Chocolate Bread!!

I was wondering how some cocoa would work in a yeasty bread. I am not a big fan of chocolate especially dark chocolate or too much chocolate in anything. Some days I do get a chocolate craving and those days I like milk chocolate or a bite or 2 of some decadent chocolate cake and that's it. In fact I am not even a fan of too much sugar and hence you don't see very many sugary baked desserts on my blog. I can bake them, but who will eat them..:)

This bread has a nice hot chocolate -y flavor to it which comes out more after toasting it. The flavor is not overpowering, the sugar is limited for a nice snack loaf. You can add chocolate chips to the loaf to give it even more chocolaty texture.. I ran out of any possible chocolate to be used as chips.. Hubby must have finished them up. I dont know where they went coz I dont check the stash that often :)

The bread goes really well with some coffee or tea, toasted and buttered.. or even as is.. just pop that slice directly in your mouth!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2-3 cups bread flour
• 1 large egg ( wilcox cage free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon butter softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Tablespoons Cocoa powder (organic free trade)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

1. Warm the water to just about warm to touch and add yeast and 1 teaspoons sugar to it. Mix well and keep for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Warm the milk and add cocoa powder to it and mix well and keep aside.
3. Grease the mixer bowl, add the flours, salt and rest of the sugar and give it a whirl.
4. Add in the butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa and yeast mixture and knead for 10-12 minutes( batches of 3-4 minutes with intermittent scraping of the bowl). You can add half a cup of chocolate chips as well before starting the kneading. Add more flour or water if needed.
5. Knead into a soft dough and place dough in a well greased container. Spritz some water and oil spray on the dough. Cover with damp towel and let rise for an hour.
6. Punch the dough down and knead for a minute. Shape into a loaf by pulling on alls ides and tucking under. Use some flour to make the dough less sticky if needed.
7. Place loaf on well greased bread pan and cover with damp towel and let rise for 40 minutes in a warm place.
8. Remove towel, spritz top with water and bake at 370 degrees F for 35-40minutes.
9. Remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack. Cool completely before slicing. I usually slice it after keeping it in the refrigerator for an hour so it is a bit firm and the slices come out firm without falling apart!

This beauty is headed to this week's YeastSpotting.. check out some amazing breads there!

Peppers Spinach Garlic Cajun Quick Farfalle!

Some days are a quick lunch or dinner day and I end up putting together some random veggies and pasta and end up with some nice fusion dish!

Heres one with a Cajun touch

Ingredients:

• 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1/3 onion thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1/2 cup spinach chopped ( thawed if frozen)
• 1 medium tomato chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 Tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups farfalle or any pasta
• 1/2 cup mexican mix cheese shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon cajun spice
• 1 teaspoon lime juice

Directions:

1. Boil the farfalle with water and 3/4 teaspoon salt and keep aside when ready.
2. In a large pan, add vegetable oil and onions and cook on medium heat until onions are translucent.
3. Add the bell peppers and cook for another 5-7 minutes until the peppers start to soften up.
4. Add in the spinach and olive oil and cook on medium heat stirring frequently for 2 minutes.
5. Add in the tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper, chili flakes, cajun spice and lemon juice and give it a toss for a few seconds.
6. Add in the cooked Farfalle or any pasta and toss it well and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve hot topped with the mexican cheese and sprinkled cajun spice!

Chinese Bao with Orange Veggie stir fry filling!

Made some veggie chinese steamed buns again!!. This time for the filling, I added some low sodium soy sauce, 2 tablespoons orange juice and 1 teaspoon orange zest instead of the stir-fry sauce!. short write up again coz of sprained thumb!:)

The Baos came out nice and soft and the orange veggie filling was fun ! I should try some orange veggie noodle bowl next!

Blackberry Bread!

What do you do when hubbs picks up a pound of blackberries..then doesnt want to eat them.. I am not a berry fan.. i dont particularly like any kinds of fresh berries by themselves. i can eat some in salads or yogurt or in baked goods.. so I pureed up a cup of black berries and added them to this weeks sandwich loaf !!

Sorry for the short write up! I have sprained my right thumb a little and it always hurts only when I type! or pick up something heavy.. weird..

The recipe is the same as the lovely strawberry bread. Just substitute with blackberry puree. You can also eliminate the lemon and flax seed!

Whitey white hubby requested sandwich loaf!

Hubby got super bored with all the wheaty heavy breads... so heres some super fluffy light white daily sandwich loaf! I ran out of butter, you can sub olive oil with butter. Though the oil also makes the bread as soft! This one is headed to this weeks YeastSpotting!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bread flour
• 2-3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large egg (Wilcox Cage Free)
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 packet quick rise yeast (1.25 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:

1. Warm 1/4 cup water and add sugar and yeast to it . Mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Grease the mixer bowl and add in 2 cups bread flour and 2 cups all purpose flour and salt. Mix well.
3. Add in the oil , orange juice, water and yeast mixture and knead for 10-12 minutes( batches of 3-4 minutes and then scrape the bowl and wait for the mixer to cool a little if too warm)
4. Dough should be soft and pliable and non sticky.
5. Place dough in well oiled container, covered with plastic wrap in a warm place for 1.5 hours
6. Punch dough down and knead for a minute. Shape into loaf by pulling on all sides and tucking under. Use flour on hands to avoid dough sticking to hands.
7. Place loaf in well oiled bread pan and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let rise for half an hour. Bake loaf at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes.
8. Cool completely before slicing. I usually place the cooled bread in the refrigerator for half an our before slicing with an electric knife for nice and clean slices!

Asiago Wheat Bread

This one is form the cheese bread series!

Ingredients:

• 1 cups bread flour
• 2-3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large egg (Wilcox Cage Free)
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 packet quick rise yeast (1.25 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup aged asiago shredded

Directions:

1. Warm 1/4 cup water and add sugar and yeast to it . Mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Grease the mixer bowl and add in the flours and salt. Mix well.
3. Add in the oil , water and yeast mixture and the cheese and knead for 10-12 minutes( batches of 3-4 minutes and then scrape the bowl and wait for the mixer to cool a little if too warm)
4. Dough should be soft and pliable and non sticky. Use more flour or water if needed.
5. Place dough in well oiled container, covered with plastic wrap in a warm place for 1.5 hours
6. Punch dough down and knead for a minute. Shape into loaf by pulling on all sides and tucking under. Use flour on hands to avoid dough sticking to hands.
7. Place loaf in well oiled bread pan and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let rise for half an hour. Bake loaf at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes.
8. Cool completely before slicing. I usually place the cooled bread in the refrigerator for half an our before slicing with an electric knife for nice and clean slices!

Pull apart June Poppy Seed Dinner Rolls!

Starting off June with some soft pull apart Dinner rolls! May has not been very kind to my health , but I am trying to get the energy back up and get back to baking some fun breads and rolls.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1-2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 cups water

Directions:

1. Warm 1 cup of water, add sugar yeast and 1 cup bread flour and mix well. Let it rise for an hour and refrigerate overnight. You could use it directly after the hour as well.
2. Keep the yeast mixture out for about an hour to get it to room temperature.
3. Grease the mixer bowl, add 2 cups bread flour, 1 cup wheat flour, salt and mix well.
4. Add in the lightly beaten egg, olive oil and the yeast mixture and knead for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add more water and wheat flour if needed to get the dough together into a non sticky soft ball. Knead in batches of 3-4 minutes with scraping in between.
6. Make small balls of the dough. Take each ball and pull on all sides and tuck under and place in a greased round pan close to each other.
7. Spray the tops with water and then oil spray and cover the round pan with a kitchen towel and let rise for an hour.
8. Remove towel and Bake at 360 degrees for 20 minutes or until the rolls start to sound hollow.
9. Remove rolls from pan and let cool a bit before pulling them apart and devouring them with some softened butter or herbed olive oil!