Cranberry Oat Nut Bars
I put these in my lunches all the time. I use whatever nuts catch my fancy: pecans, walnuts, almonds, whatever. Frequently I create mixtures of nuts for this.
1 ½ cups steel cut oats
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups chopped nuts
1 1/3 cups dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350F. Generously grease a 9’ X 9’ pan with butter or spray.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk together flour, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in oats, nuts, and cranberries. Press into the greased pan. Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, 30 – 35 minutes. Cool in pan then cut into bars.
Pot Loaves
Baking bread in tins to form uniformly shaped loaves was mainly a British invention, the Dutch being the only other country to use this method extensively. Before mass produced tinware made its appearance, English household bread was either baked in earthenware crocks glazed on the inside only, or the loaves were hand-molded and fed into the oven on wooden peels in the ancient manner. It was not until the seventeenth century that deep tin or wooden hoops or round iron cake pans were used for baking leavened bread. It was also at this time in history that bakeware such as earthenware dishes for pies, flat tins and baking sheets for gingerbread, small cakes, biscuits and confectionery made their appearance. This bakeware is mentioned by English cookbook author Robert May in 1660 in The Accomplist Cook, but no mention of them is found in other cook books until the turn of the eighteenth century. Actually it was quite a common practice in England at that time to put bread dough into round earthen crocks, rather shallow, wide at the top and with sloping sides, like a ceramic flower pot. In fact one modern way to bake bread is to bake it in a standard ceramic flower pot. Here’s how you do that:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup lukewarm milk
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon sage
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 egg
You’ll need two 5 1/2 inch diameter, 4 1/2 inch high clay flowerpots. To prepare new clay flower pots for baking: Clean the pots thoroughly, oil them inside and outside with vegetable oil. Bake the pots at 400 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Take them out, let them cool, then repeat the process.
When you’re ready to make the bread, grease the two pots. Whisk the flours and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk the yeast into a little of the milk until smooth, then add the remaining milk. Pour the yeast mixture into a well in the center of the flour. Sprinkle a little flour from the edge onto the pool of milk. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for 15 minutes. Mix the water, melted butter, herbs and garlic in a medium bowl and add to the flour mixture. Stir to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for one and a half hours or until doubled in bulk. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Divide the dough in two. Put half of the dough into each of the two flower pots. This should leave the pots about half full. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes or until the dough is about one inch from the top of the pots.
Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Turn out the loaves onto a wire rack to cool.
Gingerbread
Ginger originally came from Indonesia and Malaysia. It appeared in Greek recipes dating back to 2000 BCE. Gingerbread first appeared around the eleventh century C.E., but at that time was the term used to describe preserved ginger. The name is derived from the Old French gingebras, which in turn came from the Latin name for ginger: Zingebar. By the fifteenth century, the term gingerbread was used to describe the cookies and cakes that we now describe with that term. In Germany it is known as Lebkuchen. Gingerbread was originally a sweet bread made with sugar and spices and then baked again. More modern recipes include treacle or molasses and butter.
Gingerbread has been associated to Yule for centuries. Modern gingerbread is the direct descendant of the flat, hard (and often gilded) gingerbread usually made for fairs and festivals in ancient times. Nowadays it often takes the form of Gingerbread Men (or Gingerbread Husbands, as they are called in some places). Within Britain there were regional variations, such as Lincoln ginger biscuits, Cornish Fairings and Devonshire Widecombe Fair Gingerbread. You don’t just see them at Christmas. They show up for the harvest festival of Lughnasad too, decorated as the Green Man to represent John Barleycorn, the life of the fields. My recipe for ginger snaps is derived from old Cornish Fairings recipes. Cornish fairings are an old variety of gingerbread which was sold at fairs and markets.
Gingerbread/Ginger Snaps:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (4 oz) butter or shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) golden syrup or treacle
1 large egg
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl. Rub butter into the flour mixture. Stir in the sugar. Warm the treacle/golden syrup and pour the liquid syrup into the flour mixture. Add the egg. Work this in to the mixture well to form a soft dough. Dust your hands with flour and roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes. Place on a greased baking tin or a baking tin lined with parchment paper. Alternatively: Shape dough into balls about the size of a walnut, place on a greased baking tin or a baking tin lined with parchment paper. Press the balls flat with your hand or a fork. Bake until it appears firm and dry, about 9 minutes.
NOTE: If you want to make ginger snaps rather than gingerbread, add more sugar (1 3/4 cups) and omit the egg. This makes about 36 to 48 snaps, depending on which size you make them. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Yule Cake
Since Twelfth Night is a Christian tradition tacked on to the older Pagan Yule celebrations, I call my version of this cake a Yule Cake. Why not hide a bean and a pea in it, and let the cake set the theme for an old-fashioned Yule feast with a King and Queen of Yule? Actually I make this cake for myself at any time of the year. It’s one of my favorites.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup currants
1 1/2 cups sultanas
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups glace cherries
1 1/2 cups mixed peel
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
2 cups blanched sweet almonds cut in halves
150 ml Amaretto to soak the fruit in for 1 week (you can use brandy, half sack or sherry and half brandy – I prefer Amaretto as it goes with the almonds)
juice and zest of one orange or lemon (about 3 tablespoons juice and 2 teaspoons zest)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat the oven to at 325 F (160 C). Combine butter, orange juice, orange rind, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat and allow this butter mixture to cool to lukewarm temperature.
Whisk together the flour and spices in a medium bowl. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl at high speed until tripled in volume. Beat cornstarch into the egg mixture. Add the flour mixture to this egg mixture in small increments until all combined, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in the orange/butter mixture until just combined. Fold in fruit and nuts.
Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch tube pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until cake comes away from the sides of the pan. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool. You can dust the top with icing sugar.
Cranberry Orange Whole Wheat Scones
This is a good way to use up left over cranberry sauce. Sometimes I add a half cup of walnuts to the mix.
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Zest of one orange
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
¾ cup cranberry sauce
¾ cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest in a large bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Mix in dried cranberries (and nuts if you’re adding them). Add yogurt and cranberry sauce, tossing with a fork until moist clumps form. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead briefly to form a ball of dough. Flatten the dough into a circle and cut into wedges. Arrange the wedges on the baking sheet. Bake about 25 minutes, until the tops of the scones are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Almond Squares
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons Amaretto
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup sliced almonds
¼ teaspoon cardamom
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and Amaretto. Add flour to form a soft dough. Press into a greased 13 X 10 X 1 inch pan. Sprinkle almonds on top. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar with the cardamom. Sprinkle the sugar/cardamom mixture on top. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins
¾ cup bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup cranberry sauce
½ cup craisins
½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
Zest of one orange
Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl whisk together bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add cranberry sauce, egg, buttermilk or yogurt, vegetable oil, craisins, and orange rind. Stir until just combined. Spoon batter into paper lined or non stick muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Lemon Ginger Bran Muffins
¾ cup bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup granulated sugar (divided)
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Peel of one lemon
2/3 cup of peeled, cubed ginger
½ cup chopped walnuts
1cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 egg
½ cup vegetable oil
Juice of one lemon
¾ cup icing sugar
Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel a lemon and place it in a food processor with ¼ cup of the sugar and the ginger. Run at high speed until it forms a paste. In a large bowl whisk together bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add lemon paste, egg, buttermilk or yogurt, vegetable oil, and walnuts. Stir until just combined. Spoon batter into paper lined or non stick muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool muffins on a wire rack. Whisk together icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over muffins.
Lemon Ginger Bran Muffins
¾ cup bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup granulated sugar (divided)
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Peel of one lemon
2/3 cup of peeled, cubed ginger
½ cup chopped walnuts
1cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 egg
½ cup vegetable oil
Juice of one lemon
¾ cup icing sugar
Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel a lemon and place it in a food processor with ¼ cup of the sugar and the ginger. Run at high speed until it forms a paste. In a large bowl whisk together bran, flour, ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add lemon paste, egg, buttermilk or yogurt, vegetable oil, and walnuts. Stir until just combined. Spoon batter into paper lined or non stick muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool muffins on a wire rack. Whisk together icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over muffins.
Banana Walnut Bran Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup wheat bran
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ¼ cups ripe bananas (about 3)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. Sift first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine mashed bananas, both sugars, milk, oil, and egg in a medium bowl. Mix the banana mixture into the flour mixture. Fold in nuts. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until muffins are golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and cool.
