Double Berry Swirl Pound~like Cake

Doesn't this look great? It's a perfect summer time cake/bread too!! Check out the yummy (and easy) recipe here.

Crusty Italian Bread

Oh this makes me think of the hotel we stayed at in Italy on our honeymoon. This makes me want to get out there again! Check out the recipe here.

Baking Goal: Maraschino and Pineapple Bread

Wow right? I have only ever made banana bread and pumpkin bread so this would be a great change. I think it would nice and light for summer too!

Check out the recipe at Val So Cal

link- Chai Tea Bread

Doesn't this sound wonderful? I need to wait for a chilly day to bake this and sit and eat it with a nice cup of tea.

Baking Goal: White Chedder Dill Crackers

Don't these look great? We love crackers in our house, and we got through them really quick so I think it would be great to be able to make them! Check out the recipe here at Arctic Garden Studio

Baking Goal: Herb & Garlic Focaccia Bread

Doesn't this look wonderful?! I told Marsha that it looks like the bread they serve you at the good Italian restaurants, while you wait for your food!

Check out Marsha's recipe at The Harried Cook

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns

So I love cinnamon buns. My favorite place to get them is Tall Grass Prairie Bakery.  They have the best whole wheat cinnamon buns and they almost taste healthy and I have no idea how with all that sugar and cinnamon. In any case I love them and wanted to make them so I searched and searched to find some sort of recipe that got close.  I found this recipe which was actually inspired by the bakery and gave it a go. The first time around the buns were no good (I'm not even going to share photos) but last night I tried it again (after making a few changes to the recipe) and they turned out great. I'm going to keep trying, maybe do a couple of things different (I hear they only use spelt flour) and keep you posted. But if you want a whole wheat recipe this is a great one!


Ingredients
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, (approx)
1-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup butter, melted

Preparation
In bowl, dissolve 1 tsp of the granulated sugar in 1/3 cup warm water; sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, butter, vanilla and remaining sugar; stir in yeast mixture.

In large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt, then stir in yeast mixture until ragged dough forms. Turn out onto floured surface and knead, adding up to 2 tbsp more all-purpose flour if needed, until soft, smooth but not sticky dough forms, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to greased bowl and turn to grease all over. Cover and let stand in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Filling: Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and set aside.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; roll out into 20- x 12-inch (50 x 30 cm) rectangle. Brush with all but 2 tbsp of the melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) border uncovered at 1 long side. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, leaving same 1/2-inch (1 cm) border uncovered.

Starting at long side opposite border, tightly roll up dough; pinch seam to seal. Brush all over with remaining butter.

With sharp knife, cut into 12 pieces; place, cut side up, in greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

(Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 12 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.)

Bake in 375ºF (190ºC) oven until tops are golden and buns sound hollow when gently tapped, 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

Adapted from here.

Cooking Goal: Cheesy Garlic-Herb Bread

Oh yum! This would be a great party snack!! Or something a little different for a wine & cheese

Check out the recipe at Our Best Bites

Bread Pudding

This was my first time making bread pudding and I'm really excited now about all the options out there on different variations. This recipe is super simple and I love that you can use up all those loaf ends (that no one in my house wants to eat)!

Ingredients
6 slices day-old bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.

Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Zucchini Bread

I found this great recipe over at Fresh Plate. I liked it, but I made a couple of changes (a little less sugar, a little more whole wheat etc.) so I thought I would post it and share it with you all. It's so tasty and wonderful! Great for fall and for all those overnight guests, not sure what to serve them sort of thing (It freezes great! I have 4 in my freezer right now!)

 

3/4 cup white sugar 

3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder

In a large bowl, mix the sugars, eggs, oil, vanilla and shredded zucchini. Mix well. Stir in the flours, salt baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix until all ingredients smooth into a batter. Pour into two bread pans sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.

Baking Goal: Zucchini Bread with Lemon-Buttermilk Glaze

Wonderful right? This looks like a great summer treat!

Check out the recipe at Brandy's Baking

Baking Goal: Ricotta Money Bread

Doesn't this look great? I kept seeing everyone post about this and I finally found a recipe that was easy enough for me (I'm yet to really take on the bread department of baking)

Check out the recipe at Treat & Trick 

Dough for anything you want to make!

I was given a bread machine but it didn't have the recipe book. I wasn't too sure where even to start. I'm good at a lot of things in the kitchen but bread is something I've never really tried. I asked my friends on Facebook and got lots of great responses! One lady gave me this recipe and I just had to share it! 

1 3/4 warm water
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour (reg flour)
2 tsp bread machine yeast (found next to the regular yeasts)

Add ingredients in the order they are listed. Turn on machine for dough cycle or use a mixer with dough mixers.

Once it's mix you can use it for anything! Bread, pretzels, pizza crust, cinnamon buns, buns, it's all up to you!!

I used it the other day and made whole wheat pizza crust, and had lots left over so I made cinnamon buns too! So tasty!!

Flower Bread, My Way

 I found this recipe and posted it as one of my Baking Goals. Unfortunately I forgot to ask for consent before hand and just let the blogger know when I posted it that I featured the recipe. Long story short she wasn't too happy to be featured and I had to reluctantly take the recipe down (I don't understand why someone wouldn't love to be featured on another blog but that's a whole other story!). I wanted to still post the recipe because I thought it was a really cool idea. I looked for another source, and found one! 


I adapted it from this site and I hope you really enjoy it. I had to rework the whole recipe, and all the photos are my own so I feel really great about getting to post this "original" for you all :) 

(When I was converting this recipe I didn't catch the C to F in time and I was cooking the bread at 200C! I salvaged it but I just wanted to let you know that this bread normally is a lot fluffier! It still tastes great though and I think I'll bake it again some time!) 

Ingredients for the dough:
3 1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 3/4 tablespoons fresh yeast (about 17 grams)
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt

 
Also needed:
1/2 melted butter
 
Optional: 
Flax seeds
Sesame seeds
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of milk

Optional:
Seasoning of your choice 





Preheat the oven to  400 F.

In lukewarm milk sprinkle sugar and yeast and let it foam. When it foams add the rest of the dough ingredients and kneads into smooth dough. 

Cover with a clean cloth and leave in warm place 30 minutes to rise. After the dough has risen knead it and divide it in half, then cut a small piece off one end (a little less then half of the half)

Leave the smallest piece on the side, which will be the center for the pogaca. Divide the biggest piece into 5 five equal parts. 

Roll each one into disk shape and grease everyone except the fifth with the melted butter and stake them on one another. 

Optional: After buttering the piece sprinkle your favorite seasoning between each layer. I did lemon pepper and it turned out great!

Roll the fifth piece a bit wider and put it over other disk shaped pieces and fold up the the others pieces to get a shape of pogaca. 

Move the pogaca carefully in the butter and then into a flours cheese cake pan (28cm). 

With a sharp knife cut eight pieces, leaving at least 1 cm from the end of the crust.
 
Pull each cut section up towards the edges of the pan, away from the middle of the area.

Repeat this with the other half that was put aside (disk shapes, buttering, and cutting etc.) Make sure to put the cut "peddles" in between each of  the first large rings peddles.  

 Form the smallest piece of the dough into a ball and put it into the middle of pogaca. 

Optional: 
Whisk the egg yolk with milk, and brush over pogaca. Sprinkle the center round with some flax seeds and the rest of the petals with sesame seeds. 

Put the pogaca in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes cover the pogaca with parchment paper and reduce temperature to 180 ° C and bake for another 20 minutes. Then remove the paper and bake another 6-7 minutes. When baked remove it from the baking pan and cover with clean kitchen cloth till it cools a bit.

Enjoy!! 



Tip: This recipe wasn't in English when I found it so I used Google Translate to get me started. Also the measurements were in grams and ounces so I used Calculate Me to help get a good North American measurement. 

Supper: Salmon Alfredo with Capers & Irish Soda Bread