Fresh Rosemary Parmesan Crackers

1 cup whole wheat flour, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, I used rosemary scented oil
1/4 cup cream or half-and-half, more as needed
1 Tablespoon water*

preheat oven to 400°

1
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour.
2
Put flour, salt, rosemary, cheese and olive oil in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and olive oil create little crumbs.
3
Add Add about 1/4 cup cream or half-and-half and let machine run for a bit. If the dough is still a little dry after pouring in the cream add a little water.
4
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2-inch thick or even thinner, adding flour as needed.
5
Transfer sheet of dough to prepared baking sheet (drape it over rolling pin to make it easier). Score lightly with a sharp knife, pizza cutter or a pastry wheel if you want to break crackers into squares or rectangles later on. Sprinkle with salt or other topping if you like.
6
Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature or store in a tin for a few days.

Filled with Olive spread....

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1c. milk

1/2 c. pumpkin

1/4tsp. cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg cloves and ginger

1 T. maple syrup

Blend in a blender till smooth. Add 1/2 c. of ice to make it frosty if you like.

Enjoy!

Maple Seeded Bread

This bread is so......good!  We came across this recipe from The Knead For Bread (cute title huh?!?) Especially toasted with almond butter or regular butter.

I used all wheat flour, and put it into one very large loaf pan. Also I added 1T. vital wheat gluten.

Enjoy!

Hannah

mmmmm!

Fluffy White Rolls

INGREDIENTS 

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups bread flour

1. In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart, or close together depending on how soft you want your rolls. ( for soft sides place close together)  Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown

A little update!

Well, why have we not been posting, then all of the sudden started back up again?

We lost our camera! Now we have a new one, so you should be seeing more of us!

The Del Sisters

Carrot Cake Pancakes

The Recipe

Well, I never would have thought of making carrotcake into pancakes had I not seen this recipe on Joy the Baker What a great innovative idea!

We did make a few changes to the recipe for our healthier life style, and were still extremely pleased with the outcome! 

Carrot Cake Pancakes

     adapted from the food network

• 1 1/4 cups wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Dash nutmeg
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4c. honey
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Spread

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 maple syrup
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 dash ground cinnamon

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, combine egg, maple syrup, milk, carrots, and vanilla; mix well.

Stir carrot mixture into dry ingredients until moistened. Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on the top of pancake; flip and cook until golden brown.

For topping, blend cream cheese, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and or pecans and serve with pancakes.

Yields: 9 pancakes

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Chai Tea Bread

This recipe we saw on Baking Bites Blog and knew we just had to make it, we changed the recipe by using whole wheat flour, and Cinnamon sugar instead of brown sugar......it was really good the only thing I found funny was so many apples, I only used about 1 1/4 cups instead of 2. I also found that this is best served toasted with either butter or my other favorite Almond Butter!

Enjoy!

Esther DeL 

Cinnamon Chai-Tea Apple Bread

1 tbsp yeast
1 cup stong chai tea, brewed and cooled until warm (105F)
1/2 cup powdered milk (nonfat is fine)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cinnamon sugar
2 1/2 - 3 cups Whole Wheat flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/4 cups apples, peeled and chopped, plus 6-8 thin apple slices
1 tbsp cinnamon sugar

Mix yeast, tea and 1 cup of flour in a large bowl. Let stand for 15-20 minutes, until foamy and the mixture has risen a bit.
Stir in powdered milk, cinnamon, salt, sugar and 1 cup flour. Add remaining flour gradually until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Transfer dough to a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in an oiled, covered bowl and let rise until doubled, 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, combine apples with 1 tbsp brown sugar in a small bowl.
Once dough has risen, flatten in gently onto work surface. Place apple mixture onto dough, reserving the apple slices. Knead apple pieces into dough gently, giving the bread about 4 turns. They will look almost ready to poke through. Shape into an oblong loaf and place on a cornmeal dusted baking sheet. Make 6 or 8 small slashes across the bread and tuck one apple slice into each one. Allow bread to rise until nearly doubled, 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400F.
Bake bread for 30 minutes, until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped and the loaf in nicely browned. If it starts to get too dark on top, just cover the bread loosely with a bit of foil.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Zucchini Bread with Sundried Tomatoes and Feta

Ever thought of making a savory zucchini bread? We didn't till we saw this recipe, from one of our favorite cooking blogs Closet Cooking. Though we did alter it from the origional recipe to accomadate the ingredients we had on hand, it was still scrumptious!

As you can see, we topped ours with a garlic hummus, cucumbers and more sundried tomatoes!

Give it a try, its sure to please!

The Del Sisters

Zucchini Bread with Sundried Tomatos and Feta

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini (grated)
1/2c. chopped sundried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic (grated)
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
1. Mix the zucchini, sundried tomato, garlic, feta, oregano, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and eggs in a large bowl.
2. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and oregano in a bowl.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. Pour the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
5. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Roasted Garlic Hummus!

Ingredients:
1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas
1 head roasted garlic
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Add some water (or more olive oil) to bring it to the consistency that you like.

Beans getting ready to be transplanted!

Cake Decor!

Last month Esther and our mom took the first Wilton cake decorating class..........here is Esther's first officially "decorated cake"!
Did't she do a great job????!!!!!!!!!!!

Hannah

Mmmmm.......

Sauted veggies on whole wheat ciabatta bread topped with some Gouda cheese................ What could taste better?