Cinna-burst Bread

One of my favorite breads to get at bread shops is the sweet cinnamon chip loaves. So, when we saw these cinnamon chips at our local Amish store, I had to try to recreate my own version... and it turned out FANTASTIC! Enjoy.

Cinna-Burst Bread

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
• 1/2 cup (or more) cinnamon chips

Directions:

1. Put everything in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for a few seconds to about a minute, or just until the dough starts to come together. Then, remove and clean off the paddle and swap it for the dough hook attachment.
2. Knead the dough with the dough hook for about 5 minutes on low speed (about speed 2 on a KitchenAid), or until the pulls away from the sides of the bowl, looks smooth, and feels just slightly tacky. Gently poke the dough with your finger and it should bounce back without sticking to you.
3. Once you are done kneading the dough, remove the dough hook, form into a ball, leave in the bowl of the stand mixer covered with a dish towel and let rise until double in size (30-60 minutes depending on the yeast and temperature of your kitchen).
• Just leave the dough on the counter, because if you put it some place too warm (like proofing in a warm oven), the chips will soften and melt and then potentially disappear when you work the dough later to form it into a loaf.
4. Once the dough is doubled, remove it from the bowl, form into a loaf shape and place into your bread pan. Cover again and let rise until the dough is doming above the lip of your pan.
• It can help to place the loaf in a cool oven with the light on, or you can gently warm the oven with a "Proof" or "Warm" setting. Now that you won't be working the dough anymore, it is safe to let it rise faster some place warm.
• Proof setting typically is 80-100 degrees, with the oven keeping the temperature consistent.
• Warm setting typically is 170-200 degrees, so if you use this, don't let it come all the way up to temp and then turn it off. Most yeast doesn't like to proof higher than 95-100 degrees.
• With the oven light turned on only, you are looking at between 75-110 degrees depending on the bulb. Unlike the proof setting, the oven will don't control how cool or hot the oven gets using just the bulb.
5. Preheat your oven while the dough rises in the loaf pan (unless you are using the oven for proofing, then be sure to remove the loaf from the oven about ten or fifteen minutes before you think it will be done rising and let it finish rising on the counter while your oven preheats). When the loaf is ready, place in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
• Mine was perfect in our convection oven at 20 minutes.
6. Let the loaf rest in the pan for no longer than ten minutes before removing from pan to finish cooling covered with a towel on a wire rack. If you leave it in the pan, the loaf will sweat as it cools and your crust will get soggy.

Marsha's Notes:

I tried to make this in my bread machine, but the chips melted and disappeared in the dough because the bread machine used too much heat during the initial proofing process so when the dough was kneaded again, the chips melted away. This time, I made the bread using my stand mixer and just let the dough rise in the bowl with the heat of the kitchen and the chips stayed perfect.

I also tried to put a few extra chips on the top of the loaf for it's last rise, trying to make the loaf pretty and have plenty of visible chips on the top crust, but most of those chips just fell off during baking/slicing so it wasn't worth it.

Here are the cinnamon chips that I used.

Using the dough hook.

Speed 2 on my KitchenAid

Done and ready to rise.

After the first rise, here it is shaped in the pan and ready to rise again.

Here it is risen and ready to bake.

Fresh out of the oven.

Banana Bread

Honestly, our favorite banana bread is the super simple and easy Chiquita banana bread mix, but you can't always find it, so I wanted to have a backup bread recipe that the boys enjoyed. So far, this recipe is the winner!

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 mashed bananas
• 1/3 cup (80g) plain Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3-1/2 a bag of mini chocolate chips, optional
• chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 325°F. Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• I used my metal pans the first time I made this and decided that my glass pan offers better insulation and a more even cooking experience without the edges getting burnt.
• Make sure to bake at 325, not 350.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the mashed bananas, yogurt/sour cream, and vanilla until combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts/chocolate chips, if using. The batter should be thick.
5. Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60 minutes (in my oven 55 min. was not enough), making sure to loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil halfway through, to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. Cool the bread in the pan set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Remove the bread from the pan and place it directly on the rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
6. Store wrapped tightly at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

Marsha's Notes:

The batter in this picture was REALLY thick, but would be slightly less so depending on the size and number of bananas you are using.

This is the banana bread mix that we really like.

I also had a friend recommend this recipe, which I might also try: https://tasty.co/recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-chip-banana-bread

Chocolate Banana Bread

One of Chris's favorite things is banana bread, so when I saw this chocolate version, I had to give it a try. Everyone felt like it was very much "dessert-like". Also, great for breakfast.

Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 medium mashed very ripe bananas, (see note)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips of choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the two longer sides.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and butter. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Then stir in the mashed bananas and sour cream.
3. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir together until just incorporated and smooth. Don’t over-mix.
4. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in chocolate chips.
5. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Top with a few more chocolate chips, if desired.
6. Place in oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes (but start checking after 55 minutes! All ovens run differently.)
• Mine was done in 60 minutes.
7. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely. Slice and enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Machine Loaf

This recipe is for making your bread dough with a bread machine and then hand-forming the prepared dough into a single swirl loaf. Pretty quick and easy, everyone really enjoyed this a lot.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread Machine Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup milk or buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast or bread machine yeast
• 2 ¼ teaspoons fine salt sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Place the water, milk, honey, flour, yeast, and salt in your bread machine.  Select the dough function, and process according to the manufacturer’s directions.
2. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 bread loaf pan.
3. Dust a pastry mat with flour, and add the dough.  Dust with more flour.
4. Roll the bread dough into an 8 x 16 inch rectangle.
5. Beat the egg and water in a small dish and brush the dough with the egg wash using a pastry brush.
6. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the dough.
7. Start from the short side and roll the dough up.  Pinch the ends together and then tuck the ends under.
8. Transfer the loaf to the prepared pan.
9. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.
10. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining egg wash if desired.
11. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
12. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Marsha's Notes:

The original recipe called for an "egg wash" in the middle of the loaf along with your cinnamon sugar mixture, and I had never heard of using that when making traditional cinnamon rolls. So instead, I opted to use softened/melted butter like I was familiar with, and as you can see in the cut cross-section, the swirl in the bread is a little loose with some air pockets. In hindsight, I think that perhaps the egg wash might be helpful in keeping the swirl of the loaf connected and closed, so I will try that next time and report if it made a difference.

Rolled out

Spread with butter. Next time I will use the egg wash.

Poured out the cinnamon mixture.

Spread out and then rolled up. I tried to make the dough as wide as my loaf pan (on the short end of the dough). Then I rolled it up starting on the short end.

Rolled and in the pan.

After rising for 45 minutes.

Baked! I topped the loaf with melted butter since I didn't use an egg wash.

Bread Bowls for Soup

I made some fantastic bread bowls today for soup. This recipe makes 6-8 bowls, or, if you have a family of five and three of them are hungry teenage boys, then I made my batch into 5 over-sized bowls. While Scott and I could only eat about half of ours, they were still delicious. In the future, I can make smaller ones when I am not trying to fill up a teenager's hallow leg. Enjoy! 

Bread Bowls for Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast, use 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 2 ½ cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6-7 cups all-purpose flour (see note)
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (You can omit this step if using instant yeast.)
• If you are able and have a powerful enough mixer, using a stand mixer with a dough hook is super nice during the kneading phase of this recipe, so I would highly recommend putting your yeast and water into the bowl of your mixer.
2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups... I only used 6 1/2 cups). This bread bowl dough needs to be a bit firmer than a roll/bread dough so that the bread bowls rise up instead of out.
• I used the paddle attachment on my mixer to begin combining the flour into my yeast mixture. Once the mixer had things mostly combined and started to struggle with the dough, then I changed out the paddle for the dough hook.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). 
• If possible, I highly recommend letting the mixer do the kneading. I put my KitchenAid mixer on the #2 setting and let it knead for about 3-4 minutes, which was perfect. I think you only need to do the full 6 minutes if you are kneading by hand.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. 
5. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. 
• I used a scale to weigh out my portions to make sure they were equal in size at around 330 grams each, making 5 portions with the dough I had.
6. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silicone liners or parchment paper). If desired, slash the top surface of the bread bowl several times with a sharp knife or razor.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and baked through.
1. Mine were done when the dough had started to brown, between 18-22 minutes, but I made bigger portion bowls.
9. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to complete cooling so the bowls don't sweat on the pan.
• For a yummy and glossy finish, you can brush the tops with melted butter.

Marsha's Notes:

I wanted to remind myself that I did in fact use my stand mixer to knead this dough and it worked beautifully. I kneaded it for about 4 minutes.

I set my speed to 2 for the kneading process.

Here are the dough balls portioned out and scored, ready for their second rise. They did end up puffing up enough during their second rise and baking to touch, but it was fine. When forming the balls, the dough didn't need any extra flour.

Each ball was roughly 330 grams, but that will also depend on how much flour you put into your dough.

Here they are, doubled in size and ready to bake.

All done and beautiful!

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.