Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Yesterday I asked my son Kent who was visiting us what he would like me to make him while he was in town. He came up with the idea of me making pumpkin bread with Chocolate Chips. Although I have had this bread at Great Harvest, I was wondering if I could make something that tasted just as good. I did. Here is the recipe that I adapted from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

3 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or 4 7-1/2x3-1/2x2 inch pans. In a large mixing bowl beat sugar, eggs, and oil with an electric mixer. Combine flour, solda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add flour, mixture and water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin and then add chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Edith's Whole Wheat Bread

My Great Aunt Edith Whittle lived on a farm in Kimberly Idaho where the Olsens settled after immigrating from Denmark in the early part of the last century. I am sure the my older children remember the birthday cards that she sent to them every year with a dollar. That one small act helped them remember her. She was very kind to us and when we went to visit her she had a picture of my sister Jan and I on the dresser in her upstairs bedroom. When we were at her home we milked the goats and poured the cream on our breakfast cereal. What a treat! Here is her recipe for Whole Wheat Bread.

Beat together:
2 cups of prepared powdered milk, scalded
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soft margarine
4 tsp. salt
Add and beat well:
4 eggs

Mix together and let sit until yeast bubbles, about 5 minutes.
1 cup warm water
1 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. yeast

Pour into milk mixture and add 7 cups whole wheat flour. Mix together well, the dough will be sticky. Add 1 1/2 cups of white bread flour. Put in greased bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 hours until double in bulk. Knead down and let rise again. Mold into 2 loaves of bread. Let rise for 1/2 hour and then bake 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Brush with melted butter while hot.


Today we made stone ground wheat bread. Jayden, Ashlyn, Peyton, and Cameron were over at my house for cooking lessons on how to make bread. It takes a couple hours to make bread so we made Marshmallow Popcorn Balls while we waited. Afterwards the kids enjoyed the treats they made.

I have a lot of hard red winter wheat in storage but you can find wheat berries at the store. Bob's Red Mill sells wheat berries in the grocery store or online but you need to have a wheat grinder to make the flour.

Jayden was fascinated to find that my very old Magic Mill wheat grinder, which my mother gave to me to use over 20 years ago and I tried to give it back to her several times but she wouldn't take it, had stones inside it to grind the wheat into flour.
Jayden poured wheat into the grinder and was amazed to find after it went into the little hole that flour came out into the tray at the bottom. We made about 7 cups of flour with the 5 cups of wheat that we put into the grinder. We had a discussion about how wheat was ground a long time ago and how people took their grain to the miller to have it made into flour. Peyton said that her best friend has the last name of Miller and I said that their ancestor probably was a miller a long time ago.

After we finished making the flour we started putting the bread together. First of all we proofed the yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water and 1 Tbs. of brown sugar. The children watched the yeast bubble and grow and then put it into the milk mixture. Cracking the eggs was a favorite thing to do and each child got to put one into the mix then Cameron added the flour.

After mixing in the wheat flour the dough is very sticky and gooey so I add white bread flour to give the dough some gluten and make it stick together. This helps the solve some of the stickiness problem too.

I use my Kitchen Aide to knead the dough for 10 minutes which is very necessary to give the bread the right texture. Letting the dough rise is the next step. I let the dough sit in a warm place an hour until it doubles in bulk. I know when the dough reaches the top of my bowl that it is double.

There is a trick to making a beautiful loaf of bread and so I demonstrated how to do it with the first loaf and then Jayden did the second loaf. I thought she did a very good job.

First the bread is rolled with a rolling pin to get all the big bubbles out. We made sure that it was put on a well floured surface because the bread dough is still a little bit sticky. I turned the dough over a couple times to make sure that it was floured. Jayden rolled it into a rectangle and then rolled it the long way to form the bread. After the roll was made Jayden pinched the end to the dough to seal the loaf. Then she turned the ends towards the center and pinched them to the loaf. She did a really gread job putting it into the greased loaf pan.

Look at how well formed Jayden made her loaf. I couldn't tell the difference between the two loaves. The bread was given time to rise for a half an hour then it was ready to go into the oven. The smell of bread baking permeated the house and we couldn't wait to taste it.

Easter Bread

This is a traditional bread made during Easter. The bread is baked in round coffee cans or you can bake it in a bundtpan. After it is baked you drizzle the bread with a lemon glaze. Saffron in the bread gives it a pretty yellow color.

2 cups water with 1 Tbs. dehydrated potatoes
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
4 beaten eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sweet cream
2 pkg yeast
1 cup raisins
1 pinch saffron
7 cups flour

Cream sugar and shortening. Add beaten eggs and beat until lemon yellow. Add raisins, saffron, potato water and yeast. Mix with flour and knead well. Let rise twice until double and punch down, form and then put the dough into greased pans (coffee can, loaf pan, or bundt pan). Frost with a lemon glaze.

Cranberry Crumb Cakes

I found this recipe in the November 2002 Women's Day magazine. It has become a favorite of mine to make during the holidays when cranberries are abundant in the stores. It will make 5 small loaves and it is wonderful to give away as gifts to your friends and neighbors.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup orange flavored dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 5 mini loaf pans. Beat butter, 1 cup of sugar and the ginger until fluffy. Beat in 2 cups of flour until well blended. Remove 1 cup and mix with cinnamon. Set aside and reserve. Whisk remaining, 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. To butter mixture add 1/2 cup of sugar, sour cream, eggs, and extract. Beat until smooth, then fold in cranberries. Spoon into pans. Crumble cinnamon mixture over top. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar.

Southern Corn Bread

I love to have a bowl of homemade chili with cornbread so I included this recipe.

1 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup corn meal
1 Tbs. baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup sour cream, plus ½ cup milk
1 egg
½ cup vegetable oil

Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Beat sour cream, milk, oil, and egg together in separate bowl. Pour into flour mixture, stir until just blended. Bake in lightly greased pan at 375 degrees 25 to 30 minutes.

Date Bread

At the request of my husband who missed his mother's cooking, I asked my mother-in-law Theone Miles for her recipe for date nut bread. This was one of Kerry's favorites and I think it is a good recipe also.

1 cup chopped dates
2 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water
2 TBS melted butter
4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp soda 2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, separated
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tsp. Vanilla

Pour boiling water over dates, sugar, and butter. Sift dry ingredients, but do not add to date mixture until egg whites are beaten stiff. Then add dry ingredients, next the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the chopped nuts and vanilla. Beat well. Lastly fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and
Pour into 2 loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 375 degrees.

Apricot Bread

I used to bottle a lot of apricots so my mother, Joan Olsen, sent me this recipe to try. If you like apricots you will be sure to love this bread.

1 bottle apricots, drain and save syrup
½ c. shortening
2 eggs, beaten
3 TBS orange juice
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ c. walnuts
2/3 c. sugar

Puree apricots in blender and add enough syrup to measure 1 cup. Cream together sugar, shortening and beaten eggs. Add orange juice and apricots. Add flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and nuts. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake 350 for 40 to 45 minutes. Makes 1 loaf.

Zing Bran Muffins

My Grandmother, Bessie Olsen, gave this recipe to me. It has a lot of fiber in it and the muffins have a deep rich taste and texture. I served these at a Mother's Day brunch and they were a hit.

1 cup raisins
2 ½ c. raw bran
2 c. buttermilk
1 c. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
½ tsp baking powder
2 eggs
½ c. Mazola oil
2 TBS sugar
½ c molasses

Add bran and buttermilk to mixing bowl. Stir in flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add eggs, oil, sugar, and molasses, and 2 Tbs. water. Mix all vigorously for 2 minutes. Add raisins. Fill muffin tins. Bake 400 for 25 min.

Blueberry Bread

This bread is just like a pound cake bursting with blueberries. It is more like a dessert than a bread but you can enjoy it both ways.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and colled to lukewarm
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp. salt ½ cup milk
1 ½ cups fresh cultivated or wild blueberries, washed, picked over, and dried
Extra sugar (for sprinkling)

Set over to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter. Beat just to mix. Beat in the milk, followed by the remaining flour. Do not over beat; it is okay if there are traces of flour in the batter. Remove the beaters from the bowl and fold in the blueberries with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the top generously with sugar. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Turn the cake out of the pan and let it cool completely. Cut into thick slices for eating.

Whole Wheat Hot Cakes

When my children were little they woke to the nutty taste of these hot cakes drizzled with syrup or smothered with homemade raspberry or strawberry jam. These are very filling and keep you full until lunch. This recipe is from the book Wheat for Man.

1 1/2 cups of sifted whole wheat flour
1 Tbs. of baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbs. sugar
2 egg yolks
3 cups of whole milk
3 Tbs. oil
2 egg whites, beaten

Combine the ingredients in the order given, folding in beaten egg whites last. Bake on a lightly greased hot griddle.

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are just like eating cake. They are moist and rich with the subtile flavor of vanilla and chock full of juicy blueberries. During the summer in the Northwest we pick bucketfuls of berries to freeze for winter but the blueberries are best when they are freshly picked.

1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries
2 tsp. sugar, for the tops1
tsp. vanilla

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix them in until blended. Mix the dry ingredients and add alternately with milk and vanilla. Mash 1/2 cup of blueberries and add to the mixture. Add the rest of the berries whole stirring into the batter. Pile high in the muffin tins lined with paper cups, then sprinkle the sugar on top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool in the pan.

Basic Bread Recipe

This is the best bread recipe that I have come across in my search for the best tasting bread. Make sure that you use bread flour. I like the Gold Medal flour for bread the best. Enjoy the sweet yeasty taste of this bread and maybe divide it in half for cinnamon or orange rolls. Perhaps you would like to just make rolls for a special dinner. The variations are endless.

3 cups of warm water
2 Tbs. of yeast
1/3 cup of sugar
Add the sugar to the water and dissolve. Add the yeast and let it sit until it starts to bubble (2 or 3 minutes). To this mixture add:
7 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of shortening
3/4 cup of dry milk
1 Tbs. salt
Mix together for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour). Punch down. Shape into two loaves. Let rise again until it doubles in bulk. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 30 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool.

Dinner Rolls
Use the Basic Bread Recipe above and add 2 eggs. Let the dough rise until doubles in bulk (about 30 minutes). Roll out and shape according to desire.
PAN ROLLS: Form dough into small smooth balls. Place on greased pan. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk (30-60 minutes). Bake in moderate oven 375 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes.
REFRIGERATOR ROLLS: Prepare Basic Roll Dough. Do Not Let it Rise. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover; chill at leasat 2 hours or up to 4 or 5 days. About 2 hours before serving, shape the dough as desired on floured surface. Cover the dough and let it rise until double (1 1/4 hours). Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees 12 to 15 minutes.
PARKER HOUSE ROLLS: Roll the dough 3/8 inch thick; cut with floured 2 1/2 inch round cutter; brush with butter. Make off-center crease; fold so the top overlaps slightly; seal end edges of each roll.
CLOVERLEAF ROLLS: Place three 1-inch balls in greased muffin pan (fill half full).
JIFFY CLOVERLEAF ROLLS: In the pan snip golf ball sized pieces of dough across the top, making 2 cuts at right angles with the scissors.
CRESCENTS: Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Beginning at wide end of wedge, roll toward point. Place point down to bake. The rolls can be left straight or curve slightly.
BOWNOTS: Roll the dough in 18 x 10 inch rectangle, 1/2-inch thick. Cut strips 10 inches long, 3/4-inch wide. Roll strips lightly under fingers; loosely tie them in a knot.
BUTTER FANS: Roll the dough into a 27 x 14 inch rectangle, 1/2 inch thick. Cut crosswise in eighteen 1 1/2 inch strips. Brush with melted butter. Stack six strips; cut in 9 portions. Place cut side down in greased muffin pan.
CORKSCREW: Wrap a rope of dough 8 inches long 1/4 inch thick around a greased wooden clothespin or dowel stick. Seal the ends.
BROWN AND SERVE ROLLS: Follow the basic recipe and shpe as desired. Instead of baking the rolls in a hot oven, bake them in a slow oven (275 degrees) 20 to 40 minutes, which is a bit longer than usual. Be sure that the temperature is just 275, because that is the secret of success. When you take the rolls from the oven, they will be "platinum blond," but completely baked on the inside. When you want to serve them, remove from the refrigerator and pop them into a 450 oven. In seven minutes, they will be golden brown. You can store these rolls in the refrigerator for two weeks.

VARIATIONS: You can make a different taste to the rolls by using any one of the following:
1/4 cup of chives to dry ingredients
1/2 pound of bacon crisply fried
1/4 cup of sesame seed to dry ingredients
1/3 cup of soft butter with 1 packet of onion soup mix.
1/4 cup of onion, finely chopped and 1/3 cup of cheese, grated.

Sweet Rolls
Use the Basic Bread Recipe, adding 3 eggs and 1/4 cup of sugar.

ORANGE FILLING
6 Tbs. softened butter1 1/2 tsp. shredded orange peel1/2 cup of granulated sugar1/2 tsp. cinnamon1/2 Tbs. finely chopped candied orange peel
ORANGE ICING
2 cups of powdered sugar3 to 4 tsp. orange juice or enough to make a glaze consistency.

CINNAMON ROLLS
1/4 cup of soft butter1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup brown sugar4 tsp. cinnamon1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and spread combined ingredients over the top of the dough. Roll into an oblong and cut with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool the rolls and frost them.
For extra gooey cinnamon rolls make this caramel topping:
1 cup of brown sugar4 Tbs. of light corn syrup1/2 cup soft butter2 tsp. cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients and spread evenly over the pan. Then place the sliced rolls on top. After they are cooked, cool 1 minute; invert onto a serving plate or wire rack.