Bread Maker Attempt #1: White Bread

For Christmas I received a Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker and tonight I gave it it's first try.  Nate of course had to help and luckily it's soooo easy.  All you do is put the ingredients in and press some buttons and wait for some bread.  I know I'll need to tweak some things, but first I just want to make a run through the recipes that look the most interesting.  I eventually want to make a good sandwhich bread, but I know that is going to take a lot of trial and error.  This is going to be great for our New Year's detox.  I'm picturing some fresh baked bread and homemade chicken noodle soup in my future.

 Nate helping me bake.

 The viewing window on the bread maker.

The end result.

Yummy Carrot Muffins

I've been really looking into baking lately.  I'd much rather Nate was eating a homemade muffin or breakfast cookie for breakfast than a store bought bagel.  I looked at a bunch of carrot muffin/cupcake recipes and compiled my own recipe.  These muffins could easily be morphed into cupcakes with a cream cheese muffin on top.  I used lactose free milk.  Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup crushed pineapple
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with liners or spray with non-stick oil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In another bowl combine the maple syrup, pineapple, applesauce, egg whites, milk, vinegar, and vanilla until well combined.  I used an electric mixer.  Add the pineapple mixture to the dry ingredients mix then stir in the carrots until evenly mixed.
4. Scoop batter into muffin tins to make 24 muffins.  Bake until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.  For me it was 15 minutes.

Makes: 24