Donut Muffins - Friday Delight

After a few weeks of a) forgetting to make something from scratch or b) giving them the same old- same old, I'm sending a new Friday Delight treat to Superman's team tomorrow morning.

This week I tried an awesome recipe from Bread & Honey: A Food Blog. I grabbed this recipe months and months ago, but hadn't tried it until today. I must say I'm glad I held on to it. It is good. I think this will go a long way towards redeeming my reputation in the eyes of those who count on me to make Friday morning meetings with Superman a little less painful.

As always, this recipe is much easier than it looks (I just don't do difficult recipes...my brain doesn't work that way). Also, I made some changes and substitutions based on what I had in my house this evening -- I noted any changes I made.

So, here you go:

Donut Muffins
from Bread & Honey

Ingredients:

For muffins:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk [I only had non-fat]
1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar [I used white]
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature [I used salted]
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a standard-size muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and whisk to mix them thoroughly. Set aside.

Combine the milk and the vinegar in a measuring cup, and set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or, alternatively, in a large mixing bowl with electric beaters nearby), and beat on medium speed for a few seconds, until the butter is soft and creamy. With the motor running, add the sugar in a steady stream. Continue beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until the mixture increases in volume and lightens to pale yellow. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until they are just combined.

[For this part, I just kept using my Minnie (that would be Minerva, my Kitchen Aid, to those of you who missed her joyful arrival to our home in February)--no wooden spoon for me.]With a wooden spoon, mix 1/4 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add 1/3 of the milk mixture. Continue to add the dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dries. Mix until the dough is smooth and well combined, but do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the cups of the muffin tin. Bake until the muffins are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-32 minutes. [Using a 1/4 cup scooper, I made 19 standard-sized muffins.]

When the muffins are cool enough to handle, prepare the topping: melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop, and pour the powdered sugar into a deep bowl. Using a pastry brush and working one muffin at a time, lightly brush the entire outside of the muffin with butter, and then roll it in the powdered sugar. [Instead of using a pastry brush, I just held on to the paper at the base of the muffin, dipped the top of the muffin in the butter, then dipped it into the powdered sugar.] Shake off any excess, and place the finished muffins on a rack or serving platter. Serve.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Over the past two and a half years, I've been making my family's bread almost exclusively. For big gatherings, I'll still buy sandwich rolls and stuff like that, but for the rest, I make it. I've tried a lot of different wheat breads, trying to find one that everyone likes and I think this is the one. It is soft, it is tasty, and it is hearty. It is a mix of whole wheat and bread flour, so it is not 100% whole wheat, but it is a good compromise for a basic sandwich bread. Also, it calls for honey rather than granulated white sugar, which is a plus. It is a breadmaker recipe, which means I let the bread machine run through the dough cycle and then I form it into a loaf and let it rise in a loaf pan and bake it. (I never cook my bread in the breadmaker, I don't like the shape of the loaf.)

If you're looking for an alternative to white sandwich bread, give this a try...you won't be disappointed.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
from All Recipes.com


1 1/8 cup warm water
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use Canola oil)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used hard winter red)
1 1/2 cup bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Please ingredients in breadmaker in order listed or according to directions for your breadmaker. Select dough cycle and start. When the dough cycle is finished (mine takes 90 minutes), remove dough, punch down, and then shape into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and allow to rise again. (Roughly 30 minutes, but it depends on how warm your kitchen is.) Cook at 325 degree for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and remove from loaf pan.

Notes: If you're cooking all the way with your bread machine, use the wheat bread cycle and select light color setting.

The last of the bananas...

went into this amazing Banana Oatmeal Bread. I promise, this is the last of the banana recipes for a bit...I've used them up! This is yet another recipe from Amy at The Mother Load, and you can find it here. I was hesitant about this bread because I just could not imagine it. It seemed so different. Well, it was terrific. This makes a light, fluffy, and, yet, substantial bread. It is not too sweet, it is not too bland. It was really, really terrific.

Banana Oatmeal Bread

1/2 - 3/4 cup water [I used 3/4 cup.]

1 1/4 cups mashed banana

3 T vegetable oil

2 T sugar

1 1/2 t salt

1 3/4 cups oats

3 cups bread flour

2 1/2 t yeast

Layer in bread machine pan according to manufacturer's recommendation. Bake on the sweet, basic or rapid cycle. [I only used the dough cycle.] Makes a large loaf (2 lbs).

The recipe says it will make one large (two pound) loaf, but I decided to split it into two loaves (not evenly, darn it!) and that worked out better for me. I used my bread machine for the dough and then transferred it to loaf pans because I prefer the shape of the loaves from a loaf pan far more than from a bread machine. The dough came out of the bread machine VERY sticky, so I did end up using extra flour to knead it. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe exactly.

Let me know if you try it, I'd love to know how it turns out.

Pizza Night

Tonight was Pizza Night! It seems to be working its way to a full-fledged Friday night tradition, but we'll have to see. The best part? The breadmaker, Superman, and the kids cook dinner! We use the breadmaker to make our dough, combining a little of this and a little of that from various recipes to come up with a dough we like. Then Superman and the kids work it into pizza shapes and add the toppings. What kind of toppings? Well, so far, they're purists: Cheese and Cheese with Pepperoni and Sausage. I think we need to add a vegetable version with a light garlic sauce to the menu, but I haven't found the perfect recipe yet. This pizza is pretty good as it is, so I really can't complain.

Here is the dough recipe I've come up with via trial and error: (Add ingredients in the order your bread machine calls for. Mine calls for liquids first, so that is the order in which I listed the ingredients.)

Breadmaker Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
2 Tablespoons (or more to taste) Italian Seasoning
2 Teaspoons (or less to taste) Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon salt
3 cups White Flour
2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

Set your bread maker to the dough setting and come back when it is done. Dough will be very sticky and wet. Pull and shape into pizza crusts - we use two Pampered Chef Stones - one round one and one rectangle and always have a little bit of dough left. Spread marinara sauce as you like on each crust (we only like a little, but it is an definitely individual preference). Sprinkle grated cheese all over (we use cheddar and mozzarella with some parmesan because we always have it on hand!), and top with whatever toppings you like on your pizza. At our house, this becomes competition to see who makes the best pizza...I think they're all good, but maybe I'm biased!

Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes and, viola, you have Pizza!