White Sandwich Bread

After all of the heavy eating during the holidays, I was craving a light soup and salad dinner. My daughter is always asking for Tomato Soup, so I made this bread to serve with it so that it would be a substantial enough meal for my husband. It was a bribe of sorts, as I usually do not support the consumption of white bread. 😉

This wonderful bread recipe was adapted from a favorite book, Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook: The Best Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Bakery for Homestyle Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Muffins, and Breads by Kathleen King. I halved the recipe and adapted the recipe to use a bread machine. My family loved it!

Yield: one standard loaf

• 2 1/2 T warm water
• 1 cup warm milk (I used 1 percent)
• 1 1/2 T unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 T granulated sugar
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 2 1/2 tsp bread machine (dry) yeast

1. Combine warm water, warm milk, and butter in the bread machine loaf pan.
2. Place flour over the top, using a knife to spread it evenly into the corners of the pan.
3. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the top of the flour.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast.
5. Set the bread machine to 1 1/2 pound standard loaf and start.

One Year Ago:

• Oat Bran Bread

Two Years Ago:

• Whole Wheat & Oat Zucchini Bread
• Skinny Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Bread
• Skinny Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Three Years Ago:

• 100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread Muffins

Four Years Ago:

• Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Tate’s Shortbread

My way of celebrating a friend’s birthday is to bake something for her… This is difficult for one of my buddies because she isn’t really a fan of desserts. It’s terrible. 😉 (One year I actually just gave her butter! – it was special butter…) Well, lucky for me, I was able to find the recipe for her absolute favorite cookies this year. Yay! Shortbread from Southampton, New York’s Tate’s Bake Shop.

This super simple recipe results in perfect, slightly crunchy, crumbly cookies. The recipe was adapted from Baking for Friends by Kathleen King, owner and founder of Tate’s Bake Shop, via redtri.com. I used unsalted butter and coarse salt instead of salted butter. Delicious!

Yield: Makes 32 cookies

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 3/4 lb (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 3/4 to 1 tsp coarse salt

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (on convection). Line the bottom and 2 short ends of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper or a 20-inch length of aluminum foil, pleating the foil as needed, and letting the excess foil hang over the ends. Butter or lightly spray the parchment with cooking oil.
2. In the bowl of a standing, heavy-duty electric mixer, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and mix with the paddle attachment on low-speed until the mixture looks crumbly, about 1-½ minutes. (Add any of the variation flavorings listed below at this point.) Press firmly and evenly into the prepared pan. (I use the base of a dry measuring cup.)
3. Bake until the shortbread is golden brown on top and slightly darker around the edges, about 1 hour. Cut into 32 pieces while still warm. (If cooled before cutting, the shortbread will break.) Let cool completely in the pan on a wire cooling rack.
4. Run a dinner knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the shortbread. Lift up the parchment or foil “handles” to remove the shortbread from the pan. Cut through the previously cut marks into 32 pieces.

Other variations:

Lemon Ginger Shortbread: Add 1 cup chopped crystallized ginger, 1 cup minced candied lemon peel (or the grated zest of 1 lemon), and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Brown Sugar Ginger Shortbread: Substitute 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar for the granulated sugar, and add 1 cup crystallized ginger.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread: Add 1-cup (6 ounces) miniature chocolate chips

Pecan Shortbread: Add 1 cup toasted and finely chopped pecans.

One Year Ago:

• Warm Chocolate Puddings

Two Years Ago:

• Pretzel-Shortbread Bars

If you like this you may also like:

• Bouchon Bakery Shortbread
• Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Tate’s Banana Flaxseed Muffins

Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel as though I am revealing a secret recipe…. These cookies from Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, New York, are sold all over the United States. Now I know why these cookies are their signature item! They are FABULOUS- thin, crispy – but not too crispy, and loaded with chocolate chips. I don’t know if the water in the dough or the dark brown sugar makes the difference, but there is a difference. 🙂

This recipe is from Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook: The Best Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Bakery for Home-Style Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Muffins, and Breads. I modified the recipe by using unsalted butter, chilling the dough for 1 hour prior to baking, and by adjusting the baking time for a convection oven. I baked them for 12 minutes when using 2 baking sheets at a time, and for 8 minutes when using only 1 baking sheet. Delicious.

Yield: 4 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup salted butter (I used unsalted!)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees on convection.
2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, silpat, or butter.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Add the water and vanilla; mix until just combined.
6. Add the eggs and mix them lightly.
7. Stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Be careful not to overmix!
8. Using a small cookie scoop, drop the cookies onto prepared cookie sheets.
9. Bake them for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the edges and centers are brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Two Years Ago:

• Pear-Granola Muffins

Tate’s Banana Flaxseed Muffins

My friend recently shared a treasured cookbook with me titled “Kathleen’s Bake Shop.” She raved that EVERY recipe was perfection. I went home and looked it up on amazon- because I wanted it for myself, of course! Unfortunately, the book is out of print and is priced well over $100….

“Kathleen” is the creator and owner of one of the most popular and well-known bakeries on Long Island- Southampton’s “Tate’s Bake Shop.” Tate’s baked goods are sold EVERYWHERE. Luckily for me, she has more recently authored a few other baking cookbooks. This muffin recipe was adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop: Baking for Friends- Over 120 Scrumptious Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Baker by Kathleen King.

These muffins are low in fat, sugar, and are whole grain as well. They were tender and moist with a nice crunch from the pecans. Along with old-fashioned oats, I did lightly sprinkle the top of each muffin with turbinado sugar before baking- just for a touch of sweetness. 🙂

• non-stick canola oil spray (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1 cup mashed fully ripe bananas (2 large bananas)
• 3/4 cup low-fat or nonfat Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 T sugar
• 2 T walnut oil or canola oil
• 1 large egg or 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 T old-fashioned (rolled) oats for sprinkling
• 2 T turbinado sugar for sprinkling, optional

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. (I used a convection oven.) Spray 12 standard muffin cups with cooking spray or line them with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, pecans, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, yogurt, sugar, walnut oil, egg, and vanilla.
4. Pour the flour mixture into the wet mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, transfer the batter to the prepared muffin cups. The cups will be fairly full. Sprinkle the tops with the oats and turbinado sugar, if using.
6. Bake until a muffin springs back when pressed on the top with your fingertip, 13 to 15 minutes (on convection) or up to 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool completely on the rack.

One Year Ago:

• White House Honey-Oat Muffins
• Blueberry-Cornmeal Muffins