Monday, December 15, 2008

Sweet Bread

Combine 4 1/2 tsp yeast with 2 Cups of really warm water

Wait and see if it starts working.

Add the following ingredients without stirring: 7 TB sugar, 1/4 C Oil, 1/2 Tsp salt, 4 Cups flour

Stir with plastic or wooden spoon in a circular motion (never use metal)

Add 1 - 1 1/2 cups of flour by kneeding it with your hand until it isn't sticking to your hand.

Put oil in the palm of your hand and pat 1 side of the dough and then flip so the oil side is down. Cover with towel and let it rise for 30 min to and hour or until doubled its size.

Split in 2 and either put in loaf pans or split each half into thirds, roll into strips and braid. Let it rise again 30-45 min and then Bake 20 min at 350 until lightly browned.

Roll Recipe

Just let me warn you that this dough is REALLY sticky. DO NOT add any extra flour than the recipe calls for or they won't be as good. Just make sure you put lots of flour on your counter when you roll them out. I also flour my hands when I get it out of the bowl. Also, once you get your subdivided section of dough in your hands, you can keep adding flour to the sides of the dough until it doesn't stick to your hands anymore. It didn't seem like it took that much. Sorry for all the interjections I will make. It helped me out when my friend told me. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE MESSED THIS ONE UP! Good luck! It really is easy!

1 c. melted butter
2 c. warm water
2 pkts. yeast or 4 1/2 t.
2 T. sugar
6 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
8 c. flour
1/2 c. melted butter

Melt 1 cup butter. Set aside to cool. In a bowl or Pyrex measuring cup get 2 cups warm water, yeast and 2 T. sugar. Set yeast mixture aside until foamy. Usually by the time the yeast is foamy, the butter is cool enough. Add all your eggs to your Kitchen aid or Bosch with your whisk attachment (for now). Add your cup of sugar and blend with eggs. Add butter (give a quick mix). Add foamy yeast mixture and salt (quick mix). Add flour one cup at a time and give a quick mix between cups. Do that for a total of 4 cups and then switch your whisk attachment out for your dough hook. Continue adding flour one cup at a time with a quick mix between each until you get to your last cup. After adding your last cup, mix until all flour is combine. It will barely start to pull away from the sides (very sticky!!!) Don't mix too much. You don't want to have tough rolls!

Put in a big bowl (popcorn size?) with lid or cloth. I liked using the lid. Place in a warm area until it has doubled in size. About 2 hours. Once risen, punch down (floured hands). Section dough out into 3 or 4 sections depending on how big and how many rolls you want. Divide into 2 sections for just cinnamon rolls. I divided in half and then divided one section in half again. That way I had one batch of cinnamon rolls and 2 batches of rolls! Roll out a section on floured space, into a large 12-15 inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Use pizza cutter and cute into 12 (or 8 depending on size) triangles. I prefer 12. Roll the sections big end to small end. Place on a greased cookie sheet, and brush with more butter. NO, THIS ISN'T A PAULA DEAN RECIPE! Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until a light golden brown.

CINNAMON ROLLS: Take 1/2 of dough and roll out on floured section into a large rectangle. Brush melted butter (liberally), sprinkle brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pecans would be good too. Roll up and cut with pizza cutter. I cut the roll in half and then in half again leaving 4 sections. Each section I cut into 4 except one that I only cut into 3. That way you have a total of 15 rolls to fit onto a cookie sheet. 5 rows of 3. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. To frost, just get a canister of Betty Crocker Vanilla frosting, melt in microwave for 1 minute. Drizzle over baked cinnamon rolls by the spoonful! Trust me this is the way to go on frosting. Really.

Classic Deviled Egges

Sunday, December 14, 2008

GReat Pumpkin Dessert

We love this yummy, easy pie/cake at our house! We gave our neighbors this recipe card and the yummy treat for Christmas.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Elf No More!

Oh My Goodness! I am so sorry I posted that on here. Just so ya'll know why...

When you go to ElfYourself.com and set up a video of your family, it offers to post it on your blog for you. You just put in your blogger name, and password, and it does the rest. NOW- if you have more than one blog you contrubute to, it posts it to the last one that was posted on (for me, that would be Fabulous Food... not my personal blog)! I am so sorry it showed up here.

NOW- in the meantime, as an apology- lemme post my favorite holiday recipe for you all...

Butterscotch Yams (or Sweet Potatoes)
6 medium yams (or sweet potatoes), cooked peeled and sliced
1 c. light Karo Syrup
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. cream (for lower fat content, use Half & Half)
1/4 c. butter (or margarine)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Arrange yams in a 9 X 13 inch pan. Bake in a 325* oven for 15 minutes. In a small sauce pan combine Karo syrup, brown sugar, cream, butter, salt and cinnamon. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Let boil for 5 minutes. Pour over yams and bake 15 minutes longer.

This recipe is AWESOME, and EASY, and the sauce is so unbelievably tasty on ham and turkey... Hope you enjoy, and sorry again!

Root Beer Cookies

Sorry for the elf video. I had no control over that posting here. And to show how sorry I am, I will post a cookie recipe. :)

These are interesting. They actually taste like rootbeer!


Ingredients-
For cookies:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk (or 1 tsp vinegar & the rest milk)
1 tsp rootbeer concentrate
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

For Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp rootbeer concentrate

Directions:
For cookies:
Mix brown sugar, butter, and egg until fluffy. Stir in buttermilk & rootbeer concentrate. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet, or roll into one inch balls, then bake for 6-8 at 375 degrees. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire rack until cool. Be sure to wait long enough for the cookies to cool before frosting, otherwise the frosting will melt off the sides.

For Frosting:
Combine all ingredients and stir together until smooth. Refrigerate until needed for frosting cookies.

Brownie Cookies

I almost hate to give this recipe away because it's so foolishly easy. I get almost too many compliments on these cookies for how easy they are. I usually make these for when my husband goes home teaching or when I am going visiting teaching because they are so quick (it's either these or the cake mix cookies).

Brownie Cookies
basic recipe:
1 box brownie mix
1/4 c. oil
2 eggs
1 c. baking chips

Mix together the brownie mix, oil, and eggs. Stir in chocolate chips (or whatever baking chips you will use). Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool slightly before moving, they're pretty soft when they come out.


*I have been experimenting with this and it's good using pretty much any baking chips. I have done chocolate chips, mint chips, and I'm doing peanut butter chips tonight. It's also a great way to use the low-fat brownie mix that my husband bought by the caseload (as brownies they are too fudgy, oily, and sticky). Beware also that the dough gets quite thick and will likely make your arm tired. It is like frosting.