Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Bread

This is an absolutely delicious, healthier version of a holiday bread I created several years ago. It is a great bread for gift giving and for holiday parties. Cranberries are harvested in  September and October and available fresh up until Christmas.  Keep this recipe in mind as the Fall months approach, and stock up on some extra cranberries in your freezer.

Printable Recipe

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsp. non-aluminum baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. grated orange zest

2 cups fresh whole cranberries

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup Earth Balance butter

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbsp. water)

3/4 cup orange juice

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Oil and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

2.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

3.  Stir in orange zest, cranberries, and walnuts.  Set aside.

4.  In a sauce pan , cream together butter, sugar, and flax egg until smooth.  Stir in Orange juice.

Heat on  medium until raw sugar has been absorbed.

5.  Gently fold wet ingredients into dry and pour into prepared pan. 

6.  Bake for 1 hour in preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched.

7.  Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. 

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

These Blueberry Coconut Muffins are a wonderful, healthy creation of mine.  Kids will love them too!  I used freshly ground white whole wheat flour, maple syrup, Bob's Red Mill Flaked Coconut, pumpkin pie spice, coconut oil, flax eggs, almond cream and frozen blueberries. Bob's Red Mill carries a coconut with larger flakes and they work very nicely in this recipe. Only $3.11 for a 12 oz. bag on  iherb.

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Printable Recipe

Makes 4 extra large muffins or 8 smaller

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. aluminum free baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 flax eggs (make with 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed & 6 Tbsp. water-mix and let sit until egg-like consistency)

1/2 cup almond cream (Blend well: 10 almonds with 1/2 cup water)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Use 8 regular sized cup cake holders or 4 large ones (like shown).

2.)  Put maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla in blender and blend well..  Add flax eggs and blend  for 1 minute. 

3.)  Add almond cream to liquids and set aside.

4.)  Mix flour, salt, spice, baking powder and baking soda together.

5.)  Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix until all flour is incorporated.

6.)  Gently fold in coconut and blueberries.

7.)  Pour into muffin holders until 3/4 full.  If using just the muffin tins without containers, brush lightly with coconut oil before adding batter.

8.)  Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean and edges are golden brown.

9.)  Enjoy!!

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Artisan Bread & Raw Kale Salad

I have been trying to create a beautiful loaf of gluten-free whole grain artisan bread for weeks now.  Finally after many tries, and  with some help from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day I accomplished it. Check out their website for good step by step pictures. They use eggs in their recipe and I replaced them with flax eggs. I baked the loaves in my "La Cloche" at 500 degrees for 30 minutes, but you can also bake it in a dutch oven like the website shows. Make sure you follow the instructions perfectly because gluten-free bread is not as forgiving as regular breads.  If you let it rise longer than the stated amounts, it will actually start to deflate.  Also, you need parchment paper to put your loaf on when rising the second time and when cooking.  You can carefully move the parchment paper with the gluten-free loaf of bread into the La Cloche without much movement or destruction to the size. Serve this delicious gluten-free artisan bread with a big raw kale salad. (recipes below).  See this link for my Whole Wheat Raisin-Walnut Artisan Bread and check out Breatopia for some good videos on making all different types of Artisan Bread.

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Artisan Bread

Printable Recipe

Makes 2 loaves

1 cup Brown Rice Flour

3/4 cup Sorghum Flour

1 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour (also called tapioca starch)

1 tablespoon yeast

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon Xanthan Gum

1 1/3 cups lukewarm water

4 Tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 6 Tbsp. water (should equal 1/2 cup)

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon raw agave

sesame seeds to sprinkle on top of loaf (optional)

1.) Mix  the flours, yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a bowl.  Combine the oil, agave and water, set aside. Mix the flax seed and water together with spoon until egg like. Dump the flax seed mixture into the dry ingredients and then stir while you pour in about 1/3 of the oil and water mixture.   Continue to stir while you pour in another 1/3 of the liquid.  The dough will start to come together in a thick dough.  Add the final 1/3 of the liquid and stir until the dough is nice and smooth. 

2.) Cover the bowl with a shower cap or plastic.  Allow it to sit on the counter for 2 hours. Get a glass of water and wet hands before removing dough from bowl. Divide into half  for two loaves.  Place each piece on parchment paper and shape into a round ball.  Smooth with water until it is smooth.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 90 minutes. 

3.)  30 minutes before baking time preheat oven with either a 5 1/2 quart Dutch Oven or a La Cloche to 500 degrees. The dough will not have grown much while resting, but it will seem a little bit puffier.  Use a serrated knife to gently cut slashes on top of the bread.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and place parchement paper with bread in Dutch Oven or La Cloche with lid on.  Bake for 20 minutes and then remove lid.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 and cook another 15 minutes.

4.)  Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing. 

6.)  This loaf is also wonderful toasted and served with jam or Earth Balance Butter. 

Raw Kale Salad

Printable Recipe

1 bunch of curly kale (remove rib)

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. raw Nama Shoyu or Bragg's liquid aminos

1 Tbsp. raw sesame seeds

1 tomato (diced)

1.) To prepare kale remove the tough center stalk by pulling the leaves off of it. Then wash the kale and  break into smaller pieces.

2)  Add all ingredients in bowl except sesame seeds and tomato.  Message kale leaves until soft and reduced in size. Add sesame seeds and diced tomato and mix well.  Serve or store in refrigerator until ready to eat. 

Whole Wheat Raisin-Walnut Artisan Bread

My Mom purchased a La Cloche for me several years ago and I have loved making delicious Artisan bread in it. What I love about making your own bread this way is that it only uses 1/4 tsp. instant yeast and ferments overnight for a much better, healthier bread. This Whole Wheat Raisin-Walnut Artisan Bread tastes so delicious!  You can purchase a La Cloche from Breadtopia.  I also have a Danish Dough Whisk for stirring the ingredients together. This bread is so simple with few ingredients.  I like to make 3 loaves, one to eat while warm, one to save for sandwiches and the other to give away:) When making a loaf for sandwiches, leave out the raisins and walnuts.
View video instructions on Breadtopia for a basic artisan bread in the La Cloche.  I have cut down on the salt, put equal amounts of whole wheat flour to unbleached flour as well as adding raisins & walnuts. Sooo....yummy. Breadtopia has a lot of different recipes for all kinds of yummy breads on their website.  Add in the raisins & walnuts after you have formed the dough.


Ingredients for No Knead Whole Wheat Raisin-Walnut Artisan Bread:
 (Printable Recipe)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4  tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups purified or spring water
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I like mine a little chunky to notice them in the bread)

Mix together the dry ingredients.
Mix in water until the water is incorporated. Dough should be sticky.
Fold in raisins & walnuts.
Cover with plastic (I use plastic shower caps) and let sit overnight on counter.
In the morning transfer dough to floured board and flatten into a rectangle and fold in thirds. Use enough flour to form dough and shape into ball.
Transfer to well floured bowl or basket for proofing . Cover with towel and let rise about 1 1/2 hours.
Bake in covered La Cloche or Dutch oven preheated to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.  La Cloche should gradually heat along with the oven when preheating.  Let bread cool completely on rack.  Let La Cloche cool down with the oven.  You want to prevent extreme temperature changes with the La Cloche to prevent cracking.  You do not need to wash your La Cloche.
To watch video on how to make this bread click the link below:
No Knead Bread 

Light Watermelon Muffins

I purchased a delicious watermelon today and had an idea to use it in muffins.  My taste testers said it was a definite go!! Eat these with a big bowl of watermelon on the side and you've got a tasty breakfast or lunch! These are not a sweet muffin, so you can put your favorite spread on them. YUMMY!!
They turned out amazingly good. Warm from the oven, these muffins will satisfy many a craving for "homemade". When my son was in Japan a month ago, he brought back the cutest muffin paper baking cups.   His girlfriend picked them out for me. You just put the muffin cups on a pan and they bake beautifully. They really make my muffins look impressive:) I hope you will give this recipe a try.  It's simple & light with few ingredients, healthy & yummy.

Light Watermelon Muffins
 (Printable Recipe)

2 cups white whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons Aluminum Free Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups cubed watermelon (After cubing, place in blender and puree)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 2 tablespoons water (stir until mixed well)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; mix well.  In another bowl, combine watermelon puree, oil and flax seed.
Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir gently.  Fill either muffin tins or muffin papers 3/4 full.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-23 minutes or until light golden brown.  Enjoy!!