Whole Wheat Scones with Raisins and Walnuts

When I used to think of scones I would think of dry, crumbly, sweet breakfast treats.  They weren't my favorite thing... I guess I tend to prefer baked goods that are more chewy?  In any case, a couple of weeks ago I came across this recipe on the King Arthur Flour site and decided to give these scones a shot.  I was a huge fan!  A number of other people tried them and liked them as well.  

I should mention that these aren't quite like traditional scones.  They are only lightly sweetened, and have a strong wheat flavor (that I really liked!).  They are loaded with walnuts and raisins, which provide extra sweetness and texture.  You'll notice that there is a bit of orange juice in these.  This does not affect the flavor, and actually helps to counteract any bitterness from the whole wheat flour.

I've made these two times within a week and a half, so I suppose that says a lot!  Each time I prepared the scones the night before and baked them in the morning.  Easy and delicious!

Whole Wheat Scones with Raisins and Walnuts

yield:  12 medium scones

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 2/3 cups diced walnuts
• 1/3 cup butter (cold, cut into small chunks)
• 2 tablespoons cold orange juice
• 1/3 cup cold milk (I used 2%)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor.  Add butter and pulse about 10 times, until you have a crumbly mixture.  Dump into a medium sized bowl.    Add raisins and walnuts and stir to combine.  If any large chunks of butter remain, flatten them with your fingers.

2)  In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, milk, vanilla extract, and eggs.  Pour onto dry ingredients and mix just until all flour has been moistened and the dough holds together.

3)  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.  Transfer dough to the baking mat and divide in half.  Form each half into a rough circle that is about 3/4 inch tall.  Use a knife or a bench scraper to slice each circle into 6 wedges (be careful not to cut your baking mat!).  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator until ready to bake.  (If you want to bake these immediately, put the pan uncovered into the freezer while you preheat the oven as directed in step 4).

4)  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F.   Once the oven has preheated, transfer the pan of scones to the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until starting to brown on top.  Remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes.  Then, serve warm.   These are delicious plain, but you could also serve them with butter/jam/etc.

(recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Seed "Bread"

With all the classes I teach being exactly during meal times, I've been loving having food that is easy to transport and eat, but also nutrient packed and filling.  The life-changing loaf of bread was a real win, so I was excited when I found a similar bread on Oh She Glows recently that actually looked even easier to make.

This "bread" is baked in an 8x8 pan and then cut into triangles.  It is super dense and packed with four different types of seeds, oats, and spices.  It is not anything like yeast bread, but I'm not really sure what to call it besides bread.  It's also not like a cracker... So, I'll just call it "bread" and then not worry too much about it!

I was super impressed by this bread and have been loving it.  Unfortunately, Mark did not like it at all!  I guess that goes to show that we are not the same person.  haha!  We are similar in a lot of ways so it always surprises me when we are completely opposite on something.  I think this bread has tons of flavor, so I haven't been eating it with anything on it.  The oregano and thyme in it remind me vaguely of pizza.

This seed bread really is dense.  Each triangle slice has about 200 calories, 13 grams of fat (from those seeds!), 9 grams of protein, and 7 grams of fiber.  I  keep it in the freezer and take out a slice on the days that I'm teaching.  It defrosts in a couple of hours.  It makes the perfect small meal with some cut up veggies and fruit.  

If this bread sounds like your thing you should give it a try.  Let me know if you like it!

Seed "Bread"
*If you use certified gluten-free oats, this bread is gluten-free

yield: 8 slices

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 tablespoons chia seeds
• 3 tablespoons flax seeds (whole)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (roasted or raw)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (roasted or raw)
• 3/4 cup oats, ground into a flour in a blender or food processor
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup water
• black pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 325F and line an 8x8 pan with foil or parchment paper.  Spray with cooking spray.

2) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except water.

3)  Pour water over mixture and stir to combine.  Within 2 minutes most of the water will get absorbed by those chia seeds!

4)  Transfer to the prepared baking dish.  Spread it out and press it down with a spatula so it is in one even layer.  Sprinkle with a bit of black pepper, more salt, and/or any other spices you like that you think would taste good.

5)  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

6)  Remove from the oven and lift up the foil to remove the bread.  Cut into 8 triangles.  Transfer the triangles to a baking sheet. Flip the triangles over so the side that was originally on the bottom of the pan is now on the top.  Return to the oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes until edges are slightly crispy.

7)  Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.  Store any pieces you won't eat within a day in the freezer and defrost at room temperature or reheat in the toaster (slices will be crispier that way) if desired.

(recipe adapted from Oh She Glows)

Soft Pretzels

I love soft pretzels and these are fantastic.  I first made soft pretzels at home a few years ago, and have made them many times since then.  I've tried a couple of recipes and these are a combination of the best aspects of each of those recipes, plus the addition of whole wheat flour.   What's great about these pretzels (besides their taste!) is that while they are made with yeast, they don't have to rise much.   Start to finish these are done in under two hours.

Have you ever wondered what makes a soft pretzel taste like a soft pretzel?  The chewy texture comes from the fact that soft pretzels are boiled like bagels before being baked in the oven.  The pretzel taste comes from the fact that baking soda is mixed in with the boiling water.  Salt sprinkled on top helps too, though these are delicious even without the salt on top.

This dough has no fat in it.  The finished pretzels are brushed with a tad of butter which makes a huge difference to the overall eating experience.  I strongly recommend the butter finish!  If you've never considered making your own soft pretzels, give this recipe a try.  These are quick and delicious, and actually not any less healthy than a typical piece of bread.

Soft Pretzels

yield: 12 pretzels

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour + additional for sprinkling
• 1 3/4 - 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2/3 cup baking soda (yes, 2/3 CUP)
• 10 cups water
• coarse salt, for sprinkling (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

1) Combine flours, 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water, salt, sugar, and yeast.  Mix and knead for 5 minutes, ideally in a stand mixer with a dough hook.  The dough should be slack and sticky.  If it is dry, add additional water.

2)  Sprinkle additional flour all over the dough to prevent it from sticking and place the dough in a bag.  Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

3)  While the dough is resting, combine baking soda and water in a large pot.  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 450F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or baking mats.

4)  Once the dough is done resting, start to bring the baking soda and water to a boil.  Remove the dough and divide it into 12 equal portions (about 3 ounces each).  Roll each into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.  Place shaped pretzels onto the lined baking sheets, 6 pretzels per sheet.  

5)  Once the baking soda water is boiling, add three pretzels and cook for one minute.  Remove with a slotted spoon and return to the baking sheet.  Sprinkle with coarse salt if desired.  Repeat with remaining pretzels.  

Upper pretzels are pre-boiling and lower pretzels are post-boiling.

6)  Once the oven has preheated, bake pretzels for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.   I bake one tray at a time, but do what works best for your oven.

Before the butter finish!

7)  Remove pretzels from the oven and brush with melted butter.  Serve warm.  Store leftover pretzels in the freezer and defrost/toast when ready to serve.

(recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour and Annie's Eats) 

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread

Last week I found this recipe over at My New Roots.  I was immediately intrigued by how it looked, and the fact that the bread had no flour, but so many hearty ingredients.  This bread is made of rolled oats, almonds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds,  psyllium seed husks, salt, water, maple syrup and coconut oil.  This bread is gluten-free, yeast-free, and dairy-free!  The only ingredient I didn't have on hand was psyllium seed husks, but my mom came to the rescue with those and a day later I had this bread!

While it looks like bread and is called bread, it's not at all like a yeast bread.  In my opinion it's sort of cross between a bread and a nutty/seedy cracker, especially when you toast it.  The inside stays moist through baking, but it is packed with nuts and seeds and gets nice and crispy when you toasted (you should definitely toast it!).  I think it is especially cool that you can see the cross-sections of the almonds when you slice the bread!  So far my favorite way to eat this bread is toasted with a bit of nut butter on top.  I bet sliced bananas on top of the nut butter would make it even better!  With all of the dense (and nutrient-packed!) ingredients in this recipe, it definitely fills you up.

The original recipe said to make this bread in a silicone loaf pan.  I don't have one of those, so I greased my regular 9x5 loaf pan with extra coconut oil.  I mixed all of the ingredients in a separate bowl and then transferred them to the greased loaf pan before baking.  Worked just fine!  I also used almonds for the nuts and coconut oil for the oil since that is what I have on hand.

Head over here for the recipe.  I also encourage you to read blog author Sarah's write-up for more info about all  of the reasons why this bread is great!  If I haven't encouraged you to give it a try,  I bet her post will!

Sourdough Bread

There's nothing quite like a good loaf of bread fresh from the oven!  This is a great bread to have with soup, to make sandwiches with, or to have as toast!  It's bread like this that makes me knock on wood that I'll never have to start eating gluten free. 

To make sourdough anything you need sourdough starter.  Sourdough starter is essentially a very wet dough that lives in a container in your refrigerator (or on your counter if you are a bakery and make lots of bread daily).  Just like a pet, it needs to be fed and taken care of.  I got my current sourdough starter from my mom a couple of months ago and have been feeding it/using it about every two weeks (I have it marked on my google calendar for every two weeks so I don't forget!).   If you want to learn more, this is a great explanation of how sourdough works!  If you want your own sourdough starter, I'm happy to share if I live nearby  or you can buy a great one from King Arthur Flour.

When making this sourdough bread, you need to use "fed" sourdough starter (note that there are recipes that call for unfed starter, like this pizza dough).  *In the recipe below, I explain what to do from the unfed starter stage since that's where I always have to start when making this bread*.  It also takes a few long rises to develop the sourdough flavor that you expect.  The time from taking my starter out of the fridge to eating bread is about 32 hours.  Yes, a long time!  However, there's only about 15 minutes of actually work time for you.  The rest of the time the dough is rising and resting.  So, as long as you plan out when you are going to make it, it's really not that bad.  Also, the recipe makes 2 loaves that are each 1 1/2 pounds each, so you get a fair amount for all that wait time!

I've made this bread a few times now and think it is a great basic sourdough bread.  I bought some citric acid  to add to help make it more sour.  I've found that even with that addition, it is not a super tangy sourdough like you can find in San Francisco, but it is very good.  

The only thing I don't like about this bread is that it uses all white flour.  That being said, the only ingredients in this bread are white flour, water, a bit of sugar and salt, and the citric acid.  So, it's nice that there are only a few ingredients.  I'm going to start experimenting with whole wheat sourdough soon.  I will definitely report back once I find a good whole wheat sourdough recipe!

Sourdough Bread

yield: 2 loaves, 1 1/2 pounds each

INGREDIENTS:

Fed Sourdough Starter:

• 3 ounces unfed sourdough starter from the fridge
• 3 ounces water (about 1/3 cup)
• 3 ounces flour (about 2/3 cup)

Bread:

• 1 cup fed sourdough starter (measure to get one cup and discard the rest)
• 1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
• 4-5+ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon citric acid (optional, for more sourness)

DIRECTIONS:

1)  To make the fed sourdough starter: Take the unfed sourdough starter out of the fridge in the morning, the day before you want to eat the bread.  Remove about 3 ounces and put in a small glass or plastic bowl.  Add 3 ounces water and 3 ounces flour.  Stir well until combined.  Loosely cover and let sit at room temperature for about 5 hours.  At this point I feed the remaining unfed sourdough starter in its container as well, let it sit for 2-3 hours, and then put it back in the fridge.

2)  Measure the sourdough starter to make sure you have one cup.  You will probably have a bit over one cup, so discard any excess.  Combine fed sourdough starter with water and 2 cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix with the paddle attachment on high speed for about one minute.  Put in a large glass or plastic bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 4 hours at room temperature.  Move the bowl to the fridge and refrigerate overnight, 12-15 hours.  

3)  Return the dough to the stand mixer and add the remaining ingredients.  Start with 2 additional cups of flour.  Use the dough hook to knead to form a smooth dough, adding additional flour one tablespoon at a time as needed (the amount of flour needed will depend on the humidity).  Let rise for 4-5 hours.  

4) Divide the dough in two equal portions (about 1 1/2 pounds each).  Shape into ovals and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Let rise for 2-4 hours (the loaves will likely expand out  more than up).  

5) Preheat the oven to 425F.  Brush the loaves with lukewarm water.  With a very sharp knife, make three deep horizontal slashes in each loaf (try not to deflate the loaves!).

6) Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown and the internal temperature is at least 200F.  Let cool on a wire rack.  

7) Try to resist cutting into the bread until it is cooled, or at least mostly cooled!  Slice and freeze any extra bread and defrost/toast as needed.

(recipe from King Arthur Flour... for more pictures of all the steps, check out their blog!)  

Spicy Cornbread

Whenever Mark  has chili, he loves having cornbread with it.  There are a TON of cornbread recipes out there.   I've made a few solid good ones in the past, but I was in the mood for something different this time.  I was intrigued by the fact that this recipe keeps the butter (I used earth balance) completely separate from the batter as they are added to the pan.  For this cornbread, you melt the butter with red pepper flakes and pour it into an empty pan before adding the rest of the mixed batter on top.  The result is a cornbread that is crispy and buttery, yet doesn't have nearly as much butter as some of the other recipes I've made (one piece has less than a teaspoon of butter in it).  Plus, it is spicy... and that's always a win for me (although you could definitely omit or reduce the red pepper flakes to make it less spicy!).

I should mention that I know cornbread is one of those things that some people are super particular about, especially with respect to the amount of sugar that should be involved.  This isn't at all a traditional southern cornbread, but I thought it was really really good!  I loved the spicy and sweet combination and the crispiness from the butter.  Can't wait to have it again! 

Spicy  Cornbread

yield: 12 pieces

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tablespoons earth balance (or butter)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup fine-grain cornmeal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted to room temperature (or fresh corn!)

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Put earth balance in a small bowl and microwave until melted.  Stir in red pepper flakes.  Pour into a 8x8 square baking pan.  Put into the oven while you prepare the bread (it's okay if the oven isn't preheated yet).

3)  In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In a second bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg.

4)  Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and add corn.  Stir just until combined.  The batter will be thick.

5)  Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the pan with the earth balance and red pepper flakes from the oven.  Pour the batter into the pan and push to the edges so it fills the pan and is level.  Some of the melted earth balance will likely come on top, but that's fine.

6) Bake for about 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the center is set.

7)  Let cool for a bit before slicing and eating.  

(recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

100% Whole Wheat Burger Buns

This is a great basic 100% whole wheat burger bun.  While I do like sandwich rolls with herbs, it's nice to have a great basic burger bun recipe as well.  And while it's certainly easy to go buy burger buns at the store,  the buns you buy at the store are nothing compared to what you can make yourself.  I feel like the burger buns at the store are mostly air, and really just a vehicle for moving the burger to your mouth!  These burger buns have their own great wheaty flavor, yet they are not dense or heavy.  They really take your burger or sandwich over the top!

This recipe is based on a hot dog bun recipe from King Arthur Flour.  The good news is you don't need any special pans to make burger buns (though they do sell them).  This recipe does use hi-maize fiber, just like the honey-wheat english muffins.  If you don't have any, I would use regular all purpose flour as a substitute.  Make a batch of these and keep them in your freezer.  Defrost as needed to have with your favorite sandwich or veggie burger!

100% Whole Wheat Burger Buns

yield: 9 buns (could make more or less depending on how big you make them)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (the amount you use will depend on the humidity!)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons earth balance or butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/3 cup potato flakes
• 1/2 cup hi-maize fiber
• 3 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Combine all  of the ingredients (except the cooking spray) and mix and knead them in a mixer with the dough hook for 5-10 minutes (or, mix/knead by hand). Start with the lesser amount of water and add the water a tablespoon at a time until you have a smooth dough that's not dry, but can form itself into a ball without being sticky.

2)  Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and transfer the dough to the bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  If your house is cold, turn your oven on for a few minutes and then turn it off.  Let the dough rise in there.

3)  Once the dough has doubled, separate into 9 equal pieces.  This will make a standard size burger bun-- if you want a smaller size, separate into more pieces, if you want a larger size, separate into less pieces.  Shape each piece into a round ball and then flatten to about 3 inches across.

The 3 stages of forming each bun: unformed piece of dough, ball, and flattened ball.

Turning the unformed piece of dough into a ball.

4) Place the buns on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat (or parchment paper, or lightly grease the sheet).  Lightly cover with greased plastic wrap or a slightly damp towel and let rise in a warm place until puffy, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

5) In the last 15 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 375F.

6)  Bake the buns in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden and the internal temperature is 190F.  If desired, you could brush the buns with melted earth balance or butter when they come out of the oven (I didn't do this).

7) Cool buns on a wire rack.  Unless eating within a day, store in the freezer and defrost in the microwave or on the counter as needed.

(recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Apple Banana Muffins

I know I just recently posted a muffin recipe, but the lemon poppy seed muffins are more of a dessert, and these muffins are healthy enough to eat daily.  I've made them a few times now and I've been excited to share this great find with you!  

Right now, two of my classes each week are between 11am and 1:50pm.  Not exactly ideal for eating lunch.  I usually try to bring a few small food items that are quick to snack on, and these muffins have been perfect.  They are super flavorful from all of the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger spices as well as the apples and bananas.  And yet... these muffins are remarkably healthy.  They have 100% whole wheat flour, flaxseed, apples, bananas, spices, and a bit of sugar in them.  What they don't have is butter, eggs, or oil.   They are vegan with very little added sugar.  They require two ripe bananas, so they are a perfect thing to make instead of traditional banana bread with very ripe bananas.

While these muffins are an excellent snack on their own, they are also extra delicious with maple cinnamon almond butter (and I'm always looking for an excuse to eat that!).  They would also make a great breakfast along with some Greek yogurt.    I store these muffins in the freezer and grab them in the morning before I head out to work or other activities.  They really are a delicious quick snack, so they are a great thing to have in your freezer.  If you find yourself getting hungry in the afternoons, try packing one of these muffins for a snack!

Apple Banana Muffins

yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

For Roasted Apples:

• 2 small apples, cubed (I used Macintosh)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon, but regular cinnamon would also work)
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Remaining Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoons warm water (this is your "flax egg")
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or traditional whole wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon, but regular cinnamon would also work)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 small ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade, but you could use store bought)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Heat the oven to 425F.  Toss cubed apples (I left the skins on) with sugar and cinnamon and spread on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Once the oven has preheated, roast apples for 10 minutes.  This really enhances their flavor!  Once apples have been removed, reduce oven temperature to 350F.

2)  Prepare your flax egg:  In a small bowl, mix ground flaxseed and water and let sit for about 10 minutes.

3)  Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger) in a bowl and set aside.

4)  Combine bananas, applesauce, sugar and flax egg in another bowl.  Mash until combined and the banana is mixed in.  Then, stir in the roasted apples.

5)  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  The batter will be very thick, but shouldn't be dry (all of the flour should be able to be incorporated).  If you find it is too dry, add water a teaspoon at a time until all of the flour is incorporated.

6)  Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and spoon batter into the muffin holes, filling each about two-thirds  full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes in the 350F oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Let muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  

7) Store airtight in the freezer and let thaw at room temperature (or defrost in the microwave) before serving.

(recipe slightly adapted from Live Faithfully)

Whole Wheat Naan

I first enjoyed Naan at Indian restaurants, and I was so excited when I found this recipe for it so I could make it myself at home.   This version is whole wheat, and while it doesn't taste exactly like what you will get in a restaurant and is probably not completely traditional, it's really good!  Honestly in some ways I like it even better.  It's also not that hard to make, and takes less time compared to many breads because there is only one rise.  Even if you are not a confident bread maker, you should definitely try this recipe!  So how do you make this naan?  Combine all of the ingredients and knead for a few minutes (a mixer makes this super easy).  Then, let rise until doubled (about 1.5 hours):

Separate the dough into equal sized pieces.  I separate into 8 pieces for fairly large pieces of naan, but you could choose to make smaller naan if you want.  Roll each piece of dough into a rough oval (or any shape you want really!).  Make sure to roll it pretty thin.  Heat a griddle (or skillet) over medium high heat-- really let it heat up.  You want the griddle very hot so that air bubbles will appear in the naan when you cook it.  Cook the naan in batches for a couple of minutes on the first side and then another minute on the second side.


Once it's cooked, admire your naan and eat!   This naan contains whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, olive oil, and an egg (as well as a few other small ingredients).  All of those ingredients help to make it an extremely hearty and filling bread.  It really has a lot of flavor on its own.   You can eat naan plain, or spread with nut butter.  Of course you can also eat it with lots of Indian foods.  I love having it with curries or other foods that have a sauce so you can dip the naan in.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing one of our favorite recipes to eat with naan!

Don't you just wish you were eating some naan right now?  :)  If you have leftover naan, you can store it airtight in the freezer.  When ready to serve, defrost and toast to get crispy if desired.  Once you get the hang of this recipe, you can also experiment with adding other toppings to the naan such as garlic or cheese like you see in restaurants!  

Whole Wheat Naan

yield: 8 large naan

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup lukewarm water, plus additional as necessary (or--  if you make yogurt like me and have extra whey, use that instead of water!)
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (or traditional whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + additional olive oil for cooking
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat, but any kind is fine)
• 1 large egg

DIRECTIONS:

1)  Combine all ingredients and knead to make a smooth dough, about 5 minutes.**

2) Transfer to a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1.5 hours.  If your house is cold, turn your oven on for a couple of minutes while you are mixing up the ingredients and then shut it off.  This will give your dough a nice warm place to rise!

3)  Divide the dough into 8 pieces (or more if desired).

4)  Heat a griddle (or nonstick skillet) over medium-high heat.  Let it heat up for a few minutes.

5)  Roll the first few naan thinly into the desired shape.  Traditionally they are somewhat oval in shape.  My naan were about 7 inches by 4 inches. 

6)  Drizzle a teaspoon or so of olive oil on the griddle and let it heat up.  Transfer 1 or 2 naan to the griddle and cook until dark brown spots appear on the bottom, about 2 minutes.  You should see lots of air bubbles!  If you don't, your griddle might not be hot enough yet.  Flip the naan and cook on the other side for another minute, until dark brown.  It's okay if there are semi-burned spots!

7)  Repeat step 6 with the rest of the naan.

8)  Serve warm plain,  as a side to a meal, or any other way you want!  Store uneaten naan in the freezer and then defrost (and toast if desired) when ready to eat.

**Add additional water, a teaspoon at a time, as necessary.  The amount of water your naan needs will vary depending on the humidity, which has a lot to do with the season.  During the winter, your dough will need more water than during the summer.  This is true for all bread doughs!  The naan dough should be fairly soft, though definitely not wet.  You can see how it looked after I kneaded it in the "before rising" picture up at the top of this post. 

(recipe adapted from the little red house)

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon poppy seed muffins are one of Mark's favorite foods.  When he was little, his dad used to take him out for muffins on Wednesday mornings and Mark's favorite was lemon poppy seed.  The bakery has long since closed, but these muffins still hold a special place in Mark's heart.  When Mark first told me this story a few years ago, he said that no lemon poppy seed muffins have lived up to his childhood memory.  Up for the cooking challenge, I did some research into "the best" lemon poppy seed muffins and made them.  The verdict was they were good, but not quite right.  Ever since then I've been reluctant to make them because I didn't want to make a muffin that was just "good".  But... over the past month or so Mark has reminded me more than once how much he likes lemon poppy seed muffins.  So, I finally took the hint, found another recipe, and made them.

The verdict?  They are good!  They are light and have a nice lemon flavor.  Mark says he likes them in particular because they are not too sweet.  In fact, the only difference he could think of between these muffins and the muffins from his youth are that they are not as big.  Not too bad!  These muffins really are very good (and unfortunately not healthy!), but more importantly they bring back great memories.

Today is Groundhog Day and apparently the groundhog predicts an early spring this year.  If you are already wishing for warmer days, these muffins just might do the trick.  Even though citrus season is in the winter, the light flavors remind me of the warmer climates that citrus comes from!  The first house Mark and I rented together had a lemon tree out back-- that is one of the food things I for sure miss about California!   (that and the Milk Pail Market... sigh...)

I found this recipe over at Annie's Eats and didn't modify it at all.  I used plain greek yogurt for the yogurt.  Head over there for the recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins.  And if you've never looked at her site before you should look around- she has a lot of great recipes and I've been reading her blog for years.  Hope you enjoy these muffins!

Also, here is a picture of the view of the river across the street from our living room window- not quite a lemon tree, but pretty awesome. :)

Honey-Wheat English Muffins

Recently I have been having these English muffins almost daily as part of my lunch.  I got the recipe from King Arthur Flour (their website is a gold mine for great baking recipes!) and I adapted it just slightly.  I am probably strange in that I don't prefer these English muffins toasted.  I like them nice and warm and soft slathered with maple cinnamon almond butter.  SO GOOD!!  

There are some weird ingredients and tools required for this recipe.  For ingredients, you can get vital wheat gluten from most grocery stores wherever they have the Bob's Red Mill items.  Probably this will be in the baking aisle and/or organic section.  The Hi-Maize Fiber and non-diastatic malt powder are King Arthur Flour products that I actually buy from them.  I haven't tried it, but you could probably just substitute a bit more flour for the fiber and a bit of sugar for the malt powder if you don't want to buy those items.  The non-diastatic malt powder is a good ingredient to have for making bagels as well.

The English muffin rings I also got from King Arthur Flour, but you can probably get them from other kitchen supply stores as well.  If you don't have the rings, you could still make these.  The shape of the muffins would just be more free-form.  Don't let a lack of rings stop you from trying these!

Honey-Wheat English Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

Note:  I have provided the weights for most of the ingredients because when I bake I prefer to measure my ingredients by weight in order to get a more accurate result.  If you don't have a good digital scale, use the volume measurements.

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons (2 1/4 ounces) honey  
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce)  butter 
• 2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) non-diastatic malt powder 
• 2 cups  (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) rolled oats 
• 3/4 cup  (3 3/8 ounces) Hi-maize Fiber
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) nonfat dry milk powder 
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cornmeal to dust the griddle

DIRECTIONS:

1) Add all of the ingredients except the cornmeal to the bowl of your mixer. Beat with the paddle attachment until the dough is glossy, about 6 minutes.

2) Cover the bowl, and let dough rise at warm room temperature until doubled in size, about 80-90 minutes.

3) Preheat both the oven and a griddle or heavy skillet to 350°F (medium high heat). Place 6 rings on the griddle evenly over the heat sources and grease the rings and griddle with cooking spray. Sprinkle a little cornmeal into the center of each ring.

4) Wet your fingers to help prevent sticking and scoop 3 ounces of dough (about 1/3 cup of dough) into each ring to make the first 6 muffins. Spread the dough to the edge of the ring.  Sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal.  Note:  If you don't have rings, form the dough into a rough circle before placing it on the griddle.

5) Cook the muffins for 5 minutes, until the edges look set and the bottom is golden brown. Flip the muffins, and cook the second side for 4 minutes.  

6) At this point, check the internal temperature of the muffins.  If it is at least 200°F, then the muffins are done.  If they aren't quite that hot, remove the rings, place the muffins on a baking sheet and place into the preheated oven for 5 minutes.  Check their internal temperature again.

7)  Repeat steps 4-6 with the second half of the dough.

8) Once muffins have reached an internal temperature of 200°F, transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

9) If you will not be eating within a day or two, store in the freezer in an airtight bag.  When ready to eat, defrost in the microwave and toast if desired.

(recipe slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour)