Day Five: Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe

For Day 5 of the PammiCakes 12 Days of Christmas Indulgences, it is all about tart cranberry orange bread.  I love making quick breads.  They are easy and the perfect pastry to make when you are in a pinch for a hostess gift.  This bread is perfect for breakfast, snacks or served along with a cup of tea.

 

The flavor combination of cranberries and oranges, to me, is one of the best pairs to incorporate into breads or muffins.  I love the tart, fresh cranberries mixed with the tangy orange, and balanced out by the sweet bread.  This bread would be a perfect addition to you dessert buffet or a great accompaniment to your Christmas breakfast.  I hope you enjoy!   

 
Cranberry Orange Bread Recipe
Makes one 9x5 inch loaf
Preheat oven 350^o
 
1/2 cup sugar
Zest from 1 orange
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
4 tablespoon melted butter
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) fresh cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, mix sugar and orange zest.  With your hands, massage the zest and sugar together to infuse the sugar with the orange flavor.  Now, mix in both flours, baking powder and salt. 

Next, incorporate the orange juice, egg whites, butter and vegetable oil.  Whisk together until smooth.  Fold in the fresh cranberries and walnuts with a spatula. 

Line the bottom and sides of the loaf pan with wax paper.  Pour the bread batter into the lined loaf pan and place into the center of the oven.  Bake for 45-50 minutes.  Once the bread is cooked, let the bread cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove onto a cooking rack.

Day Two: Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe

For Day 2 of the PammiCakes 12 Days of Christmas Indulgences I bring to you Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.   

Oh boy, this pumpkin bread recipe sure is a treat!  If the cinnamon swirl isn’t calling your name, the chocolate chips scattered through each bite will.  This bread is extremely moist with a crunchy cinnamon sugar top.  Imagine having this special bread on Christmas morning after opening all of the gifts under the tree.  

These loaves would also be wonderful gifts for neighbors, party hosts, teachers, holiday baskets, etc.  But don’t worry, this recipe makes two loaves, so you can keep one for yourself! 

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Recipe from Keep It Sweet

Makes 2 loaves

Preheat Oven 350^o

3 cups sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup oil

2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

4 ounces semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (Mix your own or use pre-mixed)

In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Next, mix oil, pumpkin puree, water and eggs.  Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients until the batter is well incorporated. 

Spray two 2 pound loaf pans with cooking spray.  Fill up the pans halfway with the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture and mini chocolate chips.  Pour the remaining batter into the two loaf pans, filling the pans about 3/4 of the way.  Sprinkle the tops with additional cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips. 

Cook the breads about an hour.  Depending on your oven, it might take more time.  After an hour remove from the oven and use a toothpick to test if the bread is cooked.

Tips:

1)      I actually do not have two loaf pans, so I made one loaf and a dozen muffins!  They are just as delicious in the muffin form. 

2)      This recipe would be excellent without the chocolate chips, if you wish to omit them. 

3)      Walnuts or pecans would also be excellent added into this bread.

Sweet Zucchini Bread Recipe

Growing up, my parents have always had a huge garden in their backyard with gorgeous fresh vegetables.  I have so many memories of picking fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and the largest zucchini you have ever seen!  These fresh vegetables would always be a side dish with our dinner, and sometimes a special baked treat!

I love when vegetables can be transformed from the typical savory dish into a sweet, delicate, and delicious delicacy.  My mom is a wonderful baker and would always take her enormous zucchini and bake the most beautiful breads.  This bread is amazing with a cup of tea for breakfast or snack.  They also freeze really well, which allows you can savor the summer taste of zucchini all year long.  Baking this bread always makes my house smell so sweet, I wish I could bottle it up!

Sweet Zucchini Bread Recipe

Recipe from the Joy of Cooking

Makes one 9x5-inch loaf

Preheat oven to 350^o

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a medium sized bowl.  Set this mixture aside.

In a second large bowl, blend the sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and salt together until smooth.  Next, stir in the dry ingredients until well incorporated.  Then add in the zucchini.  Once fully blended, scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan.  Bake the bread until the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 50 minutes.  Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before trying to remove the bread from the pan. 

Enjoy!

Tips:

1)      The key to making a great zucchini bread is to remove all excess moisture from the shredded zucchini.

2)      Add in 1 ½ cups of chopped pecans or walnuts to add a crunchy texture to the soft bread.

3)      Change it up a bit and add 1 ½ cups of mini chocolate chips

4)      If you have lots of zucchini this summer, bake a few batches of this bread and freeze it for the winter!

Monkey Bread Recipe

  

 Hello everyone! It has been a while and I apologize for that.  Our home computer just crashed and we had to get it repaired.  Of course through all of the computer shenanigans, I was cooking and baking up a storm to keep up the blog.  Fingers crossed we don’t have any additional computer glitches in the future!

Ok, enough of that computer talk and onto the main attraction; Monkey Bread!  Wow is this stuff good.  My college friend just had her first child and we all got together for breakfast at her house.  I made monkey bread and it was a huge hit.  The buttery caramel sauce coated around each soft, chewy, cinnamon dough bite is what we all dream of waking up to in the morning....or at least I do! 

This bread is not only delicious, but lots of fun to eat.  My girlfriends and I just sat around the plate talking, watching the baby and pulling off one piece of bread at a time.  Who doesn’t love finger foods!

Monkey Bread Recipe

Makes 1 bread

1 dough (I used my pizza dough recipe)

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9-10 inch tube (bundt) pan. 

In a bowl, mix white sugar and cinnamon together.  Take your dough and pull off walnut sized pieces.  Roll each piece into the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Once each dough piece is coated, place into your greased bundt pan.  Continue to layer your bread until you have gone through all of the dough.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat.  Bring it to a boil for 1 minute to melt the sugar completely.  Pour the butter mixture over the layered dough.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a plate.

Pull it apart and enjoy!

Tips:

1)      Feel free to add walnuts, pecans, raisins, crasins, etc.  It would be delicious with these
added treats.  Just make sure to layer this in with the dough as you are stacking up your
bread. 

2)      Next time I make this, I am thinking about also making a chocolate dipping sauce to

accompany the soft chewy bread bites!

3)      If you don’t feel like making the dough, you can also use the premade doughs, or cans

of refrigerated biscuits (like Pillsbury)    

4)        I am thinking that if I put the cinnamon/sugar combo in a plastic bag and put the dough pieces in there, it might eliminate the rolling process and save a bit of time. 

P.S.  Don’t you love my friend’s plate!!!  So pretty!

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

This is such a fun holiday to celebrate, if you are Irish or not.  Who doesn't love green beer, good times with friends, 4 leaf clovers, corned beef & cabbage, and Irish soda bread!  In the spirit of the holiday, I baked a lovely Irish soda bread.  I love the dense, chewy center with sweet raisins and crispy outside.  It is a

delectable combination

Growing up a family friend always made us a huge round loaf of Irish soda bread for St. Patrick's day.  My mom, sister and I loved to have a slice of it toasted up with butter and a cup of tea.  It was such a special treat to have after a day at school.  Since I made this loaf, I have been enjoying that same tradition (after work) with my husband.

Ready for the oven!  I don't have a cast iron pan, so I used a glass pie dish and I think it worked out just fine.  You just need to improvise, sometimes it work, and sometimes it doesn't.  That is the fun of experimenting in the kitchen. 

Here is my bread dough, ready for the oven.  Oh how beautiful!

Here is an interesting article about Irish soda bread on Today msnbc.  I prefer my Irish soda bread without caraway seeds, but if you like them, add them in! 

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Recipe from Simply Recipes

Preheat oven to 425^o

4 to 4 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 Tbsp butter, cubed

1 cup raisins

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 4 cups of flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.

Next, work the cubed butter into the flour mixture with your hands, pastry cutter or two knives.  Work the butter in until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.  Add raisins.

Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add beaten egg and buttermilk.  Incorporate well with a spoon or spatula until the dough becomes stiff.  Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough in the bowl just long enough to form a ball.  My dough was very sticky and I needed to add more flour at this point. 

Move the dough to a floured surface and shape into a round loaf.  Note that the dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy (a little like a shortcake biscuit dough). You want to work it just enough so that the flour is just moistened and the dough just barely comes together. Shaggy is good.

Place the dough into a greased, round pie dish, cast iron skillet or a baking sheet.  Using a knife, score an "X" on the top of the dough about an inch deep. 

Bake the bread for 35-45 minutes.  Check the bread with a long skewer, if it comes out clean then your bread is done.  Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Then remove the bread and place it on a cooling rack. 

Serve warm and enjoy!

Tips:
        1) If you enjoy your Irish Soda bread with caraway seeds, feel free to add some to this recipe
        2) If towards the end of the baking process the bread is getting too brown, cover it with tin foil to finish baking off.
        3) 1 cup of buttermilk = 1 tablespoon of white vinegar + 1 cup of milk (this recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, so I estimated 1 3/4 tablespoons of vinegar and filled the rest of my measuring cup with milk to get to 1 3/4 cups)

Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread

I live in New England and Spring is fast approaching (hopefully!), so I was in the mood to bake for the last time this winter with pumpkin.  I needed to get my pumpkin fix in before the warm weather arrives.  This bread is so moist and delicious.  The recipe makes two loaves which is a treat because you are still putting in the same effort and time for baking one loaf, but you get the added bonus of two!  You can freeze the second bread or bring it to a friend as a gift.  We had made plans to get together with my sister and brother-in-law, so we brought our extra pumpkin bread down as a surprise to them.  I hope they are enjoying it now.

This bread has a soft and airy center with a crunchy baked top garnished with nuts.  It is the perfect mix of textures.  The pumpkin and cinnamon flavors will warm you up.  I had mine with a cup of tea and it was a match made in heaven. 

Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Recipe from Cooking Light

Preheat oven to 350^o

3 1/3  cups  all-purpose flour
1  tablespoon  baking powder
2  teaspoons  baking soda
1  teaspoon  salt
1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
1/2  teaspoon  ground allspice
2  cups  granulated sugar
1/2  cup  egg substitute
1/2  cup  canola oil
1/2  cup  low-fat buttermilk
2  large eggs
2/3  cup  water
1  (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Cooking spray
1/3  cup  chopped pecans

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through allspice) in a bowl.

Place sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add 2/3 cup water and pumpkin, beating at low speed until blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Spoon batter into 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pecans evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Tips:
      1) Don't have egg substitute in the house? No need to run out to the grocery store.  1/2 cup of egg substitute = 2 large eggs
      2)  I didn't have pecans in the house at the time I baked this delicious bread, so instead I topped it with chopped walnuts.
      3) I never buy buttermilk when a recipe calls for it.  It is very simple to make your own with milk and white vinegar.  1/2 cup of buttermilk = 1/2 of milk mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons of white vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes.
     4) This is also delicious grilled up on a frying pan with a little butter.  It makes it toasted and crunchy on the edges and so warm and sweet on the inside.