Pita Bread

Who doesn't like pita bread? This recipe is super versatile because you can change the thickness of the dough and use it for multiple purposes. We have used this recipe many times since and it is awesome.

Ingredients:

3 cups white flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2.5 teaspoons yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup warm water

Mix the salt, sugar, yeast, olive oil, cream of tartar (everything but the flour) in a bowl until everything is well-mixed. Add the flour in 1/2 cup to 1 cup intervals as you fold and mix it in. Mix then knead. The texture should be barely sticky- not so sticky that it is hard to get off of your hand but not so dry that it doesn't stick at all. This amount of flour should be the perfect amount but if you need to sprinkle more to reduce the stickyness don't be afraid to.

Roll into one big ball and let rise for about 35 to 40 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and form them into balls. Flatten each ball into the pitas and have them measure about 6 inches in diameter and about 3/16" thick. This doesn't need to be exact, just close. You can make bigger and thicker pitas if you want, but this is what we liked.

Bake each pita at 475 degrees for 4-7 minutes. I like the pitas very soft so I tend to be closer to 4-5 minutes but if you want them firmer than go a few minutes longer.

Remove and enjoy! They actually keep quite well in the fridge if you don't eat all of them!

Aimee and I have also used this recipe to bake gorditas- tacos that are small but thick. We made them six inches in diameter but made them thicker and they were incredible.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Scones with Orange Glaze

I had been wanting to try this recipe for a long time, it looked so delicious.  And as I mentioned in my last post I was inspired by seeing fresh blueberries for a reasonable price at the grocery store so scones for dinner was on.  It took a little bit of time but not too much and while these were baking I prepared the asparagus.  So while the aparagus was baking the scones were cooling and than glazed and it all came together about perfectly.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into cubes
1 cup half and half
1 cup fresh blueberries

Orange Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon very soft butter
enough orange juice to make glaze

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir together the dry  ingredients in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like coarse crumbs. (I loved this part, cutting the butter into cubes makes so much of a difference to help it blend in way faster.)

Carefully stir in the blueberries, and then the half and half. Be careful to not mash the blueberries.

Press the dough into an 8 inch circle; cut dough into 8 slices, like you would a pie. (I used a pastry sheet - an old Tupperware one I have - sprinkled with flour, it really needed the flour on the pastry sheet because the dough was very, very sticky)

Carefully place slices on a baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the scones cool a bit before applying the glaze.

For glaze: Mix the powdered sugar, butter and about 1 tablespoon of orange juice until smooth. Add more orange juice if needed, to get the consistency you like. Drizzle glaze over the scones after they have cooled a bit. (as you will see from the picture I did not drizzle my glaze, I just spread it on top - there was lots and lots of glaze but it found a home on each scone)



It is even yummier than it looks, with the fresh orange juice glaze and loaded with blueberries.



Garlic Bread Sticks

 

 These were seriously some of the best bread sticks I have ever had. The dough recipe we use makes the best pizza dough ever, so we figured we should try it for bread sticks and they turned out amazing as well. (I'm sure you could use your favorite pizza dough recipe if you don't trust ours.)


1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
1 TBS parsley
1 TBS chopped garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
pizza dough 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.  Separate dough into about 15 pieces.
3. Roll dough out into stick shapes.
4. Combine margarine, parmesan, parsley, garlic and garlic salt.
5. Coat bread sticks with margarine mixture.
6. Place bread sticks in oven on pizza stone or cookie sheet.
7. Bake bread sticks for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.
8. After bread sticks are baked, re-coat with margarine spread.
9. Enjoy as a side for a salad or some warm soup.

Orange Sugar

zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup sugar

Mix zest in the sugar, stir everyonce in a while for 30 minutes. Store in a dry container.

Use this in place of cinnamon sugar on your toast.  I picked up a cranberry walnut bread from a bakery and this is delicious spread on after toasting.  I discovered this recipe after making these Banana, Strawberry and Orange Muffins from For The Love of Cooking - I had leftover sugar topping.  I have not used this on other things but it would be delicious I think in oatmeal too.  Use your imagination.

Crusty French Bread

I have made this a couple of times and always loved that I actually baked bread.  I found the recipe from Lynda's Recipe Box.  It is really good.  It takes me a little longer for everything to rise but maybe that is because my house is cold.  Also you can test your yeast before you start dumping everything in.  Follow step 1 and add the sugar and salt and even oil of step 2 but than let your mixture sit for a few minutes.  If it does not start to bubble even a little bit, your yeast is possible too old and won't do its job.  I have had this happen when I buy yeast with every intention to make bread and than it sits at my house for months and months.  So this can help you decide before you waste all that flour and time.  I make this on a day that I have time.  Today, I started everything in the morning - left the bread for errands. Punched it down, went visiting teaching - punched it down again and made the loafs and than left it again for the 3rd rising.  Finally it is now baking.  Hope it turns out as good as the first time.


CRUSTY FRENCH BREAD


1 envelope active dry yeast

2 cups very warm water

6 cups sifted all purpose flour-you may not use all of it

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt-Recipe calls for 3 tea.

2 tablespoons shortening-I sometimes use olive oil

cornmeal for dusting the pans

1 egg white

1 tablespoon cold water

1. Pour the very warm water in a large bowl. (The water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on your wrist). Sprinkle the yeast into the water. Stir until the yeast dissolves.

2. Stir in 3 cups of the flour, the sugar, shortening and salt; beat until smooth. Slowly beat in enough of the remaining 3 cups of flour to make a stiff dough. It will still be somewhat sticky in appearance.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead for about 5 minutes. I find this rather therapeutic! Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, using only as much of the remaining flour to keep dough from sticking. Like I said, you may not end up using all the flour.

4. Place the dough in a large greased bowl and turn to coat all over with the shortening. Or, brush very lightly with oil. Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm place to rise. It should double in 45-60 minutes.

5. When dough has doubled, punch it down (deflate it), and cover and let it rise a second time, until doubled in size. This will take around 30 minutes.

6. Punch down the dough again and knead 1 minute on a lightly floured surface. cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into about a 12x9 inch rectangle. Roll up jelly roll fashion and pinch the seam together. Tuck the ends underneath. Grease baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.

7. Place the bread on the prepared baking sheets: cover and let rise until doubles again, about 30 minutes.

8. Make several evenly placed diagonal cuts on top of each loaf. Beat together the egg white and the 1 tablespoon of cold water: brush over each loaf of bread gently with a pastry brush.

9. Place a pan of hot water on bottom shelf of the oven. Place baking sheet with loaves on shelf above the water.

10. Bake in a hot 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from baking pans and cool on wire racks. Enjoy!

NOTE: If your baking sheet is very large you may be able to bake all three loaves on 1 sheet. But you don't want the loaves too close together. Since I made one round loaf, I baked it on a second baking pan.

Another NOTE: I usually freeze 1 or 2 loaves of this bread. Double wrap it in plastic wrap and then in foil or a heavy freezer bag. It will keep for a couple of weeks, maybe more.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I'm pretty sure all recipes of banana bread are good, because well, banana bread is just delicious. We had a couple over-ripe bananas in the freezer, and it sounded yummy. I made it in the perfect timing that it was finishing right when Nate got home from work, and our house smelled amazing. So anyway, here ya go...

Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter 

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 large over-ripe bananas (mashed)
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips (6 ounces)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
3. Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
5. Beat in bananas and vanilla.
6. With mixer on low, add in flour gradually until just blended.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Pour into prepared pan.
9. Bake 60 to 65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (I thought that seemed too long, but it ended up taking me 60 minutes I think)
10. Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, before removing from pan to cool completely.

    11.Eat with lots of margarine on top. Yum!

Banana, Raspberry, and White Chocolate Chip Bread

I saw this recipe on "For the Love of Cooking" and said that sounds delicious, I need to make some. Luckily Costco had raspberries and bananas at a great price and I had white chocolate chips already in the freezer. I changed the recipe just slightly to fit a couple of ingredients, these changes are in bold letters. I might choose to divide the recipe into small, small loaf pans and share because I don't need to eat a whole loaf of bread. And yes, it was delicious.

1 cup white flour ( I used 1 3/4 cup white flour)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 1/4 cup spelt flour, introduced to me by Cherie's blog)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (no vanilla yogurt so I used raspberry yogurt)
1/4 cup canola oil (no oil for me, I used applesauce)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a bowl, mash the bananas, mix in eggs, vanilla, yogurt and applesauce until well combined. Add flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix slowly and gently until well mixed. Fold in the white chocolate chips then add most of the raspberries and fold them in gently. Pour batter into the loaf pan then push the remaining raspberries into the top of the loaf.

Bake in the oven for 55 -60 minutes ( I have to do 65 minutes - my oven cooks lower than registered I think) or until tester comes of of the center clean. Let the bread cool on a rack before slicing and eating. Craig spread butter on his, I ate mine plain. It was difficult to resist eating it all.