Best Bread Pudding

 From the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, this is super yummy. Always a big hit for a sweet breakfast treat. That caramel sauce is the bomb-diggity. I also use Texas Roadhouse rolls that I cut up. Note: get the half and half, it makes it. Don't try to make your own. It is different. Also, one times this recipe really is enough for two 13x9's custard wise. I only put a little of the custard mix in with the casserole after I've gotten the bread good and wet. I don't like bread pudding that is super soggy. The brown sugar is a nice touch sprinkled on. Make sure you whisk all that butter in to the brown sugar for the caramel sauce before you add the cream. Also, about 20 minutes for the caramel sauce to thicken on low. Don't try to thicken it beyond that. It will break. It is a sauce. 

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2-1/4 cups half-and-half cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 20 dinner rolls (1-1/4 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes (18 cups)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• SAUCE:
• 1 cup butter, cubed
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together the first 10 ingredients until blended. Gently stir in bread. Transfer to a greased 3-qt. or 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar; let stand until bread is softened, about 15 minutes. Bake until puffed and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar; stir until dissolved. Gradually stir in cream. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add vanilla, sea salt and baking soda, stirring well. Serve sauce with warm bread pudding.

Banana Quick Bread and Muffins

This is a recipe that came with Aaron. He had a cookbook that his mother gave him when he went off to do his internship in California. In it she had dates and her thoughts on a recipe. Next to this one is 7/92 and "very good!" It is one that we also think is "very good" and want to keep using! We usually double this recipe and get around 2 dozen muffins. We always leave the nuts out because our people are allergic.

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1//2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana( we usually use 2 bananas for each recipe)
1/3 cup butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped nuts, optional


In a large mixer bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add mashed banana, butter and milk. Beat on low speed till blended. Then on high speed for two minutes. Add eggs and remaining flour; beat till blended. Stir in nuts if using.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Or, if making muffins, pour into greased muffin pans and bake at the same temp for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for ten minutes on wire rack before removing from pan. Cool thoroughly on wire rack before storing in a closed container.

Butterhorns

Seriously amazing. You will never want to make another dinner roll in your life. A very forgiving dough and very versatile. We like to take this dough and fill it with all sorts of things; from ham and swiss to raspberry jam and chocolate. This came from Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom fame. Another great thing about this recipe, you just half it and it fits perfectly in a breadmaker and then the machine will do all the work for you. Also freezable! :)

(makes 32 rolls)

2 Tablespoons dry yeast, heaping
1/3 cup warm water
9 cups flour, divided (you can use any mixture of white or whole-wheat flour you’d like)
2 cups warm milk
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
3-4 Tablespoons butter, melted


In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add 4 cups flour, milk, butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Beat 2 minutes or until smooth.
Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto floured board and knead lightly. (Or, knead in mixer until sides of bowl are clean, then knead two more minutes.)
Place in a greased bowl, turning dough once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (1-3 hours).
Punch dough down and divide into four equal parts. Roll each part into a 12-inch circle and brush with melted butter.
Cut each circle into 8 pie-shaped wedges.
Roll up each wedge for wide edge to tip of dough and pinch to seal. Place rolls, top down, on baking sheets.
Bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned (about 8-10 minutes). Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Remove and serve immediately or cool on wire racks.

Apple Tea Ring

I found this recipe at Flour Me with Love... and it is so very good!!! I modified it a little bit so that I could use my bread machine but other than that I followed her recipe pretty closely. If you don't have a bread machine, you can follow her recipe:)

Dough... 1st layer:
3/4c milk
1/4c butter
1/4c water
1 egg

2nd layer:
3c flour
1/2c sugar
1/4tsp salt
1 pkg instant yeast

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A BREAD MACHINE:
~Mix together milk, melted butter, water and a beaten egg... and add this to the bottom of your bread machine pan.
~Mix together flour, sugar and salt... and add this to the top of the wet mixture. Sprinkle yeast on top.
~Run these layers on the dough cycle.

***Take dough out of bread machine and roll it out into a rectangle on a floured work space. Mix together filling and spread evenly over dough.
Filling:
8oz cream cheese
1/2c sugar

***Mix together apple mixture and spread over filling.
6 apples, peeled and diced
2T cinnamon
2T sugar

***Roll the dough up and form it into a circle... make sure the ends are all sealed. Placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet and make cuts 3/4 of the way through the ring every 2 inches... all the way around. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

***After it is done cooking, you can drizzle cream cheese icing on it to make it even more delicious:) Enjoy!!!

Apple Bread

I found this recipe on allrecipe.com and it is an excellent way to use up extra apples:)

APPLE BREAD
3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

1/3-2/3 cup water (use only enough so that you can mix everything together well)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups apples - peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1 cup broken walnuts (optional)

*In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples. Stir into flour mixture. Add walnuts and mix. Divided mixture between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. bread pans or greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes for loaves and 20-25 minutes for muffings or until done. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan. Enjoy!!!

The Most Awesome Blueberry Bread/Muffins

This truly is the most awesome bluberry bread recipe that I have ever had. It makes super great muffins, too. This is one part of my favorite breakfast. What makes up my favorite breakfast you might ask? Blueberry muffins, bacon, hard boiled eggs and orange juice. Mmmmmm. Happiness. :)


1 ½ c. flour 1/3 c. milk
¾ c. granulated sugar 1 c. blueberries
½ tsp. salt ½ c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder 1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. vegetable Oil ¼ c. butter
1 egg 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Combine 1 ½ c. flour, ¾ c. sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil in one cup measuring cup and add the egg plus enough milk to fill cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries; spread in pan.

Crumb topping: Mix together with fork ½ c. sugar, 1/3 c. flour, ¼ c. butter and 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon.

Spread topping over the berry loaf. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

For Muffins: Fill muffin cups right to top of cup. Makes 8 regular sized muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Beer Bread

I just came across this recipe again. It comes from the kitchen of the lovely Amber Still.

3 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

Mix these ingredients together. Next, mix in a 12 oz bottle of beer. Pour/spread this into your greased loaf pan. Then drizzle 4 tablespoons of melted butter over the top. Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Easy Biscuits

I have struggled with making good biscuits since I was a little kid and first tried making them. The ones I grew up on were kind of hard little disks and I aspired to make ones more like KFC. These are those biscuits for me. :)


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Egg Wash for the tops of the biscuits:
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender or two knives). Add milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out biscuits with a round cookie cutter. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 biscuits.

Plain Cake Doughnuts

A little while ago I decided that I needed to make some doughnuts so I went in search of an easy recipe:) These are wonderful...

Plain Cake Doughnuts

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 dash ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 quart oil for frying

Directions:
1.Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk and egg until smooth. Knead lightly, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter, or use two round biscuit cutters of different sizes (I used different size glasses).
3.Carefully drop doughnuts into hot oil, a few at a time. Do not overcrowd pan or oil may overflow. Fry, turning once, for 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Enjoy:)

I hope to be able to soon try my mother-in-law's doughnut recipe... so stay tuned for that:)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This is a slightly altered recipe originally from my Grandma Redwine, altered by my sister, Gracie. It makes awesome bread to use up some of that extra zucchini and it freezes well.

Bake at 350 degrees. Makes two loaves.

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups grated zucchini
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2-1 cup chocolate chips(depending upon how much chocolate you like in yours, plus some to sprinkle on the top)

Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl and wet ingredients in another larger bowl (yes, sugar is a "wet" ingredient). Add dry ingredients to wet, mix and then fold in chocolate chips. Place batter into two greased loaf pans. I have been told that it is better to use Crisco to grease the pans rather than cooking spray. With cooking spray they still seem to stick a bit.

Bake at 350 for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Yummers!

Pumpkin Bread

This is a marvelous recipe for Pumpkin Bread... it even freezes well:)

Pumpkin Bread
3 c sugar
1 c oil (I use canola but you could you vegetable)
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 T. nutmeg
1 T. cinnamon
2/3 c water
2 c pumpkin (I use a 15oz can of pumpkin)
3 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda

Mix all the ingredients together and put either into two greased loaf pans or muffin tins. If making loaves, bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done. If making muffins, bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

Makes 2 large loaves or 36 regular muffins.

White Bread

When Aaron and I were married I found this recipe card, just like this in the one cookbook that he had, "Better Homes and Gardens." When Aaron was in college he earned an internship with Intel out in California and his mother would send him several recipes. I don't really know if he made this one or not, but because of the history it is special to me and I make it every time I make my chicken soup.

Courtesy of Mary Jo Greenwood

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees for 30 minutes or looks brown on top. Makes 1 loaf.

2 teaspoons yeast (active dry) or 1 packet, dissolve in 1/4 cup warm water
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Dissolve yeast in warm water(not hot or it will kill the yeast). Add a little of the sugar and let sit for 15 minutes to see if your yeast is active. If it doesn't bubble up it won't raise your bread. This step(waiting) is not necessary if you're sure your yeast is active. Add to remaining water. Add 1 cup flour, stir, add sugar, salt, oil, stir, add rest of flour. Place on floured board or table and knead at least 3 minutes, up to 20. (I did it less than 5) Place in greased bowl, cover with towel. Raise. (1 hour or double in bulk) Punch down, put in to loaves or rolls in greased pan. Rise until doubled again then bake. (I usually do the second rising with the loaves setting on my oven top while my oven is preheating...it goes quicker.