Muffin to it!

This weekend I had a request from my Mom for 2 dozen muffins to take to a chuch function.  Being a "good" girl I was happy to oblige! 

I've not considered myself much of a muffin baker until recently when I made some really delicious bran muffins.  Really tasty despite the bran!  I like making them in the mini size and then filling with some pimiento cheese, good for snacking or would be a nice addition to a party platter.  Also nice to bake them with a spoonful of jam in the middle for a sweet surprise.  I tend to like things more savory than sweet so these were less sweet than the average.

For the church function I decided to try out a new recipe for pumpkin muffins with candied pumpkin seed.  They turned out well, but I have really got to read better.  Mom needed 24 muffins, the recipe said it made 12 muffins, so I doubled it.  Apparently the 12 muffins were the huge Texas sized ones.  I ended up with about 48 regular sized muffins.  I've been passing them out right and left and freezing what was left.  I should have realized that the amount of ingredients I was using was ridiculous for 2 dozen.  Good learning experience apparently.  These were sweet muffins, but not hurt your teeth sweet at least.  Mother said the church folk liked them so guess that's good enough for me!  More appropriate for fall perhaps but given some cold weather we've had recently they still worked. 

Without further ado; the muffins.

Honey Oat Sandwich Bread

I do love many different types of bread.  Today it is the Honey Oat Sandwich loaf.  This is a nice loaf, with a tight crumb good for sandwiches or just for toasting.  Depending on my mood or who I'm making it for it is made with either all white flour or a half and half mixture of all purpose and whole white wheat.  It rises more vigorously with all white flour, but a touch of the white wheat does add a little more earthy flavor to it!  Loaded with old fashioned oats and a good bit of honey, this loaf has good shelf life.

Since I brought up flour, let me mention that I use mostly King Arthur Flour.  Occasionally I will use some Hodgson Mill flour.  Am anxious to try out some War Eagle Mills flour for a more local source of flour.  My Mother was dedicated to Gold Medal for many years, but it does not perform as well for me in breads as King Arthur.  King Arthur is a good compromise between price and quality.

Apparently not everyone has a flour collection as I do.  My chest deep freeze is full of flour.  (On clutzy baking days, MY chest can be full of flour!)  On my last inventory I had about 8 different flours.  That is barely a good start!  All purpose, semolina, almond, sprouted wheat, rye blend, bread, organic bread, whole wheat.   There are some other grain blends in my kitchen freezer as well.  Suppose there is a 12 step program for this addiction?

I'm still developing menu items, but all that I've written about before are keepers.  Expect to see them again and again.  Trying to branch out into new directions in bread slowly.

Here is a loaf of the Honey Oat Bread.  It is  baked in a 9 inch pan de mie, or Pullman pan, weighing in at over 1 1/2 pounds.  Easy to slice and slice thinly.  Can't wait to try it this summer with garden tomatoes on a blt!