Category Archives: Breads

Cinnamon Rolls

January 4, 2014 Sonte Leave a comment

These are relatively easy to make. A special treat for Sunday morn, with leftovers to see you through the week…but wait, if word gets out you are making these, you just might have a few visitors drop by for coffee!

Sweet Roll Dough:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Rapid Rise Yeast
1 cup Milk, scalded and cooled
1 1/2 cups warm Water
1/3 cup Butter
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups Flour (+/-)
1 1/4 teaspoon Salt

Filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz Philly Cream Cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Milk, to right consistency

In large mixing bowl, combine first amount of flour, sugar and rapid rise yeast; set aside.
Scald milk in small saucepan; remove from heat and add butter, stirring until the butter is melted.
Stir in warm water.
In small bowl beat eggs; *temper with slightly cooled, scalded milk mixture.
Gradually add tempered eggs to the remaining scalded milk mixture.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour, yeast and sugar.
Stir vigorously for 2 minutes.
Add a cup of flour and the salt; stir.
Add flour, a cup at a time until a soft dough is formed; you may have to “stir” last stages of flour in with your hands.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Spray two 9×13 pans with Vegetable Oil spray; set aside.
While dough is resting, prepare the

Filling:
In small mixing bowl rub together butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; set aside.

Prepare the Rolls:
On lightly floured surface, knead dough a few times then divide into two equal portions.
Cover portion you are not working with.
With other portion, roll out into a 15″x8″ rectangle.
Sprinkle half of the filling mixture to within 1/4″ of the edges of the rectangle.
Roll up tightly, beginning at 15″ side.
Pinch to seal edge.

Getting set to cut the roll into individual rolls

Cut into 12 slices with a sharp knife.
Place cut side down in prepared pan.
Repeat with second portion of dough.
Cover and let rise for at least an hour and a half.

Set to rise!

Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
Bake in preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven and cool, in pan, on wire racks.

Baked to perfection!

While still warm, but not hot, cover with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
In medium mixing bowl cream together the softened cream cheese and butter.
Stir in a cup of icing sugar and vanilla until well incorporated.
Add remaining icing sugar a little at a time and stirring well after each addition.
If the icing is too thick, thin with a little milk.

Let’s dress these babies up…or not; your call.

*Add about a tablespoon of hot mixture to eggs and stir vigorously; add another tablespoon of scaled milk mixture to eggs, stir vigorously… what you are doing is bringing the eggs up to the temperature of the liquid in the pot. Once egg mixture is warmed you can slowly stir it into the remaining scalded milk mixture in the pot. If you were to just chuck the eggs into the scalded milk mixture you could very possibly end up with something resembling gross scrambled eggs O.o

** The Cream Cheese Frosting recipe I have posted is one I have used for yonks! I don’t know where it came from and I don’t actually measure the ingredients. I think the measures I have listed are pretty accurate for a lovely, creamy, delectable cream cheese frosting.

Yeast

Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

November 14, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

I have recently discovered the Dough setting on my Breadmaker and am putting it to good use! Why don’t I just make bread from scratch, you ask? Let’s face it, I just am not tall enough, nor are my counters low enough to ensure comfortable Kneading…and bread dough begs to be kneaded for 8-10 minutes. For these two reasons I have decided to let my machine do the hard work for me. That isn’t cheating, is it?

I really need to unsubscribe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More on Facebook because everyday something comes through the feed that I just HAVE to make! Heaven knows I simply do not have the time or the people on hand to eat all of the stuff I want to make…
That said, I am delighted to have had this recipe for Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls come through because I often make soups and stews which are so much better with home made bread or buns.

1 1/2 cups Hot Water, from the tap
1/3 (65g) Vegetable Shortening, cubed
1/4 c Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, well beaten
4 cups Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast (1 pkg)

In bread mixer pan add ingredients in order listed.
Use the Dough setting on your Bread Maker ( usually 1 1/2 hours)
Turn dough out onto lightly flour surface and knead into a smooth ball.
Portion dough evenly into 12 – 15 pieces.
Shape each portion into a ball and place in greased 9X13″ pan.
Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap or L-Foil and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375F oven for about 15 – 18 minutes, until golden on top and sounds hollow when you tap on the surface.
Remove from oven, immediately brush with butter.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

* I used a 9X13″ but portioned my dough for 16 pieces instead of 12! I put the extra dough into 2 lil ramekins and baked along side the big pan of rolls.

If making by Hand:
In bowl of your mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Use paddle attachment and add hot water.
Mix on Low speed until all combined.
Add shortening and egg, continuing to stir until well blended.
Switch to dough hook and add remaining flour.
Knead dough for 10 minutes.
Dough will be very soft and sticky.
Transfer dough to a large greased bowl, turning dough to coat.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
Roll dough into smooth ball, cut into four equal pieces and then those four pieces into three pieces each to give you a total of 12 rolls.
Shape each piece into a ball and place in a greased 9×13″ pan.
Cover with towel and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake as directed above.

Yield: 12- 18 Dinner Rolls

Quick Breads

Homemade Bisquick Mix

November 5, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

Often a recipe will call for Bisquick Mix…who buys that stuff? Not me. Never have, never will. I usually just whip up a batch of BP Biscuit dough and use that but sometimes you just don’t have time to go through the added time of making the BP dough. Then it struck me that someone surely would have come up with a homemade version, right? Right! Homemade Biscuit Mix. at Food.com had what I was looking for. Now I try to keep a batch of this in the fridge during the cooler winter nights so I can easily whip up a batch of biscuits or use in recipes calling for Bisquick Mix.

6 cups Flour
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 cup Milk Powder
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Shortening, cubed

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in food processor bowl; whir a couple of times.
With motor running, drop cubed shortening through the feeder tube and process just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Store in sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 months.
Use whenever a recipe calls for Bisquick Mix.

* If you don’t have a food processor:
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
Use a pastry blender, two knives or your hands to cut shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Coffee Cakes

Pecan Apple Coffee Cake

September 25, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

Autumn, glorious Autumn! I am so thankful we have four distinct Seasons. I have to say that Autumn is one of my favourite Seasons! I love the colours, I love the crunch of leaves underfoot, I love the crisp early mornings, I love the sun on a cold day but above all, I love my fireplace! I love being able to curl up in front of the fire with a good book and some quiet jazz music in the background.

Oh, I like the food too: apples, pears, plums, pumpkin, hearty soups and stews, substantial breads, hot coffee, to name a few. This recipe came through my FB feed the other day; since I had a few Granny Smith apples aging day by day….why do I buy these??? No one likes to eat them! When I was a kid we used to eat them with a dash of salt on each bite! Probably not all that healthy, but Yum! Anyway, they are such a brilliant Green that I like to have them in the fruit bowl. Granny Smiths are the perfect apple for this Pecan Apple Bread. Now in the original recipe the batter was baked in a loaf pan; I just think taking a loaf bread batter, throwing it into a bundt pan, dressing it up super pretty is so much more fun! That and it doesn’t take as long to bake. Anyway, you make your Apple Pecan Coffee Cake they way you want just so long as you DO make it!

Oh, hey, this recipe is lacking butter! I thought that was weird and maybe it was simply forgotten in the transfer to the internet? Happens. I tried to track the recipe back to an original site to no avail. Shrugged my shoulders and thought I would try it as listed before I changed it…didn’t have to! It came out perfectly! One little change that I made and will do again next time was to include a streusel topping…except it ended up on the bottom. Yes, I knew it would be on the bottom! I thought it would add some nice texture and I was right. Next time though I will put half the batter in the pan, some streusel mix then the rest of the batter and finishing off with streusel mix.

Pecan Apple Bread

1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Sour Cream
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Flour
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Epicure Apple Pie Spice
or 1 teaspoon Cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each: ground Cloves, Nutmeg and Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped Granny Smith Apples
1 cup Pecans, chopped
Drizzle
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Butter

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a bundt pan with vegetable oil and swirl about 1/4 cup of flour around the greased pan; tap out excess flour.
Peel and chop apples; set aside.
Combine brown sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl; beat on low speed until well blended.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, Apple Pie Spice, salt; stir well.
Fold in apples and 3/4 of the pecans.
Turn batter out into prepared bundt pan.
or Spoon half the batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with half the streusel, spoon in remaining batter then top with remaining streusel.
Bake in preheated 350F. oven for 35 – 40 minutes or until pick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven, run a small metal spatula around to loosen edges then cool, in pan, on wire rack for 20 minutes.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Drizzle with Brown Sugar Drizzle:
In a small saucepan, over medium heat combine brown sugar and butter.
Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for a minute or until it thickens.
Remove from heat and drizzle over cooled coffee cake.

Yield: 12- 18 slices

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Butter, cubed
Combine brown sugar and flour together in a small mixing bowl.
Cut butter in with a pastry blender or simply rub butter in with hands, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Muffins and Scones

Spiced Pumpkin Scones

September 17, 2013 Sonte 1 Comment

Simply the most wonderful Pumpkin Scones! It is that time of the year again; Pumpkin Lattes will be available at Starbucks, not that I ever go there but I do walk by their shops from time to time and they smell absolutely amazing with all the beautiful Fall spices! Brings to mind visions of beautiful orange, yellow and brown Maple leaves drifting to the ground. The crunch of said leaves under foot along the many beautiful trails in beautiful British Columbia…hey, that is what it says on the license plates! There is a crispness in the air and we are driven to thoughts of curling up in front of our fireplaces with a good book, a cup of good coffee and something yummy to nosh on. This Spiced Pumpkin Scone recipe I found last year fits the bill to the T! These scones are lightly adorned by not one, but two delectable glazes. Got your mouth watering? Get thee to the kitchen and get cracking on your own Spiced Pumpkin Scones!

2 cups Flour
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
3/4 each, Ground Ginger, Ground Cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup Butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Tablespoon Molasses
3 Tablespoons Half and Half
1 Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla
Simple Sugar Glaze
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 – 2 Tablespoons Half and Half <–I use Luke’s Coffee Milk
Spiced Glaze
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Puree
Pinch each: Cloves, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cinnamon
1 – 2 Tablespoons Half and Half

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices.
Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl or a large measuring cup whisk together pumpkin puree, molasses, half and half, vanilla and egg.
With a fork stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Gently knead about 10 times.
Gently roll out to 3/4″ thickness and use

I use the bottom centre cutter for scones

Tupperware Fluted Cookie Cutter to cut out scones.
Place on prepared baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown .
Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
While scones are cooling prepare your glazes.
In small bowl stir together icing sugar and half and half to desired consistency.
Load into a Ziploc Freezer bag or a Piping Bag with a small writing tip .
In small bowl combine icing sugar, pumpkin puree, spices; add 1 Tablespoon half and half and stir, adding more half and half to get desired consistency.
Load into another Ziploc Freezer bag or Piping Bag fitted with a small writing tip.
Drizzle first one glaze then the other over the scones.
Let glaze set for about 15 – 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Serves: 8 Scones

Aysontespli's Kitchen