Pumpkin Bread

Aundra had a Christmas party to go to, and wanted to make a pumpkin pie. She came over and made a beautiful pie that I think was a big hit at her party. When we were cleaning up, I noticed we had some pumpkin left over. If you've ever baked and pureed your own pumkin, you know how precious the stuff is. So I decided to whip up some pumpkin bread. I like to make the little loaves, and use them with cookies and candy to make homemade Christmas gifts for friends and the mailman. We have the best mailman. Anyway, my pumpkin bread recipe comes from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking. I thought it was going to be the last Joy of Cooking, as it was a big deal when this version came out, but they just recently came out with a newer All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking. The Joy of Cooking is a total go-to book for anything you think you'd like to make. We've used it many, many times, which is possibly why the index pages keep falling out. Or could it be becasue I bought it at Costco? So now I guess I'll have to get the newer updated version. After all, my old one is falling apart.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, or 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 1 large or 4 mini loaf pans. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour out the milk in a measuring cup, and add the vanilla to it. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, and beat on high speed until lightened, about 4 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add pumpkin and beat on low until just combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Scrape the batter into the pans and spread evenly. Bake 1 hour for a large loaf and about 30 minutes for mini-loaves, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Make sure your homemade pumpkin puree is always drained. I put mine in a fine mesh stariner lined with cheesecloth for about 1/2 hour before using.
A little note about eggs. I used to be very bold about eggs. I'd just crack them into the bowl without a care. Then one time, I was making cookie dough, and I accidentally dropped egg shell into the batter. I thought I had gotten it all out, until I started rolling out the dough and saw that it was speckled with egg shell. I had to throw it all out, and start again. Now I always crack the eggs into a bowl or a measuring cup first.

Turkey Tail Rolls

These are a sympton of my inner desire for cutesiness, which comes out every once in a while. It's from the same urge that had me folding the napkins for Easter into little bunny rabbits. I just thought they looked so cute! Little turkey tails. Who doesn't love food shaped like animals? My grandmother used to make crescent rolls for Christmas or Thanksgiving. Not from scratch, but from the wonderful round can you buy at the grocery store, that went pop! when you twisted it open. I could down three of those little rolls in one sitting. But I'm not making crescent rolls- crescent rolls are the back-up plan for my turkey tail rolls not making it up to Tahoe. Because of the altitude, I'm baking these rolls here, freezing them, then thawing and heating them up in the mountains. I'll let you know how it went. I plan on testing one before we go. This is a delightful Martha Stewart recipe.

Turkey Tail Rolls

14 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for bowl and tin
1 1/4 cup warm milk (about 110°)
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
3 Tbs. sugar
1 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Butter a large bowl and a 12-cup standard muffin tin; set aside. Stir together 1/2 cup milk and the yeast in a bowl. Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.
Bring remaining 3/4 cup milk to a simmer in a medium pan. Remove from heat. Add 6 tablespoons butter, the sugar, and salt; stir until butter melts. Set aside.
Put 4 1/2 cups flour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Make a well in the center, and pour in yeast mixture, butter mixture, and the eggs. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix on low speed until dough just comes together, about 2 minutes. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 5 minutes, adding remaining cup flour as needed. Transfer to buttered bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down dough; let rest 10 minutes.
Divide dough in half; cover half with a towel. On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining half to 1/4 inch thick. Cut to 12 by 9 1/2 inches, discarding scraps. Position short side of dough parallel to counter's edge. Cut crosswise into six 2-inch strips. Cut strips crosswise into 3 1/2-inch, 3 1/4-inch, and 2 3/4-inch pieces.
Preheat oven to 375°. Melt remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Brush all pieces of dough with melted butter; reserve some for brushing tops. Center and stack pieces from each strip, largest to smallest (you will have 6 stacks). Fold each stack in half lengthwise; fit, folded edge down, into a prepared muffin cup, making a V. Cover with a towel; let rise in a warm, draft-free place 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough.
Brush melted butter over top of each roll. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Brush with more melted butter; serve hot or at room temperature.

The recipe was really quite easy, but I found that I had a lot of dough leftover. I froze the rolls the day I baked them, then defrosted and heated 1 the next day. It was delicious- nice and buttery and light. By the time they got up to the lake, they weren't so great. They were a little heavy, and needed a pat or two of butter. Abbie enjoyed them immensely, and ate nothing but the rolls and a little turkey at dinner. I do need to say this though- we didn't need to throw any away.

Whole Wheat Bread

My brother is vegan. I find this sometimes difficult to understand. How could a person limit themselves so severely? How could anyone have so much self-control?! But I also find it fascinating- another way that people relate to food. It also presents a challenge. How do you cook or bake when so many ingredients are not allowed? When I do make something that happens to be vegan, I get so excited. Gary could eat this!! I must tell him! I must share this new vegan knowledge. So this post is for my brother- I made vegan bread! You must try it. This bread is not only for the vegan in your life. It actually just happens to not have any animal products in it. This recipe calls for honey, but I've used molasses instead. Now I'm wondering if molasses are one of those no-no ingredients. I don't think so. So this is great bread for anyone. It is the perfect peanut butter and jelly whole wheat sandwich bread, or for toast in the morning. It's easy to prepare, so I bake a couple of loaves every week and a half or so. Eat one now, and freeze the other for when you run out. When you get the hang of this, you can bang out a couple of loaves in the morning and have it for sandwiches at noon. The original recipe is from the Cheeseboard Collective Works.

Whole Wheat Bread
1 tbs. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
6 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbs. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warmish water
1/2 cup molasses (honey or maple syrup)

In a measuring cup, whisk the yeast into the cup of warm water until dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture, warmish water, and molasses. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined, about 2 minutes. Switch to the dough hook, increase the speed to medium, and knead for 10 minutes. While the dough is kneading, brush vegetable oil in a large bowl, and on a piece of plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead by hand for a few minutes. Form the dough into a ball, and turn it in the bowl until it is coated with oil. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour.
Brush vegetable oil on 2 loaf pans. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 pieces. (If you don't mind the mess, leave the flour from the first kneading on your board, and use it again.) Don't throw away your plastic wrap! Gently form each piece into a loose round, and cover with your oiled plastic wrap. Let rest 10 minutes. Gently press each round into a rectangle 9 inches (the width of your loaf pan) by 11 or 12 inches. Roll it up like a jelly roll, pinching the seam closed. Place the dough into the oiled pan seam side down, and gently press it into the pan to fill the gaps on the ends and sides. Repeat with the remaining round. Put the oiled plastic wrap over both loaves, and let rise again 45 minutes to an hour. Slash the loaves 15 minutes before the rise is finished, and preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Place the loaves in the oven for 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees, and bake 20 minutes. Turn the loaf pans around front to back, and left to right. Bake another 20 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes. Take the bread out of the pans, and let cool completely on a rack.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I am often in the uncomfortable position of having several bananas gone past their prime in my kitchen. They sit in my fruit bowl slowly turning a darker shade of brown. What do I do? I can't throw them away. That's good food for god's sake! So I desperately look for something to do with them. Smoothie? No, Abbie won't drink them. Ah, banana bread, you say. That's an excellent idea. However, most banana bread recipes call for one measly rotten banana. I have four on the counter, and two I threw in the freezer. I need more banana investment here! So I made something up. This is hardly bread. I should call it cake. It has chocolate. It uses THREE bananas. I feel so resourceful.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp. good vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tbs.
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bread loaf pan, or 4 mini pans.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add bananas and vanilla; blend well. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, mix chocolate chips, pecans, and 1 tbs. flour. Beat the flour mixture into the banana mixture just until combined. With a rubber spatula, mix nuts and chocolate into batter. Spread evenly into pan or pans.

Bake for 50-60 minutes for one loaf, or 30 minutes for mini loaves, until toothpick inserted in center
comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely.