Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Recipe found HERE
Ingredients

• For the Bread
• 8 TBS (1 Stick) Butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 2 Beaten Large Eggs
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• Abut 2 (1-1/2 Cup) Over ripe Mashed Bananas
• For the Swirl Mix
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3 TBS Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Cinnamon

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a Loaf Pan with non-stick spray
3. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix just until combined.
6. Fold in the mashed bananas and mix until incorporated.
7. Pour 1/3 banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of cinnamon/sugar swirl mixture over top. Repeat two more times, ending with the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick tester comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from pan, slice, and serve warm with butter AND ENJOY!

Stromboli

Ingredients:

I pkg of Mozzarella Cheese (Per stromboli you make)

Pizza toppings (Pepperoni, red pepper, sausage, and fresh basil is what I use)

1 c pizza/spaghetti sauce for dipping if desired.  *Do not put it in the stromboli*

Herb Butter

1 stick margarine

1 t garlic powder

1 t chives (I just use italian seasoning instead of the individual herbs)

1/2/t oregano

3 T parm cheese

Pizza Dough

1 Loaf:

1 1/8 t yeast

3/4 c warm water

1 3/4 c flour (add a little more if dough is sticky)

2/3 t salt

Italian seasoning (Optional)

2 Loaves:

2 1/4 t yeast

1 1/8 c warm water

2 3/4 c flour

2 t salt

Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to *Warm* (Turn it off after it heats up) Add yeast to 1/4 c warm water.  Let sit until starts to bubble.  Mix together dry ingredients and  once yeast mixture is ready add it and the rest of the water to the dry ingredients and mix/knead until dough forms soft round ball.  Add more flour if it is too sticky.  I just through everything into my kitchen aid and mix it until it comes together.  

Brush an oven safe bowl with oil and place dough in bowl.  Roll dough around so all sides are covered with dough.  MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS OFF once it gets warm.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven. Let sit in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until it doubles in size.  

Whiles dough is rising, Melt butter and mix in seasonings and parm cheese.  

Punch dough down and roll out into a rectangle or oval.  Down the center, spread some of the herb butter on the dough.  Place half the toppings down the center.  Cover with 1/2 bag of cheese. top with remaining pizza toppings and  then top with remaining cheese.  Cut slits in the dough up to where the toppings start and braid as shown below.

Transfer onto a jelly roll pan.  Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining herb butter on the braided dough to cover the whole top of the stromboli.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  

Dutch Oven Bread

If you have a dutch oven, you should definitely try this. I did and it's amazing! If you don't have a dutch oven, you can use anything with a lid that can handle a 450 degree oven. A casserole dish with glass lid would work, but I've never tried it so I don't know if it would be the same.

This recipe and pictures came from Simply So Good

I must begin by saying where the recipe originated, if in fact it originated anywhere...really.  I think bread has been baked for centuries using flour, salt, water, and yeast or other form of leavening.  As far as I know the recipe for "No-Knead" bread dough was printed in the New York times.  I don't know what month, day, or year.  The originator is Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery.  That's all I know.  I found the recipe in a booklet using enamel cast iron pots.  At the time I posted the recipe I had no Jim Lahey even existed or I would have definitely given the man full credit for this wonderful bread and idea.  That said....

Remember before beginning to create, that this bread is highly forgiving.  Don't stress over the fact that you haven't proofed the yeast or that you're not giving the dough a second rising time.  It's super duper sticky and will stick to your hands, feet and hair or anything else it comes in contact with.  Play with the recipe for your location.  Altitudes differ and that can affect the bread.  This recipe is not your ordinary bread recipe.  Just chill and follow the instructions

Breathe.  

You do NOT have to have an enamel covered cast iron pot. You can use anything with a lid that can take the heat.  I use a 5.5 quart cast iron pot.  My oval pots are about 7 quarts.

You DO NOT need to oil the pot. At least not in a enamel covered cast iron or regular cast iron pot.  I have never had problems with the bread sticking.

In a large mixing bowl add 3 cups white unbleached flour.

To the flour add 1 3/4 teaspoon salt (I use kosher I like it) and 1/2 teaspoon rapid rise or instant yeast.  

Note:  Regular active yeast can be used in place of the instant or rapid rise yeast.  It will need to be activated in 1/4 cup warm water.  Stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  However, most of the comments I have received state that the rapid raise works the best.  You choose.

Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together.

Add 1 1/2 cups water. Mix in the water.  

That's it!  The dough will look like a shaggy mess.  That's ok. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set for 12 - 18 hours on the counter top.  DO NOT REFRIGERATE.  This is NOT optional.  It takes that much time to proof the dough.  The reason why you need a large bowl, is because the dough will start to rise.

After 12 hours the dough will look like this.  It's pretty sticky, but that's ok it's supposed to be.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  As soon as it has heated to 450 degrees place your pot with the lid in the oven and pre-heat the pot for 30 minutes.

Right after you put the pan in the oven to preheat, dump the dough out onto a HEAVILY floured surface.  I love my pastry cloth.  Use it for everything.

Now, please disregard that this dough has stuff in it.  I'll get to that later.  I just forgot to take a picture of the plain version.  This dough has also been doubled so it's twice the size of a single batch.  After you dump the dough on to a floured surface shape it into a round ball.   This will rest for 30 minutes while the pan is heating.

After you shape the dough cover it with the plastic wrap that was over the bowl.  Yes, I know I have two loaves of bread.  It's because I doubled the recipe.  You can do that.

Remove the pot from the oven and carefully pick up the ball of dough and drop it into the pot.  You may want to flour your hands, because the dough is going to stick like crazy.  Remember the pan is now 450 degrees hot!  Be careful.  Put the lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 30 minutes.

I am baking two loaves at once.  Please notice how used my Le Creuset pots are.  Everything is my kitchen is heavily used.  If you have any advice as to how I can clean my babies, please let me know. 

Close the oven door and bake for 30 minutes.  Wait until you see the next picture.  This will blow you away!

Holy cow!  Can you believe how gorgeous that is.  When you put the dough into the pan, it looks like a shaggy mess and when you take of the lid, you have a masterpiece.  Remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. 

This is the finished product.  Remove from the oven and carefully remove bread from the pot.  Remember the pot is HOT.  I use a couple of hot pads and carefully pull out the bread.

Place the bread on a cooling rack until completely cooled.  That's it!  

You can try different variations of this recipe by adding whatever you think would be good.  I add cheddar cheese, or different herbs like rosemary or italian seasonings.  You can also visit the blog link above to see some of the variations she tried.  They are a little fancy for my taste but you might enjoy them!

Zucchini Muffins

No photo, but trust me, they're good!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix egg, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in another bowl; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in zucchini and walnuts. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full.
3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Recipe found HERE

Snickerdoodle Muffins Snickerdoodle Muffins

Snickerdoodle Muffins
recipe found HERE

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cup sour cream
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling*

1.Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.

2.In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and nutmeg.

3.Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally.

4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place muffin into muffin tin. Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20-22 minutes in a 350F oven or until they are golden brown.

*The original recipe calls for 1 cup sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon, but this was way way too much for me. I ended up dumping maybe more than half of it.

Pretzel Rolls

Pretzel Rolls
The Dough
6 - 7 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups milk, slightly warmed
1 cup water, slightly warmed

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

The "Bath"
7 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons baking soda

In a small container, mix yeast with warmed milk and let rest for 10 minutes.Whisk 5 3/4 cups of flour and teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. 

Add canola oil and warmed water to yeast mixture. Pour into bowl with flour and salt. Knead in the bowl until dough is mostly smooth. Only add more flour if your dough cannot be easily handled. The dough will be somewhat stiff. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and put in a warm place to rise for one hour.

Punch down dough and knead in bowl for one minute. Cut dough into 15 pieces. (Cut more pieces if you would like smaller size rolls.) Form balls by pulling the dough under. Place on a well-greased surface. Let the dough balls rise for 15 minutes.

While the dough balls are rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get the pretzel "bath" ready. In a large pot, bring water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil. Plunge three dough balls into the water and let them "poach" for 1 minute on each side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a well-greased baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut 2-3 lines across each roll and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pretzels are a rich brown.  These are best eaten the same day they are made.


This recipe found HERE

Pumpkin Muffins

source

There's only two ingredients. That's right, just the cake mix and the pumpkin (15 oz.). No oil, no eggs, no water, nothing else. The end result is an amazing, incredibly moist muffin/cupcake with a hint of pumpkin flavor. 

It felt kind of strange not to add any liquids to the mix but it came together nicely into a thick batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Try with Spice cake or chocolate cake mix!

Recipe found HERE

Cheddar Bay Bisquits

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

by LettucePray

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Need to use up some zucchini? Grate a small zucchini, about 3/4 cup. Strain the grated zucchini in a cheesecloth or some paper towels to get rid of the excess moisture. Add the grated zucchini to the biscuit batter when you add the cheese and milk.


Recipe found HERE

Cranberry Lemon Muffins

½ cup plain yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
pinch salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup oil
2 cups fresh cranberries

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix the yogurt, sugar, salt and eggs together in a large bowl.  Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir together until moistened.

3.  Add oil and mix, mix, mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous.  Fold in cranberries.

4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean.

Lemon Simple Syrup

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In a small saucepan, heat the lemon juice and sugar together gently until all the sugar dissolves.  Brush over muffins.

Easy Dinner Rolls

EASY DINNER ROLLS

www.RecipeGirl.com

1 cup warm water (105° F. to 115° F)
2 packages active dry yeast
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
4 to 4½ cups (or so) all-purpose flour
additional melted butter
1. Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let the mixture stand until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. If it does not become foamy, your yeast is probably old and not active- it’s best to throw it out and start again.
2. With a wooden spoon, stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is too stiff to mix (some flour may not be needed). The dough should no longer be sticky. Place round ball of dough into a new bowl that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or up to 4 days.
3. Grease a 13×9″ baking pan. Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide dough into 24 equal-size pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth round ball; place balls in even rows (4 rows by 6 rows) in the prepared pan. Cover with a dish towel and let dough balls rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or so). You can leave them to rise longer if you need to.
4. Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake until rolls are golden brown and cooked through, 15-20 minutes. If they are browning too quickly on top, tent foil over the rolls until finished baking. Brush warm rolls with melted butter, if desired. Break rolls apart to serve.
Servings: 24
Cooking Tips
*In this recipe, don’t use quick-rising dry yeast.
*Before adding the yeast mixture, use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the water (it’s important that it’s in the temperature range indicated)
*These rolls may be baked early in the day and re-warmed when ready to serve.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

Now, I haven't made this yet, but it has a 5 star rating on AllRecipes.com and its been rated by 2,716 people.  This is definitely the recipe I'm trying next time I make banana bread!

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

3 cups white sugar

3 eggs

6 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 (16 ounce) container sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2.	In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
3.	Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Apple Crumb Muffins

Topping:
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped English walnuts


Muffins:
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1  large egg
1 1/2 tsp  vanilla
2 1/2 c.  flour
1/2 tsp  baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp  salt
3/4 tsp  ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 c. buttermilk
1 1/4 c.  chopped English walnuts
2 1/2 c. apple, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces

All you do:
For topping: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove pan from the heat and add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir with a rubber scraper, pressing when necessary, until smooth.
Add flour and mix until well-blended and pasty.
Fold in chopped walnuts; set aside.

For muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, oil, applesauce, egg and vanilla until smooth.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Stir oil mixture into flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in walnuts. Fold in apples, mixing until just combined.
Spoon into greased muffin cups, filling to almost full. Break up the topping mixture with your fingers into medium–sized pieces. Sprinkle the topping pieces over the muffin batter evenly.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and tops spring back.