Corn Muffins using Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Non-Fat Yorgurt

My husband, Ken, loves corn muffins and had been hinting for a few days about them.  Then one morning I came downstairs and there was a recipe for corn muffins on the top liner from the Dannon Light & Fit yogurt container he had opened. 

I looked it over and left it on the counter, wondering if he forgot to throw it in the trash or if it was an out-and-out hint that he wanted me to make them.  Finally a few days later our schedules gave us enough time together for me to ask.  He said it might be a good one to try.  "OK.  I'll give make them, but I wonder about them being too sweet," I replied.

I'm a gal who loves plain yogurt,  not flavored sweetened yogurt.  Ken loves vanilla yogurt though.  The advantage with Dannon's Light & Fit is that it is not sweetened with sugar, so it fits into Ken's diet. 

The recipe is simple, quick, and surprisingly not too sweet.  The yogurt makes the corn muffins moist, which is a good thing!  Also even when heated in the microwave they come out nice and soft, not tough. 

When I posted a comment and picture on my Facebook page I had several requests for the recipe.  So here it is!

 Corn Muffins from Dannon Light & Fit Non-fat Yogurt

1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c all-purpose flour (I generally only use King Arthur)
1/2 c granulated sugar (I used 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 c Splenda granulated)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1-1/4 c Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla or Strawberry nonfat yogurt
1/4 c canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Ligghtly great or line twelve 2" muffin tins.  I used my silicone ones...but even on those you still need to spray Pam.

In a bowl whist together dry ingredients.  In another bowl whisk together eggs, goygurt, and oil.  Then add the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture, and stir the batter until it is combined. 

Divide the batter among the muffin tins , and bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool in the tins on a rack for 3 minutes.  Then turn them out onto a rack and let them cool completely...Yeah right like that's gonna happen in my house!  Let them get cool enough to handle, split and slather with butter.  That's what we do!

Next time I won't put them in the muffin tins...too much cleaning!  Instead I'll just bake the batter in my cast iron skillet and then just slice wedges when it's cooled enough to serve. 

If any of you try this recipe with the strawberry yogurt please let me know...would love to know what you think! 

January 15th Bread Braid with HBin5

It is the start of our Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day assignments! We were to do a full Master Recipe on Pages 53-59. With that dough we were to make

1 "regular" loaf,

1 Epi or Wreath shaped bread ( pgs 71-73), &

1 batch of crackers (pgs 233-234).

We can make substitutions, but need to share that with the group in our blogs.

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The first substitution I made was swapping the measurements of the white whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour. As I have mentioned before in my blogs, Ken doesn't like whole wheat, in fact he equates it to sandpaper! So unless I don't plan to give him any of the bread I lighten up on the whole wheat. I used:

2 c of WWW( white whole wheat) and 2 c of WW (whole wheat),

&

3 and 1/2 c AP (all purpose) flours.

I also increased the kosher salt from 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp,

&

added 1/4 honey.

I'm anxious to see how everyone did, especially with their crackers!
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For the regular loaf I flattened out my dough and sprinkled it with a cinnamon and splenda mixture, and cran raisins. Then I rolled it up like a log, pinched the seam and ends to seal them and set them in a loaf pan to rise. That loaf came out looking great as you can see in the picture below and best of all Ken loves it! Matter of fact he ate 4 slices and didn't know it had whole wheat in it! LOL.

Next I tackled the Epi. While this is a shape to make me sigh with delight, I had not attempted it previously. Being a bit nervous about it, I looked up the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day website to see if they had more pictures on how to do it. I wasn't seeing any that really helped so next I viewed a video on YouTube to get a better idea of how it's done. Then I made my basic baguette shape as seen below.

I have had problems before with my baguettes spreading too much, even when making the envelope shape first. Usually I flatten out the dough and then roll it tightly which works better. But this time I decided to try supporting the sides like I've seen in the King Arthur Baking book that I have. In KAB book they show that the shape is formed by placing the formed dough onto a floured towel that has a stiffness to it, then folding a section of the towel up on each side to support the baguette. I didn't have any of that material type towel, so I used a rolling pin on one side and my loaf pan (with the cran-raisin dough in it) on the other side.

Once the dough rose enough I made the scissor cuts at a very shallow angle as the instructions say and the video showed. I was a little concerned that the shape wouldn't come out right, so reshaped a few ends with my fingers. Just before baking I sprinkled sesame seeds and poppy seads on one of the loaves, but left the other plain just to see how they came out.

I was extremely pleased with the results! The only thing I would say is the next time I make them I will make the baguette bigger, I'd like to have all loaves with full size "leaf-buns" instead of half size.

Finally I started on the crackers. I've made crackers many times, but usually with dough that is stiffer. First I tried rolling out the dough on the floured counter. I sprinkled the dough with Penzey's Southwest seasoning. When I went to remove the cracker sections of dough I ran into a problem. The dough stretched completely out of shape! I tried removing the dough with the dough scraper and that was even worse.

I was having more and more trouble with losing the shapes, so I finally just scraped up all the dough and kneaded it together for a minute. I formed it into a round boule and flattened it out. Then I sprinkled it with a four cheese Mexican cheese blend, rolled it into a log and set it aside to rise. When baked it came out very good with just enough flavor from the Penzey's Southwest seasoning!

I tried once more with the crackers. This time I rolled out the dough onto a silicon mat, sprinkled the same seasoning on and then using my dough scraper I cut it into squares. I transferred the entire mat into the oven and placed it on my baking stone. I had rolled the dough as thin as I could and docked it all over with a fork, but you can see how the crackers still puffed up. I found that most of the "crackers" were not to my liking. They were too puffed up. Even after cooling for 1/2 day I found I still didn't like the puffiness and ended up throwing half the batch out and only keeping the really crisp ones.

As I've stated before, I love to share my baking and cooking with friends, neighbors and associates. In this case I took down the biggest loaf of Epi to Carla. She works at our favorite Batteries Plus and has helped us with batteries on a number of our techy devices. Most recently she had one of the guys replace the batteries in my Scooba. While talking to her that time I explained I really needed the Scooba working to help clean the kitchen floor after my baking exploits. We talked about breads and I found out that Carla loves whole wheat bread! To make sure the Scooba worked before I picked it up, they ran it over part of the floor in the shop. That was all it took to convince her she should get one for her mother in the near future!

She loved the Epi as you can see by her smile in the picture!

Pumpkin Pie Brioche and Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day google group

It's cold and dreay outside, and sprinkling most of the day.  GREAT DAY TO BAKE!  Yippee! 

Plus it's time for HBin5 to make the first bread!  Tomorrow I have to post my pictures of Pumpkin Pie Brioche.  Funny thing is I couldn't remember ever having a brioche and certainly have never seen a Pumpkin Pie Brioche.  Sheesh.  Here we go again, making something I have never had a taste of. 

First I had to go to the store to get the ingredients...had no pumpkin, and had run out of white whole wheat flour by King Arthur.  So off I went.  I was also hoping to find an example of brioche!  LOL.  Forget that idea in York!  At least it was not at the Giant grocery store I went to.  Even though I had skimmed the recipe for the ingredients I would need I hadn't read up on brioche so was just at a loss. 

By the way, let me give you an idea of the lay of the land here in York, figuratively speaking.  I love to make deli rye bread for my husband.  That of course means I need rye flour right?  Do you think I can find rye flour here in York?  Think again!  Occassionally one of the stores might have a small bag of it, certainly that store will not be Walmart.  But I can tell you what I will find...a one gallon bucket of lard!  Argh! 

So I guess I should consider myself lucky that I can find KA white whole wheat flour, eh?  And I do.  But I still grouse.  I can travel 25 minutes to Mechanicsburg and hit Wegman's and find rye flour there, and I think I can even find it in their bulk section if I remember correctly.  Wegman's is an upper class grocery store, and one I love to go in to.  Their breads are fabulous, but frankly my breads are just as good these days.  What they do have that I don't make are pastries to die for.  I mean you gain 5 pounds just standing there looking at them and drooling down your chin!  They have a lot of high end items like duck confit, duck proscuitto (both of which I have made).  One of the things I love is their kosher style deli where they even roast kosher chickens!  Why do they have to be 25 minutes away!  WAH! 

Or I can travel 25 minutes in another direction and have it milled at Sonnewald's health food store, which I have done.  When I buy it at Sonnewald's though I have to put it in the freezer.  But it's really nice having it freshly milled!  They also carry a good supply of semolina flour, another item difficult to come by here in York. 

Anyhow, back to the Pumpkin Pie Brioche.  I thought about buying some "fresh spices", nutmeg, allspice, and ginger for the recipe...but hate to spend $4 and $5 for a tiny little jar of McCormicks.  I'll order it from Penzeys over the holidays, thank you very much (http://penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html).  I also looked for fresh pumpkin puree but no such luck.  They have it at the Eastern York Market, but I wasn't able to get there either on Friday, the only day of the week they are open.  Work gets in the way again!  LOL. 

OK.  So I come back with the groceries and jump right in to the recipe.  You can find it on page 284 of Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  All in HBin5 group have agreed to NOT publish the recipes online.  Instead we will bake the breads, post pics, and stories about how it went but y'all have to buy the book or go to http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/.  They have a chocolate brioche that sounds fabulous, and a beef wellington wrapped in brioche dough as well!  OH YUM! 

I got the dough all together and it is really almost soupy, it is so loose!  I worried about that but had followed the recipe to the letter (for once!).  Then I sat down at the computer to read up on brioche.  OH MY!  We are in a for a real treat!  I hadn't paid much attention while pouring the ingredients in but it did register in my brain that with 4 eggs it was going to be very challah like.  I used oil instead of butter, but think I will have to try the regular brioche with the butter next time!  I could taste the buttery richness and feel that velvetty softness just reading about it!  LOL.  I think I have had brioche, but this is definitely the first time making it! 

When looking up the history of Brioche I found the following at La Gourmandise:

The history of the "Brioche"

The word brioche first appeared in print in 1404, and this bread is believed to have sprung from a traditional Norman recipe. It is argued that brioche is probably of a Roman origin, since a very similar sort of sweet holiday bread is made in Romania ("sărălie"). The cooking method and tradition of using it during big holidays resembles the culture surrounding the brioche so much that it is difficult to doubt same origin of both foods. It is often served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert, with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings and toppings. It is also used with savory preparations, particularly with foie gras, and is used in some meat dishes.  http://www.lagourmandise.net/history.htm


Stand by for the next post!  The dough is in the frig now and I will bake it up about 6 or 7 pm tonight.

What, When, why of bread

Today I made two loaves of bread. But before I tell you what kinds, let me tell you about my baking experience.

First why bake bread when it's so plentiful and you can even buy artisan bread in Sam's Club, Costco and BJs now? For one thing, I like knowing HOW to do things, and prefer to be self-sufficient. If I have flour, water, yeast and salt, I can make bread almost anywhere very easily. Second, I like to know what is in what I am eating. I don't want a lot of preservatives, too much salt, the wrong kinds of sugars, etc. I've studied the history of making bread, am fascinated how it was done centuries ago, and how it came to be in the first place.

I've been baking bread for ump-ti-ump years and have tried all kinds of techniques, recipes and ingredients. About 4 years ago I found a book called Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein. I've made many of his recipes, especially his challah. About 3 months ago I bought The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, have a copy of James Beard on Bread, and of course The Joy of Cooking has great info on bread making.

I've tried all kinds of flours, including going to Sonnewald's Healthy food store here in Central PA for fresh ground flour. The best flour for bread making and most baking of any kind though is King Arthur. Yes, it's more expensive, but if you watch the sales you can stock up when the price is more affordable. The thing is, it really is a better flour.

I also use Hodson's and Red Mill when buying semolina (no KA semolina here in York), and rye. We have several good farmer's markets and from them I can get a good pumpernickel flour. So you can see I am serious about what I put into our breads. But frankly, my breads never came out as what I would classify as Artisan until the last month or so. That's when I heard about a technique and bread book that has become my favorite!

I first heard about Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day on the Food Preservation group on yahoo groups. It was just an obscure little post...go to this link to see bread with no kneading. I love trying new techniques and even though I use a Kitchen Aid to mix and knead my breads I was intrigued when I saw the video!

Now I really feel like I can make artisan breads...so do my neighbors Wanetta and Wayne, my friends, and of course my husband! I love the ABin5 book because it really does require NO kneading, instead it's just some quick mixing, which frankly I do with my Kitchen Aid mixer in just a few minutes.

To illustrate how serious I am I was recently in Wegmans (it's a must-see tour spot for my friends visiting from Alaska now) and I stood looking at their fresh bread section going "hm, I've made that, that, and oh yes, this one was good..." and I didn't even long for any of theirs! Now that is saying something for me because I love bread! I love seeing it, smelling the earthy grains, the mix of herbs in some of them, taking that first bite without any butter or jam, or spread of any kind. I want to feel the texture of the crumb, taste the bitter and sweet.

OK, so on to today's batch. ABin5 has two wheat bread recipes, one for light wheat and one for whole wheat. I made the light wheat earlier this week, and it was good. Matter of fact one of my friends took a loaf home and ate the whole thing for lunch the next day (it was a small loaf thank goodness)! But I wanted something with a bit more wheat. So today I did 3 C of KA white wheat flour and 3 1/2 C of KA all purpose flour. It came out much better! What a good crumb, crust and taste!

I also did a pumpernickel for my hubby Ken. He loves a good Russian pumpernickel. Most that I have bought in the stores have been a very dark soft bread with a good rich flavor. Course the commercial bakeries use coloring to get that darkness, matter of fact King Arthur sells it in a powder form. Plus some of those breads have espresso coffee and dark cocoa in them. A few years back I had tried a recipe like that but Ken did NOT like the cocoa addition.

For today's attempt I used 1 C of pumpernickel flour and 1 C of rye flour, even though ABin5 called for just the 1 C of rye. It didn't come out as dark as I hoped, but the loaf looks very professional and artisan and the flavor is very good. I put in the powdered espresso but Ken nixed that for the next time...it's very good don't get me wrong...but he'd rather have more molasses and no espresso.

Next I'll try the English muffins. Good thing I also like salads with lots of leafy greens wouldn't you say?

So all in all it was a successful day of baking bread.