Honey Oat Bread--Secret Recipe Club

This month for Secret Recipe Club, I had Cindy's blog, "Hun...What's For Dinner?" She had a ton of recipes, but the ones that attracted me most were the breads. Maybe that's because autumn is here and I'm ready for some hot-from-the-oven loveliness. The bread I finally settled on was this Honey Oat Bread. It seemed virtuous, but not overly so--which is really nice in a bread. And I'm so glad I picked it. Truly it's the perfect autumn loaf. It's just a little sweet, just a little earthy. I absolutely loved it. I made it to go with a homemade bowl of soup and found I liked it best with butter and honey. Enjoy!

Honey Oat Bread
adapted from Hun...What's For Dinner?
makes 1 loaf bread
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Rise time: 90 minutes
Cost: $1.20
honey: .50, roller: .10, whole wheat flour: .20, flour: .20, oat bran: .10, other stuff: .10

1 C warm water
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 C honey
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 C rolled oats
1 C whole wheat flour
1 1/3 C bread flour (or all-purpose, though you might need a tiny bit more)
1/4 C oat bran (optional, but I used)

Combine water, oil, honey, and yeast.

To this add oats, salt, and whole wheat flour and oat bran.

Then add the rest of the flour in 1/2 C increments. When it gets too difficult to stir, turn it out to knead. Knead it for 5-8 minutes or until it doesn't stick to your hand, but is still soft and pillowy. [Note: For bread maker instructions, see Cindy's blog post.]

Let rise in bowl--45-60 minutes.

Shape into loaf and put in smaller loaf pan (7x3 1/2 inches I believe). Let rise again--about 30 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes or until top browned and is about 180 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Bacon Jalapeno Cheesy Bread

This isn't the type of bread that usually flies in my house. It is not smooth. It contains a real-life vegetable. And it is not "normal," by which I mean that you cannot put jam and peanut butter on it (well, I guess you could...).

But my sister raved about this recipe, repressing any doubts about the fact that I might get stuck eating a loaf of cheesy bread all by myself. And then I found myself with a bag of jalapenos from a friend. And a pot of potato soup for dinner. That potato soup called to this bread.

And so I made it. And, yes, it is completely awesome. For purposes of full disclosure, I should tell you that Kip picked his jalapeno bits out. But otherwise, he really loved this bread. I count that as a win in the house of pickiest people on earth.

It's almost biscuit-like, but without the bad qualities of biscuits (namely their dryness, flavorlessness, or sometimes-too-salty-ness). This bread is seriously the perfect savory bread. And if you hate jalapenos, leave them out. If you're vegetarian, skip the bacon. You can't skip the cheese though. Sorry vegans.

Bacon Jalapeno Cheesy Bread
adapted from Call Me PMC
Makes: one 9x5 inch loaf
Prep time: 10 minutes to cook bacon, 10-15 minutes to mix up the bread
Cook time: 50-70 minutes
Cost: $4.60
bacon: 1.00, flour: .30, cream cheese: 1.00, jalapeno: .30, cheddar: 1.50, buttermilk: .35, other stuff: .15

6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped into little bits (the original recipe called for 2 cups of chopped bacon; I used significantly less than that)
3 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 C diced jalapeno--2 medium (I left out the seeds, but you could chop and use if you like heat)
2 C cheddar cheese (I used sharp, but milder will work)
1 1/2 C buttermilk (or scant 1 1/2 C milk with 1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar)
1 Tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x5 inch loaf pan

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, jalapenos, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Stir to combine.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk.

To the flour mixture, add cream cheese mixture, the oil, and the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Don't overmix.

Pour into greased pan. Bake 50-70 minutes (original recipe said 45-50, but mine took much longer, so check it early, but don't be surprised if it takes longer. The top should start to brown and when you stick a knife in it, it should come out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes. Then turn out and cut. It's delicious warm or cool. And it rocks a bowl of potato soup.

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Chocolate Beet Cake (or Cupcakes)

 

I never thought this would work. My kids have bloodhound noses and the taste buds of the king's poison taster. Did I really think I was going to sneak beet puree past them? But I had two honking beets and had already made my favorite beet salad. I figured it was worth a try and, as long as I thought of the beets as "something that would moisten chocolate cake," instead of "I'm trying to add a weird vegetable to chocolate cake," I didn't psyche myself out too much.

Even so as I pureed those beets, each one of my kids commented on the grossness of the smell (note: the kids did not know what the beets would be used for). Then when I made the batter, it was distinctly purplish-pink. And then as those cupcakes cooked and I could catch the faint whiff of beetiness, I had to wonder if I'd be eating a bunch of beetcakes all by myself.

When they came out, I could still smell the beet just faintly, but after they'd cooled it was gone. As was any beety color--these are a nice, rich chocolate color. The cake was intensely moist with a perfect delicate crumb. And they were delicious. I had made a fudge frosting for them as a sort of backup plan--thinking that if they were just a little beety, I could cover that sin with some decent frosting. But I found I preferred them without the frosting--as a sort of slightly-indulgent-muffin. (Note: Don't worry--when I asked my kids if they would like to eat these without frosting as chocolate muffins for breakfast or with frosting as chocolate cupcakes for dessert--they chose the frosting/dessert option. And, no, I never told them they contained beets.)

Seriously, I plan to make these again and again when I've got a couple leftover beets hanging around. I must add that beets or no beets these are not exactly health food. But I should also add that they are absolutely no worse than many "muffin" recipes floating around the internet. And surely more healthy than any "muffins" you would buy in a store or bakery.

Chocolate Beet Cake
Adapted from Taste of Home
Makes about 24 cupcakes or 2 9-inch cakes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes to boil the beets, 20-30 minutes to cook cupcakes
Cost: $3.20
chocolate: .60, butter: 1.00, sugar: .40, beets (mine were free, so this is a guess)--1.00, flour: .20, other stuff: .05

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (about 2/3 C chocolate chips)
1 C butter (2 sticks), divided
1 1/2 C brown sugar (a combination of brown and white will also work)
3 eggs
2 C pureed beets (2 large beets will make about this much, or 4 normal ones)
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour (I used just a touch of whole wheat flour--probably about 1/4 C)
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Boil your beets (you can also roast them) until they are tender--you should be able to easily stick a butter knife into them. Let them cool. Then you can slide the skins off. After this, you'll need to puree the beets. I did this in my Magic Bullet. (Note: Naturally, it's time saving to cook many beets for different recipes at once. So if you're making beet salad, cook your beets for this too. You can puree and freeze the puree or the beets themselves will keep cooked for a good week in the fridge.)

Set the pureed beets aside.

Melt chocolate with part of the butter (I used 1 stick--1/2 C). I did this in the microwave in 30 second intervals--stirring in between. When the chocolate is melted, combine it with beets and vanilla.

In a separate (large) bowl, cream remaining butter and all the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Now add your chocolate/beet mixture. It might look a bit separated (and generally like it will be a big failure--don't despair).

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix.

Bake as cupcakes for 20-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

LET THEM COOL. This is essential. If they don't cool, they'll still have beety hints to them.

Frost if desired or dust with powdered sugar.

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