RECIPE: Whole Wheat Molasses Quick Bread

I definitely fall into a negative cycle of baking whenever I'm stressed.  Between learning how to file my own tax returns and dodging creepy chiropractors, I bake.  Yesterday, an emotional day, I turned to my sister's handy dandy Christmas gift (Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything) for ideas.  This cookbook is, by the way, the best cookbook I've ever owned.  Not that I own many.  Still, the format and comprehensive nature of HtCE is brilliant.  I love it.  I sometimes wonder what I've done to deserve such a good cookbook.  I have stuck pretty close to the original ingredients, save only I had no cornmeal on hand and added in oats and milled flax seed instead.

Despite being denser than your average white bread, the loaf I made turned out to be quite light and moist in texture.  For being made of one hundred per cent whole wheat flour, I was impressed with the result.  I have to admit I was as skeptical as you probably are, but don't pronounce a final judgment before actually trying some!

Whole Wheat Molasses Quick Bread

MY INGREDIENTS:

2 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup milled flax seed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 & 2/3 cups yogurt
1/2 cup molasses
honey

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Grease your loaf pan (I used Baker's Joy, since I love it so).

2. Combine all dry ingredients. Stir the molasses and a good squirt of honey into the yogurt. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients until just combined, then pour/scoop into the loaf pan. Bake until firm and a toothpick or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 60-70 minutes). Cool for 15 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan.

3. Consume.  Ravenously.

There are quite a few variations, evidently, that you can make to this recipe.  The original recipe, in fact, doesn't use oats or flax but has 1/2 cup cornmeal instead.  I'm a huge fan of flax and oats, however, so I was willing to take a risk and avoid taking another trip to the store for cornmeal.  Also, the cookbook mentioned substituting half of the flour with white bread flour and replacing all of the molasses with honey for a lighter, sweeter loaf.  You can also use buttermilk instead of yogurt or create your own buttermilk with 1 1/2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons white vinegar (if you do this, you will need to warm the milk slightly, add the vinegar, and let the mixture sit for a while before adding it to your dry ingredients).  Really, the possibilities are endless.  Because it's a yeast-free dough, it's not as temperamental.

Did I mention this bread is delicious?  I decimated most of the loaf while it was hot out of the oven last night, but I managed to save a thick slice for my lunch today.  Mmmm.

RECIPE: Creamy Ginger Muffins

I originally made these muffins in much the same spirit that I make most meals--desperation.  I bake muffins when I am stressed.  Fact.  There was a time in high school, leading up to the HSC, when I baked between four and six types of muffins a week.  Luckily for my parents and for my waist, the HSC does not last forever.  In any case, I baked these muffins the day after I was rear-ended while driving 540 in Fayetteville.  I hate 540.  With an abiding passion.  I called the cops, called my parents, called a friend, then drove home and baked muffins with the ingredients I already had lying around.  And they turned out pretty wonderfully, I think!  The original recipe called for lemon zest and for regular sugar, but I like to make things interesting.  And a little healthier.  These are not, if you make them with honey, overly sweet muffins.  I felt remarkably happy and clean inside after eating two.  Most muffins strike a fine balance between much and too much, but these muffins are good, safe, tasty, and wholesome.  Enjoy.

Creamy Ginger Muffins

MY INGREDIENTS:
2 to 3 inches of fresh ginger
3/4 cup honey plus
3 TBS sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
8 TBS unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Raw sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 375ºF.  Butter or grease standard muffin tins.  I usually use a can of olive oil spray for my muffins.  I have heard that vegetable oils should not be used to grease nonstick cookware, but I'm no expert.  I sometimes use Baker's Joy, which works wonderfully.

2. Cut the unpeeled ginger into large chunks. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process until it is finely minced. You should have about 1/4 cup.  If you do not have a food processor, you will simply have to make do with chopping your ginger as small as you can.  Also, without a food processor, your best option will be to peel the ginger before you chop it.  Otherwise, the skin will prove a nuisance when eating.

3. In a small saucepan, combine the ginger and 1/4 cup of the honey. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture is hot, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4. In a small bowl stir the lemon juice and the 3 TBS sugar, then add to the ginger mixture. Mix well.

5. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

6. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup honey and beat until thoroughly mixed.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Add the buttermilk and mix until blended.  Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.  Mix in the ginger-lemon mixture.

7. Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about three-fourths full. Sprinkle with a touch of raw sugar.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let stand 1 minute, then remove.

This recipe is supposed to make 16 standard muffins, but mine only made 12.  Take it or leave it.

VERDICT:
Delicious.  A smooth, creamily textured muffin with a mild gingery bite.  Mmmmm.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Series, Muffins & Quick Breads, by John Phillip Carroll (Time-Life Books, 1993).