Rolls


3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, sliced
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
2 T granulated sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup half and half
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp salt
1 egg white, beaten until foamy
1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese (not the stuff in the green plastic bottle)


1. Place flour in large mixing bowl. Cut in butter, with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover and refrigerate. Sprinkle yeast and 1 T of granulated sugar over warm water in a medium mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Let stand 5 minutes until foamy. Add half and half, egg yolks, salt and remaining sugar; stir well. Pour over flour mixture and stir until flour is just moistened. Cover and refrigerate dough at least 12 hours.

2. Punch dough down. Roll out on lightly floured surface into 16-inch square. Fold dough over into thirds. Starting on the short side, roll dough out into approximately 10x20 inch rectangle. With a pizza cutter, cut 10-inch strips approximately 3/4 inch wide. Form each strip into a pretzel shape. Place parmesan cheese in a medium shallow bowl  Brush each pretzel with egg white and dip into bowl of shredded parmesan. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining pretzels. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Recipe source: HeatOvenTo350


How to shape the pretzels:

1. Take each dough strip and make a loop, like a breast cancer awareness ribbon.

2. Pick up the top of the loop . . .

3.  . . . and bring it down over the two "legs" of the ribbon.

Done!

English Muffin Bread

Remember how I had posted earlier about a recipe that I cut out a long time ago and finally got around to making? Well, my mom did the same thing with this one, but she takes the cake because she cut this recipe out in 1981, and only made it for the first time a few years ago. Sometimes you just know you've got a winner worth keeping, though, and I'm glad she kept this one around. It's just too bad we didn't get to enjoy it sooner. This is the easiest yeast bread I have ever made. There's no kneading or shaping the dough. You just mix the ingredients, dump them in a loaf pan, let it rise, bake and you're done. It's so simple, but what you get out of it is a great bread that you can toast and eat with just about anything. It's great with soups, it's great with breakfast, it's great in a recipe that I'll share on Thursday. (Yep, that was a teaser. You're dying with anticipation now, aren't you?) I'll admit, it takes home no ribbons in the beauty department owing to the lack of shaping, but once you taste it you won't really care.

English Muffin Bread

Ingredients:
2 packages active dry yeast
6 cups flour
1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
cornmeal

1. Combine 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda. Heat liquids until very warm (120-130 degrees). Add to dry mixture, beat well. Stir in rest of flour to make a stiff batter.

2. Spoon into two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans that have been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Cover, let rise in warm place for 45 minutes.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool.

To serve: Slice and toast. Makes 16 slices per loaf.

Recipe source: Fleischmann's Yeast