Category: Bread (Page 5 of 7)

Brown Soda Bread With Molasses

February 26, 2016 / Jenny / 26 Comments

This rich, hearty, earthy bread is so satisfying, so delicately flavorful, that you will find yourself enjoying every bite. With just a few ingredients, it is very easy to make, and you can have a homemade loaf of bread on your table in a little less than an hour. It’s delicious for breakfast with a little butter or marmalade, or with dinner alongside a bowl of stew or soup.

Sometimes the best things happen as a result of necessity. I often freak out when life throws me a monkey wrench or a curve ball, but really, often, something good comes of those curve balls. Discovering this bread recipe was one of those good things.

Yesterday, the kids and I were snowed in with no bread in the house. After a winter with a relatively small amount of snow (for Michigan anyway), we suddenly got hit with a big snowstorm, and it snowed all day and all night. My husband went to work amidst snow drifts and howling wind, but the kids had a snow day off of school, and I stayed home with them . My husband barely got out of our driveway, so I knew I had a lot of shoveling to do before we went anywhere or he got home. We also lost electricity for a few hours. My original plans for the day vanished into the winter wind.

While the kids and I were sitting close to our gas fireplace to stay warm,(thank goodness for that during power outages!), I found the recipe for this tasty bread in a cookbook my mom recently gave me called The Irish Kitchen: 150 Recipes for Everyday Cooking from the Emerald Isle. As soon as our electricity came back, I made this bread, and then made another loaf this morning. We had it with soup last night, and with breakfast this morning. I am really excited about this bread, because everyone in my family likes it, and it is so versatile. It tastes rustic and homemade, yet only takes around an hour to make, including baking time. There is just the tiniest hint of sweetness from the molasses.

And after raging for a few minutes about losing electricity for the second time this week due to the weather, I found myself enjoying the quiet time. My kids and I ate pretzels and pistachios for lunch, sat around the fireplace together, and listened to music on our hand-crank-powered radio. They went outside and built a fort in the snow, and when they came in, all their wet things dried quickly by the fireplace. Our power came back within a few hours. I didn’t get a lot done that day, but had quality time with my kids and made this awesome bread.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I am sharing this recipe with the group of amazing bloggers at Angie’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Zeba @ Food For The Soul.

Brown Soda Bread with Molasses

Servings: 1 loaf
Time: about 20 minutes prep time, about 40 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of rolled oats
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 and 3/4 cups of buttermilk
2 tablespoons of molasses

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, oats, salt, and baking soda. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and molasses. If you don’t have buttermilk, substitute with regular milk and a tablespoon of vinegar. Make a well in the flour mixture, and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Gently stir the mixture together, until well combined. Using floured hands, form the batter into a soft ball.

Shape the dough into a circle and place it on the lined baking sheet. Press the ball gently to about 2 inches thick. With a sharp knife with a long blade, cut a deep cross across the top.

Bake in your 450-degree oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 400 degrees. Bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Cool slightly on a wire rack, and slice. Serve warm. Also tastes great the next day, warmed up or toasted, or just as is. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from The Irish Kitchen: 150 Recipes for Everyday Cooking from the Emerald Isle.

Oatmeal Gingerbread

November 12, 2015 / Jenny / 16 Comments

Ginger, molasses, cinnamon, and cloves give this bread a deep, rich, classic gingerbread flavor. The addition of whirred oats to the flour increases the nutritional benefits, as well as making each slice hearty and substantial. Serve it with your favorite hot drink, and possibly some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream , and it is the perfect snack or dessert. (It works for breakfast too!)

Below, I am sharing another recipe based on one I found in Susan Wittig Albert’s fascinating book, “China Bayles’ Book of Days: 365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs from the World of Pecan Springs.” The recipe is for a form of traditional Scottish oatmeal gingerbread. I substitute blackstrap molasses for the treacle and bake it in a standard-sized loaf pan instead of a 7-inch square baking pan, but other than that, I stick pretty close to the recipe in the book. And my gingerbread has come out delicious every time. I love the fact that this gingerbread tastes sweet and full of richly spiced flavor, yet has good nutrition in it too. The molasses and oats contribute all kinds of good things, including iron, magnesium, manganese, not to mention fiber and protein from the oats. When I cut a slice of this bread, it is dense and substantial. I feel like I am doing something good for both my taste buds and my body. And my soul too, because gingerbread is a delicious solution (however temporary) to a soul’s longing for comfort. The smell of gingerbread baking is the iconic cozy smell, and it brings back all kinds of memories for me, of wandering through my mother’s kitchen after spending time outside in the cold.

This is the perfect time of year to make gingerbread. (Actually, any time between now and spring is a good time.) When the wind is gusting right through our coats and the leaves are swirling around, we need something warm and comforting. As I am writing this post, the wind is blowing so hard that it is rattling the windows and making the house creak. We lose electricity quite frequently out here where I live, among so many trees, so I am hoping to get this post done before we lose power. And hopefully, we won’t lose power. All this dramatic weather is enough to make one feel kind of moody, wistful, nostalgic, and excited, all at the same time. It’s a good time to indulge in the more complicated aspects of our personalities. Maybe that’s why the multi-layered spicy taste of the gingerbread is so appealing.

There is something cleansing about going out in the crazy, windy weather, especially if there is something warm waiting on the other side of the door. This quote by L.M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series (one of my favorite sets of books when I was a girl), says it perfectly: “It was November–the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul.”

I hope you all have a great weekend, and that the wind blows the fogs out of your souls as well. And that you have a hot drink and a warm piece of gingerbread waiting when you come in! This recipe will be shared at Angie’s festive Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Judi@Cooking With Aunt Juju and Stef@The Kiwi Fruit.

Oatmeal Gingerbread

Servings: 8-12 pieces
Time: about 20 minutes for preparation and about 45 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of molasses (I prefer blackstrap molasses)
1 and 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of whirred oats (make this by whirring 1/2 cup of uncooked, old fashioned rolled oats in your blender)
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
3 tablespoons of milk
1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard-sized loaf pan with butter. (You can also use a 7 inch square baking pan). In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, granulated sugar, and molasses over medium to low heat until the butter is just melted. Stir to combine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Add the whirred oats, brown sugar, and spices. Stir to combine. Add the melted butter mixture and the milk, then stir in the beaten egg. Stir until all combined. Pour into the greased pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy!

Fresh Herb and Yogurt Biscuits

April 10, 2015 / Jenny / 16 Comments

This time of year, our bodies yearn for fresh, green food. It has been a long winter, and we are ready for an influx of new growth. In my yard and garden, there is not much growing yet. We are barely out of winter, it seems. However, there are some promising and exciting signs of spring. Herbs are starting to poke their bright green stems and leaves through the wet, brown remains of winter. Our chives are almost always the first to be ready, and the oregano is just starting to give some fresh growth.

And of course the crocuses are a treat to see. I had forgotten where I planted the daffodil bulbs last fall, so it has been fun to walk around the yard and see where there are daffodils popping up. And the frogs! In the evenings, the spring peepers are really starting to sing. I love to sleep with the window cracked (even if it is a chilly night), just to listen to the frogs.

Since I have been longing to make some kind of food from just-picked ingredients, I decided to make biscuits with chopped, fresh herbs. We have some parsley growing in a pot at the kitchen windowsill, and that has perked up since the spring sun has been shining through the window, and I picked some chives and some oregano from the yard. Just picking and chopping herbs is a pleasure for me; I love the scents that are released. Instead of the standard butter, I used plain yogurt for moisture in the biscuits. They were delicious. Biscuits go with almost anything–eggs, soup, or use them to make a sandwich. The herbs give these biscuits a subtle, savory flavor. I look forward to joining Fiesta Friday this week at The Novice Gardener! The co-hosts are Hilda from Along the Grapevine and Julianna from Foodie on Board.

Fresh Herb and Yogurt Biscuits

Servings: 12 biscuits
Time: about 20 minutes, plus about 10 minutes baking time
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Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white)
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1-2 tablespoons fresh, finely chopped herbs (I used chives, oregano and parsley)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir with a fork. Mix in the yogurt with your hands until a dough forms. (Your hands will get very messy!) Resist the urge to over-knead this dough–unlike with bread dough, too much kneading with biscuit dough makes the biscuits less fluffy. Combine just until the dough holds together as a ball. Then transfer to a floured work surface. Pat the dough down till it is about 1/2 inch thick. You may need at add some flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. With a cutter about 2 inches round (I turn a small glass upside-down), cut the dough into circles and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Enjoy!