Baking Archives - Page 10 of 11 - home is where my story begins...

Gingerbread Cookies

November 16, 2010 By Becca 3 Comments

The invention of the gingerbread cookie is right up there with the invention chocolate chips, in my book. This is one of those recipes that has been part of the Holidays for as long as I can remember. My mom says the recipe came from a newspaper many, many years ago.

Beat 1 cup of room temperature margarine until light and fluffy.

Add 1 cup of sugar.

Add 1/2 cup molasses and 1 egg.

Mix.

In a separate bowl, sift the following ingredients.
3 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1 TBSP cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cloves

Gradually add the sifted ingredients.

Chill dough for at least 3 hours.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch.

Cut with cookie cutters. Here’s an important hint: Do not bake gingerbread cookies on a Silpat baking sheet. The Silpat absorbs the the cinnamon, clove, and ginger flavor.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Let cool and frost.

The kids love to frost their own cookies.

Enjoy! Happy baking!

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

November 7, 2010 By Becca 1 Comment

It’s the perfect Fall meal. There’s nothing better than homemade soup, and vegetable beef is a family favorite at our house.

I’m always a little surprised when my kids gobble up their soup. Look at all of these veggies!

I don’t use a specific recipe when I make this soup. I just start chopping up a few veggies. My kids like carrots, beans, and potatoes, so I put a little more of those in the crockpot. They don’t like celery as much, so I only use about 2 stalks. Once all of the veggies are chopped, I add water and beef bouillon. I add as much as I need to fill up the crockpot. Then it cooks all day.

Sometime during the day I cook up a little stew meat and throw that into the pot too. Finally, about 30 minutes before dinner time, I add about a cup of barley.

Add a loaf of homemade bread and this is the perfect meal.

Happy Fall!

Sunday Cinnamon Rolls

October 25, 2010 By Becca 5 Comments

This cinnamon roll recipe is a repost from last spring. When I was participating in the housewares focus group in Chicago, I talked about how frequently I use my breadmakers. The question was asked, if I thought breadmakers were making a comeback. Well, no. I don’t know a single person who still uses their bread machine. I use mine about once a week. I have two machines so I can make double batches of my favorite recipes. What about you? Do you use a bread maker?

Not long ago I shared about our family tradition of getting together to celebrate birthdays. My extended family gathers about once a month, sometimes every other month, to enjoy appetizers, a meal, way too many desserts, kid play time, adult conversation time, and cinnamon rolls.

My grandma (we call her Nanie) started making cinnamon rolls for our dinner parties as far back as I can remember.

Here’s my grandma and my mom at our party last week.

I know cinnamon rolls are traditionally a breakfast or brunch item, but they have always been part of every family celebration in my family. I have fond memories of watching my grandma roll out the dough. She always let me scoop up the cinnamon and brown sugar crumbs off of the cutting board when she was done. I remember my Nanie teaching me to make her cinnamon roll recipe just after I was married. They weren’t as hard to make as I thought, but mine just never turned out quite as good as hers. I would guess my grandma had made those rolls about 300 times over the past 30 years. Yep, 10 parties a year for 30 years or more.

Now that Nanie is 92 and living in assisted living, she isn’t able to make her rolls any more. My mom and I are really the only people in the family who truly enjoy baking. (Well, except for the Ellensburg folks, but we just have them bring chips and pop since they have to cross the mountains.) So, it’s up to us to carry on this family tradition.

I’ve tried making my grandma’s recipe many times, but since I just can’t live up to these standards I’ve decided to branch out and try a new recipe. Believe me, my family is full of cinnamon roll experts. They critique the size, gooeyness, amount of cinnamon versus brown sugar, and even the frosting. (My mom tried to switch to canned frosting one time. BIG mistake… BIG MISTAKE!!!) You should hear the wrath of the family when the rolls fail to rise, or you didn’t make a double batch and they are starting to run out.

So, let’s get to it. Cinnamon rolls are really not as hard as they look. I have to admit. I cheat. Nanie did not have the luxury of throwing the ingredients into the bread machine to make her dough, but I couldn’t live without my bread machines.

I have two bread makers and they both have a DOUGH CYCLE. That’s very important because the machine only does the work of making the dough.

I cannot take credit for this recipe. I found it online many years ago. Now the website is called The Fresh Loaf. I can’t wait to explore it a little more. Click here to find the recipe. It suggested using a bread machine for the dough and I decided to give it a try. It was so easy and the recipe is fantastic!

Yep, it’s a Cinnabon knock off recipe.

When I printed it out many years ago, the hit counter said I was the first view, but who knows.

I always use this yeast. I buy the big jar because I bake a lot, but it also comes in little packets.

You just follow the directions and throw everything into the bread maker.

At that point, you walk away. When you come back, your dough will magically be ready to turn into rolls. It really is as simple as that. (Just remember to use warm ingredients because warmth activates the yeast.)

Now for the fun part. Roll out the dough on a cutting board.

Add the margarine.

Add the cinnamon and brown sugar. The recipe calls for a specific type of cinnamon, but I don’t have it. The generic Safeway cinnamon has always worked just fine for me.

Roll it up.

Slice it. This is the point where my son yells, “Wait! I want to come listen to you slice them! I love that sound.” Is that not the cutest thing??? Here’s my big sports loving nine year old who just loves to be part of the baking experience. I told him that the sound of the rolls slicing will always be something he remembers and looks back on.

Place them in a pan to rise.

Don’t forget to let the kids nibble the cinnamon and sugar leftovers.

Fresh out of the pan, ready for frosting.

Enjoy!

Check out these parties I like to link up to.

Semi-homemade Muffins

October 19, 2010 By Becca 3 Comments

My kids love to have muffins for breakfast. Well, who doesn’t love to eat cake in the morning? You know the person who invented muffins just wanted an excuse to eat cake for breakfast! My kids think that person is brilliant. About once a week I indulge them and we have muffins. Over the past two weeks I’ve tried some semi-homemade versions. You know… keep it sweet, keep it simple, keep it semi-homemade.

Here, I took a regular box of chocolate chip muffin mix, but then added a streusel topping before baking.

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons sugar

These yummies are made from the same chocolate chip muffin mix, but they have a pumpkin twist.

The recipe came from the Cake Mix Doctor. I have two of her books, but this recipe came from the website.

1 package (17.8 ounces) chocolate chip muffin mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup milk
1 large egg
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400° F. Mist the bottom of 12 muffin cups with the vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside

2. Place the muffin mix in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Place the pumpkin, milk, egg, and pumpkin pie spice in the well and stir the wet ingredients together with a wooden spoon just until combined, 20 strokes. The batter will still be a little lumpy. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the muffins until they just spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the muffins, lift them up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. The muffins are ready to serve.

I also topped the muffins with a little drizzle of frosting. If you’re going to have cake for breakfast, you might as well have frosting too.

Happy baking!

Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in.

Thanks for Wednesdays, Mom!

September 30, 2010 By Becca 1 Comment

Ahhh. It’s Wednesday. To most people it means we’re half way through the work week. To me, it will always be the day my mom was home. My mom worked at The Bon Marche (later changed to Macy’s) for almost 30 years. She was the Pantyhose Princess (working in the hosiery department), the Bag Lady (working in handbags),and Mom (working mom to 3 kids). I honestly don’t remember much about my mom’s time away from home. She always tells me she has guilt for missing my games, but I don’t remember her missing anything. What I remember most is her days AT home. Her days off were Wednesday and Sunday.

Walking in the door on a Wednesday afternoon, I’d immediately smell the homemade bread. She would time it so she’d be pulling it out of the oven just as we got off the bus. We’d devour one loaf as a after school snack and save the other loaf for dinner. (A great accompaniment to a pot roast dinner.)

I really think my love for baking stems from good memories from my childhood. My house was always the place to go. We always had something warm and yummy to eat and everyone was welcomed with open arms.

Earlier this week someone asked for the bread recipe I use.

Here’s my mom’s recipe:

Dissolve 1 package of yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Set aside.

Put 2 Cups of warm milk into the bottom of the bread machine.
Add 1 Tbsp of shortening.
Add 6 cups flour (For wheat bread I just substitute some of the white flour for wheat.)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt

Add the yeast and water mixture to the top of the dry ingredients. I usually make a little well for the water and yeast to sit in. I can’t really tell you why I do this, but I’m sure I read it somewhere and it stuck with me.

I turn my bread machine onto the dough cycle, which does its thing for about an hour and twenty minutes.

I do things a little differently than my mom. I use the same recipe, but I use a bread machine to make the dough. I took this picture on a day I was trying out a box of bread mix for the first time. Usually I don’t use bread mix.

I only use the bread machine on the dough cycle. I really don’t like the way bread COOKS in a bread machine. It’s just not the same as my mom’s bread. Once the dough cycle is complete, the bread will have risen for the first time. That’s when I divide it into two loaves and let it rise again, until it has doubled in size.

Time and temperature? 350’s fine. (My mom bakes everything at 350.) Bake for about 20 minutes.

Happy baking! Thanks for the great memories, Mom!

Making Bread

September 28, 2010 By Becca Leave a Comment

The smell of bread baking is one of my joys in life. I had a request for my mom’s recipe for homemade bread. I’ll share the recipe in my next post. For now, you’ll just have to enjoy my bread collage. Have I mentioned how much I love the collage feature in Picasa?

Homemade Brownies

August 18, 2010 By Becca 6 Comments

This is the brownie recipe my mom always made for us when we were growing up. It’s straight from the good old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. We never had boxed brownies growing up. I didn’t even know boxed brownies existed until I was in junior high. As much as I enjoy them, there is nothing better than this recipe for homemade brownies. I ALWAYS frost my brownies too. It would be a sin not to.

Fudge Brownies

1 Cup Butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares
4 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Flour
Add a handful of chocolate chips to the batter, just because they’re yummy.

Grease 9×13 pan.

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, beat lightly until just combined. Stir in flour.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Let them cool and then frost.

Happy Baking!

What To Do On A 90 Degree Day

August 15, 2010 By Becca 4 Comments

Weather Man – “Expect a scorcher today. We have a wave of high pressure building around the Pacific Northwest, creating some hot temperatures for our area.”

Me – “Hmmmm, I have so many bananas left over from our last trip. I think I’ll make them into banana bread… right now.”

Ugh! What was I thinking? 99.9% of the year we live in the comfort of the 70’s or lower temperatures. Anything above 80 is a true, break out every fan, blow up the pool, and complain that you don’t have AC, HEATWAVE. I know, many of my blogger friends have no sympathy for me. But, in my defense, we just aren’t used to this.

So, yesterday I made 5 loaves of banana bread, sliced them, and used the food saver to wrap them up until fall. They will make the perfect after school snacks for my kiddos.

I don’t eat banana bread, but my kids and hubby love it. I use a recipe from the Pillsbury cookbook and I don’t even know if it’s a good one. I just trust them when they tell me it’s yummy. If you have a great banana bread recipe I’d love it if you’d share!

It’s supposed to hit 95 today. Maybe I’ll start a fire in the fireplace and bake some pies.

Nestle Toll House Pie

July 28, 2010 By Becca 3 Comments

All I really need to say here is, “Yum.” Well, maybe you’d like the recipe too. I think the pictures and the title speak for themselves. The recipe is from cooks.com.

2 eggs
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 (6 oz.) pkg. (1 c.) Nestle Toll House semi sweet chocolate morsels
1 c. chopped walnuts (I left these out.)
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
Whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; add flour, sugar and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in Nestle Toll House semi sweet chocolate morsels and walnuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees F. Time: 1 hour. Remove from oven. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. Makes: one 9 inch pie.
Recipe may be doubled. Bake two pies, freeze one for later use.

Here’s a little tip. Notice how the chocolate chips sink to the bottom? After the pie is about half done, add a few more chocolate chips to the top.

This makes a pretty top to the pie.

Happy baking!

Here are a few linky parties I’m joining!

Jam and Cream Cheese Braid

June 23, 2010 By Becca 14 Comments

Don’t you just want to reach through your screen and take a bite? This is a recipe that my grandma always made on Christmas. It quickly became a favorite in our family. I mean, how can you go wrong with cream cheese filling? It was destined to be a favorite.

This recipe is really simple and it is made the night before you serve it. There is such joy in pulling something this beautiful out of the oven and knowing that the dishes are already done.

Here’s the recipe:

Bread:
1/2 Cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 Cups Bisquick (I told you it was simple!)
1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp sugar

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Combine all ingredients to make the dough for the bread part of the braid. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead until it is no longer sticky.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll the dough into a 14″x9″ rectangle.

Filling:
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Combine all ingredients. Spread the filling down the middle third of the dough.