Vegan Pumpkin Bread

from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet"

This is shockingly good!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin

1 cup brown sugar (Alicia suggests maple sugar, but that cost $27.99 at my health food store.)

1 "egg" (1 tbsp flax seeds pureed with 3 tbsp water)

1/2 cup almond milk

3/8 cup safflower oil (I used canola because it was what I had)

2 cups spelt flower

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/8 tsp mace

1/2 cup vegan carob chips

Method:

I made this in my breadmaker.

1. Put all wet ingredients in breadmaker, set on "cake" setting. Let it mix for approximately 12 minutes (when it starts to beep), then add the dry ingredients (I put them all in a sifter and sifted them into the breadmaker pan.) Add chips when all flour is mixed in.

2. Wait until breadmaker is done.

If you want to make this the old fashioned mixing bowl - oven way, make sure to oil your 9"x 5" loaf pan and bake at 350* for 45 to 60 minutes.

Bread Machine Cornbread

Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1 – 1/4 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter or oil

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. Then select the cake setting with a light crust.

Bread Machine Babka

This is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe from December 2009. Theirs had many more steps and they most definitely did not make the dough in a breadmaker!

Ingredients:

For babka dough:

3/4 cup warm, 1% milk

6 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups bread flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

5 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces

Put all ingredients (in order listed) into breadmaker and set on "Dough" setting.

For babka filling:

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

4 oz. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate bar)

1. When dough is complete, remove from breadmaker and stretch/roll/knead it out into a 16" square.

2. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving a 1/2" border around the edges.

3. Roll up dough tightly, then twist, pinching seam and ends to seal. Fit dough into bread load pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.

4. Bake in 350* oven for approximately 40 minutes (until brown on top and sounding hollow when rapped on bottom.)

5. Cook completely (or at least mostly) before slicing, otherwise it will fall apart!

Bread Machine Baguettes

This recipe makes 2 flavorful baguettes. They are not the same as what the bread lady from Pezenas delivered to our villa in the South of France, but they'll do . . .

Do not be put off by the number of steps to this recipe -- using the bread machine simplifies this immensely and it really doesn't take much effort on your part!

Ingredients

for the Poolish (starter):

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

Combine the above in the bread machine and set on the Dough cycle. Let sit in the bread machine 6 - 15 hours (the longer the tastier.) Then add the ingredients below to this Poolish mixture:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sea salt (I use Baleine's from France because it seems authentic)

1 beaten egg (to brush on before baking)

Set the bread machine to Dough again. I like to set the timer so that the dough is ready by the time I wake up.

Remove the dough from the bread machine. Cut dough in half and knead each piece into a 12 - 18" log. Now, I have a strange little contraption in which to bake the baguettes (see photo), but you can just gently lay them on a cookie sheet. Once you're finished here, you can prepare your oven while the dough rises.

Now, a note on the oven: I hear that one of the things that give baguettes their wonderful texture is that the French use special ovens that steam the bread as well as bake it. My attempt at this is to put a large baking pan full of boiling water in the cold oven. Then, I preheat it to 500* F., reducing the temperature to 475* when I put the loves in. Beware upon opening the oven, you will get a faceful of steam if you're not careful!

Once the dough has risen for about 30 minutes, brush on egg mixture, slash the dough several times on a diagonal for extra Frenchiness (see photo) and place in oven for about 25 - 30 minutes.

Remove, allow to cool for at least 5 minutes and then serve with jam, honey, butter and peanut butter. My kids love this for breakfast!

Cherry Green Tea Muffins

Full disclosure -- I lifted this recipe in its entirety from the September 2008 issue of MORE Magazine. The best part about it is that Sean actually likes them as an after school snack.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose white flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Green tea leaves from 1 tea bag

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/8 cup canola oil

6 tablespoons ground flax meal

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cups dried cherries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Put muffin cups in a 12-cup tin

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Combine all wet ingredients plus cherries in a small bowl.

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry; mix just until combined. (Overmixing will make the muffins tough.)

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, bake for approximately 17 - 20 minutes.

NOTE: I used a combination of dried cherries and raisins because I didn't have a cup and a half of cherries laying around. Also, I used orange juice and orange zest because I didn't have any lemons. Both substitutions worked out just fine!

Apple Spice Bread

This is from a recipe my friend Elissa gave me that she got from "The New American Plate" cookbook. I've made enough changes to the recipe to feel that I'm not going to get sued for copyright infringement. It's a dense, moist, yummy cake that's perfect for Fall when you've made enough apple pies and crumbles and still have half a crate of apples. And as you can see from the picture, there's not much left.




APPLE SPICE BREAD:

2 firm, tart apples -- cored and grated (place grated apple in a tea towel to wring out excess moisture)
2 TBS lemon juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 TBS ground flax meal
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each of allspice, ginger and cardamom
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
(1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)**
3 TBS canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

** Next time I try this, I'm going to omit the applesauce because the grated apples are moist enough and I think the applesauce just contributes to the gumminess of the bread.

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with a Pam-like spray substance.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine all wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.
4. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined -- don't use a mixer or else the bread else will get very tough
5. Put in loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until done (you know how to check that.)

I found that this was a little bland, although healthy. I poured a simple glaze on top (confectioner's sugar and a bit of milk) to help taste it up. This would be a good thing to bring to that relative who's watching their cholesterol.