Banana Bread - TWO ways!

I love banana bread! I love it plain with a glass of milk or with some chocolate chips thrown in. One day I decided to switch it up a bit and came up with these two variations. You can use your favorite banana bread recipe. I like the Classic Banana Bread recipe from Cooking Light. I am including the recipe below with a couple of notes. I usually substitute a cup of whole wheat pastry flour to boost the nutrition. But, I like this recipe because it calls for yogurt. Yogurt helps cut down on the fat without really changing the texture of the bread.

Once your batter is made, then comes the fun part! You can mix cinnamon chips into the batter! I found mini cinnamon chips at a local restaurant supply store called Gygi's. You can order them online at Prepared Pantry too. Or, you could use the Hershey's brand cinnamon chips that you can find at the grocery store, and just chop them up a bit. Cinnamon chips are such a great addition to banana bread or pumpkin pancakes, or oatmeal cookies....or by the handful. Okay, I'm a bit addicted to these little babies.

The other thing I like to add to my banana bread batter is Nutella. Mmmmm...Nutella. Again, just use your favorite banana bread recipe. Mix up your batter and pour half of it into your prepared pan. Then, drop a few big spoonfuls of nutella in and spread it out as much as you can. Add the remaining batter to the top and bake as directed. The Nutella leaves this yummy, moist surprise in the middle of each slice of bread.

Be careful, both of these variations are addicting. You will probably find yourself eating banana bread for breakfast, lunch and snacks! (maybe dinner too!)

Classic Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour (I usually substitute 1 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, and 1 cup all-purpose)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I use vanilla yogurt)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. (If using a 9inch bread pan, bake for about 50 minutes.)

Zucchini ideas and Zucchini Bread

I love this time of year! I'll be posting some fun fall recipes soon...but recently we have been harvesting lots from our garden! Since I'm not a pro at canning (yet!) I have been doing simple things like making freezer jam (raspberry peach...yum!) and shredding some zucchini to freeze and use during the winter. If you like baking with zucchini and you have some big ones from your garden, this is a must!

I made some low fat zucchini cookies while we were shredding.

We had this pasta for dinner this week. I used peppers and zucchini out of my garden. Mmmmmm....

Also, Zucchini Bread! When I have those big zucchini's sitting on my counter, all I want to do is make zucchini bread. Zucchini Bread is so moist and yummy. I experimented with my recipe and made a healthier version so that I can eat it more often, or eat more in one sitting...or (insert here whatever YOU tell yourself to make yourself feel better about stuffing your face).

When I say "healthier", please don't think "yuckier". I really try not to sacrifice taste to make something healthier. I thought this bread turned out really good and I got some good reviews from others as well! I have included the original recipe, and in the parenthesis, I included the changes I made to make it a bit healthier. I may or may not have added a bunch of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to my "healthier" recipe. shhhhhh!

Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour (substitute half whole wheat pastry flour)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (substitute half vanilla yogurt, so 1/2 C oil, 1/2 C yogurt)

1 C brown sugar

1 1/4 C white sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Cinnamon and sugar (optional)

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch or two 9x5 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together for 1-2 minutes, or until well combined. Add sifted ingredients gradually to the creamed mixture, and mix just until combined. Stir in zucchini and nuts or chocolate chips. (Tip: Combine nuts and/or chocolate chips in a small bowl with 1-2 tsp of flour before mixing into the batter. Sometimes this helps the nuts and chocolate chips not sink to the bottom of the pan.) Pour batter into prepared pans and sprinkle the top with some cinnamon and sugar. Bake for about 60 minutes (or about 50 minutes for two 9x5 pans), or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Easy Parmesan Rolls

I have family in town staying at my house, and that makes me want to do EASY meals. These rolls are about as easy as they get. They are incredible with a slow cooked beef stew or pot roast. In fact...I've served them with just about anything. The great thing about them is that I always have everything on hand to make them. I really like freshly grated Parmesan cheese on most things, but on these, I actually prefer the Kraft type Parmesan powdered cheese. SO easy. My brother will eat 3 or 4 of these right off the pan before I can even get them into a basket. They really are that good.

1 dozen frozen bread dough rolls, like Rhodes
1 cube butter, melted
1 C Parmesan cheese, powdered or freshly grated

Roll each frozen roll in butter, and then in cheese. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let raise 3-4 hours. Cook according to package directions. Serve hot!

Yeast Bread 101

My friend Nicole left me a comment about the Pizza Roll post that got me thinking... But, instead of answering her questions in the comment section, I'm going to do a brief (can I do brief? I think I like to talk too much to label anything "brief". :) ) and very basic little lesson on bread making. Now, keep in mind that this is Yeast Bread Making 101 according to Aubri. I'm just telling you what I've learned over the years as I have made bread. So, feel free to take it with a grain of salt, or leave me a comment and let me know if I left something out!

First things first... You want to make sure that your yeast is alive. I make bread at least once a week, so I buy a Costco sized bag of yeast and put it in the freezer so that it lasts longer. Then, I have a small container in my fridge that I add to from the freezer. I will get the small container out of the fridge a few hours before I start making bread so that it can warm to room temperature. I always combine the yeast with the water (or milk), along with the sugar or honey or whatever sweetener the recipe calls for. This way, you can see your yeast bubble, and know that it's alive before you go through the trouble of putting everything together. If you think that your yeast might be old and dead, then add 1 Tbs. of yeast to 1/4 cup of warm water, and wait 5-10 minutes. If the yeast bubbles up, then it's still good to use.

Second...liquid temperature. Lots of recipes tell you what the exact temperature of the water should be. I haven't ever actually used a thermometer to take the temperature of my water. I just know that it needs to feel warm to my hand, and not hot. If the water is too hot, it will kill your yeast. The sugary/honey stuff that you add is to feed the yeast (yeast has a sweet tooth, just like me!!) so that it can bubble up nicely. If your recipe lists milk as an ingredient, it will usually instruct you to heat it up, but just make sure that you cool it down enough before adding any yeast to it.

Next...flour. I have found that bread making is all about finding a happy balance between sticky dough and heavy, hard as a rock dough. It all has to do with the amount of flour that you add to your bread. I have found that bread turns out best when you add just enough flour to make the dough manageable. What I mean is that it's one step past sticky, just so that it doesn't stick to absolutely everything it touches. Make sense?

So, I usually (gradually) add the minimum amount of flour called for in the recipe, knead it for a few minutes (actually, I let my Kitchen Aid do that part) and then check the stickiness of the dough. Then, I will add flour about 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup at a time until it gets to be the right consistency. It's okay for the dough to be a bit sticky before the first raising. Sometimes after the first raising, the dough is a bit more manageable. I usually leave out about 1/4 cup of flour, and set it aside to use while working with my dough while shaping it. So, if the recipe calls for 5-5 1/2 cups of flour total, I will add 5 cups to the dough, and leave my other 1/2 cup to use when I roll out the dough, or whatever. Get it?

Wheat vs. White.... Wheat flour doesn't have as much gluten in it as white flour does. This is why you see a lot of recipes that call for whole wheat flour AND white flour. The white flour helps in the gluten development. If you want to make a truly whole wheat bread, with all wheat flour, then add some wheat gluten or some kind dough enhancer to your recipe to get a softer, less crumbly bread. Another thing to remember when making wheat bread is that it takes quite a bit more kneading. Wheat bread dough needs more kneading to develop the gluten, so make sure to knead your wheat bread for 7-10 minutes in a Kitchen Aid type mixer, and up to 15 minutes by hand. If you have an awesome tough machine like a Bosch, you can get away with only kneading it for 5-7 minutes. Since learning about the whole kneading thing, I have started kneading my white breads for a bit longer, and I can tell a difference in my dough. I would suggest kneading your white breads for 5-8 minutes to get a nice smooth dough.

An egg wash almost always makes your bread look a little prettier. You can use an egg white whisked together with a little bit of water, or milk (maybe like a tablespoon of liquid), and just brush it over your bread dough to help it have a nice golden crust. This is optional. I don't ever do this with my wheat bread unless I'm making it into buns or something, but it looks really nice on white bread. Keep in mind that if you find a bread recipe that you really like, you can use it to make rolls or buns, pizza dough, or whatever. It's all about how you shape it!

The first bread recipe that I ever made is the recipe that I have posted for french bread. It's really easy, and hard to mess up. So, give it a try! I really do think that making good bread takes practice. So, don't be frustrated if you have never made bread and your first batch turns out badly. Just keep trying!

Pizza Rolls

I don't know about you, but I love pizza in pretty much any shape or form. I first had these pizza rolls at my husband's grandmother's (Nana) house. His mom started making them for the family to have during Conference time, and they're so yummy. I haven't ever actually had a written recipe, so I just got creative with it this time. I thought that they turned out great...and so did my husband :) I usually make these as a main dish, but they could also be made as a side dish, a fun appetizer, or in the place of a breadstick/roll. This time, I made ham and pineapple rolls, as well as pesto and cheese. I haven't ever had pizza rolls with pesto before, and was unsure about which toppings would go well with the pesto, so I just used it with cheese. It was REALLY good, and would probably be excellent served in the place of a breadstick. I think that it would also be excellent with pepperoni or salami (I LOVE salami...if you haven't ever had it on pizza, seriously, try it. It's so much better than pepperoni!).

I'm going to post the recipe that I used for the dough, but feel free to use whatever recipe you usually use for pizza. I think that this would be good with the "Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Dough" that I posted previously. This recipe probably feeds 3-4 adults, so you might want to consider doubling it if you have more people.

Pizza Dough

1 ¼ C Warm Water
1 tsp. Sugar
1 pkg. Yeast
¼ C Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Salt
3 ½ C Flour

Mix water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to 1 ½ cups flour, oil and salt. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour. Knead until thoroughly mixed. Let dough raise once until doubled in size. Punch down and roll out. Top with your favorite sauce, pizza toppings, and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until desired doneness (about 20-30 minutes). Makes one large pizza, or two smaller thin-crusted pizzas.

Pizza Rolls

1 recipe of pizza dough (see above)
6 oz cream cheese, softened (lite will work fine, just make sure it's soft!)
1 ½ C shredded cheese (I used 1/2 Mozzarella and 1/2 cheddar for more flavor)
pizza sauce or marinara
pesto sauce (optional)
pizza toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pizza dough according to recipe directions. Let the dough raise once and then punch down. Roll the pizza dough into a rectangular shape, (just like cinnamon rolls) about an 11x15 inch rectangle. Spread the softened cream cheese over the dough. If you are planning to use pesto, then spread a small amount of pesto thinly over the cream cheese, and top with the shredded cheese. If you're not using pesto, just sprinkle the shredded cheese over the cream cheese. Add all desired toppings (I used lunch meat style ham, just because I thought that it would be less bulky to roll up, and it worked great.) Then, roll up the dough so that you have a nice long roll. Place the roll (or just a part of the roll, depending on what will fit) onto a cutting board and cut into 1-1/2 inch wide slices. Place pieces on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping!

Crusty French Bread

I finally figured out how to take some close up pictures, and I'm still experimenting to see what looks best, so bear with me until I become a better photographer!

This is a recipe that my Aunt Vicki acquired in a cooking class that she took in High School, I think. It's been around for a while. I have been making this recipe for years, and I love it. It's so versatile. I've used it to make pizza dough. My mom used it to make focaccia bread once. I add some garlic and Italian Seasonings to it to make a soft white bread that goes great with Italian food. (This is my brilliant Mother's idea) It's just yummy! I made this for dinner last Sunday and my brother ate almost an entire loaf himself. This bread is best hot, and isn't quite as good the next day, so don't plan on making tons and freezing it...it's just not as good!



5-5 ½ C Flour
1 pkg. Yeast
2 C Warm Water
1 Tbs. Shortening
1 Tbs. Sugar
3 tsp Salt
1 Egg white
1 Tbs. Water

Combine 2 C Flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add warm water and shortening (I always substitute 1 Tbs. of Olive Oil when I make the Italian style loaf) and beat until smooth. Add remaining flour and knead on floured surface until dough is no longer sticky. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled (1-1 ½ hrs.). Punch down. Shape into one long or 2 small loaves and place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with combined egg white and water. With a sharp knife, make 3-4 diagonal slashes across top of loaf. Let bread rise for another 30 to 40 minutes. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes (30-35 for 2 loaves, or 40-45 for one loaf) or until light golden brown. For crustier loaf, bake with a shallow pan of water on lower oven rack. For Italian style bread, add 1 tsp. Italian seasoning and ¼ to ½ tsp garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves of pressed garlic) to dough while kneading. Serve hot with butter or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Cinnamon and Raisin English Muffins

My kids love English Muffins. I try to buy the healthy ones that are whole grain. Their favorite ones are the whole grain with cinnamon and raisins, which cost almost $3 for six, and never go on sale. So, I came across a recipe for English Muffins. After a few times making it, I think that I finally got it down. Who knew that you could make home made English Muffins? They don't have all of the nooks and crannies that regular English Muffins have, but they sure are good! Don't be intimidated, they're pretty easy to make. I tried making them with all whole wheat flour, and they were a little too dense, so I would suggest adding *** half white flour as the recipe below calls for. Enjoy!

1 cup milk
3 Tbs. Honey
1 1/2 Tbs. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
¼ cup shortening
3 C All Purpose Flour
3 C Whole Wheat Flour (I used White Whole Wheat Flour)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ C raisins

Warm the milk and shortening in a small saucepan until the milk bubbles (don't let it boil!) and the shortening is melted. Then, remove mixture from heat. Mix in Honey, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. (this is important because you don't want to kill your yeast) Once the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add your warm water, and the yeast. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the milk mixture and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt, cinnamon, and the rest of the flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead for 7-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on it to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes. Spray griddle with non-stick cooking spray. Cook muffins for about 25 minutes at 300 degrees on an electric griddle, flipping every 5 minutes. (You can also cook in a large frying pan on the stove top. Cook for 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes on medium low.) Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split and toast. Makes about 18-20 muffins.

***Revision: After I started grinding my own wheat, I have made these with all whole wheat flour, or 5 C whole wheat flour, and 1 cup AP flour, and they turn out fabulous! There is something about grinding the wheat that makes it not quite as dense!

Chicken Caesar Pizza and Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I found this recipe on the "Taste the Joy" blog (see links to the right). It was really good! The recipe calls for a Boboli pizza crust, but I made my own, and I'll post the recipe for the pizza dough. I used Briann's Caesar dressing because it's my favorite. I also used a large leftover chicken breast that we grilled that had been seasoned with Italian seasoning, garlic and a little olive oil. I added some chopped green onion and tomato to the pizza before I cooked it. Without the salad on top, it reminded me a lot of Papa Murphy's Chicken Garlic pizza. With the salad, it reminded me of something that you order at California Pizza Kitchen. Yum!

Chicken Caesar Pizza

1 Boboli pizza crust
fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
romaine lettuce, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes
1-2 chicken breasts
1 C Cardini’s Caesar dressing
2 C mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cut chicken into thin strips and sauté in 2 TBS Caesar dressing. Brush 2 TBS (I added a little bit more than this) of dressing on pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese and cooked chicken. Grate Parmesan cheese over top of pizza. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is hot and melted. While pizza is baking, combine lettuce and tomatoes in bowl and coat with dressing and Parmesan cheese. Let pizza cool 10 min and top with lettuce mixture.

Now for the crust:

I think that I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, but I can't remember. We have mostly used this pizza crust for grilled pizza, but it is good baked as well. I have made a few different pizza crusts that call for whole wheat flour, but I feel like the ones that have ALL whole wheat flour are too dense and overwhelming for pizza. I think that this one is a good compromise with part white flour. When I made the Chicken Caesar Pizza, I split the dough in half and rolled out two (one plain cheese for the kids, of course!) thin crust pizzas on two different greased cookie sheets and baked them for 15-20 minutes. This made a lot of pizza, and we had great leftovers!

Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

All Bran Muffins

I got done making the banana chocolate chip cookies, and decided to test this recipe that I found on the Munch n' Crunch blog. I was very skeptical because I don't really like low-fat muffins, but I thought that they turned out yummy. They are a bit chewy, as low-fat muffins often are, but the flavor was great. My kids each ate a whole one! The best thing was...the nutritional information shows that they are about 1 1/2 Weight Watcher's points ! (on the old plan) If you like bran muffins, definitely try these! Next time, I'm going to add some small pieces of chopped up apple and a bit more cinnamon just for fun.

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups of All Bran Cereal (boxed, ready to eat)
1 1/4 cups skim milk
2 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine All Bran cereal and milk. Let it stand about 2 min or until cereal softens. Add egg whites and applesauce. Beat well. Add flour mixture stirring only until combined. Divide evenly into 12 2 1/2 inch muffin pan cups coated with cooing spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 min or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins
Nutrition info: 124 calories, 1 gram of fat, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein. (1 ½ WW points per muffin)
**This is a great recipe to double and freeze. These muffins are great quick breakfast to pull from the freezer and heat up in the microwave.

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

This bread is the best whole wheat bread I've ever had. My husband complained one day about how much I was spending on bread, so I decided to look for a recipe and try baking my own. I found this on http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/. This wonderful mother of 8, who makes her own EVERYTHING, and also home school's her children, developed this recipe. It is fabulous. I have altered it a little to fit my taste, so click on the link to see the original recipe. I haven't been baking because it's been so hot, but today I broke down and made 4 loaves because I missed this bread so much. The best thing is...it's SO easy!

You can get the wheat gluten at a natural food stores, or many grocery stores sell it too. I bought mine at Walmart. I ordered some white whole wheat flour online, and my favorite for this bread is 2 cups of red wheat flour, and 3 cups of white wheat flour. Here is a picture of the dough and a finished loaf.

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water

1/3 cup honey

1 T yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

2 t. salt

1/4 cup gluten flour

5 to 7 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour

In a large bowl or in a large mixer combine the water, yeast and honey. Let sit for a few minutes to give the yeast a chance to start working. Add the salt, oil, gluten flour and 3 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Continue to add more flour until the dough does not stick to the side of the bowl and does not feel sticky to the touch (about 5 ½ cups for me). Knead for 7 to 10 minutes in mixer. (This is the key! Knead lots!) When dough has finished kneading let it rise once until doubled in bulk. Punch down dough and divide it into 2 pieces and form into loaves and set in bread pans. Let it rise again in a slightly warm oven (this means that you turn the oven on for just 2 or 3 min. or until you can feel the heat and then turn it off, if it is too hot then it will kill the yeast) for 15 to 25 minutes or until the dough is ½ inch above top of pan. Turn oven to 350 (without taking bread out) and bake for approx. 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Then, the key is to try not and eat a whole loaf while it's hot! I made the mistake of making some strawberry freezer jam a week after I discovered this recipe...wow...those are incredible together!