Swedish Waffles

My friend Christiane is the breakfast Queen.  First, it was Pfannenkuchen.  Now it is Swedish Waffles.  She shared this recipe with me on a scrap of paper, written by hand.  I made them for brunch today.  They are rich and buttery with a flaky interior and crisp exterior.  If you don't make them for breakfast, they would make a fantastic base for a strawberry shortcake or as a garnish with an ice cream sundae.

Swedish Waffles

2 eggs
100 ml /approx 3 oz water
10 ml /2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
180 gm/approx 6 oz flour
5 ml/1 tsp baking powder
125 gm/1 half cup melted butter
200 ml/approx 6 oz 35% cream

Mix eggs, water, sugar, salt, baking powder and flour in a large bowl.  Add melted butter and cream.  Mix well.  Bake in a pre-heated waffle iron per manufacturer's directions. Serve with fruit and your favourite waffle toppings!

Makes about 4 large waffles.

According to MyFitnessPal here is a nutritional breakdown:

per waffle: 590 calories, 35 gms carbs, 44 gm fat, 10 gm protein.

Weekly Ritual

We like bread.  We like really good bread.  Really good bread is really expensive around here. I go through fits and spurts where I like to bake bread from scratch when we get tired of the 10 loaves for 12 Dollars rack at the bread store.  I recently found a really great bread recipe that I keep going back to every week.  It makes 5-6 loaves, freezes well and has extra ingredients that help maintain freshness for longer than a day. You can find the recipe here, at the Home Joys blog.  I change it slightly by adding about a cup of Red River Cereal to each batch to add some texture and crunch to my loaves.  This bread rises beautifully despite my addition of extra whole grains.

EDITED TO ADD: If you click over to the recipe above you will find the dough is mixed and proofed in a giant stand mixer.  I do not own a mixer large enough to do that so I use the ingredients in the above recipe and follow the instructions below to mix and proof the dough by hand.

The following is another favourite bread recipe of mine. It makes around four loaves. This recipe has been in my binder for at least 10 years. I have no idea which website I got this from and Google was no help. 


 Christine's Multi-Grain Bread
3 cups water
6 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup sesame seeds*
1/4 cup millet seeds*
1/4 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds*
1/4 cup flax*
6 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Measure 1 cup of warm water into a very large bowl.  Stir in 1 tsp of sugar and the yeast.  Let stand for 10 minutes, until frothy.
2. While yeast mixture is standing, combine three cups water, butter or margarine, salt and honey in a saucepan. Heat until the liquids are warm and the margarine has melted (make it about the temperature of a hot bath.)  Add to yeast .
3. Add seeds to bowl, then flour, one cup at a time, starting with the whole wheat flour. Stir after each addition of flour. Begin kneading when dough becomes impossible to stir. (This is a messy step! Stick with it! It gets better!)
4. Continue kneading dough on a floured surface, adding small amounts of white flour until the dough is smooth and not sticky.  This could take up to 10 minutes. Your triceps will thank you.
5. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until dough has doubled in bulk.  If it is cold where you are, turn your oven on to about 200F for one minute, then turn it off and then put your bread in there to rise. This could take an hour or so, depending on how warm it is.
6. If you have no five year old boy handy to do this step, go ahead and punch down the dough yourself.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide dough into loaves.   Place dough into greased pans and let rise again until doubled. 45 minutes to an hour. While the dough is rising this time, preheat your oven to 350F.
7. Place loaves in the oven (unless they are already in there rising, then just leave them!) Bake for 30-35 minutes, until nicely browned and if tapped, make a hollow sound.
8. Remove from pans and allow to cool on wire racks.

*If you don't want to stock up on seeds, 1 cup of Red River cereal is a good substitution for the seeds and grains in the recipe. 3/4 cup of Red River cereal + 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds would be really good too. If you are American Cooks info dot com says a good substitute for Red River Cereal is as follows:  1 cup steel cut oats, 1 cup bulghur wheat and 4 tablespoons flax seeds

1 cup steel cut oats, 1 cup bulghur wheat, 4 tablespoons flax seed.

Read more: http://www.cooksinfo.com/red-river-cereal#ixzz2D53EiM3Z

  Mixing up a batch of Homemade Dough Enhancer will make any of your favourite bread recipes last longer and taste a bit better. It works in your bread machine too.

Have you never stuck your hands into a gorgeous mound of bread dough? Here is a video that shows proper kneading technique and how to tell when your workout is finished.

The Early Bird Gets the Cinnamon Roll

I woke up at 0530 this morning.  I couldn't get back to sleep.  I got up, played Sims on Facebook, watched a DVR'd episode of  Extreme Home Makeover and then decided I had time to make a really great Sunday Brunch.  I got out my bread machine and made coffee while the appliance kneaded my dough.  I made quite a few modifications to an existing recipe that I need to record them so I can make these again.  They are really, really good.

I started with this recipe.
I then made the following modifications:

• I subbed out 1 1/2 cups of white flour  and used whole wheat instead.
• I mixed the sugar, butter, and brown sugar together to make a paste.  I added about 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the mixture.*
• I sprinkled a few cinnamon flakes* and finely chopped pecans over the bun dough before rolling up.
• I was out of cream cheese so I blended a mixture of soft margarine (three tablespoons?  I didn't measure), the juice and zest of half an orange, a splash of vanilla extract and enough icing sugar to make it spreadable (2? 3? cups) to glaze the warm rolls.

 *I found xanthan gum and cinnamon flakes at my local health food store.  I am sure the cinnamon flakes are not crucial to the success of the buns, but I felt like there was not quite enough filling so I added them since they were in my cupboard already.  The xanthan gum is a food thickener that worked really well to keep the filling from melting out of the buns during the baking process.

2011 Milk Calendar: Sweet Cornmeal Surprise Muffins

I like baking on Sunday mornings.  I love cornmeal muffins.  I was really happy to try out this recipe.

Check out the recipe here:  Sweet Cornmeal Surprise Muffins

My notes: I love how you soak the cornmeal while you are prepping the rest of the ingredients.  It softens it up and takes away from the grittiness that corn muffins can sometimes have.  You don't soak it so long that you lose the lovely crunch that a corn muffin has.  I used Smuckers Double Fruit Strawberry Jam for the filling, but I am sure anything you have in your pantry would work well since the flavour of the muffin is so mild.  I might add a dash of cinnamon next time I make them.  I think cinnamon adds a nice flavour to almost any baked dish.  I also think lining your muffin tin with cupcake liners instead of just spraying with nonstick spray is a must since you run the risk of jam leakage and sticking with this sort of baked good.

I must make small muffins since I got 15 instead of the 12 the recipe specified.

The Verdict:  The muffin is moist, with a bit of crunch and the jam is a nice addition.  You definitely don't need butter with these.  Charlotte and Matthew gobbled theirs up.

My Favourite Pizza Dough

I lost the page to the cookbook this recipe came from, I used it so much. A kind friend recited the recipe over the phone to me. Since I KNOW I will lose that scrap of paper, I thought I should put it in a place it won't get lost.

1 cup warm water
1 tbs honey
1-1/2 tbs olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 pkg yeast
italian herb mix, if desired

2 tbs cornmeal for sprinkling on pans

Place ingredients in bread maker. Set to DOUGH, medium-large loaf.

Makes two 12-inch pizzas, one sheet pan, or a bunch of breadsticks.

Multigrain bread

I got this recipe from a friend. I am going to try it out this morning!

MULTIGRAIN BREAD (LARGE 1.5 lb LOAF (I have an old breadmaker)
1 cup + 2 tbsp (300 ml) water
1 and 1/2 tbsp (25 ml) butter
3 tbsp (45 ml) liquid honey
1 and 1/2 cups (375 ml) All purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups (375 ml) Whole Wheat flour
3/4 cup (175 ml) Red River cereal
1 and 1/2 tsp (7 ml) salt
2 tsp (10 ml) quick rise yeast
I really like the crunchy texture of the Red river in it & love this bread buttered right out of the bread maker!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Sundays are pancake days here. Based on the ingredients on hand we rotate between standard pancakes, banana, gingerbread with lemon curd, buttermilk.....Bacon or breakfast sausage and fruit on the side.

I came up with this recipe when I was presented with a beautiful ripe pumpkin from my Aunt's garden a couple of weekends ago. It is delicious and the pancakes rise wonderfully high from the griddle. The cinnamon and nutmeg smell like fall to me.

The recipe makes a lot because we eat a lot! Leftovers can be stacked between squares of wax paper and then stashed in the freezer to be reheated in the toaster for a yummy breakfast later in the week.

3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each baking soda and salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 1/2 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
2 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree

• Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl (flours through spices). Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients except for pumpkin puree. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently fold together with a fork. Just before ingredients are combined, add pumpkin and finish folding mixture together. It will be thick.
• Spoon batter onto a non-stick griddle or greased frying pan set over medium heat. Spread the batter around with the back of your spoon a bit.
• Cook until undersides are lightly browned and the edges are set. Flip and cook other side. Since the batter is so thick you will not get tell tale bubbles breaking on the uncooked surface of the cake. Watch the edges!

Makes around 15 pancakes, depending on the size.
Serve with your favourite toppings. Maple syrup is fabulous with these, as are slices of peaches.

Best. Cinnamon. Buns. Ever.

My good friend Cheryl sent me this recipe and now I must share the love. You will thank me for this. Or maybe if your family is like mine, the buns won't last the weekend. Then you may not thank me after all, but consider yourself warned. Cheryl says they freeze well, but you may never find out. If you are feeling dangerous, try them with cream cheese icing and toast your nuts before adding--they will caramelize in the sugar and turn to candy in your buns. (heh, heh, I typed candy buns.)

Soft, Moist and Gooey Cinnamon Buns that will elevate you to domestic god(dess) status and cause your family bow down and kiss the ground you walk on and then volunteer to wash the dishes and do all the laundry and reorganize your shoe collection.

Garlic Pizza Crust

Garlic Pizza Crust

This recipe would make super breadsticks. Brush with butter before baking, or brush with an eggwash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, or a mixture of parm and mozza cheeses. Serve warm marinara sauce on the side for dipping.