Our Favorite Sourdough Biscuits

My family loves these biscuits.  Making homemade biscuits is not that difficult, especially with a few shortcuts I'll share with you!  You will need to make these ahead of time so they can "sour" for several hours before baking in order to get the full benefits of sourdough.   Most biscuit recipes instruct you to use chilled butter, which you then have to cut into the dough.  I hate this step!  Too much work for me!  The original recipe that this came from also required this, but I found that I can make good biscuits using softened butter and just mixing it in (I have even used melted butter).  You should try it too!

Sourdough Biscuits
2 1/2 cups flour (we use a mix of white and whole wheat)
1 Tablespoon sugar (preferably unrefined, such as sucanat, you could also use honey*)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
1 cup sourdough starter
up to 1 cup milk

In a large mixing bowl , mix together the flour and sugar.  *If you're using honey instead of sugar, you should add it with the sourdough starter.  Add butter (melted or softened) and sourdough starter, mixing into dry ingredients. Slowly add just enough milk to make biscuit dough.  Allow dough to rest (covered with oiled plastic wrap or under a lid) for 5 to 6 hours.

In a small bowl combine salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Sprinkle over dough & work in by hand.  Another way I save time on biscuit making is to just hand-form the biscuits (like hamburger patties, but smaller and thicker) instead of rolling & cutting.  I am not lazy, I am just efficient, right?  Ha!  I place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place biscuits on sheet.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375.  Remove plastic wrap and bake biscuits for about 30 to 35 minutes.  When they come out of the oven you can spread butter on top while still warm if you like.  These (like all bread of course) taste best if you eat them while they're warm!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Sourdough Bread Tips

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't call this blog the "Sourdough Blog" since a huge majority of my posts seem to have sourdough in them!  That is my life right now though, my sourdough starter is always out on the counter and it gets used almost every single day.  We have 6 people in our family, plus additional workers who eat some meals with us, so I am feeding at least 7 if not 10 people at every meal.  I make two loaves of homemade bread about every other day.  Other days I am  making sourdough pancakes, sourdough crackers, sourdough muffins, sourdough biscuits, sourdough desserts, etc*.  My husband really has noticed a difference in the eczema he has had on his fingers and skin problems with his feet.  He thinks he is sensitive to gluten and sourdough reduces the effect.

If you are making sourdough bread I want to share with you a few tips that may make it a little easier for you.  Start out with my favorite & go-to bread recipe, which you can see on this post here.

*I always include at least 6 hours of "souring" time even if the recipe does not instruct you to do so.  This is the minimum time needed to allow the sourdough starter to do it's job working on the flour.

• Did you know that eggs are a natural dough conditioner?  I always add an egg now to my sourdough bread recipe.  I like it not only for the little bit of added nutrition, but also because it helps condition the dough.

• What's the easiest way to slice a loaf of bread?  Upside down!  First, always allow your loaf to cool completely before slicing.  (Ahem, although I must admit that one of my favorite treats is to cut the end piece off of the still very warm loaf & drag it through some butter.  Mmmm, warm sourdough bread & butter- I love it!)  Next, make sure you use a long serrated knife made for slicing bread (trust me).  When you flip the loaf over you are slicing through the softer side & ending at the crust; instead of trying to force the knife through the crust & smashing your loaf in the process.  Just flip it!

• Ever run out of time to make sourdough?  Making true sourdough bread requires some advance planning since it takes at least 8 hours.  I know that if I don't get my dough started by 2pm that I'm going to be up late at night waiting to bake it, cool it, store it.  You have a couple of options here.  #1 is to add a tiny bit of commercial yeast to your dough, like 1/2 teaspoon, to speed up the rise.  I do not prefer this option, so let me suggest instead option #2.  Skip the first rise of your bread & put your dough directly into greased loaf pans.  Sometimes there still isn't enough time, so what I will do is make my dough right before bed and let it rise in the loaf pans while I'm sleeping.  When I get up in the morning I go right to preheat the oven & then bake the bread while I'm getting ready & making breakfast.  This has worked well for me, if you're kitchen is cooler than mine, or you want a longer rise time, then you'll need to plan accordingly.  Try it out & have some fresh baked bread with your morning eggs!

• How do you keep the bread from sticking to the pan?  Always keep your butter wrappers!  After I use a cube of butter I fold up the wrapper & put it back in the refrigerator.  Next time I need to grease a pan I wipe that wrapper all over the pan & it works great.  I have been using my stainless steel pans & I love them.  When I grease them with butter the loaves just fall right out.  Have you thrown out your non-stick pans yet?  The toxins in non-stick cookware should motivate you to have a goal of replacing any non-stick coated pans as you are able.

Those are some tips I wanted to share with you today.  Do you have any great bread tips you want to share with us?

Keep on baking!

Lisa

Gluten Free or Nearly Gluten Free Big Batch of Sourdough Pancakes

Previously on this blog I posted a recipe called "Transitional Sourdough Pancakes", which I had created as a compromise for my family when they didn't like the taste of completely sourdough pancakes.  However, I have a new favorite pancake recipe for our family, and no compromise is required!  In fact, these pancakes are so good I can eat them as is, without any syrup or adornments at all.  However, you may want to try them with homemade fruit syrup (see below) or buttermilk syrup.

This recipe makes a large batch: big enough for our family of 6.  Even if your family is not this large, I would suggest making a big batch of pancakes because once they are cool you can freeze them (put parchment paper between each one and put in an air tight container).  Then when someone needs a quick snack, or you find yourself running late one morning, you can just grab them, pop them in the toaster & in a minute you'll have pancakes!

If you have a gluten free sourdough starter going, then these will be completely gluten free.  If you're like me and keep a wheat sourdough starter then these will be "nearly" gluten free (sourdough breaks down some of the gluten in wheat).  This recipe started out as one from the Cooking Traditional Foods Menu Mailer website.  I modified it slightly, made it a much bigger batch, and arranged the ingredients and instructions so it was easier for me (and hopefully you too).

Tip:  the night before you make these pancakes you want to make sure you have enough sourdough starter for the next morning.  I normally only keep about 1 cup of starter going on my counter, so what I do is get another jar (see my reused peanut butter jars in the photo?), divide my existing starter between the two jars, and then add another cup of flour and water to each.  Be aware that with such a big feeding your starter is going to get really excited and will grow quite a bit beyond where it starts; allow enough space for it to nearly double its size during the night.  I put my jars in a small bowl just in case they overflow- because that's a mess I have experienced a few times & it's not fun!

Big Batch Sourdough Pancakes
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca, bean, or other gluten free flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

4 cups sourdough starter
4 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
1 cup milk (or milk substitute)

1.  Put your frying pan on low heat and melt the butter or coconut oil in there while you complete the rest of the recipe.  Once melted set aside in a measuring cup to cool slightly.
2.  In a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt; removing all lumps.
3.  Add remaining ingredients (including melted butter or coconut oil) and whisk to combine.
4.  Turn heat up to medium on your frying pan.  Once pan is hot, place a desired amount of pancake mix on to cook.  If you prefer thinner pancakes (as we do) use your measuring cup to smooth/spread the batter on the pan.
5.  Flip once the bubbles on the surface begin to pop.  Cook an additional minute or two.  Keep warm on a plate in the oven (with the light on or just slightly warmed & turned off) while you cook the rest of the batter. 

Variations:  When you add in the wet ingredients you can also add 1 cup fruit or vegetable puree.  Such as smashed ripe bananas, applesauce, sweet potato, squash, etc.  Add a bit of cinnamon too if you do!

Fruit Syrup
3 cups frozen berries (such as:  blueberries, raspberries, or a mixture)
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small pot over medium heat until berries are juicy.  You can put it in a blender if you want a thin syrup instead of with fruit bits.  Serve warm.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

*This syrup is also a great flavoring for homemade yogurt or cream cheese.  Yum!

Enjoy!
Lisa

"Faux" Apple Pie (uses zucchini!) and Sourdough Pie Crust

Did you know that apples are the #1 pesticide containing produce?  For those times when you're craving apple pie but can't afford to buy organic apples, it may sound crazy, but zucchini makes a great substitute!

One year I was looking for recipes to use up all my garden zucchini & I found this recipe for "faux" apple pie that uses zucchini instead of apples.  My husband loves apple pie & couldn't believe it (after he tried it) when I told him I made it using zucchini.  The key is to use lots of spices & the zucchini pick up the flavor of the spices.  My 13 year old loves to take this to school in her lunch, offer samples to her friends, and THEN tell them they just ate zucchini!  I also want to share with you a recipe for sourdough pie crust (since I'm trying to use sourdough in most of my baking now for health reasons).

Sourdough Pie Crust
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup sourdough starter

With a fork, mix together: flour, salt, baking soda.  Cut in the butter or coconut oil.  Add the sourdough starter & mix thoroughly.  Cover & allow to rest on the counter for 6 hours.

Faux Apple (Zucchini) Pie
2 (9 inch) pie crusts
4 cups zucchini: peeled, cored/seeded, & thinly sliced*
3/4 cup unrefined sugar**
2 tablespoons tapioca
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out your pie crusts (if you haven't already) to 9 inch circles. Place the bottom crust inside your pie pan.  Combine the sugar, tapioca, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch together in a large bowl.  Add the zucchini and lemon juice and mix well.  Pour mixture into the pie crust.  Dot with butter.  Place second crust over the top and pinch the edges together to seal.  Cut 4 vents in the top of the crust.  If desired, brush with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 50 minutes, or until top crust is lightly browned.

*This is very important:  make sure you peel & remove the core of your zucchini.  You do not want zucchini seeds in your pie!  Plus, once you've peeled & cored it, then cut each slice in half, you get a nice "C" shape which more resembles cut apples.

**If you want to play with this recipe a little bit, and pump up the apple flavor, you can reduce the sugar & replace the 1/4 cup lemon juice with 1/4 cup apple juice.  Combine apple juice, zucchini, tapioca, & spices & let sit for 15 minutes so the zucchini can "soak up" the flavors.  By the way, I didn't have any lemon juice, or tapioca, when I made the last pie, so I just left both of them out & it was still fine!

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of:
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Fightback Friday 
Monday Mania 
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Traditional Tuesdays

Baked Oatmeal, Sourdough & non-Sourdough versions

Baked Oatmeal is a great meal to add to your breakfast line up.  It's almost like cake for breakfast!  In fact, the other day my 12 year old came home from school, saw a bit of leftover baked oatmeal and sliced herself a piece for a snack.  She commented to me, "Mom this is really good!"  To which I replied, "Yea, it's baked oatmeal."  This froze her in her steps, because she refuses to eat oatmeal in any form, so the joke was on her!  (And, no she still refuses to eat baked oatmeal even though she knows now that she likes it- kids!)

Baked Oatmeal can be enjoyed as is, or covered with milk or yogurt.  I actually like it better once it's been refrigerated.  Lately I've modified my recipe to add sourdough starter to the soaking stage of the oatmeal.  It doesn't make it sour at all, and although I'm not sure how much the sourdough starter benefits us by being in the oats- I'm sure it doesn't hurt & probably helps to make it more digestible.  Try some baked oatmeal- besides it's great taste, the spices in here will make your kitchen smell wonderful!  Perfect for fall mornings...

Baked Oatmeal
2 cups oats (for non-sourdough version use 2 1/2 cups oats)
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (for non-sourdough version use 1 3/4 cup buttermilk)

The night before:  combine oats, sourdough starter (if using), and buttermilk in a stainless steel or glass mixing bowl (or do what I do- save dishes by mixing it in a glass 9x13 dish & covering with plastic wrap til morning).  Allow to soak on the counter (not in the refrigerator) overnight.

1/2 cup coconut oil or butter (softened)
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar or maple syrup (I use 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup unrefined sugar)

In the morning: preheat oven to 350.  Beat the oil or butter, eggs, and sweetener in a separate bowl until glossy (or if you're really lazy, like I am sometimes, just throw them on top of the soaked oats without beating first...).  Then add:

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
dash nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla
optional add ins: 2 cups raisins, 2 cups chopped apples or bananas, 2 cups chopped nuts (I like nuts for the extra protein & crunchy texture, but my son doesn't like it that way.)

Combine with oats (if you haven't already just thrown it all together) and pour into a 9x13 baking dish (if it's not already in one).  Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This recipe is linked to Monday Mania,
Traditional Tuesdays
Real Food Wednesdays
Simple Thursdays

Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies or Scones

I found some information about the benefits of sourdough at this post on the Simple Bites blog and you may want to check that out if you're interested in sourdough.  In previous posts I have talked about why I am using more sourdough in my baking.  I have also been exploring a lot of sourdough recipes, including the somewhat unexpected "dessert" category. 

these cookies were a batch I made without raisins, but I like them much better with raisins

Sometimes I find recipes that include sourdough starter, but do not include a "souring" or "soaking" stage- which means the sourdough is only there for flavoring?  I have been adjusting some of these recipes to include a souring stage, thus getting the most health benefits out of using sourdough.  This recipe was one of those & I was pleased with how nicely it turned out (I also reduced the amount of sugar & substituted honey for half of the sugar).  The texture is very similar to a scone, but you can also enjoy it as a dense cookie, or even a snack cake (the first time I made it I was too lazy to do anything other than pour it into a pan & it turned out great, just extend your cooking time).

my scone version

Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies or Scones 

2 cups sourdough starter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 cups rolled oats

2 cups flour
1/2 cup unrefined sugar

Thoroughly combine above ingredients & allow to rest (covered) for 6 hours.

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves*

1/2 teaspoon allspice*

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4-1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 375.  Mix the spices and baking soda in a separate bowl.  Add to oats mixture along with raisins (you may have to "knead" the dough to get everything well combined).  *I did not have cloves or allspice, you could also try ginger and a dash of nutmeg.

Roll into small or large balls, depending on if you want cookies or scones (for scones I made them the size of biscuits).  Bake on greased cookie sheet for about 12 minutes (longer for scones).  Makes 12 scones or 36 small cookies.

Enjoy!

Lisa

P.S. for those of you who follow this blog, despite my long silence, I am still here!  The last month and a half (and more) have been spent working on finalizing our oldest daughter's adoption, as well as getting ready to come back to the states for summer vacation.  Busy!

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Fight Back Fridays

Transitional Sourdough Pancakes

I would like to share this recipe that I came up with as a compromise for my family, because I am sure there are other families out there who, like mine, are not complete fans of sourdough. I have shared with you why I use sourdough for most of my baking now, and although some families may like sourdough pancakes, mine were not totally sold on it. So I came up with this compromise that is satisfactory for all of us. I call them “Transitional Pancakes” because they are for families who are transitioning to healthier choices.

If you have pancakes leftover simply freeze them (either in a plastic ziploc bag, or in a plastic container, separated by parchment paper. When you need a quick breakfast or snack, you can heat them quickly in the toaster, or for a minute or less on each side in a hot pan (works better with thinner pancakes, obviously, because they will reheat quicker).

Transitional Sourdough Pancakes
(serves 6 to 8)
6 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil
2 teaspoons baking soda
¾ cup water
1 ½ cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (whole wheat) sourdough starter, fed the night before & stirred down
1 cup milk (or water- use less if you like a thick pancake)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 eggs

Place your pan on the stove over low heat and put the butter or coconut oil in the pan to melt. Get ¾ cup water (I use a one cup measure with a ¾ cup line) and mix in the baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl use a fork to stir together the flour and the salt. Make an indentation in the flour mixture and add the sourdough starter, up to 1 cup milk, honey, and eggs. Using the fork still, mix completely, but do not overmix.  While stirring, pour in the melted butter/oil from the warm pan.  Increase stove temperature to medium.

Right before cooking the pancakes, add the water/baking soda mixture and stir in. (The batter will expand slightly as the baking soda and sourdough react.) Use your cup measure to pour out the desired size pancakes on the warm pan. When bubbles on the surface are just beginning to pop, they’re ready to flip.

You can keep finished pancakes warm until you’re ready to serve by placing them on a metal tray in the oven on the lowest setting (or just with the light on if your oven doesn’t go below 200).

My favorite way to enjoy these pancakes is with peanut butter, sliced bananas, and either real maple syrup, or homemade syrup. The syrup pictured above is homemade buttermilk syrup (recipe to follow soon).

Enjoy!
Lisa

 

This post is a part of Monday Mania

Real Food Wednesday

Fight Back Friday

Sourdough Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Here is a recipe that originally called for no "soaking" or "souring" stage for the dough, but I have modified the recipe to include that stage so we get the most sourdough benefit (if the starter doesn't have time to work on the flour it seems pretty pointless to me to use sourdough starter at all- but you'll find those recipes out there).  I also modified the amount of sugar by replacing more than half with honey.  This is a lightly sweet cookie that my family gobbles up, but if you want it sweeter you may add a sprinkle of sugar to the finished cookies before baking them.  The cocoa is also optional (you can just make them peanut butter cookies) but we like it with the cocoa!

Sourdough Peanut Butter (Chocolate) Cookies
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour (whole wheat or otherwise)

In a medium bowl mix the above ingredients well, cover, & allow to rest for 6 hours.  When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 and add the remaining ingredients to the sourdough mixture:

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 to 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder (optional)

Mix well.  The dough may be very sticky at this point (if it's too sticky you can refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to make it easier to handle, but I don't...)  Drop by spoonfulls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet (space at least 1" apart).  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Kitchen Stewardship's Soaking Grains Gallery, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, and Pennywise Platter Thursday at Nourishing Gourmet.

Sourdough Bagels

If you've been following this blog you know I am baking a lot with sourdough now, as I talked about it in this post and why.  I am actually keeping two sourdough starters right now: both a whole wheat and a white flour one.  The white flour one I made to give to someone who works for us and was asking me how to make this "bread without yeast" that I make all the time.  She never took her starter home, but I have maintained it & use it for two reasons.

One: my kids, especially the Rwandan ones, are not huge fans of whole wheat (ok, the Rwandan kids don't like it at all- it's not used here).  So, I usually go half & half with whole wheat and white flour in my baking, just to compromise.  I need the white flour starter to do this when I make sourdough pancakes & also because of reason number Two: whole wheat flour is not sold in stores here.  I get mine (lucky for me) from a friend who gets it directly from the flour mill in bulk.  But sometimes I run out before I can get more from her.

You will notice in the picture that these bagels are all white flour- this is one of those weeks when I was completely out of whole wheat flour for several days.  Oh, how my kids loved having all white bread, but that's over now, I've got my whole wheat flour again- ha!

Back to the bagels- bagels really are easy to make- just as easy as bread, with only one extra step and that is to boil them before you bake them.  Simple & yummy!  The depth of "sourness" in these will depend on how long you let the dough rest.  The minimum of 6 hours will not be near as sour as say the 10 or so hours mine had.  Mine had a defnite "San Francisco sourdough" twang to them.  We had ours with fried eggs for breakfast, sandwich style.  Yum!

I cruised the internet quite a bit looking for a bagel recipe which did not require me to measure flour in grams & such, and finally found this recipe archived at a cute blog called WillowTreeCreek Farm which now has moved to http://www.eggsandherbs.com/.

Sourdough Bagels

1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup oil (I used olive)
1/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 to 2 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
optional: spices or seeds for topping
1/8 cup salt for boiling water

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the starter, oil, water, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 2 cups of flour.  Add more flour if needed to make a smooth, not sticky, dough.  Knead dough for a few minutes.  Place dough back in bowl & cover well.  Allow dough to rest for 6 or more hours (note: my dough did not rise very much, so yours may not either).

Prepare your work area: either dust your counter with flour or lay out a piece of parchment paper.  Divide your dough in half, each half in half again, and each of those in half again.  Now you have 8 equal pieces of dough to shape into bagels.  If you prefer bigger bagels you may want to only make 6.  Roll each piece of dough into a ball.  Poke your finger into the middle & work it around to make the size of hole you want. Set on the flour dusted counter top or parchment paper.  Once all bagels are formed, cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or damp towel?) and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425 and put water into a large pot to boil.  You may also get out toppings if you're using any.  Once water has come to a rapid boil, add 1/8 cup salt & stir to combine.  Gently drop the bagels into the bowling water, up to 4 at a time if your pot is big enough.  Boil for about 2 minutes and remove to a rack using a slotted spatula (I don't have a rack, so I just placed them on the clean counter).  Repeat with remaining bagels.

In a small bowl whisk an egg.  You can either brush the egg on top of the bagels, or do what I did: pick up the bagel & dip the top half into the egg.  If using toppings, dip your bagels into those.  Place on a baking sheet lined with cornmeal or parchment paper (or a Silpat in my case).  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden in color.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This recipe is a part of Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist
GNOWFGLIN's Tuesday Twister.
Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade

Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread

A few weeks ago I decided I should start baking some pumpkin recipes to try to get myself into the "season" more.  You see although I come from Washington state, where winter has been in full swing, in Rwanda everyday is pretty much the same weather: 70 to 80 degrees and sunny except when the rainstorms come in.  It's been hard for me to convince myself that the holiday season is fully here, because my surroundings keep telling me it's summer!

I found out they do grow pumpkin here, so I decided to make my own puree to bake with.  Of course nothing is exactly the same as what we're used to: the pumpkins are green (other things that are green even when ripe here: mandarins, lemons, apples, and starchy bananas called matoke).  The flesh of the pumpkin was very pale & did not have as strong of a flavor as what we get from our pumpkins in the US, but it still worked.  One of the recipes I tried with my puree was this Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls recipe from the Coconut Mama blog. 

Instead of the cinnamon & pumpkin pie spices recommended in the recipe I used something that's sold in every store here: it's called tea masala.  It's a spice blend they use to make African tea (a spiced milk tea that we would call Chai).  The tea masala ingredients are: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, and nutmeg.  I love it & it worked great in this recipe! 

Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bread
3/4 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 3/4 - 4 cup flour
5 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened
3 Tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
filling:
2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened
2 Tablespoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or chai spices* or a combination!


Combine flour, salt, and spices in a large bowl.  Add 5 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter, honey, pumpkin and sourdough starter and mix well.  Knead dough for 10 minutes (add more flour as needed to make a smooth dough).  Cover bowl and let dough rest for 6 to 8 hours. 

Knead dough for 5 minutes then roll out into a rectangle shape of about 1/2" thickness (thinner for more rolls, thicker for less).  Spread with 2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter.  Mix together sugar & spices and sprinkle on top. 

Starting at one of the short ends of the rectangle, roll the dough up with the spices inside.  Using a sharp knife or plain dental floss*, cut through the dough about every 1 to 2 ".  Place in an oiled or buttered pan (I used two bread pans to make cinnamon roll pull-apart bread).  Rolls should be just gently touching each other.  Cover and allow to rise for another 2 or 3 hours.

After the dough is done rising preheat the oven to 375.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

My family enjoyed just pulling off a roll when we wanted a snack.  Because it was a snack food & not a sweet dessert I didn't feel the need to add any frosting.  If you want frosting, The Coconut Mama recommends 8 ounces of soft cream cheese mixed with 4 Tablespoons of honey.

*Did you know dental floss works great for cutting rolls?  Just take a piece about 8 inches long, slide it under the log of dough, pull the ends across to the opposite side like you're going to tie it, and pull until the floss cuts all the way through.  I always make sure I use unflavored floss though!

*To make your own Chai (tea masala) spice mix, combine:
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (ground)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)
1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground)
1/4 teaspoon allspice (ground) and/or nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves (ground)
pinch black pepper (ground)

Mix well & store in an airtight container.  Besides adding to your tea or coffee, try using it in baking wherever you would use cinnamon, and even in your oatmeal!
Enjoy--
Lisa

This post is a part of Monday Mania.

Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake

I almost called this Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Snack Cake, because it is a cake which doesn't require frosting (although you are certainly welcome to add it), and if it doesn't have frosting you can snack on it anytime of day, right?   Well, maybe!  I shared with you in my last post how I have been using sourdough as my primary source for bread, pancakes, and other things, and briefly why.  You may not think that sourdough & a sweet dessert cake are possible to have together, but you must try this!  It is moist, tender, and really does not have that much sugar for a dessert.

You will notice the directions indicate you can use between 1 and 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  The amount you use is going to depend on how long you let your batter "sour" and your personal preference.  I accidentally forgot about my batter and let it sit for too long.  I first added 1 cup of sugar, but when I sampled the batter I knew it needed the additional 1/2 cup.  I also wanted to help it out more by adding in 1/2 cup of shredded coconut.

This is only a slightly  modified version of the Chocolate Sourdough Cake from The Nourishing Gourmet.  If you would like to add frosting to your cake, you can check out GNOWFGLINS where she shares her version of the recipe (with spelt flour) and a coconut cream frosting - - which would be divine on this cake!

Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake
1 cup recently fed sourdough starter
1 cup of raw milk, diluted coconut milk, or water
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (mine was regular whole wheat flour)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar (raw sugar, maple sugar, or palm sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup melted coconut oil*
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/.4 cup cocoa powder**
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional- I used Pero, Teeccino also works)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded coconut

1.  6 to 18 hours ahead of time you will make the sourdough mixture.  Combine the starter, milk, and flour in a large bowl.  Allow to rest at room temperature.

2.  Preheat oven to 350 and rub a 9x13 pan with oil.

3.  In a medium bowl cream together the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and optional espresso powder (mixture will be grainy).  Then beat in one egg at a time.  Add all of this to the sourdough mixture, as well as shredded coconut.  Gently stir until well combined.

4.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.

I let my cake cook a little too long and the top seemed burnt, but when I went to cut the burnt part off I tried it & it actually still tasted good- bonus points for that!  *This cake would be best with coconut oil (unrefined for the coconut flavor) but if you don't have any, like me, then you can use olive oil or melted butter.  **The original directions say to not use Dutch processed cocoa, because it is not acidic enough to react with the baking soda.  In other words, using Dutch cocoa could cause the cake not to rise as much.

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesday.

Sweet on Sourdough

I've been working a lot with sourdough since we arrived in Rwanda.  I prefer to use sourdough in my bread and baked goods because it breaks down some of the gluten in the flour, making it easier to digest, as well as reducing the phytic acid so minerals are more easily absorbed.  

Before we left for Rwanda I decided to dehydrate the starter I had been keeping on in my kitchen.  Since I don't have a dehydrator I came up with a different solution that worked for me.  I poured out a thin layer of starter on a piece of parchment paper.  It was August and we were having 100+ degree days, so I put the parchment paper inside our barbecue (with it turned off) in the morning.  The closed lid kept the bugs off, while being inside the metal of the barbecue magnified the heat and dehydrated my starter for me.

I also brought along a small amount of Oregon Trail Sourdough starter I got from "Carl's Friends".  Once we got here I mixed the two and rehydrated by mixing with a little bit of water, and then adding small amounts of flour and water each day.  I started out with a white flour starter (that's all you can find in the stores here) and then ended up switching it over to spelt flour (after some friends brought me a supply of spelt flour).  I've been trying all kinds of recipes made with sourdough starter: pancakes, crackers, cinnamon rolls, rolls, pizza crust and even chocolate cake!  Here in the next few weeks I hope to share several of these recipes with you.

You can help to keep your starter happy by using it a lot and feeding frequently.  I feed mine a minimum of 1/4 cup of both flour and warm water twice a day when I'm using it, and it works even better if the last feeding I give it (several hours before I use it) is 1/2 cup each (this would be different if you're keeping larger amounts of sourdough than I am- I only have a jar about the size of a mayonaisse jar).  When not using it for a few days I may feed it & put it in the fridge.  When I'm ready to use it again I pull it out at least 8 hours ahead of time & feed it.

Here is my "go to" bread recipe.  It worked well for me both back in the US as well as here.  We are at a high elevation in Rwanda (around 5 or 6 thousand feet) which I've learned causes baked goods to rise more (not as much air pressure pushing down on them).  I'm able to do a shorter rise time (6 hours first rise, 2 hours second rise) which also keeps my bread from getting too sour.  You can experiment to find out what works best for you.  Make sure you use enough flour to make a nice firm dough, because it will get very soft and sticky after souring.  Slash the tops of the loaves before baking to keep them from exploding out the sides! 

Sourdough Bread

1 cup flour (plus additional)
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm (not hot) water
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil (melted coconut oil, or olive oil)
2 Tablespoons honey

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Add additional flour: 1/2 cup at a time, up to 3 or 4 cups.  Let dough rest for 10 minutes before kneading, then knead for 5 to 10 minutes and place in a greased bowl.
Let rise until doubled: about 8 hours, then punch down and form into loaves (flatten and roll up burrito style).  Let rise for an additional 2 to 4 hours.  Heat oven to 350 and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  (If making rolls check after 20 minutes.)

Enjoy!
Lisa

P.S.  If you don't already have a sourdough starter you can make one in just 7 days.  I used the pineapple juice method when I made another one here.  Give it a try!  (Start with low rise items when your starter is young like pizza crust or crackers.)

Lot o' Sourdough

This week I decided to try my hand at making sourdough bread again.  I don't know why, after my other failures...  but some sourdough bread with butter was just really sounding good to me!  My starter was looking pretty good this time- as I had pulled it out of the fridge & fed it a few times, and it was looking bubbly and active (maybe they like the warmer kitchens of summertime?).

I decided to try out this recipe for short rise sourdough bread.  My busy life got in the way that day & I ended up letting the dough over-rise (instead of the 8 hour rise I had planned on, it rose for about 10 or so hours on a warm day).  I tucked the dough back into the pan & baked it anyway.  Surprise- this is one of my best looking sourdough loaves yet!

The texture was a little crumbly, but still hit my the spot for my sourdough craving.  Since I had my starter out & going, and I had a lot of hummus in the fridge, I decided to make sourdough pitas too (next to the bread).  I messed up on them though- I did not preheat the baking sheet in the oven.  And, the high heat (500) vaporized some grease in the bottom of my oven & made my smoke alarm go off- waking everyone up (I was baking at night).  Whoops!  They turned out tough & without a pocket, but I still tore them into pieces & dipped them, and I also used some for mini pizzas.

We also made some yummy sourdough pancakes this week (they're on the plate).  I love this recipe because you don't have to soak & it is so fun to watch how the baking soda reacts with the starter- it's alive!  Cook them as soon as it all bubbles up & you get these fun pancakes full of little holes.  Freeze any extras & pop them in the toaster for quick breakfasts.  I only made a half batch this morning (didn't have enough starter for a whole batch) and since I didn't want to use a "half" of an egg, I substituted a couple of tablespoons of ground flax seeds for the egg.

I'll share more about other things tried out in my kitchen later this week~
Enjoy!
Lisa

This post was linked to Tuesday Twister.

Tortillas 6 Lisa 0

I have tried to make tortillas about 5 or 6 times, I'm guessing.  A few times just "soaked" whole wheat, and a few times with sourdough starter.  I have never been really successful at it.  Sometimes, like the last batch I had, the dough is so sticky or fragile that if I try to roll it thin enough it ends up falling apart on the way to the pan.  Sometimes the dough was great, but the end product was not pliable at all.  And every time, whether I've fried them in oil or used a dry pan, the oil that ends up in the air while I'm cooking them gives me a headache.

This picture really does not do justice to the disaster that was my latest attempt at making tortillas.  The batch on the left was thin enough, however, they were falling apart in the pan & had holes.  I was getting so frustrated with them that I decided I had to leave them thicker & that is the batch on the right.  They actually ended up reminding me of the flat bread eaten in Rwanda, called chapati.

What do you do when you end up with strange fat tortillas?  You go ahead & make easy chicken enchiladas from the Musings of a Housewife blog anyway!  We actually make enchiladas in Rwanda using chapati & it's one of our favorite meals.

They don't look pretty but they taste just fine!  This is a great recipe to use some of the chicken meat after you've roasted a chicken & pulled the meat off before (or after) making your bone broth.  (By the way, the nice thing about making the crock pot roast chicken I told you about last week is that the meat is already falling off the bones, so I got most of the meat off the bird before I boiled it.)  I didn't have any cream for this recipe, so I used some creme fraiche instead.

All's you have to do is just mix the meat with some salsa (and I like to add sour cream or creme fraiche and this time I threw in some black beans too), dip your tortilla in the cream, roll it up around some of the meat mixture, throw a bunch of shredded cheese on top & bake.  Super easy & good (even with crazy tortillas)!

What else can you do with crazy too thick tortillas?  Make them into individual pizzas & warm in a 425 oven til cheese melts.  It's a soft "pizza" but it works & is especially great in a pinch for another quick dinner.

So, at least for a while now, I am done with my attempts at making homemade tortillas.  I bought some sprouted tortillas from the Ezekiel bread company & we'll have to see how those are.  My husband also really likes the sprouted bread I bought from Nature Bake bakery (their bakery store is only about 30 minutes away & you can buy frozen bread in bulk for about $2.50 a loaf).  I still have my sourdough starter going though, so I have not completely thrown the towel in...  stay tuned!

Here's hoping all your kitchen adventures today are successful!
Enjoy-
Lisa

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS.

Grrr granola & bread... yeah crackers!

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister at Gnowfglins 
and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop

I want to tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with granola.  Before I started soaking all my grains I loved granola for breakfast.  Plain yogurt, honey, raisins and granola all together was sheer bliss for me!  I have not had granola for a while now, but with some yogurt in my fridge and some Soaked and Ready Oats left from my adventures in No Bake Granola Bars, I decided it was time to bring back some bliss by making granola!  Fool that I am!  You see the hate part with granola is I hate to make it.  I always burn it--- grrr!

One thing I've learned about granola is that if you use maple syrup instead of honey (or a mix there of) it will not burn as quickly as it does with just honey.  So, I found an old recipe I had for granola & instead of honey I used maple syrup.  Now, let me share with you some more lessons I've learned about granola:

 Isn't that a cute little batch of granola in my cute new toaster oven?  I had just enough oats for a half batch...

• Granola has to be babysat.  Do not think you can get your granola going inside your oven & then go put your son to bed- the same son who will not stay in his bed long enough to fall asleep unless you lay there with him.  Especially do not do this if you are using a recipe that calls for baking at 350 and stirring every 10 minutes.  Try a lower temperature!  I started the granola, stirred after 10 minutes & then went in with my son- peeling myself away after what I thought was 10 minutes...

 

I don't know if you can tell from this picture very well- but I came back to a tray full of smoking granola!  Don't you hate it when you burn food?  I mean really, if I'm going to do that, why don't I just save myself a whole lot of work & throw my money directly into the trash, right?  Part of the reason why this burned has to do with another granola lesson:

• Make sure the granola is in an EVEN layer.  You see, it started out nice & even, but when I stirred it the first time I just left it uneven & lumpy.  The thin areas are where it burnt first.  I did manage to salvage a little bit of granola off the top.  Enough for about two servings- so here it is...

A little too much of a "roasted" flavor, but not bad.  As soon as I can get to the store to buy more oats I am going to try Wardeh's recipe for raw soaked granola.  I don't have a dehydrator & the lowest my oven goes is to 170, so it won't be "raw" but I think I will use a temp of about 250 & take it slow.  Hopefully I will have a happier story to tell you soon!

Now, I know most food blogs post wonderful pictures and recipes of marvelous food success stories.  However, I think it's good for me to share my failures with you sometimes- then you know it's OK to try something & not succeed at it!  Which brings me to my next sad story- sourdough bread.  I am still trying to find success in this arena.  I have been feeding and using my sourdough starter, keeping it out on the counter, and now in the dark cupboard, trying to find a way to make my own bread without using commercial yeast.

A big reason why I want to do this is because once we are in Rwanda (see "my other blogs" on the side panel for more info on this) I would love to be able to make my own bread using natural yeasts.  The traditional bread in Rwanda is a flat bread made from flour, oil, and water, called Chapati.  Finding & buying commercial yeast is expensive.  The American style bread they sell in the stores comes in paper bags (the president of Rwanda has outlawed plastic bags).  Mostly it is white bread & stale!

So, I tried again yesterday to make sourdough bread, and I am ..this.. close to just giving up!  Sarah  was sweet enough to come over to my blog & comment, after I talked about my attempt at her Sourdough multi-grain bread.  For my latest attempt at sourdough I decided to try a short/warm rise to see if it would be less sour.  Instead of starting the bread the night before I started it in the morning & put the dough in the oven with the light on & a pot of just-boiled water in there.  I let it "rise" for about 5 hours, but I think it needed more time.  I did the same thing with the second/in-pan rise, letting it "rise" (I put this in quotes because my dough did not rise much at all!) for about 7 hours.  And I should have read Sarah's comments sooner- then I might have remembered to slash my loaves so I didn't end up with the splitting-out-the-side look!

These were a couple of small, dense loaves, but the good news is that they are not too sour- so the taste is OK!  I received a dehydrated Oregon Trail sourdough starter in the mail, which I need to revive & try out- so maybe here in a week or so I will see if this starter works better for me.

And, just because I like every story to have a happy ending- let's talk about the Sourdough Crackers from Sarah's blog.  I love these crackers!  They don't care if your starter is active or not & they are a cinch to make!  The healthiest way to make these would be with sprouted flour, but since I don't have any I used spelt flour (first time using spelt too).  My cookie sheets are big enough that I divide the dough in half & roll it out, using an oiled rolling pin, onto parchment paper.

The shape doesn't have to be perfect (obviously!).  The thinner you roll them the more of a chip-like texture they will have & stay crispier.  I use a pizza cutter to cut the dough before it bakes- so quick & easy!  You brush with olive oil & sprinkle with salt (I used sea salt).  I baked both of my sheets at the same time, on different racks.  Check them half way thru the cooking time to see if you need to rotate them.  I would also suggest you make these early enough in the day that they can sit out & cool for several hours, like start in the early afternoon.  These need to be completely cool & dry before you store them. 

Great to have around as a snack and so much better for you than anything you can buy in the store!  Now I want to make some hummus to dip them in-  yum!

Enjoy!
Lisa

Fight Back Fridays

I am linking up with "Fight Back Friday" at Food Renegade's blog
and sharing about the sourdough english muffins.

All this week my daughter has been sick, and now I have succumb to it too.  Ugh!  I still managed to make "soaked tortillas" for our steak fajitas tonight, and I also managed to soak/dehydrate some almonds ("crispy almonds"), I've got "Soaked & Ready Oats"  drying in my toaster oven (my new toaster oven is much better than the old one- did you see my post about my "Exploding Toaster Oven"?)  And I also saved some leftover oatmeal & made multi-grain sourdough bread.  My dough was probably too sticky (perhaps not enough oatmeal?)  When I poured the dough into the loaf pans the texture was somewhere between marshmellow fluff & taffy- really!  So no wonder my loaves didn't turn out so pretty.  I'm sure it was something I did- because go over to Sarah's blog & see how beautiful her loaves are...  (sigh...)
Yes, today turned out to be a baking day- but because of not feeling well (not really "feeling" like doing anything) I didn't get any pictures except this one I just took right now.  Funny cracked up bread, huh?

I'll do better next week...  Good thing about colds... you know eventually they will pass!
Blessings!
Lisa

Sourdough English Muffins

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
and Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade

My latest experiment has been to make sourdough English muffins.  I've made sourdough bread (no winners in that yet), tortillas (so so), crackers (yum), pita breads (pretty good), and now English muffins from this recipe here.  They actually turned out pretty good!

I started them at night before I went to bed.  In the morning the dough hadn't risen very much so I left it & didn't get back to it til after lunch.  I added the remaining ingredients, covered them with oiled plastic wrap & a towel, and set them in the oven with the light on to rise.  The directions say let rise for 1 hour- well, mine never did rise!  I let them sit for about 6 hours & finally decided just to cook them.  They actually did rise some when I cooked them.  Here there are all snuggled up in my skillet:

This recipe makes quite a bit- I filled my skillet like this 3 times.  It does take a while to cook also, considering you have to cook each side for 4 to 5 minutes, add that up for 3 batches & that's at least 30 minutes.  The good news is you don't have to watch them.  Once you've flipped them the 1st time & seen how long it took, then you can just set the timer and do other things until they're ready to flip.  My temperature was a medium-low, warm enough to sizzle the butter but cool enough to allow the muffins to cook all the way through.

Here's one opened up- not too bad, eh?  As you can tell I made mine using whole wheat flour.
I should have put a big pat of melting butter on it for the picture...

Now for breakfast tomorrow we get to have homemade "Egg McMuffins"!  :)  I bet you could even cook & assemble extra "McMuffins", freeze them & then just reheat for an easy breakfast.  Brilliant!

*Update: the night before I had pulled a chub (thick roll) of ground pork sausage out of the freezer, so this morning it was not quite fully thawed.  I was able to slice off half inch circles (like you used to with refrigerated cookie dough) and cook.  Easy way to have round sausage for your own "Sausage McMuffins".

 Mmmm.  Am I making you hungry yet?  The only thing I forgot was cheese!

Blessings,
Lisa