Cheesy Buns with Italian Seasoning

Sunday was a day spent mostly in the kitchen. We were celebrating the birthday for our daughter-in-law. It was just last year when our son and our daughter-in-law got married. Boy, it is hard to believe that a year has passed by already.

As always when we celebrate a birthday at our house, we let the person celebrating their birthday choose what they would like to eat. My son informed me that when he and our daughter-in-law make their decision they go on my blog and look at the recipes to make their decision.

I guess it has been a while that I have been blogging and there is quite the variety of recipes.  We served Chicken Parmesan, so I wanted some bread that would go along with the flavor of the dinner.

The buns had some Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Italian seasoning added to them. They turned out super soft and when the dinner was over there was one left. 

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Cheesy Buns with Italian Seasoning

Ingredients:

1 package of yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water

2 tablespoon brown sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 3/4 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast and the brown sugar with the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes

2. Add the olive oil, salt, Italian seasoning, cheeses, and 1 cup of flour. Stir until well blended

3. Use a large enough bowl so that you can knead the dough in the bowl. Gradually add the rest of the flour, kneading the flour into the dough until you have dough that is slightly sticky to the touch.

4. Grease the bottom of your bowl and turn the dough so that each side gets coated.

5. Cover the bowl and with a towel and set in a warm place and let the dough rise for a 1 1/2 or until about double in size.

6. Prepare baking sheets by greasing them lightly.

7. Once the dough has doubled in size, pinch off pieces of dough and form into roll. They should be about a 1/2 cup of dough.

8. Cover the rolls and let rest for about 45 minutes to an hour, so they are about double in size.

9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

10. Once the buns have rested, place them in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

11. Remove from oven and brush the buns with melted butter.

Cheese Stuffed Garlic Buns

Homemade Cheese Stuffed Garlic Buns... yum!

This past weekend we celebrated our son Jon's birthday. If you haven't read about it on this blog before, I love making birthday dinners for our kids.

The birthday person gets to choose what they want on their dinner menu. My boys usually pick the same thing year after year. Jon likes his lasagna and that is usually on the menu for his birthday.

When lasagna is on the table there better be some kind of garlic bread to go with it, at least at our house. Normally I would pick up a loaf of French bread and make a simple garlic toast the easy way.

But this time around I was in the mood for making bread. Not just any kind of bread... garlic needed to be involved and yeah some cheese too.

So what I decided to do was make real garlic bread, but only in a bun form. So what I did was mince up some garlic and add it right into the dough as I was mixing it. That way the garlic would give the bread a nice garlic flavor.

The buns were easy to make and they turned out nice and soft. For some reason I like serving buns or rolls more than sliced bread. Maybe the buns just look nicer when being served than slices of bread on a plate or maybe I am just a little weird.

For the cheese stuffed part... I formed my buns around a cube of mozzarella so when the buns were served the cheese would be nice and gooey. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the cheese in the bread so you will just have to take my word on it.

The lasagna and garlic buns made the birthday boy smile and a few other family members too.

Cheese Stuffed Garlic Buns
Ingredients:
1 package of yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (or more if you would like more of a garlic flavor)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Mozzarella cut into cubes
Directions:
1. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar with the warm water. Let this sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, salt and 1 cup of flour. Stir until well blended.
3. Gradually add the rest of the flour. Knead the dough as you add the flour. If your bowl is large enough there is no need to knead the dough on the counter.
4. When the dough is nice and soft and just a touch of stickiness to it, grease the bottom of your bowl. Turn the dough over once to coat both sides of the dough.
5. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for about an 1 1/2 hours or until about double in size.
6. Prepare baking sheets by lightly greasing them.
7. Once the dough has doubled, pinch of a piece of dough just a bit bigger than a golf ball and flatten into out into a disk shape.
8. Place a mozzarella cube in the middle of the disk and pull the dough around the cheese to form the bun. Pinch the bottom of the dough to seal the cheese in. Place the sealed side of the bun on the prepared baking sheet.
9. Cover the rolls with a towel and let rise for about an hour, so they just about double in size.
10. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
11. Once your buns have raised bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or unit golden brown.
12. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese is desired.
13. Serve.

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Zucchini and Carrot Bread with Crumble Topping

Zucchini and Carrot Bread with Crumble Topping

Can we talk... about zucchini and carrots for a minute? Before I started my blog if you would have asked me to combine zucchini and carrots to make bread, I would have thought you were making a joke.

Boy, have I come a long way.

When I made my first loaf of bread with this combination I thought I was really stepping out of the box. I guess you could say that I was a little naive or maybe even more than just a little. Funny, I just thought the two were not a compatible couple.

These days I love quick breads with the zucchini and carrot combination. As always bread with zucchini is super moist and for carrots... they give a little extra flavor. I love it.

I added a little crumble topping which really completes the bread, with a little sweetness and a nice little crunch.

Who knows where I will go next with zucchini bread... you never know what other fruits and vegetables will be in the next zucchini breads.

Zucchini and Carrot Bread with Crumble Topping (Source: adapted from About Food)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar (1 1/4 if you want a little sweeter bread)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup grated carrots
Crumble topping-
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 all-purpose brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashion oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup softened butter
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.
2. Assemble the crumble topping. Add all the dry ingredients to a medium bowl and using your fingers mix in the butter until well incorporated and the crumble is formed. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar, oil, and yogurt together until well combined.  Stir in the zucchini and the carrots.
4. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated, but do not over mix.
6. Divide the batter equally between the two greased loaf pans.
7. Divide and sprinkle the crumble topping over the batter. Gently press in the crumble slightly with your fingers.
8. Bake in the prepared oven to 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Remove pans and set on cooling rack. Cool for about 10 to 15 minutes and then run a knife around the edge of each pan and remove loaves. Set back on the cooling rack and cool completely.
10. These loaves will freeze nicely.

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Parmesan Italian Buttermilk Biscuits

Some meals call for bread... how about Parmesan Italian Buttermilk Biscuits

Some dishes really require good bread... or in this case a great biscuit to be served alongside it ... at least in my world. When it comes to breads, I would have to say that I love yeast breads best, but these biscuits would come in at a close second.

I wanted a nice bread to go with my cheesy chicken and pasta casserole from my last post, but didn't want to spend a lot of time making it. So I decided to make biscuits and to make it even simpler I made drop biscuits. Really these are super simple to make and they turned out to be nice and light.

I wanted the biscuits to have a bit of an Italian flair to them, so I took this basic recipe and added some Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. The seasoning and cheese made a big difference on the flavor; the biscuits went perfect with the casserole.

Parmesan Italian Buttermilk Biscuits (Source: adapted from crisco.com)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl and mix until well blended. With a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stirring with a knife, add buttermilk and stir until blended and mixture leaves sides of bowl and forms a soft moist dough.
2. With a tablespoon drop dough onto a greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm, great with a bit of
butter.

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No Knead Crusty Bread

A nice no knead bread... so easy to make

I wanted to make bread for our birthday celebration that I posted about in my last post. It needed to be simple because I had many things on my plate already. Then I found this recipe that you start the day before you bake it and I decided to try it.

There are very few ingredients to the recipe; which I decided to add one thing, shortening, it didn't list shortening as one of the ingredients and I thought I would get better results if this was added.

I have read so many blogs and comments where people say that they are nervous about making yeast breads, well let me tell you if you are one of those people you have to try this recipe. You will love it.

This is a totally different bread recipe than what I am used to; it is baked at a very high temperature and in a Dutch oven. Well it so happened that my mom was at our house for the celebration and I was explaining the recipe to her and let me tell you she really had doubts about this bread. I have to add that I consider my mom an expert when it comes to making bread, she has made some of the most delicious bread in her life, so I was anxious to bake it and see how it would turn out.

When the dinner was served I noticed that the first thing she tried was the bread and even my mom the bread expert had to admit the bread was pretty tasty.

No Knead Crust Bread (Source: adapted from Simple So Good) 
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Pour in warm water and shortening and stir mixture with a wooden spoon until a ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 12 to 18 hours (on the counter at room temperature).
2. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Once the oven has reached 450 degrees, place a Dutch oven covered with lid into preheated oven, heat pot for 30 minutes,
3. Meanwhile, turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface then shape dough into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest while the pot is heating. Remove pot from oven and with floured hands, carefully drop dough into hot pot (don't grease the pot) cover with lid, then immediately return pot to oven and bake 30 minutes (at 450 degrees). After 30 minutes, remove the lid from the Dutch oven and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow bread to cool on a cooling rack. Slice and serve.

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Soft Homemade Pretzels

This is the second time that we have made pretzels. The first time we made the pretzels, they didn't have that chewy texture that soft pretzels normally have. At first I thought it was the recipe that I used, but then I remember that we didn't add the baking soda to the water that you dip them into before baking them.

This time I made a point to not forget the baking soda and what a difference it made. These pretzels had a nice chewy texture to them, like the ones that you purchase.

Mike and I both love the homemade pretzels; we made them together, so it was a fun project to do together. It was a nice snack, they are yummy to eat alone or you can dip them in cheese sauce, mustard, or whatever your taste buds are calling for.

Soft Homemade Pretzels (Source: adapted from allrecipes.com)
1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 cups water (for dipping pretzels)
2/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast, brown sugar, and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in 3 cups of flour and knead in the remaining amount of flour just until dough is not sticky. Continue to knead in the bowl  until the dough is smooth and elastic. Grease the bottom on the bowl and turn dough to coat both sides. Cover, and let rise for an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degree F
3. After the dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces and roll into ropes about 20-inches to 22-inches. Twist into pretzel shapes.
4. While shaping the dough add water to a large kettle along with the baking soda, bring water to almost the boiling point. Once the dough has been shaped lower them into the heat water for 30 seconds. Remove and place on a greased baking sheet.
5. Once the pretzels are done with the water and placed on the greased baking sheet, take an egg yolk and beat with one tablespoon of water. Brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg yolk.
6. Bake in the preheat oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt or your favorite topping.

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Speedy Dinner Rolls

This past Sunday was a true wintery day here in the north. It snowed most of the day and it was cold and windy, not a good day to be out and about. So instead I was in the kitchen baking and cooking. It is always nice to have the oven on when it is so cold outside.

I was looking for a new bread recipe, when I came across this recipe that was called 30 minute rolls. I have to say that it caught my eye, because they are a yeast roll and if you know anything about yeast... you don't normally have rolls in 30 minutes.

Well of course I had to try this recipe; I really wanted to see if yeast rolls could actually be done that quickly. So I made the dough, and it was nice and soft, just the way it should be. I followed the recipe for forming the rolls and for the resting time. But I ended up baking them just a touch longer than the recipe called for. So they were done under 45 minutes. And we all agreed that the flavor of the rolls were as tasty as if they would have been made the traditional yeast roll way. The texture may have been just a bit heavier than your traditional yeast rolls, but over all I thought they were great.

I will be making them again, especially when I am crunched for time.

Speedy Dinner Rolls (Source: adapted from Your Homebased Mom)
Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1/3 cup oil
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 flour
Butter for when the rolls are baked
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl combine water, oil, yeast, and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes
3. Mix in the eggs followed by the flour and salt. Knead by hand until the dough is soft, a few minutes.
4. Form into 12 balls, place them in a greased 9x13-inch pan and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Once they come out of the oven brush the tops with butter.

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Cheddar Onion Drop Biscuits

Bread has been the center of my meals for a large part of my life. As a kid I can't remember a meal that didn't include a plate filled with slices of homemade bread. My mom baked homemade bread every other week when I was a kid. I still can remember the aroma of homemade bread when walking in the door from school. My mom would slice thick slabs of fresh baked bread and top them off with sweet butter for my siblings and me.

These days bread is not served with every meal and quite honestly I don't usually have homemade bread to serve. But there are occasions when some kind of homemade bread is called for. Such as homemade soup or chili, bread is a perfect addition. That is exactly what I did when we had chicken chili; I made these cheddar onion drop biscuits.

Biscuits may not be the yeast breads that my mom made when I was a kid, but I have to say these were pretty darn yummy. They are simple to make and they are on the table in no time. Cheese and onion made these some of the best biscuits I have ever eaten; then when they came out of the oven they were brushed with melted butter and garlic powder for more flavor. Needless to say they went great with the chili.

Cheddar Onion Drop Biscuits (Source: adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup buttermilk
For top of the baked biscuit:
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degree F. Lightly grease baking sheet.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the onion, Parmesan cheese, and Cheddar cheese into the flour mixture. Pour the buttermilk into the bowl; stir until evenly combined. Drop by 1/4-cupfuls onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits are lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.
4. While the biscuits baking melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and mix in the garlic powder. When the biscuits come out of the oven brush them with the melted butter mixture and serve warm.

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Cranberry Nut Bread

Cranberries are not just for sauce... that is so true ... they are wonderful in baked goods too. I cannot believe it; this is the first time I am baking with fresh cranberries. My only real experience has been with the cranberries that come out of a can or cranberry juice. How sad? After making this cranberry nut bread I know that I have been missing out, big time.

For some reason when I ate this bread I thought it would be wonderful to make for Christmas. My mom always made breads with fruit, nuts, and dates, so I guess this bread just brings back those memories.

I loved the tartness of the cranberries and the crunch of the walnuts in the bread. This bread doesn't have a ton of sugar in it as most quick breads do, so don't be surprised that it is not as sweet as you may think. Another nice thing since it is a quick bread there are no worries of having to knead the bread or letting it set for hours while it is rising.

I made mine in mini loaf pans so that I would have two loaves, one to share with my mom, but if you are making it in a 9x5 bread pan it will make one loaf.

Cranberry Nut Bread (Source: recipe was on the bag of cranberries)
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 7x3 1/2-inch or one 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. In another small bowl combine the orange juice, oil, orange peel, and the beaten egg. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Stir in the cranberries and nuts until well blended. Spread evenly in two mini or one loaf pan.
5. Bake for 45 minutes for the mini loaves or 55 minutes or the large loaf or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Cool on rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely.

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Golden Crescent Rolls

I had mentioned a few posts ago that I had won a 25 pound bag of all-purpose flour. I have been baking my way through all that flour. Bread of course is one of my favorite things to make, so I have used my flour to try some new bread recipes. My family has been enjoying the fresh homemade bread, it's always amazing when everyone sits down for a meal how fast the fresh bread disappears.

My latest creation is these crescent rolls. I made them for my daughter-in-law Brianna's birthday dinner. The rolls turned out to be soft and tender and yummy. I have never made crescent rolls before, so I was surprised to see how easy these were to make. I enjoyed seeing everyone's smiles when these were set on the dinner table.

Golden Crescent Rolls (Source: adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
2 packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
3 - 3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup butter, softened (this is for when the rolls are being shaped)
Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in the remaining flour (I used about 3 cups of flour, the dough should stick a little bit to your fingers when kneading, you don't want to add too much flour) by hand. Knead dough until nice and smooth. Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours).
3. Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Spread with butter. Cut into 10 to 15 even wedges. Roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter when they come out of the oven.

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Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin recipes are out in full force on the web. I have seen so many yummy pumpkin recipes on so many blogs. I have jumped on the band wagon too; this is not my first pumpkin recipe on my blog for the fall season. I have made a batch of pumpkin muffins that I shared a few post back.

That is what brought me to this yummy cream cheese pumpkin bread. I had bought a large can of pumpkin and after I had made the muffins I had enough pumpkin left to make another recipe. Since I love quick breads and I found a recipe that was totally different than I have made in the past I couldn't resist sharing this.

This pumpkin bread is super moist and loaded with flavor. You will find cream cheese along with the pumpkin in this recipe so how could it not be moist. I also added some streusel to the center of the bread and added a little to the top of each loaf. The nice thing about this bread it can be served as a quick breakfast or you can be served as a dessert after lunch or dinner.

It makes two large loaves, so you can put one in the freezer for a later date... if you have any left.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread  (Source: adapted from pauladeenmagazine.com)
Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 cups can pumpkin (or 15 ounce can)
Streusel:
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon'
1/4 cup butter, softened
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans
2. Combine all the ingredients for the streusel and mix with a fork or you hand until well combined. Set aside
3. In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices, stirring to combine. Gradually add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture, mixing until blended. Stir in the pumpkin until well blended.
5. Spoon half the batter into prepared loaf pans dividing between the two pans. Sprinkle with half the streusel dividing between the two pans. Add the rest of the pumpkin mixture over top of the streusel, covering the streusel completely. Over the second layer of pumpkin mixture sprinkle the rest of the streusel.
6. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

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Carrot Spice Bread

I had carrots sitting in my refrigerator for sometime now. I had actually bought them when my father-in-law was visiting and had intended to roast them. But with working the days that he was visiting I never found the time to make them. So it was time to use them up, they had sat in the refrigerator long enough.

I decided not to roast them now, because I would have been the one eating them, the guys in the house are not much for roasted carrots. They would rather be eating carrots in a cake or muffins ...
So that got me thinking I wanted to make something a little different, that is when I thought of carrot bread.

I started looking for a recipe and found one in my Joy of Cooking 75th addition that sounded quite good. I did jazz it up with a couple of more spices. The recipe called for some cinnamon and I decided to add some ginger and nutmeg for a little more pizzaz.

The ginger and nutmeg were good additions to the bread, I think they went well with the carrots. I liked that there were flecks of orange throughout the bread, it made it very eye appealing. Our daughter and granddaughter came for a visit the day that I made this bread and my granddaughter loved it. She will be turning a year old next month and she is starting to eat a lot of different foods, so it was fun to see her enjoying this bread.

Carrot Spice Bread (Source: adapted from the Joy of Cooking 75th addition)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In a large bowl blend together the sugars, eggs, oil, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the dry ingredients and blend with a few swift strokes. Scrape the batter into the greased pan. Bake until the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

Cheddar and Dill Biscuits

There aren't too many things that I like better than homemade bread. I am a huge fan of yeast breads as many of you may know, but there is not always time to make this type of bread.

This was the case this past weekend. I had this recipe on my list to make for a short time now and it turned out to be a perfect substitute for the yeast breads that I usually make. The cheddar cheese is a great addition to these biscuits and I have dill growing in our garden so I added some to jazz up the flavor a little more.

I served them with the coleslaw from my last post, along with some roasted chicken. There is something about chicken, coleslaw, and biscuits that makes it a perfect meal. Cheddar and dill biscuit made this meal even more special.

Cheddar and Dill Biscuits (Source: adapted from Kraft food and family magazine Spring 2007) 
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of tartar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tablespoon fresh dill (if you want a little more dill taste you can add a little more)
1/3 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in Cheddar cheese and dill. Add milk; stir until mixture forms soft dough.
Place on lightly floured surface; knead 8 to 10 times or until smooth. Pat out dough into 6-inch square. Cut into 9 squares. Place on a greased baking sheet;
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

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Blueberry Biscuits

Blueberries were a little cheaper in the store last week and I could not resist them, so I ended up buying some. Then there is always the questions what do I make with them. I love making scones with them, but then you can only post about blueberry scones so many times. I have posted a least a couple of recipes for these yummy berries.

Then I got the idea of blueberry biscuits. I haven't posted any recipes on biscuits yet or at least I don't remember any. Well that led to me thinking what is the difference between a scone and a biscuit. So I turned to the internet and looked each one up on merriam-webster.com. According to this on line dictionary a scone is a rich quick bread cut into usually triangular shapes and cooked on a griddle or baked on a sheet and a biscuit is a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon.

They really don't sound much different do they? The other thing that I noticed is the scones that I have made in the past always used butter as for the biscuits they used shortening. But for the people eating them they all said that the biscuits were lighter and softer than the scones that they have eaten.

Biscuit or scone doesn't matter I love them all when blueberries are involved. And as for these biscuits they are made a little more special by brushing them with a buttery sweet topping as they come out of the oven. They will be on my list to make again that is one thing I know for sure.

Blueberry Biscuits (Source: adapted from about.com Southern Food)

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour (plus more for the counter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon peel

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup shortening

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup unthawed frozen blueberries (keep frozen right up until add in to dough) (Note: I use fresh berries and  put them in freezer overnight)

Topping:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash ground nutmeg

Directions:

Mix 2 cups of the flour with the sugar, baking powder, lemon peel, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut into shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix egg and buttermilk then stir into the flour mixture. Stir in the frozen blueberries. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of flour on the counter top. Scrape dough out onto the flour; flour your finger and gently knead 6 or 7 times, just until dough begins to hold together. Pat dough into a rectangle or round 1/2 inch thick. Cut out rounds with a floured 2-inch cutter or glass. Place biscuits 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in center of preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Combine topping ingredients and brush over the biscuits as soon as they come out of the oven.

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Kaiser Rolls

Mike and I had been married a couple of years when we moved to the Chicago suburbs. This is where I had my first taste of a Kaiser roll. I fell in love with these hard rolls and have loved them ever since. I love crusty chewy rolls; I think they're perfect for most sandwiches.

When I was looking for a roll recipe to serve my grilled chicken breast from a couple of posts ago I ran across a recipe for these lovely rolls and thought that they would be perfect. The rolls were not quite as crusty and chewy as I thought that they would be. They were just a little bit of a softer roll than the Kaiser rolls that I have purchased, but even though they made a terrific sandwich.

Kaiser Rolls (Source: adapted from Taste of Home)
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warms water (110 to 115 degrees F) divided
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg white
2 teaspoons cold water
Poppy and/or sesame seeds
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the oil, salt, remaining warm water and sugar and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Grease the bottom of the bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down and divide into 16 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheets. Flatten a little with palm of your hand. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Beat egg white and cold water; brush over rolls. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or with sesame seeds. With a scissors, cut a 1/4 inch deep cross on tops of rolls.
4. Bake at 400 degree F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

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Buttermilk Hamburger Buns

When it comes to a sandwich, I think the bread is just as important as what goes in the middle. When I was a kid we always had homemade bread around and I remember that I would cut two thick slabs of bread and then put a thin slice of meat to go in the middle.  Even today I would rather have more bread than meat in my sandwich, so I guess you could call me a breadaholic

I wanted fresh buns to go with my pulled pork from my last post. I found a recipe for yeast buns that included buttermilk and decided that this was the one that I would go with. I have been baking more with buttermilk and I like the results of using it. The buns were perfect for the pulled pork.

The buns were nice and sturdy; they stood up to the sauce of the pulled pork. The flavor and texture were wonderful. I guess what I trying to say these buns were perfectly delicious for the sandwiches that we made. They would be perfect for you summer grilled burgers or whatever sandwiches you serve this summer.

Buttermilk Hamburger Buns (Source: adapted from browneyedbaker.com)
Ingredients:
4 to 4 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 package of instant yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten, at room temperature
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
For egg wash for brushing the tops of buns: 1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon of water until frothy
Directions:
Mix together the 2 cups flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Pour in the egg, butter, and milk, and mix with a spoon until well blended. Gradually knead in the rest of the flour. Continue to knead bread until the dough is soft, supple, and tacky, but not sticky. This will take about 6 to 8 minutes of kneading.
Grease the bottom of bowl and turn dough to coat both sides. Cover dough and set in a warm place for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size.
After the double is doubled in size divide into 12 equal pieces. Form into ball and place them on to prepare sheet pans and flatten slightly with your hand.
Let the buns raise for another 60 minutes or until about doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the buns with the egg wash, you can garnish with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired.
Bake the buns for approximately 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Once the buns are done baking place them on cooling rack to cool. Serve.

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