Apple Fritter Bread

It's officially fall so let the fall baking begin! We were sitting in church when the need to bake overcame me. Does that ever happen to you? Baking is my coping skill and I needed to bake. But I hadn't planned on a baking spree and I didn't have the marshmallow creme I needed to make the peanut butter fudge I desperately needed to make and the bag of marshmallows was needed to make rice krispy treats for the boys lunches. My husband came to the rescue! He wanted apple fritters. With glaze. Everything is better with glaze! I didn't want to fry anything so I made apple fritter bread instead. So good! Eat it! It's fall!

 

 

Apple Fritter Bread

1/2 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

2 apples

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add the flour and baking powder, stirring to combine. Gently mix in the milk, stirring until it is smooth. Peel the apples and chop into small chunks. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a greased loaf pan, put half the batter in the bottom. Add half the apples. Cover the apples with half the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until the bread is baked through. 

Make a glaze with 1/2 c. powdered sugar and 1-2 Tbsp. milk. Pour over bread while still warm. Slice and enjoy!

*** I used homemade apple pie filling for my apples. I used about half the apples, chopping them into chunks before adding them to the bread. For the glaze I used some of the liquid from the pie filling instead of milk. So good!

Waffles

My kids are in love with waffles. Especially these waffles, which kind of boggles my mind because they like them even more than the chocolate waffles. Go figure. It's what I get for having boys instead of girls.

 

Waffles

1 3/4 c. flour - I use half white flour and half whole wheat

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 3/4 c.milk

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

Combine the milk, oil, and eggs and a medium bowl. Add in flour and baking powder. Stir to combine just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. The batter should still be a little lumpy. Pour batter into a lightly greased waffle iron and bake following the manufacturer's instructions. 

Cheesy Garlic Bread

My family loves to have pizza and movie night. We do it fairly frequently - like several times a month but not quite every week. I frequently make the pizza but we occasionally buy it from somewhere cheap. And then we get the cheesy, garlic bread, too. Yum! So, I was making pizza for us one night and figured that I could make the cheesy bread, too. It can't be that hard, right? Fortunately, I was right! And I had all that lovely pizza dough right there in front of me, so I used enough dough for one pizza (recipe here) and turned it into cheesy garlic bread.

 

Cheesy Garlic Bread 

dough for one pizza, recipe here

1/8 c. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

2 tsp. Pizza magic other seasoning you like

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Roll dough out onto greased jelly roll pan. Mine was on the thick side because that's how I like it but you can make it as thin or thick as you want. Cut the dough with a pizza cutter. This makes it easy to pull apart when it's baked. Don't separate the pieces, only cut the dough. Add garlic to melted butter and stir. My local grocery store sells garlic paste in the produce section and I love to use that, but you can use fresh garlic, garlic salt, whatever form of garlic you like. Spread the butter/ garlic mixture over the dough. Sprinkle the seasoning over the butter, then sprinkle the cheese over all. Bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes. Baking time will depend on how thick you rolled your dough - thinner dough will cook faster. Keep an eye on it while it's baking. It's done when the edges turn golden brown.

Puri

My missionary son wrote home talking about this bread, saying how good it was, so I had to try it out. We all love Naan, another bread from India, so I figured this would be good as well. It is. You fry this one until it is golden. It came out light and a little crispy. My 16 year old actually made the dough for me and I fried it. We even had plenty for everyone to have three pieces each with only one batch! I put a little honey on one of my pieces and that was also delicious. Others put the aloo masala I made with it on the bread and declared that to be good. It seems to be a pretty flexible bread.

 

Puri

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. warm water

 Additional oil for frying

Measure the flour into a bowl. Add the salt, then the oil. Slowly begin adding the water as you mix the dough with your hands. This will form a bread dough that cleans itself off the sides of the bowl. You don't want to add so much water that the dough sticks to your hands, but you want a flexible and stretchy dough. Knead with your hands until you have a pliable dough that will stretch when rolled into a snake. Roll the dough into small balls (we got about 20) and roll out very thin. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until a small piece of dough floats to the surface when put in the oil. Cook dough on each side until golden. The dough will puff up as it cooks, but it puffs up even more if you spoon hot oil over it while it cooks. Enjoy!

Banana Pancakes

Another use for some of those bananas that sit around for too long and go bad. You can never have too many old banana recipes! I swear, one of these days I am going to get the banana thing right and only buy what gets eaten! Maybe. If I get really, super lucky!

 

Banana Pancakes

2 c. milk

1 c. mashed banana

2 eggs

3 Tbsp. melted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

In a large bowl, combine the milk, banana, eggs, butter, and vanilla.  Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda and stir. The batter will be lumpy- do not overmix it. Cook over medium heat in a frying pan using about 1/3 cup batter for each pancake or you can use a griddle at about 150 degrees. Turn when bubbles rise to the surface and pop. Cook each side until golden brown. Top pancakes with bananas, blueberries, or maple syrup.

Waffles

My kids love it when I make them breakfast in the mornings. It is never often enough for them! Waffles are a favorite. Well, anything that involves syrup is good for them!

 

Waffles

1 3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the milk, oil, and eggs in a medium bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well, but do not over beat. The batter will still have some lumps. Pour into heated and greased waffle iron and cook according to the manufacture's instructions. 

Caprese Bread

My husband made this for me for Mother's Day. Oh my goodness! It was SO good! We went to church then came home and had it for lunch with a salad - which was perfect. Except there wasn't enough to keep eating it all afternoon, which I would have done. I think it's a caprese, but I'm not sure that is really what it's called. I wouldn't normally eat it because of the tomatoes, but on this they were amazing. Please don't be upset about this, but most of these ingredients were eyeballed, not measured out exactly. Experiement a little and enjoy the process!

 

Caprese Bread

1 loaf French bread, sliced in half

1/2 c. softened butter

garlic paste

Italian seasoning

sliced fresh mozerella cheese

tomatoes, slcied thin

fresh basil

balsamic vinegar

In a small bowl, mix the butter, garlic paste (squeeze a bunch in, whatever looks good to you), and Italian seasoning (again, use what looks good to you. My husband used about a tablespoon). Spread the butter mixture over the two halves of the bread. Place the slices of cheese over the butter and bake at 350 degrees just until the cheese is melty. Place the sliced tomatoes over the cheese when it comes out of the oven. Sprinkle with fresh basil (we used dried because the store was out of fresh) and balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

This is one of the boys' favorite snacks! They are so excited to see it when I make this bread! I rarely make only one loaf. I don't like having my oven on for an entire hour for one loaf of read my kids will have gone in about 5 minutes! I usually end up making 2-3 loaves at a time and freezing some of them for later. They freeze really well. Thank goodness!

 

Banana Bread

1/3 c. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. milk

2 eggs

 1 c. mashed banana

1 3/4 c. flour

2/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix butter, milk, eggs, and banana together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. This batter should be lumpy.  Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cherry Bread

This bread is amazingly good. I love the cherry-almond combination. Ignore the hole in the top. I have a bunch of boys in the house that enjoy "helping" me cook. I made this for Valentine's Day. I need to use any excuse I can get to have some pink in this house full of males! So I took this excuse and ran with it! Pink bread with pink frosting! It was great!

 

Cherry Almond Bread

1 3/4 c. flour

1 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla

10-12 oz. jar maraschino cherries

cherry juice drained from jar

Drain the juice from the jar of cherries and set it aside. Chop the cherries up - I cut them each into quarters. Place them in a small bag and add 1-2 Tbsp. flour, then shake the bag to coat the cherries. This should keep them from sticking together in the batter. In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add eggs, oil, and flavorings. Reserve about 1/4 c. of the cherry juice for the glaze, add the rest into the bread batter. Stir to combine ingredients, but don't over mix. When the ingredients are mixed together, add the cherries and stir them in. Pour batter into a greased bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for abut 50 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top springs back to the touch. Allow to cool before adding glaze.

Glaze:

1/4 c. cherry juice reserved from above

1 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar

In a small bowl add the cherry juice, almond extract, and about 1 c. powdered sugar. Stir. Add more powdered sugar until it is the desired consistency - just remember this is a glaze, not a frosting. Pour over the cooled bread.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

These rolls are delicious! They have just the right amount of sweetness to be sweet rolls without being overly sweet. Rolls freeze really well, too, so I made these ahead of time this year and froze them for Thanksgiving. Now we get delicious rolls I can warm right before dinner! Yum!

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Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

1 1/2 c. warmed pineapple juice  

1/2 c. melted butter

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. ginger

3 eggs

1 tsp. salt

6-7 c. flour

2 Tbsp. yeast

Beat eggs in Bosch machine. Add warm juice, melted butter, sugar, vanilla, yeast and mix together. Add in salt and 3 c. flour. Allow machine to mix as you continue to add 3 additional cups flour. Check dough consistency. If it is too sticky, add more flour. You will want the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but not be too dry. Allow machine to knead dough 5-6 minutes. Cover bowl with warm towel and let rise until double. Punch down and shape as desired. Place on greased pan and allow to rise again. I put the pan in a warm oven with a pan of hot water underneath. When doubled in size, bake at 350 degrees 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. I always brush the tops of my rolls with butter when they come out of the oven, but you don't have to. Enjoy!

Rolls

I love bread. Especially hot, fresh bread. Rolls are good with so many different meals, too. Soups, stews, etc. are all better with rolls. They make easy sandwiches the day after, too. Or by themselves with butter and jam. Really, is there any way a roll isn't good?

 

Rolls

2 c. warm milk

1/2 c. warm water

4 tsp. yeast

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

2 eggs

7-8 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

I use my Bosch machine for these rolls, but you can use a KitchenAid or mix by hand. Put milk, water, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of your Bosch machine. Add melted butter, but be sure it isn't so hot it will kill the yeast. Add 4 cups of the flour and turn machine on. Allow to mix until ingredients are well combined. Turn the machine off to add the two eggs, then turn back on until mixed. Add salt and slowly add in flour as it mixes. Add flour until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the edges of the bowl. Cover with a warm, damp towel and allow to rise until double. Or, be impatient like me and just move on. Punch dough down after it has doubled in size. Shape into balls or however you like to shape your rolls. For these, I rolled my dough out into a rough rectangle that was about 1/2 inch thick. Then I folded it over itself so it was about 1 inch thick and cut into 25 rectangles. Place on greased sheet and allow to rise again. I do this in a warm oven with a pan of hot water underneath the tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Chocolate Waffles

Waffles are a favorite breakfast and my kids think I don't make them enough. Chocolate waffles are even better! How can you have a bad day when it starts with chocolate waffles covered with chocolate syrup? If you add chocolate milk, it's a chocolate breakfast!

 

Chocolate Waffles

1 3/4 c. milk

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix milk, eggs, and oil in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. There will be lumps that remain. Bake in waffle iron until done. Serve with chocolate syrup and enjoy!

Chocolate Syrup

1 1/2 c. water

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all but vanilla in pot on stove. Mix well with a whisk and stir constantly over medium high heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve hot or cold. Store in refrigerator.

Pizza Dough

My kids are normal kids and love pizza. We enjoy having family movie nights were we sit in front of the TV and eating while we watch something no one agreed on and mom had to step in and pick a movie no one else is happy with. At least, until it starts and every one settles back down and enjoys the show and the food. Pizza is great because you can top it anyway you like to meet the desires of various people and have everyone happy with dinner. Some of our favorites are ham and pineapple, pepperoni, and bacon and black olive. Yum!

 

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 c. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

3 c. flour

1/4 Tbsp. salt

This is another recipe I use my Bosch machine for. I make at least three pizzas each time we have pizza so it's a lot of dough to knead by hand. Start with the water, yeast, and sugar. If you want to proof the yeast, let that sit for about 5 minutes so it can get foamy.  Add 1 cup flour and salt and turn on Bosch. Slowly add additional flour just until you get a stiff dough that doesn't stick to your hands when you shape it. I use a pizza paddle and a stone pizza pan. Put the pizza stone in the oven and turn on to 400 degrees. Get out the pizza paddle and sprinkle liberally with cornmeal. Shape dough into shape on pizza paddle. Top as desired and bake at 400 degrees about 15 minutes.

If you are not using a Bosch or Kitchenaid, mix the water, yeast, and sugar as above. Stir in 1 c. flour and salt and mix. Slowly add in additional flour and knead on counter until you can't mix more in. Shape and bake as above.

Corn Bread

Mmmmm, corn bread. I love it when it is right out of the oven with butter melting into it and honey drizzled all over it. Delicious! I like to make chili and cornbread, but some of the boys decided that cornbread was no longer an acceptable side to meals. So I had to figure something else out. They love waffles so I decided to try making the corn bread into waffles and put chili and cheese on top. It worked! They love the corn bread waffles and usually don't complain too much about dinner! Winner!

When I use this recipe to make corn bread, I keep it as is. When I am making waffles, I double it so we get enough waffles for seconds. Just put the batter in a waffle iron, just as you would to make regular waffles. I always grease the waffle iron, but mine sticks a lot.

 

Corn Bread

1 c. corn meal

1 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 c. milk

1 egg

Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 8 inch greased baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Wheat Bread

My sister attended some baking classes and found a fantastic bread recipe that I LOVE to use when I make bread.This is my favorite read recipe and I make it all the time. We love to make small loaves so each family member gets their own and eat it for dinner with a glass of milk. Delicious!

This recipe make four large loaves or three large loaves and six small ones. Enjoy!

1 c. sour dough starter
5 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. salt
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
3 c. white flour
14 c. whole wheat flour, divided
3 Tbsp. yeast (Saf is the best yeast)

I use a Bosch machine when I make bread. I love it! Add sour dough starter and water to bowl of Bosch. If you don't have sour dough starter you can use 1 c. water, for a total of 6 c. water. Sourdough gives the bread a little better texture, but it is also fine with only water. Add in oil, honey, and yeast. Add salt. Add white flour and 4 cups wheat flour. Turn on Bosch. Slowly add remaining wheat flour, about a cup at a time, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. You may need a little more than the 10 c. flour, you may need a little less. I poke the dough with a finger. If it is sticky, add a little more. If the flour won't all beat you you probably added too much and need a little more water. ADD SLOWLY. The bread dough will need to beat in the Bosch for about 6 minutes to be kneaded.

OK, I cheat when I make bread. I am not patient enough for letting the bread sit and rise twice. That is what you are supposed to do, so if you prefer to follow the "rules" and do it the "right" way, cover the bowl with a damp, warm towel and let the dough rise until double in size. Punch down and shape into loaves. Me, I shape it into loaves right here and put the bread pans in a warm oven (not hot - warm it on the lowest setting and turn it off when warmed) with a pan of hot water underneath to keep the oven moist. Shut the oven door for about 20-30 minutes, until loaves are about double in size. Take pan of water out, turn oven on to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

More tips: you can substitute some of the flour for other grains. Things I have done: blend some oats in the blender until powdered. I prefer to grind my own wheat and will add quinoa to the wheat and use that flour as well. I have also ground rice into my wheat flour.

I prefer to use whole white wheat over the red wheat. White is a little lighter.

You can add 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to the water to give the bread a little more vitamin C.