Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Pumpkin Brioche

I got a new cookbook!

It’s the new Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois.

 I’m going to bake through this book, with a bunch of  bread baking bloggers!

HAAHA, say that three times fast! Go ahead, try it. It’s fun!

Anyway, sorry about that. 

The bread baking bunch, aka: The HBin5 group is hosted by Michelle of Big Black Dogs and your invited to join in too!  Were baking bread and we’ll temp you with new homemade healthy dough that we’ll bake in some form or other, every other week. It doesn’t “officially start” until after the new year, so there is still time to get your book and join in!

But until the official kick off, we were treated to a bonus recipe and it’s perfect for the season!

Pumpkin Pie Brioche!

I had a great time with this dough. In fact, I made it twice.

I did the original recipe as written on Michelle’s Blog. I loved the dough, the color, the ease, but the flavors of pumpkin or cinnamon didn’t really ‘shine’. I did spread a few slices of it with some Maple Butter and let me tell you, that was killer. Leave it to me to turn  a “Healthy” recipe into a dieticians nightmare. Oh but it gets better!

I made the dough again!

And this time I doubled the spices and used maple syrup instead of honey. But then…

I doctored it up even further and I made cinnamon Swirl Bread. Now that was good fun!

And did I tell you how easy it was?

You can mix, and store your dough all in the same container. Seriously, it only took 10 minutes of hands on time to make my dough, and that was with stopping for a few pictures! Then you let it rest for 2 hours before using. It’s best to make it and refrigerate it over night for a more easily handled dough. And it will last a good 5 days so you can bake a loaf now and save some dough for later in the week. Fresh Bread has never been easier, or more affordable!

I also made two trays of cinnamon rolls. :)  I froze one tray for Thanksgiving morning, and one tray is in the fridge for Sunday morning! In fact if your reading this on Sunday, I’m probably having a cup of steaming hot coffee and a warm cinnamon roll drizzled with a maple glaze. Tempting to make, huh?

 Then I made some rolls. One thing I should have done was to stretch the dough on the top of each roll to make it  nicer looking. Next time! Bake and learn, right?

So…  you want the recipe for the Pumpkin Brioche?

You have to go visit Michelle.  Since it’s a brand new, just released book, I wont be giving out the recipes. But as you can see how easy it is to make this bread, and how much money you could save, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to buy the book.  And check out the other bread bakers here! 

Until next time my friends…

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles

and Martha Monday’s Luminaries!

 

I’ve made many truffles before, like my Cinnamon Chipotle Truffles, Eggnog Truffles, and Coconut Truffles, but I was looking for something a little different. So I tried some Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles to serve at an upcoming dinner party that I’m throwing. I wanted something to serve with a red wine or a port, so I used dark chocolate for these gems.

 

 I used a  bar of 70% cocoa  Artesian dark chocolate  that I got in my goodie bag from Scharffen Berger when I went to the Blogher conference in Sanfrancisco. I can’t think of a nicer way to use this delicious chocolate.

I added pumpkin pie spice to my ganache and I got a little bit of an oily residue. I just gave it a little stir a couple times as it was cooling, and it did just fine.

 

They scooped easily and then I put them in the refrigerator to chill.

 

These chocolate transfer sheets were my inspiration to make these truffles and I used them for the decorations. They turned out beautiful (in a homemade kind of way!), tasty, and perfect for sharing with a few friends. I cant wait to see what my people think of these.

 

Now for my Martha Monday Project!

 Luminaries!

These turned out so cute and were so easy!

 Brette from Martha and Me choose this weeks Martha Monday project. She gave us our choice between pot stickers and/or  Halloween Luminaries.

I picked Luminaries! But I cheated a little bit. I didn't make them according to the directions. I decided to use paper bags instead of cutting out Martha’s template. I cut out little windows in my bags and taped printed vellum sheets to the inside of the bags. Using both gold and white vellum sheets, I got the clip art from Martha Stewart. A small candle or a battery operated tea light makes them glow.

I’m going to line my deck with these for my party next weekend.

They will set the mood for truffles and red wine under the Harvest Moon! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Chocolate Truffles

(Printable Recipe)

Makes 16 truffles

Ganache:

• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream*
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 8 oz dipping chocolate wafers

Bring cream just to a boil. Turn off heat and chocolate. Let sit without stirring for 5 minutes. Stir till smooth. Add pumpkin pie spice. Let cool, stirring every 15 minutes till almost set. Scoop into balls. refrigerate till firm.

Melt chocolate wafers. Dip truffles in chocolate.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe

Who doesn’t love coffee cake? And if you run a ribbon of pumpkin filling through the middle of said coffee cake, who wouldn’t love that?  This recipe is one of my favorite coffee cakes. It’s from Libby’s, the pumpkin people, so you know it’s gonna be good.

 

This recipe is a little bit more, should we say involved. Not hard, but it consist of three different elements. You have the cake part, the pumpkin filling, and the streusel,

You layer half the cake batter, half the streusel,

,

   and then that pumpkin filling,

 

 Then the rest of cake and streusel..

A little time consuming but so worth it! I made it the night before I wanted it and then baked it in the morning.

I took a nice warm Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake to work to the delight of my coworkers. They all gave it a thumbs up!

 You have to try this one!

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake

By Libby’s Pumpkin

Makes 12 servings.

(Printable Recipe)

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup (16 ounce can) solid pack pumpkin
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Streusel
Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in mixing bowl. Add 3 eggs, beating well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with sour cream.
Combine pumpkin, beaten egg, 1/3 cup sugar and pie spice. Spoon half of batter into 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, spread to corners. Sprinkle half of the Streusel over batter. Spread pumpkin mixture over Streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture. Spread remaining Streusel over top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Streusel
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until blended. Stir in chopped nuts.

 

Try More Pumpkin Coffeecakes!

Super Simple Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Megan’s Cookin’

Pumpkin Streusel Coffeecake from  Rolling Out The Dough

Spicy Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Saffron Trails

Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Not Quite Nigella

Pumpkin “Cinnamon Roll” Coffee Cake from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

 Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake from Karina’s Kitchen

Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake from Once Upon A Feast

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bar Recipe

After a short leave of absence from my volunteering, I wanted to take a treat to the girls on my first day back. I’d seen a few snickerdoodle Blondie recipes lately, and I decided to search one out. Then I jumped from link to link to find that perfect recipe. That’s when I came across this recipe, a Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bar.
Well… I LOVE pumpkin. And I cant wait for the Fall Season!
I cant wait for the the crisp nights of Autumn, the crunch of the leaves underfoot, the harvest moon, and the PUMPKINS! So how could I resist this?

The bottom layer is a snickerdoodle blondie covered by a layer of pumpkin pie filling. Sprinkled with a cinnamon sugar on top and baked into a delicious bar. . Finished with a drizzle of pumpkin pie spiced infused white chocolate. Oh Baby!

As my one taste tester said, “This would be good for Thanksgiving,… Christmas,… uhhh… Easter… my birthday!

This recipe is a keeper and one I’ll be making again real soon. In fact, I’ve already made it twice this week and have had many requests for this recipe. If you like pumpkin, you have to make this!!!

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars
Recipe by Julia, author Of Dozen Flours
Snickerdoodle Layer
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pumpkin Pie Layer
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
Topping
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Drizzle
1 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan and lay a piece of parchment paper across the pan, so that it extends the pan slightly. The parchment paper is an optional step, but it will make it easier to get the bars out later
To make snickerdoodle layer:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish.)
To make pumpkin pie filling:
In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar. A dd the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.
Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. The bars that are closer to the edges of the pan will be more firm.
After the bars are completely cool, place the chopped white chocolate into a bowl or zip-lock bag and melt on low power. When it's completely melted, add the pumpkin pie spice and mix (or knead if using a zip lock bag). Use a spoon or cut a small corner off the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the bars and let it cool and harden.
Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Place on a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in a covered container.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. Click on the Megan's cookin title to take you to the actual blog, where you can comment there.

Thanksgiving Countdown: Pumpkin Creme Brulee

April, one of my BBF's (best blogging friends) and I decided to do a cookbook project together and bake through some cookbooks. You know, just for fun. For our first project, April choose Pumpkin Creme Brulee from Gail Gund's book Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs. It also went perfect with my Thanksgiving Countdown, my Thanksgiving dinner that I'm having in increments. Well, if you know me, you know that I'm game for anything pumpkin.
And, ... well, ... basically, ... anything creme brulee. This means my favorite flavor AND my favorite kitchen gadget. The Torch!



I made this recipe twice because I was not happy with my first results. A couple of things I learned were;

1. Don't use a Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment. Don't bother. Use a simple whisk.

I whisked the hell out of my first batch. Not even thinking I'm working with eggs and cream here and incorporating a lot of air. I had that machine just whirling away which gave me a lot of air bubbles. So a full ramekin was not really full after it settled and baked, and left ugly rings in my half full ramekin. Which then burned. Not a pretty site. So just use a simple whisk.

2. Sparingly, sprinkle a little sugar on top. More is not better here folks. I poured way to much sugar on the top and it burned as we were trying to get the top caramelized evenly.
Less is more. Got it?


3. Scrape a vanilla bean and seep the pod and the seeds with the cream and spice. You just cant go wrong with a fresh vanilla bean. This was a little extra that I added!

4. Use fresh nutmeg! if you don't have a nut, go buy some at world Market. Their cheap and make a big difference.


This is an easy recipe (if you learn from my mistakes) and perfect for those holiday dinner party's. More eloquent then pudding, fancier then pie, this easy dessert will steal the show. But don't think it's just for the stuffy occasions. This dessert is every bit as good for those quite evenings at home.

Go check out April's Creme Brulee And then, when you go to the store, be sure to pick up some cream. Cause your gonna want to make this.

Next installment of our cookbook project will be picked by me. Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Creme brulee
By Gale Gund

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pinches nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup coarse sugar or raw sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse at least 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in the hot cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree.
Pour the mixture into 4 ovenproof ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven until almost set but still a bit soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. The custard should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools.
Remove from the water bath and let cool 15 minutes. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not touch the surface of the custard. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
When ready to serve, preheat a broiler to very hot (or fire up your kitchen torch). Uncover the chilled custards. Pour as much coarse sugar as will fit onto the top of 1 of the custards. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard. Repeat until all the custards are coated. Discard any remaining sugar.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and broil until the sugar is melted and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool 1 minute before serving.

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