Honey Glazed Pull-Apart Rolls

This is a very universal bread recipe. Its a great base for orange rolls, cinnamon rolls and homemade crescent rolls. Would be great thrown all together in a loaf pan for homemade white bread. The possibilities are endless.

I am a big huge bread fan. I would live off it if I could. Sometimes I do. The texture of these rolls is amazing! 

Recipe:

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 cup warm water*

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

Sprinkle 1 TBS dry yeast over water mixture and wisk with a fork until combined. Let sit until it gets bubbly.

Then stir in:

2 cups bread flour (if you dont have bread flour, all purpose will work)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 beaten egg

Stir until a smooth batter is formed and continue to add flour to form a soft dough - about 1-2 cups. Let dough rise until double in size. Once doubled, turn out onto a crisco'd countertop to avoid sticking. Use a small amount of Crisco on your hands and Roll into 2" balls and place 3x6 in a greased (I like to use Crisco) 9x13 baking pan. This recipe makes 18 rolls and they should all fit in this pan. Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size. If you use my Quick-rise method (See HERE for bread tips!) do NOT use the plastic wrap!

Once your rolls are doubled in size, bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix 2 TBS melted butter and 2 TBS honey until combined. Brush over hot rolls. Let them cool for 10 minutes before handling. Enjoy!

Worlds BEST Cinnamon Rolls!

These from-scratch Cinnamon rolls are SO delicious! No calorie counting allowed!

Mix together in a large bowl:
1 cup very warm water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
Wisk with fork until combined. Then add:
1 TBS dry yeast. Wisk again until mixed.
Let sit until bubbly/foamy (approx. 10 minutes). Then add in:
2 cups flour (I like to use bread flour, but its not nesesary)
1/3 cup warm melted margarine
1 beaten egg
Stir with fork until a smooth batter is formed and continue to add flour to form a soft dough (about 1-2 cups). Let dough raise until double in size, and then gently turn out on a lightly floured counter top and roll into a rectangle about 1/2" thick.

Spread a thin layer of softened margarine (you will need about 1/2 stick) over the surface, making sure to go all the way to the edge. Then sprinkle dump on the brown sugar. It needs to be thick so keep spreading until you cannot see through to the dough. Again, spread all the way to the edge. Follow with a heavy sprinkle of cinnamon.

Roll fairly tightly and pinch edges of dough to seal. Use dental floss to cut rolls about 1 1/2" thick. Place in a completely greased 9x13 pan (I like to use Crisco, works WAY better than cooking spray). Let raise until more than double in size*****

*****Quick-rise method
Preheat your oven to its very lowest setting (usually 150-170ish degrees). Once preheated, turn the oven OFF. Put your rolls in the oven and set your timer for 20-30 minutes and they will be nice and fluffy when they are done! Then remove from oven and pre-heat to your baking temp of 350. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12, minutes but WATCH them! Ovens vary!

FROSTING! The best part, yes?
Completely melt 1 stick of margarine. You want your butter HOTT
Add (by 1/2 cup fulls) about 2-2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, stirring, until thick. Then add:
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Wisk together until smooth. If too thick, add milk in small quantities. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Drizzle over hot rolls! ENJOY!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

In honor of the beginning of Fall I thought I would post a pumpkin recipe. This is SO GOOD! It has a cake-like consistency and it melts in your mouth!

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening
6 eggs

1 (32 oz) can pumpkin (or 2 of the 15 ouncers will work too!)
1 cup water

4 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg

12 oz milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Cream shortening, sugar and eggs (adding eggs one at a time). Blend in pumpkin and water. In a seperate bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill loaf pans about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Toothpick should come out with tiny crumbs, but no liquid, when its done. It will continue to bake to perfection in the pan as it cools. Enjoy!!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

The best kind of restaurants are those that serve bread while you wait, right?? Red Lobster is one of my favorites. They serve these TO DIE FOR biscuits. Ive been wanting to make them for years, as I have seen lots of copycat recipes. This is the winner, my friends! This recipe yields 1 dozen biscuits.

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 TBS cold butter

3/4 cup cold milk. I use 1%

1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp Johnny's garlic seasoning*

To brush on top:

3 TBS melted butter

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp Johnnys garlic seasoning*

*I always use Johnny's garlic seasoning in place of garlic powder. I highly recommend it! If you do not have this, and dont want to buy it, you can use garlic powder instead.

In a large bowl, add the cold butter to your Bisquick.

Use a pastry blender (if you dont have a pastry blender, use a fork) to blend them together. It should have small pea sized chunks when its fully mixed. It should look like this:

Add milk, cheese, and garlic seasoning.

Mix with a fork until fully combined.

Spoon onto a greased baking sheet by 1/4 cup fulls and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. 

Put your butter, parsley and garlic seasoning into a small bowl and microwave for approximately 30 seconds. Brush onto hot biscuits.

Serve immediately, as they are the best fresh from the oven. These also warm up great in the microwave if you have enough self control to have some as left-overs :). ENJOY!!

Homemade French Bread

This recipe makes either 2 large loaves, 8 mini loaves, or 10-12 bun-sized rolls. 

I LOVE french bread. Fluffy and soft on the inside. Crispy on the outside. This recipe kicks the store-bought stuff out of the water, and surpasses all other recipes that I have found. Do not be fooled by the simple list of ingredients:

1 1/4 cups very warm (not hot) water

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp rapid rise yeast

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 TBS water

Ice cubes

Put your warm water in a glass bowl. Add your sugar and then your yeast, wisking gently with a fork until combined. Set aside for 10 minutes or until its bubbly/foamy. It should look like this:

Meanwhile, in your KitchenAid mixer, combine your flour and salt.

When your yeast is good and foamy, add it to your flour mixture.

Attach dough hook and set your timer for 8 minutes. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed setting and let it do its job (after 1 minute, check to see how your dough looks. If it is dry and flaky, add 1 TBS warm water). While your dough is kneading, grease a glass (oven safe) bowl with your favorite non-stick agent.

When your 8 minutes is up, lay your dough in your bowl and let it rise until double in size. (Speed-rise method: Pre-heat your oven to the lowest setting. For most ovens, this is between 150-170 degrees. Once pre-heated, turn your oven OFF. Put your bowl inside for 15-20 minutes, or until double in size).

Once it has doubled in size, lay it onto a greased counter top to avoid sticking. Do NOT knead!

Grease your baking pans. Separate your dough. If you are making rolls, divide into 2.5" balls. If making mini-loaves, divide and shape your dough into 8 mini loaves. If making large loaves, divide into 2 large loaves. I made rolls with this batch.

Mix your egg and water together with a fork until smooth. Brush this mixture on top of your dough.

Then cut your slits with a sharp knife. Be gentle, making sure you dont cut too deep.

Let rise again until double in size.

(If you did the speed rise method, remove your rolls from the oven)

Pre-heat to 375, and bake for 12-15 minutes for mini loaves or rolls, or 20-25 minutes for large loaves.

Here is how you get your crispy outer crust. When you put it in the oven to bake, toss a handful of ice cubes into the oven (yes, I said ice cubes... right into the bottom of the oven). Add another handful about 10 minutes into bake time. This gives a mildly crispy crust. Fore crispier crust, add ice cubes more often. 

When they are golden brown, they are done. Like this:

Transfer to a cooling rack immediately. These are delicious by themselves, but I also like to half these and use them for all sorts of meals. Our favorites being: Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches, BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Roast Beef Sandwiches, Steak Sandwiches and Sloppy Joes!

ENJOY!

Orange Rolls

I love bread. It is my absolute all-time favorite food. And.. if it werent for the fact that excessive bread-eating makes you fat.. I would eat it all day. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes I do.... shhhhh! One of my favorite things to make is rolls. Rolls just go so tastily with pretty much everything.

I created this recipe about 3 years ago, and havent made a different recipe since. Everyone who tries them wants the recipe.. even those who have a go-to recipe already. It really is THAT good! The best part about it is that its versatile. Its a great basic roll recipe. Great for cinnamon rolls. Great for breadsticks. Great for orange rolls, etc etc.

Todays post is about Orange rolls.

OH how I LOVE orange rolls. And we arent talkin Pillsbury from a can orange rolls. These are homemade, from scratch, all natural ingredients. So fluffy and tasty and pure sticky yummyness...

First you will need your handy-dandy Notebook Breadmaker. This is mine.

My wonderful MIL bought this for me a few birthdays ago and it is probably my most frequently used kitchen appliance aside from my KitchenAid. It makes dough OH SO perfectly. If you dont have a breadmaker, I would highly recommend investing in one, or adding it to your Christmas list. Its is definitely worth every penny.

Bread Recipe:
3/4 cup very warm milk
1/4 cup very warm water
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
4 TBS butter, softened
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Orange Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 orange peel, finely grated (When I peel an orange, I pop the peel in the freezer. Frozen peel is really easy to grate)

Directions:
Put all ingredients into your bread maker in the order listed above. Your liquids need to be very warm, but not hot. Once the flour is added, dig a little hole in the top, add your yeast, and cover it with flour. *hint. having a cute kitchen helper makes your bread taste better*

Press the dough setting, and let your machine do its magic. When the dough making process is complete, it should look like this:

Oh, just look at it! Beautifully risen bread dough!

Grease your counter and dump your dough onto it. DO NOT KNEAD! 

Form into 2" balls and place on a baking sheet.

Mix up your Orange Topping.

If you find that its too thick, just pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds or so. You want it to be runny enough to spoon over your rolls and have it melt down the sides. Pour over rolls, and let them rise until double in size. 

**Quick-rise method! If you dont have a couple hours to let those babies rise, thats not a problem. Turn your oven on to the lowest setting (should be 150-170 degrees). Once pre-heated, turn your oven OFF. Put your rolls in. Set your timer for 15-25 minutes. Once they are doubled, remove the rolls from the oven.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Make sure to watch your rolls because ovens vary. 

Ta-Da! Arent they pretty? Theyre delicious too. I may (or may not) have eaten way too many when they were still warm. These freeze well too. Let them cool, place them on a cookie sheet or cutting board, etc and pop them in the freezer. When frozen, transfer to a freezer bag. Have freshly baked rolls with no effort in just a few seconds of defrosting. SO clever, yes? I thought so! (insert pat on back here). Thank you! Have a terriffic day!