12 days of Christmas Recipes: Snowflake Bread

This honey-glazed bread has just hint of anise.  You get to practice your snowflake drawing in the dough, too.  It's best served warm from the oven.  It goes great with a big pot of stew. 

Snowflake Bread
from Gooseberry Patch

2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1/4 c. warm water
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. honey
4 3/4 c. flour, divided
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. anise seed, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt

Glaze:
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. water

Combine yeast and warm water in a small bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Combine milk, butter, and honey in a large bowl.  Stir in the yeast mixture, 2 cups flour, eggs, vanilla, anise, and salt.  Beat with a mixer until smooth.  Stir in another 2 cups flour until a soft dough forms.  Knead until smooth, gradually adding the remaining 3/4 c. flour.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled.  Punch down dough and divide in half.  Form each half into a 8 inch round loaf.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Cover and let rise 15 minutes.  Use a knife to make a snowflake design in each loaf.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Brush glaze over loaves and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  Serves 10-12.

apple challah

Craving something full of apples and cinnamon?  I came across this recipe in my bread machine cookbook and since we have an abundance of apples around I decided to try it out. 

 

There are three sections of dough braided together.  Each section of dough is like a apple cinnamon roll...the apple filling is rolled up inside. 

 

 

The result is a pretty braid full with apples, cinnamon, and honey in every bite.  



Apple Challah
adapted from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook

Dough:
3/4 c. water
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. oil
3 c. bread flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast

Combine the ingredients in a bread machine and select the dough cycle.  Or, make the dough with any other method you prefer. 

Filling:
3 medium appkes, peeled cored and sliced
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl.  Divide the dough into three equal sections.  Roll each portion into a 12 by 3 inch rectangle.  Brush with melted butter and place 1/3 of the filling down one side.  Roll up jelly-roll style and pinch the seam.  Place the 3 ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid together.  Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes).

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

12 Days of Christmas: Honey Knot Rolls

Day 10: Honey Knot Rolls

Last Sunday we had our Christmas meal at church after an amazing service. I was supposed to bring bread, so after searching around a bit on the internet I decided on honey knot rolls, and the recipe can be found here. These are wonderful, with a honey butter glaze on top. Watch them closely though, the bottoms browned up pretty quick.

The kids are napping and when they wake up their cousins should be here! We get to spend the holiday with Ryan's brother and his family who are stationed in Germany. It's going to be a great week! Four little ones will sure keep up busy, but we have lots of fun things planned.

12 Days of Christmas: baking

Day 6: Double Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter and Cream Cheese Spread This loaf is in the breakfast section of the Baked Explorations cookbook. It would be like eating a giant slice of brownies for breakfast! I didn't actually try this since it was a gift, but it smelled amazing. And the spread was delicious. I definitely will be making it again so I can try them both together. This would make a great gift if you have a chocolate-lover on your list.

Double Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread
from Baked Explorations

3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 c. buttermilk (I used whole milk)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped ( I used about 1/2 c. chocolate chips)

Peanut Butter and Cream Cheese Spread
5 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1/3 c. sugar

Place the brown sugar in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add all the dry ingredients and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk until blended, then add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Turn the mixer on low and slowly stream the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate chunks by hand. Pour batter into a bread pan prepared with butter and flour. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour, until toothpick comes out clean.

To make the spread, beat together the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated.

12 days of Christmas: baking

I don't know if homemade pita chips count as Christmas baking. Maybe you need a snack while you're wrapping presents or addressing Christmas cards. Maybe you need something to munch on while you cook dinner. I just needed something to go with my roasted red pepper hummus.

I've never had pita chips that I can recall, but the idea of them sounded perfect after I made a batch of hummus. I didn't even have pita bread on hand, so this was a two-step process. But it was so simple and hit the spot! I started by making pita bread following this recipe (which I randomly found when searching for pita chip recipes.)

Then I mixed some olive oil, parsley, garlic powder, and rosemary. I cut the pita bread rounds into triangles. I coated them with the olive oil mixture and popped them in the oven (350) for about 15 minutes.

These turned out very flavorful and crunchy. I can't wait to try some whole wheat pitas next.

wordless wednesday ~ english muffins

to a T

This weekend got off to a great start with Triple-berry pancakes on Friday...and then just kept right on Tempting the Tastebuds with Toffee and Tortillas! While Ryan and his dad were moving TONS of dirt outside to get the water drainage/snow meltage figured out, I was busy in the kitchen with his mom and brother. The Stover's always make english toffee at Christmas time to give to family and friends. I've had the recipe for awhile now, but had never made it. Until now. OK, I didn't really make it...I just stirred, stirred, stirred, and poured. Teri and Lee did the rest. But I'm pretty sure I can handle it on my own now after watching the professionals:) It sure is delicious! I've been helping myself to a little peice for dessert after dinner (ok, after lunch and breakfast too!).

While the toffee was cooling, Teri got out a recipe for homemade tortillas that we've been talking about trying for some time. I thought making your own tortillas would be difficult and time-consuming, but it was so simple. My favorite part is WHACKing them down (I'm pretty sure that's the technical term) while they're bubbling up in the skillet! We all had to take a turn.

Ok, I didn't get a picture of these golden beauties because we gobbled them up at lunch. But, don't worry, I will be making these again. They are so much tastier than store-bought ones. Go ahead, give them a try...

Tortillas

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

about 1 cup warm water

Sift dry ingredients and mix together; gradually add water until crumbly dough forms. Knead until smooth. Divide into 12 rounds. Cover with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. Flatten each ball and roll into a 9 inch round. As you shape each tortilla, place on a pre-heated (med-high), dry skillet. Blisters should appear. Turn tortilla immediately and press blisters down with spatula. Turn again and press until blisters turn golden brown. Stack tortillas as cooked inside a folded cloth towel within a plastic bag; close bag and let tortillas steam and soften until all are cooked.

recipe from sunset mexican