Cinnamon Raisin Bread

So I randomly decided to try my hand at breadmaking the other day. I don't have a breadmaker, and I ALWAYS seem to kill the yeast, so I have never really been into it. I discovered recently why my bread never rises...it is not a good idea to store your yeast in the cabinet above your oven, which gets hot enough to cook bread itself. I feel so stupid; I can't believe I never thought of that.

So, I got some new yeast, and tried a recipe I found online for plain white homemade bread. The recipe called for too much flour and too little water, so it took forever to get the proportions right, which meant that the dough was waaaaaaay overworked by the time I got it right (I decided to use the dough hook on my Kitchenaid, rather than knead by hand). I also had been keeping the yeast in the big pantry cupboard next to my oven, which I think is also too hot, as the yeast only partially activated. So, yeast in the fridge from now on!

This time, I used yeast that a friend brought over, and my new wet/dry ratio, and added spices, raisins and sugar, and ended up with awesome bread! The recipe is kind of trial and error; you start out with some general ingredient measurements, and adjust as you go. This can be made so many ways...herb bread, cheese bread, you can add dried fruit, or just go plain. Give it a try!



Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Makes 1 loaf

3-4 C flour
1 C warm water (around 110 degrees)
2 1/4 Tsp active dry yeast
1 Tsp white sugar
1 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp melted butter

2/3 C brown sugar (this bread is mildly sweet; add a bit more if you want it sweeter)
1 Tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 C raisins

Fill measuring cup with 1 cup warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top of the water, add the white sugar, and stir to break up any lumps. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes, until the top of the water becomes thick and foamy -- this means the yeast is working. If is doesn't foam, your water is too hot or too cold, and you need to toss it and start over.

Add the salt, melted butter, brown sugar, spice, raisins, and 1 cup flour to your mixing bowl (this recipe is assuming you are using a stand mixer with a dough hook...no hand kneading!). Add the yeast water and start mixing, slowly adding more flour 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a dough that is dry enough to not stick to the sides of the mixer, but wet enough to be slightly sticky. You may need to add a touch more flour or water to get it right.

Let the mixer run on a medium speed for 10 minutes, checking periodically to pull the dough off the hook (it will start to work up and over the hook after a while and just spin in circles). The dough should be smooth and soft to the touch when done, kind of like your skin.

Lightly grease a large bowl with butter, canola oil, or shortening. Form your dough into a ball, and roll it around the bowl to coat it in your fat of choice. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in a warm, dry place (above the fridge is good, or in your oven if it is not hot). Let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Uncover the dough and punch it in the middle, and it should pull away from the sides. Knead it a few times, and form it into a loaf shape. Place it back in the bowl and recover, and let it rise again for another 40 minutes or so.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the loaf on a greased, floured baking sheet, or use a Silpat, which is an awesome silicone mat used for baking. Cut a few slashes in the top to keep it from tearing as it cooks. It won't hurt if you forget, but it looks nicer with the cuts on the top.

Place in your oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until it is big and fluffy and lightly brown all over. Let the bread cool before slicing, or it will get crumbly and fall apart.



Spread with butter and eat, or use it for french toast, or pop it in the toaster and cover with peanut butter...anything, really!



P.S,

Sorry for the lack of pictures in progress; I'm working on remembering to take them :P

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies

I am usually a big chocolate person...if I have a choice of desserts, I am going to choose the one with chocolate. That being said, I got bored and decided to go to my favorite recipe website, allrecipes.com, and find some inspiration to make cookies. The first recipe I found was for plain cookies with jam in the center. Never being able to leave well enough alone, I thought the cookies would be so much better with peanut butter! I adapted the recipe I found a bit to suit my tastes, and here is what I came up with:



Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen

6 Tbsp Crisco
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C peanut butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tsp vanilla
1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1 3/4 C flour
Grape jelly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first 6 ingredients with a stand or hand mixer until creamy. Sift dry ingredients and add slowly, mixing just until fully incorporated. The mixture will be somewhat crumbly but should easily roll into a ball. Take pieces of dough and roll them roughly the size of a bouncy ball. Place on a baking sheet, spaced 2" apart, and make a well in each cookie with your thumb. Fill with a small amount of jelly, about 1/4 teaspoon. Do not overfill, the jelly will boil in the oven and you don't want it to spill over. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the edges just begin to turn brown. Place on a rack to cool.



These cookies turned out so rich and buttery, and sweet but not too sweet. I buy reduced sugar jelly (no artificial sweeteners added), and without all that sugar it is more tart and not so overpowering. I think it really makes a difference. Overall, I think the recipe could be changed in many ways and is pretty foolproof. And they received the toddler Seal of Approval, so that has to mean something!

Ferrero Rocher Style Cupcakes

I know cupcakes have been trendy for quite a while, and I can really see why. They are one of the most versatile foods out there. You can add ANYTHING to a cupcake, from green tea to salted caramel to bacon to mango, the ideas are endless. I have beeing trying to come up with a really creative cupcake, and after a few tries, I think I have found a winner, in both taste and originality.

I thought about an episode of Food Network Challenge recently where contestants were asked to make cookies, but they kept throwing extra ingredients at them, and challenge twists. One of those twists was to make a cookie inspired by a classic dessert. I started thinking about desserts and candies that would make a good cupcake, and suddenly it hit me...Nutella. That yummy chocolate hazelnut spread that comes in a jar, the same stuff they put inside Ferrero Rocher candies...this could be tasty.

I found a recipe for a plain chocolate cupcake here. Then I hit the store and got all the little extras I would need to capture the taste and texture.



The candy has several layers. The first is a whole hazelnut, followed by the chocolate hazelnut filling (Nutella). Then there is a crispy shell, covered in chopped hazelnuts, and then chocolate.

I wanted to get the nuts and chocolate, but I also really wanted to get that crispy crunch as well. So, here's how the production went...

Filled the cupcake liners half full of batter.
Placed a couple of pieces of chopped hazelnuts in each cup.
Placed a dollop of about 1/2 teaspoon Nutella on top of the nuts.
BakebakebakeDONE!
Let them cool a bit, and then put a little dollop of Nutella on top (not a lot, it's very rich) and allow it to melt a tad before spreading around.

Now, how to get that crispy crunch...I got to thinking about all the cereal we have in the cupboard, and decided to take some cornflakes and coat them in melted chocolate, and make little crunchy clusters for the top. There was really no way to get the crunch inside the cupcake; it would have just been soggy. So, we have cupcake, nuts, Nutella, cupcake, more Nutella, crunchy cluster.

Aaaaaaaand...



Bliss.

It was everything I ever hoped it could be, and then some. It was not all that labor intensive to make these, totally worth the effort. This is my sister's favorite candy, so I'm pretty sure these will be her birthday cupcakes.

Crumbly Blackberry Cobbler

So my first few posts won't be that great, because I don't have any pictures of my process, but I have a few great recipes. First off is my blackberry cobbler.

I like my cobbler to have a crumbly, cookie-like crust on top. Some people make something a little more like a cake, which does not appeal to me. After picking about 4 cups of fresh blackberries down by the harbor, I knew it was cobbler time, but I could not find a recipe to suit my needs. So, I made my own. The end result was a perfect mix of sweet and tart, soft and crispy, and hot and cold, thanks to a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is a must.

I'm waiting for the recipe to be approved on Allrecipes.com, so in the mean time, here it is.



Crumbly Blackberry Cobbler
Serves 12

Ingredients:

4 cup fresh blackberries
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crust:

1 cup corn flakes, coarsely crushed
1 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold water
1 stick cold butter, divided

Vanilla ice cream, yogurt or whipped cream for serving (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Add cornstarch to cold water and stir until dissolved.
3. Place blackberries in a 3 quart saucepan, and pour starch mixture over. Add sugars and stir to dissolve. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, mix all crust ingredients except butter, then add half of the stick of butter and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until it is coarse and crumbly. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until mixture just starts to hold together. Adjust water amount as necessary.
5. Place berry mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, and crumble crust all over the top. Melt the remaining 1/2 stick of butter, and slowly pour all over the top of the cobbler.
6. Place the cobbler in the preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, and then turn the oven up to a broil and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
7. Serve with ice cream, yogurt or whipped cream, if desired.

Note:
You may need to adjust the sugar depending on the sweetness of your berries. This recipe is tailored to more tart berries.