Posts Tagged ‘spongey’

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

Posted: 29th October 2013 by doomthings in Dessert, The Foodening
Tags: , , , , ,

October’s almost over and I haven’t made anything with pumpkin yet.  My best friend was over the other day and scolded me for having pumpkin puree in a can; she loves using fresh pumpkin.  In my defense, the cans were pretty old (just about ready to “expire”, although I’m not sure things in cans really expire unless they’re SUPER old, but I digress), and I’d gotten them before we started making a mess in her kitchen experimenting with fresh pumpkin.

Right, so about things that are going on right now:  I usually make the pumpkin cookies my parents made when I was little.  I came across this spiced-up version from EatingWell and tweaked it a bit.

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies | doomthings

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup bread flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ginger cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup dark molasses
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Sift together dry ingredients (except sugar).
  2. In a separate bowl, cream brown sugar and butter together until combined.  Add eggs, pumpkin, and molasses and mix well.
  3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.  Add chocolate ups.
  4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 – 12 minutes.

These turned out SUPER SPONGEY!  Mmmmmm…  +15 cakey-ness

This is a re-post of an older post.  I made this and devoured it almost immediately (with the help of my husband) so originally, there were no pictures.  Now, there are pictures.  Also, I highly recommend you make this.  Right now.  Go.

Ingredients (adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee):

  • 5 1/2 cups warm milk
  • 3 packages (each package is 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 11 cups bread flour

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Let rise for 30 – 60 minutes (until about doubled).
  3. Spoon into (4) well greased (and floured) loaf pans.
  4. Let rise in pans until dough reaches the top of the pans (30 – 60 minutes).
  5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. 10 minutes before done, brush with melted butter.  Bread will be moist at first, so allow to cool completely before cutting.

My favorite part of this recipe is that I get to throw all the ingredients in the bowl, mix, and watch.  Most yeast bread recipes require the yeast to sit in vaguely warm water and activate.  This may be why the texture is so much moister and spongier than other yeast breads.

You can eat this bread as-is, but toasting slices is so worth the wait.  I did notice that I needed to toast a single piece on the “7” setting on my toaster oven.  This might be because it is such a moist bread.  Honey, jam, butter, or other bread-spreads are all fantastic on this bread!  It lasts barely two days in our house if we don’t control ourselves (I usually half the recipe to make just two loaves just for this reason).

A few notes:

  • On this go-round, I ended up having to let the dough sit overnight because I didn’t have time to bake it the same day.  While it still ended up tasting really good, but there was an additional fermented “sourdough” flavor, not unlike the flavor I like added to my pizza dough.  I would suggest that you don’t let it sit overnight.  Try to bake these the same day.
  • You’ll notice that the baked pictures look sort of funny and are smaller than the risen picture.  This is because they sat overnight.  Normally, the baked bread would be the same size as the pre-baked risen dough.
  • Lastly, I forgot to let the dough rise in the bowl.  This didn’t seem to affect the flavor or texture.  I just let the dough rise for twice as long in the pans.


+ 20 deliciosity

This is my very favorite bread ever.  Since trying it for the first time after finding it on One Good Thing by Jillee via Pinterest, my husband and I always try to find reasons to make it.  This is horrible, because I’m pretty sure it clogs my arteries with every bite.  Regardless, we make it all the time.

One reason we attempt to make this almost every week is that it is, as previously mentioned, delicious.  The other reason is that it is completely easy to make.  Perhaps tooooooo easy…

English Muffin Bread | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee):

  • 5 1/2 cups warm water
  • 3 packages (each package is 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 11 cups bread flour

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Let rise for 30 – 60 minutes (until about doubled).
  3. Spoon into (4) well greased loaf pans.
  4. Let rise in pans until dough reaches the top of the pans (30 – 60 minutes).
  5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. 10 minutes before done, brush with melted butter.  Bread will be moist at first, so allow to cool completely before cutting.

In the original recipe, rapid-rise yeast is used, which means you can skip the first rise and just let them rise in the pans.  I haven’t done this (because I don’t have rapid-rise yeast), but it makes the ease of this recipe double!  My favorite part of this recipe is that I get to throw all the ingredients in the bowl, mix, and watch.  Most yeast bread recipes require the yeast to sit in vaguely warm water and activate.  I wonder if this is why the texture is so much moister and spongier than other yeast breads.

You can eat this bread as-is, but toasting slices is so worth the wait.  I did notice that I needed to toast a single piece on the “7” setting on my toaster oven.  This might be because it is such a moist bread.  I like honey on it (a new development), but jam, butter, or other bread-spreads are just as good.  This bread would last maybe two days in our house if we didn’t control ourselves (I usually half the recipe to make just two loaves just for this reason).  + 20 delicious points.