Pumpkin Biscuits

We love these pumpkin biscuits my mother-in-law introduced to us. Perfect for fall! We love to eat them with soups, for breakfast, and as a side to pretty much any dish.

Pumpkin Biscuits

2 3/4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. pumpkin puree (or sweet potatoes or butternut squash)
3/4 c. sugar (we've done as little as 1/4 c. and it was still great)
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 450°. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Combine wet mix with dry ingredients. You can either roll them out and cut them with a biscuit cutter (or a cup...if you don't have one) or you can do drop biscuits (I'm lazy. That's what I do). Put them on to a greased pan. Bake for 12 mins. Enjoy!

 Eat 'em with Peanut Butter for a yummy lunch!

He really, really wanted some! They are that good. Tantrum good. :)

French Bread

I made french bread! And it turned out good! (I feel like doing a little jig!) I am never buying french bread from the store again...well, at least not in the near future. But this was so crispy on the outside and soft and delectable on the inside, it makes it worth it to plan ahead a little.

French Bread
 
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

Source: All recipes

Carol's (Quick) Easy Pita Bread

I usually like my pita bread whole wheat, but we were out, and I didn't have time to grind some, so I searched on google recipes (If you haven't tried google recipes, you need too!) and found this one.  We had these with our Chicken Waldorf Salad. YUM!

2 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons quick-rising yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups hot water ( but not boiling)
1 -1 1/2 cup flour

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl. Beat well about 1 minute. Then mix in the remaining flour, using just enough to make a soft, sticky dough. Turn out on floured board and continue to knead for 5 minutes. Divide into 8 balls. Roll out each one to about 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter.
Place on very lightly greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal (although cornmeal is really not necessary if you don't have it). Let rise in warm place for 25-35 minutes . Bake at 450 for 4 min, and then turn over for 4 more minutes or until lightly browned. Wrap immediately in a dishtowel for 3 or 4 minutes.

Source: Food.com

Alton Brown's Homemade Soft Pretzels

Some of you know I was on a sugar fast for about two weeks recently. Daniel and I traditionally have dessert on date night, but since I couldn't eat sugar, we decided to make pretzels. These hit the spot!  Salt is good, but we also tried garlic seasoning, and cajun seasoning. Those ones were also good. I think I liked the cajun the best.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water


Pretzel salt

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Homemade bread

This recipe is SO easy! It makes making bread worth it!

10 1/2 cups white bread flour or wheat flour (not all-purpose) (grind 6 1/2-7 cups of wheat and it will equal about 10 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 rounded tablespoons SAF instant yeast
3 tablespoons liquid lecithin
4 cups hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin (do not measure the lecithin! It is too sticky. Just pour 3 quarter size amounts and it will equal about 3 Tbs. lecithin.) and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. Do not add water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing. Spray counter and pans with cooking spray. Take dough out of bowl immediately, kneed, and shape into loaves (give them a good spanking to get the air bubbles out). Put them into 4 loaf pans (4x8 size) and cover lightly with a towel. Let raise for 25 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Savory Cheese Bread

I got this recipe for a cooking class that I took. It is super easy, but tastes amazing! Have fun experimenting.

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. mayonnaise
one herb of your choice, to taste or about 1/2 tsp.
one spice of your choice, to taste or about 1/2 tsp.
1 16oz loaf of french bread, cut in half
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese

In mixing bowl combine mozzarella cheese, mayo, and the herb and spice of your choice. Mix well. Spread the mixture onto both sides of french bread. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Broil the bread until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Slice bread for eating.

Serves about 20

I usually do an Italian theme on this bread, but you could do whatever you want!