Upgraded Canned Cinnamon Rolls

There is this hack going around right now where you can use canned cinnamon rolls and take them to the next level. I LOVE cinnamon rolls, so I just had to try it! While not as good as my homemade, these are still way better than just the canned ones by themselves, especially if you like an ooey-gooey cinnamon roll. Enjoy!

Upgraded Canned Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls, ~17 oz. each, 10 rolls total
• ~1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbl cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place your rolls into your baking dish in an evenly spaced, single layer. Reserve the frosting that comes with the rolls for later.
3. Pour your heavy cream around (not on top of) the rolls until it comes about halfway up the cinnamon rolls.
4. Mix together your melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour this mixture evenly over the rolls.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the cream is absorbed, your rolls have enlarged and are puffy and starting to brown.
6. Let cool, then top with the frosting from the cans.

Marsha's Notes:

You can also top these rolls with nuts, if desired.

Bread Pudding

Have you ever stuck some kind of bread into the deep freeze and then forgot about it? It happens to me from time to time and I want to be able to still use it, even if it's really not good for what it was originally intended for. The perfect example was this package of Kaiser rolls. Bread pudding feels like the obvious solution to me. I suppose you could also make croutons or stuffing out it, but bread pudding is a dessert, so in my book, that wins!

But I wanted to be able to documents the steps and proportions needed so that I can do this again in the future with different kinds of bread items and tighten down the recipe to make it better and better. Anyway, here is my most recent attempt of what I did and how I did it, for future reference. Enjoy!

Marsha's Bread Pudding

Ingredients: (for a large package of bread... see notes for making smaller batches)

• 1 large package of bread (12 buns)
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 Tbl vanilla
• 1 Tbl ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbl sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2-1 cup brown sugar (for topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cube up your bread into bite-sized (crouton-sized) pieces.
3. Mix together all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the brown sugar.
4. Pour over your bread pieces and toss to coat.
5. Place in a greased baking dish large enough to hold your mixture. 
• In this case, I used a glass baking dish that is just one size larger than a 9x13 pan... I believe it's a 10x15. 
• But if your 9x13 isn't big enough and you don't have a 10x15, you can always try using two square 8x8 or 9x9 pans.
6. Sprinkle with enough brown sugar to coat the top.
7. Let sit covered with a lid or foil for at least 2 hours (or overnight) for the custard mixture to fully absorb into the bread.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the bottom and outside are starting to brown, the internal temperature is at least 160 degrees (or more), and the middle appears to be set and not soupy.

Marsha's Notes:

I like to eat mine in a bowl with some milk in the bottom, heated up for a slightly in the microwave (30 seconds or so), topped with whipped cream. If I have them, I also put on a sprinkling of chopped candied pecans for crunch.

Depending on how much bread you are using, if things are a little bland, you can add a drizzle of syrup over the top (maple, buttermilk, etc.), extra brown sugar, or cinnamon sugar to your bowl. This batch was just "okay" eaten as is, but was really good doctored up with some extra syrup. Maple makes it perfect for having for breakfast.

You can also add fruit and nuts to the mixture (not everyone in our house agrees on what mix-ins to use, so this time I made it rather plain). Some ideas are to mix in your desired amount of dried fruit, pie filling (like apple or peach), or chopped nuts (candied/sugared or otherwise).

This package of Kaiser rolls was rather large (kind of like big hamburger buns), so if I was trying to use up a smaller package of dinner rolls or a regular loaf of bread or something, I would need to cut back on the milk, eggs, and other possible ingredients. Basically, this recipe is just a jumping off point. For reference, a single square pan (8x8 or 9x9) of other bread pudding recipes I have made call for more like 2 to 4 eggs and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of milk (or half-and-half, or cream, etc.).

It is important to let the mixture soak and set for a couple of hours before you bake. With this batch, initially I felt like the bread soaked up the liquid really well as I stirred it and it wasn't going to need to sit before baking. However, once the bread pudding was cooled, I can see places where some of the bread is more dry instead of soft, moist and cakey. So letting it sit and soak turns out to be a step I would not skip in the future.

Here are some pictures for reference. I feel like the pictures are a bit deceiving though, because this tan bowl I am using is my biggest bowl in the house. We are talking between 18-24 inches in diameter, which is why I needed my "bigger than a 9x13 pan" to bake this. A 9x13 might have been big enough if I filled it to the tippy top, but then might bake time could possibly be more like 45-60 minutes.

Here are the rolls I used. There are two layers of buns in this bag, for a total of 12 rolls.

Dry bread all cubed up.

Egg mixture added. You can see that it is very moist without being soupy, and some of the bread was even kind of disintegrating as I stirred it together, so be sure not to over mix. This disintegration was why I thought the mixture didn't need to sit and soak before baking, but it actually did. In the future, I wouldn't be scared to even make my mixture a little bit more wet with a touch more milk/egg mixture.

Spread in the pan.

Topped with brown sugar, for reference on how much.

Baked and all done!

In my bowl, heated with milk and whipped cream. After I snapped this picture, I sprinkled on some chopped candied pecan bits and a drizzle of buttermilk syrup.

While yummy, this batch was a touch boring, which is why it ended up needing the nuts and the syrup, but in the future I can either add more goodies to the base mix, or just keep doctoring up in the individual bowls when served. Either way, it's a way better use for some old bread, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Grandma Hall's Scone Recipe- Simplified

The original recipe calls for cakes of yeast, which you can't really find anymore, so here is a simplified, updated version with a modern yeast measurement. Enjoy!

Grandma Hall's Scone Recipe- Simplified

Ingredients:

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup yeast (Mike uses Red Star Active Dry Yeast)
• 1/2 cup warm water (~100 degrees)
• 4 beaten eggs
• 10+ cups flour

Directions:

1. Scald 4 cups milk. Allow to cool. 
2. In a separate bowl, add the sugar, oil, and salt and stir until dissolved. Add to your cooled milk.
3. In another bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water for just a minute or two. Then add yeast to your other liquids. 
4. Add 6 cups flour. Beat until spongy. 
5. Sift in remaining 4 cups of flour and stir until smooth. 
6. Let stand for an hour, covered with a moist towel. Beat down. 
7. Let rise a second time until dough is double in size.
8. Pinch off dough in desired scone size or roll out dough and cut with knife or cutter.
9. Cook in hot oil (325 degrees) until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Mike's Note: 

It takes about 3 hours from mixing up the dough to cooking.

Sopa Paraguaya

We had a fun "Paraguay" night with Scott's sister Allison's family and ours (both of them served missions in Paraguay) and Allison brought this recipe for Sopa Paraguaya. Scott said it was the best sopa he's ever had. It's a lot like cornbread, only less sweet with onions and cheese inside. It's a good one to add to our Paraguay collection. Thanks for sharing, Allison! Enjoy!

The original recipe calls for THREE ONIONS! Wow! But Allison said she only used 1 1/2 onions. I am a wimp, so I would probably use just one small onion, so that's how I will notate it here. You can see the original recipe here: https://camilamade.com/sopa-paraguaya/?fbclid=IwAR1iCHXtF3XLIk4Rh3mLwGnWMklY-IVGN0UhpwwxJpHl1eeVmlRF4QEHvTo#recipe

Sopa Paraguaya

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter melted and cooled.
• 500 gr. Queso Panela or Queso de Freir (Mexican cheese) , crumble into small pieces.
• 2 cups whole milk , room temperature
• 5 large eggs , room temperature
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 400 g Quaker yellow cornmeal

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13'' by 9'' Baking dish and dust with cornmeal; set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
2. Add the chopped onions and salt, and cook until soft and transparent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, add half of the milk, and set aside to cool off.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the cooked onion mixture, cornmeal, anise seeds, and the remaining milk and whisk until well combined. Stir in the Cheese. (Don't be tempted to add more cornmeal; the mixture will look a little runny, but that's okay—one of the keys to keeping it from getting dense is keeping it that way).
4. Transfer the Sopa Paraguaya batter to the prepared baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 50 to 60 minutes, or a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the Sopa Paraguaya for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan, then cut into squares and serve warm.

Marsha's notes:

Searching on the internet, 400 g yellow cornmeal is approximately 1 and 2/3 cups (I will try to remember to use my kitchen scale when I make this to verify) and 500 gr. Queso Panela or Queso de Freir is about 2 and 1/8 cups.

Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Loaf

Made this for dinner last night and everyone just loved it. I think it has the potential to make an amazing grilled cheese sandwich as well.

Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 Tbl. baking powder
• 1 Tbl. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• Topping:
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/8 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Mix together dry ingredients. 
2. Combine dry ingredients with cheese. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk, then add to the dry ingredient/cheese mixture. 
4. Combine until just mixed and moistened (do not over mix). 
5. Then add 1/4 cup melted butter and mix just until combined (mixture will be thick and chunky). 
6. Spread batter in a greased loaf pan (I used my metal one) and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. 
7. Mix together topping ingredients and pour over the top of the hot loaf immediately after it comes out of the oven. 
8. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Marsha's Notes:

Our loaf did not rise or dome very much and was still perfect.

Six Sister's Stuff Easy Pan Butter Biscuits Recipe

 After making crepes for Valentine's Day, this biscuit recipe used up the rest of the buttermilk in the house for us, and everyone LOVED them. Lots of butter, so not very healthy, but oh so good!

See the original recipe here: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/easy-pan-butter-biscuits-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-130873

Easy Pan Butter Biscuits

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ Tablespoons baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1¾ cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Slice the butter into a couple of thin slices and spread in the bottom of an 8×8" baking dish.
3. Place the butter in the baking dish into the oven while it preheats to allow the butter to melt.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
5. Carefully pour in the buttermilk, mixing until the flour mixture is just moistened (be careful not to overmix!).
6. Remove melted butter pan from the oven.
7. Place the dough in the melted butter pan and spread it evenly in the pan with your fingers. As you spread the dough out to the corners, the butter will start to surround the dough and flow on top of the dough (which is what you want!).
8. Cut the dough into 9 equal squares (you don't have to do this step, but it makes it easier to pull apart later and allows the butter to soak into all the edges of each piece).
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes (start checking at 20 minutes) or until the biscuits are golden brown.
10. Serve hot with honey butter or your favorite toppings.

Easy Drop Biscuits

I saw this recipe from Mom On Timeout pop up on my Facebook newsfeed and gave it a try. EVERYONE in my family LOVED it! We were using up some buttermilk that I had in the fridge and it was enough to treat my family to fresh biscuits for three nights in a row. YUM, YUM! See the original recipe here: https://www.momontimeout.com/drop-biscuits/

Easy Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar optional
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup COLD butter
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Line a quarter sheet baking pan with parchment or grease a 10 inch cast iron skillet with butter and set aside.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 
4. Use a pastry cutter to cut cold butter into flour mixture. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough. (Alternatively, grate the butter and stir into the dry ingredients making sure the better does not clump together.)
5. Add in the buttermilk and egg and stir just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
6. Scoop out the biscuit dough using a large trigger scoop (ice cream scoop) OR use two spoons to scoop out the dough and place it on the prepared baking sheet or skillet.
7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
8. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter if desired.

Tips for the Best Drop Biscuits

The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge or freezer pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough.

Don’t overwork the dough. Just mix until all the ingredients are combined. You want to see the butter in the dough.

Preheat the oven so it’s ready to go when you are. If the biscuits sit out at room temperature waiting for the oven to preheat, the butter will warm up and you won’t get flaky biscuits.

Marsha's Notes:

I used a cold stick of butter straight from the fridge and grated it with my Salad Shooter directly into the dough. Super easy! Also, baking the biscuits in a cast iron skillet makes a wonderful crunchy crust on the bottom that everyone loved. Lastly, just work the dough until all the dry flour no longer collects on the bottom of the bowl and is fully incorporated into the dough, but not much longer than that before shaping into six biscuits and placing them in your skillet. I used my hands to mix the dough. The key is to work fast, don't let your butter get too hot (especially from the heat of your hands), and don't overwork the dough.

Easy Pumpkin Caramel Pull Apart Bread

Another submission from Krystal. To see the original recipe, go here:

https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/easy-pumpkin-caramel-pull-apart-bread-and-the-pumpkin-lovers-cookbook/

Easy Pumpkin Caramel Pull Apart Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pizza dough
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup crushed pecans
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce to drizzle on top
• Flour for surface

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x4 bread loaf pan.
2. Roll out pizza dough into a rectangle that's about 16x8 inches in size.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, spices and pecans. Mix until all incorporated.
4. Brush dough with melted butter and drizzle 1/4 cup of caramel all over the dough.
5. Spread pumpkin mixture evenly all over the dough.
6. Cut the dough easily using a pizza cutter, lengthwise, into three long strips. Then cut in width-wise, creating squares. Stack squares and place them side-by-side into the prepared loaf pan. Drizzle some more caramel over the top and place in the oven.
7. Bake for 35-38 minutes.

Focaccia Bread

THIS DOUGH SITS FOR AT LEAST 8 HOURS (SO MAKE THE NIGHT BEFORE).

When I served this bread, Scott told me I had found something special. That's how good it was! I've made it twice now and think it is going to be a regular at our house. Everyone LOVED it! We are also fans of the focaccia bread at Firehouse Pizzeria, which is cheese stuffed, and now I can make a copy cat version of that AT HOME! WOOT! To see the original recipe, click here:

https://lilluna.com/focaccia-bread/

Focaccia Bread

Dough has to sit for 8 hours or overnight.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast. (Whisking the flour, salt and yeast helps distribute everything so you don't end up with clumps of salt or yeast in the dough and cuts down on mixing time once you add the water which helps not build up too much gluten.) 
2. Add the warm water, and stir just enough to form a soft and sticky dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours. (Making it the night/day before you want to serve it is perfect.)
3. After the dough has chilled for at least 8 hours, gently shape the dough into a ball with your hands. Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of an 8 inch cake pan (no bigger than 8 inches is important) and spread it to cover the interior surfaces of the pan. 
4. Place the ball of dough in the center of the pan, pat down just a bit, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough has expanded to nearly fill the cake pan.
5. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 450 (400 for convection). Remove the plastic wrap from the pan. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the dough first, then press your fingers down into the dough, pushing to the bottom of the pan. Repeat until the entire surface of the dough is covered in deep dimples. Press the dough towards the edge of the pan if it didn't quite spread all the way. Sprinkle with the oregano, basil (or Italian Seasoning) and sea salt.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. (20 minutes at 400 convection in my oven was perfect!)

As you can see, this dough is really shaggy. I just left it like this and then covered it with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight. You could also clean out the bowl, grease it with some olive oil and put the dough back in before covering and putting it in the fridge, but it doesn't really need it.

Done!

Spiced Peach Bread

I found this recipe and printed if off in the Fall, but I am just now getting around to making it. It sounded like something that Scott would LOVE, so I just had to get to it eventually. And I was right! He said he would be asking for it over and over again. To see the original recipe, go here: https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/spiced-peach-bread-recipe/

Spiced Peach Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature (you can also use extra large eggs)
• 1 3/4 cups cake flour (you can also use all purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
• 2 cups diced peaches, skin on. For me this was 3 smallish peaches.
• 1 tsp coarse sparkling sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F Lightly butter a 9x5 loaf pan and line it with parchment paper with long ends so you can lift the bread out later for glazing and slicing.
2. Put the brown sugar and butter into a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy ~ a full 5 minutes. Make sure to get all the lumps out of the sugar.
3. Beat in each of the eggs, one by one, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Continue beating for another 2-3 minutes. The batter will be light and fluffy.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices and add to the mixer, alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Finish mixing by hand, to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed, but don't over beat. Fold in the peaches.
5. Turn the batter into your prepared pan. Spread out evenly, and sprinkle the top lightly with sparkling sugar. You can use regular granulated or raw sugar if you like.
6. Bake on the center rack for 50-55 minutes, or until fully risen and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it (moist crumbs are fine.)
7. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove, using the parchment paper handles. You can slice while it's still warm, or wait for it to cool.
8. If you don't have cake flour you can use regular all purpose flour, or make your own cake flour: to make a cup of cake flour take a cup of regular flour and remove 2 tablespoons, replacing it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.  Sift everything together twice.

Author's Notes:

They can take a while to cook because the batter is thick and the shape of the pan is deep and narrow. Give it the time it needs to get that all important center cooked through.  I will very often place a loose sheet of foil over the top of the bread towards the end of cooking so the crust doesn’t get too brown before it’s had a chance to completely cook through.

The toothpick test isn’t always accurate…use visual cues, too.  If the center is not fully risen, or is sunk down, keep cooking.  If you see wet batter in the cracks on the top of the bread, let it go a little longer.

Marsha's Notes:

I used peach fruit cups for my fruit and needed about six of them (drained). I also baked mine for about 50-55 minutes but needed to tent the loaf with foil after about 20-30 minutes to prevent over browning. Also, a 1/2 pt. of buttermilk is a cup, so you only need half of the carton. If you want to use the whole thing, then you might try doubling the recipe and making two loaves and freezing the second, except it makes a fairly large amount so that could start to get hard to mix in the mixer. I'll have to report back later if I ever try that. Also, I used my bigger metal loaf pans. This amount of batter would not have fit in my smaller glass pans. 

Bread Machine Bread

Tip (see making a loaf of bread using the dough cycle below): The dough cycle takes about 90 minutes, so with bake time, you can have fresh bread for a meal in about 2 1/2 hours.

This is the recipe that came with our bread machine. I'd like to document it here so it's always readily available.

Bread Machine Bread

Homestyle White Bread 1.5 Pound Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 Tbl warm water
• 1 Tbl butter, softened
• 2 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 1 Tbl dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast

Directions:

1. Put everything in the pan in this order and start the machine. 
2. With our current machine: I like to set mine on "light crust" and removed the loaf 20 minutes before the cycle is schedule to end because our machine makes a dark, thick crust that can get a touch over-baked.

Marsha's Notes:

In April 2024 I decided to let the bread machine do all the work of kneading the dough by using the dough setting. When the machine beeped to let me know it was done, the dough was ready to be shaped for the final rise, so I took the dough out of the machine, shaped it (on a lightly floured surface) and put it in a greased loaf pan to rise while the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Then I baked it off like normal, brushed it with some butter when it came out of the oven, and let it cool out of the pan on a cooling rack covered with a dish towel. It looked amazing, but I was nervous about seeing how it looked on the inside... but it looked GREAT! It took about 20-25 minutes to bake. The dough cycle takes about 90 minutes, so with rise/oven preheat time, bake time and cool time, you can have fresh bread for a meal in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Isn't that so much prettier than the funky square loaf that comes out of the bread machine with the hole in the bottom from the paddle? And the crust was so much more tender! I think this is my new favorite way.

I am working on a wheat version, but wheat is trickier because it takes more water, longer to rise, and you can't do a straight over 1-to-1 conversion from white flour to wheat. You need to maybe replace 1/2 or less of your white flour from the recipe with wheat or you will end up with a brick. My first wheat loaf I tried to just make it with straight wheat flour using the same recipe as above, and I came out with a loaf that was edible, but it was a brick and looked a bit like a large potato. Ha, ha! But it's getting better. For now, my wheat recipe looks something like this:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbl butter, softened
• 2 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 2 Tbl honey
• 1 Tbl dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast

Directions:

1. Put everything in the pan in this order and start the machine on the dough cycle.
2. When the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead for a few minutes, adding more flour until dough isn't overly sticky to handle (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup), shape into a loaf, and place in a greased loaf pan to rise. Cover with a dish towel and place somewhere warm to rise to full height desired. (My loaves of wheat have never risen much more once placed in the oven to bake, so it will probably be about as tall as it's going to get when you place the dough in the oven.)
• Since I have two ovens, I like to let my dough rise in the second oven, covered with a towel, with the oven light on for just a touch of additional heat.

Here is my dough on a floured-surface with that extra 1/4 cup flour dumped right on top. I then kneaded it as much as I could before adding about another 1/4 cup flour to keep kneading, shape and place in my loaf pan. I may try to use a dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer next time to see if I can get the dough to be less sticky with more kneading and report on how that changed the texture and rise.

1. While the bread is rising in the bread pan, preheat your main oven to 350 degrees. Second rise can take as long as 20-30 minutes.
• I have heard if you push on the dough and it springs back immediately, it's still rising.
• If you push on the dough and it springs back halfway immediately but then slowly springs back the rest of the way. it's ready to bake.
• If you push on the dough and it doesn't spring back or deflates, then it's overproofed. It's not going to get any better because the yeast has used up all it's energy, so just bake it and try again another time.
• To "push on the dough" to test readiness, one website recommended inserting your finger into the dough up to your first joint, or about 1 inch deep.
2. Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Brush the top of the loaf with butter directly from the oven.
3. Remove loaf immediately from baking pan and place on wire rack. Cover loaf with a dish towel while cooling.
• If you leave your loaf in the pan, the crush will go soggy from the hot moisture from baking. Don't place your loaf in a bag until it is completely cooled or you will get moisture collecting inside the bag which will make the loaf soggy and mold faster.

One loaf I made... here it is right after shaping.

Here it is after the rise.

Here it is out of the oven. You can see it didn't rise much more when baking. I also didn't take it out of the pan immediately, and when I came back later the crust had gotten all soggy, thus the note above about removing it immediately from the pan.

Here is another loaf. I tried really hard to let it rise MORE...

Here is another angle. But it also did not rise more once it was in the oven.

I did try once to let the loaf rise in a warm oven that had a pan of boiling water placed inside for steam. That did not seem to make any difference in the rising process compared to just using a warm oven/place for the loaf to rise without a pan of water. In fact, it seemed to make the dough too moist and so it couldn't hold it's structure very well. So, instead, the next time I made a loaf, I just kneaded it for a few minutes to give it more structure then let it rise in the pan for about 20 minutes and got better results. Adding an extra 1/2 tsp of yeast also did not seem to make a difference in the rise of the bread.

Here is my loaf prepared with the extra knead before shaping, let rise in my bottom oven, covered, with just a light on, until it was doming above the lip of the pan. It's one of my best wheat loaves. 3-14-25

Costco Muffins- Copycat (Any Flavor)

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Costco Muffins- Copycat (Any Flavor)

Ingredients:

• 1 (18 oz.) box cake mix
• 2 Tbl. flour
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.  
2. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. 
3. Bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

Mix-ins:

• Almond Poppy Seed Muffins- use a white cake mix, add 2 tsp. poppy seeds and 1 tsp. almond extract
• Chocolate Muffins- use a chocolate cake mix and stir in 1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Marsha's Notes:

Try any combination you think sounds good!  (White cake mix with chopped up raspberries and white chocolate chips… yellow cake mix with blueberries… lemon cake mix with poppy seeds…)

Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Bread

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

Bread Batter:

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. cloves
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin (puree)
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or nuts

Cream Cheese Swirl:

• 8 oz. cream cheese                                               
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbl sugar

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.  Set aside.  
2. In a stand mixer bowl, cream room-temperature butter.  Then add in the sugar, mixing until integrated, followed by the eggs one at a time, vanilla and finally pumpkin.  
3. Add half the dry mixture, mixing until just integrated with the wet, and finally add the rest, mixing only as much as needed to form batter.  Fold in chips/nuts. 
4. In another bowl, beat the room temperature cream cheese.  Once creamy, add the sugar and egg, beating until totally integrated.  At this point, the cream cheese mixture should be very easily spreadable.
5. In a buttered bread pan, pour about a third of the bread batter, followed by a half of the cream cheese.  Repeat layers and end with last layer of batter (i.e. batter, cheese, batter, cheese, batter.)  When pan is prepared, stab the dough with a knife here and there to give the cream cheese a bit of a swirl.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Cool.

Cheddar Bacon Toasts

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Cheddar Bacon Toasts

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon or (real) bacon bits
• 1 loaf French bread (1 lb.)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the cheese, mayonnaise and bacon.  
2. Cut the bread into 24 slices, each about ½ inch thick.  
3. Spread the cheese mixture on one side of each slice.  Place on a baking sheet.  
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Marsha's Notes:

I like to use sharp cheddar for these.

Soft Pretzels

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf frozen white bread dough, thawed
• Flour, for dusting surface
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 cup coarse salt
• Topping options, see below

Directions:

1. Divide dough into 14 pieces. 
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 16-inch rope, and then form into a pretzel shape.  
3. Transfer dough to the refrigerator until ready to boil.  Roll dough thin to help pretzels keep their shape.
4. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.  
5. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil.  
6. Add pretzels, 3 at a time, and cook until pretzels rise to the surface, about 2 minutes.  
7. Remove and drain on paper towels.  
8. Arrange pretzels 3 inches apart on buttered sheet pans.  Brush with beaten egg.  Sprinkle with coarse salt or *with choice of toppings (be careful with salt, not too much).  
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. 

Toppings:

Garlic Cheese:

• ½ cup finely grated parmesan
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1. Combine cheese and garlic together.  
2. Sprinkle on pretzels after you coat them with the beaten egg in the step above.  
3. Omit the course salt and bake as directed above.

Cinnamon Sugar:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbl. Ground cinnamon
• 1-2 Tbl. water
• ¼ cup honey

Directions:

1. Combine sugar, cinnamon and water to make a glaze.  
2. In pretzel directions above, omit the beaten egg glaze and instead cover pretzels with honey.  
3. Bake as directed above, then remove from oven and brush warm pretzels with cinnamon sugar glaze.

Pig Pickin' Corn Bread

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Pig Pickin’ Corn Bread

Ingredients:

• ½ stick butter
• 2 pkg. cornbread mix (Jiffy or Betty Crocker)
• 2 cans creamed corn (14 3/4 oz each)
• 2 eggs well beaten

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a 13x11 cake pan in a 400 degree oven.  
2. Mix cornbread mix, creamed corn and eggs together.  
3. Pour into baking dish and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Top should be a golden brown.  Check with toothpick.

Killer Buttermilk Biscuits

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Killer Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour, or cake flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup shortening
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup or more flour, for rolling
• 2 Tbl melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  
2. Butter a 9 inch pan.  
3. Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and with a paddle attachment mix in the shortening until pea sized pieces remain.  
4. With a wooden spoon, stir in the cream, milk and buttermilk and let sit 2 minutes.  The dough should be very wet and look like cottage cheese.
5. Now, you can either pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until done (brush them with the 2 Tbl. melted butter after they are done) and cut into squares to serve… 
6. OR you can form individual biscuits by using the 1 cup flour for rolling.  Place the flour in a cake pan with walls.  Take one scoop of batter out at a time and place in the flour.  Gently toss the biscuit around in the flour and place the coated pieces in the prepared pan, starting round the edge of the pan, packing tightly, and moving towards the center.  Again, bake for 15-20 minutes, or until done and brush with melted butter once you remove them from the oven.

Cinnamon Streusel Quick Bread

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Streusel Quick Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 box cinnamon streusel muffin mix
• 1/3 cup flour
• ½ cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Grease bottom of 9x5 loaf pan.  
3. In medium bowl, stir muffin mix (Betty Crocker), ½ of the streusel packet, flour, water, oil and eggs just until blended (batter may be lumpy).  
4. Spread batter in pan.  Sprinkle with remaining streusel mix.  
5. Bake 38-43 minutes, or until top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.  Cool 15 minutes. Run knife around edges of pan before removing; remove from pan.  Cool completely before slicing, about 45 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean pretty easily, so I suggest baking for at least 35 minutes to make sure the middle is done.

Ciabatta Bread

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Ciabatta Bread

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 1 tsp. dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 ½ cup sifted flour

Dough:

• 1 ½ tsp. dry yeast
• 5 Tbl warm milk
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups flour
• 2-3 tsp salt
• 2-3 Tbl warm water if needed

Directions:

Sponge:  

1. In a mixer bowl, add the yeast to the water, allow to stand for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently.  
2. Sift the flour and add to the yeast. 
3. Combine ingredients well, cover and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.  

Dough:  

1. Add the yeast to the milk, stir and let it stand 3-4 minutes to be sure the yeast is working.  
2. Add the yeast mixture, water, and oil to the sponge and mix with a dough hook.  
3. Add 2 cups of flour and the salt and knead for 2 minutes at low speed, 3 minutes at middle speed, adding the remaining flour slowly, or more water, until the dough begins to pull from the sides of the bowl.  Dough should be quite soft, but firm enough to handle without sticking to the hands.  
4. Cover or place in a large, oiled bowl and let raise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until tripled in size and bubbly.  
5. Place the dough on floured baking paper or other surface and divide into 8 pieces, but do not punch down.  
6. Form in rectangles and place on greased baking sheet.  
7. Cover and let raise for 90 minutes.  Dough will only raise slightly.  
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bread just beings to turn golden.  During the first 10 minutes, paint or spray the bread with water 3 times.

Pizza Dough

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 3 cups warm water
• 1 Tbl. salt
• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 Tbl active dry yeast
• 7-8 cups flour

Directions:

1. Mix in order listed.  Use enough flour to make a soft dough.  Knead dough until it is nice and smooth, and all ingredients are well incorporated.  
2. Cover dough and let raise for 30 minutes in a warm place (I like to turn my oven on the lowest temperature until preheated while I am making the dough, then I turn the oven off and use the warm oven to help my dough raise.)  
3. Form into pizza crusts to your desired thickness, or form into breadsticks.  
4. Bake at 400-425 degrees for about 15 minutes depending on the size of the pizza and thickness of the crust.  

Marsha's Notes:

This recipe makes a lot, so I will use ¼ the recipe to make two small/medium pizzas instead, or ½ the recipe for two medium pizzas and some breadsticks.

Breadsticks: 

My favorite is cheese stuffed breadsticks.  To make these... 

1. I form my dough into two 8 inch circles about ¼ inch thick.  
2. On my bottom circle I will pile a fair amount of my pizza cheese, spreading the cheese out to about ½ inch from the edge of the crust.  
3. Then I get my finger tips wet with water, run my finger tips around the edge of the dough to moisten it and help it seal and keep the cheese from leaking out during baking.  
4. Then I place my top circle of dough over the bottom circle and the cheese and I crimp the edges of the dough with my fingers to seal.  I also cut a few vents in the top of the dough to let the steam out and to keep an air bubble from forming in the middle of the breadsticks.  
5. I then take a little butter and spread it over the top of the dough, and sprinkle the dough with garlic powder, parsley flakes and parmesan cheese.  
6. Bake until golden brown.  Do not bake breadsticks with anything else in the oven, especially not anything underneath the breadsticks or the bottom layer of dough will not brown and cook all the way through before the top is done.