Kathy's Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coffee Cake

My natural childbirth instructor Kathy gave us this cake after class one day...my husband loves it! I always forget to buy coconut, but it is still amazing without it. If you don't know how to make butter and sugar fluffy, look up a quick tutorial online! It makes the world of a difference in how fluffy your cakes are!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350
Combine and let stand 20 minutes:
     1c oatmeal (quick or slow cooking)
     1 1/4 c. boiling water

In a med. mixing bowl mix together and then set aside:
     1 1/2c whole wheat flour (can use unbleached white flour for half)
     1 tsp baking soda
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/2 tsp salt
     1 tsp cinnamon

Cream together until fluffy (6-8 minutes in mixer):
     1/2c soft butter
     1c sugar
Add the following ingredients in the order that they appear:
    1c brown sugar
     2 eggs (one at a time)
     1 tsp vanilla
Add oatmeal mixture. Beat well.

Slowly add flour mixture, beat well.

Pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan (it seems big but it rises a lot). Bake 30-35 minutres or until tests done with a toothpick.

Topping:
Combine:
     1/2 c brown sugar
     1/3c soft butter
     1/4 c cream or milk
     1/2 c chopped nuts (I use pecans)
     1 c dried coconut

Spread on cake and broil (low setting if you have it) 2-4 minutes. Be careful here- it burns quickly...when you see most of the cake bubble, pull it out.

Let sit for 5 minutes before serving!

Irish Cream Bread Pudding

As I stated in my last post...the Amish Friendship Bread didn't quite hit the spot. My philosophy is that if I am going to eat white four and sugar....it better be worth it! So I decided to try making an alcoholic version of bread pudding:) Yum! It is in the oven right now! It's really a shame that Jeremy doesn't like Irish Cream...I guess I will have to eat it all by myself...

Irish Cream Bread Pudding!

(I substituted hard butter sliced into slivers instead of the raisins...if you are going to drink Irish Cream...you may as well live it up! I also substituted the Amish Friendship Loaf instead of the french bread)

Ingredients


4 1/2 slices French bread, thick, cut into 1 inch cubes (or substitute Irish soda bread Irish Soda Bread)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk, scalded

1 pinch ground nutmeg

4 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup Baileys Irish Cream


Directions

1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2.Butter one 2-quart casserole dish.

3.Prepare a water bath for the 2-quart casserole dish by placing a larger dish with water in the oven.

4.Place bread cubes in the 2-quart casserole dish.

5.Beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

6.Slowly add the scalded milk and Bailey's Irish Cream.

7.Pour over the bread.

8.If desired, sprinkle with brown sugar, nutmeg, and raisins.

9.Place the casserole in the water bath and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

10.Server either hot or chilled.

11.When You take the pudding out of the oven, if the pudding seems to be dry, you can sprinkle some Bailey's over the top to help make it moist (you can also sprinkle it in your mouth if you so desire).

Amish Friendship Loaf

I was given a bag of Amish Friendship Loaf mix. And I ruined it. HAHA...I think it's funny that on line it says that it is really hard to screw up this bread. Well, I did! I didn't have all of the ingredients...and left it covered in a bowl on my counter. That's the only thing I did that deviated from the recipe...so I hope that is it! I am bringing the mixes to our Bible study tomorrow night and thought I would make it easy on everyone by just posting it here! This is NOT a healthy recipe...I feel kinda guilty making, sharing and eating it....but it's fun. Here it is! (p.s.- I found this bread really bland...so I'm going to make it into Irish Cream Bread Pudding...I'll let you know how it goes! Also, I think it would taste really good with cinnamon chips in it! That would give it a kick!)

Amish Friendship Loaf


DO NOT REFRIGERATE!!!! If air gets into the bag, let it out. It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment!

DO NOT use a metal spoon (Using a metal spoon or bowl or fork will have an acidic reaction with your starter). Although I did bake mine in metal loaf pans.

Day 1: Do nothing
Day 2: Squish the bag.
Day 3: Squish the bag.
Day 4: Squish the bag.
Day 5:Squish the bag.
Day 6: Add 1C of each: flour, sugar and milk.
Day 7: Squish the bag.
Day 8: Squish the bag.
Day 9: Squish the bag.
Day 10: Follow the instructions below:


Empty contents of bag into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 ½ cup each of flour, sugar and milk. Combine ingredients thoroughly. Pour 1 cup of this mixture into each of 4 sturdy Ziploc gallon size bags and give to friends along with a copy of this instruction sheet.


Add to the remaining mixture and mix well:

1 cup oil

3 eggs

½ cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla


In a separate bowl, mix the following dry ingredients:

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding (or 1 large 5oz. box)

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)*.

*Optional: add 1 cup chopped nuts, or ½ cup: raisins, blueberries or chocolate chips.



Combine the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly. Grease 2 large bread loaf pans well. Mix up some additional cinnamon and sugar and shake into greased loaf pans to coat bottom and sides (this is optional!). Pour mix into pans. Sprinkle extra cinnamon and sugar on top. Bake at 325 degrees F for one hour. If freezing, cool completely beforehand.


If you have any questions, visit the blog: Home Steeped Hope

Whole Wheat Flax and Apple Muffins

(Dont forget to put butter out to soften before making these...and do not overcook them! They are super gross when overcooked and absolutely amazing when cooked perfectly!) I got this recipe off the Hodgson Mill Milled Flax Seed box...I've modified it a bit though.

1/2 c. milled flax seed
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. unbleached white flour
1 c.sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1  1/2 c. finely chopped apples
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c milk
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)

Blend dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl; combine egg, vegetable oil and milk. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in apples and nuts. Batter will be really thick. Fill well-greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle with muffin topping. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-19 minutes or until top spricks back when touched. Yield: 18 muffins.

Muffin Topping
In small bowl combine 1/4c. flour, 1/3 c sugar, and 3 Tbsp of soft butter. Do not stir, clump ingredients together with fingers.

Pumpkin Bread

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Downeast-Maine-Pumpkin-Bread/Detail.aspx?washelp=1&rid=1112756#1112756  5 stars in my book! And even on the first try!

(changes I made to the recipe: add 1 tsp vanilla, and I substituted out 2c flour for 2c wheat flour...and I also added 2 Tbsp of milled flax seeds to the leftover batter and baked 4 more muffins).

I have never been much of a baker. It takes me two or three tries to make something well...which leads me down a long path of cookie muching! I wanted to start baking cookies for last Christmas but didn't get around to it until this year! And boy was it ever a process!  Mind you they were cookies I have never made before...so it took me several rounds and caused me several pounds. Thankfully, Jeremy played the martyr and tried several of each batch. It was nice, but I don't know if it was worth the cost of not fitting into my pants anymore!

It snowed again today...and it was wonderful! I put Logan in bed and got that baking itch...and now there is one loaf of pumpkin bread in the oven and tweleve little pumpkin muffins roasting into deliciousness! This recipe had over 3,000 ratings and is likend to the Starbucks pumkin bread. So we'll see how they turn out!

I overcooked the first batch of muffins! Not terribly, but they weren't amazing. I kept an eye on the loaf and pulled it out when it was perfect. I was a little worried because when I pulled it out of the pan it smelled a tad bit burnt. There was no avoiding this since I used a bigger pan than was called for (I've never even seen a 7 x3 loaf pan!). That turned out to be one of the BEST parts of the bread! The crunchy outside and the moist but not sticky bread! It was amazing!

Even better than the loaf were the 4 little muffins that I added milled flax seed to! Flax seed can be substituted out for oil (not sure how much) and so they seemed to add a lot of moisture to the previously dry muffins! Plus I didn't overcook these ones...only 25 min. for these babies!

Just for Fun

I am starting a cooking/recipe blog...not because I'm amazing, but just for fun! Jeremy is heading into tax season again and I find that when I am bored, I want to bake...and cook! Ok, and eat....but I'm not going to gain weight. I promise! I have a huge stack of recipes that I have collected from wonderful chefs and I experiment with a lot of recipes online! This Christmas I baked cookies for our neighbors and had so much fun baking!

To those of you who have given me your secret recipe....no worries. I will go to the grave with those!  You know who you are! :)

Right now my menu is soooo boring! Next week I am going to mix it up and make Thai food! Stay tuned!