Lizzard Loves Blue Sky Snow Covered Vail

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Belle Plaine Bread - Bread Pudding Muffins Recipe

I love bread pudding muffins.
Lizzard Loves Fresh Cranberry Walnut Apple Bread Pudding Muffins

I love bread pudding that starts with leftover bread that was once delicious, but is now a crusty, rock hard mass that can't be resurrected to its original greatness. Or can it? What if you soak it in liquid and then bake it with a ton of other delightful ingredients? I promise you will never be sad, or feel guilty, about your stale, forgotten bread again.



Since this recipe calls for a good bit of stale bread; do what I do......freeze your mistakes for use later! Saw your stale bread into bite size (or slightly larger) chunks. Beware - crust will fly. You may want to wear safety goggles. Or at least sunglasses. Crusty bread bits in your eye = no fun. Put your stale bread chunks into a zip top freezer bag, ideally with a label on the outside so you don't forget what is inside, and then into the freezer.



Continue adding the bits as you have them - until you've got a full gallon size bag. That will be (roughly) the amount needed for this recipe. 



Cranberry Apple Bread Pudding Muffins
Ingredients:
7 c. stale Belle Plaine Bread cubes, cut into bite-sized pieces (Plaine Old White, Half & Half, Seeded, Multigrain, or Cinnamon Raisin Walnut make the most sense to my taste buds).
1 c. half & half or non-dairy alternative (recipe below) If you use the non dairy version, reduce the next ingredient (milk) to 2/3 cup
1 cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever your pleasure)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly (feel free to use all butter if you don't have coconut oil. It won't effect the outcome other than there won't be a hint of coconut!)
1/3 cup whole wheat OR all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. grated lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup dried or fresh cranberries (the muffins will be more tart if you use fresh. Most dried varieties are sweetened to make them more palatable as an "out of the bag" snack).
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 small apple, cored and diced 
Raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place rack in middle of oven. Butter or spray with nonstick vegetable spray a 12 cup muffin tin or line with 12 muffin cups. 
2. Place bread cubes in large bowl and add half & half and milk. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in beaten eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil and butter.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and lemon zest. Stir dried ingredients into bread mixture and then fold in cranberries, walnuts and apple chunks.
4. Evenly divide mixture among muffins cups. Sprinkle with the raw (turbinado) sugar.
5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Bake 5-10 minutes longer if you like your bread pudding on the drier side. Should you like your bread pudding muffins moist - take them out after 30-35 minutes!
6. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove them and place on wire rack to cool completely (or dive in & start enjoying them - who are we kidding here??). 
Lizzard Loves Dried Cranberry Walnut Apple Bread Pudding Muffins

Non-dairy Half & Half
Ingredients:
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup soy milk
Directions:
Combine in a Vitamix or blender until totally smooth and homogeneous.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Belle Plaine Bread - Care Instructions

I love knowing how to keep things delicious.
Lizzard Loves warm Belle Plaine Bread ready to be delivered

Which is why I want to share how to treat the bread I bake.

Here are the Care Instructions for all varieties of Belle Plaine Bread:

When you get your bread home: Dive right in, if you're hungry! If you can, I recommend toasting your bread ever so slightly. Slice it, toast it in your toaster/toaster oven for a minute or so. If you want to eat/serve the whole loaf: preheat your oven to 300 and warm your bread for 10-20 minutes. Why? Because I stand against room temperature carbs. I think almost any baked good type carb is better warmed up, even slightly. I like the crust to be crispy/crusty (its right there in the name, it should be crusty!). I like my butter/peanut butter/jam/almond butter to get ooey gooey. Its just more delicious. Did I mention cheese? Melty* cheese is better, in almost ever case. Warm bread = melty cheese. I respect if you want to tear into your bread immediately. I'm not judging; I do think that you'll like the bread even more if you eat it warmed up.

Short term storage: Keep your bread out on your counter (cut side down) for 3-5 days as you slice and enjoy it. You can also keep it in the paper bag it came in. Do not store your bread in plastic, it traps moisture, which is the enemy of crispy crust! Your bread will likely become soggy & is much more susceptible to mold (yuck). What, you ask, should I do if my bread feels too hard to eat? Warm it in the oven (at 300 degrees for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the piece of bread) then slice & enjoy! Toasting the bread will have the same effect - it softens the bread & brings it back to life when you fear you’ve left it out too long.
The paper bag the bread comes in is perfect for short term storage


Long term storage: You can freeze your bread if you are not planning on eating it right away. Leave the bread in the paper bag it came in, then double bag it in plastic zip top bags; to ensure the bread doesn’t taste like your freezer when you are ready to eat it (yuck). When it comes time to eat your bread: remove it from all the packaging and let it defrost overnight on your counter top. Alternatively, preheat your oven to 325 and warm the frozen loaf for 30-45 minutes (depending on your oven). If you have a partial loaf, it will thaw/warm more quickly; 15-20 minutes.



I hope you enjoy your bread. I promise I enjoyed baking it for you! Please do feel free to share your experiences with your bread in the comments. It is great to hear how others eat their bread. Also - feel free to refute my advice above. Any feedback is good feedback!
Lizzard Loves multiple loaves of BPB's Multigrain bread

*People who would like to split hairs will point out that "melty" is not a word. I get it. I don't care. It should be.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Belle Plaine Bread

I love baking bread.
Lizzard Loves BPB's Cheese & Pepper bread
It is with a happy heart I announce the opening of Belle Plaine Bread! I am offering my bread for sale for the first time and have had a positive response so far.
Lizzard Loves Belle Plaine Bread's packaging






First off, thank you so much to those of you who have ordered, it means so much to me that you are patronizing my small business.

Lizzard Loves BPB's Rye bread









Secondly, if you are interested in learning more; please get in touch! Email me at BellePlaineBread (@) gmail.com with questions. Or, just click here to place an order! You can also visit the Belle Plaine Bread Facebook page.  Finally, you can find Belle Plaine Bread on Pinterest!
Lizzard Loves her husband, who gave her this apron!









I look forward to baking for you. It is something that has always made me happy, starting this tiny little business is a way to spread the happy farther and wider.