Apple Muffins with Crisp Topping

Here's another great use for all those Fall apples you're picking this month. These muffins are extraordinarily moist, perfectly spicy, and the crumbly topping is a nice sweet addition that makes you want to save the top for last! Without going on and on and on about how good these are, I will simply say... make these muffins! You won't be sorry! (My husband has offed four all by himself today and asked when I'm going back for more apples to make more.)

Apple Muffins with Crisp Topping

Makes 12 regular muffins, or a whole mess of minis!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (if using a heavier Kosher salt, up it to 3/4 tsp)
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• ------whisk ---------
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• ------cream until fluffy------
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3 apples, peeled. 1 shredded, and two finely chopped

Topping:

• 1/3 Cup packed brown sugar (again, I used dark)
• 1 TBSP flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 TBSP oatmeal
• -----whisk together, then cut in...-----
• 2 TBSP room temp salted butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Whisk together dry ingredients.
• In a separate bowl, cream the sugars, eggs, and butter until light and fluffy.
• Add the shredded apple and vanilla to the wet mix and stir in with a spatula or wooden spoon.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold together with spatula or spoon until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
• Add chopped apple and fold in until well-distributed.
• Mix topping - dry ingredients first. Then use a fork to cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
• Line muffin tray with papers or liberally spray each cup.
• Fill each cup to the top with batter.
• Sprinkle with topping.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Mini-muffins for 13-14 minutes. Or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

*You can also bake this as a coffee cake too. 8x8 pan, spray it well! Bake 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

*If you really like the topping - double it... I won't tell anyone.

I like to make the mini-muffins topping-free for my daughter. Less messy, and a little healthier!

Lemon, Raspberry, and Blueberry Muffins

Here is one more "red, white, and blue" treat for you this weekend. We've been enjoying the fresh berries that we picked all week, but I needed to use up the last ones before we (hopefully) go and pick more tomorrow. My best intention is to pick enough to freeze so we can enjoy fresh local berries in baked goods and smoothies this winter. We'll see if I can pick enough... it's often hard with my little "helper" along for the ride!

This recipe is adapted from one that lives at allrecipes.com. The changes I made turned it into a more "sweet muffin" or more along the lines of a healthy cupcake. I took these along as a dessert item to a Fireworks Symphonia. They traveled well, but I will admit that I actually should not have put them in the cooler! They taste much better room temperature or slightly warmed.

Red, White, and Blue Berry Sweet Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 3 TBSP coconut oil (you can use vegetable oil as well)
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP half and half or milk
• 1 egg, plus one egg white
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• grated lemon zest from half a lemon
• 1/2 cup raspberries, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup blueberries, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup white baking chips (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with papers.
• In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, eggs, and lemon extract.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just blended.
• Gently stir in the raspberries, blueberries, and white chips.
• Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool muffins in the tin on a wire rack.

Topping:

You have some choices here. I wanted something to mimic icing without having to make some. I took some white baking bar chocolate and melted it in the microwave for 30 seconds and smeared it on the tops of the muffins. It worked great for what I was going for! But you could also sprinkle some raw sugar on the tops of the muffins before they go into the oven (as the original recipe suggests). OR, you could also mix some powdered sugar (about 1/3 cup) with a tsp or so of lemon juice to make a quick lemon glaze to stripe on the muffins after they come out of the oven.

*And remember my earlier note... These definitely taste better at room temperature or slightly warmed. If you have to chill them overnight for using the following day, just make sure to give them some time out of the fridge before serving.

Hamburger Buns

I've tried quite a few hamburger bun recipes, but none I have felt were worthy of re-posting. Finally I have found one I feel I must share! It is a simple recipe, simple steps, and pretty easy to throw together the afternoon before a BBQ. This recipe makes 6 generous sized burger buns. You could easily double or triple the recipe. I did change a few things (I guess that is just my M.O., as my husband says) and I'll put those changes in parenthesis next to the original ingredients or instructions.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of King Arthur brand flour. The King Arthur website is a great place for fun baking products, but they also have a really nice recipe section that even allows people to write reviews on those recipes. These hamburger buns are really well rated. Try them and see if you like them too!

Seeded Hamburger Buns

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or oil (I used coconut oil)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder, optional (I used onion flakes)
• 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I substituted 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat and added 1 tablespoon ground flax seed)

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons Everything Bagel topping (I used more sesame seeds)
• 1 large egg white, beaten

Directions

1. To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them, by hand, mixer, or bread machine, to make a soft dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for an hour, until it's almost doubled in size.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface, flatten it slightly, and divide it into 6 pieces - each should weigh about 3 1/2 to 4 ounces.
4. Roll each piece into a ball.
5. Place balls into the greased cups of a hamburger bun pan, and flatten gently. (ok - I came to this part and went "huh?" too. No worries. You can simply line the dough up on a sheet of parchment paper over a baking sheet. Leave 1/2 inch between the patties after you lightly press them (and slightly indent the centers). The dough will rise and bake so that the buns touch and stay soft on the sides.)
6. Cover (with saran wrap sprayed lightly with cooking spray) and let rise until the buns have doubled in size (about 30-45 min). Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Bake buns for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven, brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with the seed topping. Do this quickly, or the seeds won't stick!
8. Return the buns to the oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Thin Crust Whole-Wheat Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza? This is such a great recipe and is really easy to make. You'll be able to make and bake two pizzas in about an hour - or chill the second half of the dough and have pizza again later in the week!

You have choices with your ingredients here... if you want organic, use organic! If you want Pizza Margherita, use fresh mozzarella sliced thin with fresh basil. Meat lover? Go on ahead! This also makes a great dough for calzones, though you may need to add some minutes to your baking time.

Thin Crust Whole-Wheat Pizza

Ingredients (dough):

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast
• 2 TBSP Olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp honey or raw sugar
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• Some corn meal for the bottom of the pizza (optional, but authentic!)

Ingredients (pizza toppings):

• Olive oil
• Sauce, about 1/4 cup - use can use tomato, or if your are making a white pizza, use dollops of ricotta and minced garlic. I like using organic strained tomato sauce that comes in a jar. It allows me to add my own spices to the crust prior to putting the sauce on.
• Cheese - about 1 1/2 cups, shredded. Or sliced, if you are having pizza margherita.
• Any other toppings you like on your pizza!

Materials:

• Stand Mixer w/ dough hook
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Pizza Stone. You can also used unglazed terra cotta tiles to cover the baking rack and give you a larger baking surface. OR in a pinch, use a large flat cookie sheet.

Directions:

• Place pizza stone on a low or middle rack of your oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Let the oven preheat for at least 45 minutes prior to putting your pizza in the oven. This allows the stone to get nice and hot - which will give you a crisper crust to hold all those lovely toppings.
• Place all above ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer. With dough hook attachment, mix on low until dough comes together. Then switch to "2" and mix for another 8-10 minutes. This allows the gluten to build up in the pizza dough. Don't worry if the dough "hugs" the hook the entire time - it is still getting a work out!
• When finished mixing, coat the dough lightly in olive oil and allow it to rest in the bowl (covered) for 10-30 minutes. I've used the dough after resting only 10 minutes, and it still works really well!
• Cut the dough in half. If you won't be making both pizzas immediately, then refrigerate the second piece in a sealed container or plastic bag.
• Lightly flour a clean surface. Press the dough into a large flat circle with your hands. Let rest for 5 minutes while you get all of your toppings and spices out.
• Take a large square of parchment paper and sprinkle with corn meal. Place your dough on the paper and begin to roll - working from the middle of the dough, outwards, and turning the paper/dough while you work. If it sticks at all, lightly flour your rolling pin as you work. I like to leave the dough slightly thicker at the edges so that the crust puffs up nicely. (If you want a thicker, dough-ier crust, then simply stretch the dough with your hands, let it rest, and stretch/press some more. The pie won't be as big, but it will be that much more filling per slice!)
• Use a little olive oil to brush over the crust - especially coating the outside edge.
• Add spices to your crust if desired. I like to use dried basil and oregano, and sometimes some garlic salt.
• Add sauce to the crust and spread around with the back of a spoon. Don't use too much, or the crust may not crisp up as much as you desire it to. About 1/4 cup should be plenty.
• Sprinkle on toppings and cheese.
• Slide the parchment and pizza onto a pizza peal or the back of a cookie sheet to help transfer to the oven. (YES - bake the pizza right on the parchment paper - it won't burn if you are baking for this short amount of time, and it makes the dough easier to transfer in and out of the oven.)
• Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool for 3-4 minutes before slicing!

Simple (really!) Sandwich Bread

I always knew that when I finally got around to blogging that my first post would be about bread. Bread is my favorite comfort food. There is nothing better than fresh warm bread with butter and honey - I could eat it for dessert! And no lie, when it bakes it makes your entire house smell heavenly. Recently, I've become intent on making all of our own bread at home... Sandwich bread, artisanal loaves, tortilla wraps, and rolls. It started with the realization that I couldn't walk down the grocery bread aisle and find any products without High Fructose Corn Syrup, and loaded with other "shelf life" preservatives. Next time you are in the same aisle, I dare you to try! There is the possibility that you will find some without the HFCS in some organic aisles, but have you TRIED that bread? It is rarely soft and is often dry and tasteless.

I challenge you to try this recipe. It is really quite simple and it can be tweaked to your liking. No bread machine needed, just a mixer and a loaf pan. By using the mixer, you can avoid having to spend a lot of time kneading the dough. After trying this five months ago, we haven't bought bread in the grocery store since!

Before you read these instructions, realize that your time in the kitchen with this recipe is actually very little... it's the rising time that seems to turn people off of bread making, for some reason. Try starting a batch right after breakfast and watch how little time it actually takes. You'll have fresh sandwich bread before lunch!

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup warm water, plus 1 TBSP (plus 2 more TBSP if you choose to try all whole wheat)
• 3 TBSP Honey
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1/4 Cup (solid) Coconut Oil
• 1 Cup Unbleached Whole Wheat flour
• 2 Cup Unbleached All-Purpose or Bread flour
• 1 tsp salt (plus 1/2 tsp if making all whole wheat)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the warm water, honey, and yeast. Gently stir with a wisk to help break up the yeast. No need to set a time for proofing if you are using the right yeast (see note below). Add your Coconut Oil - I use a dry measuring cup for this since it is a solid oil. Measure and add flours and salt (Don't add the salt until after the flour is measured and added. Salt can kill the yeast before it's had it's moment to "come alive" with the warm water and honey.)
   
2. Place under your stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. Mix on low speed ("stir") until all materials are well combined, about 3 or 4 minutes. Even if your dough starts to "crawl" up the hook , allow it to mix for the whole time so that the gluten can begin to build up.
3. Turn off the mixer, release the dough from the hook, and allow dough to rise for one hour in the mixing bowl - covered with plastic wrap, and set someplace free of cold drafts.
4. After the first hour has passed (or until your dough has doubled in size): Preheat oven to 375. Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray. Uncover your bread dough - it should be about twice the size as what you started with. At this point, simply give the bread a really brief knead... no more than 15 seconds. Try not to add extra flour if possible, but work on a wooden cutting board to avoid the dough from sticking. Or honestly, use a "gluten cloak" by gently stretching the dough from the top of the ball to the bottom on all sides a few times, turning the ball a quarter turn as you go - it will do the job just as well! Place the dough into your loaf pan and allow it to rise another 30 minutes, covered with plastic wrap.
5. At the end of the last 30 minute rise, remove the plastic wrap and place in the center of your oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. I find that exactly 30 minutes works for me with my oven, my ratio of wheat/white flour, and with baking only one loaf at a time. You may need to play with the time a bit for your own oven to figure out what works right for you! The bread should have a nice golden color to it, and feel "sturdy" on the top - Not crispy, but not so soft that you leave an indentation when you touch it either. Allow the bread to rest in the pan for 15 minutes before running a knife around the sides and turning it out to cool on a rack. Allow bread to cool for another 20-30 minutes before slicing. Allowing it to rest that long will improve the overall texture of the bread!

** A note about ingredients...

Yeast: I use instant dry yeast. You can either buy this in glass jars in the cold section of your market (mine keeps it nears the eggs/pop-and-bake cookies), or it can be purchased in vacuum sealed packages from big box stores. This is a really economical way to buy yeast if you're doing a lot of baking. Simply keep it in an airtight container in the freezer and use when needed. Stay away from the single use packets of yeast that you can buy in the baking aisle. It never seems to give bread the same rise as the choices I've already mentioned. "Rapid Rise" yeast works as well.

I've worked really hard to start cooking and baking with healthier alternatives for my family. When ever possible I try to choose ingredients that are are as minimally refined as possible. I will write the recipe exactly how we've adapted it for our family, but do know...

• If you can't find coconut oil, you can use vegetable oil.
• You can also use sugar instead of honey (but honey works really well and is not highly refined like sugar is!).
• And although we choose to use King Arthur brand unbleached flours, that the recipe will work with regular all-purpose flour.

Even if you choose to use bleached white flour, white sugar, and vegetable oil, you are still making a choice to exclude HFCS and preservatives from your bread. You have to start somewhere!

And yes, if you HAVE a bread machine, this recipe will work with it just fine.