Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

3½ cups sifted flour

3 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1½ tsp. salt

4 eggs beaten

1 cup oil

2/3 cup water

2 cups canned pumpkin

Walnut halves

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Combine eggs, oil, water and pumpkin and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients. Turn into 2 greased loaf pans and top with a few walnut halves. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before slicing.  Makes  2  loaves.

Adapted from the Monastery of the Angels pumpkin bread

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti from the Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked or twice baked" refers to goods that are baked twice, so they are very dry and can be stored for long periods of time….that is if you can keep them around.

Filled with red cranberries and green pistachios these are wonderful Holiday cookies. They’re crisp and crunchy with soft and chewy cranberries. I make these every year for the holidays but they should be enjoyed year- round because they’re so delicious! So now that the craziness of the holidays is over these are perfect to enjoy with your morning coffee, cup of tea or hot chocolate as you enjoy the snow.







Dylan



This is Giada’s recipe. She dips them in white chocolate but I think they’re perfect plain.


Holiday Biscotti

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs

• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

• 2/3 cup dried cranberries

• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped

• Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

Orange Berry Muffins

(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours)



Ingredients:

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

About 3/4 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

3 Tablespoons honey

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries – fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)


 sugar, for topping (optional)





Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.



Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.



In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.



Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.



Note: my muffins were based upon the above recipe however I adapted them slightly. I used larger muffin tins and made just 9  muffins. (I filled the 3 empty tins with a little cold water.) I also used more blueberries than the recipe called for; a heaping cupful and then another handful of berries.... so about a cup and a half.



 Absolutely delicious.  Dorie Greenspan, you're my hero!

Banana Bread

Use  very ripe bananas for this bread. If your bananas aren't ripe put them in a brown paper bag for a day or so and they'll ripen faster. I used  large bananas for this bread; if yours are small add an extra banana.

Your house is going to smell heavenly.


• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 large eggs

• 3 ripe bananas

• 1 tablespoon milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk, cinnamon and vanilla.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add dry ingredients, to the banana mixture and mix just until flour disappears

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake approximately 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing

Moist, delicious, simple.