Honey n' Wheat Oatmeal Bread!

If you've been reading this blog long, you know that my hubby recently took a pastorate at a small church about 20 minutes from our home. It's far enough away that we really don't know anyone in the area, so we've been busy the past six months acquainting ourselves with the area and the congregation. We initially did A LOT of entertaining until our kitchen/dining remodel began....the work brought entertaining to a screeching halt, beginning in January. We weren't sure our "hospitality ethic" had caught on among the people of the church, but we were pleasantly surprised to be invited over to lunch by one of the Sunday School teachers. Bill was counting on having an afternoon off in the week, so he and his wife invited us to share the vegetable soup he planned to make. I offered to bring bread (of course!!) and so the invitation was sealed. Over a simple meal of soup and bread, we shared stories, laughed at each other's jokes and discussed the growth of the church.....and two hours later, we walked out their door with a better friendship than we had come in with! Amazing what a little breaking of bread will do! 

This is the recipe for the bread I made that day. I made two small loaves - one to take with us to the meal and one to snack on at home. I thought I'd be the only one snacking, as Dave is not a big "whole grain" bread eater, but  MUCH to my surprise, he stated that this was one of the best loaf-type breads I've made.......WHAT!!??? I was sooooooo shocked that he liked it that much! I hope you enjoy it too! 

Honey n’ Wheat Oatmeal Bread

Dough:

1 ¼ Cup warm milk (should be just warmed to the touch)

1 Tbsp/packet Red Star Platinum Yeast

1/3 Cup honey

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 ¼ Cup white whole wheat flour

1 ¾ Cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

¾ Cup old-fashioned oats

Topping:

Small amount of honey, warmed

Small amount of old-fashioned rolled oats

Place warm milk and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated (add small amounts of additional flour if dough is too sticky). Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Remove dough from bucket and deflate. Roll dough into a small rectangle, then roll up from long side. Pinch seams. Gently fold ends under and place, seam-side down in a large greased loaf pan (or form two smaller loaves and place in two smaller pans).  Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise until the loaf is nearly doubled. Gently brush the melted honey onto the top of the loaf and sprinkle the old-fashioned oats over the honey. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. You may want to tent the top of the bread after ½ hr. to prevent over-browning.

Recipe adapted from littlespicejar.com 

Honey n' Wheat Oatmeal Bread!

Lovely Layered Cinnamon Bread!

I'm tired today........Happily so, but still tired. The beautiful spring weather has had us working (or biking) outside almost every evening. And daytimes have been filled with the finishing of my kitchen project....and church "stuff".....and grandkids.....and meetings.....and ......   I'm sure your life looks similar, but in a different way - haha! I may be tired, but, as I said earlier, totally happily so....I believe it is a privilege to be tired from the "good stuff" I'm involved in. There are many people that are tired because of trials and difficult circumstances in their lives. Right now, friends of ours are weary - their twins were born 11 days ago after only 24 weeks in the womb. One baby was lost within the first 24 hours; the second little one is still fighting for her life. These sweet parents are keeping a day and night vigil with their child. I can only imagine the physical and mental exhaustion they are experiencing. But yet, news from them is always hopeful and full of faith.....they have put this situation in God's able hands and every update reflects their trust in Him. I would ask my readers to remember this young family in your prayers. They are greatly encouraged by the fact that their burden is lightened when there are so many carrying it in prayer with them!  

This bread will certainly help lift someone's spirits! I've made it twice this week alone! It is both beautiful and delicious. Have fun with it.....it looks "fancy", but the technique is pretty simple! ENJOY! 

Lovely Layered Cinnamon Bread

For Dough:

½ Cup warm water

½ Cup milk, warmed to touch

1 Tbsp/packet Red Star Platinum yeast

2 Tbsp. sugar

¾ tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

3 Cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

For buttering dough:

2 Tbsp. softened butter

For Filling:

¼ Cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

For Topping:

¼ Cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

Place warm water , milk  and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated. Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled. 

Stir together filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Cut topping ingredients together with a fork or pastry blender and set aside in a small bowl.

Remove dough from bucket and roll out into a 10”x 20” rectangle (or as thin as possible). Brush 1 Tbsp. of softened butter over the dough, then spread with filling . Starting with the long side, roll up the dough jelly-roll fashioned, rolling tightly. Pinch to seal the seam.  Fold the roll in half so that the ends meet. Using both hands, pick up the two ends with one hand and the “middle”(looped end)  with the other hand. Twist the dough several times. Place it in a large greased loaf pan to rise. (I have covered this with plastic wrap and let it rise in the frig and baked it in the morning). Brush the top of the loaf with the rest of the butter. Sprinkle topping ingredients over all. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes (I tent the loaf with foil about 30 minutes in…) . Let loaf cool in the pan. Loosen and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Lovely Layered Cinnamon Bread!

Over-The-Top Breadsticks!

Spring is in the air....at last!!!! The sunshine, the fresh air, the green grass.....it all really puts me in the mood to celebrate, even though there's nothing in particular to celebrate! But wait.....if I think about it a little longer, there's ALWAYS something to celebrate! Nuthin' wrong with celebrating the first daffodil, or the fact that I can put my winter clothes away or that the lawn needs mowing , or.....or.....or.......I could go on, but I'm sure you can dream up your own "Day of Celebration!"

This week I celebrated friendships that have lasted decades (Ooooo, it makes me sound old to say that!) Our card club (again, I sound old.....lol!)  has been getting together monthly for about 25 years. We've had a rotation of girlfriends in and out of the group as our life circumstances have changed, but it's always been a good, solid group who pray before our meals, aren't too serious about our card games, laugh A LOT (and cry together on occasion) and just plain love being together.  The pic you see here is one of "me and the girls" at my place earlier this week. We had been jamming to some songs we had been playing on my dad's old jukebox - what a great celebration we had together!! 

I hope YOU'LL decide to celebrate something, somehow, somewhere this week! I served these breadsticks at my "celebration" and they were a big hit! I hope you enjoy them! 

Over-the-Top Breadsticks!

Dough:

1 Cup warm water

1 Tbsp/ Packet Red Star Platinum Yeast

2 ½ - 2 ¾ Cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning (see recipe below)

Garlic Bread Seasoning:

¼ Cup Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. coarse kosher salt

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried parsley

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Place in a covered container. Refrigerate leftover for future use.

To make:

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated. Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Remove dough from bucket and deflate. Roll out into a 8x14” rectangle. Brush with softened/melted butter. Cut rectangle into 8 -14” strips. Fold each strip in half and twist. Place “twists” side by side in a 6 ½”x 10” (or similar sized – a little larger wouldn’t hurt) baking pan/dish. Let rise until doubled/puffy. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes until golden. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Brush with butter while warm. Sprinkle a small amount of the seasoning on top. ENJOY!! 

Over-The-Top Breadsticks!

Toasted Walnut & Cranberry English Muffins!

I'll tell you right from the get-go that these muffins take a little more time than other English muffin recipes I've published on this blog. I was just in the mood to try something a little different - both on the taste AND the technique front, so this recipe fit the bill. It turned out to be a good season to "play", as our Ohio April has been quite cool and drizzly (and even snowy!), so I didn't mind spending that playtime in the kitchen. Plus, the weather put me in the mood for something warm, full of flavor and crunchy, and a decent English muffin provides all that. As a post-baking/tasting evaluation, I would say that these muffins are slightly more dense than other recipes I've tried. However, they are quite, in the words of my taste-tester daughter, DELISH!  

Enjoy making these English muffins! We'll just bake our way through these April showers! 

Cranberry & Toasted Walnut English Muffins

Dough ingredients:

1 ¾ Cup warm milk

1 packet/ Tbsp. Red Star Platinum Yeast

3 ½ Cup unbleached bread flour

1 Cup white whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp. softened butter

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg

½ Cup dried cranberries

½ Cup chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp. honey

Additional:

Cornmeal for sprinkling

PLEASE NOTE: THE AMOUNT OF FLOUR CALLED FOR IN THIS RECIPE IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT YOU SHOULD USE IN THE EZ DOH – CRANK SLOWLY AND GENTLY SO AS NOT TO PUT UNDUE PRESSURE ON THE HOOK. 

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough

is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated (Add additional flour gradually as necessary to attain a non-sticky dough). Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

While waiting for the dough to rise, toast the chopped walnuts in a non-stick skillet on medium heat until they’re just beginning to brown – About 5 minutes. They will have a very nutty aroma. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Deflate the dough and roll out into a rectangle that is approximately ¾” thick. Using a 3 ½” muffin/cookie cutter, cut the muffins from the dough. Gather up scraps, knead gently then re-roll and cut again (you will end up with about 14 muffins) . Sprinkle a large griddle with cornmeal and place the muffins on the prepared griddle - do not turn griddle on (I have an electric griddle ) . Sprinkle the tops of the muffins lightly with cornmeal, cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for 20 minutes. Turn on the griddle to low heat (I set mine at 325) and let the muffins cook/bake for about 15 minutes, checking them after 10 minutes. Flip them and cook/bake for another 10 minutes. Move the muffins to a cookie sheet and bake them for an additional 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE AT COOKNOURISHBLISS.COM

Toasted Walnut & Cranberry English Muffins!