St. Patty's Day Beer Bread

I'm not a beer drinker, but I do like baking with beer.  I've tried several different versions of beer bread, and I really liked this one.  I used Guinness in honor of St. Patty's Day, and it's not as sweet as other beers, so the recipe calls for brown sugar, which gives it just the right kick.  It could not get much easier than this.  And, a trick for a non-beer drinker-I grabbed an individual bottle of beer at a gas station rather than a whole six pack.  

All the recipe calls for is 11.5 oz Guinness Beer, 1/4 c. packed brown sugar, 1/4 c. melted butter, 3 c. bread flour.  Mix, put in 9x5 inch bread pan (greased).  Brush some butter on top, and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes (until toothpick come out clean).

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

I posted the butter recipe two days ago, and now....it's on to the rolls.  I made these in advance.  I did all the rising steps, but then put them (covered) in the fridge overnight to stop the rise, and then put them out about an hour before I baked them the day of the anniversary party I was hosting.  I did this last Thanksgiving as well.  It's a great way to have homemade bread, but not have to add it to the workload of the day when you are hosting a big group.  I was able to make 24 large rolls out of this recipe.

Roadhouse Rolls

Ingredients: 2 c. milk, 3 T butter (melted), 1 T active dry yeast, 1/2 c. warm milk, 1/2 c. sugar (divided), 1/2 c. honey, 7 1/2 c. flour (divided), 2 eggs, 2 t. salt
Instructions:
1.  Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.  Let cool slightly.
2.  Combine yeast, warm water, and 1 T sugar in a mixing bowl.  Allow it to sit until it bubbles.
3.  Add the rest of the sugar, honey, milk, and 3 1/2 c. flour to the yeast mix.  Mix together.
4.  Add melted butter, egg, and salt.  Mix well.
5.  Add additional flour 1/2 c. at a time until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Let it rest for 5 minutes.
6.  Knead dough for 5 minutes  Add more flour by the T if it gets sticking.  Don't add so much it dries out your dough.
7.  Grease bowl, coat all sides of dough by flipping it once in your bowl.  Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap.  Let is rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes (should be doubled in size).
8.  Punch it down.  Place on lightly floured surface and roll it out until its 1/2 inch rectangle.  Fold it in half so it's 1 inch.  seal the two halves together with a quick roll.
9.  Cut the dough in 2 inch squares and place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Allow to double in size (about 1 hour).
 
10.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  I brushed mine with a little butter before baking, and when they were golden brown I removed them.  Serve warm.

Cinnamon Butter

I recently helped my mom throw an anniversary party for my aunt and uncle.  One of their favorite places to go is Texas Roadhouse, which is famous for its rolls, in particular, the side kick-the cinnamon butter.  I found this recipe via thereciperebel and made it in advance.  I put it in the fridge overnight and then sat it out a few hours before the meal so that it would be easy to spread.  

Cinnamon Butter Recipe

Ingredients:  1/2 c. unsalted butter (softened at room temp), 1/4 c. liquid honey, 1/4 c. powdered sugar, 1 t. ground cinnamon, pinch of salt.  

Instructions:  Beat the butter, honey, cinnamon, powdered sugar, and salt until smooth.

King Cake

 I made my first King Cake tonight (two actually, because that's how many the recipe made, though they are probably equal to one large grocery store cake).  I used this recipe from all recipe.  The only adjustments I made was that I doubled the icing recipe to cover both cakes, and I skipped the raisins and did a little over a cup of chopped pecans instead.

 It's freezing, so my rise wasn't quite what I wanted, but check out that filling peeking out!

 For the sake of a photo, I cut one in two so I could see the inside.  I may or may not have already had a slice.

The rest is traveling with work with me tomorrow to pass out.  No beads.  No babies.  Maybe next year!

Clover Rolls

 So, one of my goals NOT for the year, because that would be crazy, but for say....the next ten years, is to work my way through a cookbook.  I won't blog about all the recipes because you can buy the cookbook, but I will blog about a few with some tips and tricks I've learned because lets face it, I wasn't qualified to write the cookbook, so there is a learning curve that perhaps a more proficient chef doesn't realize would be helpful.
For instance, homemade bread.  I wanted to make rolls for Christmas, but...it's Christmas, I also don't want to MAKE homemade rolls on Christmas.  So...my quest was to make THIS recipe for no knead clover rolls, but do it in advance, and...it worked!

I made the rolls two days before.  I did have to punch it down several times until it created a little bit of a hard shell over the top (which was easy to massage out).  When it came to the day of, I pulled the double out and rolled it into the balls as instructed.  I just let it sit around (covered with a towel) for a few hours and it rose again (a lot, this yeast was doing it's thang).  I added butter and they were a huge hit.

One Pan: Bacon and Biscuits

These aren't blog quality photos, but I'm just over here living real life and I want to remember this trick.  I have a friend who is a GREAT cook and she is always telling me about tricks she does.  I've been wanting to try this one out forever, and it did not disappoint.
-Take a large sheet of foil and line a pan.  Place bacon on the pan (not touching).  Place it in your cold oven, turn it to 400 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.
 -Pull out your back.  Take frozen biscuits and dip them in the biscuits-dip both sides in the pan and cook according to directions in the same pan.  You don't need to soak up the grease, the biscuits are doing that for you (unless you just have ridiculous amounts, but....we are already kind of being ridiculous).
-Cook according to your bags instructions.
These turned out so delicious.  It's definitely not healthy, but sometimes...that's the best kind of breakfast.

Orange Rolls

I recently got the Magnolia Table cook book for my birthday.  I saw a recipe for Orange Rolls using canned crescent rolls, and I thought NO WAY.  If you have ever slaved away proofing cinnamon roll dough, you'll understand my doubts when it came to this short cut, but you know what?  These.  Were.  Amazing.  Seriously, so delicious that when I tell you my mouth is watering, it's not just b/c I don't know how to describe the level of flavor, it literally is water.  The hardest thing about the recipe was zesting an orange....and that wasn't hard.  I can't wait to try these out with different flavor combinations.  Forget that.  I can't wait to just try these out with oranges.  The only adjustment I made was I used 3 large oranges (instead of the 5 'oranges'....no size given).  I didn't actually flip out my rolls, so there was also a LOT of butter swimming in the pan.  I mean, is butter ever a bad thing?  BUT if you don't do that step, cut the butter back.   I also always buy a name brand crescent roll b/c I have found some of the off brands don't taste as good.    But I might try and cut back to one stick next time.  I'm going to write the recipe as I made it, and adjust that later if it works.  I can't WAIT to try out some more recipes in the book.  

Magnolia Orange Rolls

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Roll Ingredients:  12 T of salted butter (1 1/2 stick at room temperature), 3/4 c. packed brown sugar, 4 t. packed, finely grated orange zest (I just zested 1 large orange), 1 t. cinnamon, 2 cans (8 oz) canned crescent rolls, 1 c. chopped walnuts

Glaze Ingredients:  2 c. powdered sugar, finely grated zest of 2 (large) oranges, 2 t. vanilla, 1/2 c. orange juice (I used the ones I zested)

Instructions:  

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  

2.  Mix the softened (not melted) butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon.  Use a fork to mash it together and make a paste.  

3.  Open one can of dough and unroll onto a work surface.  Press perforations closed to make single rectangle.  Spread half the butter mix evenly over the dough.  Scatter with half the walnuts.  Start with the long side and roll up to form a log.  Cut into 6 equal pieces.  

4.  Repeat with second can of dough.  

5.  Place into 8 inch round cake pan (I used an 8x10 inch rectangle pan and it worked great).  

6.  Bake for 30 minutes (until they have a deep golden brown color).  

7.  While it's baking, make the glaze by mixing all the ingredients.  

8.  Invert the rolls into a serving plate.  Let them stand for 5 minutes and then drizzle with the glaze.  

9.  Serve warm.  Store up to 2 days in an airtight container.  

Everything Croissants

These are literally the easiest 'rolls' to make.  I took a can of crescent roll doughs (I accidentally bought the sheets so I just tied a 'knot' in 8 pieces I had cut into strips, but it would work if you follow the can's instruction for the crescent rolls too).  I took the Everything but the Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's and sprinkled it on top.

I baked the rolls as directed and they were sooooooo tasty.  I didn't add any butter etc, and the seeds stuck to the top without having to brush them with anything.  This 'recipe' is a keeper.  Here all these folks on the net are wasting that seasoning on healthy vegetables....and all this time there was this calorie rich delicious recipe just waiting for this seasoning.  ;o)  It was worth the calories.  

Broccoli and Cheese Cornbread

I try to stock up my freezer and pantry before winter begins b/c THIS might be the year that blizzard comes through....and I was a girl scout, so I have to prep for these sort of things!  So now, as I see spring in my near future, it's time to start purposefully working through those ingredients.  I made this broccoli cornbread to go along with sausage I had stocked away.  If you like broccoli and rice casserole, this is the bread version of that.  Plus, it's bread, with healthy stuff like broccoli inside, and just about every site I encounter says broccoli is good for you (if you ignore the stick of butter, you can almost believe that).  The original recipe came from allrecipes.  The broccoli came from my freezer of hope depleted as another winter passes me by without any missed work days.

Broccoli and Cheese Cornbread 

Ingredients:  1 c. cottage cheese, 3/4 c. butter (melted, and cooled a little or the eggs with scramble), 4 eggs, 2 pkg (8.5 oz) cornbread mix, 1 (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli (thawed), 1 large onion (chopped), 1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese (divided)
Instructions:  
1.  Heat oven to 375.  Grease 9x13 in baking dish.
2.  Beat cottage cheese, butter, and eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in corn bread until mix is just moistened.  Fold in broccoli, onion, and 1 c. Cheddar cheese.  Pour batter into dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
3.  Bake 35-40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).

Crockpot Cornbread Dressing

     This photo isn't a beauty, but the dressing was delicious.  I brought this to a potluck last week at work.  There is a group of us that spends the ENTIRE day outside working the turkey trot for each grade level, so last year I started a little friendsgiving for the workers who are ready to gorge by 2 pm.
     I wanted to bring a Thanksgiving dish, but I've been sooooo busy all month, so I looked for something easy to throw together and came up with this dressing.  I combined a few different online dressings, so feel free to add and subtract.

Crockpot Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients:  8 c. of corn bread (I cooked 2 boxes of Jiffy according to directions and then crumbled it up, I also added about 4 pieces of day old white bread), 1 can cream of chicken, 1/2 t. pepper, 11/2 t. sage, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 3 c. chicken broth, 1/4 c. melted butter, 4 eggs, 1 med onion chopped, 1 c. celery (chopped).  

Instructions:  Mix all ingredients.  Place in a crockpot and cook for 4-5 hours on low.  Top should be browning.  

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

     The great debate is always cornbread or white bread.  The answer is cornbread....at least if your roots go deep into the south.  I love dressing/stuffing, and this recipe is very similar to my grandmothers dressing (minus the sausage).  These are savory, so they make a great dinner side, or if you don't mind savory (and I don't) I love to pop these in for breakfast as well.
     Truth, I don't really need a season or a time of day to justify eating these.  They are delicious.  The key is picking a good cornbread mix-nothing too sweet/honey-ish.
     So...if you want to try out a stuffing as it should be-try these!  (The original recipe is from JimmyDean.)

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

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Ingredients:  1 lb sage sausage (I halved this b/c it's all I had), 2 large stalks of celery (finely chopped-should be about 1 c.), 1 medium onion (finely chopped-should be about 1 c.), 2 boxes of corn bread muffin mix (about 16 oz each), 2 eggs, 2/3 c. chicken broth, 1/4 c. sour cream, 1/2 t. ground sage, kosher salt, 1/2 t. ground black pepper
Instructions:  
1.  Cook sausage, onion, and celery until sausage is brown.  Drain and set aside.
2.  Beat egg, add chicken broth, and yogurt.  Blend well.  Add in muffin mix and stir until just moistened.  Stir in sausage, sage, salt and pepper.
4.  Spoon into greased muffin cups (about 3/4 of the way full).
5.  Bake 15-20 minutes (until light golden brown).

Sweet Potato Bread

It's always my intentions to roast or bake sweet potatoes when I pick up a few at the store, but.....every once in awhile I boil one up and bake it in bread because.....bread.  This recipe is so tasty. I love that the top is a little crunchy and the inside is moist and all that is good. Think pumpkin bread, but with a distinct sweet taste all it's own thanks to the potato.  I don't contain my sweet potatoes to any particular season, but...if they did have one, fall would be it, so....a bread for all seasons, but why not start now?

Sweet Potato Bread

Ingredients:  1 1/2 c. white sugar, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 3/4 c. all purpose flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1/4 t. salt, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ground nutmeg, 1/3 c. water, 1 c. cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 c. chopped pecans
Instructions:  Combine the sugar and oil. Beat well.  Add the eggs and continue to stir.  Combine the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir into the egg mix alternating with water.  Add in sweet potatoes and nuts.
Pour batter in greased 9x5 pan.  Bake at 350 for about an hour (I needed about 10 more minutes before I could insert a toothpick and have it come out clean).

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

 I recently decided to clean out and revamp my utility room.  My kitchen can only be compared to a ship's galley.  In other words, it's little.  Most of my excess kitchen gadgets get stored in the utility room.  Through the years it has been buried.  Through the cleaning I rediscovered my bread machine.

 I found this recipe via allrecipes for cinnamon rolls.

They were delicious, and so easy to put together when you toss them into the bread machine and hit 'dough.'  It did all the kneading and rising (it took 1 1/2 hours).  Once they are rolled, you cut them into 1 pieces and put them in a buttered pan (mine took a regular casserole 9x11 dish) PLUS a little round pan for the other 4 (16 total).  When they are in the pan they already touch.  You let them rise some more, bake, and ice.
If you don't have a bread machine you can activate the yeast first with the warm water and sugar the recipe calls for.  Knead by hand for 8 minutes.  Let rise until doubled in a warm spot and then proceed as directed.  These are definitely best fresh from the oven.  If you reheat them day two-stick in the microwave for 30 seconds or so.  You can also let them rise the second time, stick them in the fridge over night (covered) and then bake so they are fresh in the morning.  On to my next gadget....

Freezer Bread

 As a single, usually when I make a meal, if I don't cut it in half, I eat on it for a week...which can get old.  I recently ran across this recipe for freezer garlic bread.  Uhhh, yes.  The best part is that you can just pop it out a few slices at a time and heat and eat.  And eat it.  And eat it.  And eat it.

Freezer Garlic Bread

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Ingredients:  1 stick of butter (softened), 2 T olive oil, 1 T. parsley, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 t. salt, 1 loaf of french bread (cut into 16 slices).
Instructions:
1.  Mix butter, oil, parsley, garlic,and salt together.
2.  Spread evenly over bread.
3.  Place bread in freezer for 10 minutes until butter hardens some.
4.  Stack bread by twos and place in freezer bags.  Freeze for up to three months.
5.  Pull out and place in 400 preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I made these last winter....during one of the four days of winter we get here in Texas.  When it's cold....all I want is spring.  I'm sure I could enjoy winter more if I were more equipped physically and mentally, but it's such a rare occurrence (at least lately)...it throws me for a loop.  But these lemon muffins....I'm pretty sure they don't need to be limited by a season!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

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Ingredients:  1 yellow cake mix, 1 1/4 c. water, 1/3 c. vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 2 T poppy seeds, 1 T lemon extract
Instructions:
1.  Heat oven to 350.
2.  Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper baking cups.
3.  Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until the cake mix is well incorporated and no longer lumpy.
4.  Fill cups to 2/3 cups full.  Bake 18-23 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean with inserted.
*makes 24 muffins

Mexican Cornbread

I recently picked up a recipe put out by the Texas Agriculture Industry at the State Fair. I tried out this Mexican Cornbread, and it's a keeper.  They showed it served with beans and rice, but....for me bread is a meal in itself. I halved my recipe because swimsuit season is 7 months away...and I'm at last 14 months away from being ready for it, but...this one was worth it!

Mexican Cornbread

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Ingredients:  

Meat Mix:2 lbs of ground beef (browned and drained-see instructions below) 1 onion (finely chopped), 3 cloves of garlic (or 1 t. of garlic powder), 2 (4 oz) cans peeled green chilies, diced and chopped, 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with cilantro

Cornbread Mix: 2 (7 oz) pkgs of yellow cornbread mix, prepared according to directions (see below for liquid instructions), but not yet baked, 1/2 c. milk, 2 eggs (beaten), 1 (14.75 oz) can cream of corn, 4 c. grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:  

1.  Cook the ground beef, garlic, and chopped onion until it's browned. Drain fat, add diced tomatoes and green chilies. 

2.  In a separate bowl, combine cornbread mix with all the pkg ingredients reduce milk to 1 c. for both packages, add creamed corn to mix (with juice).  

3.  Grease 9x13 inch pan.  Add beef mix.  Sprinkled with 2 c. cheese on top.  Top with cornbread mix.  Bake at 425 for 45 minutes until the cornbread is slightly browned.  During the last five minutes, add last 2 c. of cheese

4.  Cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.

 

Dinner Rolls

      If you've known me for about a minute you'll know carbs and I go way back.  I can name any bread that's served at any restaurant I have eaten at...sometimes I try to show restraint, but....I do love a good ball of dough.
     Recently, my pal Regan introduced me to this set of rolls she makes all the time.  She greeted me at the airport with a bag and I at some as we drove back towards her house for a weekend visit.
    I love homemade rolls, but through the years, sometimes yeast can be tricky....and this recipe seems to be relatively easy and fool proof.   So...if you like rolls, need an easy recipe, or.....need a great recipe for Thanksgiving, try this one.

Dinner Rolls

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*makes 24 rolls

Ingredients:  1 1/4 c. milk (warmed), 10 T unsalted butter (melted, cooled, and divided), 1 large egg, 4 1/2 c flour (divided), 2 T sugar OR honey, 1 envelope (or 2 /14 t.) instant yeast, 1 1/2 t salt

Instructions:

1.  Whisk the warm milk, 8 T melted butter, and eggs together.

2.  In a standing mixer (with a dough hook)-mix together 4 c. flour, salt, yeast, and sugar (or honey).  Add half the milk mix and begin to beat on low.  Add the remainder of the milk and continue to beat on low for about a minute until it's combined.  

3.  Increase speed to low-medium and let the machine knead the bread for ten minutes.  Check the dough about five minutes it, and if it's sticking to the sides of the bowl, add 1 T of flour at a time (up to 1/4 c.) until it doesn't stick anymore to the sides of the bowl.  

4.  Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for a hour (until it's doubled in size).

 5.  Divide the dough into 24 equal balls.  Roll and place about 1 inch apart on a parchment lined pan.  Cover loosely with sprayed plastic wrap and let it rise for another 30-60 minutes (rolls should be doubled in size).
6.  Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining 2 T of melted butter.
7.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes (should be turning golden brown when they are ready).

8.  Let the rolls cool for 10 minutes and then serve warm.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

My grandmother's recipe is the best pumpkin bread.  The end.  You can get the original recipe here.

Last year I found myself with an extra can of pumpkin, and a brother coming to Christmas dinner that is vegan.  Once upon a time he loved this recipe too, so I decided to look up some substitutions.  Everything, BUT the eggs are vegan friendly.  I did some research on taste/rise etc and found a great substitute for this particular bread.  It calls for 4 eggs, which is a lot to substitute without altering the taste too much.

I did a half and half of banana and flax seed so it didn't taste too much like banana bread, but it also didn't have too many seeds/nutty flavor.

I soaked 2 T of ground flax seed in 6 T of water for 30 minutes.  I added two pinches of baking powder to that, and pour this and 1 large smashed banana into the mix when it called for eggs.
Honestly, I think it was even better than the original recipe!  It's very rare that I've found the substitutes don't impact the taste in vegan food.  I realize that isn't so significant for vegans, BUT....this recipe makes us all happy!  Vegans for the win on the new version of this one!

Beer Bread Gifts

 Last Halloween I put some of these together for my friends.  I saw the idea at homewithmandy and knew it was the perfect gift.  What a great hostess gift if you are headed to parties, or....just want to make someone's day.
You can buy the disposable pans, or....I found thee at the dollar tree, which seemed like a good price to me.  I grabbed some pumpkin beer and then mixed together:

Ingredients:  3 c. wheat flour, 1 T. sugar, 1 T. baking powder, 1 t. salt in a bag.

I added a 12 oz beer and made some printable directions.

You can download them for free here.

All you have to do is mix the beer and the bag of mixings and bake it up.
I even made one for myself.  It taste great with honey....and it's oh so easy, and a fun presentation. Proof it bakes.

*One bag of wheat flour was enough for 6 loaves, though I did have to add about 1/4 c. white flour to the last loaf to have enough.  

Vegan Banana Bread

I had some rotting bananas (I don't know how that happened because I love them), and my brother was around.  Unfortunately for my recipe collection, he won't eat any animal product.  I'm sure he's much healthier than myself and everyone around us, but...I don't have a lot of eggless breads, so if I want to share my calories....and I do, but I also want to enjoy some banana bread, I have to get creative.  I found this recipe via hellyeahitsvegan and it was DELICIOUS.  I made one substitute (regular flour instead of wheat), but seriously, yum.  If everything tasted this good I too could be vegan, but you know....there's cheese and I can't uncheese right now.
Regardless, it doesn't hurt to cut out some dairy and eggs every once in awhile...or share calories with the skinny people of the world.  Vegan or not, this ones a keeper.

Vegan Banana Bread

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Ingredients:  1/2 c. plain unsweetened vegan milk (I used soy, but there are also different almond milks etc out there), 1/2 t. apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c. vegan butter (like earth balance)-softened, 1 c. light brown sugar, 3 very ripe bananas (mashed), 1 t. vanilla, 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. baking soda, 1/4 t. nutmeg, 1/4 t. salt, 3/4 c. walnuts (chopped)
Instructions:  
1.  Heat over to 350.  Grease a 9 inch pan.
2.  Stir together milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes.
3.  Cream together vegan butter and sugar.  Add bananas, vanilla, milk and beat.
4.  Sift in all dry ingredients (except nuts) into the banana mix.  Stir until everything is just moist.
5.  Fold in nuts.  Cook for 45 inutes.  Cook for 10 minutes, pull out and slide a knife along the sides to make sure it doesn't stick as it cools.