Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls (vegan)

Christmas morning seemed like the perfect time to experiment a bit with making cinnamon rolls. I've made them before, but I wanted to create a vegan version. These turned out exquisitely well - some of the best whole wheat cinnamon rolls I've ever had! Some of the filling bubbled out making almost a caramel like substance on the bottom of these. I was skeptical at first, but I really think that is what made these so delectable.

 I didn't have any powdered sugar, so I enjoyed these without any icing. Jeff, however, said they were good, but that icing would make them even better!!

Cinnamon Rolls (vegan)

Yield: 12 rolls

Banana Bread

I made this banana bread over a month ago. I'm not sure where I found the original recipe, but I modified it to make it vegan. I pretty much ate the entire loaf. Oops!

Banana Bread

Yield: 1 9-inch loaf

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

I've made this bread twice now since starting this post. The first time I didn't take any pictures, but wrote up the post. The second time I remembered to take pictures, but it took me forever to edit them and put them in the post, but the wait is over! 

This bread turned out great! Even my husband, who prefers everything store-bought, agreed. The problem with homemade bread, of course, is that it doesn't last as long a store-bought. I mean, we eat it SO fast! I'm not going to complain, though - at least the house smells really good while it's baking. Yum!

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

Yield: 2 9-inch loaves

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (95F-100F)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 pkg active yeast
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 T vital wheat gluten
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Cooking Directions

1. Dissolve honey in warm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle package of yeast on top of water mixture. Do NOT stir in yeast; simply let it sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast softens and forms a creamy foam.

2. Meanwhile, stir together the flours, oatmeal, gluten, and salt. Form a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Stir until it all comes together.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 12-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

   Tip 1:To determine if yeast dough is kneaded enough, break off a small walnut-sized ball of dough. Stretch the dough; much like stretching a balloon or a piece of bubble gum. If the dough is kneaded enough, it will be tear easily and a translucent membrane will be visible. This is known as a gluten window.

   
4. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat it with oil. Cover with a light cloth and let rise until doubled - about 45 minutes.

   Tip 2: I shared this tip before here, but to determine if the dough has doubled in size, gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.

5. Grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough and turn it out onto a lightly-floured surface. Use a knife to divide the dough into two equal parts - do not tear. Shape the dough into loaves and place in prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.


6. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake loaves 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing from pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Biscuit loving.....in 6!

Ok so now I have a computer back....I can't find my camera....oh moving is so fun isn't!!!! I am so lucky right now in my life because I am back to being a stay at home mom. WHICH MEANS???????!!!! Why more baking and cooking time. Of course, it also means a little tightening of the budget but I am finding it to be a pleasant challenge....makes me feel so good when I create a great tasting low costing meal.

I have a confession to make. I have had a secret love affair since my son got his ipad. I am and probably will forever on be addicted to FoodGawker. I love it and have "hearted" thousands of recipes that I probably will never be able to begin to make. These people are AMAZING bakers and chefs, if I could be even a smidgen as good as them I would be happy as a clam! So I was taking my nightly looksie and found this AMAZING recipe for super tasty and tender biscuits. I am a BREAD addict, I swear I have one whole organ in my body solely devoted to use of Bread products....there is a reason it is called the staff of life!! If I don't have bread or a dog in my house I am one UNHAPPY camper....SO to find a quick fix for it and in such a nice batch size I was all over this recipe. As my dad would say, like a chicken on a june bug. I made these little lovelies and was NOT disappointed. Neither was my son or my husband, which is amazing because my hubby is not one for bread or any of its relatives. He ate 2. Seriously no joke! So I thought to meself, it is time to post on the blog. BUT HOW???!?? I have no pictures of my own to show...true, but this is the internet, with a click of a button you will be sent to this amazing recipe complete with picture and all in less than 20 seconds!! I will continue with my search party for my camera as of tomorrow....my upstairs is full of surprises yet to be uncovered! Until then, enjoy this recipe, and head over to foodgawker too....it is AMAZING....way better than Pinterest....seriously!

Source: dessertfortwo.com via Clarinda on Pinterest

PS Make sure you use REAL buttermilk for these. VERY important:)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday I really had a hankering for cinnamon rolls. Also, I have a LOT of whole wheat flour that I need to be using, so I searched online for a whole wheat cinnamon roll recipe. I found this one at Myrecipes.com. My goodness do cinnamon rolls ever take a long time to make! But these are very tasty, and I going with slightly healthier since they are made with whole wheat and honey. Jeff is not much of a cinnamon roll fan, so these didn't really top his list - especially because of the whole wheat. Oh well, more for me!

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 1/2 packages dry yeast (about 3 1/4 teaspoons)
• 3/4 cup warm fat-free milk (100° to 110°)
• 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 11 1/4 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (about 7 ounces)
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup raisins (optional)

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 teaspoons fat-free milk

Directions:
1. To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm milk and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until foamy.

2. Add butter and next 5 ingredients (through egg white); stir well. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and all of the whole wheat flour, stirring until a soft dough forms. Knead for 2 minutes on Speed 2 of a heavy duty mixer (alternately, you can turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes)). Dough should still feel sticky, but go ahead and add enough of the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from becoming too sticky.

3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°F), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Tip 1: I usually turn my oven on for about one minute and then turn it off and place the covered bowl of dough into the oven. This will keep it ever-so-slighty warm and relatively draft-free.

Tip 2: To determine if the dough has doubled in size, gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.

4. Punch dough down; roll into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Coat surface of dough with cooking spray.

5. To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; sprinkle over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle raisins (if using) over dough, pressing gently into dough.

6. Roll up rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam to seal. Cut the dough into 16 rolls. Place the rolls, cut sides up, in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Tip 3: I marked the dough at 1" increments and then used dental floss to easily cut the rolls without smooshing them too much. Worked like a charm.

7. Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

8. Preheat oven to 375°F. Uncover rolls. Bake for 22 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

9. To prepare glaze, place powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Add 5 teaspoons milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring to form a thick glaze. Drizzle glaze evenly over rolls.

Jeff Gremillion, Cooking Light
JUNE 2007

Braided Bread with a Touch of Rye

I found this recipe on my friend's blog, Recipe Shoebox. It looked so good! I was the first to leave a comment, and I couldn't wait to try it out myself. Well, it took me over a month to finally give it a shot (and now another 4 months to blog about it), and it turned out better than I could have expected. I brought it to my family's Sunday dinner, and everyone loved it. We still tease my nephew about eating nearly an entire loaf by himself. It was that good!

Yields 2 loaves.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. yeast
• 1-1/4 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 1/4 cup soft butter (not melted)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 pkg. (2.9-oz.) vanilla pudding mix NOTE: Don't use sugar free varieties of vanilla pudding mixes. (I did use an instant mix though, and it worked just fine.)
• 3-4 cups flour (I used mostly all purpose flour mixed with some rye. This was a few months ago, but I think I used closer to a 3:1 ratio for the white to rye flours)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add softened butter, salt, and dry pudding mix. Stir until dissolved. Gradually add flour to right consistency.

2. Knead dough 12 times (or 2 minutes in mixer). Divide dough into 6 equal portions and roll out into a long shape. Braid 3 together for a loaf. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise 2 hours (or until doubled).

3. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

Braided Rye Bread

Enjoy!

Delicious Homemade Bread

The other day, I decided to bake some homemade bread. I have a lot of ground flaxseed that I need to use, and we needed bread, so it just seemed logical. I scoured the Internet for a recipe that seemed easy and appealing but found nothing. I did find a Q&A about whether or not ground flaxseed could be used in place of wheat germ. The answer was yes! I decided to modify a recipe I had for Whole Grain Wheat Bread from the KitchenAid cookbook that came with my mixer. This bread turned out so yummy! Even Jeff raved about it. :-)

Click here for Printable Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup plus 1T brown sugar, divided
• 2 cups warm water (105°F to 115°F)
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 5 to 6 cups flour blend (For 6 cups of blend, combine 2c all-purpose flour, 2c whole wheat flour, 1c wheat germ, 1c ground flaxseed)
• 3/4 cup powdered milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup oil

Directions:
Dissolve 1T brown sugar in warm water in small bowl. Add yeast and let mixture stand.

Place 4 cups flour blend, powdered milk, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl.

Using bread hook, mix for 15 seconds on Speed 2. Continuing on Speed 2, gradually add yeast mixture and oil. Mix for an additional 1 1/2 minutes.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on Speed 2 for about 2 additional minutes. Dough may not form a ball on hook. However, as long as hook comes in contact with dough, kneading will be accomplished. Do not add more than the maximum amount of flour specified or a dry loaf will result.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled. I usually turn my oven on to the lowest setting for about 1 minute, then turn it off and let the bread rise in the oven. Bread is doubled when you put two fingers in the dough about 1/2" and the indentation remains.

Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches. A rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove gas bubbles. Starting at short end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch to seal the seam. Pinch the ends and turn them under. Place the dough, seam side down, in a greased loaf pan. Cover loaf pans. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. This time, I just let them rise on the stovetop, not in the oven, so that I can preheat the oven after about 45 minutes of rising.

Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. I haven't quite figured out how to take pictures while my hands are covered in sticky bread dough!