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Pumpkin Bread

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Pumpkin BreadFall is my favorite time of year. This is the start of the holiday season and when I start bringing out all of my favorite recipes.

Over the years I have collected dozens of recipes. All of them are very special to me as some were passed down from family members. Others were given to me from dear friends and others are original creations that my crew have come to expect each year. I keep telling myself that one day I am going to get everything typed up and create a digital cookbook. For now they are all housed in my handy cookbook. It might be a little old fashioned these days…but it works for me!

I got my porch decorated with pumpkins over the weekend and that had me hankering for some pumpkin bread. It’s just not fall without it!

pumpkin breadThe recipe I am sharing with you all is from a friend of mine. It’s by far the best Pumpkin Bread recipe that I have ever had. It’s moist and delicious and absolutely addicting! I have been making this one for over 20 years now. I have tried a few others from buddies who have made claims that theirs was “the best pumpkin bread ever” and have ALWAYS gone back to this one. In my opinion, this recipe really is perfection!

Now, Lisa’s recipe calls for the bread to be baked in two loaf pans but I always do one big bundt pan plus a pan of 24 mini muffins and it turns out perfect. Of course you can use the batter however you wish. If you wanted to make regular size muffins, mini bread loaves or really whatever – all you’ll have to do is adjust the baking time a bit. Once you start smelling that fabulous pumpkin smell…just look for a golden crust and poke your creation with a toothpick and look for it to come out clean!

Whip up a batch of this delightful Pumpkin Bread and I bet your day will be a little happier!

Pumpkin Bread
 
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Serves: 24 servings
Ingredients
  • 3⅓ cups all purpose flour
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ginger
  • 1 cup oil
  • ⅔ cup water
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 can pumpkin
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
  2. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
  3. Combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer.
  4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
  5. Pour into 2 greased bread pans.
  6. Bake at 350 for 1½ hours.
Notes
I usually make one larger loaf using a bundt pan plus 12 mini muffins. You might have to increase the cooking time to accommodate the pan if you choose this method.

Easy Apple Pull-Apart Bread (Bread Machine Version)

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Apple Pull-Apart Bread

Fresh bread is possibly the best thing on earth! Whenever I have bread baking, I always seem to draw a crowd. With recipes like this I really can’t blame folks for gathering!

Pull-apart breads are great for folks who struggle with creating pretty loaves of bread. These breads are best when they look messy. So you haven excuse not to make this one! This bread is like a combination apple pie and cinnamon roll all rolled up into one delicious treat. The best part is that it’s messy and gooey and everyone can’t help but dig in.

I love to make this for brunch when I have friends and family visiting. Bread is such a social food and this pull-apart bread means that everyone sits around together with juice and coffee and we actually have time to just sit and talk! You just have to be quick because there might be a battle over that last piece 😉

Easy Apple Pull-Apart Bread
 
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Serves: 10 - 12
Ingredients
Dough
  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten (room temperature)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1¼ teaspoons salt
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 4½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
Filling
  • 1 21 oz can Comstock Apple Pie Filling & Topping
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Glaze
  • ¾ cup of confectioners sugar, sifted
  • 1 - 1½ tablespoons milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Add the dough ingredients in the order listed into your bread machine. Select dough cycle, start and allow the dough to run the full cycle.
  2. Once the dough has completed the cycle, remove to a lightly floured work surface.
  3. Cover with a dish towel and allow to rest 10 minutes.
  4. Once the dough has rested, roll it to a 20" x 20" rectangle.
  5. Dice the Comstock apples and mix with the cinnamon, then spread over over the dough.
  6. Use a pizza wheel to cut the dough into 2"x2" squares.
  7. Line two loaf pans with parchment paper.
  8. Stack the squares into small piles and gently place the piles into the pan sideways.
  9. Continue this until each pan is full.
  10. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
  11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  12. Bake the bread for 25 - 35 minutes or until golden brown.
  13. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack, peel away the parchment paper while warm.
  14. Make the glaze by mixing in the vanilla then gradually adding the milk until the glaze is a thick pouring consistency.
  15. Drizzle over the bread.

 

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin

My boys get on kicks where they love bananas and eat two a day then will go three or four days before they eat another one. This week was one of those weeks where they weren’t wanting a banana apparently! I ended up with 5 neglected bananas that were looking a bit lonely and over-ripe.

It doesn’t really bother me too much because I know I can always use those bananas and turn them in to a tasty treat that I know they will happily gobble up! I often whip up a Chocolate Banana Bread With Walnuts or even…my favorite – a Blueberry Banana Coffee Cake. This week I opted to do a batch of Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Muffins are one of the easiest things to make. I have never understood why people buy the boxed mixes. It really doesn’t take much more time to measure up your ingredients and bake up a batch of homemade muffins. They are super simple and the taste is fantastic. I timed these so that they’d be ready when the boys were coming home from school and they quickly polished off two within minutes of walking in the door. They were begging for more but I had already planned that these would be part of breakfast the next day…so those boys were out of luck!

The next time you see a couple of over-ripe bananas, try this recipe and see how long the muffins last at your house!

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • 5 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed bananas, sugar, egg and butter and peanut butter until combined.
  3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  4. Add the chocolate chips.
  5. Stir until moistened - do not over mix!
  6. Scoop batter into 12 paper lined muffin cups.
  7. Bake at 350º F for 25 minutes.
  8. Cool on baking rack.

Garlic Breadsticks (Pizza or Garlic Knots…Great Mulitpurpose Dough)

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Garlic Breadsticks

Forewarning…never make these while you are alone! These are dangerously addicting and if you don’t have someone there to help you, you may end up gobbling down 3 or 4 before you know it–tee hee. That may or may not have happened at my house today 😉

Fall is right around the corner and I am already thinking about chili and soups and stews. I was putting together my menu for the week and decided to whip up some Italian Sausage, Spinach & Orzo soup for dinner. I looked and only had enough salad fixings for everyone to have a small side salad so I thought I’d make some breadsticks as an extra addition to the meal.

These Garlic Breadsticks are so simple to make. It’s just a simple pizza dough that takes less than 15 minutes to put together. Once your dough has proofed and rested you can use it to make two pizzas or cut it into strips and bake it up into breadsticks. I like to twist my breadsticks so that I don’t feel like I have to be so perfect in my cuts. Of course if you are in a hurry just cut them and toss them in the oven. I promise when folks eat these they will not care if they are all perfectly shaped!

breadsticks

Garlic Breadsticks (Pizza or Garlic Knots...Great Mulitpurpose Dough)
 
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Ingredients
Dough
  • 1¼ cup warm water (110º F)
  • 2¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 3½ cups of all purpose flour + more as needed
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 3 - 4 garlic cloves, minces
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Pour the warm water in a bowl and mix in the yeast until dissolved (about a minute).
  2. Allow the mixture to sit until the yeast has proofed and starts to bubble and foam.
  3. Add the salt, olive oil, garlic powder and 1 cup of flour and mix until combined.
  4. Gradually add the next 2½ cups until the dough is formed and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
  5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 - 7 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic.
  6. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl and turn once to coat the dough on all sides with the oil.
  7. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and move to a warm draft-free spot and allow to rise for about an hour (dough should double in size).
  8. Once the dough has doubled, punch down and divide into two balls and place into two bowls and allow to rest for 10 minutes - You can now roll these out into two round pizzas, about 24 breadsticks or 50+ garlic knots!
  9. Preheat oven to 400º F.
  10. For breadsticks...on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large 10" x 12" rectangle.
  11. Brush with butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese
  12. Use a sharp knife (or pizza wheel) to cut the dough into 1" strips.
  13. Twist the dough strips and place on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.
  14. Brush lightly with more melted butter and bake in a 400º oven for 12 - 15 minutes - until lightly browned.
  15. While the breadsticks are baking prepare the sauce by combining the butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley and salt in a small saucepan.
  16. Whisk together and cook on medium low heat until the butter is melted.
  17. Once the breadsticks are done, brush with the butter sauce and serve warm.
Notes
For garlic knots, simply roll the dough into an 8" x 12" rectangle.
Then, cut 1" strips widthwise across the rectangle. Cut the 1" strips in half, then tie in knots.

 

Garlic Knots

If you prefer, you can also turn these into garlic knots. It’s the exact same dough but instead of cutting and twisting…you cut it again and tie each strip into into a knot! I even use the same sauce on both. I brush it on the breadstick and toss it with the garlic knots.

Yep, this dough is a mutli-purpose wonder! Don’t be scared if you’ve never tried a homemade pizza dough. It’s so simple and I think once you try this one you may decided to throw away the number for pizza delivery!

Rustic Dipping Bread

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Rustic Dipping BreadI almost never buy bread from the store. There really is no need to buy bread because making it yourself is so simple.  After eating bread fresh from the oven you may never want to take that twist tie off that store bought loaves ever again!

I think people shy away from baking bread as they think that it’s difficult and somehow they will mess it up. I am here to tell you that bread is super simple and honestly takes very little active work. The hardest part about making bread is all the waiting that’s needed. You often have to allow bread to rise a few times before you toss it in the oven. That’s not hard…seriously, all that’s required is that you leave it alone. Pretty simple huh?

Today, I wanted to share my family’s favorite Rustic Dipping Bread. This bread is the ultimate for dipping into oil but it can be used for so much more. I’ll often serve it with pasta meals. Sometimes I turn it into croutons and I have even made it into a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.

This bread offers a deliciously chewy crust with a soft, airy center. I season the bread with Za’atar before it’s baked and also sprinkle it on top for even more flavor. Heck, I even add it to my olive oil. Yes..that spice blend is phenomenal with this bread.

Now, if you don’t have Za’atar you really might want to grab some. You’ll find that you probably buy it more often than you pick up parsley…It’s that good! If you want to make the bread with what you have on hand you could always throw in some rosemary. It’s a great combination with this type of italian bread.

Rustic Dipping Bread
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon yeast
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup warm water (between 105º - 110ºF)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups all purpose flour + additional for kneading
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons za'atar spice mix
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Sea salt (if desired)
Instructions
  1. Mix the sugar, yeast and water in a bowl and allow to sit for 3 - 5 minutes until bubbly.
  2. Add in 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of Za'atar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix until combined
  3. Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a bowl lightly coated with olive oil.
  5. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm, draft free area and allow to rise for about an hour.
  6. After the first rise, punch down the dough and divide into two balls.
  7. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining tablespoon of Za'atar and lightly press into the surface.
  8. Allow the dough to rest while you prepare the pans.
  9. Coat two 8" - 9" cake pans by lightly coating with cooking spray or olive oil.
  10. Place the rounded dough onto the pans then cover with the tea towel allowing it to rise for 45 minutes in a warm, draft free area.
  11. Preheat the oven to 400º F.
  12. Place a pan of boiling water on the lowest rack and then bake the bread on the middle rack for 15 - 20 minutes until lightly browned.
  13. Remove the bread from the oven and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
  14. Broil the bread for 2 - 4 minutes until the top is golden brown.
  15. Serve with olive oil sprinkles with additional Za'atar.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Food.com