Mmmm.... Christmas Baking

Only one more month until Christmas! I had some time today, and decided I would use it to do my Christmas baking. Mike claims that he had never heard of Christmas baking before he met me. In my family, we bake a bunch of cookies, squares, and other sweet goodies to serve around Christmas time when company is over and as desserts (I thought everyone did this?!?) Anyway, Mike had no objections of course! I have been making an effort to healthy so I only made a few things, here they are:

 I used my Nanny's recipe to make these haystacks (she called them chipit crunchies). Oh so healthy - 6oz each chocolate and butterscotch chips melted, toss with peanuts and a cup of chow mein noodles. Spoon onto wax paper and put in fridge to harden.






 Marshmallow Squares:
Combine half a cup butter, half a cup peanut butter, and a package of butterscotch chips. Melt these ingredients and allow to cool. Once cool, toss with 1 & 1/2 cups marshmallows and walnuts (optional). Cool in greased 8x8 pan.

Toblerone Shortbread from "what's cooking" - I had never made these before, but they were a success! I made them a little larger than the recipe suggested, so I only made 38 instead of 48. A cooking time of 20 minutes was just perfect for these delicious cookies! Here is the link in case you want to try them out:
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chunky-toblerone-shortbread-97900.aspx

Lemon Loaf

I am a huge fan of lemon loaf, and have made this recipe many, many times. I sometimes use a slightly large loaf pan, if you do this the loaf should only need to cook for about 40 minutes. As always, I replace some of the all purpose flour with whole wheat (in this recipe usually half of a cup). This recipe really uses very basic ingredients, and is therefore inexpensive to make!



Banana Muffins

This morning I tested out "The Nest's" recipe for banana cinnamon muffins, they were fine, and made good sized muffins, but they weren't anything amazing. Definantly a good way to use up over ripe bananas though.

Here is a tip: stick the bananas in the freezer and then thaw before using, they come out mushed up, which is exactly what you want for muffin making!

Here is the recipe in case you want to try it yourself:

Banana & Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus extra to sprinkle
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 Tbl. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed banana

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl and beat with a handheld electric mixer until combined.

3. Put the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and mix to combine. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat on slow speed until all the ingredients are incorporated.

4. Pour in the melted butter and beat until incorporated. Stir in the bananas with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.

5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups until two-thirds full and sprinkle a little extra sugar and cinnamon over the tops.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

From The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, by Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers,$27.99, 2009, Ryland Peters and Small

Pizza Dough!

Lately we have been making our own pizza dough. It may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Below is a basic recipe we really like, taken from the 2011 Fall Issue of "All You Need Is Cheese". What you put on it is up to you! We often buy a can of pizza sauce, and make pepperoni pizza. Looking for something a little more exciting: mix pizza sauce with BBQ sauce and top with cooked chicken, onions, and peppers.

Our Tip: The recipe makes a pretty thick crust, so we stretch it out to cover a rectangular baking sheet. Enjoy!

MILK PIZZA DOUGH

1 pouch (8g) rapid dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup warm milk
3 tbsp melted butter
about 3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Mix yeast, sugar, warm milk, and melted butter.
Let rest for 10 minutes to allow yeast to activate (will look foamy)
Mix flour and salt, gradually adding to bowl, mixing with fork and then with hands as it becomes more stiff.
Flour a work surface and knead the dough, adding a bit of flour if it is sticking, knead for 5 minutes.
Grease a bowl with butter, place the dough in the bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place for 45 minutes - the dough should double in size.
Roll out the dough and place on baking sheet - top as desired.
Bake at 425-450 degress for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and edges are golden.

Breadsticks

Mike is usually the bread maker, but lately I have tried making some simple dough recipes myself, including pizza dough, so I decided to whip up some breadsticks to go with last night's leftover pasta. Some bread recipes take a long time because they have to rise, but when I found a recipe for soft breadsticks in "Taste of Home's Complete Guide to Baking" I thought I would give it a try. Here is the recipe:

1 and 1/4 cup flour (I used 3/4 cup white and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
2 tsp sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
3 tbsp butter, melted.

Mix dry ingredients, and slowly add milk, stiring to make a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface, knead a few times, and roll into a 5 inch by 10 inch rectangle. Cut into 12 breadstick.

Coat baking sheet with melted butter. Roll each breadstick in butter to coat and then bake at 450 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes.

I found that the dough was VERY sticky when I was done mixing, so I added a couple handfuls of flour (it should be slightly sticky, but not gooey).

After rolling out the dough, I only managed to get 10 breadstick out of it. After rolling the breadsticks in the melted butter I sprinkled them with garlic salt and fresh parmasan cheese.

Fourteen minutes was enough cooking time for these breadstick, I think if I was to make them again I would roll them in the butter, but bake them on a seperate baking sheet, they are definantly flaky, and not soft as the recipe suggests they should be. I guess we will see if they are a hit at dinner tonight!