We're finally back to baking for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day! I missed doing this while Jeff was on vacation and was anxious to get going again - for this week's treat, we kept it a little lighter and made these miniature
Banana Maple-Walnut Muffins.
As is typical for us, I did use a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour to notch up the nutrition factor - feel free to use completely all-purpose though, if desired. If you wanted to experiment some, try swapping out a small portion of the flour for ground flaxseed (try starting small with a couple tablespoons or up to a quarter cup) to add a bit more fiber. To add some warmth in the form of spices, the dry ingredients are enhanced with cinnamon and ginger.
Sweetening these miniature muffins is a combination of rich brown sugar and pure maple syrup for a well-developed background. For the bananas, you'll want to let them get quite ripe, dark and a little squish before you use them - which, by the way, makes Jeff very uneasy. He absolutely can't stand soft bananas and I have caught him many of time trying to toss them out when I'm not looking! Color me confused, since he especially loves their extra sweet flavor when I use them in baking, but whatever... I just try to keep them out from his view so they don't vanish when I'm not looking. I'm sure the muffins would have been just fine as is, but to add a little crunch to the muffins, toasted chopped walnuts are the last addition to the viscus batter. Besides their nutty boost, the walnuts also have the benefit of lending some omega-3's into the muffins!
Yield for these muffins is going to depend on the size of the wells your miniature muffin tin has. I have a 24 cup tin and a 12 cup tin... filling them both about 2/3rds full, see the contrast in size about? The 24 cup tin produce the smaller muffin, which was ready in about 10 minutes, while the 12 cup tin needed roughly 12 minutes to test done. If you would rather do regular-sized muffins, use a 12-cup muffin tin and bake for 18 to 22 minutes instead.
With lots of juice from the bananas, these little guys are decidedly moist, but they are not sticky or gummy on the inside. I loved how the scent of maple pulses through each bite, yet is subtle enough that the banana flavor can bust through and be known. If you absolutely don't like nuts, you could leave them out, but these two-bite treats just might change your mind- we both thought their nutty crunch complimented the banana and maple quite well... much like peanut butter does with marshmallow fluff (
go fluffernutters!).
We had one of our favorite types of meals tonight... that's right, breakfast for dinner - woo! I prepared waffles this time, but these were not your sweet, syrup laden waffles you are used to... nope, tonight we had
Grilled Cheese-and-Chicken-Sausage Waffles!
Playing off the idea of chicken and waffles, these savory squares actually have the chicken stuffed right inside! Let me start by saying that I had a tricky time with this recipe... once I had gotten the ingredients gathered and measured out, I threw the batter together and thought to myself "boy, this looks pretty soupy to be a waffle batter". Reading through the directions again, it stated "stir to form a stiff batter" - oh really? I double checked to ensure everything we did was correct, and it was, so we opted to follow our instincts and up the flour, along with the baking powder and soda accordingly. I ended up adding an entire cup of flour before it had the consistency I thought would work.
Now that the batter was up to snuff, we finished it up by folding in tiny chunks of cooked chicken sausage and a heavy handful of shredded white cheddar. Since this recipe makes quite a few waffles, be sure to heat the oven to a low 200 degrees - when the waffles are done, just hold them in the warm oven until all are completely cooked. This way, the waffles stay toasty, crisp and everyone can eat at the same time! For ours, we scattered a few extra shreds of additional cheese on top just before serving.
I really didn't know what to expect with these, but I could feel my eyes light up as the piece I cut off rolled around my mouth! Even though I made them, I almost expected these to be somewhat sweet as they still had the visual connection to a regular golden brown waffle. However, the sharp cheese and bites of chicken sausage quickly corrected that idea with its reinforced full savory aspect. Tangy from the buttermilk, these waffles grabbed my attention and didn't let go until I went up and snagged another square from the bunch before finishing my plate. Even with having to add all that extra flour, we didn't find these to by dry or heavy, which makes me wonder even more if there was an error in the recipe, but either way, these fairly unique waffles were an enjoyable way to change up our breakfast-for-dinner night!
Is there a lot of work involved that we needed two days to make them? Nope, not at all! Most of those two days is waiting around letting the dough and yeast do their magic. To get the ball rolling, protein-rich bread flour, salt, yeast, barley malt syrup (honey would be a good replacement if you don't want to buy a jar just for this) and water are tossed around and kneaded together until you have a somewhat stiff, but still supple mound of dough that is just tacky to the touch. As with most bread doughs, you may need to play around with additional flour or water as needed to reach that consistency.
At this point, the dough will need to rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator - if you can, give it more time, allowing the flavor to develop a bit more. We ended up leaving it be for about 5 hours before pulling the dough back out. After dividing the mound of dough into 8 portions, we rolled each into a loose ball to start the shaping process. There seem to be couple thoughts on shaping - you can either roll the dough into a long log, like when you make pretzels, then connect the ends to make a circle and squeeze it together to get your bagel shape. However, I use another method that we like and find a little easier - we plunge one of our fingers through the center of the dough (dust your finger in flour if you find it a little sticky) and then gently stretch and twirl the dough around until the hole made is about 2" wide. Try both and see what works for you - just do you best to ensure the dough is as even as possible around the circle.
Once you have your sheet full of bagels, they need to be covered, placed back into the refrigerator and left alone overnight for a long, slow rise. Take them out about an hour and a half or so before you will be ready to bake them. To see if they are ready, as gently as you can, lift one up from the baking sheet and place it into a bowl of cold water. If the bagel sinks, they need more time to rise - if it floats, you are good to go! You don't need to test the entire batch either - when one passes the test, you can stop there. To get an excellent chew to the bagels, they are slid into a pot of boiling salted water that has been spiked with baking soda. As soon as they come out from their bath, this is the best time to sprinkle on your toppings - as the title implies, we opted for sesame seeds... but don't let that limit you. Try poppy seeds, salt or dehydrated bits of onion. If you have a sweet tooth, you can do a cinnamon sugar topping, but save that until after the bagels have been baked - brush the hot plain bagels with melted butter and douse the top with the fragrant cinnamon mixture.
While I know it is tough with any kind of fresh bread, try and let them cool for at least 30 minutes before sliding your knife through the bagels. The texture will be better after it has had a chance to relax and firm up. A little dense and quite chewy with a light crust, we were pretty pleased with our first attempt at bagel making! I enjoyed mine lightly toasted with a hefty slathering of peanut butter, while Jeff went with a light smear of cream cheese. However you prefer yours, please do us a favor - let any yeasty fears go out the window, get into then kitchen and try your hand at making a fresh, homemade bagel and see for yourself just how easy and gratifying it can be!
