Sweetie Pie

Pumpkin Bread

Welcome to the season of Pumpkin Everything.  This pumpkin venture was inspired by a decadent recipe from White on Rice Couple for Pumpkin Spiced Coffecake.  The cake is rich and full of flavor with an extra delicious crumble topping.  However, it seemed a bit too indulgent for a weekday breakfast.  I wanted a straightforward quick bread that's not too sweet, is vaguely nutritious, and uses the entire can of pumpkin puree.

This turned out to be uncomplicated and I was happy with the results.  It is based on my Grandmother's Banana Bread recipe, but with the addition of some fall spices.  The recipe makes two loaves of pumpkin bread and uses a whole can of pureed pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Bread

14 Tablespoons unsalted butter ( that's 1 stick plus 6 Tablespoons) - melted

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons molasses

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 can)

4 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the baking pans with butter and flour.  This recipe will make two large loaves; I made one large and three mini loaves. 

Mix the melted butter, sugar and molasses until smooth and fluffy. ( If you do not have molasses, you can substitute brown sugar for the white sugar.  Brown sugar has molasses in it for that caramel color and earthy taste.  )  Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended.  Add the vanilla and pumpkin puree and mix.  The batter might look a little, um, gross at this point so just keep going and don't worry about it. 

Sift the flour and all the spices and dry ingredients together. I like to sift straight into the wet ingredients.  It's important to sift the flour so the final product isn't too heavy or dense, and it's important to mix the spices and leavening ingredients in for even distribution through the batter.  Stir and gently fold the flour mixture into the batter until just blended.  Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Enjoy with coffee for a breakfast treat or afternoon snack.  I love the barely sweet and subtle pumpkin flavors of this quick bread.

Thin Sin Pizza

This recipe is from Shape magazine (October 2013) and chef Jeff Mahin.  A Thin Sin pie is on the menu at his restaurants every day with assorted toppings.  The slim crust keeps the calorie count low so that you can indulge in pizza without packing on the pounds. 

Thin Sin Pizza Dough

Recipe from Jeff Mahin

yeild dough for 5 two serving or 3 three serving pizzas

4 cups all purpose flour ( I used 3 c ap flour and 1 cup whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Anything baked with yeast (such as fresh bread) will need time to develop flavor.  A good pizza crust is no exception.  Mix up the dough the day before you want to make pizza so that it can become delicious over night.

Place flour, yeast and olive oil in mixer fitted with dough hook attachment and begin mixing.  Add salt and 1 1/4 cups room temperature water.  Mix on low speed for 5 minutes.  Turn off mixer and let dough rest 10 minutes.  You could knead this dough by hand if you're so inclined.

Turn the mixer on medium- high for 5-6 minutes or until the dough is smooth.  Remove from mixer and portion into 3 or 5 rounds.  This depends on the size of pizzas you'd like to make.  If you divide it into five, you'll have pizzas that serve two people.  I divided it into three to get slightly larger pizzas for my family.   Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate over night. 

On the day you want to make pizza, remove dough from fridge in the morning or around noon if it's a very warm day.   When the dough is room temperature and risen a little it's ready to go.   Dust a work surface with flour.  Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out very thin.  I like to roll it out on parchment paper and then put it on a cookie sheet for easy sliding.  (Keep extra dough in the freezer.)

Add toppings of your choice.  We had tomato sauce with fresh basil, red peppers, a generous swirl of olive oil, cracked black pepper, romano and mozzarella cheese on our first pizza.  Other suggestions from the magazine are mushrooms and Gruyere with parsley, green onion and thyme, or butternut squash and turkey bacon pizza, or spinach and purple kale pizza.  Think of your pizza crust as a blank canvas and put your favorite vegetables and cheeses on it - just about anything goes.

Any pizza crust will improve exponentially if you bake it on a hot stone.  Place the pizza stone in the oven to preheat for at least 30 minutes.  Slide the thinly rolled pizza and toppings, parchment paper and all, onto the super hot pizza stone.  This will give you those awesome bubbles and crispy crust.  Bake at 500 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

This pizza was excellent.   The thin and crispy crust was on par with something from a pizza oven restaurant.  The dough is easy to work with and no problem to roll very thin.  It was an added bonus to have extra dough to stash in the freezer for another day.