Quick Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl. sugar
• 2 c. Flour
• 4 tsp. Baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 c. Parmesan 
• Egg
• Sour cream
• Milk or cream
• 2 Tbl butter
• 2 Tbl shortening

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 450
2. Combine and mix sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, Parmesan in large bowl
3. In a 1 c liquid measuring cup whisk the egg. Then add two big spoonfuls of sour cream, then add the milk or cream to make one cup. Mix around. 
4. Add butter and shortening in flour mvixture. Work it with your hands until even consistency
5. Poor in egg mixture. Mix with fork until the dry ingredients are barley moistened.
6. Poor some flour on work surface. Pat out the dough in rectangle about inch thick.
7. Cut the dough into desired size of biscuits. I usually do 3 by 5
8. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes

Notes:

I love this recipe. It's my guessing on the way my mom makes her biscuits. It's so sweet almost like scones! I make this when I'm too lazy to make bread, or when I'm in a pinch for time. Goes great with dinner, jam and butter, and as breakfast the next morning :) not very healthy... But I'm still a fan!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:

• 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I usually do 3 C whole wheat pastry flour and have also tried with all whole wheat, which is great, just denser).
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, oats, milk powder, brown sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, heat water and butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Stir in raisins.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bow, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into an 18-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Set aside 2 tablespoons for topping. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar over rectangles to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; pinch seam to seal.
• Place seam side down in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved cinnamon-sugar.
• Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if tops brown too quickly. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. 
• Yield: 2 loaves (16 slices each).

Notes: We have made this several times and I love it for toast in the morning. It's a nice make-ahead breakfast option and the kids love to snack on it as well. It's filling, especially if you use whole wheat flour, and has a bit of sweetness that makes it even more appealing to the kiddos. 

Source: My sister Camille!

Easy Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Easy Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm (105 to 115°F) milk
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

To get started, make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature. Put whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a large bowl and stir well. Add milk, butter and egg and beat with a spoon until smooth. Add all-purpose flour and mix until fully incorporated and batter is smooth. Cover bowl and set aside in a warm spot to let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 12-muffin tin with olive oil and set aside. 

Stir the batter gently to deflate it. Spoon even amounts of the dough into each cup of the prepared muffin tin and set aside in a warm spot until the dough has risen just over the top of the muffin tins, about 1 hour more.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake rolls until golden brown and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes:

I don't have a mixer (yet!) so I love recipes that don't require a lot of kneading. These are simple to prep and I didn't even let them rise for as long as stated (my kitchen is very warm) and they turned out great. My kids loved them. We had them with tomato basil soup for dinner last night. These may become my go-to when I need a crusty bread to pair with soup! I was worried when I first took them out of the muffins tins, as they seemed to hard. However, the inside was perfect and soft while the outside was nice and crusty - perfect combo. I LOVE that they have whole wheat flour as well. 

Recipe and pic from: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/easy-whole-wheat-dinner-rolls?sf8075328=1

Jenna's White Bread

2 T yeast
2 1/4 C warm water*
5 1/2 C flour
1/4 C crisco
1 T sugar
1 T salt

Add warm water to yeast and mix until all the yeast is wet.  Add sugar, salt, crisco and 3 cups of flour and mix until combined.  (you may need to scrape down sides).  Add remaining flour 1/2 C at a time, until combined.  When dough sticks to hook and cleans sides of bowl, knead for 5 minutes.  Let rise in Kitchen Aid till doubled (45 min).  Knead 3 minutes on oiled surface (I spray Pam on counter).  Shape in loaves and place in greased bread pans.  Let rise till doubled (30 min).  Bake @ 400 for 20 minutes. 

Makes 2 9 inch loaves.

*Notes: This recipe freezes awesome and is great sandwhich bread. Absolutely delicious hot out of the oven with Jam. I use it for all my cinnamon rolls and scones.  Warm Water means 110-115 degrees.  Our water heater is set to 110, so I just let the water run on it's hottest for a few minutes before putting it in.  I don't usually like using Crisco, but haven't found a healthier loaf that I like as much.  It's also pretty salty.  I've tried half the salt and it was still good.  I usually only do that much salt when I want it to taste it's best.  I've never made this without a Kitchen Aid, so I'm not sure how it would turn out.  Kneading it the second time is only until you no longer hear bubbles popping. 

Pumpkin Rolls

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup pumpkin
• 3 T oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 T lemon juice

Directions:

Beat eggs and sugar and add lemon juice and pumpkin.  Sift dry ingredients and add to the mixture. Bake at 375 for 13 minutes in a greased cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper.  Cool on a flour sack dish cloth covered with powdered sugar, spread filling on top and roll (from long side to long side). Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting with a sharp knife. Recipe fills one cookie sheet.

Filling

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 T soft butter

Directions:

Mix together well.

Notes:

In the pumpkin mix recipe, I like to add two extra T of lemon extract, and also some lemon zest.  I also like to add about 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg, ground cloves, and ginger. If you don't have any wax paper, you can just butter your pan to death and sprinkle flour liberally on top to cover the whole pan, and then poor the pumpkin mix over that.  It comes out pretty easily when you flip it over on the cloth with powdered sugar.  

- Adapted from Sister Malan, picture from here

Rosemary Focaccia Loaves

Rosemary Focaccia Loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 c. warm (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit) water
• 1 Tbsp. yeast
• 1 Tbsp. white sugar
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 Tbsp rosemary (dried or fresh), divided
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 1/4-2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Directions: 

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until bubbly. While the yeast is getting bubbly, combine 2 C of the flour, salt, 1 1/2 Tbsp. rosemary, oregano and garlic powder.

Add flour mixture to yeast mixture along with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Mix well. (I put it in my stand mixer with the dough hook on). Slowly add remaining flour to make a very soft dough–try and resist the urge to add too much flour.  You want a soft, wet dough.

Cover and allow to rise 45 min- 1 hour or until double in size.

Lightly flour your work surface and transfer dough onto this surface. Divide in half. Shape each half into a rounded loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza stone. Cover and allow to rise another 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use remaining tablespoon of olive oil to brush over tops of loaves, discarding excess if you have any.  Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and some Kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until very lightly golden-brown. Serve immediately (if you can) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (if you want).

Notes:

This is so easy and so yummy! Really does taste like macaroni grill. There's nothing whole wheat or nutrient dense about this, but it is simple and pairs perfectly with soups or pasta (or just on it's own!). I like it, too, because we usually have all ingredients on hand. Finally, I never let it rise for the suggested time and it still always turns out! (My kitchen here in NYC does get quite hot and is very conducive to rising though). I don't have a bosch or kitchen aide so I just mix it with a spoon and it works fine. The dough is wetter than you would expect, but turns out great! I think Amie originally shared this with us so add anything you want, Am! I just had to buy more rosemary today because we've been making it so much:) Those ladies at ourbestbites are lovely! I hardly ever change one of their recipes to suit my taste. If you click the link below there are additional pictures that go along with the directions. 

Picture and recipe from: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/11/rosemary-focaccia/