Pumpkin Challah Bread

I used to be able to pick up some Challah bread from my local farmers market every few weeks from one of my favorite bakers, Rob at Arising Dough. Unfortunately, he moved to another Farmers Market over a year ago and I regrettably I haven't made it over to visit his new market. (sigh.) In addition to his delicious sourdough bread, Rob makes Challah bread in all sorts of flavors and one of my favorite's is his Fall Spices Challah. It is absolutely divine. I came across this Pumpkin Challah bread recipe and it reminded me of his amazing bread and I decided to give it a try. The added pumpkin puree makes this already soft bread extra moist and soft but still dense enough to hold up to butter and jam or even soaking overnight in eggs and cream to make the most amazing French Toast. I personally like it with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a cup of coffee, but I also made some curried croutons with it to top salads and soups! Absolutely perfect, but next time, I'll forgo bread making and go get the original from Arising Dough. Happy Holidays!

Pumpkin Challah Bread

Recipe from Taste of Home Pumpkin Cookbook

1 pkg (1/4oz.) active dry yeast
3 T warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
2 T brown sugar
2 T softened butter
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. salt
2-2 1/2 cups bread flour

Egg wash
1 egg + 1 T water

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin. egg. brown sugar, pie spice, salt, yeast mixture and 1 cup flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. It will be a bit sticky.

Turn dough on a floured surface and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. 
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled. About an hour. 

Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, divide into thirds. Roll each into a 16-inch rope.  PLace ropes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and braid. 

Pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover with a kitchen towel;let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare egg wash by mixing water and egg in a small bowl. Brush over loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Other recipes to try:

Garlic Cheese Bread

French Bread

Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

Cranberry Bruschetta

Cranberry Sauce is the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers. Aside from topping leftover turkey sandwiches or riding shotgun to sliced turkey on Thanksgiving day. It's great on toast or muffins on post-holiday mornings. It's basically jam afterall. I decided to elevate the humble toast with jam to these easy and deliciously sweet Cranberry Bruschetta. 
Inspired by an old Pampered Chef recipe for Strawberry Bruschetta, I dug up my scalloped bread tube and baked up a loaf of this beautiful bread that was toasted crisp with butter and cinnamon sugar. I slathered it with a sweetened creamy mascarpone cheese generously flavored with lemon zest and then  topped with cinnamon cranberry sauce, more lemon zest, and finely minced rosemary. Perfect for a light breakfast or dessert!  Enjoy!

Cranberry Bruschetta

Makes ~20

french baguette, sliced*
butter
3 T cinnamon sugar
1 cup Mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
zest of 1 lemon and 1 T lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup leftover homemade cranberry sauce 
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t fresh rosemary, finely minced (garnish)
lemon zest (garnish)


Butter baguette slices and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place bread slices on cookie sheet and broil until toasted ~ 4minutes. Set aside to cool. 

*Note: I used my Pampered Chef Scalloped Bread Tube and 1 tube refrigerated pizza dough, baked 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees to bake up the scalloped bread slices pictured. 


Mix Mascarpone cheese, sifted powdered sugar and lemon zest and juice in a small bowl. Spread cinnamon toasts generously with mascarpone cheese spread.  Top cheese with 3-4 sliced almonds. 
Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon to left over cranberry sauce and top cheese toasts with about 1 tsp cranberry sauce. Garnish with more lemon zest and finely minced rosemary. 

Other recipes to try:

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cake

Blackberry Oatmeal Bars

Zucchini Bruschetta

Polenta Pizza with Sausage

Is anyone else tired of Turkey Day leftovers? I know I am. I could not get myself to eat another turkey sandwich or eat any more reheated side dishes leftover from Thanksgiving. I needed a change of holiday pace and boy do I have a recipe for you. A mouthwatering and satisfying dish that is decidedly the farthest thing from Thanksgiving...Polenta Pizza with Sausage replaces the typical pizza crust with a soft, creamy, cheesy polenta crust topped with a heavenly sausage ragu made with San Marzano tomatoes, sweet Italian sausage, onions and garlic and two cheeses broiled to bubbly perfection. It is absolutely incredible! 

My mom shared this recipe with me after I had it at her house one afternoon. I loved it, so she loaded me up with a ton of leftovers and I literally ate this for breakfast, lunch and dinner the whole next day. It was so delicious! My mom was quick to point out that this recipe is from Chef Michael Symon from The Chew.  She's a huge fan of the show and Chef Symon. All I can say is thank you Chef Symon and thank you mom for sharing it with me.  Trust me, you may never want regular pizza again. Enjoy!

Polenta Pizza with Sausage

Serves 8
slightly adapted recipe by Michael Symon

Polenta Crust 
2 cups Instant Polenta (I used Quick Grits)
7 cups water
salt
1/2 cup Mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (I added 3/4 cup)
2 T butter
salt and pepper (to taste)

In a large saucepan, bring 7 cups of salted water to a boil. Add Polenta or Quick Grits and stir. Heat over medium low heat for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. 

Add butter, marscarpone and Parmesan-reggiano cheeses to the prepared polenta. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Prepare large sheet pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper)I lined with parchment). Pour prepared Polenta into a large sheet pan and refrigerate until set about 30 minutes or while you prepare the sausage ragu.

 Sausage Ragu
14 oz. package sweet Italian Sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1- 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, chopped ( I added the whole can with juice)
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
fresh basil  

In a large dutch oven, brown Italian sausage. Add onions and garlic and continue to cook over medium high heat until onions are translucent ~5 minutes. Add San Marzano tomatoes and continue to heat until tomatoes break down and sauce is reduced and thickened. About 45-60 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.


Assemble Pizza: Pour sauce over set polenta crust and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Heat under the broiler for 7-9 minutes until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. 

Remove from oven, slice and top with fresh basil and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Pizza Soup 

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Gingerbread Spritz Cookies

Thanksgiving is over, so that can only mean one thing...Christmas! What better way to get ready for the holidays than to make Christmas Cookies! How about gingerbread cookies without all the work of rolling and cutting. These Gingerbread Spritz Cookies have the buttery goodness of a classic Spritz combined with molasses and warm spices of holiday gingerbread. Quick and easy cookies with tons of Christmas cheer!  
                                            🎄Happy Holidays!🎄

Gingerbread Spritz Cookies

Makes ~5 dozen

1 cup butter, unsalted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cloves
1/8 t white pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Add the molasses and the egg and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and pepper. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined.

Add cookie dough to cookie press and press out desired shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 6-8 minutes until dough is just set but not brown. Cool completely before decorating.

Vanilla Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T milk
Stir all ingredients together and drizzle over cookies and put some icing in a squeeze bottle for detail work if desired. Top with sprinkles while icing is still wet.

More Christmas recipes:

Gingerbread Petit Fours

Gingerbread Biscotti

Red Velvet Brownies

Corn and Squash Casserole

As the days edge closer to Thanksgiving, I'm feverishly trying to finish up my Thanksgiving dishes before the big day. I need to finish all these blogs by end of day today, because starting Monday, I need to clean my house, shop, and prep for my family Thanksgiving get together. So what type of dish hits our table every Thanksgiving? Casseroles! Yes. Cheesy, comforting, satisfying casseroles. Whether its green bean casserole, creamed corn casserole, a potato gratin or stuffing, I love them all. SO this year I wanted to try a casserole with squash and corn and it turned out incredible. Check out this beauty shot below....loaded with yellow and green squash, corn and onions, two kinds of cheese and topped with cheesy panko breadcrumbs creating a caramelized crust of cheesy goodness just under the surface. Delicious and perfect for Thanksgiving!

Corn and Squash Casserole

adapted recipe from Plain Chicken

Serves 8-10

1 1/2 lbs. yellow squash, diced
1 1/2 lbs. green squash. diced
1/4 tsp. butter
2 cups onions, diced
3 cups corn
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare vegetables.  In a large skillet melt butter and add onions and saute until onions are translucent, ~5 minutes. Add squash and corn and saute for about 5 minutes until squash is just beginning to soften, but is not fully cooked. It'll finsh cooking in the oven. Add garlic and heat until fragrant, about 1 minute and then remove from heat. 

Transfer vegetables into a large bowl and allow to cool a bit. Add cheese, mayo, sour cream and beaten eggs and mix well. Add salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix panko flakes and parmesan reggiano cheese together. Add about half the breadcrumb mixture to the vegetables and give it a stir. Spray your casserole dish with cooking spray and transfer the vegetable mixture to your prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining breadcrumb mixture and bake uncovered in the oven about 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Potato Cauliflower Gratin

Parmesan Creamed Onions

Sweet Onion Casserole