Cooking for Seven

Here is my current favorite whole wheat biscuit recipe. We love to use them for biscuits and gravy. Delicious!

Note: I usually significantly reduce the amount of buttermilk. I’m not sure why, but these always turn out very wet for me. I recommend that you start with less buttermilk and add more as needed.

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Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

From Relish Magazine

Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 oz) whole-wheat pastry flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, plus more if needed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450° F.

To mix using a food processor:

1) Place 1 3/4 cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor fitted with the metal blade and process briefly to combine. Add the butter and toss lightly with a fork to coat the butter with flour. Using 1 second pulses, mix the butter until it resembles course meal. Do not over-mix.

2) Transfer the flour mixture to a bowl. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir with a fork until the dough gathers into one large lump. Add more buttermilk if necessary.

To mix by hand:

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and toss lightly with a fork to coat the butter with flour. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour. Work quickly to keep the butter firm.

2) Add 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir with a fork until the dough gathers into one large lump. Add more buttermilk if necessary.

Continue for either version:

3) Transfer dough to a flat surface sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Roll the dough to coat with flour then pat out into a rough rectangle about 1/2-inch thick and fold into thirds. Repeat the patting and rolling. Pat the dough out to a thickness of about 1 inch. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits and place onto an ungreased baking sheet, placing the biscuits 1 inch apart as they will spread.

4) Bake 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Makes about 12 biscuits

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I have always loved Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. However, when I became more aware of the detrimental effects of MSG, I promptly shunned Jimmy Dean.

Then, I found this recipe to make your own breakfast sausage from scratch! Perhaps it is not a perfect substitute for store-bought breakfast sausage, but I much prefer to know exactly what goes into my sausage.

I have found it handy to double or triple the spice recipe and store the leftovers in a spice jar. Just add 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon to every pound of pork. Also, if you do not wish to use ground pork, you could substitute ground beef. Just remember that the taste and texture will not be the same!

Breakfast Sausage Spice Blend

Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed summer savory
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.

To make sausage: Mix the spice blend thoroughly with 1 lb of ground pork.

Makes about 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon, or enough for 1 lb of sausage.

I am  definitely a Minnesota girl. When the weather turns cold, I rejoice! And I get an itch to bake delicious, sweet things. Like these muffins. And this pie.

Our apples didn’t do so well this year. There were quite a few deformed apples, but I am thankful for what we did get! It is so nice to be able to munch on an apple whenever I wish.

These muffins have a lovely blend of flavors. Chunky apple pieces, nutty whole wheat flour, LOTS of cinnamon (1 whole tablespoon), and crunchy sugar granules on top.

“Do these have the same ingredients as apple crisp?” my brother asked.

They do resemble that delicious dessert.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Printable Page

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup demerara sugar, sucanat, or rapadura, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour or line with paper muffin cups 14 muffin cups and set aside.

2) Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add 3/4 cup of the sweetener of choice. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

2) Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm with butter.

Yield: 12-14 muffins

One evening, when I was in one my baking moods, I felt like making something special for breakfast. I saw these over at Smitten Kitchen and decided that they needed to be made. Of course I made my usual adjustments - whole wheat flour and a natural sweetener. I also left out the lemon zest (as we had none).

To be honest, I thought these bars were a little on the tart side. However, I was overall very pleased with them, and will most likely try them again.

We served them with both liquid and whipped cream. Delicious.

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Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 cup Demerara sugar or Sucanat or rapadura
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup Demerara sugar or Sucanat or rapadura
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

Make the crust and crumb:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.

2) Put the flour, sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

3) Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Make the raspberry filling:

4) In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars:

5) Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.

6) Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares. Serve plane or with liquid or whipped cream. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

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A week or so ago Mom made a trip to our favorite co-op. She brought back many delcious things, including some chopped dates. When she noticed me mixing them into my oatmeal, she protested and expressed a desire for date bread.

I was more than happy to oblige. So I found a recipe from a trusted source and gathered the required ingredients.

Confession: I made two mistakes while preparing this loaf. And it still turned out great! Gotta love Joy of Baking.

1) I added too much flour. Don’t ask me why. I just didn’t trust my usual, fail safe method of weighing the flour. So I had to add 1/4 cup of milk at the end of mixing. Surprisingly the extra mixing didn’t turn the bread into a brick.

2) I completely forgot to add the walnuts. The bread was sitting cozily in the oven when I noticed the walnuts, sitting on the counter, toasted, chopped, and ready to be used. Oh well. I took it in stride.

This bread was very moist and soft, even though I used all whole wheat flour. If you are leery of 100% whole wheat bread, simply use all-purpose flour in place of all or part of the wheat. Serve plane, with butter, or cream cheese.

And the word from Dad, the date hater: “That’s pretty good date bread.” Wow. It must be good.

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Date and Walnut Bread

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces (225 grams) pitted dates, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
• 2 cups (8 ounces) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1/2 cup Sucanat, demerara, or brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1) To prepare the dates: In a large bowl mix the chopped dates with the baking soda and a pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon). Pour 1 cup of very hot water over the dates, stir, and leave to cool to room temperature (about 1 hour).

2) To make the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.  Set aside.

3) In a food processor place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Process to combine and then add the butter. Process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

4) In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the vanilla extract.  Fold the flour mixture and beaten egg mixture into the cooled dates (with their water). Stir until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Gently slide a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Or, if you will not be using the bread immediately, when the bread has almost completely cooled, wrap well in plastic wrap and place in a zippered bag to store.

Makes one - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.