Cider-Pumpkin Bagels

Cider-Pumpkin Bagels

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/4 c apple cider

1/4 c butter (melted)

1/4 c pumpkin (canned)

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

2+ c white flour

oven 400

Heat apple cider in the microwave.  Use a thermometer to make sure temperature is between 100 and 110 degrees before adding yeast.  Combine cider, yeast, and sugar in a stand mixer.  Melt the butter and add it to the mixer along with the egg yolk, pumpkin, and salt.  Combine, then add whole wheat flour.  Mix well, add white flour until dough is no longer sticky.  

(I think I initially used about 2 1/2 c white flour, but after rising the dough was still extremely sticky, and I ended up adding another 1/2 - 1 c.  

Let dough rise for 1 hr, then divide into 8 pieces and shape into bagels.  Drop each bagel into boiling water until it floats, then bake for 20-25 minutes.  I checked these ones after 12, un-stuck them from the pan, then baked them for 8 more minutes. 

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not sure I can identify the taste of either pumpkin or cider in these bagels...but I don't actually have the best sense of taste, so I'll have to wait for Coby to come home and taste them to find out exactly how flavor-full they are.  They do taste good though!  Breakfast this week is going to be great!

Cinnamon Biscuits

3 degrees out this morning.  I was craving eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast, but I didn't have any potatoes, and wasn't quite up to venturing out in the frigid air to buy some.  So I had to come up with an alternative.  I have been craving chocolate croissants for awhile now, but they seem like way too much work for first thing in the morning.  I've never made biscuits before.  They seemed relatively quick and easy, so I decided to go with that.  Cinnamon has been making its way into a lot of things lately...so of course it made its way into this morning's biscuits as well.

(after mixing in this amount of cinnamon, I added about this same amount, again)

Cinnamon Biscuits

preheat oven to 425

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c white flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

cinnamon (to taste)

1/3 c butter

1 c almond milk

Mix together the dry ingredients, cut in the butter, mix in the milk.  Flour a work surface, knead the dough for a minute or two, adding more flour if it is too sticky.  Pat it down to 1/2 inch thick,and cut out the biscuits.  Place them on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Not to completely let go of my chocolate croissant/chocolate cravings, I had to add chocolate to some of the biscuits.  I used Dove Dark Chocolate squares. 

pre-bake

post-bake

So much deliciousness.

I wish I had put chocolate on all of them...

Pumpkin Peach Muffins

(Original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c flour.  I put in 1/2 c wheat flour and 1 1/4 white flour before adding the peach.  I let it sit for a bit to draw some of the moisture out of the peach, then added more flour until the batter returned to the consistency it had before I added the peach.)

Zucchini Scones

A friend gave me a gigantic zucchini the other day.  She told me as long as you didn't use the inside portion where the seeds are, the zucchini is perfectly edible despite its gargantuan size.  So I pulled out one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and went to work on the 1/3 of the zucchini.

I had some of this zucchini spaghetti with last night's delicious dinner, but there was still some left over.  (Not to mention the 2/3 of the zucchini still uncut...)  Today I decided to bake something with the remaining zucchini spaghetti.  My first thought was chocolate chip zucchini bread, but the recipe calls for 3 eggs and I wanted to do something that required fewer eggs.  Then scones came to mind.  I found this recipe online, and then adapted it.  Because we all know I hate following recipes.

Zucchini Scones

preheat oven to 400

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2+ c white flour

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c butter

1 c spaghetti-ed zucchini

1 peach, chopped

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c almond milk

bake for 20-25 minutes

I mixed the dry ingredients together in my stand mixer.  I used a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it was in small pea-sized lumps.  I dumped the zucchini and peach on top of the dry ingredients, then, after mixing the wet ingredients separately, I added them and let the mixer do it's work.  The dough was super sticky, so I added flour 1/2 c at a time until it was...less sticky.  I added at least another cup.  Then, I floured my silpat and transferred the dough.  It was still too sticky to spread well, so I sprinkled more flour on top.  Then I was able to pat it down to about 1/2 inch thick.  I cut out the scones and transferred them to a greased cookie sheet. 

The scones were tasty, but not nearly as flavorful as I was hoping.  If I make them again, I will increase the amounts of cumin and cinnamon, and see what happens.  Also, I was going to put chocolate chips in them but I forgot...so that might happen next time too!

Awesomeness Bread

It's probably been over a year now since the day I was stumbling around on StumbleUpon and found this recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread on Joy the Baker.   I saved the page, and planned on making it...someday...  I had no idea it would take me this long to get to it.  Every now and then, I have gone back to that page, read through the recipe, thinking I would make it, and then changed my mind for whatever reason.

Tonight, as I was lying on the couch reading, and realizing that I was not going to fall asleep any time soon, I decided it was time to finally try the recipe out.  Of course, since I'm me, I didn't quite follow the original recipe.  You can use the link above to find the original.  Here's what I did:

Awesomeness Bread

Ingredients (Dough)

1/3 c heavy cream*

1/4 c water

1/2 stick butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 c whole wheat flour

2 c white flour

2 eggs

*the original recipe calls for milk, but when I opened my milk bottle it was...not pleasant.  

So I used cream instead.

Ingredients (Filling)

1/2 stick butter

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

1+ tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 square of chocolate (86%), grated

Instructions

Heat the cream, water, and butter in a small saucepan until the butter is almost melted.  Remove from heat and continue stirring until the butter is completely melted.  In a bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and salt.  Add the heated liquids, stir til combined.  Add the vanilla, cocoa powder, cinnamon, the wheat flour, and 1 c of the white flour.  Stir well.  Beat the eggs and add them.  Stir/knead with wooden spoon until well combined.  Add another scant cup of white flour.  Knead until smooth.  Cover and let rise for 1 hr. 

Preheat the oven to 350.

After an hour, knead a few tablespoons of flour into the dough and roll it out.  Melt 1/2 stick butter on the stove until it begins to brown.  Spread it over the rolled out dough.  Mix together the remaining filling ingredients, then sprinkle them over the dough.  Cut the dough into rough rectangles and stack them up.  Turn the stack on its side and place in a loaf pan. 

(I lined my loaf pan with tin foil for easy post-bake removal)

There was a whole bunch of filling left on the cutting board after I put the dough in the loaf pan, so I gathered it up and sprinkled it on top. Yum. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is turning brown.

Look at all that oozy chocolaty goodness on the bottom...

Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread Pudding

Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread Pudding

10 slices dried bread

1 egg

1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 c milk

1/2 c pumpkin

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tbs cocoa powder

1/4 c cranberries

Mix together everything but the bread and cranberries.  

Break the bread into small pieces and mix them into the other ingredients.  Once the bread has soaked up the gooey goodness, press it into a greased 9x9 pan, or into cupcake wrappers.  Press the cranberries into the top.  

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

I think I will eat these for breakfast this week with some scrambled eggs and fried potatoes...just thinking about it is making me hungry. 

Inspiration for this came from this recipe at Our Lady of Second Helpings.

I saw her post and it sounded good.  I did not refer back to her post when I actually made mine...I just made up my own recipe as I went along.  Cause that's where all the fun is.

Cinnamon Buns 3

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1+ tsp cinnamon

1/2 c wheat flour

3/4 c flour

3/4 c heavy cream

2 tbsp pumpkin

Mix everything together.  Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Spread some cream and pumpkin on top of the dough, then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roll up the dough and slice into 1 1/2 inch pieces.  Place in a baking pan and bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and smother with a glaze.

(pumpkin, apple cider, confectioners sugar)

Breakfast is served. 

(I found bacon in my fridge...Merry Christmas to me!)

Cinnamon Buns 1

Cinnamon Buns 2

Decadent Chocolate & Pumpkin Bread

I love the idea for tonight's kitchen experimentation.  Partly because it is delicious, and partly because I made up the recipe for chocolate bread on my own.  No internet recipe contribution, just my brain and I.

I'm not a fan of cold weather.  I would be perfectly happy if it could be 70+, or even 80+ degrees all year round.  But that doesn't mean I dislike autumn.  The scenery is gorgeous, and the food is pretty good too.  My favorite parts of autumn: apple cider and pumpkin everything.

I've been looking forward to pumpkin bread for awhile now, but I didn't just want to make pumpkin bread; I wanted to make something new and exciting. I wanted to make pumpkin bread layered with chocolate bread.  In order to do this, I needed to come up with a chocolate bread recipe.

I skimmed through my blog archives, and it appears that I have never actually put my pumpkin bread recipe on here.  Tragic.  (Of course it's possible it is there and I just didn't find it)  But just in case, I'll list it here.  And later I will make a post devoted to pumpkin bread.

This evening, I made a batch of pumpkin bread, and also made a bunch of chocolate bread, which I made up on the spot.  And then I layered them in a loaf of breakfast bread and a bunch of muffins.  Breakfast for the next week is going to be awesome.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 c pumpkin

1 stick butter

2 eggs

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 stp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/4 c flour

chocolate chips

Chocolate Bread Recipe

1 square baking chocolate

1/2 stick butter

1 egg

1/4 c apple cider

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

3/8 c brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c wheat flour

1/2 c flour

walnuts

I've been thinking about this bread for quite a few days now.  I bought the canned pumpkin when I went grocery shopping over the weekend, and have been itching to make pumpkin bread ever since.  But I didn't want to just make pumpkin bread this time.  

A day or two ago, I decided that I wanted to make a layered chocolate/pumpkin bread.  But I had no idea how to make a chocolate bread.  I looked on google today, but didn't like anything that I saw.  So I decided to wing it (my favorite thing to do while playing in the kitchen!).  Throughout the day today, various ideas flew through my head.  I was thinking about using cocoa powder with a breakfast bread recipe to somehow come up with a chocolate bread that didn't involve yeast (the recipes I found online involved yeast).  Then, shortly before I started baking, I remembered that I had some squares of baker's chocolate in my cupboard.  And I realized that baker's chocolate would probably produce a much better flavor than cocoa powder. 

I was thinking about using 2 squares, but I discovered that I had a box with one square left in it.  (I also had an unopened box, but I'll save that for brownies).  

I also wanted to use cider somehow, so I threw some cider into the recipe.  I actually used my banana bread recipe for the chocolate bread, but substituted a square of baking chocolate and a 1/4 c of cider for the 2 bananas, and added cinnamon.  

The Making of the Chocolate & Pumpkin Breads

making both breads at once

adding the apple cider

adding the brown sugar to the pumpkin bread

mmm cinnamon

decadence in the making

I didn't measure the walnuts...but here's what it looked like

before I stirred them in

pumpkin batter, chocolate batter, more pumpkin batter

pumpkin batter, then chocolate batter

Decadent.  Delicious.