Pizza Crust

I love King Arthur Flour's website. I made the pizza crust the other night and it was a winner.

Here's the link for you.

I wanted a crispy crust so I cooked my crust for the 8 minutes then flipped it over before I added the toppings: carmelized onions, pears, pecans, craisins, feta, and just enough mozzarella to hold everything on. Delicious. Still delicious the next morning, cold.

The girls had pepperoni. Boring, but delicious to them.

P.S. Sometimes I will skip a rising or a resting when making bread...I fail to properly manage my time or I tell myself it doesn't matter, but really, it does. For the crust to stretch to the pan right, you have to press it out a little, let it rest, press it out a little, let it rest, and so on until it keeps its shape. Be patient! and the bread will be your reward.

Oatmeal Bread

I found a recipe for delicious looking oatmeal molasses rolls, and in the intro, the blog author posted that she wasn't an experienced bread maker and she had made a few modifications to the recipe (the original was James Beard). So I made the rolls which had great flavor but were dense and hard little rocks. When will I learn???? After my roll failure I googled the James Beard Oatmeal Molasses Bread and gave the concept a second attempt with the un-polluted recipe- it was a delicious success.

So, although I'm a confessed recipe manipulator, take my advice and leave this one as is.

Oatmeal Bread
by James Beard

2 packages active dry yeast (or 5 tsp)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup lukewarm water (110-115 degrees)
1/3 cup butter
1 cup boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup molasses
1 T salt
1 egg
5-5 1/2 cups bread flour (I used white)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup lukewarm water. Let stand for 10 minutes then stir well. Place butter and boiling water in bowl of mixer and stir until completely melted. Add rolled oats, molasses and salt. Mix thoroughly and cool to lukewarm (don't skip this- you want the oats to dissolve a little). Add the yeast mixture to the oat mixture, followed by the egg, then flour. (Dough should pull away from sides but still stick to the bottom of mixing bowl).

Put the dough in a greased mixing bowl, turning so all sides are greased, then cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Turn out the chilled dough on a floured work surface (I skip the flour and lightly spray my counter with cooking spray). Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake bread until loaves are nicely browned (here's my only point of contention with the recipe: It said the loaves would take an hour to cook, and mine were done in 42 minutes. Be advised.). Remove bread from pans and cool on a rack, brushing tops with butter if desired.

To my friends who are SAF yeast users (like me): I did switch up the dough making just a hair since I don't proof my yeast: I heated both cups of water to boiling and poured it over the butter, sugar, molasses, salt, and oats, then cooled to lukewarm. Then I added the yeast, egg, and flour.

Cheddar Biscuits

I continue to profess my love for Angel Biscuits. However, sometimes when I fail to plan ahead I need a pinch hitter.

Cheddar Biscuits
2 cups flour
2 T sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together flour, sugar, powder, salt, and cayenne, if using. (I left the salt out because I was using salted butter.) Cut in butter to dry mixture until butter is in very small pieces. Gently stir in cheese, then add buttermilk. Stir lightly with fork or lightly knead with your hands. Be gentle with biscuit dough and mix it as little as possible. When dough is combined, roll out and cut as desired. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment) for 12-15 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

Preheat oven to 325.

Whisk together:
3 eggs
1 cup oil (I did half oil/half applesauce)
2 cups sugar (I used half white/half brown)
1-2 tsp vanilla

Add:
3 cups flour (white or wheat is fine)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon

Mix lightly then add:
2 cups grated zucchini

Divided into two greased loaf pans and bake for 55-60 minutes (mine took 58). Let cool for 5 minutes, remove from pans, then cool completely on a rack.

Banana Pina Colada Muffins

Banana Pina Colada Muffins

(from King Arthur Flour)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2-3/4 teaspoon coconut flavoring/extract

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 to 1 cup diced dried pineapple (do not use canned- it is too juicy for these muffins)

1/3 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin cups, and grease if desired.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and coconut flavor.

Add the bananas, honey, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt, beating until smooth. Stir in the flour, then the dried fruit. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups; sprinkle each muffin with coconut.

Bake the muffins for 25-28 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and serve warm or room temperature.

A note from me: I had some freeze dried pineapple in my food storage, so I rehydrated a little for this recipe. I measured out the 3/4 cup of pineapple, and then I poured just enough orange juice over it to cover it, and let it soak while I assembled the rest of the muffin batter. When the time came to add in the pineapple, I drained off the remaining OJ and added the pineapple as directed. I also made 8 mini-loaves instead of 12 muffins.

Soft Pretzels

Kate wanted to make a treat for our regular babysitter today, and we chose pretzels. I, of course, will thank King Arthur Flour for the recipe. To help me rationalize away the ill effects of using an entire stick of butter for 16 pretzels, I subbed in half whole wheat flour. Tasty- these are soft and chewy.

Buttered Pretzels

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pour all ingredients except flour into the bowl of a mixer. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, letting mixer run continuously. After adding the last half cup, let mixer run for 5 minutes to knead dough. The sides of the bowl should be clean and the dough should be smooth. Flour the dough, place in a gallon size zippered bag and let rest at room temp for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment then lightly spray with cooking spray (yes, both. This are sticky suckers.). Transfer dough to lightly greased work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Let dough rest while combining 1/2 cup warm water and 2 T baking soda in a shallow dish (I use a pie plate). Whisk to dissolve baking soda as much as possible- I can't get mine to completely dissolve but give it a good effort. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, shape into pretzel shapes, and dip in baking soda mixture (I swirl it around to get a good coating). Place on baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Allow to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes. Brush with 3 T melted butter- use it all up and don't be stingy.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

My kids are the biggest food wasters and it drives me NUTS. I thought I might flip out yesterday when I noticed that both girls had pulled a banana off of the bunch, opened it, and then set it back down on the counter, completely untouched. "As God is my witness, I will never waste a banana again!" is what I thought. I went digging through my recipe binder to find something (ANYTHING!) that would use 2 bananas, and came across this muffin recipe from, of course, Cooking Light.

Banana Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Streusel:
6 tablespoons regular oats
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare the muffins, lightly spoon whole wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; fold in walnuts. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups.

To prepare streusel, combine oats and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Blend with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle streusel over batter. (It works out to 1 T of streusel per muffin). Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

It seemed to me that every time I purchased a bunch of bananas, we would eat them until there were only 3 left, and then all of a sudden, Bruce wouldn't touch them. I thought this a mysterious phenomenon until I sorted out that Bruce knew that banana bread takes 3 bananas, and he was leaving them in hopes that I whip some up.

With calculation like that on his part, he definitely deserves the best banana bread I can make, and here's my favorite recipe:

Buttermilk Banana Bread
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda
1 cup nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Combine oil, sugar, bananas, eggs, and buttermilk. Whisk in dry ingredients until combined. Divide batter into greased bread pans (I find this recipe makes about 1 regular loaf PLUS 4 mini-loaves, or I divide the mixture evenly between two loaf pans. It's just a little too much to fit in a single bread pan). Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (about 25 min for mini-loaves). Let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove loaves to cooling rack.

The other reason I like this recipe is to do with my vanity. The loaves come out a beautiful blond color with none of those weird brown flecks that banana bread is so frequently afflicted with.

French Baguettes

This is Bruce's favorite bread that I make (except for cinnamon rolls). He should thank his sister for introducing me to this recipe. I always double this so that I have leftovers for French Toast the next morning.

French Baguettes
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour (high gluten/"Better for Bread" variety)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

If you have a bread maker, put these ingredients in the pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer and use the dough setting. For everyone else (like me, who prefers her mixer):
Place water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a mixer. Begin running mixer with dough hook attachment; add the salt. With mixer running continuously, add the flour 1 cup at a time, allowing each to incorporate before adding the next. When all the flour has been added in, let the mixer run for an additional 5 minutes or so. (If you are hand kneading, do so for 10 minutes. I hope you have something good to watch on TV while you are at it.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 16x12 inch rectangle. The measurements don't need to be exact, but really try to get the shape right. Cut dough in half, creating (2) 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning on the 12" side (you want a long and skinny loaf). Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place loaves seam side down 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet (as usual, I prefer parchment paper). Make deep diagonal slashes (about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch) across loaves every two inches. Cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes, until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix egg yolk with 1 T water; brush over tops of loaves. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

***A note from me: When I double this recipe, I still just make two BIG loaves instead of 4 little skinny ones, and I stick closer to the 40 minute rise time and the 25 minute baking time.

Meal Braid

The Bruce and I have a little inside joke about "Get Rich Quick" infomercials, and that's that they can never quite explain how you lay your hands on the seed money that is supposed to start you on your path to riches. Every time we see one, we laugh and say, "First, you take your million dollars..."

This recipe is a little like that, because, "First, you take a loaf of homemade bread dough..."
It can be any kind of dough (try this one), even a thawed out Rhoad's loaf or something. I just find that while we love homemade bread, we also like a little variety, so I was really happy to learn this handy skill at Enrichment one night.

So. Roll out your bread dough thin enough to fill a cookie sheet. Here's a tip: I don't roll out my doughs in flour, I use cooking spray (like Pam.) I use my mad skills trying to get the consistency of my dough just perfect, so I don't like to jeopardize that by accidentally incorporating too much flour when shaping the dough. Spray away, then! Just a couple shots on your counter, then on your dough, then roll away. Once your dough is in the pan, cut strips down each side about an inch a part. (I'm using a 4" plastic paint scraper. It's just the right length and doesn't scratch the pans. Get one at Walmart or Home Depot for less than a dollar.)

Then pile whatever you want (Read: LEFTOVERS!) down the middle.

This one has chive and onion cream cheese, cooked chicken, and Italian cheese blend. You can use whatever your family likes- cold cuts and cheeses of any kind, pizza fillings, or I've grilled steak, onions, and peppers and made a "Philly Braid." Also tasty are dessert varieties: think cream cheese, jam, and a little powdered sugar glaze on top.

Fold the strips over to the opposite side, pressing it in a little. Alternate sides for the braid effect.

When it's all braided, pinch the ends together and tuck them under a little so they look nice, then let rise for a few minutes (or skip it, like I always do), and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

Lydia's Favorite Bread Recipe

Lydia is my neighbor, and her sister owns a bakery in Ohio. This is her recipe. I have been on the search for an easy wheat bread recipe that is reliable and moist and I think this one fits the bill. Disclaimer: Do not attempt this recipe in anything but a Bosch mixer. If you are using anything else, cut the recipe in half or you will be in the market for a new mixer, catch my drift?

Favorite Bread
6 cups hot water
3/4 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 T salt
3 T yeast (again, buy SAF yeast. That is all.)
12-15 cups flour, wheat or white (High gluten "Better for Bread" flours are your best bet. For those in the Utah county area: Lehi Roller Mills Turkey Flour. You can get it at the Mill or Costco.)

Combine water, oil, brown sugar, salt, and 6 cups of flour, mixing well. Add yeast then the remaining 6-9 cups of flour. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, letting each one fully incorporate before adding the next. Add flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl but still sticks to the bottom. Let mixer run for an additional 8-10 minutes (if you are kneading by hand, knead for 16-20 minutes and then send me a picture of your super buff arms.) Shape into loaves, let rise for 30 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 4-5 loaves.

Cornbread

I should have a blog completely dedicated to recipes my friend Janet has given me. On second thought, SHE should write that blog. At any rate, my search for delicious cornbread ended with this recipe from her. P.S. If your comment is going to be something along the lines of "...there's just so many steps..." then you might as well keep making that dry, crusty cornbread you've been eating all your life. The work here is worth it.

Cornbread

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup). Let it cool while you complete the following:

Whisk together in a mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

In a blender or food processor combine:
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
Process about 10 or 20 seconds. There will still be little pieces of corn.

Make a well (a big dent, for the uninitiated) in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Fold together just until combined. Fold in the cooled (but still liquid) butter, just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX. Pour into 8x8 greased baking dish and bake until golden brown, 25-35 minutes. The cornbread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

I need to call my neighbor, Kathleen B, and give her a big hug for this recipe.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz. lemon yogurt (or plain yogurt and 1/2 tsp lemon extract)
1 egg
1/4 cup soft butter
1 tsp lemon peel
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter (again, with the pastry cutter. Your investment is paying off.). Add yogurt, egg, lemon peel, and blueberries. Mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated. (If you overmix, your scones will be flat and tough. Like me.) Drop by large tablespoons-full onto greased cookie sheet (I used parchment.). Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Drizzle with lemon glaze from below.

Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon peel
Whisk together and drizzle on scones when cooled.

Angel Biscuits

I got this one from Cooking Light, September 2007. They are so light and fluffy, and the best part is that you can make the dough hours before you want the biscuits and then just roll them out when you are ready for them.

ANGEL BISCUITS:
2 1/4 tsp yeast (I won't lie, I round up to 1 Tablespoon. Laziness, I guess.)
1/2 cup warm water
5 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups lowfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter, divided

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups; level with a knife (don't pack it in or you will be sorry.)
3. Combine flour, sugar, powder, soda, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles a course meal. (Burke- go buy a pastry cutter/blender. They are anywhere that sells housewares, even Walmart. It should only set you back 5 or 6 bucks and you'll be using it again later when I tell you how to make pie crust.) Add yeast mixture and buttermilk to flour mixture- stir just until moist. (Seriously. Just until moist. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough. It will look a little lumpy, and that's okay.)
4. Cover and chill anywhere from 4-24 hours.

When you are ready for some hot and tasty rolls, preheat the oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface, knead it just a couple of times, then roll it out to about a 1" thickness. It doesn't need to be exact- leave your measuring tape in the garage. Cut with a round cookie cutter or drinking glass and place on cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted better, bake for 12 or 13 minutes. Yields about 2 dozen biscuits.

A word about yeast: Save yourself some stress and buy SAF instant yeast. It comes in a red, white, and blue vacuum packed bag. Store it in a tupperware in the freezer. SAF yeast is more tolerant to heat, so you don't need to worry about "killing" the yeast with water that is too hot.

And now a word about buttermilk: Just go ahead and buy a quart of it. It lasts forever and I use it all the time.