Category: Bread

Basic Muffin Recipe

There are all kinds of muffin recipes out there, about as many as there are quick bread recipes (if not more). That’s what American muffins are of course, portion-sized quick breads. But more on that later. This recipe will work with lots of different inclusions…berries especially, but chocolate chips, nuts, all sorts of stuff. It’s a great launching pad for any of your own ideas.

10 ounces (2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
5.25 ounces (3/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
4.25 ounces (1/2 cup) sour cream, room temperature
2 ounces (1/4 cup) milk, room temperature
about 2 cups of…whatever

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Making Panettone

Having baked so many darn things the past eleven years, I confess I get a little cynical about preparations that seem to closely resemble other things. I do a sort of lazy man’s mental math…let’s see…brioche + sugar + candied fruit = yeah, I think I know what that’s all about. I think that’s why I’ve put off making my own panettone for so long. That and the fact that I’ve tasted so many of the impressively-tall-yet-disappointingly-dry versions. You start to wonder what all the fuss is about. Having finally made my own, now I know — and this stuff is good.

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Panettone Recipe

That’s “panettone” with two t’s. Profuse apologies to my few — and getting fewer — Italian readers. Panettone has near-sacred status among the Italian-Americans I know. These are people who know how to eat — but who are frequently disappointed by the panettone they find in most stores, both here and in Italy where (they say) mass-produced versions have largely replaced the artisanal kind. Even so, they fear making their own because of the time involved.

It’s true that some panettone recipes have more assembly steps than an Imaginarium Pirate Island Playset (forgive me, Christmas is coming), but between the quick-rise, easy-bake iterations and the slow-rising, multi-day religious ritual versions there is a happy medium. Peter Reinhart strikes it in his masterful book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The recipe is classic Reinhart: starter-based but with a commercial yeast “spike” that delivers the best of both worlds: a voluminous light crumb and a deep, satisfying flavor.

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Banana Bread

Hang on there Joe, aren’t we doing gâteau whatchamacallit? Well, yes we are, but I had a bunch of overripe bananas that were crying out to be turned into something. And what with all the interest in tea breads the last week or so it seemed timely. Plus the weather here has been awful the last three days…my precious natural light has been at a bare minimum…terrible for photography. I promise I’ll get to gâteau battu as soon as the Thanksgiving break is over. And anyway, this is my mother’s famous banana bread. You can’t go wrong here. You’ll need:

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Making Pumpkin Scones

New Zealand/Australian scones are so like American biscuits it’s tempting to say there’s no difference between them at all. That’s not true of course. On balance they contain a little less butter and are moistened (at least the pumpkin versions) with egg instead of buttermilk, which gives them a more tender, cake-like crumb. Another big difference is that they’re frequently loaded up with flavorings like pumpkin, cheese or dates. Most Americans (especially Southern Americans) view flavored biscuits with deep suspicion, if not outright hostility. These, however, are fantastic.

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Pumpkin Scones Recipe

Things work a little differently in New Zealand and Australia where baking nomenclature is concerned. Relative to American baking, their scones are our biscuits. Their biscuits are are our cookies, and their cookies are…well honestly I don’t know what they are. I’m not sure they have any. But these pumpkin biscuits scones are something special. Talk about a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables fruit, these things have more pumpkin in them than flour.

Slightly cake-like relative to American biscuits (that’s because of the egg) the process of making them is identical. Try them soon, as you’ll be able to whip up a batch in about half an hour total.

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Making Pumpkin Bread

I should do more pumpkin recipes, they match so well with my overall color scheme. As with most tea breads, the only trick to this is avoiding over-beating. Otherwise it’s a snap. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 (or 375 if you’re using small 1-pound pans). Apply butter or cooking spray to your pans.

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Pumpkin Bread Recipe

This pumpkin tea bread is moist and flavorful — one of the few things I make that both my girls absolutely love. Like most tea breads, it combines the virtues of low effort and large payoff quite elegantly. I like to make all my tea breads in small “1 pound” loaf pans as I believe the end result is not only more convenient but less dry. However I’ve included directions for conventional loaf pans as well.

1 lb. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lb. canned pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 lb. 5 ounces (3 cups) sugar
1 cup vegetable oil

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Making Soda Bread

Don’t think you have time to make fresh bread for St. Patrick’s Day today? Trust me, you do. Just check out how fast and easy a traditional soda bread is to make. Preheat your oven to 425 half an hour before you begin. When the oven is hot, combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl (make sure your soda is fresh). Check out how coarse this flour is: look around the edges of the bowl, see those little granules? Those are pieces of barely ground wheat berries. This is serious hippie flour — and perfect for a bread like this.

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Soda Bread Recipe

There are lots of soda bread recipes around, but me, I prefer this one from the queen of Irish cooking, Monica Sheridan. Her 1965 book, The Art of Irish Cooking is a classic, right up there with Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Her recipe is about as traditional as you can get, and great for using up that bag of coarse-ground flour your hippie ex-roommate brought to you after his trip to Vermont.

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