Cinnamon Roll Bread

Finally! It appears that Spring has popped into central Ohio to say hello. I am sure it's stay wont be long, for it must tease us with its presence. For the first time this Spring I ran outside in the park. I think I went a little overboard in taking advantage of the sunshine and the delicate breeze because I am now sore all over...

This is the good kind of sore though...the kind that tricks your mind into thinking it's okay to have a second helping of cake..."I've worked hard today, I so deserve this!" We'll see how long I can ignore that little voice in my head that is always lying to me and telling me "it's okay, go ahead, you worked hard today." It's becoming difficult because that voice that has been saying "bathing suit season is around the corner and you could not be farther from ready" seems to be slowly fading away as I am remembering the dark chocolate truffles I have hidden away in my desk drawer...

Oh the agony!

Thankfully, I no longer have this gem of a baked good stashed away anymore. Then I would be in real trouble. I made this "bread" (slash cake) when I was going through that cinnamon roll craze. It appears that  have satisfied that burst of cravings because now all I can think about is cookie dough.

I obsess...I really do. When I am craving something I have to submit myself to a complete overload of whatever it is I am craving. It's sad really. Why can't I drool and obsess over something more healthy...like spinach or brussel sprouts...Why does it always have to be chocolate or cream cheese or peanut butter? Mmm...peanut butter....

Hmm...that's odd...I no longer hear the "bathing suit" voice. Interesting.

Cinnamon Roll Bread
Adapted from beantownbaker.com

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm skim milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling:
3 tablespoons margarine, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
(Shawn and I decided pecans or raisins would also be good here so if you have any hiding in your pantry, feel free to use them)

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2  tablespoons neaufchatel cheese, softened
1-3 tablespoons skim milk (enough to reach right consistency)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Grease an 8x8-in square baking pan.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Dissolve the yeast in a small bowl filled with warmed milk. Once the yeast becomes foamy, add the canola oil, vanilla and egg into the milk mixture. Add the milk mixture into the flour mixture and combine until smooth. Pour the dough into the baking pan and let rest for about 15 minutes to let the yeast get to work.

While the dough is resting, make your filling by mixing together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Mix using a whisk or fork until mixture is combined. Sprinkle evenly on top of the rested dough and slightly press the mixture into the dough.

Place pan in the oven and then set the temperature to 350F.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the bread if lightly browned and the center springs back when touched. Cool for 20-30 minutes. While the bread is cooling, make the icing and mix together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and milk until very smooth. If the mixture seems thin add more sugar, if it seems thick add more milk. Drizzle the icing onto the cooled bread. Serve warm and enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I have been on an absolute pumpkin "binge" if you will. This happens to me in the fall, I go a little crazy. I was stalking other peoples blogs and noting their recipes and came across pumpkin bread pudding a LOT! I have never even heard of this! I have never made bread pudding but it's something I love to eat. While I love the traditional pumpkin desserts, I thought it a good idea to try out a new thing or two.

This tasted JUST like pumpkin pie. This recipe asks that you use bread crumbs and its was delicious but I am intriguied to know what it is like with bread chunks. Regardless, I loved this dessert. The recipe called for raisins but I didn't care for that so I ommited them and I added toasted pecans to give it a little "oomph" but its great even without them :) Oh and this is a lower-fat version and you'd never guess! I topped with fat free whipped topping and it was tastyyyy...mmmm...pumpkin

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:
8 slices whole wheat bread
1 cup egg substitute
2 1/4 cups skim milk
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside.

Crumble the bread by hand or food processor to make bread crumbs. Combine the egg substitute, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, spices and vanilla. Fold in and bread crumbs. Top with pecans.

Pour mixture into prepared casserole and set dish in larger baking dish which has been partially filled with hot water. 7 Bake 1 hours or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

 

Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread

I want to first start by announcing (the obvious) that I decided to change the name and url of my blog. I wanted it to better represent my love for both cooking and baking. And quite frankly I have realized since starting to bake at work and getting more experience that baking is a lot harder for me than cooking. I am learning a lot by making sooo many mistakes. I am learning that I hate following recipes (which is key for bakers) and I love to do my own thing and add my own spins. I think I am a cook at heart who has a huge sweet tooth and is learning how to apply my cooking skills to strengthen my baking skills. So it is a work in progress. :)

Also, I apologize for the time being about the poor photographs. My camera is not working very well, the lighting is terrible and the picture is fuzzy. I can't really afford a new one yet so this will have to do for now :(

Now, to the good stuff. Today is the first day of my favorite month! October! To celebrate I had some of my closest girlfriends over to catch up and chat over homemade pumpkin bread, apple cider and halloween oreos! It was awesome. I found a recipe lower calorie pumpkin bread online and noticed how good the reviews were and had to try it. I added and changed a couple things and it turned out great! I ate probably half the loaf in one day...bad girl I know! But hey, at least it's somewhat healthy right? Let me think that.

Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice into a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
 

Easter Dinner for Two

So neither my boyfriend (Shawn by the way) or I could make it home for Easter. So I decided to take it upon myself to whip up something special for the sake of the holiday. Because lets face it, there is nothing more I'd rather be doing on a beautiful sunday afternoon than cooking up a big meal in my kitchen with the windows open and with the Food Network on in the background (sometimes when I'm feeling extra cheery I'll put on some Joss Stone or Christina Aguilera to sing along to. But that's when I really know what I'm doing and am completely comfortable with it).

We collaborated on the menu and came up with what I thought to be very satisfying and a very home-cooked eastery type of meal. Instead of the traditional ham or lamb we both decided pot roast sounded IDEAL! Along with that we had a roasted potato salad, garden pea salad, homemade pretzel rolls, stuffing and of course Easter cupcakes!

Pot Roast (I combined two of Paula Deans Recipes for this and added a few vegetables in myself)

Ingredients
1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast
1 1/2 teaspoons House seasoning, recipe follows
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup beef stock
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 bag baby carrots
2-4 stalks of celery, chopped

Directions:

Sprinkle roast on all sides with house seasoning. Using a skillet over high heat, sear roast until brown in oil. Place roast in a slow cooker, and layer onions, bay leaves, garlic, and cream of mushroom soup. Add the red wine, worcestershire and beef stock and cover with enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Cook on the low setting for 8 hours. (After about 2-3 hours throw in the vegetables and stir)


House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months

SUGGESTION: There is a lot of liquid leftover so I made a gravy out of it. All you do is put the excess liquid in a saucepan and heat on medium. Then you mix in a bit of cornstarch mixed with water. Mix and stir slowly until you reach your desired thickness.

Roasted Potato Salad (from Food Network)

This is a great potato salad when you want something different than your origional mayonnaise-based potato salad. The only change I made to the origional recipe is I used red potatoes instead of russet potatoes. I think they are taster and prettier :)

Ingredients:

11 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Handful chopped fresh thyme and rosemary leaves
3 pounds red potatoes, cut into large dice
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped basil leaves
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix 6 tablespoons of olive oil, the garlic, salt, pepper and herbs. Add potatoes and toss. Spread out onto a baking sheet and bake for 55 minutes, stirring occasionally. When potatoes are golden brown remove the pan from the oven and let cool. When potatoes are cool, place them in a bowl and scrape the pan drippings into a measuring cup. Add enough oil to the drippings to measure 6 tablespoons of oil. Whisk the vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Gradually add the oil and then mix in the shallots. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and combine. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Add chopped basil. Let stand for 1 hour at room temperature. Serve.

Garden Pea Salad (This comes from Paula Dean...who else would I go to for home-cookin!?)

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can very young early peas (recommended: Lesueur)
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 boiled eggs, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Chopped pimento, optional

Directions:

In a colander, drain peas very well. Place drained peas in a medium bowl. Add the onions, crumbled eggs, and mayonnaise, tossing to combine and coat peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add pimento, if using. This recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

Pretzel Rolls (I wanted to make pretzel rolls because at one of my favorite restaraunts called Tip Top they serve a pot roast sandwhich on a pretzel roll with swiss and mustard. I get it EVERYTIME and it is DELICIOUS! I wanted to do something similar, so I handmade these rolls and had Shawn bring over provalone cheese and a-1 sauce and we made our own pot roast sandwiches...yum! If only we had Tip Tops sweet potato fries with spicy mayo to go with! OH! also, I got the recipe from recipezaar.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons warm milk
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 cups all-purpose flour
kosher salt or pretzel salt
2 quarts cold water
1/2 cup baking soda

Directions:

In a small bowl if using a bread machine, or in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix a 1/3 cup of the warm water (105-115 degrees) with the yeast and let stand until foamy.

Add the remaining cup of warm water along with milk, sugar & melted butter and swirl to dissolve the sugar. (If using a bread machine add mixture to bread machine at this point and continue). Add flour and mix on dough cycle or med-low speed. Remove dough from bread machine once it forms a nice a firm, pliable dough ball. Add more flour if necessary.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured table and knead for 2 minutes. Roll into a 2 foot long log and cut into 12 even pieces. Cover dough with plastic and a damp cloth and let sit for 10 minutes.

Pat dough into rolls or form knots and arrange on a lightly floured surface about an inch apart and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let the pretzels rest for an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets.

In a large stockpot, bring the cold water to a rolling boil and add baking soda.

Drop two rolls into the boiling water and boil for no more then 30 seconds, turning once. Carefully remove with tongs or slotted spoon and hold above pot and let drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with the remaining rolls.

Arrange rolls on the oiled baking sheets and bake on the upper and middle racks of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until browned all over; shift pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through, for even baking.

Let rolls cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

SIDENOTE: I know this recipe looks overwhelming (in fact, I was kind of terrified) but it is actually VERY easy. You feel a great sense of accomplishment when all is said and done and you have a decent roll!

The stuffing I made was some cranberry stovetop boxed stuffing that was actually pretty tasty and only took 5 minutes to make!

I already posted the Easter Cupcakes but linked them for convenience :)

Hope everyone had as good and as filling an Easter as I did!