Breads

Rainbow Swirl Bread   (Lori)

1 cup milk plus 1 egg yolk (totaling 1 cup together)

3 cups flour

2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

2 1/4 tsp. (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 tsp. salt

red, yellow, green and blue food coloring

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk milk and egg yolk together and microwave for 30 seconds.  Set aside.  

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar and yeast.  Add milk mixture, butter and salt & stir to combine.  Using dough hook and stand mixer (or by hand on a lightly floured surface) knead dough until it comes together and is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes with stand mixer or 10 minutes by hand.

Divide dough into 5 equal pieces; place each piece in a small bowl and cover with a tea towel.

Remove one piece from a bowl and place it on a plastic cutting board (or any surface you are willing to cover with food coloring) Add several drops of food coloring and begin to knead the food coloring into the dough, adding more food coloring until it is fully incorporated.  This takes some time; just be patient and it will come together (note: I tried kneading in the food coloring this way first but found that if I let the dough rise first and then punched it down and added the food color -that it worked in much easier.) 

Shape dough into a ball and return to its bowl.  Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, dying each a different color (using red and blue to make the purple).  Wash your hands and work surface between each color.  

Cover bowls with tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, abt 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.  

When dough is risen, punch down.  Remove red dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an 8x4" rectangle.  Roll out yellow piece of dough into an 8x4" rectangle and place directly on top of the red dough.  Repeat with green, blue and then purple dough until you have a stack of 8x4" rectangles.  

Roll up dough tightly from the short end into the loaf.  Place loaf in a lightly greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.  Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise util doubled, about 1 hour.

Heat over to 375 degrees, uncover dough and bake until browned on top and a thermometer inserted in the bottom center reads 190 (about 30 minutes).

Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins  (Becky)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice**

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients well and then add chocolate chips.  Pour into greased muffin tins (or use muffin liners).

2.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Don't over bake or they will be dry!