Blueberry Cornmeal Scones

I happened across this recipe for berry-cornmeal scones when we lived in Colorado. My husband is an avid outdoorsman and he loved to take a few of these hearty treats with him on his mountain climbing expeditions.

Cornmeal gives this recipe a satisfying crunch and succulent blueberries pop with juicy sweetness.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup margarine

1 tsp. finely shredded lime peel (you could also use lemon or orange)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or raspberries), thawed

2/3 cup sour soy milk (*see instructions below)

1 tsp. vanilla

*To make sour soy milk: For each cup of sour milk required, place 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to equal 1 cup total of liquid. Combine and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes before using in your recipe.

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Using a fork, cut in margarine until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add lime or lemon peel. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture. In another bowl combine blueberries, milk and vanilla. Add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quickly knead dough about 10-12 strokes until nearly smooth. Pat or lightly roll dough into an 8-in. circle on an ungreased baking sheet. Cut dough into 10 wedges, cutting only about halfway through to score.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut the wedges and serve warm. Icing is optional.

I drizzled a bit of lime icing over the top of the scones this morning and my daughter loved it! She kept remarking how much she enjoyed the sourness of the lime juice. :0)

*Original recipe in Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book, copyright 1998.

Aunt Carol's Orange Rolls

My husband's Aunt Carol is a phenomenal cook. She put together a cookbook of family recipes and gave one to each of her nieces and nephews. I just happened to be lucky enough to marry into the family and the cookbook was transferred into my willing hands.

I've asked her permission to post her recipe for orange rolls, and she was happy to oblige. I've made only a couple of changes to make it vegan, and I hope you'll enjoy the results.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cup flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp. loose active yeast if you don't have a package)

1 1/4 cup plain soy milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup margarine

1 tsp. salt

1 Tb. ground flax seed, mixed thoroughly with 3 Tbs. water

4 tsp. grated orange peel

1/2 cup sugar

4 Tb. melted margarine

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 T. margarine

1 T. orange juice (plus a little more if needed to make right consistency)

Instructions:

In mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour with package of yeast. Heat milk, sugar, margarine and salt in saucepan until warm, 115 - 120 degrees, stirring constantly to melt margarine. Add to flour and yeast, along with the flax seed mixture and beat on low speed of electric mixer for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, scraping bowl. Beat 3 minutes more at high speed.

By hand, stir in rest of flour (it may not all combine), shape dough into a ball and place in lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double, 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, cover and let rest another 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 parts. On a lightly floured space, roll 1/2 of dough into a 16 x 8 in. rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons of melted margarine and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp. orange peel. Roll up jellyroll style and seal edges. Cut into 1-in. slices. Place, cut side up, in a greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Repeat with remaining dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or slightly more, until golden brown. Combine glaze ingredients. Remove rolls from pan and glaze while still warm.

*I glazed half of the recipe and left the other half unglazed for my husband, who doesn't necessarily care for the super sweet glaze on rolls. You could also add some dried cranberries to the inside of the rolls. That would add some special pizzazz, although it's really not necessary.

This may take a bit of time, but the results are definitely worth it!

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

I don't know about you, but I used to shy away from making bread because it was so labor intensive. Waiting while the yeast grew, knead, knead, punch, wait, punch, wait....it seemed to take hours! That all changed when my mom gave me this recipe for basic whole wheat bread. It's so easy. The photo above shows my whole wheat millet bread.

Ingredients:

4 cups very warm water

3 Tb. yeast

1/4 cup brown sugar (you can use white sugar or honey, too, if you don't have brown sugar)

4 cups white flour

3 cups whole wheat

2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast and sugar or honey. Set your kitchen timer for 10 minutes and allow the yeast to grow in a warm place. I usually put the bowl near the heated oven. Meanwhile, mix your flours and salt together in another bowl. When your yeast is all bubbly, pour your flour mixture into the large bowl and add oil. Mix thoroughly. When the dough is relatively stiff, pour it out onto a floured surface. You will need to add flour as your knead your dough. Knead the dough until it is a smooth mass and "bounces back" when you lightly press your finger into it. Place into a large oiled bowl and allow to raise for 40 minutes or until about doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and once again place it on a floured surface. Knead a few times, adding a small amount of flour if needed, and then divide the dough into three pieces. Shape into loaves and place into oiled bread pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until it is nicely browned on top and bottom and sounds a little hollow when you thump the bottom. Allow to cool, then place in bread bags and store. I usually put mine in the fridge to keep it nice and fresh.

*This recipe is pretty versatile, too. I've added oat flour, rye flour, gluten flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and millet to this recipe and it has turned out fine. As long as you maintain the seven cups of flour, it should turn out fine. You may have to experiment if you use other flours.

Surprise your family with fresh baked bread and enjoy the delicious aroma that wafts through your house while it bakes!