Butterscotch Pecan Rolls

My sister was visiting from out of town for the last week and for breakfast on Friday I whipped up these rolls. I was having a craving for cinnamon rolls and then found this recipe and had to give it a try. Since I didn't want to actually get up in the morning at 4am to get this started, I made the dough the night before and put it in the fridge. I woke up at my usual time, 5:40am and took it out of the fridge to start rising and went back to bed. I turned the oven on and placed the dough over the oven vent to help speed the raising along. These were relatively simple to whip up and taste great!

Butterscotch Pecan Rolls From Country Cookin'
Basic sweet roll dough (see recipe below)
1/3 cup plus 2 T butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T corn syrup
1/2 cup pecan halves

Roll dough 1/3 inch thick into an oblong, 9"x18". Spread with butter and sprinkle with the white sugar and cinnamon mixed. Roll up tightly in a long roll and seal edge well. Cut into slices about 1" wide. Place rolls in baking dish in which the butter, corn syrup and brown sugar have been melted. Place pecan halves on top of the melted ingredients, rounded side down, before placing slices of dough on top. Cover and let rise until double (35-40 minutes). Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Immediately turn upside down on a large tray. Let pan stay over rolls a minute or so to let butterscotch run down over them.

Basic Sweet Roll Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup melted shortening
3-3 1/2 cups sifted flour (I used bread flour)
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in milk, sugar and salt. Add eggs and shortening and half of the flour. Mix well. Add remaining flour; mix. Turn onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and blistered, adding flour as needed. Round up in greased bowl, bringing greased side up. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Punch down and let rise until almost doubled (45 minutes).

Beer Bread

I love the Tastefully Simple beer bread mixes, but I don't like the $5 or so that it costs to buy the mix. I found this recipe on recipezaar.com and it turned out great! This bread is so yummy hot out of the oven and just as tasty after it has cooled. Such an easy, quick bread to make and it would be a great addition to some piping hot chili or other great soup.

Beer Bread From recipezaar.com
3 cups all purpose flour (use a spoon to measure flour into measuring cup)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz can of beer
1/4 cup melted butter

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together and add the beer. Stir until all the flour is mixed in. Pour the batter into a greased 8x4 loaf pan and pour the melted butter over the top. Bake for about 1 hour until the bread tests done.

Crusty French Bread

It has been unseasonably cold here the last few weeks. It feels like we've just belly flopped into winter with temps in the 30s and snow on the ground. Thankfully, it looks like we might be getting normal temps back this weekend. Yeah!

With the change in weather, there is a definite change in our meals. I've been preparing more casseroles, chili and roasts. Tonight I made some soup, a recipe from my Cooking for a Cure cookbook-Pasta e Fagoili (Look for the recipe here later if you don't have the cookbook). I made this french bread recipe to serve with dinner, fresh and hot from the oven. I use my bread maker quite often to mix up dough, giving me more time for other tasks. I found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook and it looked easy enough to mix up (no kneading required!!). It turned out great! Definitely try this recipe if you don't have a bread machine or even if you do and serve it up fresh with a hot soup or some chili.

Crusty French Bread From Taste of Home
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
1 T shortening, melted (I used canola oil instead)
4 cups flour
cornmeal

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Add sugar, salt, shortening and remaining water; stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until smooth (do not knead). Cover and let rise in warm place for 1 hour or until doubled. Turn onto a floured surface. Divide dough in half; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 10x8" rectangle. Roll up from a long side; pinch to seal. Place seam side down on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal if desired. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. With a sharp knife, make 5 diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 loaves.

Honey Banana Whole Wheat Bread

I made a big batch of raspberry jam the other day and wanted to try some this week. We don't normally buy bread at the store and usually I tend to make more of a quick bread or muffins during the week for breakfasts. I wanted to make more of yeast bread to try my jam on and I found this one which sounded absolutely wonderful. It really turned out great! I used my bread machine to mix the dough and let it raise in there, but then took it out and baked it in the oven. I prefer the loaves that come out of the oven versus the squat loaves from the bread pan. This is a really good, slightly sweet bread machine recipe. Great toasted with jam in the morning or with peanut butter as a sandwich for lunch.

Honey Banana Whole Wheat Bread
1/2 cup warm water
1 T butter or vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
3 T honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour
1 small banana, sliced
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

Add to bread machine in order listed. Run dough cycle. Watch as dough is mixed and add more water or flour as needed to achieve the right dough consistency. Remove when machine beeps and place in greased loaf pan. Let raise for 30 more minutes in warm place. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Delicious!

Zucchini-Honey Bread

Each day I go out to my garden and pick 3-5 zucchini that are perfect for zucchini bread. I've shredded some already and started stocking my freezer for the winter months so we can have zucchini bread all year, but I also make sure I use some fresh in my baking and cooking. I am always looking for new recipes to try and I found this zucchini bread recipe in an old Southern Living cookbook. It turned out really good, especially with some mini chocolate chips added!

Zucchini-Honey Bread From Southern Living

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 T ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine first 5 ingredients; stir in pecans. Combine zucchini and remaining ingredients in separate bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool on wire rack.

Rhubarb Bread

I have not been good about keeping this site updated with new recipes. I've been doing quite a bit of baking and cooking lately, but I've also been doing a lot of gardening and yardwork which has limited my computer time. I will work on adding more new recipes in a more timely manner :)

I had some more rhubarb left to use up and I found this recipe. I didn't have a ton left so the 1 1/2 cups was perfect. This bread was so moist and tasty. It disappeared fast!

Rhubarb Bread From Sparks from the Kitchen

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour milk (I mixed 2 tsp lemon juice with the remaining amount of milk)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb
1/2 cup nuts, chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the above together and pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans (7x5" approximately).

Topping: Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp softened butter. Sprinkle on top of bread. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

With grilling season upon us and many of us getting ready to fire up the grill and enjoy some hamburgers or brats grilled to perfection, what would be better than making our own whole wheat buns? I have not had good success making my own burger buns in the past. Until now, that is. This recipe is from www.momadvice.com and it is delicious and easy to make. Just through all the ingredients in the bread maker and with a little shaping and a little extra rising time, you'll have wonderful homemade buns in no time!

Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

1 cup water
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening (can substitute canola oil instead)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan, select dough setting and press start. When dough has risen enough, the machine will beep. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop. Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 for hot dog buns. Grease a baking sheet. Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6 inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on racks. When ready to use, split buns horizontally.
** These will keep in plastic bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.

Oatmeal Bread

I got this recipe from one of my patients at work. It smelled so wonderful as it was baking in the oven and this is one of the best breads I've ever made. I even made it all by hand instead of trying to use my breadmaker for the kneading. If you've been tempted to try to make your own yeast bread-try this one. It takes a little while to allow the dough to rise, but once it bakes up it is so tasty!

Oatmeal Bread

2 cups boiling water poured over:
1 cup quick oatmeal
1 tsp salt
5 T butter or margarine

Cool mixture until lukewarm. Stir 1 pkg yeast into 1/2 cup warm water. Add 1 cup flour to yeasat mixture and stir well. Set aside. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar to oat mixture and 4 to 5 cups of flour. Add yeast mixture and stir well. Turn out onto floured surface and knead well until smooth and no longer sticky. Place in bowl coated in cooking spray, turn once. Cover with dishtowel and let rise until double in size in a warm place. Punch down and let rest about 5 minutes. Put into loaf pans. Let rise again until light. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees. Makes 2 loaves.

Baked French Toast

I have to do a little catching up, it's been a few days since the last post. I made this french toast this morning for breakfast and it was awesome! I had made some french bread last weekend and had to use it up. It was actually supposed to be started last night, but I didn't think about it until this morning and it still turned out really good. It has a carmelly topping that bakes into it-so yummy! I halved the recipe for 1/2 a loaf of french bread, the originally recipe is for 12 and you can go here for that.



Baked French Toast From Allrecipes.com

1/2 loaf French bread, cut diagonally into 1" slices
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup half and half cream (I didn't have this so I used more milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup and 2 T butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 T and 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup

Butter a 9x13" baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover and refrigerate overnight. (I let sit for about 15-20 minutes, but did not let it sit overnight.)
The next morning, preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

Homemade Baking Mix (AKA Bisquick)

I really like this recipe because it is cheaper than regular bisquick from the store and if you happen to run out of bisquick, it is quick to whip up with ingredients that most people have on hand anyway.

Homemade Baking Mix (AKA Bisquick) From momadvice.com

5 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 T baking powder

Mix all ingredients well until crumbly. Store in an airtight container. Use in any recipe that calls for Bisquick like these Banana Muffin Tops.

Orange Zucchini Bread

I grew a ton of zucchini in the garden this last summer and I really enjoy baking with it. To extend zucchini season, I shredded a bunch of the vegetables and froze them in 2-3 c packages to use to bake with during the winter. I was looking for a different kind of zucchini bread recipe since I tend to make the typical bread recipe or zucchini bread with chocolate. Both are very good, but being me I like to try different things. I found this recipe which includes orange and coconut and decided to give it a try. It turned out great!

Orange Zucchini Bread From Kraft.com

2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 c sugar
1/2 c cooking oil
2 tsp orange peel
3 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c orange juice
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1 c shredded coconut

Grease 2 8x4" loaf pans. Combine the eggs, sugar, oil and orange peel in large bowl. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture and the orange juice alternately to the egg mixture. Stir until just combined. Stir in zucchini and coconut. Spoon into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes until center is set. Cool on wire rack.

Homemade Pizza

Ryan and I love homemade pizza. I made the dough usually and the crust and it goes pretty quickly since I have a bread maker. It is nice to be able to put whatever toppings on that you like and it is an easy way to use up some leftover fresh veggies such as green peppers and onions. I love to add olives too--yum!

Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough from www.momadvice.com

1 1/3 c water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
2 T cornmeal
3 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine, according to manufacturer's settings, and run dough setting. After the machine beeps, roll out the dough. You can roll the dough into 2 9x13" pizzas or into 2 medium pizzas or a large pizza and an order of breadsticks or cheesesticks. Parbake the crust with a drizzle of olive oil on it at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove the crust and add sauce and toppings. If making breadsticks, add your breadsticks at this time. Place into the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Exquisite Pizza Sauce from www.momadvice.com

1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
6 oz warm water
3 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T minced garlic
2 T honey
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried majoram
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients in order listed above making sure to break up any clumps of cheese. Cover the sauce and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Spread sauce over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.