Banana Cream Bread

1 1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
3 C. Sugar
4 Eggs
6 Mashed Overribe Bananas
1 T. Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
4 C. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 C. Chopped Nuts (Optional) 1 C. Sour Cream

Grase and flour 3 bread pans.
Heat oven to 325
In large bowl combine oil, sugar, eggs, sour cream, bananas, vanilla, and salt.
Sift flour and baking soda
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients
DO NOT overmix
Divide batter into loaf pans, filling 1/2 to 2/3 full
Sprinkle about 2 T. sugar over batter
Bake at 325 for 60 minutes.

The sugar makes the yummiest crust. This is the moistest banana bread I have ever made. It also makes great muffins.

"Beth beth beth you make better corn bread than anyone else in the world"

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the egg, sour cream, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

*I added more sugar to taste and more milk to make the batter thinner like a brownie mix... It added to the cooking time by about 20 minutes, the last 10 at 350. At least in my oven.

My first time ever making cornbread and it was so good I couldn't believe it.

Bran Muffins

Yum!

2 cups Nabisco 100% bran
2 cups brown sugar or Honey
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
5 cups flour (I use fresh ground hard white wheat)
4 cups Kellogg's All-Bran
5 tsp. soda dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water
Optional raisins

Mix all the dry ingredients together, mix all the wet ingredients togetherand pour over the dry. Last pour the water and soda over. Stir and let sitin the fridge overnight to soak up the moisture.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Thanks to Vicki's sister in law Lori.
Ps. I love the new look of the blog, Jen!

Our Favorite Breadsticks

1 ½ cup warm water

1 Tablespoon yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 ½ cup flour

½ tsp salt

Butter for pan

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and let it sit and bubble for a few minutes. Add the salt and flour. Knead for 3 minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. (I do all of this in my Bosch--any mixer would work great) Melt 3-4 Tbsp of butter and pour most of it onto a cookie sheet. Roll dough to cover cookie sheet. Cut to desired width, then twist or lay flat on cookie sheet. Brush remainder of butter on breadsticks and sprinkle with garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and parsley (or whatever seasonings you like). Raise for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. You can roll them out to fit a cookie sheet and they will be pufffy and soft. If you prefer a thinner, crunchy breadstick roll them out to fit a cookie sheet and a jelly roll pan. Either way they are great.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 t. salt
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
2T orange juice or other acidic juice
3 mashed bananas
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar, eggs and butter. Add dry ingred. and orange juice. Mix and add bananas. Add choc. chips last. Put into greased muffin pan (or use cup cake liners) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.

*Note: You can use 1/2 cup applesauce instead of butter for a lower fat muffin and you can omit the chocolate chips if desired.

**You may need to bake them a bit longer but do a toothpick test at 20 min. You don't want to over cook these. Also when they cool, get them right into a container so they don't dry out. Also, they freeze pretty well.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup nonfat lemon yogurt
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease the bottoms only of 12 muffin cups.
Beat the milk, oil, lemon yogurt and egg together. Stir in the flour, white sugar, poppy seeds, lemon zest, lemon oil, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). For 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with glaze immediately and let cool on rocks.
To Make Glaze: Stir the confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice and mix until smooth and of drizzling consistency. Add drops of milk if thinning is necessary.

Navajo Fry Bread Recipe
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup instant nonfat dry milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Warm water

Vegetable Oil

Honey or powdered sugar
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, dry milk, and salt. slowly add enough warm water to form a workable dough (start by adding 1 cups of water, then more if needed); knead until smooth but still slightly sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

After resting, divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a small ball and pat into a flat circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick (it will puff up a lot); cut a steam vent i the middle of each circle of dough.
In a large, deep frying pan, heat 1 to 2 inches of vegetable oil (enough oil to flat the dough) to 357 degrees F. Fry the dough pieces, one at a time and turning once, for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown (the bread will puff slightly and become crisp and brown). Remove from hot oil and drain on paper towels. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Use for Indian Tacos (see recipe below) or serve with honey or powdered sugar.
Makes 4 Navajo fry breads.

Indian Taco Recipe
1 pound lean ground meat (beef, lamb, venison or pork)

1 cup diced onion

4 cooked Navajo Fry Breads (see recipe above)

1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

3 tomatoes, diced

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 (3-ounce) can diced green chiles, drained

Sour cream (optional)

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown ground meat and onions until cooked; remove from heat.
Place Fry Bread, cupped side up, on separate plates. Layer ground meat, lettuce, tomatoes, Cheddar cheese, and green chiles onto top of each Fry Brad. top with sour cream, if desired, and either roll up or serve open-faced with a fork.
Makes 4 servings.

Corn Bread

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter
Honey (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. Add the 1 tablespoon butter to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, a 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pan, or an 8x8x2-inch square baking pan. Place in the preheated oven about 3 minutes or until butter melts. Remove pan from oven; swirl butter in pan to coat bottom and sides of pan.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cut into wedges or squares. Serve warm. If desired, drizzle with honey. Makes 8 to 10 pieces.

Delicious Homemade Bread

5 to 6 c. flour

3 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 pkg. dry yeast

2 c. water

1/4 c. vegetable oil

In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Blend well. In small saucepan, heat water and oil until very lukewarm (120 to 130 degrees). Add warm liquid to flour mixture. Blend until moistened, then beat with beater 3 minutes. Stir in 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from side of bowl.

Knead 10 minutes, adding a little flour at a time, if dough feels sticky. Grease lump of dough. Put in bowl to rise and cover with towel. Let rise until double, then punch down. Divide dough into 2 parts and shape into balls. Let rise on counter covered with inverted bowl for 15 minutes.

Shape into loaves and place in 2 greased pans. Let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until it has risen about 1 inch above pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow. Remove from pans and brush top with butter. Makes 2 loaves.

Red Lobster Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

6 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

3/4 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder.

Cut in butter.

Stir in shredded cheese, cilantro, and milk.

Mix together lightly with a fork, until just moistened (dough should loosely form a ball).

Drop balls of dough* onto a greased and floured baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

*The first time I put them on the baking sheet, I made small balls of dough, thinking, foolishly, that they would rise and spread. They didn't. They just burned. So the next time, I made them about the size of a child's fist, and they were just perfect.

Homeade Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup baking powder

4 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup shortening or lard

1-2 cups boiling water

Directions:Mix flour, baking powder, salt and shortening in large mixing bowl. Add hot water a little bit at a time as it will be very hot. Keep mixing water until you get a dough that is a play dough like consistency. (You may need to add flour as you go along.) This is what it should look like at this point.

Next you will want to separate the dough mix into small patties.

Once you have made all of the patties (should be approx 12-18 depending on how big you would like the tortillas to be), roll them out with a rolling pin into circular shapes.

Once you have all of your patties rolled out, it's time to cook them. After you have done this a few times you'll be able to roll and cook at the same time. ;) Heat a hot plate or a non-stick cooking pan to med-high heat. You will know when to turn the tortilla over in the pan because little bubbles will form on the face up side. Once you see the bubbles flip the tortilla over and cook for another 30 sec- 1 min.

Cinnamon-Streusel Cider Muffins

Cinnamon-Streusel Cider Muffins

A thick sprinkling of streusel tops a pan of these quick and easy muffins. Their mild apple flavoring is sure to please all -- especially when they're served fresh from the oven.

For Streusel:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold butter
For Muffins:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1/4 cup cooking oil

FOR STREUSEL:

Stir brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender. Set aside.

FOR MUFFINS:

Lightly oil twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups; set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
In a small mixing bowl combine egg, apple cider, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just till moistened. (The batter should be lumpy.)
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the batter into each prepared muffin cup. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar mixture over each. Fill with remaining batter. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining streusel.Bake in a preheated 400° F oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pans; cool slightly on racks.Makes 12 muffins

Scones

Fruit Filled Scones:

4 cups flour
4 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb. cold butter

Choice of fruits:
2 cups blueberries + zest of 2 lemons
2 cups blackberries + zest of 2 lemons
2 cups chopped strawberries + zest of 2 oranges
1/2 - 1 quart half & half (depending how juicy the fruits are that you're using)

In a bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. Add the fruits. Stir in enough half & half to just make a moist dough. It should be moistened, but not sticky. With an ice cream scoop, scoop out dough 2" apart on parchment lined baking pans. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Top with glaze.


Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk or half & half
a bit of vanilla & almond extract

Combine until the consistency of heavy cream. Drizzle over scones while hot.

These are literally the BEST things in the world! They're not for the calorie conscious, with a POUND of butter and a quart of half &half....but they are worth every single teensy tiny calorie. This recipe makes about 2 dozen scones. And the good news is, you can make the dry mix with butter cut in, separate it into freezer bags in batches, and then add the fruit and Half & Half as needed when ready to bake. You can make as little or as many as you want!
**They are best eaten fresh from the oven.**
We've also made cinnamon scones using this recipe instead of the fruit. Mix together 4T. melted butter mixed with 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 T. sugar, and 3/4 cup brown sugar...and add this AFTER you add the liquid. *Enjoy*