Ciabatta

Last night at the Bowens we were watching a show on food network that had some amazing looking sandwiches on ciabatta. So...tonight we are making this.

Makes 2 loaves


Two tablespoons of nonfat milk powder can be used in place of the liquid milk; increase the amount of water in the dough to 1 cup. As you make this bread, keep in mind that the dough is wet and very sticky. The key to manipulating it is working quickly and gently; rough handling will result in flat, tough loaves. When possible, use a large rubber spatula or bowl scraper to move the dough. If you have to use your hands, make sure they are well floured. Because the dough is so sticky, it must be prepared in a stand mixer. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack. The bread will keep for up to 2 days, well wrapped and stored at room temperature. To recrisp the crust, place the unwrapped bread in a 450-degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes. The bread will keep frozen for several months wrapped in foil and placed in a large zipper-lock bag. Thaw the bread at room temperature and recrisp using the instructions above.


Ingredients
Biga
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast 1/2 cup water (4 ounces), at room temperature
Dough
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt 3/4 cup water (6 ounces), at room temperature
1/4 cup milk (2 ounces), at room temperature (see note)
Instructions
1. FOR THE BIGA: Combine flour, yeast, and water in medium bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees) overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours).

2. FOR THE DOUGH: Place biga and dough ingredients in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed until roughly combined and shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute; scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Continue mixing on medium-low speed until dough becomes uniform mass that collects on paddle and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 6 minutes. Change to dough hook and knead bread on medium speed until smooth and shiny (dough will be very sticky), about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

3. Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with nonstick cooking spray; fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough six more times (total of eight turns). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes longer. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees at least 30 minutes before baking.

4. Cut two 12- by 6-inch pieces of parchment paper and liberally dust with flour. Transfer dough to liberally floured counter, being careful not to deflate completely. Following photos 6 through 9 above, liberally flour top of dough and divide in half. Turn 1 piece of dough so cut side is facing up and dust with flour. With well-floured hands, press dough into rough 12- by 6-inch shape. Fold shorter sides of dough toward center, overlapping them like business letter to form 7- by 4-inch loaf. Repeat with second dough piece. Gently transfer each loaf seam-side down to parchment sheets, dust with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Let loaves sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (surfaces of loaves will develop small bubbles).

5. Slide parchment with loaves onto inverted, rimmed baking sheet or pizza peel. Using floured fingertips, evenly poke entire surface of each loaf to form 10- by 6-inch rectangle; spray loaves lightly with water. Carefully slide parchment with loaves onto baking stone using jerking motion. Bake, spraying loaves with water twice more during first 5 minutes of baking time, until crust is deep golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into centers of loaves registers 210 degrees, 22 to 27 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, discard parchment, and cool loaves to room temperature, about 1 hour, before slicing and serving.

Monkey Bread

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of Cooks Country TV



KeiLani made this last night. It was yummy. Lani says he likes it better than cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients
For the Dough
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened, plus 2 tablespoons melted
1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package rapid-rise yeast or instant yeast
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons table salt
For the Brown Sugar Coating
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
For the Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Instructions
For the Dough:

1. Adjust oven rack to medium-low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Butter Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Set aside.

2. In large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook, (see below for making Monkey Bread without a mixer). Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball. Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.

For the Sugar Coating:

3. While dough is rising, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in bowl. Place melted butter in second bowl. Set aside.

To Form the Bread:

4. Gently remove dough from bowl, and pat into rough 8-inch square. Using bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces. (See photos 1 and 2 on page 9.)

5. Following photo 3 on page 9, roll each dough piece into a ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. Roll in brown sugar mixture, then, following photo 4 on page 9, layer balls in Bundt pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.

6. Cover Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.

7. Remove pan from oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

For the glaze:

8. While bread cools, whisk confectioners' sugar and milk in small bowl until lumps are gone. Using whisk, drizzle glaze over warm monkey bread, letting it run over top and sides of bread. Serve warm.


Monkey Bread Without a Mixer:

In step 2, mix flour and salt in large bowl. Make well in flour, then add milk mixture to well. Using wooden spoon, stir until dough becomes shaggy and is difficult to stir. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and begin to knead, incorporating shaggy scraps back into dough. Knead until dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes. Shape into taut ball and proceed as directed.

Crescent Rolls

Preheat oven to 400, 20 minutes before rolls are ready to bake.

1/2 c milk
1/3 c sugar (I half honey half sugar)
1 t salt
1 c butter
3 T yeast
1/2 c warm water
2 eggs
4 1/4 c flour

-scald the milk and add the sugar, salt, and butter (cool to lukewarm)
-dissolve yeast in water.
-Add milk mixture to yeast mixture, eggs and half the flour and beat until smooth.
-Add in the rest of the flour and mix to make a soft dough
-Knead either by hand for ten minutes or in a machine with a dough hook for 4-5
-let dough rise for one hour (covered)
-Divide the dough into quarters and shape them into four circles each about 1/8 of an inch.
-Cut the circles into eight wedge each and roll them up forming crescent rolls
-Cover and let them rise about an hour and then bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Rosemary Bread

2 1/2 t yeast
2 cups water
1 T sugar
2 t salt
4 cups flour
Fresh Rosemary
Melted Butter
Sea Salt

-Put the yeast, water, sugar, salt and some rosemary (you can use fresh or dried --the flavors are different but both are good) and swirl just until mixed
- Add four cups of flour and mix until all of the flour is combined (do not knead)
-Let rise in mixing bowl for one hour
-Using wet hands (dough should be really sticky) shape the dough into two round loaves on a greased cookie sheet
-Let raise an additional hour
-Melt some butter (about 2 T) and brush over loaves and sprinkle loaves with sea salt and more rosemary
-Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 375 for an additional 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Texas Flour Tortillas

A couple weeks ago my husband took me to dinner at "On the Border".  LOVE that place!  I had the Carne Asada Tacos and they were divine.  My favorite part is the thick flour tortillas and I've been craving them ever since.  Brittany should be very proud of me for two reasons:

1.  I'm posting a recipe on the blog and...

 2.  I gave into my craving this afternoon, found a recipe to try and satisfy the craving, made something from SCRATCH, and made a huge mess of my kitchen in the process.  I'm not normally a "from scratch" kinda girl, and I'm DEFINITELY not a "make ANY type of mess while cooking" girl either!  If I have a craving and it requires effort...I usually just eat chocolate instead. 

BUT, I will admit that today it was worth it to step outside of my comfort zone and be a little more like Brittany.  Worth it enough to even share the recipe ;)

I found this recipe on HERE on homesicktexan.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.

Slowly add the warm milk.

Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.

Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.

Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.

While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.

Makes eight tortillas.

Jandee's Pumpkin Muffins

Beat 5 eggs.
Add:
1 1/3 cup oil
16 oz pumpkin pure
2 c flour (I've used whole wheat too and its great)
1 c sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t baking soda
1 3 oz package of instant vanilla pudding

Mix until creamy. (optional) Add in a couple handfuls of chocolate chips (lets be honest this usually isn't optional for me, I love pumpkin & chocolate chips, but really the muffins are still fabulous without them).

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Makes two dozen.

**If I want to make these as cupcakes instead of muffins I usually add in 1/2 cup more of sugar and another package of vanilla pudding, it just makes them sweeter and a bit more "cakey" instead of dense.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday I tried a new cinnamon roll recipe (because it looked yummy - and sometimes I just do that, make recipes on a whim because they look yummy) I found the recipe here on My Kitchen Cafe.
I have the following to say about it:

If I were ever to open a restaurant and sell cinnamon rolls, these would be the cinnamon rolls I would sell.
The. End.

photo from My Kitchen Cafe as well - check her out, she has AMAZING recipes

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
from A. Marilyn

Rolls:
½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
6+ cups flour

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not overflour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. (The dough is very delicate - and beautiful) Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls.

*Freezable Recipe: After shaping the rolls and placing them on the baking sheet, cover with lightly greased saran wrap and a layer of tin foil. Store in the freezer. The night before you want to serve them take out the rolls and put them in the refrigerator. Let them thaw in the refrigerator. Take them out about 8-9 hours after being in the refrigerator and let them rise until doubled. Bake according to the recipe. (If you have less time, you can take the rolls out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature on the counter - about 4 hours, then let rise until doubled).

Artisan Bread

This recipe makes four 1 pound loaves, although I usually double it and make eight for one week -- however be aware that you must have at least a 5 quart mixer bowl to use your mixer for the double recipe.

Ingredients:
3 c lukewarm water
1 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T kosher salt
6 1/2 cups of flour (I only use 6 cups as I live in an arid climate)
cornmeal for the pizza peel (or you can just use the back of a smooth pan)

Instructions:
Dump water into the mixer. Add yeast & sat with mixing paddle going slowly. Immediately add your flour. Do not sift the flour just scoop it and level it off with a butter knife. Mix until the flour is incorporated. DO NOT KNEAD. Promptly dump the dough into a large bowl that has been sprayed with Pam. The dough will be extremely sticky. Cover with Saran Wrap and let rise about 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen put the bowl in the refrigerator. Here the dough will keep for up to 10 days. Each day, about an hour before you want to serve dinner you should cut off a grapefruit size piece of dough. With floured hands simply shape the dough into a round boule. Don't handle for more than 30 seconds, you don't want to knead this. Put this ball on your peel (or other flat surface) that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Let raise for 40 minutes. After the first 20 minutes you should start preheating your oven to 450 with a baking stone placed on the middle rack and an empty broiler tray below it. After the additional 20 minutes, you should dust the ball with some flour, slash the top with a sharp knife in some pretty design and place the dough on the stone. Immediately dump 1 cup of water into the broiler tray and close the oven (this water helps give your crust that wonderful crispy crustiness). Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy the amazingness.

Easy White or Wheat or White/Wheat Bread

I usually make fresh bread on Tuesdays. Recently this has been my favorite Tuesday recipe. This recipe makes four loaves, but it is difficult to make if you don't have a 6 quart mixer. It is very easy to halve and make two loaves in any regular size mixer.

In your mixer bowl place:

6 cups of hot water
3 T of yeast
2/3 cup of honey

Stir for 30 seconds and then let stand for five minutes. Add the following ingredients in order while stirring with the paddle attachment.
2/3 cup oil
2 T of salt
1-2 t of dough enhancer (optional)

Switch your attachment to the kneading dough hook and add 12-15 cups of either whole wheat or white flour or any combination ( I typically do half & half). Knead for eight minutes and then cover the bowl and let dough raise for 15 minutes.

Place dough on floured surface, briefly knead and shaped into loaves. Let raise.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

French Bread Rolls

So here's the deal...

I should be cleaning my house, prepping for the onslaught of piano lessons.

Yeah... I'm not.

And here's why:

you should go make these

now.

seriously now!

(and then again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...)

and then you should dream about them.

really.

make them.

now.

go.

now.

(you can send me your thank you cards later.)

French Bread Rolls
adapted from allrecipes.com and found here as well (which is where I got the pic)

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth (or greased saran wrap), and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

For that nice french bread crust (which I love) Take a squirt bottle and mist the inside of your oven with water a couple times during the first 5 minutes of baking time.

Aagh! I'm in love!

(here's the deal. I'm not a roll/bread person. Really, I'm not. But these...oh heavens. I am a believer.)

Pantry Secrets: How to make Bread in less than an hour

This recipe makes 4 loafs. I cut it in half though because that much won't fit in my KitchenAid, and we wouldn't eat 4 loafs before they went stale. You can make pretty much anything with this one recipe. Tortillas, cinnamon rolls, calzones, hot dog and hamburger buns, dinner and desert braids, different kinds of rolls, focacia bread, pizza.... and a lot others. Somethings, like pizza, don't have to raise, so it takes way less than an hour to make. I've never really been into making bread or rolls, but I've been using this for more than a month and haven't bought a loaf of bread or frozen rolls for dinner in that time.

10 1/2 cups of white Bread Flour (don't use all purpose)
1/2 cup of Sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 Rounded Tablespoons Saf-instant yeast
3 Tablespoons of Liquid Lecithin (This is a natural soy/vegetable based product found at your local health food store. It's too sticky to measure, so you guestimate. A Tablespoon is a puddle about the size of a quarter.)
4 cups hot tap water.

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, dd more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not add water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves and cover with a dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water. Mix for 10 minutes.

Pantry Secrets Website They have a DVD you can buy to show you how to make all the different things, and it has recipes on it. I borrowed it from a friend, but I think it's worth the $20 so I may get my own copy.

Stromboli

Have you ever had stromboli? We hadn't until we tried this recipe. Let's just say, we were fans. You should try it some time. It's basically a cross between a loaf of bread and pizza/calzones. The possibilities are endless. Here are the two we tried. (The cheesy garlic is a must! Don't skip out on it.)
By the way, this recipe says it will serve 4, I say closer to 8. Seriously, we had 2 teenage boys, 3 adults, and 3 kids and still had one whole one left over, and that is not due to a lack of trying. We ate and ate (and enjoyed eating, might I add) but we were no match for this magnitude of food. Don't be scared though, it's not that much food. Just by no means think you have to double it for your family of 6.


Dough:
2 ½ cups lukewarm water
2 tsp. yeast
1 Tbs. salt
3 Tbs. sugar
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water, add remaining ingredients, let sit for 20 minutes knead for 2-3 minutes. Divide dough in half, let sit 10 minutes. Roll each out into a rectangle.
-OR-
Rhodes Frozen Loaf dough
Thaw 1 loaf of bread by following package directions. Divide dough in half. Roll each out into a rectangle.

(This dough recipe is really yummy. We like to use it for our calzones as well.)

Cheesy Garlic filling:
We really loved this one, it was our favorite!
2 egg yolks(save whites for topping)
1 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup mozzarella

Mix together and brush evenly over one rectangle. This one is great as a "side dish" to your more filling roll.

Alfredo Deluxe filling:
1/3 cup Alfredo Sauce
1 piece boiled, shredded chicken
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1/8 cup canadian bacon, cooked
3/4 cup mozzarella
Spread other rectangle with Alfredo sauce. Top with chicken, turkey bacon, canadian bacon, and mozzarella.
This one didn't have quite enough big brass flavor to stand up to all the bread. Still yummy though, and the alfredo sauce was divine! (but yes, you can use store bought alfredo sauce as well)

Roll rectangle lengthwise and pinch together at seam. Place seam down on a greased 9x13 cookie sheet. Tuck ends under to prevent fillings coming out during baking. Both rolls can be placed on the same baking sheet. Top generously with egg whites, garlic salt, and oregano. Cook rolls together at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cheesy Crunchy Bread

This is a recipe that we got from Shannon Swain. (Nicole's mom) It is amazing!!!

Ingredients:

2 small loaves of Artisan Bread or one large (sourdough or something crusty)
2 cups Mayonnaise
1 pkg. Italian dressing packet
1 cup Parmesan
2 cups Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions to awesomeness:

Place all the ingredients into a bowl except the bread and mix. Hollow out the bread to form a bowl and save the guts of it for later. Fill up the "bread bowl" with the cheese mixture and place in the oven on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

To serve allow guests/family to use the leftover guts of bread to scoop out cheesy goodness and then cut leftover bread and serve. Super Yummy! Thank you Shannon for this great recipe!

Dutch Oven No-Knead Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1½ cups water
¼ teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
olive oil (for coating)
extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)

equipment:
Two medium mixing bowls
6 to 8 quart pot with lid (I used my enameled cast iron)
Wooden Spoon or spatula
Plastic wrap
Two or three cotton dish towels (not terrycloth)

process:
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F).

Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface. next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.

French Toast Casserole

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 loaf brioche or challah bread, sliced into 1 1/2 inch slices (don't worry Texas toast works too!)
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whole milk (I used evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
confectioners’ sugar for accompaniment
pure maple syrup

combine the melted butter and sugar in the bottom of a baking dish.
make a nice even layer of the mixture to cover the entire area.
arrange the bread slices on top, squeezing them in place.
whisk the eggs, add all the remaining ingredients except the pecans.
pour over the bread, letting it soak in.
top with pecans and cover with plastic wrap. {the casserole will not look real moist, don’t worry I promise it will be so when you eat it}
keep refrigerated for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.
set out at room temperature for 20 minutes before popping into a hot oven set to 350 degrees.
bake until lightly browned and set, 35 to 40 minutes.
remove and slightly cook if you can wait a few minutes.
serve hot or warm with sorghum, cane or maple syrup.
serves 8

Pizza Dough

I'm always looking for the holy grail of pizza doughs. I have probably tried an excess of 13 or so different recipes this year. This is our favorite BY FAR!! Very, very simple. Very, very yummy. And, remarkably, very quick. Try it out the next time you are craving pizza. Save yourself some dough, it's worth it!

(p.s. This recipe is from Ina Garten, compliments of foodnetwork.com)

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons kosher salt

For the dough, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 3 cups flour, then the salt, and mix. While mixing, add 1 more cup of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature. Roll and stretch each ball into a rough 8-inch circle and place them all on baking sheets. Top as desired. Our favorite way is to follow the CPK bbq chicken recipe toppings here. Bake in a 500* oven for 8-10 minutes.

If you are wanting to grill your pizza: After you have rolled out your dough, place in on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.

Light your grill and wait until it's hot.

Place the pizzas directly onto the grill and cook on 1 side for 1 minute. Turn the pizzas over and brush with olive oil or garlic oil.

Top the pizzas with any toppings you wish, piling them high. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the lid on your grill and cook for 5 minutes more, until the crust is crisp and the toppings are cooked.

Cinnabon Rolls

Cinnabon Rolls

ROLLS:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
2 Tbl. sugar
3 1/2 oz. pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup margarine −− melted
2 eggs
1 teas. salt
6 cups flour

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 teas. vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tbl. milk

To make frosting, mix all ingredients until smooth. In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down dough and let rise again.
Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teas. cinnamon. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly. With knife, put a notch every 2". Cut with thread or knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.
Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.
Cover and let rise until double again.

Bake at 350 15−20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden.
DON'T OVER BAKE.
Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hamburger Buns

You have to try these just once. Very yummy. This is my mom's recipe. It makes between 10 and 12 large hamburger buns. (We halved it and got 5, 5 inch diameter buns)

2 packages (2 tbl.) dry yeast
½ cup warm water
1 ½ cups milk or water
½ cup soft shortening or oil
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
7-7 ½ cups flour

Dissolve yeast in the ½ cup warm water with a pinch of sugar. Mix other ingredients with ½ of the flour. Add yeast. Beat until satiny. Add remaining flour to form a soft dough. Let rise until double. Shape into balls (for big buns, make your balls the size of tennis balls.) and let raise on cookie sheets. After dough has doubled, pat down into buns. Bake 12 – 15 minutes at 400*. Buns will rise enough in the oven. Put oven rack on next to the top

Banana Bread

My dear friend Ashley makes this bread and it is to die for!

1 C. sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon
2 C. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream sugar and butter until light anf fluffy, add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each egg. In a smal bowl mash bananas and mix in milk and cinnamon. In another bowl mix together flour, BP, baking soda, and salt. Add banana mixture to creamed mixture until combined. Add dry ingrediets until flour disappears. Pour batter into a 9x5x3 greased pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

The extra treat is to sprinkle brown sugar over the top after it has been baking for about 15 minutes. SO YUMMY!

Really Unique Poppyseed Cake

A friend of mine at work invented this cake by mixing three of her favorite recipes into one great combination. She made it for us and we all loved it so much I had to share (the poppyseed cake recipe can also be used by itself to make poppyseed bread too)

Poppy Seed Cake
3 cups of flour
2 1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/8 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c milk
1 T poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp almond extract (you can also use vanilla or lemon)

Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add eggs, oil, milk, poppy seeds, and almond extract to dry mix and beat on high until smooth. Pour into 20 greased loaf pans for bread or 2 greased cake pans for cake. Bake at 350 (60 minutes for loaf pans, 30 minutes for cake pans). Prepare glaze.

Glaze
1/4 c orange juice
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix all ingredients, as soon as bread/cake is golden, remove from oven. Poke holes on top with fork. Pour glaze over the top. If preparing a cake, allow glaze to dry slightly before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz cream ceheese
1/2 c soft butter
2 tsp almond extract
4 1/2 to 4 3/4 c sifted powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients on high until smooth, frost cake.