Soup and Muffins for a Snowy Day

I've been a shamefully neglectful blogger lately--I can barely lay claim to the title! But with this post, I can at least claim to have made a post every month in 2012.  Do I get a prize?  I do!  Some delicious curried butternut squash lentil soup and fluffy peanut butter muffins!  

Curried Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Soup
The inspiration for this recipe comes from a blog called Yummy Mummy Kitchen. I made just a few changes to the recipe--including using butternut squash puree instead of pumpkin.  We're still working our way through a bumper crop of butternut squashes that at this rate may just last until May!

2 tablespoons olive oil (or a neutral oil if you prefer)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small apple, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons (or more, if you'd like) curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 cups red lentils
48 ounces (6 cups) vegetable broth
2 cups pureed butternut squash (or pumpkin--you could use a 15 ounce can)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (if you don't have coconut milk, you could use regular cow's milk or almond milk or  half-and-half or even some yogurt if you'd like)

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and saute until the onion softens.  Add the apple, a few more sprinkles of salt, and saute for about five minutes more until the apple softens as well.  Stir in the curry powder and cumin and cook until they're fragrant.  Stir in the lentils, coating with oil and spices, then add the broth, squash, honey and coconut. Bring to just a boil and then turn heat down to a simmer.  Simmer soup, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or so, until lentils are soft and soup thickens.  You can add fancy toppings if you'd like:  chopped cilantro, a tablespoon or two of some more coconut milk (or yogurt).  But it's pretty good just as it is.  This makes a big pot of soup--would serve 8 easily.

Peanut Butter Muffins
I expected the peanut butter to make these muffins heavy, but they're the lightest muffins I've ever made.  The original recipe comes from another blog, A Pinch of Yum, though I made a few changes to it as well.  The most significant is adding some baking soda to the batter to counteract the acidity of the honey.  I think that's what made them so light and fluffy.  I love that this recipe makes only 6 muffins.  It could easily be doubled, though!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup milk (could use almond or soy milk; I used skim)

Grease a 6-cup muffin tin and set aside. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  In a smaller bowl, stir the peanut butter, oil and honey together until well blended.  Slowly add the milk to the peanut butter mixture and stir well until thoroughly combined.  Add the milk/peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine using as few strokes as you can--you want the batter to be mixed together, but it's okay if there a few lumps.  Spoon the batter into the greased muffin tin and put in the oven, checking after 10 minutes--but will likely take 15 minutes for the tops to be dry and springy (and a toothpick inserted in the middle to come out clean).  Makes 6 muffins.

Butternut Squash Rolls for Thanksgiving

We had a bumper crop of butternut squash this year, which we didn't even plan.  A few volunteer plants popped up and then quickly had their way with a corner of our garden.  Luckily they keep well and are a great substitute for any dish that calls for pumpkin (with exception, perhaps, of pumpkin pie).  Mashed butternut squash is a lovely (literally!) addition to these rolls, turning them into sunny little saffron-hued pillows.  You won't taste the butternut squash in them, though I think it does add a bit of depth to the flavor.  You can, of course, substitute pumpkin or any winter squash for the butternut here.

They are adapted from a recipe that appeared in Bon Appetit Nov. 1996.


These rolls can be made ahead, cooled completely, wrapped in foil and frozen until the day you need them.  Take them out of the freezer and thaw for several hours, then heat them, covered, in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Butternut Squash Rolls
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup cooked, mashed butternut squash*

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 packet quick-rising yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 more tablespoons of butter, melted

Place the milk, butter and honey in a sauce pan and heat, stirring until the butter melts.  Whisk in the mashed butternut squash, stirring well.  Remove the liquid from the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes (it should register between 125 and 135 degrees).

While milk is cooling, pulse the flour, yeast and salt in a food processor, combining well.  Put the milk mixture into a measuring cup (or pitcher) and, with the processor on, pour it into the flour mixture.  The dough will form a ball.  Process for about 45 seconds after that to give it a good kneading.

Butter a large bowl and put the dough in it.  Cover it and place it in a warm draft-free spot to rise for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled.  Butter two 9-inch cake pans.  When the dough has risen, turn it on to a lightly floured board and divide into 24 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and place them in the cake pans, not touching. Brush with 1/3 of the melted butter.  Cover and let rise again for about 20 minutes until doubled.  (The rolls won't be touching each other at the end of this second rising--but they will plump up in the oven!)

While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375.  When they're ready, brush again with another 1/3 of the melted butter and place in the center of oven, baking for about 25 minutes.  You'll want to turn the pans halfway through to be sure they brown evenly.  Remove from the oven when they are nicely browned and brush again with the final 1/3 of the melted butter.  Makes 24 rolls.

*Bonus Recipe!  Whole Roasted Butternut Squash.  This is as simple as it can be.  Instead of cutting the squash in half and roasting, or slicing off the tough skin and steaming or boiling the squash to make a mash, you can just put the whole squash in the oven and roast it until it's done.  Here's how:  wash the squash if it has dirt clinging to it from the garden, dry it off and place on a lightly greased pan, cookie sheet or even a sheet of aluminum foil.  (You want something to catch any sugary drips that might sneak out while it's roasting.)   A large (3-4 pound) squash will take about 90 minutes to roast.  Smaller squash will take less time.  It's ready when a knife pierces easily all the way through the flesh. When it's cool enough to handle, you can easily peel off the skin and mash the squash for whatever you want to use it for.  When I roast a whole squash, I usually just compost the bulbous seeded end rather than try to scoop out the seeds, since the flesh is so soft, and that gets a bit tedious.

Honey Pickled Carrots

Both of my grandmothers were big proponents of relish trays on holiday tables.  When I was little, I would make a meal out of the sweet gherkin pickles and black olives that my Grandma Davis always had out.  I continue the tradition at our holiday table and this year I'm adding these lovely carrot pickles.  They are adapted from a recipe in the November 14, 2012 New York Times by David Tanis with a few changes.  I swapped the sugar in the recipe for honey, of course. Since honey is sweeter than sugar, I substituted 1/3 cup honey for the 1/2 cup of sugar.  And instead of making carrot slices, I just used a bag of baby carrots.  I also skipped the 6 dried red peppers Tanis's recipe calls for since my family isn't big on spicy foods.  These pickles are great without the heat, though next time I make them, I think I'll include that touch of zing.  My amazing great nephews, Samson (3) and Bohdan (not-yet-1) will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year and I'm hoping that they, too, will come to carry on the holiday relish plate tradition!

Honey Pickled Carrots
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
3 large garlic cloves, each cut in half
1 pound "baby" carrots

In a non-reactive (stainless steel) pot, combine the vinegar, honey, salt, cloves, bay leaf, caraway, coriander and garlic cloves.  Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a steady simmer and add the carrots.  Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes--you want the carrots to still be firm and slightly crunchy, but not raw.  Remove the carrots and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.  Let the brine come to room temperature.  Put the carrots in a glass container and pour the brine over them.  There may be a bit left over. If so, be sure to scoop out any spices that might be at the bottom and add them to the jar.  Let the carrots marinate for at least 8 hours, refrigerated.  They can be made well in advance--up to four days.

Stay tuned for another make-ahead Thanksgiving dish:  delightful butternut squash rolls!

Delicious Honey Cranberry Pinwheels

Although it's Halloween, there is nothing scary about these cookies, folks!  In fact, a case could be made that these cookies are actually good for you (well...perhaps we should say that they're not as bad for you).  The dough includes whole wheat flour and canola oil and, according to the recipe makers, they clock in at only about 54 calories a cookie.  The recipe comes from the Eating Well website where it has received rave reviews.  I see why--they're tasty and chewy and they make a nice impression.  Robert gives them his thumbs up!  They were also well-received at the Friends of the B.F. Jones Memorial Library annual wine and cheese fundraiser last Saturday. :)

This makes a very soft dough especially for rolling, yet the canola oil makes the dough less sticky than you'd expect.  Refrigerating the dough also makes it more manageable. Don't let the long list of ingredients deter you.  The recipe isn't that complicated to make.

Honey Cranberry Pinwheels

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sweetened dried cranberries

1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (could use orange zest)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or allspice)

Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or allspice if you used it in the filling)

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons low fat milk

2 1/2 teaspoons lemon (or orange) zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For filling:  Combine all of the ingredients in a non-reactive* pan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.  Let boil about five minutes until the fresh cranberries pop and soften.  Remove from heat and cool.  Place in a food processor and process the filling until finely ground. Place in refrigerator while you make the dough.

For dough:  Whisk the flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda and spices in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, honey, eggs, milk, zest and extracts and beat well.  Stir in half of the flour mixture to incorporate then add the other half. (If you're using a mixture, switch to a wooden spoon when you add the second flour portion.)  Stir to thorough combine, but don't over-mix.  Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to make the dough easier to work with.

To form the cookies:  Take 1/2 of the chilled dough and place between two sheets of waxed paper (about 12 x 18 inches long).  Roll out dough into a 12x15 inch rectangle.  Place the rolled out dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  This will make it easier to spread the filling on the dough.  Remove top sheet of waxed paper and spread 1/2 of the cranberry filling over the dough--it will be thin (I used my hands to get the filling to the edges.  With the long end parallel to the counter, use the waxed paper the dough is resting on to help you roll the dough into a tight, round log.  Place the log on a clean sheet of waxed paper, roll it up and twist the ends to make the log as tight as possible.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least four hours (and up to three months**).  Repeat with the other half of the dough and filling.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Unwrap the roll and, using a long serrated knife, slice the cookies into 1/4 inch wide slices, turning the log as you slice to keep the cookies as round as possible.  Place the slices on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Makes about 90 cookies.

*Non-reactive pans are stainless steel or enamel--not aluminum (or copper!)

**If you're freezing for an extended time, don't defrost before slicing the cookies.

Honey Chocolate Shortbread Ribbons

I'm still in the midst of my cookie baking extravaganza here.  The recipe for these honey chocolate shortbread ribbons is from the National Honey Board, where I get a lot of great recipe ideas.  I have to confess that these aren't Robert's favorite.  The recipe calls for orange peel, which adds a tang to the dough that Robert isn't that fond of (he ate a few of 'em though!).  You could skip the peel if you'd prefer.  In that case, I might be tempted to add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the dough, just to kick up the flavor a bit.

Honey Chocolate Shortbread Ribbons
1 cup butter, softened
2/3rd cup  honey
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Cream the butter and gradually drizzle in the honey, beating until light and fluffy.  Add the orange peel and beat to incorporate thoroughly.  In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder and then stir into the honey-butter mixture, combining well.  Remove about 1/3 of the dough to another bowl and add the melted chocolate to it, combining well.

Line one 9 inch square pan and one 9x5 inch loaf pan with waxed paper, letting the paper hang out of the sides so that you'll be able to lift the dough out once it hardens. Flatten the chocolate mixture into the loaf pan and the remaining dough into the square pan. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the 9 inch pan and cut in half.  Place the chocolate dough in the middle of the two halves and press lightly but to be sure the layers hold together.  With a large, sharp knife, cut the block lengthwise to make two logs.  Wrap each with wax paper and then with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least four hours (or freeze up to three months).

Preheat oven to 375.  Slice the logs about 1/8th to 1/4th inches wide and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for about 7 to 8 minutes until lightly browned.  Makes about four dozen cookies.

And stay tuned!  The recipe for Robert's favorite honey cranberry pinwheel cookies coming soon!

Honey Almond Rugelach

Though I haven't been posting much on the blog recently, get ready for a run of cookie recipes!  The Friends of the B.F. Jones Memorial Library annual wine and cheese is Saturday, October 27 and I've been making a bunch of cookies in preparation.  These almond rugelach cookies are classic--not too sweet--and the hint of honey in the filling really comes through.  They're one of my favorite cookies to make.  This recipe comes from a small cookbook published by the National Honey Board in 1994 called Sweetened with Honey the Natural Way. The recipe is also available on the National Honey Board's website--click on the link.

And stay tuned!  Recipes for shortbread-like honey chocolate ribbons and some delicious cranberry pinwheels will appear in future posts!

Honey Almond Rugelach
1 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 tablespoons honey, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries, chopped (I used cherries)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Add three tablespoons of honey and mix well. Add the flour, stirring until the dough comes together.  Form into a disk, wrap well and refrigerate for at least two hours.

In a small bowl, combine the almonds and chopped cherries. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of honey over them and mix well.

Divide the dough into fourths and roll one piece into about a 9-inch circle.  Combine two tablespoons of honey and the lemon and mix well.  Brush the dough with the honey-lemon mixture.  Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon over the surface. Spread about 1/4 of the almond/cherry mixture over the surface.  Cut the circle into 8 wedges.  Starting with the wide end, roll up each wedge and then curve the cookie to make a crescent shape.  Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

You can freeze these cookies unbaked.  Thaw them out before baking.

Chewy Pecan Honey Cookies

We've been major blog slackers here at SteffesWood Apiary.  Teaching and flying are occupying us a lot these days.  I had a chance to make these delicious cookies last weekend, though.  I'm testing out cookie recipes for the annual Friends of the B.F. Jones Library wine and cheese fundraiser on October 27.  The fundraiser always includes an elaborate and delicious cookie table and I wanted find some honey-based cookies to add to the offerings.  These are a keeper.  They're chewy, have a lot of great honey flavor and a nice little crunch from the pecans. I wasn't so sure about the recipe at first because it doesn't include any eggs--but these are delicious and have a wonderful texture.  I highly recommend them!


Chewy Pecan Honey Cookies
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the honey and cream well. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, finishing by hand if needed, trying not to over mix.  Stir in the pecans.

Using about one teaspoon, form the dough into balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets. (You can chill the dough for about 10 minutes if it's very soft--don't chill for much longer, though, since the honey will harden making it hard to form into balls.)  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown and set.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.