Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding dry and banana to the butter mix. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Bake 50-60 minutes in a bread pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Whole Wheat Bread

When I was little, my mom baked our bread. True story.

A while back one of my friends was looking for a bread recipe, and I sent her this one, and now she uses it to make her own bread too! I've included Mom's side notes from those instructions. This makes 3 or 4 loaves, depending how you divide the dough.

2 T yeast (regular, not rapid-rise)

3 c warm water or milk

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c honey

2 t salt

1 egg

9 c whole wheat flour

Combine yeast and warm water. (Baby-bottle warm is the standard.) Add oil, honey, salt, and egg, and blend. Add 4 cups flour and beat. Gradually add another 4 cups flour, stirring with a sturdy wooden spoon. (Gluten strands will form and dough will begin to form into a ball, separating from the sides of the bowl.) Using about 1 cup of flour, knead the dough. (Kneading bread is like kneading clay: push firmly with the heels of your hands; fold dough  in half; give a quarter turn; repeat for a long time. You are aligning the gluten strands that will make the bread rise well. It's ready when you have a nicely formed ball and it springs back when you poke a finger into it.)

Oil a LARGE clean bowl.  Turn the dough over in the oil to get a thin coating on it. Raise dough once in bowl, one hour (covered in a warm, draft-free place). Punch down, knead very briefly. Divide into three or four loaves and shape. Make a few shallow cuts on the top of each loaf. Raise in oiled or buttered bread pans, until 1/2-1 inch above rim of pan. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then turn down the oven to 350 for another 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes or so in the pans, then remove to cooling racks.

Danish

This one is on the back of the Swedish Nuts and Baked Apples.

2  8-oz packages cream cheese
1 egg
3/4 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t lemon juice
2 packages crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350F, or 325F if using a Pyrex pan. Mix together cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. In 10x13" pan, lay out one package of crescent dough. Spread the filling evenly over it. Cover with the other package of crescents. Bake 20 minutes. Optional: Drizzle with glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 c mashed banana
1/4 c yogurt
1/4-1/2 c walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light & creamy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, salt. In 3rd bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding flour and banana to butter. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Pour into loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes. Makes 1 loaf.

Apple Breakfast

For Mother's Day yesterday, I raided my mom's recipe book and found some of my grandma's original recipe cards.

3 medium apples, peeled cored sliced
sprinkle of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 t sugar - white or brown
1 batch of pancake batter (1 cup mix, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1 t oil)

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter an 8 or 9" square Pyrex dish. Put in sliced apples, add sugar and spice. Microwave 4 minutes. Pour pancake batter over the apples. Bake 15 minutes at 375/400. Serve hot with syrup and butter. Serves 4.

A note on the back says, "I buy generic pancake mix. Raises nicely." My mom said she uses whole wheat pancake mix, but it does not raise quite so well.

Quick Pizza Dough

This makes dough for one 9" pizza. It tends to be kind of sticky, so have some extra flour for your hands.

img via: Simply Recipes

1 package (2 1/4 t) yeast
1 cup warm water
1 t sugar
1 t salt
2 T oil
2 1/2 c flour
sauce, cheese, pizza toppings

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Then add the sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Beat 20 strokes, then set aside to raise for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a baking sheet or pizza stone and stretch into shape. Add your toppings and bake for 20 minutes.

Beer Bread

Not much to it. This probably came from one of my parents' Irish dance club friends. It's very dense and buttery.

 

img via: gimme some oven

2 T sugar
3 c self-rising flour
12 oz beer
1/2 stick butter, melted

Mix sugar and flour. Add beer in 3 parts, stirring well between each. Pour batter into well-greased loaf pan. Drizzle butter over batter. Bake at 350F for 55 minutes.

To replace self-rising flour: 3 c all-purpose flour, 4 1/2 t baking powder, 1 1/2 t salt.

Spoon Bread

This recipe came from my aunt, Helen. Not too long to prep, but always seems to bake for-freaking-ever.

img via: thrifty fun

1 c sour cream
3 T butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 c chopped onion
15 oz can kernel corn, undrained
15 oz can creamed corn
8.5 oz package Jiffy corn muffin mix

Whisk together sour cream, butter, and egg. Add onion, corn, and muffin mix. Combine well. Bake in a greased pan at 350F for 1 hour.

Soda Bread

This one probably came from my parents' Irish dance friends. It makes cute round loaves that are chewy and studded with raisins.

img via: tracey's culinary adventures

5 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 T baking powder
2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped raisins
3 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk

Combine all ingredients. Mix until a ball forms. Turn onto a floured board and knead gently. Divide into four balls, shape into 6"x6" disks. Cut an X into the top of each and brush with buttermilk. Bake on a sprayed cookie sheet 40-50 minutes.

Makes 4 loaves. 1/8 loaf has 103 calories, 2 grams fat.

Cornbread

This is my mother's recipe, developed through some trial and error. She wanted a denser, less sweet bread with more corn and whole grain than most commercial breads or mixes. It can hold its own with Idaho Chili or Mexican Beans without any trouble.

img via: the fresh loaf

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk (or combine 1 1/2 cups skim milk and 1 t vinegar)
3 T melted butter or oil
1 whole egg
2 egg whites

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry. Bake in sprayed pan 30-45 minutes.

Serves 9. Aprox 220 calories, 6 grams fat per serving.