Quick Yeast Rolls

These dinner rolls were so yummy and they were a snap to make! I had them done in just a little over an hour, with rising time included. Just a couple ingredients too. They were a little sweet and really soft. a great texture. I know they look like muffins, but they are more the texture and taste of a dinner roll. The original recipe says it makes 8 rolls, but I ended up with 10 large ones, and I could have done 12. I felt like my cups were too full, so I didnt get to let them rise enough the 2nd time. Next time, I will take this same recipe and make 12 rolls, and let them rise 10 minutes longer, to make them just a little lighter in texture.

Quick Yeast Rolls (Allrecipes.com)

• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease 8 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix the shortening, sugar, and hot water. Allow to cool until lukewarm, and mix in the yeast until dissolved. Mix in the egg, salt, and flour. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size.
3. Divide the dough into the prepared muffin cups, and allow to rise again until doubled in size.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

A HUGE Success: No Knead Bread #2

Well, I was so excited about the previous loaf of bread I made yesterday, that I got another one going for today. Its been rising since last night. This time, I followed the recipe more closely. I used all white flour. I activated the yeast before adding it to the dry ingredients, since I didn't have instant yeast. Yesterday, I just added 1/4 tsp active dry yeast to the dry ingredients. I couldn't find instant yeast at the store, so I just made do. It worked fine with the last loaf, even though I just added it with the dry stuff. Also, I used a bit less water this time. The original recipe calls for 1 5/8 cups water, but a lot of blogs on that recipe said to only use 1 1/2 cups. I have to say that the tiny amount of water made a big difference. My dough was easier to handle this time. It did stick to the dish cloth though, because I used flour on the bottom. Next time I will stick to corn meal cause it worked beautifully yesterday with the other loaf.

When I uncovered the Dutch oven and saw my beauty of a loaf, I got really excited. Once it cooked and browned for the last 15 minutes, I finally got to remove it from the oven. I was so surprised by how well it turned out! Even better than my loaf from yesterday. This one rose over an inch higher, and the crust browned so nicely this time around. Waiting for it to cool down so I could finally cut into it was torture! I kept walking by and taking close looks at it and thinking to myself that I cant believe that I made that!!! Who would have ever thought that I could bake Artisan quality bread that looks like it came from a bakery in Paris? Just add it to my resume hahaha.


After finally cutting it up and tasting it a bunch of different ways, with butter, with jam, toasted....it was heavenly! My mom was here and we ate half the loaf, just testing it out. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is the best loaf of bread Ive ever made. Its easy enough to make on any day. I cant wait to serve this up for company some night. Im going to make a No Knead Bread tag because I plan to experiment a lot with this recipe and make plenty more loaves in the future.

Here is my exact recipe I used this time around. Adapted from Jim Lahey's recipe.

No Knead Bread (why is it called this??? I prefer Dutch Oven bread)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (115-120 degrees F)
cornmeal or flour for dusting

1. In a small bowl stir yeast into warmed water. Let it rest for 15 minutes to activate.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add water and yeast to flour and salt. Stir until dough forms. Dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

3. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

4. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

5. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

My first attempt at No Knead Bread

I just celebrated my Birthday this week and my mom got me 2 cast iron skillets, and a cast iron Dutch oven. I was super excited about this because Ive really been wanting to try out a No Knead bread recipe, but you need the Dutch oven. Well, now I'm in business!

I was skeptical when I mixed up this dough because it was so wet! More like a batter than a dough, I was barely able to shape it into a ball. Ive since read a ton of blogs about this bread that say to use 1 1/2 cups water, not 1 5/8 cups like the original recipe calls for. Even though the dough was so wet, it still turned out great. Next time I will do it with a bit less water though.

I just have to say that this is the best loaf of bread that I have EVER baked! Sure Ive done plenty of quick breads, but I'm always so afraid to try out yeast breads. My last batch wasn't like what Id hoped for, so I went into this as a skeptic. Well, I am forever changed. This is the kind of bread that Id be proud to serve at any dinner party. Its the crusty, holey texture of the Artisan breads I always see in bakeries, but have never figured out how to duplicate at home. This loaf of bread took me about 5 minutes of prep time then it just rested for 18 hrs! Easy!

I added a bit of whole wheat flour as well as some flax meal, since I'm always trying to sneak something good into recipes. It is still so yummy! Usually I am bummed I tried to make it more healthy. Not this time. I am definitely going to try it out again with just white flour, just to see if its really so much better, but I doubt it.

I cant wait to make this bread again and again! Definitely my favorite bread recipe Ive ever come across.

This recipe is adapted from Jim Lahey, of the Sullivan Street Bakery, in NY.

No-Knead Bread
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Healthy Country Bread

I was reading Blake Bakes yesterday and it was about making home made bread. He wrote about how over the years bread somehow went from a weekly chore, to an "art" that takes tons of skill and knowledge. And how really that is just bogus. Ive always been intimidated when it came to baking anything with yeast. Im not sure why. Maybe I was always wondering if I was kneading the dough properly or if Id used enough flour. Well, now that I have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, I have no excuse because it will knead the dough for me! So today I set out to make some of my own, home made sandwich bread. I followed Blake's recipe for white country bread, but I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and oat flour in place of half of the white flour, since we normally eat whole wheat bread around here and Im always trying to sneak whole grains into our diet. The best part of making bread is taking out a little agression on the dough after it rises. Every recipe says to punch down the dough. I never really knew what that meant until I saw a pic on Blakes blog of him punching the dough down. So I did it the same way.

This bread turned out pretty good. Im glad I checked it after only 25 minutes because if it had been in there any longer, it would have began to burn. The bread was more dense than what I was expecting. Im sure that is because I subbed whole grain flour for half of it. I do think that I could have let it rise longer. Maybe it wasnt quite double the size. I froze half of the dough, so I can easily make more when this loaf is gone and next time I will let it rise a bit higher. Over all, it was easy and turned out good.

Adapted from Country White Bread from Taste Of Home

2 packages of active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
6 cups flour (I used a combo of whole wheat, oat and white)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water and let sit for 10 minutes to rest. When yeast is ready, add sugar, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide in half and shape into loaves. Place in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.

Buttermilk Biscuits

This is Homesick Texan's recipe and when I saw it today when I was looking at her strawberry shortcake recipe, I just had to try them. I have never pounded and folded my dough like that before and I really wanted to try it. Sam had a lot of fun helping me beat the dough. We used our hands because its more fun that way. Also, he got some of his own dough to make his own biscuits which turned out quite well! I am amazed at what all the pounding and folding the dough does...it makes flaky layers! Kind of like the texture of the Pillsbury Grands biscuits! I know that Homesick Texan would cringe that I said that since she doesn't think biscuits from a can are real biscuits at all, but for me...home made biscuits have never turned out good. They have always been dense and dry! So I rarely tried to make them. Until now. These biscuits are the best Ive ever made. They were so moist and rose almost 2 inches high! I served these with some grilled chicken breast and a nice salad. But I ate 5 of them, so that made this meal very fattening for me. Doh!

Homesick Texan's Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tbps baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, cold (8 tbsp)
3/4 cup buttermilk, cream or half-and-half (I used half-and-half)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Mix all the dry ingredients together.
Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
Add the liquid, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. Dough should be smooth and no longer wet. You can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking.
Take dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes.
Roll out dough until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick, and then fold it in half.
Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough.
Place on a greased baking sheet close together (so they rise up not out), and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Makes 10-12 biscuits.

If you don’t want to roll and cut them out, after kneading and beating the dough you can drop the dough onto the baking sheet with a spoon. They’re not as symmetrical (dropped biscuits are also known as cat head biscuits) but they’re no less delicious.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

I decided to try out my first overnight French toast last night. I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com and tweaked it to my liking. One thing that has always turned me off to overnight French toast is the soggy factor. I hate soggy French toast. I never soak my bread at all. I just dip it and fry it because I hate when the middle is eggy and soggy. So, this time I found a recipe that got a lot of reviews that said it wasn't soggy at all. I have to say, it was still a bit soggier than my liking, but it was still really really good. It was more like a blueberry bread pudding with crispy edges. We all had seconds, and there was none left. I think Charlie ate as much and Carl and I. The next time I make this, which will be soon, I will just cut the bread and prepare the egg mixture the night before, but not soak the bread in it all night. I will just pour the eggs over the bread in the morning and bake it and I think that will take away any sogginess at all.

I halved the recipe, so that is what I will put here. It was just enough for the 4 of us. Id probably make a little more next time.

• 1/2 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butter a 9x9 baking dish. (I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on the bottom and sides) Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. Sprinkle with blueberries, making sure to get them in between the bread layers. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, take french toast out of fridge. Let it set out why you preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

Chipped Beef over Toast

I know that this doesnt exactly look like a beautiful appetizing meal. I would probably be afraid of it if I didnt grow up eating it. It had been years since Id had chipped beef, aka shit-on-a-shingle and recently I was reading Whipped and she had a recipe for Creamed Beef, which is the exact same thing my mom used to make us when we were little. I have always loved these types of meals. Im a huge biscuits and gravy fan. Which is also in the shit-on-a-shingle category. My husband hates gravy and fattening stuff like this, so I really can only make this when Im alone. He is in Boston right now, so I decided to indulge. Im also hoping to get my kids hooked on it like I was.

Here is the recipe:

1 Tbps butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 package Carl Buddig beef
Salt and pepper
a pinch of nutmeg

My Grandma's Buttermilk Biscuits

Years ago, my Grandma Lumpkin gave me a cook book that she had written in hand, of family recipes. This is her recipe for buttermilk biscuits. The cooking temp is high, at 450 and the time was for 12-15 minutes. I'm glad I checked them at 8 minutes because they were already too done. So they turned out a bit dry. I think next time I will cook them at 400. We had these with breakfast this morning with butter and jam and eggs and bacon. I didn't have enough eggs, so I decided to make some biscuits to be a filler. I threw the dry ingredients together in a bowl last night and when I got up this morning, it was easy to prepare the rest.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. cold shortening
1 C. buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add buttermilk all at once. stir until dough follows fork around bowl. Roll dough 3/8" thick. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in oven 450 12-15 minutes. This would have been way too long. Watch them carefully.

The Best Garlic Bread

This is how I always make my garlic bread and it is awesome. I love using fresh garlic rather than garlic powder or garlic salt. It just gives it such a fresh taste, especially with the basil. If I dont have the fresh or frozen basil on hand, then I just omit and its still wonderful with just garlic.


1 loaf of fresh French or Italian bread
4 Tbsp of butter at room temp
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (this time I used frozen basil from Trader Joes)
3 garlic cloves, crushed in a garlic press


Mix the basil and garlic into the butter. Slice the loaf of bread long way down the middle. Spread the butter onto both cut sides of the bread. Preheat a broiler and broil the bread until the top is browned (about 2-4 minutes). Keep checking it constantly as it can burn very fast!