Favorite Potato Bread

My sister in law made this bread on Sunday for dinner. It was delicious. The recipe is written out for a bread machine, and it stated that it made one loaf. Here is what I ended up with:
A loaf of bread big enough to make sandwiches for Paul Bunyan. Next time I will split it into 2. This recipe is great to make if you have a Kitchen Aid because the dough is not very substantial. A Kitchen Aid could handle it just fine, I think.

I added some whole wheat to the recipe and it did not take away from it at all, the bread is soft soft soft.

1 1/2 cups luke warm water
2 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. salt
4 cups bread flour (I used 2 cups white and 2 cups wheat)
4 tsp. sugar (I used 2 tsp)
1/2 cup potato flakes
2 1/2 tsp yeast

dissolve yeast in water. Combine all other ingredients in mixer. Slowly add yeast mixture and mix until combined. Knead in mixer about 3 or 4 minutes, until dough is smooth and shiny.(If the dough does not smooth out, add a Tbs. or so of water.) Let raise for about an hour. Punch down and form into 2 loaves. Let it raise for about 30 minutes. Bake 350 for 25 minutes, checking periodically. You want it nice and brown on top, but not burnt.

Bodacious Brown Bread

I am a sucker for homemade bread. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Give me a side of chocolate chip cookies and I would be in heaven!!

Of course, I have to limit my consumption of either of those foods. But hands down, they are my favorites.

This is an easy, quick and hearty bread. I like it because it is substantial enough to eat with soup or on its own. Most breads that I make to go along with dinner take HOURS. With all the rising, kneading, rising again, then baking....not this one.

And I like it because I have had a sourdough start for years. I mostly use it for pancakes and pizza dough. Now I have something else to use it in.
this is my picture of the bread:

And here is the bread pictured by a professional and posted on line. It is much better than mine, but theirs doesnt have a cute little boy in the background.

Heres the recipe. Since its fall, everyone should bust this out next time they make soup.

For the bread:

1. 2 cups (480 ml.) buttermilk
2. 2 large eggs
3. 1½-2 cups (360-480 ml.) dark molasses (Teri is partial to Grandma’s®)
4. ¾ cup (180 ml.) sourdough starter (see recipe below)
5. 1 cup (240 ml.) all-purpose flour
6. 6 cups (1.44 lt.) whole-wheat flour
7. 1 scant tablespoon (<15 ml.) baking soda (use your judgment; Teri says the full amount leaves a baking soda taste.)

* Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
* Mix together the buttermilk, milk, eggs, molasses and sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl.
* Sift together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours and the baking soda.
* Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet and completely mix together between each addition.
* Pour the batter into 2 lightly buttered 9×5-inch (22.8×12.7-cm.) loaf pans.
* Let stand for 20 minutes.
* Bake for 50-55 minutes or until bread is firm when tested with a toothpick and comes out clean.

The original post and recipe can be found here
http://www.thetasteoforegon.com/2010/04/12/the-otis-cafe-and-bodacious-brown-bread/

Carrot Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

After posting that last recipe, I thought I might need to make it up with something a little more healthy.

2 large carrots - shredded

2 cups quick oats

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 cups milk

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine flour through cinnamon in bowl; set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl. Mix wet into dry just until combined.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Recipe from Cristine Cooks

Banana Split Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large)
3 tablespoons milk
2 cups flour (some wheat is great too!)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.  In a small bowl, combine bananas and milk.  Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add alternately with banana mixture.  Fold in chips and pecans.

Pour into greased bread pan.  Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

*I had some cream that I needed to use up so I used that instead of milk and it was perfect.  I also didn't have any pecans so I just left them out.  It's still delicious without but it would have been a yummy addition!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Since I am pregnant and went so long without eating much and cooking even less, I am definitely making up for it now! I have a desire to cook and bake anything and everything.

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2-1/3 cups flour (it calls for white, but some wheat will not take away from it at all)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I would highly recommend fresh if you can get your hands on them!)

Streusel:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries.

This makes about 12 muffins so once you have all of the batter distributed in your pan, top it with the streusel.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Note: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to batter.

Pretzels

These were so fun to make with my kids. And we had a blast eating them up too! Instead of making pretzel shapes, Kaleb made the letters in his name. Holden made globs of dough and it all tasted great!! The whole process is quick and fun, totally kid friendly!

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 pkg yeast (or 1 Tb)

1 Tb sugar

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour (we used 2 cups white flour and 2 cups fresh ground wheat, which my 2 year old helped grind)

Dissolve yeast in warm water

Combine all ingredients in a mixer, add a little more flour if dough feels sticky.
Divide dough in to 12 pieces and roll each into a long snake.
Twist into shape and place on baking sheet.
Make an egg wash with one egg and a Tb of water, lightly beaten together. Brush pretzels with egg wash (one egg and a Tbs water whisked together)
Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

*You can also brush the pretzels with butter and sprinkle on a cinnamon/sugar mix. Or sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese.

Baked Raised Doughnuts

My girls love doughnuts, but I hate fried food! They rarely get them so when I came across this recipe for baked doughnuts from a good family friend, I was so happy! It's a little more effort than just buying them at the store, but it's worth the extra work!

1 3/4 cup water
1/3 cup dry powdered milk
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon*
1 tsp. nutmeg*
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tbs. yeast

Mix and knead all ingredients together. Let rise until doubled. Roll out and cut into doughnuts. Place on cookie sheet and let rise again until double. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

*I don't like to add the flavor to my dough, I would rather add it to the top of the doughnuts after they are cooked. Feel free to change it up according to what your family likes.

Orange rolls

I got this recipe from my talented friend Heather. These are some yummy rolls! I especially liked the dough I am going to use it and make cinnamon rolls this Sunday with it.

1 1/4c milk
1/3c butter (not margarine, BUTTER!)

1t salt
1 package of yeast
1/3c sugar
1 egg
1/2t baking powder
1/4t baking soda
3 1/4c. flour

Scald the milk and butter, until butter is melted- do not boil. Let cool on counter about 10 min then add yeast, salt & sugar. Mix well and let sit about 10-15min, until yeast is all bubbly.

Add egg and beat well. Mix in remaining ingredients- you may need to add a few more tablespoons of flour until the consistency is right. Knead dough two or three times and let rest in bowl for about 15min.

Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4″thick. Spread with 3-4Tablespoons of softened butter, zest from a whole orange, and sprinkle with 1/2c sugar. Roll and cut like cinnamon rolls (you should have about 12 rolls). Place in pans and set into a warm oven (I preheat mine to 170, then turn it off) to rise for about 15-20min.

Bake at 425 for 12 min, or until slightly brown on the edges. For the frosting I blended 3-4Tablespoons of butter with 2 cups or so of powdered sugar and about 2 teaspoons of orange juice.

White rolls

Every week, I make dinner for a group of people attending a parenting class. This week, I made rolls to go with dinner. They are 100% white flour rolls, and they are SO GOOD! They were soft and fluffy and chewy and tasted great! Thanks for the recipe Annett!

Its been forever since I made white rolls, so I had to search my house for white flour, as I usually dont keep it around. I had to bust out the one and only bucket of flour I have in my food storage. If you are just making this recipe for your family (or using a Kitchen Aid), I would suggest halving it. I ended up with a total of 70 rolls. If you do have extra, they freeze well.

WHITE ROLLS

5 c. warm water

3 T. yeast

¾ c. honey

3 T. salt

½ c. powdered milk (this can be omitted without problems)

½ c. potato flakes (this can be omitted without problem if you knead very well)

½ c. oil

4 eggs

Optional: Add any leftover cooked cereal like oatmeal, etc. up to one cup.

Flour till enough (about 14 cups)

Shape into rolls and let rise 1 hour.

Bake 375 degrees for 20 minutes.