Coconut Zucchini Bread

A different and scrumptious combo!  This bread is very moist and great for breakfast or anytime of day.

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze the water out between paper towels after shredding)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or 1/4 cup domino light stevia blend)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (measure out the solid then melt)
• 1 cup light sour cream or plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

First shred your zucchini with a cheese grater.  Put between lots of paper towels and press down to soak up all the water.

Preheat oven to 325.  Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.  

In a separate bowl, combine zucchini, sugars, coconut oil, sour cream or yogurt, eggs, vanilla.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir to combine.  Stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour batter into loaf pans evenly.  

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or butter knife.  

Willow's Honey Bread

The little girl I babysit for got in the car one day after school carrying this bread fresh from the oven at school.  She had made it with her teacher that day as a special project.  It smelled SO GOOD I could hardly drive the 15 minutes home without tearing into it!  We ate almost the whole loaf when we got home, and it was truly the best tasting bread I've ever had.  It has a sweetness to it from the honey that is so delicious by itself or with butter on it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm-hot water (microwave for 45 seconds- 1 min)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (or any oil)
• 1/3 cup honey 
• 3 1/2 tsp quick acting yeast
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 5 cups flour (any combo of all purpose or whole wheat or bread flour), plus more for work surface and hands

In a large bowl, mix together water, olive oil, honey, salt, and yeast.

TIP:  If you measure out the oil first, then use the same 1/2 cup with the oil residue in it for measuring your honey, the honey will pour out much easier into the bowl!

Add 5 cups of flour, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Dump out onto floured surface and knead until elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour if necessary.  Form into a ball and put in oiled bowl to rise. Cover with towel and set inside oven (turned off).  Allow to rise for 2 hours.

After dough has risen, punch it down to get the air out and knead for another minute to be sure there is no air still... 

Divide into 2 equal parts and put into loaf pans.  Cover and allow to rise again as your oven preheats to 350.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Cranberry Bread

I was in the mood for some sort of bread to have in the morning before we leave on a trip.... and I'm burnt out on banana or pumpkin bread, so I tried this cranberry bread and it's quite good.... sweet but with the tartness of the cranberries.  I decided to make it in a 9x9 pan instead of a loaf pan to see how it would turn out and I really like it this way, it seems like you get more!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup domino light sugar & stevia blend

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 cup butter, cold, cut into small cubes

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 tsp grated orange peel

• 3/4 cup orange juice

• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg.  

Cut in butter cubes with a pastry blender or a fork until mixture is crumbly and butter is mostly broken up.  

Add beaten egg, orange peel, and orange juice, stir until mixture is evenly moist. 

 Fold in cranberries.  Spoon into a greased 9x9 square pan (or a loaf pan).  

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes (or double that in the loaf pan) or until a butter knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool and slice.

Nutritional Facts (based on 16 servings): 130 cal, 3.4 g fat, 3.3 g fiber, 2.6 g protein. 

Breakfast Pumpkin Bread

I came up with this pumpkin bread recipe so that I could eat it in the morning and not feel guilty for eating dessert so early! It has wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seed, applesauce, pumpkin... So it's very good for you. And it has just the right amount of healthy sweetness to make it perfect for breakfast.  Great toasted with a little butter or yogurt spread!  And only 123 calories a slice!  So really, great anytime of day, or night.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup fat free milk
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1 TBS flaxseed meal mixed with 3 TBS water, allow to sit 2 minutes
• 1 15 oz can pure pumpkin
• cooking spray
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 2 loaf pans or 2 muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine first 11 dry ingredients (flour through ginger) in a large bowl and mix well.

In another bowl whisk together the rest of the ingredients (brown sugar through pumpkin) until smooth.  

Make a well in the center of dry mix and add wet mix to dry mix and stir until just combined, don't over-stir. 

Pour batter into 2 loaf pans equally (or 2 muffin tins) and top with walnuts if desired.  Bake loaves for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.  If baking as muffins, bake for 45 minutes then check for doneness.

Nutritional facts: 123 calories, 1 g fat, 12 g sugar, 98 g sodium, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein. 

(Based on 2 loaves cut into 11 slices each)

Oatmeal Raisin Cinnamon Rolls

These are amazing and remind me of Pepperidge Farm cinnamon raisin bread....mmm...  Make.  Smell as they bake.  EAT!  Share if you dare.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast (or one packet rapid rise yeast)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 TBS canola oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 1/2 cups flour (I used half high gluten bread flour, half all purpose, but any flour or combination would work)
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dark raisins
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Honey Butter ingredients:

• 2 TBS unsalted butter, melted
• 2 TBS honey

Microwave water in glass measuring cup for about 30 seconds, until warm to the touch but not hot.  Add yeast to water and let stand for 5-10 minutes while the yeast dissolves.
Pour mixture into a large bowl.  Add the egg, honey, oil, salt and cinnamon, mix well.  Start adding in your flour in 1/2 cup increments and mix with a wooden spoon until you can't anymore.  Then use your hands to mix in oats and raisins.
Flour your work surface and hands, dump dough out and knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed.

Form into a ball and put into an oiled bowl, covered with a towel or plastic wrap.  Put bowl someplace warm like the microwave or oven (turned OFF) to rise for 2 hours.
After dough has doubled, punch it down to release air bubbles and dump out onto floured work surface again to knead, only 1 minute this time.  Form into a ball again and put back in covered bowl to rest for 10 minutes.

Prepare your 9x13 baking dish by lining it with aluminum foil then spraying with non-stick spray.


















Turn dough out onto floured work surface again and roll into a long cylinder, cut into 24 uniform pieces.  (you can make bigger rolls and have less of them too, but these size rolls seemed perfect to us).












Roll each into a ball and place into the prepared baking dish, making 6 rows of 4.
Cover again and let rise for an hour.

In the last 15 minutes of this final rising, preheat your oven to 400.  You can place the baking dish of rising rolls on the stovetop while preheating for the carryover warmth.

Prepare the honey butter mixture.  Brush mixture over tops and sides and into crevices between rolls.

Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

They are delicious warm from the oven!!

Nutritional facts: 142 calories, 3 g fat, 9 g sugar,  5 g sodium, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein.  Based on 24 rolls.

Recipe slightly adapted from Averie Cooks Blog.

Healthy Banana Bread

I love anything BANANA!  I wanted to make a bread that was lower in calories though so I could eat more of it, and share it with my diet conscious family or friends.  It tastes healthy but delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 2-3 very ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup water
• 1   2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

optional ingredients for more flavor/ spice: vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.  Mix the applesauce and sugar.  Stir in egg whites and bananas, then water.  Stir in dry ingredients.   Pour mixture into loaf pan and bake about 1 hour or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Nutritional facts: 122 calories, 1 g fat, 16 g sugar, 38 g sodium, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.
(Based on 1 loaf of 12 slices)

Olive Oil & Rosemary Bread

This was my second attempt at making a yeast bread, and I found it a little harder than the rolls, but not too bad.  The kneading is really the worst part!  One day I'll have a mixer to do the dirty work for me... a girl can dream can't she?



Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 C hot water - see below for temp
• 1 TBS honey 
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp or 1 pkt. yeast
• 3 - 3 1/2 C flour, more for dusting surface and hands

Baker's note: I used a little whole wheat flour, and the rest all purpose, but you can really use anything you want, including bread flour.

Measure your water in a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup, microwave about 30 seconds until it's the temp of hot bath water, about 102-108 degrees.  Pour the water into your large mixing bowl, and drizzle in your TBS of honey, mix with whisk.  Sprinkle your yeast on top of water, do not stir though, let sit for 5 minutes so it activates (it will puff up on top of the water).  If using rapid rise or instant yeast it will not puff up, just let it dissolve in the water for 5 minutes.

If you're confused about the different types of yeast like I was, and wonder what the difference is, or whether they are interchangeable, see this link for helpful reading!

Bread & Yeast facts

Next add in 1/2 C whole wheat flour and mix with whisk until frothy.  Or like I mentioned before, any kid of flour you want to use really.  Add in 1-2 tsp salt, depending on your taste.  Add in your 1 TBS olive oil and continue whisking this all together.  Start adding in the rest of your flour in 
1/2 C increments.  If you want to add in rosemary or anything else, do it after you've put in 1 C of flour total to mixture.  I added rosemary from my rosemary bonsai bush!  Isn't she cute? 

But you can really do anything here - rosemary, basil, sun dried tomatoes, raisins, pumpkin puree, etc.  Or you can leave it plain.

If you want chewier bread put an egg in now also.  I did not do this step.

Keep adding your 1/2 cups of flour, then use wooden spoon and mix until you can no longer use the spoon.  

Flour your work surface & hands, then dump out dough onto it and start to combine with hands, if it's sticking to you use more flour, push it into dough with hands, keep folding dough from outside in. Knead 100 times and keep adding flour if still sticky to the touch.  

Form dough into a smooth ball.

Use a clean bowl and put a drizzle of olive oil in it and rub around with fingers, put your dough in and swirl the ball around on both sides to cover w oil.  Cover with a clean towel or cling wrap and rest for 40 min in a warm, draft-free environment.  I put mine in either the oven or microwave, with them turned OFF of course.

After the 40 minutes check the dough, it should've about doubled.  Punch it down with your hand, it'll deflate, then cover again for it to rise another 40 min.

After the second rise, flour surface and dump out dough again, knead it to get air out, adding flour again if sticky.  You only have to knead a few minutes this time.  

Now cut or separate into rolls or loaves, or make one big loaf.  You can cut slits for a decorative touch.

Set tray of loaves or rolls aside to rest while your oven preheats to 375.  You can brush an egg wash (one egg scrambled with 1 TBS water) over top of each loaf/ roll if you want, to get that shiny crust on top.

Bake on parchment paper for about 35 minutes, less for all rolls, more for one big loaf of bread.

After allotted bake time, check to make sure the bread is cooked by tapping the underside to see if it sounds hollow.  Store in an airtight container after cooling completely, put in refrigerator or freezer if not eating within a few days.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family did!

Easy Dinner Rolls

This is the first yeast bread I ever made and it was a LOT easier than I thought it would be!  With a few texts and pictures sent to my dad (bread-baker extraordinaire) to make sure things looked like they should, it was a breeze.  I think he might have been a little proud of me when he tasted the finished product...I hope!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 cups all purpose white flour, plus another 1/2 cup or so for kneading
• 1 pkg rapid rise yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Warm milk water and butter in small pan on stove.  Warm only to a temp of 90-100 degrees, warm to the touch, not hot.  If your butter is cold you may have to melt it a bit in microwave beforehand.  If you get the liquid too hot, let it cool down, this is crucial, because too hot will ruin the mix!  

While liquid warms, use a large bowl and combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt and mix with wooden spoon.  Add heated liquid mix to dry mix and stir with wooden spoon.  Then add remaining 1 cup flour and mix more.  At this point my dough was crumbly and not mixing with the spoon and I thought I'd messed up.  But I started using my hands to mix and it all started sticking together beautifully.  So I mixed and then kneaded with my hands for 5 min.  Form dough into a ball and leave in bowl covered by a towel to rise for about 45 min- hour.  It should about double in size.  Then divide dough into 8 or 16 rolls, depending on size, I made 16 smaller ones.  Roll them into a ball with hands and place in a greased round cake pan.  Let rise 30 more minutes in pan then bake for 20 min at 375.

From start to finish you can make these in about 2.5 hours, with down time for dough to rise.  Enjoy!!

Nutritional facts: 73 calories, 1 g fat, 2 g sugar, 4 g sodium, 0 g fiber, 2 g protein.  Based on 16 rolls.

Thanks to my sister-in-law Rebecca for sharing her mom's roll recipe with me!