Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

After a 4 month hiatus, I'm back to blogging. I don't know if it was the pregnancy, or just laziness for my lack of posts, but I've come to the conclusion that it's been long enough.

I can't promise an update everyday, or even every week, because my hands are kind of tied with my new bundle of Joy. His name is Max. : )

I have been blessed with so many gifts of food from family, friends and neighbors, that I thought I would return the favor and bake some pumpkin cream cheese bread for myself, and also for my neighbor who gave birth recently to twin boys.

I wanted to bake this bread last week, but what the heck, a canned pumpkin SHORTAGE kept me from that. I've never heard of such a thing, but apparently it's real. I was so thankful for the 2 cans I found at my local Kroger.

I found this recipe on line from the Joy of Baking, I loved the picture of the cream cheese swirl in the bread pictured so that was what helped me decide to go with this recipe. Not hard at all, this is a very simple quick bread that is a great gift, great with morning coffee, or for a snack. With it being fall it is just perfect.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Joy of Baking

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounce package (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Pumpkin Bread:
1 cup (110 grams) pecans or walnuts
3 1/2 cups (490 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 - 15 ounce (425 grams) can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup (120 ml) water or milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter and lightly flour two - 9 by 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pans. Set aside.

Cream Cheese Filling: In your food processor, process the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and process just until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing just until incorporated. Do not over process. Stir in the flour. Set aside.

Pumpkin Bread: In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In another large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Whisk or stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla extract, and nuts.
Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined. (A few streaks of flour is fine.) Do not over mix as it will make the bread tough.
Divide the batter in half. Take one half and divide it evenly between the two prepared pans. Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half of filling on top the two pans of batter, smoothing the tops. Top with the remaining half of batter. Bake the breads for about 50 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Place pans on a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing breads from pans. Can serve warm, cold, or at room temperature. Store leftovers in the refrigerator or else freeze for later use.

Makes 2 loaves.

Daring Bakers: Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Instead of doing the apple strudel, I chose to make a pear, brie, and walnut combo. I saw a strudel recipe in Bon Appetit (Feb. issue) and cut it out just waiting for the right time to make it. The filling called for pears and roquefort cheese, and just reading the recipe made me drool. When the recipe for this challenge was announced, I knew what filling I was going to use. Unfortunately, the grocery store by my me did not have roquefort, so I used brie. The recipe for the dough in Bon Appetit was very similar to the dough recipe here, so I was thrilled that I was finally going to make this wonderful strudel.

This was a fun challenge, and the result was a very yummy strudel. Thanks Linda and Courtney!

Preparation time Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough

30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling

20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough10 min to fill and roll dough

30 min to bake

30 min to cool

Strudel doughfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time.

Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Pear, Brie and Walnut Filling

(modified from Bon Appetit February, 2009)

1 1/2 lbs. Bosc pears, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons plus 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

8 oz. brie cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 Tbs. flour

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. breadcrumbs

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add the 1 1/2 tsp. of butter. When melted add chopped pears and let saute for about 4-5 minutes.

Remove and strain juices and put in fridge to chill.

After pears have chilled put into a bowl and add the cheese, walnuts, flour and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Strudel Assembly:

With hands spread half of the melted butter over dough. Sprinkle rolled dough with sugar and breadcrumbs. Spread pear mixture over the dough leaving about a one inch margin on all sides.

Roll up like a jelly roll and transfer to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes, and cool for 30. Serve warm.

Strawberry Banana Bread with Pecans

The thought of banana bread entered my mind when I was buying a bunch last week when they were on sale. Rarely do I finish my bananas before they start to get those nasty black spots all over them. This doesn't make me unhappy though, instead, I get excited because there is just so much you can do with over ripe bananas. My favorite stand by is to make banana bread.

I wanted to make a different kind of banana bread this time, and the thought of strawberries came to mind. So I bought a bag of frozen strawberries (with the intent to use the rest for strawberry shakes, mmmmm) and made a plan to make a strawberry banana bread.

I wasn't planning on adding the pecans, but I have tons of them thanks to my mother-in-law. She has a tree, and gathered up a huge bag full for me. Yesterday I shelled some during my morning coffee, and thought they would make a very nice addition to the bread I was planning on making.

The kitchen smelled wonderful while this baked, and it tasted even better. Just the right amount of banana and strawberry, a perfect balance.

Strawberry Banana Bread with Pecans

1 stick unsalted butter softened
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1.2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. chopped pecans (or any other nut you prefer)
3 over ripe bananas mashed (about 1 cup)

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries chopped
2 eggs beaten

Preheat oven to 375, and butter a 8.5"or 9" loaf pan.

In a small bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk together.

In a larger bowl add butter, sugars, and eggs. Cream together until smooth and well combined, then stir in the vanilla. Add mashed bananas, and strawberries and stir until strawberries are evenly distributed. Add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time folding until no white is visible. Add pecans and gently fold into batter.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a thin knife comes out clean.

Let cool on rack before slicing.

Cheddar and Parsley Biscuits

I made these delicious biscuits last weekend. I was flipping through a William's Sonoma baking book that I got from Chad's aunt for Christmas, and it just stood out to me. It really didn't take long at all (maybe 30-40 minutes start to finish), and was very simple to assemble. I modified the original recipe by using parsley instead of the recommended chives. I really think the original recipe could be modified a bunch of different ways to accommodate your taste.

I don't have a biscuit cutter (which with all the gadgets I do have makes me wonder why I don't own this) so I used a glass to cut the 3 inch circles.

I made some turkey sausage patties, and we enjoyed a cheddar parsley biscuit sandwich. Very yummy!

Cheddar Parsley Biscuits

(adapted from William Sonoma's Food Made Fast)

2 Cups All purpose Flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese (or use your favorite)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or chives, or other herbs)

6 Tbs. unsalted butter cut into cubes

3/4 Cup milk (I used 2%)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt cheese and parsley. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives and cut in the butter cubes. Mix until coarse crumbs form (the size of peas). Add milk and stir until evenly moistened and uniform.

Lightly flour a work surface and turn out the dough. Knead a few times and shape into a ball. Pat it into a circle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter (or glass like I used) cut out as many biscuits as you can.

Take the scraps and form another ball and pat to 3/4 inches thick, repeat the cutting, using as many as the scraps as you can. This should give you about 12 biscuits.

Put biscuits on baking sheet about 1 inch apart, and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until they are golden. Let cool slightly and EAT!

Daring Bakers Challenge: Pizza!

For this month's challenge we were to make "Pizza Napoletana” from Peter Reinhart's “The Bread Baker's Apprentice". Our host this month was Rosa of "Rosa's Yummy Yums".

Now I've made pizza before, so I wasn't really intimidated. But the recipe was a bit different than how I usually make it. Not a hard recipe to follow, but just different. I usually make the dough and bake it the same day, but this recipe had it rest in the fridge overnight. I was really excited to use my new KA mixer to help me, it was a bit easier than working the dough by hand (minus the kneading). Oh, and we needed to capture us throwing the pizza like a real Pizziola. This is me (not a great pic, but it worked just fine!)

Here are my balls (lol) ready to refrigerate

I have to say, this was a great recipe! I cut it into 6 pieces, and used two tonight for our dinner, and plan to use the rest later, per the freezing instructions.

I made Chad's ( homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, and parsley)

And mine (tomato sauce, feta, black olive, parsley and fresh grape tomatoes)

The crust was so crispy and flavorful, the perfect consistency.

Just look at that yummy-ness!

Big thanks go out to Rosa for a great challenge.

For the recipe including Gluten Free instructions visit Rosa's blog.

****I dedicate this post to Sherry, your fervor for baking still inspires.****

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

While I was flipping through my latest issue of Gourmet, I came across this little gem of a recipe. I had all the ingredients except the pumpkin. No problem since I needed to go to the grocery store anyway. I didn't have the ground cloves it called for so I omitted them, I really wish I would have made a darn list when I went to the store, ugh!

My house smelled wonderful while it baked for the 55 mnutes, omg I was salivating! I ended up using pure pumpkin in a can, and probably a little more than the 9 oz. it called for.

I also decided a drizzle of glaze would be nice so I whipped some up.

This bread would be perfect for breakfast, after dinner or even for a snack. Of course, this recipe screams fall, which it will soon be getting to feel like here in Atl.

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

(Gourmet October, 2008)

2 cups AP flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. all spice

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I probably added 2 tsp. I love the stuff!)

1/4 tsp. ground cloves ( I omitted due to not having a list!)

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I used the pure canned pumpkin)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350

coat a 9x5 loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and salt until thouroughly blended. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs and water. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and vanilla and blend well.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the walnuts and stir until they are evenly distributed. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and level the top.

bake for 55-60 minutes, until the bread is firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

**Note** I acidentally added ground coriander (1 tsp) by mistake. It still tasted wonderful, maybe even better!

Daring Baker's: Danish Braid

I was so excited to tackle this month's Daring Baker's challenge because I looooove flaky pastries! I don't know why I didn't tackle it sooner than last week though. I guess with me having the summer off, I get a bit lazy.

Reading through the recipe, I was nervous. I've never even heard of a laminated dough before! With all the turns, and rests, and turns, and rests, I was pretty intimidated.Luckily, Ben and Kelly provided some footage from Beatrice Ojakangas w/ Julia Childs, and another showing how to turn the dough. They were a wonderful resource and put my fears of making this pastry at bay.

While sitting on the couch one evening I started to concoct some filling ideas out loud. Chad heard this and said "Why can't you just make plain old apple?". Hmmm, there was a suggested apple filling I thought, and agreed that I would use that and make "plain old apple".

Once I got started, it was really easy to do, just a bit time consuming.

Other Daring Baker's had some problems with the butter block oozing out, but thank Jesus, my rolling went smoothly.

I decided to divide the dough into three and make 2 braids, and pinwheels for the last third. I ended up omitting the zest and orange juice from the recipe since I planned on making savory pastries

My first braid, I did the apple, the second I made a blueberry-strawberry compote, and topped that with Dorie's basic pastry cream.

I wasn't the best at the braiding, but it still came out beautiful!

I filled the pinwheels with spinach, finely chopped crimini mushrooms, prosciutto, sauteed onion, garlic, Parmesan, finely chopped mozzarella, nutmeg and pepper.

I love how these turned out, they are perfect for an appetizer or just a little bite.

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients

For the dough (Detrempe)

1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup sugar

Zest of 1 orange, finely grated

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 large eggs, chilled

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK

1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

DANISH BRAID

Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients

1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)

2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash

Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

APPLE FILLING

Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients (I halved this recipe)

4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

This was a very fun and great learning experience for me, Thank you Kelly and Ben!

Make sure you head over to the Daring Baker's blogroll and see the other members wonderful danish braids.

Fattayer Sabanegh- Spinach Pies

Keeping to my "L" club theme of Lebanese cuisine, I decided to make another favorite. See, when I think of eating Lebanese food, I can't just have one meal. It needs to include all the mezze, or small dishes to go with it. I love these pies, the tang of the lemon in the spinach combined with the slight crunch of the pine nuts make them heavenly. Think of these as a Lebanese calzone, without cheese or tomato. Although, using this basic ajeen (dough) for a calzone might not be a bad idea.

Fatayer Sabanegh

Basic Ajeen (savory dough)

4-5 cups flour

1 package yeast

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

1/3 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups water at room temp (use more if needed)

2 tsp. olive oil

3 Tbs. melted butter

Add yeast and sugar to a small bowl and pour in water and mix together. Wait about 10 minutes until yeast mixture starts to foam. In another large bowl add flour and mix in salt. Make a well and add olive oil and yeast mixture. Add remaining water and mix with a wooden spoon until loosely combined. transfer to a floured surface and knead the dough until elastic.

Put back into clean large bowl that has been oiled with the 2 tsp. of olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel and let rise for about an hour or until double in size. When doubled, punch down and separate into balls a little smaller than a baseball. Set aside for 15 minutes and let rise slightly.

Filling:

3 boxes frozen spinach, (thaw and place in cheese cloth and squeeze as much juice as possible)

1 large onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

2 Tbs. sumac

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

Heat a large skillet over med. heat. Add olive oil and let heat a couple minutes. Add onions and cook about 5 minutes. Add pine nuts and cook until toasted. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook about 5 minutes more. Set aside to cool.

Fill the pastry:

Take ball with floured hands and pat into a circle. Roll with rolling pin until fairly thin.

Add filling and pinch to make an isosceles triangle. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Brush with butter after 15 minutes to make it shine. Take a Tbs. or more of filling and put on top of dough. Since you are making a triangle I suggest you put the filling in the shape of a triangle as well. Pinch together to make an isosceles triangle and set aside and cover so they don't dry out.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Brush with butter after 15 minutes to make it shine.

Easter Egg Bread

This Easter, well, EVERY Easter, our family gathers at my Mom's house. She still keeps the tradition of hiding our baskets (which we LOVE by the way) and she writes out sequential clues on scraps of paper that have us scrambling all over the house, garage, deck, and backyard until we end up with our basket of goodies. It's usually a race between Chad, my brother, niece, and I. We hurry around the house, no doubt looking silly. We like to pretend that mom (err, the Easter Bunny) hasn't out witted us with the clues, but there is always that one (or two) that stumps. Every year someone finds their basket first, and someone is last, but it really doesn't matter.

This year, unlike others, I was able to contribute something to the dinner table. The dinner items are usually taken care of. This year I decided to make an Easter Egg bread to go along with the baked ham that was being served.

I found this recipe at Taste of Home. The instructions were easy to follow, and the time for the rising of the dough to the end product was about 2 hours. Not as time consuming as some other breads I have made.

I loved the decorative eggs, although they did bleed a little into the dough. I have no clue how to prevent this, so no tips on what I would do next time. The bread itself was extremely tasty, and a great decoration as well. I love the slight sweetness of it, the crust had the most perfect texture and I plan to use some of the left overs to make french toast. This is a recipe I will definitely be making again, even if it isn't Easter.

Easter Egg Bread

(Taste of Home)

6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, cubed
4 eggs
3 to 6 hard-cooked eggs
Vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cold water

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add 3 eggs; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Dye hard-cooked eggs; lightly rub with oil. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough into thirds. Shape each portion into a 24-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; bring ends together to form a ring. Pinch ends to seal. Gently separate braided ropes and tuck dyed eggs into openings. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes. Beat water and remaining egg; gently brush over dough (I ended up using a little cream and water since I was all out of eggs). Bake at 375° for 28-32 or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 1 loaf.

My First Daring Bakers Challenge

What is a daring baker?

She/he is a person who loves anything having to do with flour, butter, sugar, yeast (or rice flour, tofu and agave for some of us! hee!) and the opportunity to better their baking skills

This is the most recent description that I have read about the DaringBakers.

After months and months of drooling over the pictures of many daring bakers blogs, I decided that it was time to join in on the fun. So I requested to be a member, and the next month I was given the challenge (recipe).

When I got the recipe, I was wondering what I got myself into. Julia Child? French Bread? I copied and pasted the recipe into a word document, and it was 14 pages long. I gasped. But, I was determined to make an attempt. I set aside President's Day to make the bread since I didn't have to work. And I was glad I did. I started at 11am and it was finished (but not ready to eat) at 9:00pm.

I have to say, the recipe was not at all difficult, and the 14 pages were more explicatory than anything else. The rising time, is what took the longest, but preparing the dough was fairly simple.

I would like to thank Breadchick of The Sour Dough and Sara of I like to Cook for giving me the opportunity to brag about making my first french bread. : )

I am so proud to have completed my first challenge, and I am even more proud to be a part of this wonderful group of foodies.

You can check out the other DBer's blogs with this month's challenge Here.

And Because the recipe is pretty long, here is a link to it .

Lebanese Pita Bread

There is nothing like home made bread... Amazingly better than store bought. I have been craving some good Lebanese food all week so I decided to have a Lebanese theme for the next few days. I got started with my theme by baking this pita bread. I browsed through tons of recipes online and finally decided to use this one. It really was an easy recipe to follow, and they came out beautiful. This recipe makes 12 pitas, plenty enough for Chad and I to stuff for sandwiches, or just accompany our meals the next few days.

Lebanese Pita Bread
(fabulousfoods.com)
2 C warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Place 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and sprinkle yeast and sugar over the water. Stir to blend and let sit until dissolved.

Place flour, salt and oil in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast mixture and remaining water and beat (preferable with a heavy duty electric mixer) until flour is completely integrated. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed -- about 5-8 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and oil top of dough lightly. Cover with a warm kitchen towl and let rise in a warm place until doubles in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead to remove the air bubbles. Roll into a log and divide dough evenly into 12 pieces. Pat each piece of dough into a ball, them use a rolling pin to flatten into discs about 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter.

Place discs on a lightly greased baking sheet and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 500° F. and place oven rack in lowest position.
Bake the bread, one pan at a time, until puffed and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool breads on a wire rack.