Apple-Caramel Monkey Bread

And the results are in ... drum roll ... it's a keeper! I followed this Monkey Bread recipe with a few adaptions.

Instead of coating the biscuit pieces in a mixture of 2/3 white granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, mix 1 cup of sugar with 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Peel and dice 2 large apples. I re-hydrated some dried apples pieces I had and used those this time - still really good. Fresh apples will be a little more firm. Coat the apples in the cinnamon sugar mixture as you do the biscuits. I made the bottom layer in my greased bundt pan just biscuit pieces. I layered a mixture of apple and biscuit pieces after that.

For the caramel topping, substitute 2/3 cup of brown sugar for the white sugar. I used butter instead of margarine along with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Follow the directions found in the recipe. I baked the monkey bread for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

It was ooey-gooey yumness I served with honeydew, fresh blueberries, orange slices and milk.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This was a hit with the family and came together quickly and easily. That is three out of three! Dh says it is a keeper. Of course, I doubled the recipe putting it in a 9x13-inch dish. There were not even enough crumbs for a mouse let alone a picture. I served the coffee cake with scrambled eggs, tomato and cheese slices, milk and apple juice.

CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE
Cook Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
Topping
•1/2 cup brown sugar
•1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
•1/4 cup butter, room temperature
•1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cake
•1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
•2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 egg, beaten
•3/4 cup sugar
•1/3 cup melted butter
•1/2 cup milk
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS
Topping: In small mixing bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Cake: Sift 1 1/2 cups sifted flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together beaten egg and 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix well. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square or 9-inch layer-cake pan. Sprinkle topping crumb mixture evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Partially cool in pan on wire rack. Cut coffee cake into squares while still warm.

Tuesday's Tip: Substituting for Butter

I won't argue that cooking with butter makes food taste real yummy. The biggest problem though is not my waistline (although I am trying to fix that) but my youngest's allergies. He cannot have anything with dairy among other things. That leaves out butter or anything similar.

We do use a dairy-free margaine like spread that he can have. There are foods out there but many times what doesn't have dairy products was made in close proximity of milk products or on the same equipment. That is a no-no too. Seeing as I do not like having a little boy with a upset tummy, congestion & blow-outs, I avoid the causes.

One thing that it makes difficult is having bread in the house, homemade or store-bought. He can't have eggs either, by-the-way. The other day I made some mashed potatoes from scratch. Instead of throwing out the potato water, I use it to make potato bread. It is already warm so works well with the yeast as does the sugars and starches in it. My potato bread recipe calls for milk and butter/margarine. Since both are no-nos, I substitute. I just use the potato water for the milk and oil for the butter. I use oil to replace butter in my bread recipes, preferring canola as it is a healthy oil.

Using those substitutions brings down the cost of making the bread and all in my family can enjoy it. (Which we did!) Here is my recipe that I use. It can be made in a breadmaker that can handle a two pound loaf. I have made that way and by hand with both working just fine.

Potato Bread

1-1/2 cups warm potato water
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour (use bread flour or add gluten to all-purpose)
1/3 cup potato flakes
2 tablespoons sugar
2-2/3 teaspoons yeast

If using a bread machine, add all ingredients in given order. Select white or normal cycle with light crust (if option is available).

If making by hand, disslove yeast in warm potato water. Add sugar, salt, potato flakes and oil. Mix well. Add flour gradually until all has been added. Knead dough and let rise in warm place. When doubled, knead dough again and place in lightly greased loaf pan(s). Let the dough rise again until about doubled. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or lightly browned.

By hand, this will make one large loaf (10-inch or larger loaf pan) or two medium (9-inch or smaller) loaves. In the bread machine, this makes a two-pound loaf.

Soda Bread

This bread is yummy. My family didn't save me any either when I made it last night. I had a get-together at a friend's house I had to leave for before dinner so it is a good thing I had some yummy treats there.

I use the generic diet lemon-lime soda to make mine, buying a 2 liter and using the leftovers to make a 7-up Pound Cake. The crunchy outside is the best part of the bread in my opinion. It is also a bread Eric can eat although he preferred the chili I paired it with for dinner last night.


Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
12-ounces lemon-lime soda

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add soda and continue to mix, first using a wooden spoon then your hands. The batter wil be sticky. Pour into a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 60 minutes. The top will be crunchy, and the insides soft.

Funnel Cakes

We all love funnel cakes in this house. It has to be my favorite fair food next to cotton candy. I just don't buy it at the fairs anymore since getting food poisoning from eating one at a craft show once. I make my own or try to as my 13 yo loves to make them too.

He likes to get creative. We are easily amused and entertained in this household. I want you can to be easily amused too so I included the recipe below. I got the recipe from the site allrecipes.com (called Funnel Cakes IV). The recipe says it makes 12-20 cakes. Uh, well, I never get that many because we like to make ours HUGE with lots of powdered sugar topping.

FUNNEL CAKES
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
3-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, mix salt, baking powder, and half of the flour. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream eggs, sugar and milk. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Continue to add remaining flour, but use only enough to achieve desired consistency. Batter will be thin enough to run through a funnel.
3. In an eight inch skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Put your finger over the bottom opening of the funnel, and fill the funnel with a generous 1/2 cup of the batter. Hold the funnel close to the surface of the oil, and release the batter into the oil while making a circular motion. Fry until golden brown. Use tongs and wide spatula to turn the cake over carefully. Fry the second side one minute. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with sifted confectioners' sugar or cinnamon sugar.