Breads, Muffins and Scones

 

I’ve adjusted my seasonal frame of mind to Fall mode, which translates to being all-in on my Fall baking routine.  On an expedition to the pantry, I grabbed a can of pumpkin and a package of dried cranberries which seemed like a good start, and the result was this Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread.  This recipe makes two generous loaves, is moist and rich with plenty of pumpkin and warm spices, and then gets a just-right little boost of sweet and tart with dried cranberries.  You can stop right there if you want, but there’s also a Cranberry Compote to spoon over your bread that is loaded with both fresh and dried cranberries.  And for the crunch factor, there’s a Salted Pumpkin Seed Brittle that is sweet and crunchy with an added welcome salty finish for balance.  All delicious on their own, but the three together makes for an exceptionally happy Fall memory.  Put a log on the fire, grab a good book and a hot beverage, and for Pete’s sake, don’t skimp on the Pumpkin Cranberry Bread.  Colder weather requires we keep our strength up.

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When I was a kid, one of my favorite suppers was when Neeners would make cornbread and scrambled eggs for supper.  Need I tell you that I drenched the warm cornbread in Log Cabin Syrup after adding plenty of butter?  And yes, the syrup always made its way onto the scrambled eggs too.  Money was tight in those days, but when cornbread arrived, we felt like we were eating like royalty.  In fond remembrance of those days, here’s my own favorite cornbread recipe.  Butter is melted in a cast iron skillet, and the batter is poured in right before popping it into the oven.  Serve this warm with honey butter and you’ll see what I’m talking about.  But if you’d rather drench it in butter and syrup, I won’t blame you one bit.  This recipe is so easy; you won’t ever want to open a box of corn muffin mix again.  Plus, it’s made with lots of real butter – that’s pretty much all I need to hear.

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Fall is in the air, which gets me thinking favorite about Fall foods (big shock).  As part of this mental excursion, I got to wondering about the fact that I had never seen a recipe for pear muffins before so did some recipe snooping and found such recipes exist, but not very many.  I think this might be because pears, all by themselves, are not really what you would call ‘flavor bombs’, and to my mind require roasting and some cinnamon to get the ball rolling.  Always up for a challenge, I set out to make a pear muffin that would be all about the pear and capitalize on that roasted pear taste that is irresistible.  First, we’ll roast up some diced pears in cinnamon sugar, then add them to a batter that has lots of brown sugar to enhance that roasted concept. When all was said and done, the experiment resulted in a super moist muffin that smacks you right in the face with nice little pieces of roasted pear.  If you want to get really crazy, you can make some pear chips to decorate the tops.  Not at all required, but kinda fun.

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I recently read that Zucchini Bread was the most frequently made and the most ‘gifted’ away bread of any other variety….it is also the one most likely to be thrown out by the recipient of said ‘gift’.  This is likely due to the fact that zucchini all by itself is seriously lacking in the flavor department.  Zucchini can also contain a whole lot of moisture, and if we don’t address that issue our bread ends up looking, and tasting like a flavorless hunk of sea sponge. I know this from first hand experience while creating this recipe, which was not a good one.  The only person who would eat that first attempt was my mother, who said “Hey, you can’t be Martha Stewart every day – get over yourself”. That comment was enough to get me back to the drawing board, and the result is this Zucchini Lemon Bread is bursting with fresh, citrusy flavor. We squeeze the living daylights out of the grated zucchini, which goes a long way to eliminate that spongy element of my prior attempts, and then top the whole thing off with a generous crackling crust of lemon sugar.  It’s fun to make, it’s easy, and I guarantee nobody will be secretly tossing this out if you can make yourself give it away.

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This recipe has ended my search for the perfect Blueberry Muffin.  For years, I was disappointed because even though they always looked delicious, biting into one was a major disappointment due to either stinginess on the berry elements, not much structure, or muffins so sweet they wanted to give me a headache. I had sworn off blueberry muffins altogether until I met these guys…. They have a nice, firm texture that can hold up to the tons of blueberries inside and is just the right amount of sweetness.  They’re topped with a buttery, crunchy streusel and just a little whisper of cinnamon that’s guaranteed to put a big smile on your face.  This recipe, like so many others, appears to have a long and winding history.  I first discovered it when my niece, Toni, made some for us from a recipe she found on Pinterest. I made a few tweaks just because I can’t keep my hands off of any recipe, and this is the result.  After all, this is the world of cooking – everybody has their own spin on the classics, and that’s a very good thing. …

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If you thought you’d never be able to make an artisan loaf of bread at home with a crisp crust, soft center with big air pockets, and an amazing flavor, I’ve got good news – yes you can and it’s easier than you could imagine.  In this recipe, we spend five minutes mixing the dough the day before and allow for a slow room temperature rise overnight. No kneading required! The next day, just form the loaf and let it rise again, then into the oven it goes. An hour later you have a delicious loaf of bread. More good news:  This recipe is very forgiving, so no worries about making a mistake.  The recipe says to let the mixed dough sit for 12-18 hours.  I’ve let it go for 24 hours with no problems.  In fact, the last time I made this, we lost power at our house during the last 15 minutes of baking.  I just let it sit in the oven for that amount of time, and it turned out beautifully.  Make it plain or add chopped olives or some cheese for fun.  Life doesn’t get much better than that.

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