i'm a bread maker!!!

i have just found my newest love! as i have wanted to make healthy, preservative free bread for a while i was looking for a good bread machine. however, i've now realized [thanks to my work mentor] that the bread machine isnt needed! buy the book [see below] artisan bread in 5 minutes a day and you too can have amazing bread!!!! my next book is healthy bread in 5 minutes a day to try healthier bread but i'll start with this gorgeous loaf of bread first!

my first loaf of bread from scratch! what a fun way to start the day! 

first time using the dough hook from my mixer

freshly mixed dough! 

dough after two days of being in fridge

on the corn meal peel & ready to go

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Thomas & Sallie were in town this past weekend and Saturday morning I made a yummy new breakfast bread! It was a hit & the boys loved it too! 

what you need...½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup reduced fat buttermilk

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

what to do...

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries. 

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

benkwith breakfast wonders!

so these are now affectionatly called benkwith breakfast wonders. if you like breakfast casserole (you know, the sausage, eggs, etc in a big pyrex) these are even better! we had them when we were busy getting spoiled in colorado on new years day morning! they were so good and are such a great idea for when you have guests! we had them this past weekend when thomas & sallie were in town! they are also able to be frozen and microwaved/oven heated back up to normal temperature.

benkwith breakfast wonders....
what you need...
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 eggs
pint of 1/2 & 1/2
1 cup bisquick
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb jimmy dean sausage browned & drained
salsa (optional)

what to do...
put the sausage in the bottom of 24 muffin cups. beat eggs...add bisquick, salt, and half & half. pour mixture over the sausage in each muffin cup. top with salsa if you wish. sprinkle cheese on top. bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

lemon rosemary coffee cake

what a beautiful, amazing breakfast this is! joe is a lucky guy to have this for breakfast this week! 

lemon rosemary coffee cake

what you need...
Parchment paper
3 large lemons
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup very cold butter, cubed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk (use the reduced fat version!)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 (10-oz.) jar lemon curd (you find this in the jam/jelly aisle at the grocery, the brand i've used is dickinson)

what to do...

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper.  Grate zest from lemons to equal 1 Tbsp. Cut lemons in half; squeeze juice from lemons into a bowl to equal 5 Tbsp. Reserve zest and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice.

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor; pulse 3 to 4 times or until blended. Add butter; pulse 6 to 7 times or until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup flour mixture.  Transfer remaining flour mixture to bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer. Add baking powder and baking soda; beat at low speed until well blended. Add buttermilk, egg, and 1/4 cup lemon juice; beat at medium speed 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until batter is thoroughly blended, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in rosemary. 

Spoon half of batter into prepared pan.  Whisk lemon curd in a small bowl about 1 minute or until loosened and smooth; carefully spread over batter in pan. Top with remaining half of batter.  Stir together reserved lemon zest, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, and 1 cup flour mixture; sprinkle lemon zest mixture over batter in pan.

Bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Gently run a sharp knife around edge of cake to loosen; remove sides of pan. Cool cake completely on wire rack (about 1 hour).

buttermilk poppy seed bread

i'm big into the loaf breads these past few weeks for joe to bring to work for a good breakfast each day. here is another good one, buttermilk poppy seed muffins originally per southern living, however i've made mine as a loaf and it turns out perfect!

buttermilk poppy seed bread
what you need...
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted

what to do...Preheat oven to 375°. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Whisk together buttermilk and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in melted butter. Spoon batter into a lightly greased loaf pan. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans to a wire rack, and drizzle with Orange Glaze (recipe below)

 the glaze ingredients & what to do...
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange juice

Stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp. orange juice. Stir in remaining 1 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 tsp. at a time, for desired consistency. if it gets too runny, just add a pinch more powdered sugar!

Harvest Pumpkin Apple Bread

we have some baking apples from my parents from the river, i am making some breakfast breads & love the "fallishness" of this one! its a libby's pumpkin recipe--try it out!

what you need...3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple juice or water
1 large baking apple, peeled, cored and diced

what to do...

preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.  combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and apple juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans. bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

if you're using 8x4-inch loaf pans (makes 3)
Bake for 60 to 65 minutes.

if you're using mini loaf pans (will make 5-6)
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

blueberry loaf

so if you'd like to go easy and not make muffins but make something else fabulous for breakfast, i'd recommend making the blueberry muffin recipe i've previously posted and instead of putting it into muffin tins, put it in a loaf pan (well greased). haven't perfected it but i'd also lower the temperature to 375 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes longer than the muffins (about 40 min), but check to see if its done before you pull it out for good! middle of mine last time was a little bit gooey, but thats just the way i like it! 


tip: cut down on the calories and only make 1/2 of the butter/sugar crumble for the top.

blueberry muffins

i have a classic go-to muffin recipe but it involves bananas and i dont have those on hand on a regular basis. so i recently tried for a new blueberry muffin recipe that involves things i normally have on hand. seeing as i always have frozen berries, this fit the bill! i'll let you know how they turn out with the davis family this weekend in highlands!

blueberry muffins
what you need...

• for the muffins...
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 
  
• for the topping...
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  
• what to do...
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. I put parchment paper in these instead of relying on always having muffin liners.  Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup (will be just about 1/3 cup but youll want to do this so they are moist enough if your egg is smaller). Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries with spatula so they do not get destroyed in your mixer. Fill muffin trays right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture
• 
  
• To Make Crumb Topping: 
• Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.  This makes a lot of crumbs but who will complain about the extra butter, sugar, and cinnamon :) not me! 
• 
  
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.  in my convection oven, they took the full 25 minutes in a regular muffin tin (not mini-muffin or silicone pans)

spoon rolls

another fave from 2010 southern livings best!

spoon rolls go great with the gumbo from yesterday's post!

fresh herb spoon rolls

what you need...
1 (1/4-oz.) envelope active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110°)
4 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten


what to do...
Preheat oven to 400°. Combine yeast and 2 cups warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in flour and remaining ingredients. Spoon batter into 2 lightly greased 12-cup muffin pans, filling three-fourths full.  Bake at 400° for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown