Rye Muffins

A bit ago, I decided to try something new and make rye muffins. I have always loved rye bread, and muffins have never tasted right to me using all-purpose flour (probably because my mom always did half or all whole wheat). I made three different batches of muffins to try out the effects of rye flour, wheat bran, and flaxseed, and found that they make for extremely delicious, healthy muffins. I took a bunch of the muffins to my parents' house, and my dad made bread pudding out of some of them. It was great! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Rye Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup milk (1 1/4 cup if too dry)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups rye flour
     or 1 cup rye and 1 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/8 cup brown flaxseed
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of raisins
     or 1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup broken pecans or walnuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups with shortening, spray with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, and egg with fork or wire whisk until well mixed. With a wooden spoon, stir in all but the raisins and pecans all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy--DO NOT OVERMIX). Fold in raisins and pecans. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Set aside the extra batter for another partial batch.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If baked in greased pan, let stand about 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack.

Makes about 15-17 muffins. Would work best if you mix up enough for three batches and cook it in four batches.

Grandma Dana's Banana Nut Bread

This banana nut bread is my Great-Grandma Sarah Dana's bread. It's an excellent way to get rid of overripe bananas, but it does better in smaller loaf pans than larger ones. Like the zucchini/pumpkin bread in the last post, it freezes quite well. To freeze, first wrap each individual loaf in plastic wrap, then again in foil.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 well-beaten eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) sour cream
1 cup mashed banana pulp
1 cup walnuts or other nuts

Procedure:
1. Cream shortening and sugar together. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat until creamy.
2. Add sifted flour with soda and salt. Alternately add sour cream and banana pulp. Add nuts last.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Aunt Audrey's Zucchini or Pumpkin Bread

I've mentioned before that I lost all of my heirloom recipes when we moved from Provo to Monterey. When we went to visit my parents' house this weekend, I managed to pillage the family cookbook and rescue most of the old recipes!

This particular recipe works for zucchini or pumpkin bread, and the recipe notes the small changes between the two. It's a delicious recipe from my Great-Aunt Audrey. During the summer months while I was growing up, when our zucchini plants would go out of control as zucchini plants are apt to do, we would make tons of this bread and freeze some of it for later. Around the holidays, we made the pumpkin bread and gave it to our neighbors and friends. To freeze it, wrap each loaf in plastic wrap, and then wrap it in foil.


Ingredients

1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
(Zucchini bread) 1 teaspoon cinnamon
(Pumpkin bread) 1/2 tsp each nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups zucchini, peeled and grated (or pumpkin)

Procedure

1. Beat oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Put in small loaf pans or shallow oblong baking dish.
3. Bake in oven at 325 degrees for one hour or until done.