Saturday, March 27, 2010

Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is one of my mom’s favorites! I usually make it with raisins, but today I made them with dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips and drizzled them with white chocolate. But no matter how you make them, they are one really yummy cookie!

When my mom makes them, she pours boiling water over her raisins and lets them plump up a bit. Then she saves some of the water she soaked the raisins in to use in the cookies. Just be sure to drain the raisins really well!

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/8 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups oatmeal

Mix butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in oatmeal. Add nuts, raisins, chocolate chips…

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes on greased baking sheets.

oatmeal cookies 01

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Easy Peasy Irish Soda Bread

I decided to try making a yeast bread version of Irish Soda Bread. It worked pretty good!

Heat up 2 1/2 cups buttermilk to about 115.

Pour into large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp yeast and 2 cups bread flour.

Mix gently and let sit for 20 minutes.

Add 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 3/4 cup raisins.  Add 5 cups of wheat bread flour.

Stir and then turn onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic.

Divide into 3 round loaves. Place onto greased baking sheet.

Let rise for 2o minutes in a 170 degree oven.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes or until sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter.

Irish Soda bread 01Irish Soda bread 02Irish Soda bread 03

Easy Peasy Sweet Rolls

These sweet rolls are great to make out of half a batch of Easy Peasy Bread dough. When I make pizza, I use the rest of the dough to make these for breakfast in the morning.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or square.

sticky rolls 01 As you can see, I’m not big on perfection of my rectangle or square

Brush with melted butter.

sticky rolls 02

Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

sticky rolls 05

Roll up into a long log shape.

sticky rolls 06

Cut into slices.

sticky rolls 07

For sticky buns: Melt butter in bottom of glass 9x13 pan. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar.

sticky rolls 04

Place rolls into pan cut side down.

sticky rolls 08

For cinnamon rolls. Place rolls cut side down in a greased 9x13 glass baking pan.

Cover the pan and let sit overnight in fridge.

Remove from fridge and let sit out while oven preheats to 350.

sticky rolls 09

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

sticky rolls 10

Serve sticky buns right out of the oven. Let cinnamon rolls cool a bit and then spread with icing.

sticky rolls 11

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Homemade Sauce-less Pizza

I really don’t like sauce on my pizza so this is what I do instead… It’s really yummy and easy! (I don’t have a picture yet, but I’ll post one the next time I make it)

Make one recipe of Easy Peasy Bread. Let it raise for 20 minutes in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Then let it rest on counter for 10 minutes.

Roll out about half the dough (or less, depending on the size of your pizza pan) into a thin circle, or as close as you can get to some kind of round shape. :o)

Place the dough on a greased pizza pan or stone.

Brush the crust with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper to taste. Spread liberally with minced garlic (not powdered).

Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Top with sliced fresh Roma tomatoes and any other toppings you like.

Sprinkle a little more mozzarella and parmesan on top.

Bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown on bottom and cheese is bubbly.

Apple Bread Pudding

I found this recipe on Allrecipes. I made it with my Easy Peasy Bread recipe that I made into orange marmalade bread. I cut it into cubes and let them dry out for a couple of days. It was one of the best desserts I have had in a LONG time. Talk about the ultimate comfort food!!!

  • PUDDING
  • 4 cups soft bread cubes
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 2 cups peeled and sliced apples
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup margarine
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • VANILLA SAUCE
  • 1/8 cup white sugar
  • 1/8 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
  2. In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
  4. Place prepared dish into a 9x13 pan. Fill 9x13 pan with 1-inch of very hot water.
  5. Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender.
  6. While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, brown sugar, milk, margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Serve over bread pudding. Eat while still warm.

apple bread pudding 01

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cornflake Cookies

Today I bought a box of corn flakes. I haven’t had corn flakes or these cookies in FOREVER! But I had a craving for ‘em and my sister sent me the recipe. They only took me about 15 minutes to make and were as yummy as I remembered them!

Just be careful when you roll them into balls… they are really hot!!!

Thanks for the recipe card Theresa! It was so cute that I just had to include it in the post…

Cornflake cookies

cornflake cookies 01cornflake cookies 02