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.

Pumpkin Bread

There are dozens of pumpkin bread recipes to be had. But in my humble opinion, this one (from my mother-in-law) trumps them all...at least of the ones I've tried.


You may also want to try our chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.

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.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Poppy-seeds, poppy-seeds, what do you do with a poppy-seed? Combine them with lemon of course and make a sweet bread.

Last week I had a craving for lemon-poppy seed something, so I made this bread. The original recipe was not lemony enough, so I have doubled the amount of lemon juice in this recipe to make it more lemony. And while the original recipe puts the lemon-sugar topping as optional, I did not, because it makes the bread so much better. It provides a great top crust for your loaf. This sweet-bread makes a great snack to serve to company while sitting outside enjoying a cool breeze.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Bread

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

Pictures by Caroline

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
¼ cup melted butter
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar

1. Grease the bottom and ½ inch up sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, the ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Set aside.
2. In another medium bowl combine the egg, milk, oil, lemon peel, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy; don’t over mix). Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in a 350° oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
4. Stir together the 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar. While bread is still in the pan, brush lemon-sugar mixture over the top of the loaf. Cool in pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack and then wrap and store before serving.

Classic Blueberry Muffins

I love a warm blueberry muffin. However, I am a bit picky about my muffins. Although I think the huge, dense, overly sweet muffins you can buy at the store are a great treat and all, I really prefer a homemade muffin, that isn't so dense or sweet. These muffins are just right, especially fresh out of the oven. They make a great weekend breakfast accompanied with some fresh fruit or juice.

Classic Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

Pictures by Caroline
Yields 12 muffins

8 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups fresh or dried blueberries (or you could use cranberries, raspberries, or a combination of berries)
2 tsp sugar or cinnamon-sugar, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together until light the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the baking powder, then add the flour alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition. Mash ½ cup of the blueberries and add them to the batter. Stir in the vanilla at the end, along with the whole berries. (note: I used frozen berries; they worked really well.)
3. Mound the batter into 12 lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each completely to the top (actually, over the top; the batter is thick enough that it’ll hold its shape). Sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon-sugar it desired.
4. Bake the muffins for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center or one comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan to cool completely on a rack, or gently flip them sideways in the pan. (Muffins left in the pan will stream, creating a tough crust.)

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.

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).

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