Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

Homemade fresh baked bread is such a delicious thing to have around your home! Homemade bread is probably one of my favorite things to make and it is just SO much better than store-bought bread! Making yeast breads is a little tricky at first, and I have definitely had my share of "failed attempts", but it is so worth it once you get the hang of it! My bread definitely does not come out perfect every time, but I believe this recipe is just so fool-proof and delicious! I have used homemade bread as a delicious breakfast, topped with jam or peanut butter and I have used it for grilled cheeses- AMAZING! The sandwiches are thick and hearty! You could also use it for french toast, dip it in Olive Oil and Vinegar, or you could slice it and freeze for whenever you want a tasty slice of bread! Bread freezes very well and it tastes practically fresh if frozen properly and thawed! I do love sweet bread like banana, chocolate chip or coconut bread but this whole wheat oatmeal bread is one of my favorite yeast bread recipes! An extra bonus is that while baking this bread your house will smell delicious! 

Recipe: 

Makes 1 large loaf 

1 Cup water
1 Cup milk
1 TBS active dry yeast (found by baking powder in baking aisle)
1 TBS honey
2 TBS molasses
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats (not all purpose flour- you can find this next to flours in baking aisle)
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 TBS kosher salt
Additional oats for topping the loaf (optional)

Directions: 

Lightly grease or butter a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

1. Heat the milk and water in a glass measuring cup in the microwave until warm but not too hot, about 115 degrees if you have a thermometer. Combine the water, milk, yeast, honey and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Let stand 5 minutes until the mixture bubbles, to make sure your yeast is good. If your mixture does not bubble, your yeast is probably not fresh. 

2. Add the flours, oats, melted butter and salt to the mixing bowl with the liquid. Knead for 6 minutes on medium speed.  The dough should climb the dough hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If your dough is sticking to the sides too much, add a TBS of flour at a time to get it to not stick. 

3. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a warm area to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.  If you are not sure if it is ready, gently poke the dough.  If it springs back, the dough needs to proof longer.  If a dimple remains, it’s ready. (I usually heat my oven to the lowest setting and then place the covered bowl on the counter next to the oven to make sure that it is warm enough to rise)

4. To shape the loaf, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.  Shape into a square, then grab the top and bottom edges and fold together towards the center, meeting the edges in the middle.  Pinch the seam and sides, sealing with your fingers.  Roll the dough back and forth, into an even log and about the size of your bread pan. Gently place the dough into your bread pan, seam side down. Press the dough gently into the corners of the bread pan.

5. Cover the loaf with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  It will puff up over the edges of the pan.When the loaf is ready to be baked, Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top of the loaf with water and then sprinkle the oats on top of the bread.  Bake for about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. The bread is done baking when the crust is dark golden brown. Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing. After it is cooled completely, you can slice it and place in a freezer bag to use for later use! 

originally from: http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/wheat-oatmeal-sandwich-bread/

Sour Cream Biscuits

I had a full container of sour cream left in my fridge and I needed to use it up! I absolutely HATE wasting things that I buy so I always try to use things up before they go bad. I ended up making warm biscuits for a breakfast dish I had to bring to a gathering in the morning and they paired perfectly with homemade jam. Now, I know making biscuits from a Bisquick box is probably faster, but nothing beats homemade biscuits! Another favorite biscuit recipe I have is a buttermilk chive biscuit- also very yummy, but not as versatile because of the addition of chives. (That recipe will be posted soon!) There are endless possibilities when it comes to homemade biscuits...to name a few, biscuits and gravy, egg, bacon cheese sandwiches on biscuits, biscuits and jam, and they always make a nice side to practically any meal. I love to make a big batch a biscuits for us and then freeze most of them so they are ready to take out of the freezer and bake at any time. They taste just as good out of the freezer and baked as they do baked fresh! The last thing I love about this biscuit dough is that you can make the dough the night before, wrap it in plastic wrap in the fridge, and then roll it out and cut the biscuits in the morning for a quick breakfast! I love things I can prepare the night before! I hope you try out these delicious flaky biscuits for yourself and see how you can incorporate them in many meals to come! 

Recipe: 

2 Cups Flour 

2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder

1/2 tsp. Baking soda 

1/2 tsp. Salt 

1 TBS. Sugar 

1/2 Cup Butter (chilled or placed in freezer for few minutes) - I use unsalted butter

1 Cup Sour cream ( I used low-fat) 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients and then add butter to the mix and rub together with your fingers or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse sand. (I have a little trick I use...I grate my frozen butter with a cheese grater into the mixture because it makes it SO much easier than trying to do it with your fingers). Stir in the sour cream until the dough starts to come together and then turn over onto a lightly floured surface ans knead with your hands a few times until a ball forms. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is 1/2 inch thick and then with a biscuit cutter or a floured drinking glass, cut the dough into circles and place on baking sheet. (At this point, you could freeze the biscuit dough circles on a baking sheet for a few minutes and then place in a freezer bag to keep in your freezer until ready to be baked...to bake from freezer, just a add a few minutes to your baking time) You can re-roll and cut again the dough once. You should get about 10 biscuits, depending on the size of your biscuit cutter. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the biscuits have puffed up and are golden brown. Serve warm! 

recipe slightly adapted from: http://bakingbites.com/2008/11/sour-cream-and-green-onion-biscuits/

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

   

I have made this whole wheat pita bread twice now and I love it! I don't really think I will ever buy store bought pita bread again...this recipe is so much better that I probably couldn't eat the store bought kind. This bread is soft, chewy, and so amazing. My husband can testify to that seeing as I made this pita bread today and he came home, ate two for a snack and then   ate another piece as part of his dinner. He says it's the best pita bread he has ever had! Works for me! Now, this may seem like too much work for you, but I assure you it is quite simple! If you have a day where you will be home for a few hours, you can complete many tasks in between all the rising of this dough! I really hope you give this homemade pita bread a try, it's so worth it!

Recipe:

2 ¼ tsp instant yeast

1 TBS honey

1 ¼ Cups warm water, divided

1 ½ Cups bread flour, divided

1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour, divided

¼ Cup olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Cormeal, for sprinkling

More flour for dough, if it is too sticky

Directions:

In a bowl of a stand mixer add the yeast, honey and ½ Cup of warm water. Stir gently to blend. Whisk ¼ Cup of the bread flour and ¼ Cup of the whole wheat flour into the bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and return the bowl to your stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Add in the remaining ¾ Cup of water, 1¼ cups bread flour, 1¼ cups whole wheat flour, ¼ cup olive oil, and 1 tsp. salt. Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and not too sticky.( I had to add about another ½ Cup of bread flour and ½ cup of whole wheat flour to my dough to get this consistency. You may or may not have to do this, just check your dough and if it is too sticky and not pulling away from the edge of the bowl, add more flour a little at a time until it is smooth.  Put dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let sit in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. You will know that your dough is dough if you poke it and a dimple remains in it, if it springs back it needs more time to rise.

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 500 degrees with a pizza stone it in, if you are using one.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 9 equal pieces, roll them into a ball and then flatten into circles using a rolling pin. They should be about 6 inch circles. Transfer disks of dough onto a surface sprinkled with cornmeal and cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes or until puffed up a little.

Transfer 4 pitas at a time into the oven on your pizza stone or set them on a flipped over baking sheet surface and let sit for 2 minutes in the oven until slightly puffy. Turn them over with a tongs and let cook 1 minute more. Remove from oven and put the rest of the pitas in and do the same. Transfer pitas to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

The Dough after it is rolled into balls 

My flattened out disks of dough

 There are tons of things you can do with this pita bread, like gyros, pita pockets, dip in hummus, and much more, but our personal favorite....Individual Pita Pizzas! Top with sauce, cheese and seasonings, and place under broiler for a few minutes and you have a quick and delicious dinner!

adapted from: http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/20/whole-wheat-pita-bread/

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

 These muffins are so good! I absolutely LOVE muffins! When we first moved into our apartment in San Diego last year, the only pan I had was a muffin pan and because I love to bake, I just made a lot of muffins! I have so many muffin recipes I want to try, but this will be my go-to blueberry muffin recipe from now on. I really love the fresh blueberries in this and I wouldn't recommend substituting frozen. I also love that this recipe is really simple. It's basically a one-bowl kind of recipe....easy clean up, gotta love it! I found it kind of weird that the recipe called for only 8 muffins as opposed to the usual 12 but I went with it and they turned out amazing. The streusel topping makes them slightly crunchy on top!


Recipe :
1 1/2 Cups flour
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 Egg
about 1/3 Cup milk
1 Cup blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/4 Cup sugar
2 TBS plus 2 tsp flour
2 TBS cold butter, cubed
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Grease or line muffin cups. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Place vegetable oil in a 1 cup measuring cup and then add the egg and pour milk into to fill up to the 1 Cup line. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in blueberries. Pour the batter into 8 muffin cups, filling almost all the way to the top.
To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients into a bowl and cut with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake 20-25 minutes

Original recipe found at Allrecipes.com