Pumpkin gingerbread

Again with the pumpkin! Jon just can't get enough, and it's so easy to prepare pumpkin for baking that I bake a lot of it when it's in season in the fall and freeze it in one and two cup portions for use throughout the winter. I came across this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens email. The orignal recipe was for two loaves but I was short on flour (imagine) so I cut it in half. I also used 1/2 whole wheat instead of all white flour and I added nuts (because we're nuts for nuts). The recipe below is my own take.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Yield: one 9 x 5″ loaf

Ingredients:
  ● 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
  ● 1/2 cup canola oil
  ● 2 eggs
  ● 1/3 cup fat free milk
  ● 1 cup pumpkin puree
  ● 1 tsp. ground ginger
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  ● 1 3/4 cups flour
  ● 1 tsp. baking soda
  ● 1/2 tsp. salt
  ● 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  ● ~1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and a 9 x 5″ loaf pan. In large bowl combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add milk and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. In medium bowl, combine flour (I used 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat), baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Fold in nuts. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. Let loaves cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely before adding glaze, if desired.

Pumpkin bagels

It's time for pumpkin again! I had been buying organic pie pumpkins at Whole Foods for around $2 per pound, then we found the oranic local pie pumpkins at our local farmers market for $2 per pumpkin. That's about $4 cheaper per squash. That means I'll be baking, squishing, condensing, and freezing pumpkin for the rest of the the season. Jon is looking forward to all the recipes we'll be rehashing and trying, and this week we started with pumpkin bagels, a first.

Pumpkin bagels
original recipe from Healthy Cooking Magazine

Yield: 9 bagels
Prep Time:  min. + standing
Cooking Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:
  ● 2/3 cup warm water (100-120 degrees)
  ● 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
  ● 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  ● 3 cups bread flour
  ● 1 tsp. salt
  ● 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  ● 3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
  ● 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  ● 1/2 cup pumpkin, room temperature
  ● 1 egg white, cut with ~2 tbsp water
  ● 1 tbsp. cornmeal

Directions:
Combine water and sugar. Let stand until foaming, about 8 minutes.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and spices. Mix well. Add yeast mixture and pumpkin and mix well, adding remaining flour until dough is of kneading consistency (or until dough forms a ball on dough hook and cleans sides of bowl). Knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover and place in a warm, draft free place and allow to rise for ~1 hour, or until it doubles in size.

Remove dough from bowl and shape into nine balls. Push thumb through centers to form a 1-in. hole. Stretch and shape dough to form an even ring. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Fill a pot two-thirds full with water; bring to a boil. Drop bagels, two at a time, into boiling water. Cook for 45 seconds; turn and cook 45 seconds longer. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

Whisk egg white and 2 tbsps water; brush over bagels. Coat a baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 9 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 bagel equals 180 calories, trace fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 273 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 6 g protein.

Seven grain bread

I think I said this a few weeks ago about the multi-grain peseant bread for sandwiches, but THIS is now our new go-to bread in general. You can have more than one, can't you? We love this bread. The only downside is that it requires a little more work. Still, yum.

Seven Grain Bread

Ingredients:
  ● 1/2 cup rye flour
  ● 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted, finely chopped
  ● 1/2 cup oats
  ● 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  ● 1/4  cup toasted wheat germ
  ● 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
  ● 3-1/2 cups bread flour, (up to)
  ● 2 packages active dry yeast
  ● 2 tbsp salt
  ● 1-3/4 cups milk
  ● 1/4 cup honey
  ● 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 stick
  ● 1 to 1-3/4 cups  whole wheat flour
  ● untitled ingredient

For crust
  ● 1 egg whites, lightly beaten
  ● 1 tbsp water
  ● sesame or sunflour seeds , for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat milk, honey, and butter over medium heat until just bubbling (100-130 degrees).

2. In mixing bowl combine 2-1/2 cups bread flour, yeast, and salt. When ready add milk mixture and stir until combined. Add rye flour, nuts, oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and sesame seeds and mix until well combined. Add whole wheat flour until a soft dough is formed that leaves the side of the bowl.

3. turn dough out onto a generously floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until it is soft, smooth, and elastic, adding enough flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Place dough in a greased bowl and turn to coat evenly. Allow dough to rise for about 1 hour, or until just about doubled in size.

Cherry fennel bread

What do they say? If it's too hot get out of the kitchen? Well, that's kind of what we've done for most of the summer. I've still been cooking some, but I find that most of the summer we grill or eat raw or cold foods. It just feel right that way, and since we don't use air conditioning, starting up the stove or the oven on a 90 degree day just isn't appealing. So we've taken a break, but we're getting back to it a bit now, and I suspect that fall will find us in the kitchen more than ever now that I have such a fabulously helpful and interested little kitchen assistant. Today we braved the heat to make cherry fennel bread with some of the beautiful organic Michigan cherries we've been getting from Whole Foods. You can read more about the experience here, and about the process below.

Cherry Fennel Bread

Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
  ● 1 tbsp. toasted fennel seed
  ● 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  ● 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  ● 1 tsp. salt
  ● 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  ● 1 egg
  ● 1 1/4 cups milk
  ● 1/4 cup honey
  ● 3 tbsp. butter, melted
  ● 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
  ● 1 lb. cherries, stemmed, pitted and halved (at room temperature)

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf dish.

2. Grind the fennel seed using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, then combine in a large bowl with the flour, baking powder and salt. Sprinkle the brown sugar over and mix to thoroughly combine, pressing out any lumps.

3. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg then add the milk, honey and melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until almost combined before adding the pine nuts and cherries, then stir just until evenly mixed.

4. Spoon the dough into the loaf dish and spread evenly. Bake until the center tests done with a wooden pick, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check the bread 10 minutes before the timer goes off; if the bread is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil. Let cool slightly before running a knife around the sides of the loaf dish to loosen, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool to warm before slicing.

Each serving: 232 calories; 6 grams protein; 36 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams fiber; 9 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 28 mg. cholesterol; 356 mg. sodium.

Recipe from the LA Times

Multi-grain peasant bread

This is our new go-to bread for sandwiches. It makes two beautiful loaves (I use 9x5 bread pans) and once they're cool I freeze one, then I only have to bake bread about once every other week (because clearly we don't go through a lot of bread).

Multi-grain peasant bread
Proving yeast
  ● 1 tbsp dry yeast
  ● 1/4 tsp. sugar
  ● 1 c. warm water
Bread
  ● 2 c. all purpose flour
  ● 4-5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
  ● 1 c. rolled oats
  ● 1/3 c. cracked wheat or bulgur
  ● 1/4 c. plus 1 tbsp. yellow cornmeal
  ● 3 tbsp. sesame seeds
  ● 2 1/4 tsp. salt
  ● 2 c. warm water
  ● 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Glaze
  ● 1 egg white beaten with
  ● 1 tbsp water

Directions:
1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over 1 cup warm water in small bowl; stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy.

2. Meanwhile, combine all purpose flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, rolled oats, cracked wheat, 1/4 cup cornmeal, sesame seeds and salt in bowl of heavy duty mixer fitted with dough hook. (I have also added sunflower seeds from time to time).

3. Slowly add 2 cups warm water and oil and beat until well combined. Mix in dissolved yeast. Add whole wheat flour slowly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Continue beating 3 minutes (dough will be slightly sticky). Let dough rest in bowl several minutes.

4. Turn dough onto heavily floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (the finger poke test should produce a lasting divet), kneading in additional flour if necessary (sometimes I don't have to do this part at all). Lightly oil large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. Cover with damp towel and let rise in draft free area until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

5. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon cornmeal on baking sheet or grease bread pans. With well floured hands, divide dough in half. Pat one piece into 9 inch wide rectangle. Starting at one 9 inch side, roll up tightly jelly roll fashion and shape into an oval loaf. Repeat with remaining dough and place loaves seam side down on prepared sheet or pans. Cover with towel and let rise 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slash tops of loaves with sharp knife. Bake 20 minutes. Brush top with glaze and vontinue baking until loaves brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn out to cool on racks. Wait about 5 minutes, then try a piece while it's warm!