Italian Pullapart

This is a super easy side dish to make and goes well with any Italian main dish.  It's the same basic recipe as the bacon cheddar pull apart, but with an Italian twist.  A fun way to have some bread to go with your dinner.

What you need:

1 Egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 can Pillsbury Grand biscuits or 2 small cans biscuits

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

  1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

What to do:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Spray 11 x 7 or 12 x 8 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

3. In medium bowl, mix egg and milk with wire whisk until smooth. 

4. Separate dough into 8 biscuits; cut each into quarters

   (if using Grands) or cut in half (if using small pkg biscuits). 

5. Gently dip biscuit pieces into egg mixture to coat evenly.

    Then place in large bowl.

6. Fold in cheeses and Italian seasoning (reserve enough to sprinkle on top, about 1/4 cup). 

Spoon mixture into sprayed baking dish; arrange biscuit pieces in single layer.

Sprinkle reserves shredded cheeses on top

7. Bake at 350° for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown.     

8. Gather round, pull apart and enjoy!  This is best when warm

    right after removing from the oven. 

Enjoy this simple and delicious way to use Pillsbury Grands. This goes great with the Lasagna soup.
Throw in an Olive Garden style green salad and you have a great meal.  Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Bread

For my daughter's wedding last fall we decided to serve a variety of breads at the reception. 

 I started searching for bread recipes that had appeal and found this one. 

 It's pretty to look at and delicious to eat!

I've always had a soft spot for almost anything lemon flavored,
throw in the blueberries and I'm sold.

What you need:

1 1/2 cups flour & 1 tablespoon flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approx. 2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and rinsed

(I used fresh blueberries and loved how it turned out)

For lemon glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice

What to do:

1, Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease bottom and sides of 9 x 5 loaf pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess

3. In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt

4. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil

5. Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

6. In separate bowl, mix blueberries with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour.

Then fold them very gently into the batter.

7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or 

until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. Let cool in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove loaf onto

wire rack for cooling.  Place wire rack on a cookie sheet.

9. While loaf is cooling, mix lemon glaze,with a toothpick, poke holes in top of bread loaf

10. Pour the lemon glaze over the loaf, covering completely.  

Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

This is fresh and light in flavor.  Find someone to share it with 

or you'll find yourself eating the entire thing, its that good!

Thanks to sweetpeaskitchen.com where I found this great recipe.

If I'm going to bake I like to go big, so I doubled the recipe and it worked perfectly.

This is a great recipe that I will definitely be making more of. It has a great mixture of tang, from the lemon juice and sweetness from the sugary glaze. . . by the way, it was a hit at the reception!

Add a scoop of berry or lemon sherbert or vanilla ice cream and it makes a great dessert.

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
Read more at http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-loaf/#2Lvg2XA75a6CL1yU.99

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
Read more at http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-loaf/#2Lvg2XA75a6CL1yU.99

For the Loaf:
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
Read more at http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-loaf/#2Lvg2XA75a6CL1yU.99

For the Loaf:
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
Read more at http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-loaf/#2Lvg2XA75a6CL1yU.99

Cheesy Breadsticks

For these breadsticks I used my favorite standby bread recipe that's listed under the breads section and is probably one of my first posts in this section, "Milk and Honey Bread".  I mix this up in my bread machine under the dough setting and then do lots of different things with it as you've seen. So to get started on these yummy breadsticks throw together the ingredients listed below.

 

What you need:

1 1/8 cups milk

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 cups flour (for these breadsticks I did all three cups white flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

 

These you will need later as you put together the bread sticks:

about 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

2 tablespoons butter melted

Garlic salt and Italian seasonings or dried parsley

 

What to do:

1. Divide dough into two even pieces.

2. Take one section and roll out onto pizza pan sprayed with cooking spray.

(This will be a pretty thin piece of dough)

3.  Sprinkle with as much cheese as you'd like in your breadsticks.  I used about 1 to 1/2 cups shredded cheese, whatever you have on hand should work fine.

 

 

4. Roll other half of dough on counter, roll into circle shape the same size as the dough with cheese already on the pizza pan(dust counter lightly with flour to prevent sticking).

5.  Place second circle of dough on top of the first layer of dough that was sprinkled with cheese,

then gently pinch the edges together all the way around the circle.

6.  Brush the top with melted butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt, grated parmesan and add a little crumbled dried parsley or if you want an Italian twist to it sprinkle with Italian seasonings.

 7.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

After these are done baking, I cut the circle in half and then all the way across into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick bread sticks.  This makes about 24 bread sticks.

 

These go great with any soup or can be good by themselves dipped in Alfredo sauce, ranch, or marinara.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we do at our house.  They always disappear fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Mom's Zucchini Bread Recipe

So I'm at it again.  Baking some more breads to freeze for my daughter's wedding reception.  This time I thought I'd try some zucchini bread.  Rebecca gave me two huge zucchini's  and I think when I've finally finished making bread from them I will end up with 10 or more loaves.  Wow!  I searched around and found this recipe on allrecipes.com  which is another one of my favorite places to find good recipes. . . and I wasn't disappointed.  This is a delicious bread recipe, a real treat and a great way to use up some of that zucchini that stayed on the vine a little too long.

 

 

What you need:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup oil (or for a healthier version you can use applesauce instead)

2 1/4 cups white granulated sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

 

What to do:

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In large bowl; beat eggs, oil, vanilla and white sugar until creamy.

3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

4. Beat together dry ingredients and creamy mixture.

5. Add shredded zucchini and chopped nuts and beat until mixture is combined well.

6. Pour batter into prepared baking pans (will fill each about half way).

7. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, until tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8.  Cool in pan on baking rack for about 20 minutes.

9. Remove bread from pans and cool completely on baking rack.

 

I really liked this recipe and will definitely be making this again (probably tomorrow night and the night after that).  I'll be whipping this up until I use all the shredded zucchini I have and I think its

gonna take a while.  I ended up baking my first batch for about 55 minutes and the second batch (which was the mini loaves) for about 45 minutes.  I used chopped pecans in mine and we loved the flavor.  I would use whichever I had on hand or use no nuts at all and think it would be delicious any of these ways.  I think you'll really enjoy this one . . .all I can say about this recipe is . . . YUM!

 

 

 

 



Banana Bread

Life gotten really exciting and busy,when around the 4th of July, TWO of my children got engaged to be married.  My daughter's wedding date is September 28th and my son's is November 2nd.  We've been going full tilt ever since, taking care of the many details of a wedding and all that goes with it!

For my daughter's reception one of the refreshments will be a variety of breads.  As a result I'm testing out recipes and making a bunch of the good ones to freeze and then serve at the reception.

I came across this on www.foodnetwork.com   I tried it out on my family and they all loved it!
The entire loaf disappeared in less than 24 hours.  This is absolutely not a low-cal, healthy version
but it's definitely a delicious version of banana bread. I'm sure the great flavor has something to do with the cube of butter and cup of sugar in each loaf.  It had five stars and I think it deserved it!

So it's looking like the next few posts here will be various breads and I'll let you know what I've learned in the process.  Happy cooking and baking, . . .

What you need:

1 cube butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 very ripe banana

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Butter or coat with cooking spray 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

3. Cream the butter and sugar  with mixer until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. In a small bowl, mash the bananas.  I like to use a potato masher, its quick and easy.

6.  Add milk and ground cinnamon and continue to mix together with masher.

7. Add to creamed butter and sugar and mix well.

8.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

9.  Mix just until dry mixture disappears and

10.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake approx. 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

11. Set pan aside on cooling rack for about ten minutes then turn out banana bread to cool completely before slicing.  Now your all set to enjoy a slice!

The first time I made this I let it bake for the full 70 minutes, it was a little more well done on the edges then I prefer.  The second time I made it I only baked it for an hour and it came out perfect.

Baking time will depend on your oven, so I would just check it after its been baking for an hour and let it bake til golden brown and the tooth pick comes out clean.

This is a good old time recipe that's a classic and is good to eat anytime. 

It's easy and a great thing to do with bananas that have gotten a bit too ripe. 

You could also do two small loaf pans instead of one large loaf pan.

Parmesan Pinch Rolls

What you need:

2 packages(10 each) buttermilk Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits

1/2 cube butter

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

What to do:

1. Melt butter and place in shallow bowl.

2. Measure parmesan cheese and place in another shallow bowl.

3. Open buttermilk biscuits and dip and coat both sides in the melted butter.

4. Roll in parmesan cheese and coat entire biscuit, fold in half and pinch, then place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

They are just yummy!  So easy to make and a fun twist on a basic biscuit.  They go well with many different main dishes, pasta, soup, whatever you like.  These are something my mom used to make when I was a kid and I would help her in the process.  So easy to do even a child can make these. Enjoy!



Sweet Cornbread

What you need:
 2 cups cornmeal
1 cup coarsely ground kamut
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
6 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup oil or apple sauce for a more low fat version
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

What to do:
1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Stir together melted butter, vegetable oil or apple sauce, eggs and buttermilk
3. Fold into dry ingredients, mixing gently.
4. Pour into a greased 10 1/2 x 15 baking dish.

5. Bake for 40 minutes at 340 degrees or until golden brown.

This cornbread is another of our family favorites.  It does require some specific items like the kamut, but is totally worth it!  We started making this after purchasing a NutriMill grinder.  We make the cornmeal by grinding popcorn kernels, the wheat by grinding our red wheat kernels, and I purchase the kamut that we also grind with the NutriMill grinder.  I do big batches at a time so that I have it handy in my pantry.
It's a good feeling to produce this delicious cornbread that comes completely from scratch.  It is rich, hearty and sweet.  We like to make honey butter to go with it and it quickly disappears.

***This recipe can be cut in half and put into an 8 in square baking dish***



Pepperoni Stuffed Pizza Rolls

What you need:

20 Rhodes dough rolls (thawed)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese, approx 2 cups (this will vary depending on how cheesy you like it)

1 package sliced pepperoni

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons melted butter

Italian seasoning (about one teaspoon)

Marinara or pizza sauce(if desired for dipping rolls in)

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.

3. Cut pepperoni slices into bite size pieces(I use my kitchen scissors to do this).

4. On lightly floured surface, one at a time; take individual thawed roll dough

 and roll out to about double original size, should be small rectangle shape.

5. Place a large pinch of shredded mozzarella cheese and pepperoni in center of dough.

Combined this will equal about a heaping tablespoon of pepperoni and cheese.

6. Fold sides over and gently pinch together where they meet.

7.  Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

8. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter

9. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings and grated Parmesan cheese.

10.  Bake at 375 for about 18  to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Let these cool for a few minutes and then you're ready to enjoy!  I like these warm and fresh out of
the oven.  It's great to fix if your having friends over for a game or movie night or just add a salad and you have a complete meal.  You can use marinara or ranch for dipping sauces.
You can mix it up using any combination of fillings you like.
Whatever you would like on a pizza you can just put inside with these stuffed pizza rolls.  It would be good with ham, pineapple, and cheese too.  Have fun with this mix it up with something different or stick with something safe like I did.  In my book cheese and pepperoni are always a good combination.
Also you can make your own dough and do the same thing.
Rhodes is just a good alternative if you don't love making bread dough.

Happy Cooking . . .

Milk and Honey Bread

What you need:

 1 1/8 cups milk

 3 tablespoons honey

 3 tablespoons butter melted

 3 cups flour ( I use one cup whole wheat flour and two cups white flour)

 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

 I'm not a good bread maker so I use my bread machine for this.  Put it on the dough setting and then roll in crescent rolls and bake in my oven.  This is a great dough recipe that I use for many different purposes.

 What to do:

 1. Put ingredients in order listed into bread machine

 2. Use dough setting and press start (this takes about one and a half hours to process dough)

 3. Take dough out and place on pizza pan

 4. Roll out dough so that it covers pan.  It will look like your getting ready to make a pizza.

 5. Using pizza cutter, cut into 12 pieces (looks like pizza slices)

 6. Starting with wide end roll dough forward so that it creates a crescent roll (as shown above)

 7. You can leave these plain or mix it up.  Sometimes I brush with melted butter before rolling up

     I also like to sprinkle cheese inside before rolling up.  I've used cheddar and grated parmesan.

 8. Place crescent rolls on greased cookie sheet.  Let rise for at least one hour.  

 9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

 I originally found this recipe on southernfood.about.com and put my own twist by adding just a little more milk and mixing white and whole wheat flour.

Cheddar Bacon Pull Apart

What you need:

1 Egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 can Pillsbury Grand biscuits or 2 small cans biscuits

1/3 cup precooked bacon bits

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup finely chopped green onion

What to do:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Spray 11 x 7 or 12 x 8 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

3. In medium bowl, mix egg and milk with wire whisk until smooth. 

4. Separate dough into 8 biscuits; cut each into quarters

   (if using Grands) or cut in half (if using small pkg biscuits). 

5. Gently dip biscuit pieces into egg mixture to coat evenly.

    Then place in large bowl.

6. Fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon mixture into 

    sprayed baking dish; arrange biscuit pieces in single layer.

7. Bake at 350° for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown.     

8. Gather round, pull apart and enjoy!  This is best when warm

    right after removing from the oven.  

  This is super easy to make.  It makes a good breakfast food or side dish with a spinach salad or some other favorite salad.

               This recipe was found on pillsbury.com the original recipe was created by Terri Barton of Salt Lake City, Utah.