Anyway, though I haven't been updating, I have been baking quite a bit! I felt I have been on a massive sugar high and thought it was time to start trying to bake something savoury. I first made delicious Cheesy Cornbread muffins which were delicious straight out of the oven but were very dry and tough the next day. I suggest making these but only serving them directly from the oven and avoiding leftovers as you'll probably end up trashing them.
Then I decided I'd try my had at what I call Truly Homemade Garlic Bread. I call it 'Truly Homemade' because when I was looking online for recipes and would search 'homemade garlic bread' they were all recipes for spreading garlic butter onto store-bought baguettes!! I wanted something a bit more authentic and I really struggled to find a recipe so I had to improvise and I made my own up. It was DELICIOUS!!! I decided to bake them in the round so you could pull them apart into tiny moist and flavour-packed garlic rolls which went great with Spaghetti Bolognese (I'll post my recipe for this later)!
After my savoury bonaza I got right back into the sugar bag and whipped up 60 or so chocolate cupcakes for my work colleagues and about 80 delicious walnut and oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies (see later post for recipe and pictures), Rob's all time favourite treat that I bake.
Here are the recipes:
Cheesy Cornbread Muffins
makes 12 muffins
1 cup of self-raising flour
1 cup of cornmeal
6 tablespoons of sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese plus extra for sprinkling
Heat the oven to 200C (425F).
Grease (not oil) either, an 8 or 9-inch square pan, or a regular sized muffin tray.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. I found that a whisk was particularly helpful for this. Stir in the remaining ingredients by hand (again, the whisk is very helpful to get the mixture to combine properly), until just smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan or muffin tray and sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.Serve fresh from the oven.
Truly Homemade Garlic Bread
makes 2 9-inch round tins of rolls
2 ½ cups self-raising flour
2 tbsp dry active yeast
1 tbsp caster sugar
warm (not hot) water
½ cup butter
¼ cup finely chopped basil
salt
pepper
olive oil
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and a pinch of salt. Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Slowly add water and mix together with your hands until a sticky but not too wet dough is formed.
Truly Homemade Garlic Bread
makes 2 9-inch round tins of rolls
2 ½ cups self-raising flour
2 tbsp dry active yeast
1 tbsp caster sugar
warm (not hot) water
½ cup butter
¼ cup finely chopped basil
salt
pepper
olive oil
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and a pinch of salt. Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Slowly add water and mix together with your hands until a sticky but not too wet dough is formed.
Cover the bowl with a clean towel and leave it in a warm place to rise for an hour. The dough should rise to at least double its size.
Once the dough has risen, pre-heat an oven to 350F and generously oil two round 9-inch tins.
Melt the butter and stir in the basil then add salt and pepper to taste.
Knock back you dough and knead vigorously. Rob has great kneading tips on his post for pizza. Then divide the dough into 24 equal pieces.
Taking one piece at a time, individually knead and form into a ball. Dip the ball into the melted butter mixture and place in the pan to rise. Once you have kneaded each piece and filled the pans, cover the pans with clean cloth and let rise for another 15-20 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.
Drizzle any remaining butter mixture on top of the rolls and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm and enjoy!
Once the dough has risen, pre-heat an oven to 350F and generously oil two round 9-inch tins.
Melt the butter and stir in the basil then add salt and pepper to taste.
Knock back you dough and knead vigorously. Rob has great kneading tips on his post for pizza. Then divide the dough into 24 equal pieces.
Taking one piece at a time, individually knead and form into a ball. Dip the ball into the melted butter mixture and place in the pan to rise. Once you have kneaded each piece and filled the pans, cover the pans with clean cloth and let rise for another 15-20 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.
Drizzle any remaining butter mixture on top of the rolls and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm and enjoy!
