Almond Banana Coffee Cake

I’m not sure where I found this online, but it was called Almond Banana Bread. This seemed to me to be a bit of a misnomer, so I changed it to Almond Banana Snacking Bread. It is a yeast bread with a sponge but it’s a bit sweet like cake. It is kind of fancy for everyday eating but light enough that you could make it kind of often.

I didn't use a vanilla bean pod and instead just used vanilla extract. And I used my springform pan instead and so it required a little more cooking.

Sponge:

1½ cup bread flour

⅔ cup lukewarm water

½ tsp yeast

1 tbsp powdered milk

Bread:

1½-1¾ bread flour

1 tbsp powdered milk

1 tsp salt

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tsp yeast

½ cup mashed banana

1 vanilla bean pod

3 tbsp soft butter

1 egg

Topping:

1 cup ground almond

¼ cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

3-4 bananas

cinnamon sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp rum

⅓ cup butter

2 eggs

1. Mix together the sponge ingredients in a bowl.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit on the counter overnight (12- 16 hours).  This was very dry.
3. The next day pour this into a large bowl.  
4. Add in the powdered milk, salt, instant yeast, brown sugar, egg, mashed banana, butter, and the vanilla seeds from the vanilla pod.
5. Mix until smooth. I needed to do this in a Kitchen-Aid mixer to make it smooth.
6. Slowly add in the flour and begin to knead.
7. Add just enough flour to make a workable dough.
8. Knead for 8-10 minutes or until it becomes smooth and elastic.
9. Add a little oil to a clean bowl and place the kneaded dough into the bowl.
10. Turn the dough over a few times to lightly coat all sides of the dough.
11. Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 1 hour or until double in bulk.
12. Take some parchment paper and line a 9½ x 13½ pan.
13. Spray with a little spray oil.
14. Place the dough into the pan and using your hands spread to cover the bottom of the pan.
15. Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 25 minutes.
16. Make the topping, by placing the ground almonds, sugar, butter, eggs, flour, and rum into a bowl; mix until smooth and set aside.
17. Take the dough and using your hands again press down to fill the corners of the pan.
18. Take the almond topping and spread over the dough with a spoon.
19. Slice the bananas and dip in a little lemon juice to stop them from turning brown.
20. Cover the almond topping with the banana slices. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar.
21. Cover with a towel and allow to rest until double in bulk; about 20-30 minutes.
22. Bake at 350° for 25- 30 minutes.
23. Remove from oven and grab the sides of the parchment paper and lift the bread out and place onto a wire rack to cool.  

Honey Beer Bread

Honey Beer Bread

from: Tasty Kitchen

I saw this online, and it looked so delicious. I was surprised that it was a quick bread, but I imagine that it's the beer that makes the dough very light and airy- all the mousse as my friend, Frederique, would say. Of course with all quick breads, it is key to mix just until blended! Otherwise it becomes a hard rock.

In the interest of full disclosure, I wasn’t careful when I read the instructions and poured all the butter into the batter/dough. Then I saw my mistake, so I melted one more tablespoon of butter and poured that over the top. Didn't seem to matter!

This bread comes out looking biscuit-y but is soft with a lovely crust. I would say pick a beer you love the flavor of because the beer flavor is strong with this one.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
1 can beer
¼ cup melted butter

1.      Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

2.      In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3.      Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. (If you have a microwave, microwave the honey for 5 to 10 seconds beforehand to make it easier to stir in.)

4.      Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan.

5.      Spoon the batter into the pan.

6.      Pour in the rest of the butter on top of the batter. Use a pastry brush to spread it around.

7.      Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread

I found this recipe in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. It looked perfect for a rainy Sunday. And boy was it perfect! Yum!! I couldn't stop at just one slice!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread

1½ cup rolled oats

1½ cup boiling water

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp salt

½ cup raisins

2¼ tsp yeast

2 eggs, room temperature

4-5 cup bread flour

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1.      In a large bowl mix together the rolled oats and boiling water. Stir to blend, and add the butter or margarine, honey, brown sugar, salt, and raisins. Let the mixture cool to no more than 130°.

2.      Add the yeast. Add the eggs and 2 cups flour. With a wooden spoon, stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes.

3.      Work in additional flour, ½ cup at a time, with the spoon first and then with your hands-or dough hook, if you are using a mixer. The dough will become a soft mass that can be picked up and placed on the work surface, or left under the hook.

4.      Knead with a strong push-turn-fold rhythm, adding flour if the dough is slack or wet and sticky. Knead for 8 minutes, or until the dough is soft and elastic. If under the dough hook in the mixer, add sprinkles of flour if the dough should cling to the sides of the bowl.

5.      Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put the dough aside to rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

6.      Turn the dough out of the bowl and divide into 2 pieces. With the hands and a rolling pin, shape each piece into a rectangle about 8" wide and 12" long. Butter the dough and sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon.

7.      Roll up the dough as for a jelly roll, and press the seams securely together. Drop each into a  medium (8"-x-4") greased loaf pans pan, seam down, and push into the corners and ends with your fingers.

8.      Cover the pans with wax paper and put aside to rise until the center of the dough is slightly above the edge, about 45 minutes.

9.      Preheat the oven to 375° 20 minutes before baking.

10.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the crusts are nicely browned, about 40 minutes. The bottom crust may be sticky with the melted sugar (which will harden as the loaf cools), but tap the crust to make certain it sounds hard and hollow.

11.  When the loaves come from the oven, brush with more melted butter and turn out onto a metal rack to cool before serving.

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

For Thanksgiving I thought I would try a new bread. I wanted to a yeast bread, but of course it's the time for pumpkin. A pumpkin bread that's not a quick bread is kind of unusual, so when I saw this one, I knew I had to try it! And it was delish!!!! I forgot to take a picture of it since it was Thanksgiving and I was super busy but here's the recipe!!

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

3¾ cup flour

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 pkg yeast

1¼ tsp salt

1 dash cayenne pepper

¾ cup pumpkin puree

4 oz shredded sharp Cheddar

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 large egg

1. In a large bowl, stir together 3½ cups flour, brown sugar, yeast, salt, and cayenne.
2. Add 1 cup water, pumpkin, and cheese; stir to combine. (Dough will be slightly sticky.)
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it forms a smooth ball. (Add up to ¼ cup more flour if needed.)
4. Sprinkle a large bowl with flour and add ball of dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
5. Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon butter.
6. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and use hands to flatten to a rectangle, about 9 by 10 inches.
7. Roll dough into a log and place seam-side down in loaf pan.
8. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, 1 to 1¼ hours.
9. Preheat oven to 375°. Using a sharp knife, slash the loaf down the center.
10. Brush loaf with egg wash.
11. Bake until loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 40 to 50 minutes.
12. Turn out of pan onto a wire rack to cool.

Gingerbread Snacking Cake

Come winter I wanted some gingerbread. I talked to Eric about this and he wanted me to find a recipe that was from scratch.  From scratch? I wasn’t really sure what that meant… Hmm… Well, then I thought, “Who could be more “from scratch” than Martha Stewart?” So off to the Internet I went looking for a gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart, and then I found this one. It is incredible! YUM! I love it!! I’ve made it several times because it just disappears! YUM!!! And it's not just me that loves it! Yerlan and Sultan also love it! I can't wait until Yerlan makes it and sends me a picture! :) 

Gingerbread Snacking Cake

Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans

1 cup boiling water

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulfured molasses

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

 

BAKING PAN: 9”-x-13” cake pan, buttered and floured

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light. Beat in brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and grated ginger, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in eggs.

Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

Cut into squares; dust with confectioners’ sugar.