Quick Breads-Muffins-Scones

Zucchini Bread (FHC)



After a couple weeks of perusing one of the local farmer’s market, I decided to buy some zucchini. The Hubby loves all types of vegetables, especially zucchini and we don’t normally use it. Although, I do make a good veggie casserole with chicken, carrots, zucchini, pasta and cheese. But back to baking…

What better way to use zucchini than making zucchini bread? I have to admit that I don’t particularly like zucchini, and was leery of making zucchini bread, since I have never had it. My mom has made zucchini bread more times than I can count, so I figured I’d give it a try, hoping it didn’t taste too much like to the vegetable I didn’t care for.


I was pleasantly surprised. No, even better; I was amazed. It was delicious! The bread tasted spectacular. I honestly do not know why I haven’t tried it until now. It has a hint of zucchini, but the sweetness and the texture of the bread balance it. Want to know the best part? It’s good for you – well, for the most part, minus the sugar, etc. You’re eating a vegetable!


This bread has the perfect texture, the right amount of sweetness, and is absolutely lovely with all the little green specks throughout. You need to grate and drain the zucchini. Too much water will affect the recipe. I used cheese cloth to squeeze the excess liquid from the vegetables, and I found this method worked best. Happy baking!

Zucchini Bread
a Love & Confections family recipe
yield: 2 loaf pans

Zucchini Bread Ingredients:
– 4 Eggs
– 1 cup Vegetable Oil
– 2 cups Sugar
– 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
– 1 teaspoon Salt
– 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
– 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
– 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
– 2 cups Zucchini, grated & drained – about 3 medium zucchinis
– 1 cup Nuts (optional)
– 1 cup Raisins (optional)

Zucchini Bread Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Grease and flour loaf pans
3. Beat Eggs well
4. Add Oil and Sugar to Eggs and beat well
5. Add Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract, and Baking Powder. Mix to combine.
6. Add Zucchini, Nuts (optional) and Raisins (optional). Mix to combine.
7 Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when testing.


Until next time,

LOVE & CONFECTIONS!

Beautiful Blueberries & Jam

This blog entry is a special treat with 2 Blueberry recipes!


While out in Texas, my two Aunts took me blueberry picking. I had never done this before – only strawberry picking – and was very excited. Even though the day was incredibly hot, and we traveled 2 hours to get the the “Blueberry Basket” – our hunting ground – the trip was well worth it! We each filled baskets of blueberries, all the while, thinking what we would create with our delicious finds.


The workers told us to pick in one specific section, and as usual, Aunt W has a mind of her own, and found us some great rows of blueberries further down the farm. Clusters of blueberries sprang out from the bushes, but we also had to reach far into the bushes to get some of our loot.


The berries were all sizes and colors, from pale green and reddish-purple to the ripe blueish-purple berries. We ate as we picked – which was deliciously fun – and chatted about what we would bake – after all, they had a pastry chef under their roofs for a week. The rows of blueberry plants seemed like they never ended. The warm sun beat down on us, as we sweat in the 95+ degree weather. I can’t honestly tell you how many insects we encountered – my sister would not have like it. Our baskets quickly became full and we finished just before the hottest part of the day – yes, it got even hotter!

I have to admit that I was not a fan of blueberries before this trip. Yes, I have had blueberry muffins and blueberry pancakes before, but never really just ate blueberries. These blueberries tasted different, very different from the ones we usually get in the store. They were sweeter and juicier. I probably won’t eat blueberries from the store, but give me these any day – I even had a bowl of just blueberries, for breakfast one morning in Texas, along with an egg sandwich.

CRUMP-TOP BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Muffin Batter Ingredients:
– 315 grams All Purpose Flour
– 60 grams Sugar
– 60 grams Light Brown Sugar
– 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
– 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
– 1/4 teaspoon Salt
– 2 large Eggs
– 75 grams Unsalted Butter, melted
– 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
– 8 fluid ounces Buttermilk
– 2 cups Blueberries

Crumb-Topping Ingredients:
– 2 & 1/2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
– 2 tablespoons Sugar
– 2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar, packed
– 1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
– 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cold

Crumb-Top Blueberry Muffin Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin tin.
2. To make the topping, in a small bowl, stir together the Flour, Sugars and Cinnamon. Cut the butter into pieces and using a pastry blender, cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. To make the muffins, stir together the Flour, Sugars, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and salt in a bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the Eggs, melted Butter, Vanilla Extract and Buttermilk.
5. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. The batter should be lumpy. Fold the blueberries into the batter just until evenly distributed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling it level with the rim of the cup. Sprinkle each muffin with about 1/2 tablespoon crumb topping
7. Bake until golden, dry and springy to the touch, 20-2 minutes. Serve warm.


I have never made jam and was extremely excited – I love learning new things. Our fresh blueberries were perfect for our jam adventure.

BLUEBERRY JAM
from Certo

Blueberry Jam ingredients:
– 1 & 1/2 quart fresh Blueberries, crushed to equal 4 & 1/2 cups
– 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
– 7 cups Sugar
– 2 pouches Certo Fruit Pectin
– 1 teaspoon Butter
– 12 -8 ounce- Jars or 20 -4 ounce- Jars with lids, sterilized


Blueberry Jam Directions:
1. Prepare Jam Jars by boiling them for 10 minutes
2. Crush Blueberries in large pan on stove.
3. Stir Sugar into Blueberries and mix well.
4. Add Butter to Blueberries and bring to a boil for 5 minutes over high heat while stirring constantly
5. Pour 2 Certo Fruit Pectin pouches into the Blueberries and continue to boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly.
6. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
7. Ladle into Jars and screw on lids. MAKE SURE YOU WIPE THE RIMS BEFORE PUTTING ON LID. EXCESS JAM WILL NOT ALLOW PROPER CANNING.
8. Turn jars upside down for 5 minutes, then turn upright. Let set for 1 hour. (Jars are sealed when “pop-top” center of lid is pushed completely down)
9. Refrigerate once opened.

Dry Milk (FHC)

Over the Christmas holidays, I decided to make Semolina Bread, which used instant Nonfat Dry Milk (iNDM or NFDM). The only iNDM I could find came in a large, 32 ounce can. I only needed 1/4 cup per batch, but figured since I was given 30 pounds of Semolina – we’ll leave that story for another time – I would end up using it, since I was going to be making a lot of Semolina Bread. As it turns out, I haven’t made any more bread, and the giant can of dry milk has been sitting in my pantry. What better way to use some of the dry milk than in my first Food Holiday Challenge.

Now for the info – gathered from various sources:
Instant Nonfat Dry Milk is regular cow’s milk that has had the water and fat removed. It still has all the calcium, protein, vitamins and minerals of fresh milk and is low in cholesterol, too.

You can purchase powdered milk that isn’t nonfat, but it tends to be more difficult to reconstitute because of the fat content. NFDM is usually the easiest to mix, but some people have difficulty getting the milk solids to blend with the water.

Nonfat Dry Milk will not taste the same as fresh milk, especially if you’re used to milk from the carton, but the taste is negligible when it is used as an additive in baked goods or smoothies. One of many advantages of NFDM is the long storage time. If stored in a cool, dry place, it will usually last 18 months.

Dry Milk

Dry Milk Biscuits
from Mountain Maid recipe website

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
1/2 cup Shortening
3/4 cups Water

Mix the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and iNDM.

Mash in the shortening with a fork, until the mixture is crumbly.

Stir in the water, a little at a time, to make a dough that is soft, but not sticky.

Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured board or counter-top.

Roll or pat the dough to 1/2 or 3/4 inch thickness; cut it with a knife, or a small glass or cutter that has been dipped in flour.

Place the biscuits about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Dough before kneading

Despite the fact that my oven cooks unevenly, the biscuits turned out good. I love watching butter melt away on a warm, right-out-of-the-oven biscuit. Pair melted butter on a warm biscuit with strawberry jam and I am in Heaven – it’s my Kryptonite! Unfortunately, I am out of strawberry jam, so raspberry preserves it is.

Butter melting… yum!

OTHER DRY MILK RECIPES: 1 Quart of Fluid Milk
– put 3+3/4 cups cold water in a container
– add 1+1/3 cups iNDM
– mix thoroughly
– cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving
– store in refrigerator and use within 3 to 5 days

1 Cup of Fluid Milk
– 1 cup water
– add 1/3 cup iNDM to water
– mix thoroughly
– cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving

Evaporated Milk
– whisk together 1/2 cup water and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons iNDM

I found a good amount of recipes for iNDM and will use them in some of my future Food Holiday Challenges. I am now more open-minded about using dry milk in recipes.

Until next time,
Love & Confections

Mmm Bananas

I love baking. I love to mix ingredients that aren’t always appealing on their own, but when combined with others, they create something delicious. Magic and science working together in an oven.

I baked Banana Bread yesterday. I bought bananas a while back and, like a lot of people, they ripened before I could eat them all – so I put them in the freezer. The answer to all your banana problems: stick it in the freezer. And I forgot about them. Well, sort of. It isn’t that hard to forget about a few, frozen solid, beyond-brown bananas, because they’re staring at you every time you open the freezer door. I just kept putting it off, saying, “I’ll make them soon”.


I finally got tired of looking at them and decided to make Banana Bread, and I’m so glad I did. I love the smell of Banana Bread baking. It reminds me of my paternal grandmother’s house. She introduced me to Banana Bread years ago. She showed me how she liked eating it – making it warm in the toaster oven and spreading cream cheese on it – simply divine. I’ll eat it without cream cheese, of course, but it isn’t the same. Every time I make or eat Banana Bread, I think of her. I’ll have to make an extra loaf soon and send it to her.
Anyway… the picture is bad, but the Banana Bread was delicious!
Until next time,
Love & Confections

Banana Bread
from Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michael Suas
Makes 1 – 8 inch x 4 inch loaf
Ingredients:5 1/8 ounces Bananas
1/2 ounce Buttermilk
1/8 teaspoon Vanilla Extract3 1/4 ounces Sugar
1 5/8 ounces Brown Sugar
2 ounces Eggs
2 ounces Canola Oil
4 7/8 ounces Bread Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 1/2 ounces Walnuts (optional)

Process:

  1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, premix the bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until broken up. Reserve.
  2. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and canola oil int he bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix until well incorporated.
  3. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients and mix until 50% incorporation.
  4. Add the banana buttermilk mixture and then add the walnuts and mix to incorporate.
  5. Deposit into sprayed pan three-fourths up the pan.
  6. Score along the length of the loaf, 1/4 inch deep with a scraper dipped in vegetable oil.
  7. Bake at 335F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and the surface bounces back to the touch.