Baking for Halloween with Your Bread Machine

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Loaf Recipe:

(Makes a 1 pound loaf)

This is essentially a batter bread and uses both baking soda and baking powder to create the consistency and texture of the bread. Like all batter breads you’ll use the dough course if you want to finish this in the oven, but you could also use the gluten-free or whole wheat course if you want to finish in the bread machine. Chocolate chips are a key ingredient and should be added after the beep following the first knead, or in a fruit and nut hopper if your machine is so equipped.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk or regular milk
• 1¾ cups (one 15-ounce can) pumpkin purée
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup packed organic dark or light brown sugar
• 1¾ cups all-purpose or gluten-free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or mini-semisweet chocolate chips (Add these towards the end of the kneading cycle or when the machine beeps. If you have an automatic fruit and nut hopper, this will happen automatically. You might want to dust the chocolate chips with flour to make sure they are released from the hopper)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add all of the ingredients to the bread pan in the order indicated and either set the gluten-free or wheat bread course if you want to finish the loaf in the bread machine, or select the pizza dough course or the batter bread course if your machine has one, and pour the batter into a greased bread pan and bake at 350° F./175° C. for 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer or toothpick comes out clean and dry from the center.
2. Let the bread rest on a rack for about 10 minutes and slice and serve. An optional topping when serving is sour cream and a mint leaf.

Jack ‘O Lantern Cookies Recipe:

The color and appearance of these cookies are due to the icing. They look like little Halloween pumpkins. They’re essentially sugar cookies with an orange glaze made with powdered sugar, food coloring, and some candy items like candy-corn and licorice for decoration.

These are great to serve as Halloween approaches and fun to eat after Halloween has passed. They’re a great reminder of the harvest season and the holidays to come.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Add the ingredients to the bread pan and select the dough course. Once the dough is done spoon the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten them with an oiled spatula. Try to approximate an oval, pumpkin shape. You can roll out the dough and cut it with a small bowl or even buy a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter if you like.

Bake the cookies at 375°F./ 190° C. for 12 to 15 minutes. When done, let cool and spread with the icing and add to candy decorations.

ICING:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Green and orange food coloring
• Candy corn
• Red and black licorice laces

In a bowl, combine butter, milk and vanilla. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth Transfer about 1/4 cup icing to a small bowl; dye with green food coloring. Dye remaining icing with orange food coloring. Spoon green icing onto pumpkin stems. Spoon orange icing over rest of cookies. Add candy corn as eyes and licorice for mouths. Let stand at room temperature for at least 6 hours to allow icing to harden.

Tomato Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe:

Tomatoes are one of the traditional harvests of Autumn. This recipe uses them to good advantage as a topping for a traditional focaccia bread.

This is another type of bread that’s kneaded in the bread machine and then baked on a baking sheet. It’s topped with thin slices of the ripe tomatoes and sprinkled with rosemary along with some cracked sea salt and cracked black pepper.

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes a 2 pound loaf)

• 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) sugar
• 1 ¾ teaspoons (13 grams) salt
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) olive oil, plus an additional 2 tablespoons (25 grams) for drizzling
• 250 grams (approximately 2 cups)whole-wheat flour
• 200 to 220 grams (approximately 1 2/3 to 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 2 teaspoons (8 grams) active dry yeast
• ¾ pound Ripe tomatoes
•  Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order listed in the recipe and select the dough setting. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, preferably with a baking stone in it. Place the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet. Shape the dough into a circular shape, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes.
2. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top of the dough after rising. Sprinkle with the sea salt, pepper and the rosemary. Bake, setting the pan on top of the baking stone (if using), for 20 to 25 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving, or allow to cool completely.