Six-Seed Soda Bread #BreadBakers

The crunch of seeds and chewiness of cranberries make this six-seed soda bread a joy to slice and munch. Slightly sweetened with honey, it’s delicious on its own or spread with butter or cream cheese.

If you’ve never made soda bread because you think it’s boring and plain, this is the recipe for you. Inspired by the six-seed soda bread from River Cottage Everyday* and a rye and honey loaf also from River Cottage author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (published in the Guardian newspaper) this small loaf is anything but. The crumb is light but the seeds and cranberries make each slice delectable.

Best of all, soda bread is super easy, and with all those seeds and sweetened only slightly with the honey, it’s got to be healthy too!

Six-Seed Soda Bread

Serve toasted slices of this lovely bread on your favorite cheeseboard with cocktails or with the cheese course for your dinner party. But for snack time, just a smear of butter is perfection.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon each sunflower seeds, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds (or 6 tablespoons seedy mix of your choice)
1/2 cup or 40g dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup or 120ml plain yoghurt
1/3 cup or 80ml whole milk, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing
2 1/2 tablespoons runny honey
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil, plus extra for greasing, if necessary
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1/2 cup or 63.5g strong bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
Mix all the seeds and chopped cranberries together and then set aside 1/4 cup or 35g for topping.

In your measuring jug, whisk together the yogurt, milk, honey and oil, until the honey is fully dissolved and incorporated.

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone mat, or grease it lightly with oil.

In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, salt and the larger pile of seeds.

Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well, until a dough start to form. It will still be a little crumbly.

Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and give it a few gentle kneads, till it comes together as a soft dough. Form it into a ball and transfer it to your prepared baking pan.

Make a deep cross with a sharp knife or bread scraper.

Brush the loaf with the milk, then sprinkle it with the remaining seed mix, patting it on the sides so the seed mix sticks. Make sure to get lots of the mix in the cuts.

Bake in your preheated oven for 30–35 minutes, or until the bread is golden-crusted on top and bottom. If the loaf starts to brown too quickly, you can cover it with some foil.

Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Bread Bakers host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni. As you have probably guessed, her chosen theme is seeded breads. Make sure you check out all the lovely recipes we have for you today.

• Almond Poppyseed Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Crunchy Seed Braid from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Fennel and Poppy Seed Rolls from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Onion & Poppy Seed Bialys from Baking Sense
• Savory Seeded Focaccia from Palatable Pastime
• Seeded Ficelle Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Siddu from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Six-Seed Soda Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Sugarless Multiseed Rye Bread from CookwithRenu
• Tangzhong Method French Loaf With Seeds from Sneha's Recipes
• Vegan Seeded Challah Bread from Cook's Hideout

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Cheesy Bean Enchiladas #FoodieExtravaganza

These cheesy bean enchiladas made with pintos and refried beans are flavorful and easy to put together. They make a great vegetarian main course to serve for your Cinco de Mayo celebrations or pretty much any day of the year.

I should say up front that my favorite restaurant enchiladas are filled with ground beef. That's all I ever order at a Tex-Mex restaurant because the cheese ones are too rich and bean enchiladas are never offered. Beans - frijoles - are a side dish, not part of the main course.

This recipe came to me like many of mine do, with a question. Can beans be used to fill enchiladas without making them dry and unpalatable? The answer is a resounding yes, and the trick is mixing refried beans with your whole ones.

The two together, with enchilada sauce and cheese, make a satisfying filling that has become a house favorite. Best of all, these are delicious as leftovers the next day (packed lunches!) and freeze wonderfully. Since it’s only my husband and I at home, that’s very important.

Cheesy Bean Enchiladas

You can use your favorite cheese for these cheesy bean enchiladas, but I love a mix of extra sharp cheddar and either pepper jack or habanero jack. For the refried beans, I tend to use the vegetarian ones since those with lard are rarely available here. This dish will serve eight, with a side dish or salad.

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 can (15oz or 425g) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
7 oz or 200g extra sharp cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese, grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 can (15oz or 425g) refried beans
1 1/4 cup or 295ml red enchilada sauce (My recipe for the sauce: Click here.)

To assemble:
16 corn tortillas
1 1/4 cup or 295ml enchilada sauce

For topping:
3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheddar and/or pepper jack cheese, grated
3-4 whole jalapeños, sliced - optional
Generous handful sliced black olives -optional

Method
In a large bowl, mix together your pinto beans, cheese, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. In another smaller bowl, stir together the refried beans and the enchilada sauce. This loosens the canned refried beans, making them easier to stir into the dry ingredients.

Pour the saucy beans into the larger bowl and fold until well combined. Set the filling aside.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

To assemble the cheesy bean enchiladas, start by covering the bottom of a large casserole dish with a thin layer of sauce. 

One by one, fold the tortillas in half and fill with 1/16 of the filling.

Lay them single file, slightly overlapping, in the casserole dish.

Cover with the remaining sauce, the cheese for topping and the sliced jalapeños and olives, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling and the cheese is golden.

Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, then cut into portions of more or less two enchiladas each to serve.

Enjoy!

It's almost Cinco de Mayo! Get out your blender for my super easy, always perfect margaritas (or perhaps switch it up with a pomelo version) but don't forget to put enchilada ingredients on your shopping list.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are all sharing enchilada recipes, many using the myriad peppers available from Melissa’s Produce, sent to them with compliments. Make sure to check them out in the links below. Many thanks to our host this month, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Biscoff Swirl Muffins with Biscoff Crumble #MuffinMonday

Never mind plain toast spread with Biscoff cookie butter. Take breakfast or break time to another delicious level with these Biscoff swirl muffins with Biscoff crumble.

I have no idea who first thought of taking the spicy Dutch speculoos cookies and turning them into a spread, but I applaud them. I wouldn’t actually put it on a piece of toast, although I understand many people do, but Biscoff is a great addition to (or topping for) muffins, cakes and cookies. Or fill some sweet dough cinnamon roll style and bake. There are so many uses.

I highly suggest you start with these muffins. Like all muffins made in the traditional muffin manner, they are super easy and they’ll disappear in no time.

This would probably be a good time to say that I am not being paid by the Lotus folks who make Biscoff spread and cookies. I even bought both products myself. Because I like them. I have added Amazon links in the ingredients list, in case you can't find them where you live.

Biscoff Swirl Muffins with Biscoff Crumble

The extra chopped cookies for topping are optional but we loved the crunch. You could also add some nuts or a sprinkle of coarse sugar before baking.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
1 3/4 cups or 218g all purpose flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
2 teaspoons baking power
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/3 cup or 70ml vegetable oil
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 145g biscoff spread

For the (optional) crumble topping:
6 biscoff cookies

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line your 12-cup muffin pan with muffin papers.

Roughly chop the six cookies and set them aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until completely combined.

Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry ingredient bowl and fold until just combined.

Give the Biscoff spread a good stir to loosen it up. If you’ve been keeping in the refrigerator, you can give it a quick zap of 15-20 seconds in a microwave to warm it slightly.

Use a tablespoon to drop dollops of the spread on your batter.

Cut through it all lightly with a knife to swirl the Biscoff spread through the batter. Do not over mix.

Use a spoon or cookie scoop to divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups then top each with the chopped Biscoff cookies and their crumbs.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes in the muffin pan, then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool further.

Enjoy!

Check out the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday bakers have for you today!

• Biscoff Swirl Muffins with Biscoff Crumble from Food Lust People Love
• Jam-Filled Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Olive and Bergamot Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Wild Violet Muffins with Wild Violet Sugar from Farm Fresh Feasts

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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