The Healthy Eating Site » Baking

Wholemeal Bread – Bread Machine Recipe

Eat Healthy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:21:57 +0000

Wholemeal Bread

If you have a bread machine there is no excuse to not make your own homemade bread. It’s easy, and if you follow this recipe, you’ll end up with a beautiful light-textured wholemeal loaf that’s also a great source of fiber.

You may have to slice it yourself, but you can’t find anything in the stores like this. It’s great for sandwiches or toasted.

It keeps well too, even without the preservatives that most store-bought bread has. I’ve left mine out for 3 days, and it’s still moist and delicious.

Ingredients:
3 teas dry active yeast
1-1/2 cup warm water
2 teas brown, raw or rapadura sugar
1 teas salt
1 T oil
2 T gluten flour
3 cups wholemeal flour
1/4 cup oat bran (if you don’t have oat bran use wholemeal flour instead)

Instructions:
Measure all the ingredients into the bread maker, in the order listed or according to your bread maker’s instructions.

Set the bread maker to the whole wheat cycle, with a medium crust and press start. Note the time in the display window and just make sure you are there to take the bread out when it’s finished.

Baker’s Notes:
My favorite way to eat this is toasted, with butter and honey, or homemade plum jam with apple and cinnamon. As an accompaniment to soups it’s beautiful just toasted with butter or avocado.

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake in a Slow Cooker

Eat Healthy — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:53:01 +0000

Slow Cooker Baked Chocolate Zucchini Cake

We’ve still got an overabundance of zucchini from the garden and while trying to come up with new ways to use it all I stumbled upon baking… in a crock pot. I never would have thought this would work, but I’m so glad it does. With a slow cooker (a.k.a. crock pot) you don’t have to keep an eye on it like you do with an oven. You just pour the batter in, go off to do something else and come back 2 hours later – ideal! The cake is moist and divine… well, what dish with chocolate is not divine?

If you have a really large crockpot, just double this recipe.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup soft brown sugar (if you can find rapadura sugar it’s the best)
2 small eggs
1/2 teas natural vanilla essence
4 T yogurt
1-1/4 cup wholewheat flour
2 T cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice (or nutmeg)
2 cups grated zucchini
2 T dried cranberries (optional)

Instructions:
Mix oil and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Add the eggs beat until creamy looking. Mix in the vanilla and yogurt.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt into the mixing bowl, then add spices. Mix just enough to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the grated zucchini and cranberries and mix it through the batter. I find it easiest to do by hand.

Turn the crockpot on high and spray the inside with spray on oil, then line it with non-stick baking paper. The baking paper will stick to the sprayed on oil.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Zucchini Cake Is Done!

Pour the batter into the prepared slow cooker, cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Depending on your crockpot it may take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2-1/2 hours to cook. Once you learn how long your slow cooker takes you can just leave it to cook and come back after that time to remove it. No need to keep checking like you need to with a conventional oven.

When the cake is cooked, remove the lid and lift out the crock. Be careful it will be hot. Leave it to cool for 20-30 minutes, by that time you should be able to touch the crock without burning yourself. Turn the crock upside down over a wire cooling rack and the cake should easily fall out. After the cake cools completely you can store it in the fridge for a few days – if it lasts that long! It’s nice eaten warm, but the flavor improves after a day in the fridge.

COOK’S TIP:
To line the slow cooker with baking paper…
Take a sheet of baking paper and lid on it. Using the lid of the slow cooker as a guide, trace a line all the way around the lid and trace another line about 2 inches away from the lid all the way around. Use scissors to cut the paper at the OUTER circle. Then make lots of cuts from the outside edge toward the center, stopping at the inner circle. Spray the inside of the crock (bowl) with oil. Now place this cut paper into the crock (bowl) and smooth it out over the bottom and up the sides. If necessary, cut a strip of paper to fit upright against the sides to cover the cut strips and make a smoother surface. You can reuse this paper for several batches of cakes.

Here are some photos, which might help to explain it a bit better:

Step 1: Trace the lid. Trace all around the lid, then draw another line about 2 inches outside of the lid.

Step 2: Make the cuts. Make the cuts from the outside edge, toward the center. Make the cut from the outer line to the inner line.

Then just cut a strip of paper to stand upright and wrap around the inside of the bowl, covering the cut strips. This way it’s really easy to re-use the baking paper for another cake.

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Healthier Sweet Zucchini Muffins Recipe

Eat Healthy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:40:55 +0000

Healthy Zucchini Muffin Recipe

I’ve modified the recipe I posted previously, added more zucchini and reduced the amount of sugar, so it’s healthier and the results are so much better! I’m really pleased with the way these turned out. Better tasting and better for you! Now that’s my kind of dessert! Actually, you could eat these muffins any time… they make a good snack (perfect for kid’s lunch boxes – get some extra vegies into them without them realizing), if you’re like me and can’t eat a lot first thing in the morning they are lovely for breakfast with your morning coffee or tea. So without further ado, here’s the recipe…

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup soft brown sugar
3 cups grated zucchini
2 teas vanilla
1-1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teas salt
1 teas baking soda
1 teas baking powder
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions:
Beat eggs until light and foamy; add vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly but blend thoroughly.

Mix together the remaining dry ingredients, except nuts until they are thoroughly blended.

Add the dry ingredients to the first mixture, stir just enough to blend everything together. Stir in walnuts.

Spoon the batter into lightly oiled muffin tins, filling 3/4 of the muffin cup. Bake at 175C (325F) for about 20 minutes or until done. To check if they are done, insert a clean toothpick, skewer or wooden matchstick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, they’re done.

Healthy Zucchini Muffin Recipe

Cool and serve. Can be refrigerated for a few days (the flavor seems even nicer the next day), eaten warm from the oven, or wrap and freeze them.

Makes 24 small muffins.

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Zucchini Bread Muffins

Eat Healthy — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:53:54 +0000

Zucchini Muffins

While I’m trying to cut back on sweets and baked goods, occasionally I still indulge in something sweet. When I do, I figure it might as well be with something that has some beneficial ingredients as well. We have an unbelievable amount of zucchini (courgette) growing in the garden at the moment, so naturally zucchini bread sprang to mind. I baked them as muffins instead of bread though, because I find muffins so much easier to deal with than slicing bread. Next time I make these I’ll add lots more zucchini, I think the recipe can handle it.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups soft brown sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teas vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teas salt
1 teas baking powder
1 teas baking soda
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions:
Beat the eggs until light and foamy. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly until everything is thoroughly blended.

Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the first mixture, stirring to blend. Make sure everything is thoroughly blended but don’t over mix. Stir in the walnuts/pecans. Pour the batter into oiled muffin tins, filling to about 3/4. Bake at 325F (175C) for 20 minutes or until done. Check to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center, if the toothpick comes out clean they are done.

Cool and serve or wrap and freeze.

Makes 20 small muffins.

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Cheesy Egg Muffins With Mushroom, Courgette and Spinach

Eat Healthy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:58:08 +0000

Cheesy Egg Muffins with Mushroom, Courgette, & Spinach

I’ve been itching to try this recipe since last week when I found Kalyn’s Kitchen Blog and the recipe for these yummy looking, South Beach Diet Phase I compliant Egg Muffins. I even went out and bought one of those blissfully-easy-to-use silicone muffin trays.

I’ve been waiting and waiting, but our chickens aren’t laying much at the moment – either that or they’ve set up yet another secret nest for us to discover (either that or someone will come back with a bunch of chicks in a few weeks). We went to the local vegie shop yesterday and I got a tray of free range eggs, in anticipation of making this recipe. Well, today was the day! Let me tell you, they don’t disappoint!

Here’s my version of these delicious egg muffins…

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 T water
1 teas Herbamare ® Herb Seasoning Salt
1 medium courgette, deseeded
3-4 large spinach leaves
1 large mushroom
1 cup finely grated cheese (approx)
12 cup silicone muffin tray

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray muffin tray with olive oil spray.

How to deseed a courgette

Deseed the courgette. This is a trick I learned from Suzi who writes The Cook’s Cupboard, I love courgette raw but I didn’t fancy cooked courgette much until I tasted it prepared this way. You know how the seeds and the bit in the center goes all mushy and tastes a bit sour? That’s the part I didn’t like. Here’s how you avoid it. Cut the courgette in quarters lengthwise. Draw a paring knife down the length of each quarter, slicing off the ridge of seeds. You don’t have to get all the seeds, just slice off about the first 5mm (1/4 inch) and that should be enough. Make adjustments if you have really big seeds.

Cut the quarters of courgette into thin slices. Finely dice the spinach and mushroom.

Distribute the vegetables evenly into the muffin cups. Add grated cheese into each muffin cups. You want to aim to just about fill the muffin cups slightly below the top.

In a 2-cup measuring cup with pour spout, break the eggs, add the herb salt and 2 T water. Beat well.

Egg Muffins Ready to Cook

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the muffin tins, until it nearly fills each cup. It may look like there’s not going to be enough room for the egg, but don’t worry it will flow into all the spaces between the other ingredients.

Put into the oven with plenty of room above them, the muffins will rise up out of the cups while cooking. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown. The muffins will drop down to the size of the muffin cups when you take them out.

These cheesy vegetable egg muffins are delicious eaten warm or cold. Kalyn says they freeze well too, just wait until they cool, put them in bags and pop them into your freezer.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Wholewheat Pizza Dough

Eat Healthy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:29:19 +0000

Pizza has to be one of the all-time favorite foods. In the United States along hundreds of slices of pizza are eaten every second. It can be eaten as a stand-alone meal, with a salad, it’s even good cold the next day. Why wait for the takeaway pizza shop to deliver a lukewarm, soggy pizza to your door when you can make your own delicious pizza anytime. It’s so quick and easy, especially when you have a bread machine. We use this basic pizza dough recipe to bring any of a number of focaccia bread, pizza bread and pizzas to parties – it’s always a hit! People are often impressed that we made pizza from scratch, but really it’s the quickest, easiest thing we can think of!

Ingredients:
2 tsp active dried yeast
1 cup warm water + 2 T warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 T olive oil
3 cups wholewheat flour

Instructions – bread machine:
Measure all ingredients into the mixing tin. Set the machine to dough cycle (also known as the ‘pizza’ cycle on some machines) and press START.

Instructions – hand kneading:
Add all ingredients except the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the wholewheat flour and mix thoroughly with a spoon or whisk. Cover and leave for 15 minutes in a warm place to activate the yeast. Stir in the rest of the flour. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary to remove stickiness. Rub 2-3 teaspoons of oil onto dough, put back into mixing bowl and cover with plastic film. Leave to set for 30 minutes before taking dough out and kneading lightly.

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Wholewheat Pita Bread

Eat Healthy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:18:01 +0000

This is a wholewheat version of the versatile pita bread, also known as pita pockets. They can be served filled as sandwiches or toasted and brushed with garlic butter to serve with soups. Use them as a quick and easy pizza base – top with pizza sauce, cheese and topping of your choice and grill until the cheese melts. One of my favorite ways of eating them is also the simplest – warm the pita in the oven (or make them fresh), dip in olive oil and grind rock salt on top. What ever way you prefer to eat them, the wholewheat is high in fiber and helps reduce the risk of heart disease.

Ingredients:
2 tsp active dried yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 T olive oil
3 cups wholewheat flour

Instructions – bread machine:
Measure all ingredients into the mixing tin. Set the machine to dough cycle (also known as the ‘pizza’ cycle on some machines) and press START. Then follow baking instructions below.

Instructions – baking:
Turn oven on high. Place an oven tray on the rack in the middle of the oven.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured board and cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 15-18 cm circle. Leave to rise for 10 at least minutes.

Using a ‘pizza peel’, or makeshift peel from a floured piece of cardboard, place one circle at a time onto the floured peel. Open the oven, position the peel over the oven tray and shake the peel, slowly drawing it back toward you as the circle begins to move off the peel onto the oven tray. Try to do this as quickly as possible to prevent too much heat from escaping.

Bake for 2-3 minutes, the bread should puff up and then collapse slightly. Use tongs to lift out the cooked pita and insert the next one.

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Bagels

Eat Healthy — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:30:50 +0000

Homemade Bagel

True bagels are boiled, that’s what gives them their chewy texture. Try this recipe, there’s nothing like a fresh bagel still warm from the oven!

Ingredients:

5 cups of wholemeal flour
4 T sugar
2 tsp salt
3 tsp active dry yeast
4 tsp butter or margarine
2 cups warm water

Instructions:

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of water until foamy.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water and mix until soft dough forms. Cover in oil and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down and knead again.

Roll the dough out and cut into appropriate size rounds and let rise again until doubled. Drop dough into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Turn over and boil for 3 more minutes. Take out of water and drain until dried. Brush the bagels with egg wash and bake in a 450-degree oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Bagels are best eaten fresh, but if your bagels are a day or two old they will still be delicious toasted. Bagels also freeze well, but like most bread they are best toasted if they’ve been frozen.

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Cheesy Asparagus Muffins

Eat Healthy — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:12:13 +0000

These quick and easy cheesy asparagus muffins are excellent for morning tea or a light lunch with salad or soup.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups self-raising wholemeal flour
1-1/2 cups grated cheese
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk (approx)
1 cup finely chopped asparagus

Instructions:

Cook the asparagus in 1/2 cup water. You can either cook on the stove top or in the microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Cool quickly to avoid over-cooking. Save the cooking liquid to add extra flavor to the muffins. Combine enough milk with the liquid saved from the asparagus to make 1 cup.

Mix flour, cheese and salt. In a separate bowl beat egg and combine with milk/cooking liquid.

Combine dry and wet ingredients mixing just enough to dampen the flour. Donâ€™t over mix.

Spoon mixture out into sprayed non-stick muffin tins.

Bake at 210C for 10-14 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out.

Serve warm with butter.

Variations:

Sprinkle with grated cheese or parmesan on top before baking
Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top before baking

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Make Your Own (Gluten Free) Baking Powder

Eat Healthy — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:30:49 +0000

You can easily make your own baking powder. Often commercially bought baking powder has wheat gluten in it. This recipe is gluten free, wheat free, and very easy to make using ingredients that should be readily available at your grocery store.

Ingredients:
2 parts Cream of Tartar
1 part baking soda
1 part cornstarch

Stir and sift all ingredients together and youâ€™ve got baking powder. Use as normal.