My Kitchen Clatter

Real Food - Real Life

Instant Pot Chicken Tacos

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This is a super quick way to get dinner on the table. Only four ingredients and you basically dump everything into your instant pot.

If you are like me and enjoy rice with your tacos, I’m also sharing a trick of cooking the rice at the same time as the taco meat. You will basically put the rice and its water into a separate bowl and set it on top of the chicken. Then the two will cook at the same time. If you have a rack that sits nicely over top of the chicken without hitting the bottom of the lid, use it. But if your rack doesn’t sit nicely (and it probably won’t), it can seem a little awkward to plop the bowl of uncooked rice on top of the chicken. Never fear. It will work. Just put the bowl of rice on the chicken, however you can make it work. Be forewarned, the rice will likely pick up a little of the color and flavor of the tacos. Not a problem in our house, but if you are looking for perfectly plain, white rice – don’t follow this method.

This cooks so quickly that you may find it takes you longer to prep your toppings. Hey. There are worse things in the world. Just let the pressure cooker go into the the warm setting and open it just before you are ready to eat.

Instant Pot Chicken Tacos

Serving Size:
4-6
Time:
25 minutes total
Difficulty:
easy

Ingredients

  • 1-2 pounds of chicken breasts
  • 1 cup of chicken broth (or water)
  • 1 cup of your favorite salsa (I like salsa verde)
  • 2-3 T of taco seasoning (adjust to taste)

Ingredients – Rice (Optional)

  • 1 cup of your favorite rice – white, brown, long or short, doesn’t matter
  • 1 1/4 cup of water (add 1/4 cup of water for brown rice)

Directions

  1. Add chicken, broth, salsa, and taco seasoning to the insert pot of your instant pot. Stir.
  2. If you are making rice, rinse the rice. Combine the rinsed rice and water in a 4 or 6-cup oven safe bowl (such as a pyrex dish). If you have a rack, place it on top of the chicken and set the rice dish on the rack. If your rack doesn’t fit, you can wiggle the chicken around to set the rack in the pot or you can set the rack on the chicken, or you can just set the rice bowl directly on top of the chicken.
  3. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Set the cooker to high pressure and cook for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually.
  4. Using oven mitts, remove the bowl of rice. Using tongs, place the chicken onto a cutting board and allow to cool for a couple minutes. You can use two forks to easily shred the chicken for tacos. If you made extra chicken, you can make short work of the shredding by placing the chicken breasts in your mixer bowl and use either the dough hook (Bosch mixer) or the cookie paddle (Kitchen Aid) give a few pulses and let the machine do the work for you.
  5. Serve shredded taco meat with your favorite shells, tortillas, and taco toppings.
  6. A quick note on the extra liquid in the pot. You can (and should) add some of it to the shredded chicken so you have nice moist taco meat. But, you may have some extra left over. Before you toss it, consider saving it for a second meal. If you have leftover chicken, add it back into the cooking liquid the next day for a chicken taco soup. Serve over tortilla chips with a little cheese and sour cream on the top.

Instant Pot Sloppy Joes

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This is such a quick and easy way to make sloppy Joes. The stovetop version of this recipe would require about 30 minutes of simmer time – in the pressure cooker, you set the cook time for 5 minutes on high pressure. Then you can sit back and let the pressure cooker do the rest of the work – no stirring necessary. And since this recipe uses the quick pressure release method, there is little added time at the end of cooking. Start to finish, this recipe will take about 30 minutes total.

After the mixture is cooked and the lid is removed, you may need to simmer it for a few minutes to help it thicken. If you have a little extra time, just put the lid back on and let it rest with no extra heat – it will thicken up on it’s own.

I’ve also given an option to substitute some of the meat with whole grains. I will admit, I love the addition of quinoa to the meat – however, it was not a hit with my kids. Back to the basics for our family.

I like to serve these on homemade burger buns. Brioche buns, pretzel buns, or a lovely whole grain burger buns would all be perfect for these.

Instant Pot Sloppy Joes

Serving Size:
6-8
Time:
30 min total
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 T Olive oil
  • 1 Medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 1 Large red or orange bell pepper, stemmed, cored, and chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 Celery ribs, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
  • 2 Medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced (2 teaspoons)
  • 1 1/2 lbs Ground beef, lean*
  • 1 T Standard chili powder
  • 1 t  Smoked paprika, optional
  • 1 cup Beef or chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup Catsup
  • 1 T Yellow mustard
  • 1 T Brown sugar or molasses
  • 2 t  Apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 t  Table salt

For Serving

  • 6-8 hamburger buns
  • Pickles or other toppings

* See notes for adding whole grains to the recipe. 

Directions

  1. With the insert in the electric pressure cooker, turn the cooker to medium heat on Saute setting and allow to warm up 1-2 minutes. Add the olive oil and let warm up about a minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to soften, about 3-4 minutes. The onion should not brown. Add the garlic and continue cooking about 1 more minute. 
  2. Add the ground beef to the the pot. Cook, stirring often to break up the meat. Cook 3-4 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. The meat does not need to be fully cooked, but if it has a higher percentage of fat, it should be cooked enough for most of the fat to cook off. If the meat has fat cooking off, drain the fat off of the meat. Add the chili powder, stir, and allow to toast the spices for about 30 seconds.
  3. Add the broth to the pot and stir to scrape the bottom of the pan and loosen all of the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan. This step is important so that the pot does not default to the burn warning later in the cooking process. Once the pot bottom is cleaned, turn off the pot.
  4. Stir in the catsup, yellow mustard, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and salt. Lock the lid on the pot.
  5. Cook at high pressure for 5 minutes.
  6. Use the quick-release method to bring the pot’s pressure back to normal. Unlatch the lid and open the pot. Turn the sauté setting on bring the mixture to a low simmer. Cook, stirring often, until it has thickened and is not as soupy – about 7 minutes.


Recipe notes:

  1. If you’d like to add some whole grains to your recipe, you can reduce the meat to 1 pound and add add 1/2 cup of rolled oats, or 3/4 cup of rinsed quinoa (or a combination of the two) when you stir in the catsup. This may also allow you to to skip the simmering step at the end, as the grains will help to absorb the extra liquid at the end. 

(Sourdough Optional) Carrot Muffins

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Okay! I’ve been eyeing making these carrot muffins for a while now and I have to admit that the thought of shredding carrots has kept me away from this recipe. But the ten pound bag of Costco carrots kept my mind coming back to this recipe. This morning, I finally got out the shredder. Honestly, sometimes (well, probably most of the time) I avoid certain recipes or steps because of the thought of doing extra dishes. Dishes are done now and the muffins are out of the oven. And these carrot muffins were worth the extra dishes.

These muffins have a great balance of flavor and spice. However, based on my kid’s responses to them, they may have more of an appeal to an adult palate. Next time, I may try to back off on some of the spices to see if that helps the boys. Maybe.

I made this recipe with discarded sourdough starter. You can’t really taste that the starter is in the muffins – it is mainly there as the liquid. If you don’t have sourdough starter, you can substitute with buttermilk or greek yogurt. Make the substitute on a 1:1 basis.

The batter may seem a little dry – that’s okay.

While I have your attention, let’s spend a quick minute talking about flour. You can absolutely make these muffins using regular all-purpose flour; however, upgrading to a good whole grain flour will really enhance the flavor. The key here is good whole grain flour. I mill my own flour, which is at the far end of the flour spectrum as far as freshness, quality and taste. But you can also find good whole grain flours from local mills, farmers markets or even on-line. If you are at the grocery store, brands like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour are easy to find and provide a quality product. If you are near to me, feel free to reach out and ask me for a sample of flour. I think you’ll be surprised at what a difference fresh whole grain flours can make in your baking.

The crumble topping on the muffin is completely optional. I honestly put it on because I was hoping it would hide the carrot from my discerning teenager – it didn’t work. The topping did add a little extra sweetness to the muffin. Per my usual approach, I kept the sugar pretty low in the muffins. In my world, if I want a cupcake, then I’m going to eat a cupcake, not a cupcake disguised as a muffin. But… if you like your muffins a little sweeter, you can either add a bit more sugar to the recipe or you can include the topping. Own it and feel free to make this recipe work for you.

Carrot Muffins – No crumble topping (left) and with crumble (right)

(Sourdough) Carrot Muffins

Serving Size:
12-15 muffins
Time:
35 min
Difficulty:
easy

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups (240 g) whole wheat or AP flour (freshly ground soft white or spelt works well here)
  • 1 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • 1/4 t ginger
  • 1/4 t allspice

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup sunflower or olive oil
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sourdough starter (can substitute with buttermilk or Greek yogurt)

Fold-In Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (160 g) grated carrot (about 3-4 carrots)
  • 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1/2 cup of raisins (optional)

Crumble (optional)

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 T whole wheat or all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 t cinnamon
  • 2 T butter, room temperature

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F with the rack in the upper third of the oven. Spray or line 12-15 muffin tins.
  2. Prepare your shredded carrots. Peel the carrots and shred using a box grater or your food processor. If you have a little extra carrot (up to 200 grams or 2 cups), just use them in the recipe.
  3. Prepare the crumble topping, if you are using it. Combine the crumble ingredients in a small bowl. Using your fingers, massage the butter into the dry ingredients until it is nice and crumbly. Set the topping aside.
  4. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk.
  5. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and stir until they are mixed evenly.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in until the flour is almost entirely dissolved. Don’t overmix, just gently stir. Add the carrots and nuts or raisins, if you are using. Gently fold the mixture until the carrots are distributed throughout. If you made the batter with sourdough starter, the batter will seem pretty dry.
  7. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and fill tins about 3/4 full. Top with a tablespoon of the crumble topping, if using.
  8. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Turn down the heat on the oven to 350 F (don’t open the door) and cook for 15 minutes longer until the muffins are lightly browned and cooked throughout.
  9. Turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack and enjoy.
A quick shot of my grater attachment on my mixer – it really makes quick work out of a couple carrots and does not add many dishes. I’m not sure why I think twice about getting it out of the cupboard and hooking it up.

Hot Cross Buns

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I’m putting this out just in time for Easter baking. But once you know how to make these lovey buns, you will be able to make them any time of the year. Perhaps, that is the best part of baking!

These buns are lightly sweetened, but not to the point where the sweetness overpowers the fruit or the spice. Feel free to play a bit with the fruit you use in the buns. Dried currants and candied citrus peel are traditional, but I enjoy chopped dried apricots or other fruits like dried cherries. Even raisins would be lovely.

And a quick note on the spices, this recipe calls for allspice and nutmeg. If you don’t have allspice in your cupboard, you can substitute with a combination of nutmeg, cardamom, cloves or even dried ginger, or just leave it out altogether. However, be careful adding cinnamon to the mix, as it can hinder the yeast in it’s rising power.

Just a note on crosses, the cross is an ancient Celtic representation of the four seasons. I think it’s a nice reminder, as we move from winter into spring.

Hot Cross Buns

Serving Size:
10 buns
Time:
3 hours
Difficulty:
moderate

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) whole grain spelt flour (can substitute with white or stone ground whole wheat flour)
  • 1 3/4 cup (210 grams) bread or all-purpose flour
  • 1 t salt
  • 3 T sugar
  • 1/2 t allspice
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • 2 T butter
  • 1/2 cup dried fruit, currents, cherries, or apricots (chopped)
  • 1/2 t dried lemon or orange peel
  • 2 t instant or active dry yeast
  • 2/3 cup (151 grams) whole milk

Ingredients – egg wash

  • 1 small egg

Ingredients – Frosting for Cross

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 t vanilla extract
  • 1-2 T whole milk

Directions

  1. Combine the whole milk, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of your mixer. Add butter, spices, and spelt flour and stir with a wooden spoon or mixer on low speed. Add salt and remaining flour about 1/2 cup at a time until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. The dough should be soft and a little sticky.
  2. Knead dough by hand for about 10 minutes or by machine for 6-8 minutes. Add the dried fruit and lemon or orange peel during the last two minutes of kneading. The final dough should be smooth.
  3. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and oil the top of the dough. Cover the bowl and allow to proof in a warm (80 F), draft free spot until the dough has almost doubled, about an hour.
  4. Divide the dough into 10-12 pieces, about 65 grams in weight. Shape into balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cover with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap or a damp towel to rise again for about an hour until they are almost doubled in size. You should be able to lightly press on the tops and the indentation should bounce back.
  5. While the dough is rising the second time, prepare the egg wash. Scramble the egg in a small bowl.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  7. Once the buns have finished proofing, brush with the egg wash and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan about half way through baking. Check for doneness around 12 minutes of baking.
  8. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
  9. Prepare the glaze by whisking the milk and vanilla into the powdered sugar a little bit at a time until you have a consistency that will allow it to be drizzled onto the top of the buns. Once the buns have cooled completely, drizzle the glaze onto the tops in the shape of a cross on each bun.
  10. The buns are best eaten fresh, but day-old buns can be reheated successfully, covered in aluminum foil, and heated for about 6 minutes at 350F.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

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I’m excited about this recipe. This is a case where I had a pretty good recipe that I had no plans to improve upon, but a missing ingredient forced a substitution. After crossing my fingers and making a change, I’m pretty sure the change may end up being permenant.

My go-to double chocolate muffins are a take on the Chocolate Ricotta Muffin from Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Cafe cookbook. Today I had a child requesting his favorite after-school snack of chocolate muffins, but I was out of ricotta but . Soooo… after unsuccessfully searching my freezer for that hidden ball of ricotta (it’s still in there somewhere, I know), I decided I’d better make do with things I have on hand. Two brown bananas were calling me to take them out of their misery. Add some peanut butter and I was ready to give a new recipe a try.

I keep the sugar pretty low on this recipe and I also use freshly ground, soft, white, whole wheat flour. The peanut butter also helps bump up the protein. I used natural peanut butter, but if your peanut butter has added sugar, you can reduce the granulated sugar by a couple teaspoons. And, as always, if you don’t have good whole flour around, just substitute it with white flour. You won’t get the fiber and flavor from the whole wheat flour, but it will taste better than most store bought whole wheat flours.

All in all, I think these are a pretty healthy snack for the kids. The recipe makes about 18 regular sized muffins. If you don’t eat them all right away, you can freeze any extras so the kids can grab them out whenever they want.

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Cuisine: snacks
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18
My kids love the chocolatey flavor and I love that these muffins are low in sugar and high in protein and fiber from the peanut butter and whole wheat flour.
Ingredients
  • 2 1/3 cups (10.4 oz) freshly ground, soft white wheat flour (or substitute with white flour)
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 2 t baking powder
  • 6 T unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch process cocoa)
  • 1/2 c granulated sugar
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 soft, brown bananas
  • 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1 T vanilla extract
  • 4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray 18 standard (2 1/2-inch-diameter) muffin cups with non-stick spray.
  2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, and chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl.
  3. Place the bananas in a separate bowl and mash. I use a potato masher to mash them. Add the peanut butter and stir. Then add each egg, one at a time, and combine with a whisk after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla, and whisk until blended. Add the butter, and whisk again.
  4. Pour the banana – peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined and the dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t overtax – a few lumps are okay.
  5. Use a large spoon or a scoop and scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. I usually like smaller muffins, so I fill them up about 3/4 full. You can fill to the top for larger muffins.
  6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are pulling away from the edge of the tin and the tops don’t collapse if you lightly press the top with a finger. You can also use the toothpick test to check doneness, but this is sometimes a tough check because of the chocolate chips. (A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean).
  7. When the muffins are done, remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool 3-5 minutes. Use a knife of spatula to remove the muffins from the pan and place on a rack to cool.

Pumpkin Sourdough Yeast Bread

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This bread is one I came across in an old cookbook years ago. Over the years, I’ve adjusted it to my preferences. The bread seems a little unique because it combines pumpkin into a yeast bread, but the combination works really well. It’s one of my favorite breads to make in the fall. You can think of it like a fancy sort of cinnamon raisin bread.

I usually make a big batch of this bread in my Bosch Universal and I share extra loaves with my favorite neighbors. But in the interest of normality, I’ve broken the recipe down here so it will make one large loaf or two smaller loaves. The final batch size may be dependent on your hydration of your sourdough starter and on the moisture content of your pumpkin puree. To adjust for this, you may need to flexible with the amount of flour added at the end – which is just a good practice with bread making anyway. If you end up with extra dough – and I hope you do – shape it into a tiny loaf of bread or make a couple quick cinnamon rolls with it.

And a quick note on the sourdough. IF you don’t have sourdough starter on hand, then you can skip that ingredient and move on with baking this bread. BUT, you should consider getting yourself going with sourdough. It may be Covid trendy, but it is still a wonderfully pleasant kitchen activity. If you need more info on sourdough, reach out to me and I’ll see what I can do to get you started.

This bread is excellent toasted with butter, cream cheese, or apple or pumpkin butter.

I hope you enjoy it!

Pumpkin Sourdough Yeast Bread
Recipe Type: bread
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
This a great bread for those fall days. It is wonderful toasted with butter or cream cheese.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 c sourdough starter
  • 1/2 c pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup of hot water (110 degrees, or baby bath temperature)
  • 1/4 c oil (I like sunflower or something with a light flavor)
  • 1/4 c brown sugar
  • 1/2 t cloves, ground
  • 1 t ginger
  • 2 t cinnamon
  • 1 T dough enhancer (optional, if you have it – otherwise substitute apple cider vinegar)
  • 1 cup white flour (King Arthur all purpose in the red bag is great)
  • 4-5 cups of freshly ground hard white wheat flour (if you don’t have freshly ground, substitute white flour)
  • 1 T SAF or other instant yeast
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup pepitas
Instructions
  1. Combine sourdough starter, pumpkin puree, hot water, oil, sugar, clovers, ginger, cinnamon, dough enhancer, white flour, and 1/2 of the whole wheat flour into the bowl of your mixer. Add the yeast on top of the flour. Stir until it is just combined. It should be the thickness of pancake batter.
  2. Allow the batter to rest 10-30 minutes. This lets the gluten in the flour relax and creates a better dough structure.
  3. Add another cup of flour and the salt to the dough and mixer.
  4. With the mixer running, add remaining flour 1/2 a cup at a time until the dough has formed. If you are using a Bosch mixer, this will be when the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. If you are using an Ankersrum mixer, the dough will quickly form around the kneading arm when you move the arm to the center of the mixer. It’s okay if the dough is a little soft at this stage.
  5. Add the cranberries and pepitas to the dough.
  6. Knead for 6-10 minutes until the dough has formed a good gluten structure. Knead at the number 2 on a Bosch and at about 2:00 or 3:00 with an Ank. The dough should be soft and smooth. If you are using a machine other than a Bosch or Ank, you will probably need to knead several extra minutes to obtain a good dough structure, possibly up to 20 minutes. At this point, my dough is usually very soft to the point that it makes me nervous, but it always seems to turn out fine.
  7. Turn the dough into an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a draft free, warm location until almost double – about 30 minutes.
  8. Turn the dough out onto an oiled board, shape into loaves and place in oiled pans. You can also free form loaves or use this dough for cinnamon rolls. I like to use about 1 pound 8 ounce of dough per 4.5 x 8 inch loaf.
  9. Let rise until the dough is about an inch over the edge of your pans. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  10. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the loaves are golden and brown.

 

Pumpkin Butter Recipe

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Pumpkin butter is one of my favorite things to do with pumpkin during “the pumpkin season”. I love it on my waffles in the morning with pecans and maple syrup. I was searching for my recipe this year and realized that I haven’t shared it with the world. So here we are.

If you’d like to make this a little more challenging, you can make this with homemade puree. Here’s how to make your own, but really you can do this with canned pumpkin and it will turn out lovely. No one will know the difference and they will still be amazed that you pulled off making your own pumpkin butter. You don’t have to tell them how easy it was to make.

One more note, this recipe should not be canned. The butter gets too thick for water bath canning to heat it through safely. I just jar mine up and freeze the jars with lids on them. The toughest part is remembering to pull it out of the fridge to thaw before you want to use it – but a couple seconds in the microwave does the trick also.

Pumpkin Butter Recipe
Recipe Type: preserving
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
This is a classic fall preserve. It is great on oatmeal or on waffles.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)
  • 1/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup of maple syrup
  • 1 t molasses
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t ginger
  • 1/4 t cloves
  • 1/4 t nutmeg, ground
  • 3/4 cup of apple cider
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
  2. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer.
  3. Stir often and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the butter is thick and shiny. It should mound up on a spoon.
  4. Transfer into clean jars.
  5. The jars can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for a few months. If freezing, leave a little extra space at the top for expansion

Pumpkin Leather

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The whole idea of making fruit leather out of pumpkin sounds crazy, but it tastes like pumpkin pie without the trouble of making a pie. This recipe is based off one I found in the University of Georgia’s So Easy to Preserve book.

Here are a couple tips for dehydrating and making fruit leather:

  • If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use a low oven as a substitute. This is a good alternative if you aren’t ready to invest in a dehydrator.
  • If you are ready for a dehydrator, they range from $35 for the round Nesco brand that you find at places like Farm & Fleet. Middle of the road dehydrators cost about $125, such as the L’Equip Filter Pro that I carry and use. High end dehydrators include the 9 tray Exclaiburs that cost around $250. Things to look for include temperature control, timing, number of trays that can be stacked, air flow, and noise. My first dehydrator was the Nesco brand, and I found it to be very noisy and I didn’t like that I couldn’t set the temperature. I’m happy with the Filter Pro that I have now. I haven’t upgraded to an Exclaibur because I don’t have the space for it and also because I honestly don’t use a dehydrator that often.
  • When making fruit leather, I like to spread the puree about 1/8 inch thick on a parchment that I’ve laid in the dehydrator tray. Someday, I plan to cut some silicon sheets to fit as a replacement for the parchment, but in the meantime, parchment makes it easy to pull the finished leather off.
  • For more tips, check out the University of Georgias’ fact sheet. This is taken from So Easy to Preserve.
Pumpkin Leather
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Pumpkin leather ends up tasting like pumpkin pie. It’s a little weird, but also kind of a fun treat!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of pureed pumpkin (either cooked homemade or from a can)
  • 1/4 cup of applesauce
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/8 t ground cloves (or less, to taste)
  • 1/8 t ground nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients. Spread onto parchment or fruit leather trays in your dehydrator. Dehydrate at 140 degrees for about 10-12 hours until the top is dry to the touch (not sticky). Add time as necessary. This will make about four 4 by 6 inch fruit leathers.

 

Flatbread Crackers

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Crackers for Lent and Other Times

We are heading into lent while under coronavirus lockdown. My church (yes, Raechel – you represent the ENTIRE church) has asked me to teach the congregation how to make their own bread for our virtual Maundy Thursday service. Somewhere there is a very strange video of me making these crackers – I hope everyone who sees it gets a good laugh. It seemed like crackers would be a natural fit – they are quick, relatively easy, and taste great.

Homemade crackers are a special sort of thing in our house – they honestly don’t happen very often. Under normal circumstances, we totally support whoever makes Triskets and Wheat Things.  But we aren’t under normal circumstances, and these crackers are kind of nice to make when you have a little extra time and want something special. If you are making them for this Thursday’s service, I hope you find some extra love in your heart knowing that a few other people may be doing the same thing.

Some Cracker Tips

  • Make them your own – these crackers are not meant to be perfect. If you don’t have an ingredient – substitute and use whatever you have around the kitchen. No olive oil? Melted butter or canola oil will be fine. No rolling pin? Use a wine bottle, you get the idea.
  • You can use any kind of flour you have around. Whole wheat flour works great. Throw a couple tablespoons of rye in there if you have it.
    • I’ll even attempt to give a gluten free alternative: substitute the white flour with a gluten free flour mix – if you have xanthin gum around, add 1/2 t if it isn’t already in your flour mix. Instead of kneading the dough, you’ll add just enough water to pat the dough into a ball with your hands. You probably won’t be able to knead your dough. And you may need to roll your dough between parchment paper.
  • Don’t be intimidated by kneading the bread dough. If you have never kneaded dough before, all you have to do is gather the dough into a ball, take the end of the ball that is farther from you, pull it over the dough, and gently push with the heel of your hand, then give the ball a quarter of a turn and repeat. In this recipe, the point of the kneading is simply to give the dough a better elasticity and cohesiveness.  If you are still nervous about kneading, check out this video.
  • I wrote this recipe based on doing the mixing and kneading by hand. This works well for this dough, but if you have a mixer or food processor, you can adapt the recipe to your tools.
  • You may find that your dough shrinks back when you roll it out. In this case, the gluten needs to relax a bit – so let the dough rest a few minutes longer.
  • If you wonder if your dough is rolled thin enough, then it probably isn’t thin enough. If you have a few holes from being rolled too thin, that’s okay. Think of these crackers as rustic.
  • I like to cut the dough into long strips before I bake it. The strips can be as thin or thick as you like. The strips allow the centers to get crispy without the edges getting too brown. I also like how the crackers break from the strips, they have a little consistency of width, but still have some rough edges. However, if you don’t want to cut the dough, you can cook the rolled dough in one big piece and see what you think. On the other end of the spectrum, if you want more consistently shaped and browned crackers, you can cut them all into even squares – just be aware that moving the crackers from the cutting board to the baking sheet can be time consuming. The easiest way to do this is by rolling and cutting the crackers on parchment and then moving the parchment and crackers to the baking tray in one big motion.
  • Finally, for the sourdough lovers out there, use 200 grams of sourdough starter (unfed is fine), and reduce your flour down to about 1 cup plus 2 T (132 grams). I’m assuming your starter is at 100% hydration, meaning for every gram of flour you feed it one gram of water. I suppose that making these with sourdough starter technically no longer makes these flatbread crackers. You can keep this in mind, if you are really looking for unleavened bread for lent.

 

Flatbread Crackers
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cup flour (use your favorite – I like 1 cup of white, 1/2 cup of whole wheat, but add in 2 T of rye for fun)
  • 2 t fresh herbs or 1/2 t dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, herbs de Provence)
  • 1/2 – 1 t coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1-3 t seeds (optional – sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds)
  • 1/2 c, finely shredded Parmesan (optional)
  • 3/4 t fine salt
  • 1 t sugar
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1/2 c cold water
  • Optional Toppings
  • sesame seeds
  • poppy seeds
  • garlic flakes
  • course sea salt
  • seed mix (such as Everything Bagel seasoning)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
  2. Combine the flour, herbs, black pepper, seeds, cheese (if using) salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir with a spoon to combine.
  3. Add oil to bowl and stir.
  4. Add all but 2 T of water to bowl to combine. Add remaining water 1 T at a time until the dough just forms a shaggy ball.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-4 minutes until it is smooth. Add flour just so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands.
  6. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel, on the counter or in the bowl for 10 minutes.
  7. Divide the dough into 4 smaller balls.
  8. One at a time, roll each ball as thin as possible. If the dough shrinks back as you roll it, then allow to rest a few more minutes before continuing to roll it out.
  9. If you are adding a topping, sprinkle the topping on the dough and use the rolling pin to lightly roll the topping in place.
  10. Using a fork, poke the dough all over to prevent large air bubbles from forming.
  11. Cut the dough into 3-4 strips, place strips onto a baking sheet, and bake for 4 minutes. At four minutes, check the crackers, you can turn the strips over at this point to help them crisp or just leave them to cook on the first side. Either way, check every 2 minutes until they are crispy and lightly browned.
  12. When the cracker strips are crisp and slightly golden on the edges, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack.
  13. Repeat rolling and baking process with remaining dough.
  14. Snap into smaller pieces.

 

Whole Wheat Bread – Single Loaf

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This is my go-to daily sandwich bread recipe. I normally make it in a large batch so I only have to bake bread once a week, but I know that approach isn’t necessary for everyone. Over the years of baking this bread, my technique has slowly morphed into the recipe that follows. If you’ve taken a class with me in the past, you may notice a few small differences between this recipe and the one you learned in class, but the essentials are the same. Likewise, I suspect that many of you have modified that first recipe to make it fit your kitchen and needs. The search for perfect bread is a long one, but this loaf comes pretty darn close, in my book.

Whole Wheat Bread – Single Loaf
Recipe Type: bread
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 loaf
This recipe is my basic go-to sandwich bread in a single loaf recipe size. Search my site for a 2-loaf recipe and a 6-loaf recipe. The flavor and taste of this bread depend greatly on the quality of the whole wheat flour – use freshly ground if you can find it.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of warm water (baby bath temperature)
  • 2 T oil (I like coconut oil or olive oil)
  • 2 T sugar (I use honey)
  • .5 cups of high protein white flour (such as King Arthur flour – red bag)
  • 2.5 cups of freshly milled whole wheat flour – divided (If you can’t find freshly ground, use 1 cup of bagged whole wheat flour)
  • 2 t instant yeast
  • 2 t salt (fine texture – if you only have course salt, dissolve it into a small bit of the water before adding it to the dough)
Instructions
  1. With the dough hook in your mixer, combine the warm water, honey and oil in the base of your mixer. Add 2 cups of the whole wheat flour and stir until combined. Let rest for 10-30 minutes. This will help strengthen the protein and gluten in the whole wheat flour.
  2. Add the instant yeast to the mixer bowl and pulse to combine.
  3. Add the white flour and the salt to the mixer. Turn the mixer to low speed and let combine. Add enough of the remaining whole wheat flour to the dough until it clears the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. You may not need all of the whole wheat flour. Turn the mixer to low-medium speed and allow it to knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough is soft and pliable.
  4. Roll the dough it a little olive oil (or other cooking oil) and allow to rise in a large, covered bowl in a warm spot for about 45 minutes until it is just doubled in size. You should be able to poke the dough and it will feel soft and you’re finger will leave a slight indent.
  5. Oil your bread pan. Whole wheat breads do best in smaller pans – this loaf should fit nicely in a 4″x6.5″ pan, and weigh about 1 pound 6 ounces uncooked.
  6. Gently deflate the dough and shape it for your loaf pan. Shape by gently patting into a rectangle slightly wider than your pan. Roll the dough along the long length and gently pinch and seal the seam. Tuck the edges under towards the seam and place the loaf, seam side down, into your oiled bread pan.
  7. Oil the top of the loaf. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm spot for about 30-45 minutes until the top of the dough is about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.
  8. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  9. When the dough has risen, gently move the pan into the oven and reduce the oven temp to 350. Cook for 30 minutes, until it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the outside.

 

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