Tag: bread

Guinness Molasses Bread


Guinness Molasses Bread

I decided on a whim yesterday, to try making beer bread after hearing my Mom rave about some she had made. I didn’t have her recipe so did a quick search online and found a simple one using regular (non self-rising) flour, which I have on hand. I realized I also had a can of Guinness draught in the fridge from a recipe I made a while back, so decided to look online again for bread recipes strictly using Guinness, and saw a couple with molasses. Mmmmm, molasses. I wasn’t entirely sure how this was going to turn out, and was prepared to toss it if it came out sub-par for my standards.  Fortunately, it came out fabulous and tasted delicious!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour, sifted
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 (12 oz.) can Guinness beer (I used draught)
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted + more for greasing pan

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9″x 5″ loaf pan with butter.
  2. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
  3. Slowly add the beer and stir until about halfway done (all the Guinness has been added, but it’s not totally mixed together), then add the molasses.
  4. Mix until ingredients are just combined, but do not over stir.
  5. Pour/place into a greased loaf pan.
  6. Pour melted butter over mixture.
  7. Bake 1 hour, but check at 50 minutes. Insert a toothpick into deepest part of bread, and if it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, put back in oven for additional 10 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes and take out of pan.
  9. Let cool for 15 more minutes, slice and serve.

Beer Bread

Tips: It is VERY important to sift the flour. VERY. IMPORTANT. Do not skip this step. If you don’t have a sifter, then use a spoon to spoon the flour into a measuring cup. Do not level it off.

This recipe produces a hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust, incorporate the melted butter into the mix instead of over it.

The Guinness “pub cans” are 16 oz. but have better carbonation, so measure out 12 oz. and discard the rest… or drink it 🙂

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Braided Spaghetti Bread


I loooooove bread and pasta, however, I try to keep my carb intake to a reasonable level. But, when I saw a picture of this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. The original recipe calls for using frozen bread loaf dough, which I found to be a little difficult (aka sticky) to work with, so alternatively, you could use Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets to make it easier and much quicker (and cut down on the carbs a bit). With that being said, after I got the dough loaf thawed (which takes about 2 hours) and rolled out, everything else was a breeze. The end result was a delicious garlic bread filled with spaghetti and mozzarella cheese! So if you’re a carb-lover, you will truly enjoy this recipe.

There are a ton of other things you could do with this if you want to skip the spaghetti… pizza, reuben sandwiches, chili-cheese bread, etc.

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf bread dough, thawed to room temperature, about 2 hours (I used Bridgford, but the original recipe calls for Rhodes)
  • 6 oz spaghetti, cooked (I used thin spaghetti)
  • 1 1/2 cups thick spaghetti sauce, like Trader Giotto’s (Joe’s) Tomato Basil Marinara
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 egg white
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic powder
  • Parsley flakes for garnish

Directions

1.  Thaw bread loaf to room temperature.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3.  Place loaf on parchment paper (not wax), and spray rolling-pin with cooking spray.
4.  Roll  into an approximate 12×16-inch rectangle.

5.  Cover with plastic wrap, let sit 10-15 minutes, then roll again.
6.  Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, cool slightly and mix with marina sauce.
7.  Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4″ strip down the center of the dough and add the cheese cubes.

I added sweet Italian turkey sausage and sautéed onions to the sauce.

8.  Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling (as seen in picture above).
9.  Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.

10.  Brush with egg white, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and parsley, as liberally as you like.

11.  Transfer parchment paper to baking sheet and cook for 30-35 minutes.

12.  Cool slightly and slice to serve.

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Banana French Toast


If you like bananas, then you’ll love this recipe that’s just a slight variation from the traditional French Toast, as it contains bananas and cream in the batter.

Ingredients

  • 2 pieces of bread (I prefer whole grain or wheat)
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 eggs (or 1 egg, 1 egg white)
  • 1/8 cup whipping cream (or milk)
  • Cinnamon
  • Cooking spray

Directions

  1. Put eggs, 1/2 banana, cream and a dash of cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
  2. Mix using hand mixer (or blender) until smooth.
  3. Heat large skillet over medium-low with cooking spray.
  4. Soak each piece of bread in egg mixture just long enough to make sure it’s saturated.
  5. Transfer to skillet and cook until lightly browned on each side.
  6. Remove from heat and serve with other 1/2 banana, cut into slices, a sprinkle of powdered sugar and syrup.

Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta


Recipe courtesy of one my favorites, Betty Crocker

Organic tomatoes, goat cheese and thyme are the signature flavors of this classic Italian recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 logs (4 oz each) soft goat cheese, cut into 8 (1 inch) slices
  • 1 can* (14.5 oz) organic, diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 24 slices (1/2 inch thick) baguette (about 8 oz), toasted

Directions

  1. Heat over to 350F.
  2. In ungreased, 1-quart shallow ovenproof dish, place cheese in a single layer.
  3. Sprinkle tomatoes, olives, thyme leaves and pepper flakes over cheese.
  4. Drizzle with olive oil.
  5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until warm and serve with baguette slices.

*Unlike fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes contain more nutrients and lycopene because they are pre-cooked, which enhances their nutritional content.

Popovers aka Yorkshire Pudding


These light and airy bread treats have been a favorite of mine for a long time. I really REALLY LOVE them! But be warned, you will have a hard time just eating one!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk, room temperature or heat in microwave for 30 seconds
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp butter, chilled

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  2. Spray a popover or muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  3. Place pan on center rack of oven and preheat for 2 minutes.
  4. Lightly blend flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until it looks like heavy cream, about 1 to 2 minutes, do not overbeat.
  5. Cut chilled butter into 12 small, even pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in each cup and place pan back in oven until butter is melted (about 1 minute).
  6. Fill each cup half full with batter and bake 20 minutes (no peeking… don’t open the door to check on them).
  7.  Reduce heat to 325 F and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
  8. Immediately remove from pan.
  9. Serve piping hot with honey butter (see below for recipe), regular butter or jam.

Honey Butter

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
Mix together until smooth and place in an airtight container in the fridge.