Cinnamon Babka

As I sit here trying to decide what to say about this bread, my left hand is sticky with cinnamon-sugar goo (I'm typing one-handed). There's a flaky crumb resting on my shirt. My last bite is a blend of buttery babka mixed with cinnamon goodness. That should really tell you all you need to know about it. But in all honesty, I was a little afraid to share this recipe with you. I was afraid that you would be afraid when you saw how many steps there are, that you'd be deterred by the 3 hours the dough needs to rise. I'm here to tell you to have no fear! It's a lot of waiting, yes, but well worth it. Think cinnamon roll without frosting. Only better.

Curry Bread Puffs

So I made these "Hot Cheddar Puffs" for a Welcome to Autumn party. They sounded great and I thought they would be a nice Fallish snack. And they were. Only I didn't feel like the title of the recipe was descriptive of what actually came out of my oven at all, so I decided to rename the little puffs Curry Bread Puffs.

Famous Fool Proof Lowe Rolls

Kelly here, back from adventures in Europe! I'd like to welcome our next guest poster, Kate! I met Kate several years ago when we were neighbors in the best neighborhood you could ask for. She has great fashion, fantastic hair (every girl's dream- I try not to covet too much), a knack for all types of craftiness (though she'll deny it), and an adorable baby. She's also a great cook and has made a previous more subtle appearance on this blog with the Chinese Egg Rolls and killer ginger sauce. You can check out her personal blog here. Thanks to Kate for this great recipe!

 I've always been a little intimidated by making homemade rolls.  For some reason I just picture myself burning them, stirring them too much, making them tough, making them too dry and the list goes on.  In fact, my husband is the one who usually makes these rolls for our family because its his family recipe and he used to make them as a kid with his mom.  Once I finally made them, however, I realized how non-tempermental they are, not to mention they are always a mouth watering hit wherever we take them.  That said, here is how you do it! -Kate 

Banana Bread (with optional cran raisins)

I know that I have another banana bread recipe here, but I found another one that I liked equally as well, but for different reasons. This recipe is a bit lighter than the other one, meaning it isn't quite as moist. Also, I added cran raisins to this recipe giving it an extra flavor, which combined beautifully with the bananas.

Master Artisan Bread Recipe

Look how awesome this loaf of bread looks. Now sit back and ponder the following: I made this loaf. And total working time was about 15 minutes. So easy!

The worst part was waiting overnight for the dough to ferment a bit. And it tasted as good as or better than anything I've ever purchased at any of our local bakeries. All you do is whip the dough together, let it rise, and then refrigerate it overnight. The next day, pull out a lump of dough (it makes enough for 4 loaves and stays good in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, becoming more sour doughy as time passes) and let it warm to room temperature. Bake and eat.

Maple Walnut Rolls

This is not your basic basket of browned buns! Yes, I was very excited to use so many 'B's' in one sentence, it brought me a smile, but really it is a true statement. I originally got this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website, however I made several adaptations to the original recipe, including substituting cinnamon chips with butterscotch chips, which I believe worked quite nicely.

I made these as rolls, but I think that the dough would work really nicely as a loaf, specifically, I think it would be great to use for French toast, just as the King Arthur website recommends. The bread is not overly sweet and just has a mild hint of maple flavor, which would be perfect for breakfast alongside some bacon. As rolls, they are a nice side to a salad, or toasted with a bit of cream cheese. In the future, I think I will try making a loaf of bread and going for the French toast option...of course I do have a special fondness for French toast; which leads to my next question/request. If anyone has an especially good or unique French toast recipe, please email it to us, I would love to have it.

Oh and if you are looking for a really great baking cookbook, I would highly recommend either the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook or the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook (which is an especially awesome baking book).

Honey Oatmeal Bread

This is a soft, supple, mild bread due to the high oat content and the use of potato-flakes in the dough. I will admit that it does take a long time to make because it is a slow rising bread, but it is good. The hands on time is only the amount of time that it takes you to put the dough together, but unlike other yeast breads that only require about 2 hours of total rise time, this one takes double that. From what I understand that is also due to the high oat content. Either way though, it creates a loaf that sticks together well and cuts nicely. The look of it is rustic, with a crust that has some crags and valleys, which I think is nice.

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia

This is a simple focaccia bread recipe from one of my personal favorites, the King Arthur Flour company. The recipe calls for Pizza Seasoning, which to be honest I have never used; instead I just added a mix of basil, rosemary, and a dash of garlic salt. And sadly, when I was making this bread forgot to poke the risen dough with my fingers (giving it the focaccia bread look), which is quite fun I think - pushing your fingers into soft dough and watching it fill back in.

The end result, was a very soft, flavorful bread that worked really well as a side to the Pasta e Fagioli (soup) I made the same night. As a side note, you could really add any combination of herbs and spices to flavor this No-Fuss Focaccia to pair with whatever soup or pasta dish you make.

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia
Recipe from kingarthurflour.com
Pictures by Caroline

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1/4 cup Vermont cheese powder, optional
Pizza Seasoning, optional

Directions:
1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.*
2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy.
4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.
6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.
7) Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*As you can see from the pictures, I decided to make my bread in 2-8x8 pans instead of one 9x13. I cooked it for a bit less time, just watching for the golden brown top. It turned out well and provided a loaf for two seperate meals.

Sweet Country Cornbread

Sweet delicious cornbread. Yum. I once made a pan of this goodness and ate it all myself. It's sumptuous. Delectable. My husband suggests that Caroline and I may be a little too fond of cornbread ("going overboard" were his exact words), but I don't care. It's good and I'm going to rave about it and he'll just have to listen to my ramblings.


Try serving with our vegetarian black bean chili or the garden chicken soup. Or just make it because it tastes oh so good.

Sweet Country Cornbread
Recipe from www.bettycrocker.com
Picture by Caroline

1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of 8 x 8 inch square pan.
   
2. Beat milk, butter and egg in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once, just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour batter into pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

I don't usually like bread puddings. More often than not, they end up being some kind of mushy, soggy bread with runny custard underneath. Ick. But then one day I went to Biaggi's Italian Restaurant with my dad, whose face lit up like a 4 year old at a birthday party when he started describing their white chocolate bread pudding. He persuaded me enough to at least share a piece with him, grumbling about what a waste of a perfectly good dessert it was going to be.

After my first bite, I realized I had been oh so very wrong. Bread pudding wasn't disgusting; it was delicious! It was amazing! What could be better than french bread that has been sweetened with sugar and cream? I was crazy for having missed out on so many years of perfectly good bread pudding!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

I love to drink tea and watch English murder mysteries, such as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series starring Joan Hickson. So naturally, I have been looking for a great scone recipe to go along with my tea.

This particular scone recipe mixes the sweetness of orange with the tartness of cranberries. To make them even tastier, cut them apart, slather on some butter and honey and enjoy!


Cranberry-Orange Scones
Recipe by Bon Appétit, Nov 1998
Pictures by Caroline

Recipe
3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon grated orange peel (double this amount for a stronger orange flavor)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries (I used frozen cranberries and blended them into small pieces)
1 cup chilled buttermilk (I substituted1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus enough milk to make 1 cup)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Mix in orange peel. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in dried cranberries. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns. Form dough into 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until tops of scones are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

*Note: I followed the directions and formed a dough ball and cut it into 8 wedges, however, this dough is very sticky and hard to work with. In the future, I plan to make individual balls and flatten them on the baking sheet with the palm of my hand. Also, I think I will make 16 medium sized scones, rather than the 8 large scones the directions advise.

Blackberry Cornbread

Breakfast? Afternoon snack? Dessert? This bread could satiate cravings at any time of day. It's a pleasant combination of traditional southern corn bread and a blackberry pound cake, and perfect for a Sunday brunch or summer evening barbecue.

Blackberry Cornbread
Recipe adapted from Southern Living June 2009
Pictures by Caroline

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1 (16 oz.) container sour cream*
1/2 cup butter
2 cups fresh blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 450°. Grease an 11 x 7 (or similar sized round or oval pan).
   
2. Stir together cornmeal, powder, soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
   
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream and butter. Add to cornmeal mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Fold in blackberries. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.**
   

*We also tried this with half sour cream, half plain yogurt. The batch with the yogurt was definitely more moist than the sour cream only (not that it needed to be more moist! The sour cream only was perfectly fine), but probably healthier.
**You may want to cover the top with foil after 25-30 minutes to prevent the top from becoming too brown.

Cinnamon Buns

Truly, one of my very favorite treats in this world is a soft, warm cinnamon bun. The first time I made these buns was for my family on New Year's Eve, and let's just say they didn't last until New Year's Day.

The recipe makes 12 buns, but as a word of warning, you should never make just one batch. In my mind, it is imperative that you always double this recipe. That way you can make one classic batch, with just cinnamon-sugar, and one with additions like rasins and nuts.

I should mention too that my finished product picture is slightly deceiving. No doubt the buns look delicious (at least I think so) but this batch didn't rise in the oven as it should have. So, I would say that unless you are cursed with a tempramental oven like mine, your buns will rise to be even more puffy and beautiful then these.

Enjoy, and if you make a batch, be sure to bring one or two by my place, because these never last long at my house and I am always in the mood for a cinnamon bun!

Cinnamon Buns
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Pictures by Caroline
Yields 12 buns

Dough Recipe
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1tbsp granular lecithin (optional)
2 tbsp nonfat dry milk
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 large egg plus enough water to make 1 cup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soft butter

Filling Recipe
¼ cup soft butter
¾ cup sugar mixed with 1 tbsp cinnamon
½ cup nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips

Icing Recipe
3 tbsp heavy cream or 2 tbsp water (I just used milk)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the Dough:
1. Mix and knead together all the dough ingredients- by hand or mixer- to form a soft, smooth dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours; it should almost double in size.
*Note: I don’t use instant yeast, so I warm up the milk, add some of the sugar, the yeast and let it set for 10 minutes of so. Basically, I just get my yeast started the old fashion way.

To Assemble:
1. Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased work surface and roll into a rectangle measuring about 11x20 inches.
2. Spread a thin layer of soft butter over the dough, leaving about 1 inch uncovered on the short side nearest you (the side that will be the outermost roll). Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and nuts, raisins, or chips of your choice.
3. Starting with the short end covered with filling (not the one you left without butter and other goodness), roll the dough into a log. Use a serrated knife to gently was the log in half, and then cut each side of the log into six equal pieces.
4. Place the buns in a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan, pressing down slightly. Cover the buns and let them rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours, until they are quite puffy.
5. Preheat the over to 350°F. bake the buns for 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Pull them out of the pan and let them cool to just slightly warm before frosting.
*Note: I just frost them while they are in the pan- makes less mess, plus I usually can’t wait to eat one, so I have to hurry.

To Make the Icing
1. Mix the heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar to make a creamy glaze; use water for a thinner glaze. Spread the icing on the buns.

Brown Soda Bread

In honor of St. Patrick's Day today, and my love for all things Irish, this week will boast two traditional Irish favorites. And by traditional, I mean the real thing- not an Americanized, "fusion" style Irish dish, full of butter or raisins or seeds, etc, but something that could have appeared on any family's table in Ireland. Our first Irish recipe is soda bread, which happens to be one of the easiest ways to bring a little taste of traditional Ireland to your home. And did I mention that it tastes a lot better than pre-packaged corned beef that shares a frightening resemblance to spam?

In an interview on epicurious, Irish chef Rory O'Connell explains exactly what soda bread is: "What we would consider to be a basic table bread—what we call a brown soda bread, which is made with whole-meal flour, or a white soda bread, which is with white flour—is just flour, bread soda, buttermilk, and salt. That's the basic recipe. The white flour would have been more refined than the whole-meal flour, so that would have been for a slightly more special occasion."


To me, the most interesting thing about soda bread is the cross that always appears on the top. It actually has a scientific, as well as cultural, meaning. Cutting a cross in the top of the loaf allows the heat of the oven to more easily penetrate into the thickest part of the bread, helping it to cook faster and more evenly. Symbolically, the cross is the shape of a crucifix, which seems very appropriate in a Catholic country like Ireland. It also allows the bread to break more evenly into 4 parts.

Soda bread should be eaten on the day of baking, preferably with a healthy dose of butter or jam. Serve it with soup, fresh vegetables, or, if you insist, corned beef and cabbage.

Brown Soda Bread
from Irish Food and Cooking
Pictures by Caroline

4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 400° and grease a baking sheet. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir in enough buttermilk to make a fairly soft dough. Turn on to a work surface dusted with flour and mix lightly just until smooth.
   
2. Form the dough into a circle , about 1 1/2 inch thick. Lay on the baking sheet and mark a deep cross in the top with a floured knife.
   
3. Bake about 45 minutes, or until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on a wire rack. If you prefer a soft crust, wrap the loaf in a clean dishtowel while cooling.

Naan Bread

Naan bread has long been my nemesis. It's a traditional Indian bread similar to a pita, but much tastier. I never seem to be able to get it quite right. Maybe it's because I don't have a tandoori oven, fresh plain yogurt, or an Indian woman to show me how it's really done. Either way, I keep trying different recipes in hopes that one day I'll be satisfied. This recipe is easy and tastes fairly close to the real thing.

Naan Bread
Recipe from India's 500 Best Recipes
Pictures by Caroline

2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast
4 tablespoons warm milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 eggs
2-3 tablespoons butter, for brushing

1. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, cream the yeast with the milk. Set aside for 15 mintues. Add the yeast and milk mixture, vegetable oil, yogurt and egg to the flour. Combine the mixture using your hands until it forms a soft dough (I got sick of kneading with my hands and used my Bosch mixer). Add a little lukewarm water if the dough is too dry.
2. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until it feels smooth. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.
3. Turn out the dough back on to the floured surface and and knead for a further 2 mintues. Divide into 3 equal pieces, shape into balls and roll out into teardrop shapes, about 1/3 inch thick.
4. Preheat the broiler to its highest setting. Place the naan on preheated baking sheets and bake for 3-4 minutes, or until puffed up. You may want to flip the naan so that both sides are lightly browned. Brush with butter and serve warm.

Banana Bread

If you have some old, brown, past-their-prime bananas laying around...here's your solution: Banana Bread. This is a pretty standard recipe, but it is great, especially if you put the streusel topping on top. This bread freezes well, so you can make several loaves and pull it out the next time you have people over.

Oh, one last thing I learned from my brother-in-law; try toasting the bread and putting butter on it, it is delicious!

Banana Bread

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens (75th Anniversary Edition)

Pictures by Caroline
Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: 55 minutes
Oven: 350°
Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 recipe Streusel-Nut Topping (optional, although a must in my opinion)

1. Grease bottom and ½ inch up sides of one 9x5x3-inch pan or two 7 ½x 3 ½ x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy as shown in picture above). Fold in nuts (if you are doing two loafs you can make one with nuts one without, just add the nuts after you spoon the batter into the pan). Spoon batter into prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle Streusel-Nut Topping over batter.
3. Bake in a 350° oven for 55 to 60 minutes for a 9x5x3-inch pan, or 40 to 45 minutes for a 7 ½x3 ½x2-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning; I always do this). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Streusel-Nut Topping:

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Using a pastry blender (I just use the back of a spoon or my hands), cut in 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Whole Wheat Bread

Baking bread from scratch is often thought of as an ordeal best left to those with lots of time, patience, and a whole lot of know-how. But I'm here to tell you that it's really not that hard. No really. I promise. All you need is a few basic ingredients, a mixer to do all the tough work for you (unless, of course, you're feeling like you're kneading, I mean needing a workout), and a few hours around the house. You just can't beat the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house...

There are dozens of fantastic recipes for whole wheat bread out there. I, however, am quite partial to my mom's recipe, it being the one I grew up on. It's moist, delicious and flexible; sometimes I follow the recipe and sometimes I throw in a bit of oatmeal or rolled oats or more or less honey...you get the point. But no matter what I do, I've never had a loaf turn out badly. A batch of this bread makes about 5 hearty-sized loaves, so I usually freeze a couple of them to eat later. Save some of your old bread bags to store the extra loaves in.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

If you are looking for a Christmas day breakfast addition, this is your bread. This bread is similar in flavor to your favorite cinnamon rolls, but with a bit less work. I would suggest making it beforehand and keeping it in the refrigerator until Christmas morning. It is very tasted toasted and spread with butter. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Pictures by Caroline

Dough ingredients:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ potato flour, or 1/3 cup potato flakes
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup water

Filling ingredients:

¼ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup raisins or currants
2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash, made from 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Topping ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour

Dough directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dough ingredients, mixing until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until the dough is smooth and satiny.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours; it will be puffy, if not doubled in size.
3. For the filling, pulse filling ingredients except for the egg wash in a food processor.

To assemble:

1. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface and shape it into a long, narrow rectangle, about 16 x 8 inches. Brush the dough with some of the egg wash (set the remainder aside) and pat the filling gently onto the dough.
2. Beginning with a short edge, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the side seam and ends closed (to keep the filling from bubbling out) and place the log in a lightly greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan.
3. Cover the pan with a lightly greased plastic wrap or a proof cover and let the bread rise for about 1 hour at room temperature, or until it’s crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan.
4. In a small bowl or mini processor, combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour until the mixture is crumbly. If you’re using a mini processor, watch carefully; topping will go from crumbly to a cohesive mass in just a second or so.
5. Brush the top of the loaf with some (or all) of the reserved egg wash and gently press on the topping.
6. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 15 minutes or so if it appears to be browning too quickly.
7. Remove the loaf from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, gently remove it from the pan. Some of the streusel will fall off, but you can alleviate this by first loosening all around the edges of the loaf with a knife, then turning the pan on its side and gently pulling it away from the loaf.

-Caroline

Cranberry Nut Bread

If you've ever had any reservations about eating cranberries (reservations that were not dispelled by our delicious Cran-apple Torte), I promise they will be gone after tasting this bread.

Just be careful when removing the bread from the pan- you wouldn't want to leave the bottom crust stuck to the pan, like I did.


Cranberry Nut Bread
adapted from Gourmet October 1991
pictures by Caroline

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits*
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup sour cream (optional)**
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

1. In a food processor or in a bowl with a pastry blender blend together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the salt, the baking soda, and the butter until the mixture resembles meal and transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
   
2. In a small bowl whisk together the zest, the juice, sour cream and the egg, add the mixture to the flour mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined.
   
3. Stir in the cranberries and the walnuts and transfer the batter to a well-buttered 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.
   
4. Bake the bread in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.
   
5. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes and turn it out onto a rack.

*If you're looking for a healthier option, substitute 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce and 1/4 cup butter for the 1/2 cup of butter.
**The sour cream will make this bread a bit more moist, but isn't mandatory.

-Kelly

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia

This focaccia mixes the flavors of olive oil, sea salt, rosemary, and red onion.


A focaccia is a type of Italian flat bread, and is made in a similar fashion to other breads, meaning you still get to punch the dough down (there is something that is so enjoyable to me about punching down the risen dough).

Once you add all the toppings to this bread you get to put your fingers in it, literally! Try other toppings too, such as red ripe cherry tomatoes and basil.

This bread is great as a side to many types of pasta or with a green salad. It is also great dipped in an olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing.

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia
Adapted from Classic Vegetarian Cooking by Linda Fraser
Pictures by Caroline

3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
3 tbsp olive oil
½ small red onion
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp coarse sea salt

1. In a small bowl mix ¼ lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar; let yeast proof (foam) for 10 minutes.
2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add salt. Mix in 2 tbsp olive oil, remaining ¾ cup lukewarm water, and yeast mixture. If mixture seems dry, add more water.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down dough and knead for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Roll out dough until about ½ inch thick and transfer to a greased baking sheet or baking stone. (I cut the dough into a rectangle, or you can leave it round.) Brush the dough with the remaining oil.
5. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425° F. Halve the onion and slice into thin slices. Sprinkle the sea salt and rosemary onto the dough and add onion slices. Using your fingers, make deep indentations in the dough. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Serve warm either plain or with an olive oil/balsamic vinegar mixture.

-Caroline