Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

 

I am very excited that my parents are coming up today. My dad has a conference to go to near where we live and my mom is staying all week. She is SO excited to see the baby and I’ll be very glad to have some help with him all week. I find myself not getting much done each day because I’m so busy with him. I never knew it would be so hard to run errands in between a newborn’s eating schedule!

Anyway, since my parents will be here I decided to make this recipe since they love sweet quick breads. I normally make them banana or pumpkin bread, but since I had some poppy seeds in the cabinet, I decided to make something a little different. It was really simple to make and the glaze really makes it taste great. You know I had to sneak a piece this morning before serving it to my family! I think this is one of those breads that will get better the second and third day as the glaze soaks into it.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread Recipe:

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour, sifted

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)

3 tablespoons (30 grams) poppy seeds

13 tablespoons (184 grams) unsalted butter, softened

Lemon Syrup:

1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch) (20 x 10 x 7 cm). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter and flour the paper. Set aside.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds until combined. Add the softened butter and half the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about one minute. This aerates and develops the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. This will strengthen the structure of the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You may have to cover the bread with buttered foil after about 30 minutes if you find the bread over browning. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with about half the hot lemon syrup. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes then invert onto a greased wire rack. Brush the remaining syrup onto the bottom and the sides of the loaf. Reinvert the bread so it is right side up and then cool the bread completely before wrapping. Store at least overnight before serving to allow the lemon syrup to distribute throughout the loaf. Makes 1 loaf. Source: Joy of Baking

Barefoot Contessa’s Brownie Tart

I’ve learned while being out on maternity leave that there aren’t many things worth watching on daytime tv. You’ve got daytime talk shows, home improvement shows, and then there’s soaps of course. With not much to choose from, I’ve found myself watching Food Network a lot during the day while I’m just sitting and feeding Drew. And trust me, I do a lot of just sitting and feeding Drew. Try every two hours! He’s a hungry boy.

Anyway, while watching Food Network I’ve started making a list of new recipes I’d like to try. Several of the recipes have come from one of my favorite cooks, Ina Garten. I look forward to watching her show every day, Barefoot Contessa, because everything she makes always looks divine and she makes it all seem so effortless. Plus I think she and her husband are cute as a button. I saw this recipe on her show the other day and it really made my sweet tooth ache. When I finally got out to go the store yesterday I got all the ingredients to make it and baked it last night for dessert. It turned out so good but as Ina would say, what could be bad about brownies? I think this recipe has a deeper, richer, more chocolaty flavor than some brownie recipes I’ve made. The only thing that could probably make it better is some creamy vanilla ice cream.

Brownie Tart

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

3 1/4 cups (20 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

3 extra-large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts

2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Grease and flour a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Melt the butter in a bowl set over simmering water. Add 2 cups of the chocolate chips, remove from the heat, and stir until the chocolate melts. Set aside to cool completely.

 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cooled chocolate. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, 1 cup of the chocolate chips, and the walnuts. Fold the flour mixture into the batter until just combined. Pour into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the center is puffed (the top may crack). The inside will still be very soft. Cool to room temperature before removing the sides of the tart pan.

 

Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips with the heavy cream and drizzle on the tart. (I omitted)

Source: Food Network

Late Post

I am a little late on this post but better late than never huh? I saw this recipe for shortbread cookies in my Cooking Light magazine and made it to take to my mom on Mother’s Day. As you can see from my lack of pictures, they were all eaten before I even thought to take a picture! You have to try this recipe if you like shortbread. It’s so easy and very, very good!

Vanilla Bean Shortbread

• Cooking spray
• 9  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 1/4  cup  cornstarch
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  butter, softened
• 1/2  cup  canola oil
• 1/2  cup  sugar
• 1  vanilla bean, split lengthwise (you can use 2-3 tsp of vanilla extract if you don’t have a vanilla bean)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Line bottom and sides of a 13 x 9–inch baking pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray, and set aside.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Place butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add oil; beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, and add seeds to butter mixture; discard bean. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Spoon dough into prepared pan. Place a sheet of heavy-duty plastic wrap over dough; press to an even thickness. Discard plastic wrap. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; cut into 32 pieces. Carefully lift foil from pan; cool squares completely on a wire rack.

Source: Cooking Light

I’m Going Bananas!

Someone save me from the bags of ripe bananas in my freezer! I almost always have at least one banana left over from a bunch that just doesn’t get eaten before it’s too brown. I feel bad just throwing it away so that is how I have to come to have several bags of overly ripe bananas in my freezer. Every time I open the freezer door, there they sit and I always intend on making something with them. But we all know what often happens with the best of intentions. They normally turn into regular banana bread or muffins, but I wanted to make something a little different this time. I’ve had chocolate banana bread on my mind this week so today I set out to find a recipe. Joy of Baking has never steered me wrong with a recipe so when I found this one on their website I decided to give it a try. I didn’t have any white chocolate chips so I subbed semi sweet instead which just added to the rich chocolaty flavor. This is a very moist bread and a great alternative to regular banana bread.

Chocolate Banana Bread

Recipe:

1/2 cup (55 grams) toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (I omitted)

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (85 grams) white chocolate chips (I subbed semi sweet chocolate chips)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish:

Turbinado or Demerara sugar (omitted)

Preheat ovento 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

 

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse brown sugar (optional). Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Makes 1 – 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Read more: “Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe With Picture – Joyofbaking.com” – http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/ChocolateBananaBread.html#ixzz0DGt3N4Ft&A

Juicy Strawberry Scones

Do you ever buy fruit or vegetables at the store fully intending on using them up, only to realize a week later that you have not used them up and they are about to go bad? That’s what happened to me with strawberries this week. They were on sale BOGO at the grocery store so of course I got two packages. I went through one package pretty quickly since strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, but the other package was still untouched. I thought maybe I could freeze them but then decided it was about time I bake something.

I had seen this scone recipe on Katie’s blog a while back when she made them, and they were on my long list of things to make. So I decided since I had all the ingredients to go with those. They took no time to make and turned out very tender and buttery. They are perfect for breakfast with coffee or just for an afternoon snack.

Juicy Strawberry Scones

Ingredients:
2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (depends on how ripe your strawberries are)
1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 c. yogurt
1/4 c. milk
2 tsp orange zest
1 c. fresh strawberries, diced

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment
-In small bowl, combine egg, yogurt, milk, zest, whisk to combine thoroughly and set aside.
-In large bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, salt, and whisk to combine.
-Using pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until all pieces are smaller than pea-sized.
-Add strawberries, and toss to coat.
-Add wet ingredients to dry and mix in lightly with fork until dough just comes together.
-Turn dough out onto well floured work surface and pat into large ball.
-Cut dough in half.
-Shape half of dough into flat disk shape and cut into 8 slices.
-Place on baking sheet and repeat with other half of dough.
-Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar and place in the oven.
-Bake until turn slightly brown, about 25 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.
-Transfer to a wire rack and let cool (or eat right away!)

Frosty Snowball Cookies

I really haven’t done much cooking or baking this holiday season. The main reason being…I’m pregnant! 11 weeks today. And while I’m very excited about it, I haven’t had the desire to cook or bake anything in the past few weeks. We’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches and quick meals because I’m just too tired and nothing really sounds good anyway. But I did want to bake some treats for some friends of ours so I mustered up the energy the other night. One of the things I baked were these snowball cookies. I’ve had the recipe saved for a while and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bake them. It’s an easy recipe and they’re really good!

Frosty Snowballs

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Green, pink, and purple edible cake sparkles or colored sugar
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in water and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour and the chopped pecans.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 325 degree F oven 20 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool completely.

4. In each of three bowls place 1/3 cup of the sifted powdered sugar. Add a different color of edible cake sparkles or colored sugar to each bowl. Gently roll and shake cooled cookies in desired powdered sugar mixture. Makes 36.

*I didn’t have any colored sugar so I just used confectioner’s.

Source: Unknown

Hosting My First Thanksgiving

I’m back and just in time for a Thanksgiving post. This was my first year hosting Thanksgiving and let me tell you, I was so excited. I’ve always wanted to host turkey day at our house, but we normally go to my in-law’s. But this year, they were out of town and we weren’t able to go to my parents’ so they decided to come here. So my first Thanksgiving was a small one; just me, my husband, and my parents.

My family likes pretty traditional foods for Thanksgiving so I decided I’d play it safe and just make everyone’s favorite foods so there would be no misses. After browsing through lots of recipes I finally settled on the ones I would use. After a lengthy (and expensive) trip to the grocery store I was finally ready to get started. Thankfully, I got off work early on Wednesday so I could get a head start on the prep work. My parents came in Wednesday night so my mom helped me a lot on the actual day. And the verdict? Everything turned out great! But if I learned one thing from hosting my first Thanksgiving it would be that it’s a lot of work! I am so much more appreciative of my great-grandmothers, grandmother, my mom and mother-in-law who have planned and hosted Thanksgiving for many more people than I did for many years now. I would love to host again, but I think I might have to go into training beforehand next time. ; )

On the menu this year:

Garlic and Citrus Brined Turkey

For the brine
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
3 bay leaves
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 gallon water

For the turkey

1 8-10 lb turkey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Dissolve the salt and brown sugar in 1 gallon of water. Place the turkey in a large stock pot or brining bag. Pour the brining solution over the turkey. Add the sliced oranges, lemons, garlic and bay leaves to the brine solution. Refrigerate over night or place in a cooler with ice. Before cooking the turkey, rinse it well inside and out and pat dry with papertowels. Rub the turkey inside and out with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook as desired.

And yes, that is canned cranberry sauce…the only kind my family and I like!

Dressing

2 cups prepared cornbread, crumbled
2 cups Pepperidge Farm herbed stuffing mix
8-10 crumbled crackers (saltine or club will work)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
chicken broth (about 3-4 cups, enough to make the bread mixture moist)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Begin my sauteing the onions and celery in a little olive oil until soft, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl, combine cornbread, stuffing mix, celery, onion, butter, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Add chicken broth until the mixture is very moist. It will be just slightly soupy but the bread will absorb the liquid. Place in a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake 35-40 min.

Sweet Potato Casserole
(my mother-in-law’s recipe)

3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked until tender (should be easy to mash) about 4 med potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a baking dish.

For the topping:

1 cup pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), melted
1/2 cup flour

Mix all dry ingredients and sprinkle over casserole. Pour melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min. The top should be bubbly and have a golden crust.

Jiffy Apple Pie

3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place chopped apples in an 8×8 baking dish. In a bowl, mix dry cake mix, cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Slice the stick of butter into thin slices and place all over the top of the cake mixture. Bake for 35 min or until the top is golden and bubbly.

 

This apple pie is obviously not a traditional apple pie. It’s best served warm as a dessert topping for vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Classic Pecan Pie

• 1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen** deep-dish pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into pie crust.
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.
4. **To use prepared frozen pie crust: Place cookie sheet in oven and preheat oven as directed. Pour filling into frozen crust and bake on preheated cookie sheet.
5. RECIPE TIPS: Pie is done when center reaches 200°F. Tap center surface of pie lightly – it should spring back when done. For easy clean up, spray pie pan with cooking spray before placing pie crust in pan. If pie crust is overbrowning, cover edges with foil.
6. NUTRITION TIP: To reduce calories, substitute new Karo® Lite Syrup for the Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup.
7. High Altitude Adjustments: Reduce sugar to 2/3 cup and increase butter to 3 tablespoons. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

My only complaint from the whole Thanksgiving dinner was that my pecan pie didn’t set. It’s the first one I’ve ever made and I followed the directions exactly, and it just didn’t set in the middle. I’m not sure why, but I’ll definitely be making another one in the future and hopefully will have better luck with that one.

Along with this we also had green beans and rolls.

Chai-Spiced Bread

I came cross this recipe in my stash last week. You know the stash. That pile of recipes you’ve got clipped from magazines and online recipe sites or scribbled down on an envelope by Aunt Betty. Some people have their stash organized into a binder or even in a Word document or online recipe folder but me, I’ve got the aforementioned sort of stash. I often find recipes in my purse or a book I was reading and that usually reminds me that “hey, I intended to make this last year”.

Well the same thing happened with this recipe. I was organizing my cookbooks on my bakers rack the other day and found this recipe neatly folded up with a bunch of other recipes and stuffed between two cookbooks. A co-worker of mine made this last year and brought it into work. As I recall I had already eaten breakfast that morning but when she came in bearing baked goods, well I just couldn’t resist. It was so yummy that I asked her for the recipe. She brought a cookbook in a few days later and copied it for me. And somehow it ended up um, temporarily misplaced in my stack of cookbooks.

Well it turns out this really is the recipe that almost didn’t happen. I was so excited that I had all the ingredients to make this bread that I baked it soon after I found the recipe. Once it was cooled I went to make the frosting, which I think is essential, and realized I was out of powdered sugar. It was late so I decided I would pick some up the next day. And then I forgot. And then I forgot the next day. So I put the bread in the fridge so it wouldn’t go bad before I actually got around to making the darn frosting. Well I remembered today! I made the frosting tonight and the bread was finally complete. And it is so good! Such an easy quick bread and perfect for Fall.

Chai-Spiced Bread

prep 15 min total time 3 hrs 55 min
makes 1 loaf (16 slices)

Bread

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup prepared tea or water (any black tea will work)
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 5 teaspoons milk
Additional ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease bottom only of 8×4- or 9×5- inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs, tea, 1/3 cup milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla on low speed until all ingredients are well combined (will appear curdled). Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until moistened. Spread in pan.

3. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not under bake). Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool 30 minutes.

4. In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 3 teaspoons of the milk, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls, until spreadable. Spread glaze over bread. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook, page 150

Homemade Apple Pie

Does anything say Fall better than apple pie? I don’t think so. That’s why I decided to make one to take to my in-law’s last night for dessert. My sister-in-law, her husband, and their kids came up for the Auburn/Tennessee game (Go Auburn!) this weekend and we were invited for dinner yesterday after the game. Knowing that our nieces would be there I wanted to take something that everyone could eat for dessert. I figured no one could say no to apple pie and vanilla ice cream. But just in case I took these blondies, too.

I had never made a from scratch apple pie before. Normally I cheat and use a refrigerated pie crust but I thought it would be more special if I put in the extra effort and made the dough myself. When searching for a recipe I came across this one on Annie’s blog. After talking to her and finding out it is her “go to” apple pie recipe, I figured it had to be awesome! It really wasn’t that difficult to make the dough. In fact I made this pie and the blondies after work on Friday and it only took a couple hours start to finish for both. I didn’t have the patience that night to make a lattice top but maybe I’ll try that next time. Everyone loved the pie and blondies. No one could choose just one and had to sample both!

Apple Pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
6 oz. butter (1 ½ sticks), chilled and diced
5-6 Tbs. cold water

For the filling:
2 lbs. peeled, cored and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
¼ c. sugar
¾ tsp. apple pie spice

Directions:
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter. Cut the butter into the flour or rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumb-like. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of water over the mixture. With a fork, toss gently to mix and moisten it. Press the dough into a ball. If it is too dry to form a dough, add the remaining water. Wrap the ball of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling, add the apple slices to a mixing bowl. Add flour, sugar and apple pie spice and toss to coat evenly.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm up a bit if necessary. Preheat oven to 375°.

Cut the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll out one half into a 12-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Try to keep the dough as round as possible. Transfer the rolled-out pastry to a 9-inch pie dish. Roll out the pastry for the top crust and cut it into strips about 1/2 inch wide; set aside. Put in the filling and smooth so the top is level.

To create the woven lattice top, use the longer pastry strips near the center of the pie and the shorter ones near the edges. Cross the two longest strips over the center of the filled pie. Place a second long strip over the top cross strip. Fold back every other strip onto itself and lay a cross strip in place, then return folded-back strips to their original position. Continue weaving in this fashion, working from the center of the pie toward the edges. Trim and flute the edges decoratively with your thumb. Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Cool on a rack. Serves 8.

* I brushed an egg wash on top of the crust and sprinkled with a little extra sugar before baking

Breaking News! I Made Bread!

I know, I can’t believe it either. Let me start out by saying, I am not a bread baker. I’ve done it once, but I have still always been a little afraid of baking with yeast. I always feel like it’s a lot of work, only to possibly end up with a disappointing result. So basically, I don’t trust myself with yeast. : P When I saw this recipe, I thought “hey, maybe I could do that”. I’ve been stuck inside today thanks to the monsoon that is outside my door, so I figured what better day to try it out.

I wish blogs had a virtual smell feature so that you could smell my house right now. ::Sniff:: Ahh, nothing better than the smell of fresh bread. It was killing me to have to sit here and smell it while it baked in the crock pot. Yep, I said crock pot. That’s why I decided to try this recipe. I thought it would be easy. And it was! I do think that I would probably turn it on low after an hour and a half-two hours. You can see mine got a little um, toasty, on the bottom. But other than that, it tastes amazing! I’ve already had two slices.

Thanks to Jenn for posting this recipe.

See you in 3 hours little bread loaf

Classic White Bread
101 More Things To Do With A Slow cooker
Stephanie Ashcraft and Janet Eyring
10-15 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 envelope (.25 ounce) of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup lukewarm water
1tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl combine yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow yeast to foam, about 5 minutes.
Add egg, oil, lukewarm water, salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on low.
With a wooden spoon, stir i remaining flour.
Place dough in greased 4-5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours. Remove stoneware from cooker and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.