Pizza Dough

This is the pizza dough we use when we make our pizza from home. With 3 boys at home we make pizza a lot! I actually have this recipe on a post it on the inside of my cabinet because I use it so often.

1t sugar
1 1/2c warm water
2 1/2 t yeast
2T olive oil
2t salt
3 1/2-4c flour

Mix sugar into warm water and add in yeast. Let it sit until foamy then add in olive oil, salt and slowly add in the flour. I use my kitchenaid with the dough hook, though you can do this by hand. Knead until it's a smooth dough.
Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.
Divide into 2 pieces. Shape your pizzas and let rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Top with whatever you would like. I use a homemade red pizza sauce, bbq sauce or ranch mixed with some chopped garlic.
Bake for 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it and make sure it's solid all the way through the bottom.
We also use this recipe for pizza on the grill which has an even better flavor!

Amish White Bread

• I've forever been in the search of an easy bread recipe that would work to snack on and to use to make sandwiches and the like. I tried this one today and it was just what I've been looking for! Doesn't take all day to make, nice consistent center (ie won't let jelly leak through air bubbles), and really tasty with some butter warm out of the oven. 
• On a side note, I used 1c of whole wheat flour. I was running out of all-purpose. :)
• 
  
• 1 cup warm water 
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups bread flour
  
  In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
  Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
  Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

This is a tweaked version of our normal biscuit recipe. It was delicious and definitely worth posting all on it's own!

2c flour
1T baking powder
1T sugar
1t salt
1/3c butter
1/4t garlic powder
1c cheddar cheese
1c milk (give or take)

Butter glaze:
3T butter
1/2t (scant) garlic powder
3/4t dried parsley

Mix together dry ingredients for biscuits. Cut in cold butter using pastry cutter or the like. Mix in flavoring ingredients and milk until combined. Scoop onto a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 13 minutes or until desired brownness. While it's baking melt butter and mix in glaze ingredients. Once out of the oven, coat each biscuit with glaze using a pastry brush.

Naan Bread

Ever since I was able to take a trip to India way back in 2001I've had a real love for Indian food. So many of the dishes are way too difficult for me to try at home. When I saw this a while ago online, I knew I had to try it. They're pretty yummy!

3/4 cup warm water (110° F)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 pinch baking powder
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons plain Greek-style yogurt
1/4 cup extra flour for rolling
2 tablespoons clarified butter

In a small bowl, add water and sprinkle yeast over the top. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until frothy. While the yeast is sitting, mix together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add in oil and yogurt and mix until crumbly. Stir the water and yeast and then add to the flour mixture, mixing until a ball of dough forms. Knead with floured hands until the dough is smooth. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 3 to 4 hours.

Once the dough has risen, preheat oven to 500° F with a baking stone in the oven. Flip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes until easy to handle. Break into 4-5 equal-sized balls. Dip each ball into a small amount of flour. Roll into an oval shape approximately 1/4″ thick. Once the oven and stone are preheated, dip hands in water and wet each piece of dough slightly before placing it on the stone. Bake at 500° F for 4-5 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the stone and brush with clarified butter. Serve.

English Muffins

• Phil is out of town for a little bit so I have some extra time to fill. That's exactly how these came to be. I did not dust them with cornmeal and mine, substituted about half the flour with whole wheat flour and didn't take nearly this long to cook. If I would have left them they would have been charcoal muffins. Overall they're pretty good. They don't nearly have the big nooks and crannies, though. We used these for dinner tonight to put BLT's on. 

1 cup milk

• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
  cornmeal for dusting
• 
  Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
  In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
  Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
  Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 5 minutes on each side on medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split and toast.

Olive Bread

When we lived in Italy Phil used to eat olives like nobody's business. His favorite calzone that we would go to a specific restaurant to get was jam-packed full of them! When I ran across this recipe in Baking at Home I knew someday I wanted to make it for Phil.
I will warn you, this bread took pretty much all day to make.

1/2c pitted dry-cured olives, chopped
Cool water as needed
1 2/3 c bread flour plus extra as needed
1/2t sugar
1 1/2 t active dry yeast
3/4c room temperature water
1/4t salt
vegetable oil for greasing

Soak the olives in cool water to cover for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour to remove excess salt. Drain and blot dry before adding them to the dough.
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour and the sugar. Add the yeast, water and sale and mix on low speed until the dough becomes smooth, elastic and very springy, 8-10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Add olives to the bowl. Fold the dough over on itself, pressing gently to release the gas, and repeat the folding until the olives are evenly distributed. Cover the dough and let rest until relaxed, about 30 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and round it into a smooth ball, pulling the outer layer taut and pinching the excess dough together at the base of the ball. Leave the dough seam side down on the floured work surface, cover it with a cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
To finish shaping the dough, turn it seam side up and stretch it into a square. Fold the square in half from top to bottom, pressing lightly with your fingertips to tighten the outer layer of the dough. Fold the dough in half again, this time from side to side, and seal the 2 edges together. Round the dough, forming a taut outer surface, and place seam side up in a bowl or round basket lined with a floured clean, flat-weave cloth. Cover loosely.
Let the dough rise until it has nearly doubled in side and the dough springs back slowly to the touch but does not collapse, 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Turn the dough out seam side down onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush or mist the bread lightly with water. Cut a shallow X into the top of the loaf. Bake until the crust is crisp and well browned and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

At a friends recommendation, I put this on my list over there on the right. I had some leftover sweet potato in the fridge so I gave these a try yesterday for a snack. 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening until pieces of shortening are pea-sized or smaller. Mix in the sweet potatoes, and enough of the milk to make a soft dough.
  Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into circles using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass. Place biscuits 1 inch apart onto a greased baking sheet.
  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Sourdough Bread

I made myself a starter a month or so ago and have been looking for a recipe that I really enjoyed since then. This is definitely it!
Annie's Eats is where I learned how to do the starter.

1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 cups Flour


Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it's doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
Gently divide the dough in half; it'll deflate somewhat.
Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves; or, for longer loaves, two 10" to 11" logs. Place the loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each.
Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Butter

One more down on my 30 by 30. This one was great and might just make me gain a few pounds before I hit 30. How have I never made this before? It was super easy and was delicious, especially on the sourdough bread I made last night!

I found a great tutorial of sorts on Joy th Baker.

1c heavy whipping cream

1/4t sea salt

Put whipping cream in your stand mixer with whisk attachment and whip... and whip... and whip until the fat separates from the milk. Use a wire mesh strainer to strain the milk out (the buttermilk) and put it bake into the mixer and beat a bit longer to solidify it. Add in the salt and voila! Butter! The boys really enjoyed watching it turn from liquid to solid and enjoyed it all the more melted onto some fresh bread!

Sally Lunn Bread

This bread was no nearly as good as I was hoping it would be. Putting it up here to document for my 30 by 30 thing. It's been pretty fun so far trying new things every few days. The one nice part about this was it was really low maintenance for bread, but I'd rather put in more work for a better tasting bread. But, now I know what Sally Lunn bread is like!

2 cups (250 grams or 8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25 grams or 7/8 ounce) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
1 1/8 teaspoon (1/2 packet or 1/8 ounce) active dry yeast
3/4 cup (177 ml) milk
4 tablespoons (57 grams or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

In a large bowl, mix 3/4 cup flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast by hand or with an electric mixer.

In a saucepan, heat the milk and butter together until the mixture is warm (105 to 110 degrees); don’t worry if this butter isn’t completely melted. Gradually pour the warm ingredients into the dry mixture and mix with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or stir vigorously by hand with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk and another 1/2 cup flour and beat again for 2 minutes by machine or 3 by hand. Add the last of the flour and beat or stir until smooth.

Scrape down bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour or until doubled. Meanwhile, butter and flour a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan. Once the dough has doubled, scrape it into the prepared pan. Cover with buttered plastic wrap and let rise for a total of 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, however, remove the plastic and preheat your oven to 375°F.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Heatter says the bread should make a hollow sound if tapped with your fingertips but I haven’t weathered mine enough yet that I didn’t find it unpleasant.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out to a rack to cool

Bagels

While at Dunkin Donuts one morning I looked at the shelves and had a realization. If I could successfully make pretzels which are a boil then bake recipe... I could probably make bagels too! So here we are! 

I mixed in about 1/2 whole wheat flour attempting to feel less guilty about eating these. 

Oh and for the record, I did try my recipe for chocolate chip donuts but was completely unimpressed. I'm checking it off the list, but I won't be making that particular recipe again.

• 
  
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

1. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then, by hand, mix in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Cut into 12 portions, shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. 

40 Minute Whole Wheat Rolls/Hamburger Buns

This one wasn't on my list, so we'll call this an extra credit assignment. Boy, were these perfect! Phillipp even said, "No more store bought buns for us!" I found this recipe here.

• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add oil and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Add egg, salt, and enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding remaining flour as needed. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces (for buns I divided into 9), shape each into a ball. Place about 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Crumpets

We took a trip to England years ago and it is still one of our favorite vacations we've ever taken. We have found packaged crumpets at the grocery store a few times and fell in love. This week I tried making them on my own and they were delicious! This recipe is from allrecipes.com. Now I just need to buy more metal rings so I can make them again!

Oh... and no picture... because we ate them all. They were seriously good!

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water 
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup warm milk 
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon butter and egg; mix well. Add flour and salt; beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Brush griddle and 3-in. metal rings or open-topped metal cookie cutters with remaining butter. Place rings on griddle; heat over low heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into each ring. Cook for 7 minutes or until bubbles begin to pop and the top appears dry. Remove rings. Turn crumpets; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until the second side is golden brown. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack and toast before serving.

Parker House Rolls

I tried another roll recipe this Christmas. They were good, but not at all what I was looking for. Then I found this recipe. Oh my goodness! These were exactly what I was looking for and I want to keep this recipe for a long time! Recipe found on www.joythebaker.com and she got it from The Gourmet Cookbook. Makes 20 rolls 3 tablespoons warm water (105 to 115 degrees F) 3 tablespoons sugar 1 (1/4-ounce) package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter 1 cup whole milk 2 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3/4 - 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour Stir together warm water, 1 tablespoons sugar and yeast in a  small bowl until yeast in dissolved.  Let stand until foamy, about five minutes.  If the mixture does not foam up, throw it out and  start over with different yeast.  Foam means that the yeast is  livin'. Melt 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter in a small saucepan.   Add the milk and heat until lukewarm.  Pour into a large bowl  and add yeast mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, bread  flour, and salt.  Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.  Stir in 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, dump out onto a clean work  surface and begin to bring the dough together into a ball.  If your  dough is too sticky to handle, add up to 1/2 cup of all-purpose  flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough is just slightly sticky. Knead dough until a smooth and elastic dough begins to form,  adding more all-purpose flour as needed.  The dough will be  smooth, satiny and just slightly sticky after 10 minutes.  Good  job!  Form dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl,  turning the dough so that the entire ball is covered.  Cover with  plastic wrap and a towel and let rest n a warm, draft free place  until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.  Divide dough into 20 equal  pieces. Roll each one into a ball and arrange evenly in 4 rows of  5 in a baking pan.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in  a warm, draft free place until almost doubled in size, about 45  minutes.  Using a floured chopstick or the edge of a ruler, make a deep  crease down the center of each row of rolls.  Let rolls rise,  loosely covered for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place a rack in the center  of the oven.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cool slightly.   Brush he tops of the rolls with butter and place in the oven  for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool rolls in the pan  for 5 minutes then remove and serve warm.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread with Orange Glaze

I'm definitely an imperfect person. I have many, many faults. One of them is never being content with a recipe, even if it's absolutely delicious. That is what brought me to this recipe for banana bread. I'm really glad I kept trying different recipes, though. This one was delicious!
I found it at an Eat at Home website I found.

3/4c butter
8 oz. cream cheese
2c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2c of mashed banana (about 4 bananas)
1/2t vanilla
3c flour
1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer bowl. Mix in the sugar, then the eggs, bananas, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add them to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into 3 well-greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-75 minutes.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2T orange juice
(The recipe called for 3 T but I found 2 to be sufficient.)

Apple Bread

I LOVE this apple bread! This time I used pecans instead of walnuts only because that's what was already in my cupboard.

2c flour
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1/2c chopped walnuts
1/2c butter, softened
1c white sugar
2 eggs
1t vanilla extract
2+c apples, peeled, cored and shredded (I used 2 apples cut in chunks and 1 shredded)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts.
In a large bowl beat margarine, sugar, one egg at a time, and vanilla. Stir in apples.
Add dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake for 50-60 minutes (it took mine over an hour by toothpick test). Let stand 10 minutes then remove from pan.

Pumpkin Bread

This makes 3 loaves, so freeze one or give it away. For us we tend to eat our way right through it. It's good stuff!

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

 

Crumbly Cornbread

We make this with chili all the time. It is so yummy it usually doesn't last a day in our house.


1 c flour
1 c yellow cornmeal
1/2 c whit sugar
1 t salt
3 1/2 t baking powder
1 egg
1 c milk
1/3 c canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round or square pan.
In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in the egg, milk and oil until combined. Pour batter into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.