Category: Breads

Servings: 8
Preheat: 350°
Cook Time: 40 min
Source: Fine Cooking 113, pp. 22

Olive oil not only adds an incredible depth of flavor, but used in place of butter or shortening, it makes quick breads better for you by supplying healthy fat and antioxidants. Pumpkin seeds are an optional topping here,

Ingredients
Cooking spray
3-1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) whole wheat flour
3 oz. (2/3 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbs. unsalted pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas; optional)

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk both flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil, and honey until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a large spoon just until evenly incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter. Sprinkle the top with the pumpkin seeds (if using), pressing them down lightly. Bake until the top is browned and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. (If the bread begins to brown too much before it’s fully baked, lay a piece of aluminum foil on top.) Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then transfer the bread to a rack to cool completely before slicing.

Servings: —
Preheat: 350°
Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients
3 whole eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
2 c. grated zucchini, peeled
3 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions
In a large bowl, beat eggs until very light. Add the sugar, vegetable oil, zucchini and vanilla.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to the zucchini mixture.

When the mixture is well combined, add the chopped walnuts, and pour into two 9×5-inch loaf pans that have been well buttered.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 1 hour or until done.

Servings: 14
Preheat: 425°
Source: Baking with Julia
recipeNotes: Among bakers, one hears the expression “”She has a good biscuit hand.”” Like pie crusts, biscuits are a measure of a baker’s talents and a pastry in which bakers take particular pride.

To have a good biscuit hand is to have a light touch and restraint-a biscuit dough is so soft that it invites poking and prodding, kneading and mashing, when it should be just barely worked. The golden rule with biscuits is to stop doing whatever you’re doing to them two beats before you have to. So, when you’re rubbing the shortening and flour together and there are still some chubby chunks of shortening-stop. When you’re tossing the flour-and-butter mixture with the milk and the dough looks only just moistened-stop. And when you turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it just to work it into a mass, count each knead, get to ten, and-stop.

Before you start, have a small juice glass at the ready for cutting out the biscuits. Have a small scoop of flour nearby to aid in kneading and flattening the dough. And have a bench scraper available for easy removal of the dough from the bowl and clean-up.

Storing Biscuits are best just out of the oven, but they can be kept covered at room temperature for a few hours and warmed for about 5 minutes in a 350°F oven before serving.

Ingredients
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter or solid vegetable shortening
1 cup milk

Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 9- by 12-inch baking pan and set it aside.

Mixing the Dough. Put the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and stir with a fork just to mix. Add the shortening, roll it around in ,the flour mix to coat it, and break it into 4 or 5 pieces. Rub the flour and shortening together with the tips of your fingers, making little crumbs and letting the crumbs fall back into the bowl. Keep rubbing the flour and shortening together and tossing the contents of the bowl until most of the shortening is mixed with the flour. Don’t worry if you still have a few largish pieces. Add the milk and stir with a fork to moisten the flour. Again, don’t worry about getting everything thoroughly or evenly mixed. You’ll have a sticky mass of dough.

Kneading the Dough. Flour a work surface and your hands, scoop the dough out of the bowl, and drop it onto the counter. Knead the dough ten times-no more, even if its malleable texture tempts you. Pat the dough into a circle about 9 inches across and, using a 2-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out the biscuits. (You can, of course, make the biscuits larger or smaller to meet your needs. And you can always press the scraps together into a 1f4-inch-thick circle and cut out additional biscuits.)

Baking the Biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the baking pan, allowing them to touch each other if you want biscuits with soft sides, and placing them apart if you want crisper sides. (The biscuits can be brushed with melted butter before baking, an optional but nice touch.)

Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden on top. Serve them warm.

Servings: —

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

Directions
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450°. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on rack.

Servings: —

Ingredients
3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour (or 2 C APF and 1 C WW flour), plus additional for dusting work surface
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1½ teaspoons table salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces) at room temperature
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) mild-flavored lager
1 tablespoon white vinegar
(2 T honey if opting for the whole wheat version)

Directions
1. Whisk flour, yeast and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

2. Lay 12- to 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500°. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch long, 1/2-inch deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425° and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210°, 20-30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; cool on wire rack 2 hours.

Servings: —
Preheat: 325°
double recipe makes 5 pans

Ingredients
1 tbsp. butter
1 egg + 1 cup sugar

11/2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
sift above 2 ingredients together

1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cut up dates
1/2 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Pour boiling water over dates and raisins and cool.
Mix butter, sugar, add egg and beat until creamy

Add dry ingredients alternately with moist mixture
then add vanilla
Add nuts last

Bake 325 degrees for 45 minutes.