Blueberry Pull-Apart Bread

 This was one of the many, many delicious-sounding blueberry recipes I collected for my study in blue challenge.  Finally got around to making it this week, and wow!  Pull-apart bread rocks!  Plus this one has flax seed and wheat flour, so you know what that means.  Healthy-ish!

I made this one afternoon when we had friends over, and us two adults and six kids devoured it up in one sitting.  The middle part was unfortunately still doughy or else we would have eaten even more, but don't worry.  I've fixed the original recipe so that won't happen to you.  Blueberries are so sweet this time of year - go bake some into pull-apart bread!

Blueberry Pull-Apart Bread (print recipe)

Makes 1 loaf

Dough:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 T ground flax seed
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole or 2% milk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/4 cup maple syrup

Filling:
1 cup light brown sugar
6 oz. fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted until browned

1.  In a large bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, flax seed, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

2.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together milk and butter until butter is just melted.  Remove from heat and mix in water and vanilla; wait until the temperature of the liquid is between 115-125 degrees F.

3.  Change to paddle attachment.  On low speed, pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients.  After well combined, pour in eggs and maple syrup.  At this stage, the dough will fall apart and separate into pieces - just keep going.  Add in the final 3/4 cup all-purpose flour; mix until everything comes together again.  The dough will be sticky.

4.  Place the dough in a large greased bowl.  Cover with clean humid towel. Place in a warm place and let it rest until double in size, about an hour.  Or you can place it in the fridge overnight.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes before step 8.

5.  While waiting for the dough to rise, in a small bowl, combine filling brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Set aside.

6.  In a small saucepan, melt the 1/4 cup butter until browned.  The milk solids in the butter will turn medium to dark brown and it will all smell heavenly and nutty.  Do not burn.

7.  Grease a 9x5 or 10x5 loaf pan.

8.  Gently deflate the dough with your hand. Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 20" by 12" rectangle. You should measure it and make it as accurate as possible. Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter evenly and liberally over the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar-spice mixture.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough crosswise in five strips, each 12" by 4". Sprinkle about 1/5 of the blueberries (a small handful) over the first sugared rectangle. Top it with a second rectangle, sprinkling that one with 1/4 of the remaining blueberries. Continue to top with rectangles and blueberries, so you have a stack of five 12" by 4" rectangles, all buttered, sugared, and berried.

9.  Slice this new stack crosswise, through all five layers, into 5 equal rectangles, each about 4" long and 2 - 2 1/2" wide. Carefully transfer these strips of dough into the loaf pan, cut edges up, side by side. This is easier if you prop the loaf pan up on its end. There will be some extra room, but the bread will expand during the second rise and baking. 

10.  Cover with a clean humid towel and let rest again in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

11.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

12.  Place loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  This keeps the bottom from burning but more importantly, catches the drips of juicy, bubbly goodness that may overflow.  You don't want your oven and kitchen filling with smoke like mine did!  Place in the oven and bake until the top is very golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.  Tent with foil if it is browning very quickly.  Bake for another 10-20 minutes, for a total of 45-55 minutes.  Remove from oven and rest for 20 minutes before serving.  

Recipe adapted (=fixed!) from http://sweetmakemesmile.blogspot.com/

1 year ago:  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
2 years ago:  Kiwi Pops
3 years ago:  Mrs. June's Heavenly Coconut Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bars

 

 Just to be clear.  These chewy gooey squares are NOT for dessert.  They are SNACK bars, and a snack is anything eaten between meals, including before breakfast...you know, while your whole wheat bread is toasting.

I know they have chocolate, butter, and sugar in them.  BUT.  There are also three different whole grains, and the healthy-ish benefits of peanut butter and dark chocolate.  In fact, in the name of transparency, I ran a recipe analyzer on these, and include the nutritional info at the bottom.   Definitely more indulgent than a cup of baby carrots, but for 170 calories, a better, and infinitely more satisfying, choice than something from the vending machine.  (That is, if you can eat just one!)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Snack Bars (print recipe)
Makes 16 bars

3 tablespoons softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
1 cup whole oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until creamy, 4-5 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Beat until combined. Add cocoa powder and beat on low speed to prevent cocoa powder flying in your face!

2.  In a separate bowl, combined flour, wheat flour, flax seed, oats, baking soda and salt. Mix together. Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until moistened. You may need to use your hands to get it all combined. Add chocolate chips and combine. Pour mixture into a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until gooey and delicious. Serve immediately, or cut into bars and store.

Per bar: Cal 169, Fat 7.9g (Sat 3.4g), Chol 16mg, Sod 104mg, Carb 23.1g, Fiber 1.4g, Sugars 13.2g, Protein 3.8g

Recipe from Jenna Laughs

Zucchini & Carrot Muffins

Honestly, I really do post something healthy-ish once in awhile! It's just been...awhile. But these have 4 cups of shredded veggies, and if you do the math (stay with me), that's 12 muffins, which means 1/3 cup of veggies in each muffin! Healthy! Wheat flour, flax seed - healthy(-ish)!

My 6-year-old said that even though they have vegetables and "look a little bit gross", they "taste like sugar", which is her stamp of approval.

And listen to this. There were genuine tears when these were gone, and begging for me to make more. That almost never happens, even with the most delicious desserts! So I pulled out my last zucchini and the bag of carrots and whipped up another batch. And then a few days later, more begging! Are you kidding? I will make these for the kids ANYTIME they want. So stow this away for the summer's bounty, or better yet, share some with me so we can all have lots and lots of muffins.

*Bummer about the pictures - they were either too golden with sunshine or too blue in the shadows and I was too lazy to get my light out. You get the gist.

Zucchini & Carrot Muffins (print recipe)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)

2 cups grated carrots (about 4 medium)

1/2 cup dried pineapple or cinnamon chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 3/4 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed (also called flax meal)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon Coarse sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375°F; Line 12 cups of a standard muffin tin with papers, or grease each cup.

2. Whisk together the sugar, oil, salt and eggs.

3. Add the zucchini, carrots, dried fruit (or cinnamon chips) and nuts.

4. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the batter. Stir till just combined.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Let the muffins rest for 10 minutes before placing them in the oven. Sprinkle each with coarse sugar, if desired (it makes a nice crunchy top.)

6. Bake the muffins until the edges are lightly browned and they feel firm if gently pressed, about 18 to 25 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.

7. Remove the muffins from the oven, and cool them in the pan for 10 minutes; transfer to a rack, and cool completely. Makes 12 muffins

Recipe from the King Arthur Flour website

Basic Banana Bread

OK, so I was not quite done posting bread recipes. A few months ago Cooking Light did a feature on banana bread, from whence came that yummy Peanut Butter Banana Bread - man, it's good. So I figured the basic recipe would be just as perfect, and it is.

You're not put off by the word "basic", are you? Because you know on here it does not mean bland, boring or sub-par in any way. I wouldn't post it if it was, and there have been a lot of banana breads I haven't posted because of that. No, this is that perfect, simple, moist but properly cooked and crumbed, not burnt on the edges, sweet, fragrant and flavorful loaf you imagine and want banana bread to be. Here it is, your perfect basic recipe!
Really Good Basic Banana Bread (print recipe)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Cooking spray
1/3 cup powdered sugar, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons 1% low-fat milk, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until combined.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through ground allspice). Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool completely. Optional - Combine powdered sugar and milk, stirring until smooth; drizzle over bread.
Recipe from Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2010