Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Recipes

I have said several times, "I'll post the recipe later," and I'm just now getting to it!!! Many of these recipes I have taken from others, and changed them a bit to make them my own. So, I will credit those that I received the recipes from!

In all of these recipes we:
Use olive oil when it says oil
Use raw, unrefined sugar
Use unbleached all purpose when it calls for all purpose flour
And, we use sea salt when it calls for salt

Honey Granola (from Aunt Lisa)
5 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup sucanat (raw sugar)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
2/3 cup flaked coconut (I use unsweetened)
2/3 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup unsalted butter (I used salted and it was fine)
3/4 cup honey
2 tsp. ground flax seed

I added:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees

- In a bowl, combine oats, sucanat, cinnamon, raisins, and almonds. Toss to mix. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, add the honey, and stir to blend. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to blend.

- Spread the granola out on a baking sheet and bake until golden and crunchy, 25-20 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.

- Store in an airtight container.

Granola Bars (from http://cookhealthyfun.blogspot.com/)
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup peanut butter (natural or organic)
3 cups granola

I personally cut down the amount of honey because the granola has a lot of honey.

Whole Grain Bread (from http://www.cooks.com/)
3 cups warm water
2 tbsp. yeast
3 tbsp. honey or raw sugar
Add 3 cups whole wheat four and beat vigorously by hand or with electric mixer for 5-7 minutes to develop gluten.

-Add 2 teaspoons sea salt and 3-6 tablespoons oil.

-Add whole grain flour, any variety of kinds desired, 1 cup at a time, mixing each cup in well before adding another (about 4 cups), or until the dough is just stiff enough to knead.

-Knead dough on floured surface for a few minutes.

-Wash out bowl, dry it, then lightly oil it. Put kneaded dough into the bowl to rise in a warm place. Cover with towel.

-When double in bulk, punch down and divide into 2 or 3 sections, depending on the size of loaf pans. Knead each section and shape into loaves. (my edit- to make a softer loaf, don't punch it down and knead it again after it rises).

-Put loaves into greased pans and let rise until almost double in bulk, approximately 30 minutes (my edit- don't let it rise too long or it will fall).

-Place in preheated over at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

-Remove from oven and take loaves out of bread pans to cool on rack or towel. When completely cool, store in plastice bags in refrigerator for longer storage. For soft crust, cover loaves with a towel after you remove them from pans.

-We have tried about 4-5 different whole wheat recipes, and this one is the best!!

Olive Oil Crackers (taken from http://www.101cookbooks.com/, although we changed it up quite a bit; might as well say it is ours!)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

-Whisk together the flours and salt. Add the water and olive oil. Mix 5-7 minutes. Knead by hand on a floured counter-top. The dough should be just a bit tacky - not too dry, not too sticky to work with. If you need to add a bit more water (or flour) do so.

-When you are done mixing, shape the dough into a large ball. Now cut into twelve equal-sized pieces. Gently rub each piece with a bit of olive oil, shape into a small ball and place on a plate. Cover with a clean dishtowel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 - 60 minutes.

-While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 450F degrees.

-When the dough is done resting, flatten one dough ball. Using a rolling pin, shape into a flat strip of dough. Pull the dough out a bit thinner by hand. You can also cut the dough into whatever shape you like at this point. Set dough on a floured (or cornmeal dusted) baking sheet, poke each cracker with the tines of a fork to prevent puffing, add any extra toppings, and slide into the oven (on a baking sheet). Repeat the process for the remaining dough balls, baking in small batches. Bake until deeply golden, and let cool before eating - you will get more crackery snap.

-Makes a dozen extra large crackers.

Banana Bread (from http://jas.familyfun.go.com/; this one we do as is)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar (we use unrefined sugar)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium-large very ripe bananas (1 cup mashed)
1/2 cup sour cream

-Heat the oven to 325°. Line a 5- by 9-inch loaf pan, preferably one with a light interior, with enough waxed paper to drape over the long sides. This will make the baked bread a cinch to remove and the pan easy to clean. Set the pan aside.

-Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Next, add the vanilla extract and blend briefly. Set both bowls aside.

-Peel the bananas and place them in a separate bowl. Mash them with a fork or a potato masher and measure out 1 cup. Add the sour cream and stir to blend. Set the bowl aside.

-Using a wooden spoon, blend a third of the dry mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients in this order, stirring well after each addition: half of the banana mixture, half of the remaining dry mixture, the rest of the banana mixture, the rest of the dry mixture. Next, add mix-ins if desired

-Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spoon. Bake on the center oven rack until a tester inserted deep into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 70 to 75 minutes.

-Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and cool it in the pan for about 20 minutes. Using the waxed paper, lift the bread from the pan and place it on the rack. Pull down the sides of the paper and allow the bread to cool thoroughly before slicing. Makes 10 or more servings.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread (I found this one on www.epicurious.com/recipes)
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 large eggs
1 16 ounce can of pumpkin
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves (I didn't have this, and it turned out fine)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

-Preheat oven to 350

- Butter and flour two loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.

-Divide batter equally between prepared pans.

-Bake about 1 hour and 10 minutes (until tester comes out clean)

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