Category Archives: Breads

Peach Streusel Muffins

January 15, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

These are perfect to use up those Peaches and Nectarines that are beyond eye appeal for eating but still perfectly good!

I often double my Muffin Recipe and make 20 to 21 larger muffins.

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 large Egg, slightly beaten (Egg Replacer)
3/4 cup Milk (Soy Milk)
1/2 Vegetable Oil (I usually use half oil, half melted butter)
1 teaspoon Vanilla

4 – 5 Peaches or Nectarines, peeled and thickly sliced

Streusel Topping
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Butter, slightly softened

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

Prepare Streusel Topping:
Combine brown sugar and flour together in small mixing bowl.
Cut butter into cubes and toss into the flour mixture.
Rub together until crumbly.

* I make a large amount of Streusel Topping from time to time and keep it handily stored in a Tupperware Round #3 Modular Mate in the fridge.

In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Add prepared fruit and toss to coat with flour; make a well in the centre and set aside.
In large pyrex measuring cup melt some butter, add enough oil to measure 1/2 cup; add milk (soy milk), vanilla and egg (egg replacer).
Stir with fork to combine.
Add liquid ingredients all at once to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Use a 5ounce Pampered Chef scoop to fill each prepared muffin cup.
Top with a scant teaspoon of Streusel Topping.

Bake in preheated 400F oven for 10 minutes, rotate pan(s) and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and pick in centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool in pan(s) on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Turn out and cool completely.
Store in airtight container for 2 – 3 days.

Yield: 12 Muffins

About, Muffins and Scones

Raisin Scones

January 15, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

A Sunday morning favourite. The scones are so basic and so good! I got this recipe from a Province newspaper many years ago. You know I have to switch it up from time to time! Sometimes I add White Chocolate Chunks and fresh Raspberries for a sweet delight! Often I will swap in Fresh or Frozen Blueberries. Sometimes I add cinnamon to the dry ingredients, give the scored dough an egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of Cinnamon and Sugar; you really have to watch these ones don’t brown too quickly!
I have even cut back the sugar and made a Savoury Scone with grated Cheddar and Herbs.
This is a great, versatile recipe.

2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Shortening, cold and cubed
3/4 cup Raisins, soaked and well drained
*1 cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425F.
Sprinkle a little bit of cornmeal on a baking tray or a pizza pan; set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add raisins and buttermilk, stirring with fork until all ingredients are moistened. (Dough will be sticky)
Turn out onto a well floured surface and gently knead for about a minute.
Shape dough into a ball, cover with a clean tea towel and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Pat down dough to form a circle, 3/4″ (2cm) thick and about 8″ (20cm) in diameter; transfer to prepared baking tray.
Score round into 6 – 8 wedges, gently with a knife.
Bake in hot oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown and set in centre.
Cover with foil if becoming brown to quickly.

Serve while warm.

Makes 6 – 8

*If you don’t have Buttermilk, sour the milk with 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice or Vinegar – Measure Acidic ingredient into a measuring cup, add milk to 1 cup measure, let stand for 10 minutes. Sometimes I will prep the milk the night before if I plan on making these on a weekend morning.

Yeast

Dinner Rolls

January 14, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

One of the reasons that I love my Kitchenaid Mixer is because it takes the hardship out of making bread dough! Which, in turn, makes it very easy to make fresh dinner rolls to accompany hearty soups.
My husband recently bought me a bread maker so I tried the dough setting, which worked fine. The Recipe book that came with the bread maker didn’t have a Dinner Roll recipe so I used the White Bread recipe on the Dough setting. I shaped the dough, proofed the rolls, covered lightly with a clean tea towel in a slightly heated oven in which I then placed, on the oven floor, a bowl with about four cups of boiled water. I proofed them for about 45 minutes then baked them in a 400F oven for about 17 minutes (I had the time set for 18), removed them from the oven and immediately brushed with them with melted butter.
After all that effort? I was not too pleased with the dinner rolls! Why not? Because I was expecting these!

3 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Shortening (butter works too)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Quick Rise yeast
1/2 cup very warm Milk (120F – 130F)
1/2 cup very warm Water (120F – 130F)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Butter, melted

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, shortening, salt and yeast in Kitchenaid mixing bowl.
Add warm water, warm milk and egg; using the Paddle attachment, beat on low speed for about a minute.
Scrape down sides of bowl and stir a couple of times.
Switch to Dough Hook attachment and slowly add enough remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough.
Knead for about 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead a few times by hand to shape the dough into a ball; cover and let rise for 10-15 minutes.
Lightly spray two baking trays with vegetable oil spray; dust ever so slightly with cornmeal.
Divided dough in half; cover the half you are not working with.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large thing circle.
Using a knife, cut dough into 8 wedges.

Crescent Shaped Rolls — Rolled out, cut and ready to roll up

Tightly roll each wedge, from base to tip, place on prepared baking tray, forming a C-shape with each roll.

Cover and let rise for about 30 – 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 400F.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Makes 16 Rolls

Coffee Cakes

O-Mommy’s Raw Apple Cake

October 9, 2011 Sonte 2 Comments

My German Grandmother passed along this recipe. Cinnamon and apples are always a great combination and this recipe is a fabulous blend of the two resulting in a moist, flavourful snack cake. You can dress it up by splitting it, adding a dollop of whipped cream, garnishing with another bit of whipped cream and a very light dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon.

2 cups Sugar

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 cups Flour + 1 Tablespoon

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup chopped Dates

4 cups fresh Apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 cup chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Lightly spray 9×13 baking pan with Vegetable Oil and line with wax paper. Set aside.

Prepare apples. Peel and coarsely chop apples; place in medium size mixing bowl and toss with the 1 Tablespoon Flour. Set aside.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in small mixing bowl. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until foamy. Add vegetable oil, milk and vanilla.

Stir flour mixture into liquid mixture.

Stir chopped apples into batter, pour and smooth into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for about 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from oven, place on wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning cake out of pan.

Turn out and cool completely.

Dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve.

Coffee Cakes

O-Mommy’s Gitterkuchen

October 6, 2011 Sonte Leave a comment

My German Grandmother used to make this all the time! I think traditionally it is made with Apples but O-Mommy always used fresh Plums, in season or Plum Jam when they weren’t in season. She also used Apricots or Peaches when in season. Plum Gitterkuchen is my fave! Apple is a close second though!

Apple Gitterkuchen with Dusted with Powdered Sugar

2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1 large Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F (190C)
Lightly spray a 24cm Tart/Quiche pan with Vegetable Oil spray; set aside.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.
Make a well in the centre; into the centre add butter, milk, egg and vanilla.
Mix together using your hands.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes.
Roll dough out to 24 cm circle 1.25cm thickness, and place in prepared pan.

Spread a thin layer of jam , over the dough. Or layer with fresh fruit; Italian Plums, pitted and halved, Fresh Peaches, pitted, peeled and sliced, Apricots, pitted and halved.

Bake in preheated 190C oven for 25 – 30 minutes.
Remove from oven to cool.
Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar or a drizzle lightly with a glaze.

Warm out of the oven with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream? The best! Brings back memories of the summer I spent sitting in the kitchen of the big old farm house in the eastern Townships in Quebec!

*NOTE: I change things up on the spur of the moment sometimes. I had watched a youtube vid on gittekuchen because O-mommy’s recipe looked..off. The vid was in German so I didn’t understand a word of it! But I did like the coconut (or it could have been ground almonds, which would also work nicely) and slivered almonds that the presenter sprinkled on top before adding the lattice.

**Secondly, I couldn’t find my flan pan (somethings just seem to disappear after years in boxes; maybe my flan pan decided it would move onto a better cupboard and actually get used more than once every 10 years!) I used a 25cm springform pan which worked very well other than having to fuss with the “fluted” edge a bit.

Aysontespli's Kitchen