Old Fashion Gingerbread

old-fashion-gingerbread

Happy Holidays Everyone!

It seems life and commitments to family and work have kept me from posting my recipes.

It has made me sad.

Just want you to know that I think about you and appreciate your patience while I try to juggle all things while messing up most of the time.

But, it is the holidays.

Time to be thankful!

And, I am thankful for you for taking time out of your busy day to read my little blog that has grown a few cobwebs as of late.

So, here’s to taking my kitchen broom to those cobwebs and start posting some recipes.

Shall we? : )

Here is my first one!

Good Old Fashion Gingerbread.

Gingerbread is just a classic dessert or gift to make during the holidays. The fragrance of spices baking together in the oven with the brown sugar and molasses just make your kitchen smell like the holidays. Add a touch of whipped cream, or in my case cool whip and a sprinkling of powdered sugar and you are good to go. You can change up the spices a bit to your liking, and I have cut down on the nutmeg and added a touch of salt to this recipe. Other than that, this recipe is family approved.

So lets get going!

This is what you will need to make this recipe.

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You will need some flour, brown sugar, molasses or sorghum, eggs, oil, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger,  ground cloves and salt and nutmeg which I forgot to put in the picture. Oh and water : )

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First thing you will do is add the two eggs to the mixing bowl and beat up a little bit.

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Now add in your brown sugar and mix until combined with the eggs.

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Now add in your oil and slowly mix with the brown sugar mixture or you will have a big mess….how would I know that LOL

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Now, add in your molasses or sorghum and mix in.

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In a medium bowl add in your flour.

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Add in all your seasoning, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and baking soda and mix together.

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Add in the flour mixture into the brown sugar mixture and combine. This will be thick.

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Lastly add in one cup of boil water. Can you see the steam. Add this in slowly also, and mix until it is all incorporated.

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Now, pour into  your baking containers. This recipe is enough to fill a 9 by 13 pan. I have opted to bake a 8 by 8 and a round paper pan because I was testing out the paper pans to bake the gingerbread in as gifts to give away. It would great by the way!

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Here is a picture of the 8 by 8 pan and the round paper baking pan. Now pop the gingerbread in a preheated 350 degree oven for the 9 by 13 size pan. I baked mine at 325 for the paper pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the gingerbread springs back slightly in the middle. Do not over bake.

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Here is what it should look like coming out of the oven. Just starting to crack a bit on top and the middle is cooked.

Doesn’t it look delicious?

It smells good too…. : )

Here is the recipe!

Old Fashion Gingerbread

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup oil

2 1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup boiling water

Optional: cool whip or sweeten whipped cream and/or powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13 pan

Put the eggs in a mixing bowl and beat the eggs with the electric mixer.

Add the brown sugar to the beaten and eggs and combine.

Add in the molasses to the brown sugar mixture and combine thoroughly.

Slowly mix in the oil to the brown sugar mixture.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture. Combine.

Pour in the hot water a little at time and mix together with the electric mixer.

Pour the batter into the greased and flour baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top barely cracks and the center is cooked.

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Dust with powdered sugar if you want. Now, just wait a couple of minutes and watch it start to disappear.

Enjoy!

Becky

 

Pistachio Bread

Top of the morning to  you!

Your eyes are not deceiving you….you are seeing green bread!

When I spied this recipe from an old newspaper clipping, I thought it would be a great bread to make to get ready for Saint Patrick’s Day.  It is simple to make, taste great, and it is GREEN. How cool is that? My foods class at school even made some on Friday. The students (picky eaters) loved this bread so much, they packed all their bread off and scooted out of the Foods Lab as soon as the bell rang. I think they must have seen an leprechaun who wanted a piece.

Anywho, if you are looking for something fun, easy to make, moist and tasty and most importantly GREEN to make on St. Patty’s Day, I hope you give this recipe a try.

Who knows, you might be able to bribe a leprechaun into telling you where the end of the rainbow is with a large slice of this bread.

You can make this bread with just a few ingredients:

You will need a yellow or white cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, cinnamon and sugar mixture and a box of pistachio pudding.

 

         

The first thing you need to do is crack the four eggs and beat them in a small bowl.

         

In a large bowl, put in the cake mix and pudding mix.

         

Add in the sour cream and the water. (see the pudding mix turn green)

         

Add the oil and the beaten eggs.

         

With an electric mixture, mix the bread batter together till smooth and fluffy.

         

In prepared pans (I spray lightly with vegetable oil and line the bottom with parchment paper) Put in 1/4 of the batter into the bottom of each of the pans.

         

Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the batter in each pan. Save the other half of the cinnamon sugar mixture for the top. Spoon the remaining batter, in equal amounts on top of the cinnamon sugar layer.

         

Spread the batter evenly over the cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar on the top layer of the bread.

Bale in a preheat 350 degree oven for around 40 minutes.

I just love that cinnamon sugary crusty top!

Here is the recipe

Pistachio Bread

Adapted from old newspaper clipping

Ingredients:

1 white or yellow box cake mix

1 box (3 1/2 ounce size) instant pistachio pudding

4 eggs beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

Topping Ingredients:

6 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your loaf pans (you will need two) by lightly spraying with vegetable spray and covering the bottom with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping and inside layer of bread.

In a small bowl, beat the four eggs.

In a large bowl, add the cake mix, pistachio pudding, sour cream, beaten eggs, water and oil. With an electric mixture, mix together until the batter is light and fluffy.

Put 1/4 of the batter into each of the loaf pans and spread evenly. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cinnamon sugar on evenly on top of the batter layer in both pans. Spoon the remaining batter on top of the cinnamon sugar layer, in both pans. Spread the batter evenly. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture evenly on top of batter, in both pans.

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove, and leave in pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and take the bread out of the pans and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Makes two loafs.

You will be glad it makes two loafs.

One for you and one for your little leprechauns.

Enjoy!

Becky

Other St. Pat’s Day recipes you may enjoy making:

                             

Corn Beef                                                         Irish Soda Bread 

Crusty White Bread

Are you craving bread?

In like, warm, soft, crusty bread that is perfect with that homemade jam and butter.

I sure am.

I think, it is because of  the below freezing temperatures and the 8 inches of snow outside.

Instead of apple a day, doesn’t the doctor suggest a slice of homemade crusty bread, will keep the doctors away.

Ok…fine….the doc did not…but the doc should have. : )

Oldest Daughter who does not cook, ate ALL (well, almost all) the Molasses Oatmeal Bread I made the other day.

So,….now that the roads are clear enough for her to go back to work (I still have another snow day from school), I thought I would make some bread, and eat all I wanted before she came home.

Great Plan…right? (Devilish smile)

Don’t worry about the girl who cannot cook….I made two loaves. One for me…and one for everyone else.

See, I know how to share.

Why, don’t you try this, melt in your mouth crusty white bread, and see if you feel like sharing.

Here is what you need to make the perfect Crusty White Bread.

You will need, flour, yeast, sugar, vegetable shortening, butter, salt, eggs, lemon juice and oil.

         

In a measuring cup, put in your lukewarm water, yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The sugar feeds the yeast and helps it to activate.

After about five minutes your yeast should look like this. The bubbles on top tell you that the yeast is activated.

         

Now, switch to a stand mixer and add in the eggs and vegetable shortening.

         

Now, add on the salt and the lemon juice.

           

Add in the sugar (I forgot to take a picture of me adding the sugar). Mix everything together with the beater attachment on your stand mixer.

         

Add in the activated yeast and mix in with the egg mixture.

         

Add in three cups of flour and beat in with the mixer. It will look like a thick paste mixture.

         

Now, switch to you dough hook and add another 3 cups of flour. If you do not have a dough hook, use your beater to add more flour, then just knead the dough by hand to add in the rest of the flour.

         

After I used my dough hook on the dough for five minutes. I took it out and put the dough on a lightly floured pastry board.

         

I kneaded the dough, adding just enough flour to make a soft dough. I placed the dough in a large bowl.

         

Brush a little oil on top of the bread, Put a towel on top of the bowl and place the bowl in a warm place for the dough to rise.

After about an hour the dough will rise to double it’s size.

Place the dough back on the lightly floured pastry board and cut the dough in half. (if you do not have a pastry board just use the kitchen counter)

Roll the dough out to a 9 inch by 18 inch rectangle.

Roll the dough up from the short end.

Seal the edge of the dough to the loaf by pinching it together.

Place the dough into a greased 9 inch by 5 inch bread pan.

Cover the pans with a towel and let the loaves rise till they double in size. Now, it is time to bake the bread. I lowered my rack in the over to one notch lower. I preheated my oven to 370. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow inside and is nicely browned.

When they come out of the oven, brush the loaves with melted butter.

Take the bread out of the pans and cool completely. I know it is hard not to cut into them now. : )

See what a beautiful loaf of bread this recipe makes?

I think you have waited long enough for the recipe : )

Here is the recipe.

Crusty White Bread

Ingredients:

2 envelopes of active dry yeast

2 cups of lukewarm water (105 to 110 degrees)

2 tablespoons sugar to add to the yeast and water

1/2 cup sugar to add to the dough

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

6 to 6 1/2 cup flour. I used all purpose flour, but you can use bread flour if you have it.

1 tablespoon oil to put on top of the dough while rising

2 tablespoons butter, melted to put on top of the loaves when they come out of the oven.

Directions:

In a large liquid measuring cup, measure out the warm water. Add the yeast and the sugar. Stir to dissolve. Wait 5 minutes for the yeast to activate.

In the bowl of stand mixer. Add the eggs, vegetable shortening, sugar, salt and lemon juice. With the beater attachment, mix together.

Add the yeast mixture to the egg mixture in the mixing bowl. Mix in.

Add in 3 cups of flour and beat in with the mixer until it is mixed in completely.

Switch to your dough hook attachment. Add in 3 more cups of flour. Knead in the flour with the dough hook for five minutes.

Take the dough out of the bowl and put on a floured surface. Knead in enough flour to make a nice soft dough.

Put the dough into a grease bowl. Brush oil on top of the dough. Cover the dough with a towel, put in a nice warm place (85 degrees if you can). Let the dough double in size.

Take the risen dough and place it on a floured surface and cut in half.

Roll each half into a rectangle that is 9 inches by 18. Roll the dough up by the short end. Seal the ends and the edge of the dough by pinching it together.

Put the loaves into lightly greased bread pans.

Cover the dough and let them rise, till doubled.

Preheat oven to 370 degrees. Lower the oven rack by one notch. (So the top of the bread does not too brown when baking)

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are a golden brown and should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove loaves from pans and put on a wire cooling rack. Brush the loaves with melted butter.

Cool completely before slicing.

Nothing is better than homemade crusty white bread!

Hope you will try to make some for yourself!

Stay warm and eat food….really good food!

Becky

You may also enjoy:

                   

Irish Soda Bread                          Garlic Cheddar Biscuits               Baking Powdered Biscuits 

Going Bananas!

Is anyone else out there going bananas trying to get your house cleaned, menu made, grocery shopping, cooking, baking and then keeping the house clean for your Thanksgiving Dinner????

Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving! I even volunteer to have my whole family come to my house for Thanksgiving.  Come one, come all….but, this year it is taking me longer to get everything done. I am blaming it on having Company over. It is hard to get a lot done when you have Company over. Don’t you agree? : )

So, I decided to quit worrying so much about it and just,”go bananas,” and make banana bread with a twist of lime.

This recipe for, Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze, is super moist, has a great flavor and the lime glaze adds a refreshing tart taste. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have just eaten the top off the whole loaf of  bread, because it was that good!

Anywho, if you need a distraction from figuring out your Thanksgiving plans and don’t mind getting the kitchen just a little bit dirty, give this recipe a try.

Here is what you will need to make this delightful bread.

First think you need to do is mix the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Next, in a separate bowl, you need to cream the butter and sugar together.

In the same bowl you creamed the butter and sugar in, add the eggs and mix together.

In another bowl, mash or beat up your bananas with a mixer.

Add the mashed bananas, yogurt and vanilla to the creamed mixture.

With a mixer, add in the dry flour mixture in with the wet banana mixture.

Lastly, stir in the coconut.

    

Pour batter in to a prepared loaf pan. I get my pan ready by lining the bottom with parchment paper and giving the inside of the pan a little spray of vegetable spray.

Once the batter is poured into the loaf pan, top the batter with some coconut.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.

Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes and remove.

While the bread is cooling you can make the glaze.

First thing to do is take a little zest from the lime using a zesting tool.

 

Add  the lime juice (you can substitute lemon) juice to the lime zest.

Add in some coconut.

Then add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Stir together.

Once the banana bread has cooled off, pour the glaze over the top  of the warm bread.

Spread it evenly over the top of the loaf.

Now all you have to do is slice and eat (gobble) up the bread.

So the motto of today’s recipe with the holidays fast approaching, if you feel like you are going bananas, make banana bread!!

Here is the recipe!

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt ( I used vanilla flavored and it worked out great)

3 tablespoons vanilla

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Lime Glaze

1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 cup powdered sugr

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

zest from half of a lime

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and the salt. In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the mashed bananas, yogurt, and the vanilla. With the mixer set at low beat in the flour mixture until moist. Stir in the coconut. Spoon batter in a prepared 9 by 5 loaf pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with coconut. Bake for one hour or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes then take out of pan and cool slightly. Prepare the glaze but zesting a half of a lime, and mixing with the lime juice, coconut and powdered sugar. Pour the glaze over warm bread spreading evenly.

Next time you have some extra bananas, give this recipe a try. Before you know it, your loaf will be half gone just like mine!

Tonight I am going to eat banana bread…tomorrow I will worry about Thanksgiving!!!

Enjoy!

Becky

Poppy Seed Bread

I made candy yesterday.

Today is baking day.

This is my favorite poppy seed bread recipe. It comes from a old local cookbook that was published in way back in 1973.

Pretty Old uh?

Sometimes, oldies are goodies.

A nice lady named Judy Wollard submitted this recipe. I do not know who Judy is, or if she is still alive, but she must be nice if she shared her recipe.  The cookbook belonged to my ex Mother In Law, Jackie. She belonged to the American Business Women’s Association. The ABWA compiled a cookbook of favorite recipes and sold them to raise money. You could buy a copy for $2.00 each. I wonder how much money they made.

Jackie loved a good recipe. She left behind recipes she typed up on index cards, recipes she had cut of newspapers, and recipes she wrote down from her friends.

She had beautiful handwriting.

My children still ask for me to make some of her recipes.

Funny how a recipe can last longer that you can.

I love her recipes.

My family does too. When I asked them what they wanted on their goodie tray, they all said poppy seed bread.

This poppy seed bread is sweet and has a nice aroma of almond and butter with a dash of vanilla. While it is hot from the oven you pour on a orange juice and sugar glaze for an extra measure of moistness. Sounds perfect right?

It is.

Thank you Judy for sharing such a delicious recipe for my holiday goodie trays.

Thank you Jackie, for leaving me your cookbook.

Here is how you can make this holiday bread in your kitchen.

Becky

You will need, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, almond flavoring, butter flavoring, poppy seeds, sugar, salt, oil milk, flour and orange juice.

         

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Next add the sugar. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

         

Add the oil, milk and butter and almond flavoring.

         

Add the vanilla and eggs. (that is baby college girl cracking the eggs) and mix together.

Evenly pour batter in small loaf pans lined with parchment paper. Or you can do two regular size loaf pans also.

Bake until when you insert a cake tester in the bread and it comes out clean. This bread is not quite done.

While the bread is baking, heat the orange juice, sugar, vanilla, and almond and butter flavoring.

When the bread comes out of the oven, pour warm glaze over each loaf. If you want to, you can take a skewer and poke holes in the bread to allow the glaze to enter the bread easier.

Take a knife and run around each loaf of bread to loosen from the sides of the pan. Take the bread out and cool on a cooling rack.

This is an oldie but goodie recipe.

Why change perfection?

Enjoy!

Becky

Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon poppy seed

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/8 cup oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring

1 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring

Glaze:

1/2 cup orange juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring

1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring

Heat up glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan until the sugar is dissolved. When the bread is still warm from the oven, pour glaze over each loaf.

Directions for the bread:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and poppy seeds. Add oil, milk, eggs and almond, vanilla, and butter flavoring.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until all the dry ingredients are moisten.

Pour batter equally into 2 regular size loaf pans or 5 small loaf pans.

If you are baking regualr size loaves, bake for 30 to 40 minuts. If you are baking smaller size loaves, bake until the center comes out clean when tested with a tooth pick or cake tester, aprox. 20 to 25 minutes.

 

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