French Toast Casserole, a perfect breakfast for our family.  I recently shared the new KitchenAid Recipe Collection Cookbook with you and now want to share one of the recipes.  I truly love love love this cookbook.   There are so many wonderful, easy recipes that I can’t seem to decide what to make.   I chose this because a pretty sweet gal I know recommended it and because we are huge breakfast eaters around here.  It’s the one meal I insist that we all eat to insure a full, energy filled day.

The recipe was extremely easy to make.  I love that you can prepare it ahead and then bake that morning.  In fact, in my opinion, I’d actually bake the night before and let it sit overnight.  While it was GREAT out of the oven, we loved it even more once it had cooled off completely.  This made a huge pan full and was plenty for our family of 5.

Another great reason why I love my KitchenAid Refrigerator!  That pull out tray is the handiest thing ever!!

It was a little overdone. I have a horrible oven from the 70′s so I can never bake anything right but no matter ’cause it tasted delicious!!!  We totally give it 5 stars.

Hope your morning is just as delicious as ours was!

Danielle S submitted this recipe for January’s Food Challenge!  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 12 oz. non-dark beer of your choice
• 1 teaspoon DRY or 1 tablespoon FRESH rosemary
• 1 large garlic clove, sliced
• 1/2 pound ham steak, cut into small cubes
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Heat one small-medium skillet on medium heat. Add ham, rosemary and sliced garlic to hot pan allowing ham to crisp. Adjust the heat, depending on your stove, so that the fat renders out of the ham and the garlic doesn’t burn. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9X5X3″ loaf pan. When ham is crispy, allow to cool completely and add to flour mixture. Stir to coat everything with the flour then add the beer. Mix just to combine, pour into prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter over the batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick removes cleanly. Cook on wire rack for 10-15 minutes before removing from pan and allow to cool an additional 10 minutes.

While I prefer apple butter with homemade tortillas, eating apple butter bread is the next best thing. This is a pretty simple recipe and would be great with some morning coffee or milk don’t you think?  This bread is MUCH better the next day, after it’s had time to settle and completely cool off. If you don’t let it cool off enough, it will fall apart.  Also, make sure you check it at around 50 minutes to make sure it’s not already done.  So many ovens are off their supposed temperature and I’d hate for you to burn it.  It say one hour, but check at 50 minutes!  Enjoy y’all!

Oh! And if you’re really wanting the best apple butter, you should make it homemade too.  No pictures to show it off but darn tasty.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
• ¾ cup apple butter
• 2 Tbsp. Milk
• Optional: ½ cup chopped pecans and ½ cup pecans

DIRECTIONS

Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Combine eggs, butter, apple butter and milk; beat well. Stir in pecans and raisins. Add flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove to wire rack and cool completely.  Makes one loaf

Ingredients you’ll need

The batter in a nice Wilton pan.  We all love Wilton.

Apple Butter Bread

When I first followed my husband down to Kingsville, Tx, I had no idea what the King Ranch was, much less how well known it was.  He has family that works there, Ricky and Sammy to name a couple so I was introduced to the history of it all real quick.

Anyways, not only do they sell some sorta pricey, beautiful products, they also have some very tasty recipes.  One that has made its’ way to our home is this Camp Bread cooked in a 12″ dutch oven.  It was served in the cookhouse back in the day when my father-in-law worked there and not just as bread but as bread stuffed with sausage and eggs, beans, or whatever they had on hand.  It was common to have a piece of this King Ranch Camp Bread with a cup of coffee in the early mornings, before heading out to tackle the day.

The bread is good and this recipe makes a lot.  I haven’t taken the time to convert it into smaller portions so we make all of it and freeze it once it’s all cooked.   If you convert it, let me know and I’ll post it here for others!

My husband started the recipe and right at the mixing stage, turned it over to me.  I then turned it back over to him to cook outside in the dutch oven.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 oz Evaporated Milk
• 4 lb bag of flour ( I recommend King Aurthur)
• 4 cups buttermilk biscuit mix
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup lard or 1 large stick butter flavored Crisco

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients in a BIG bowl and let rest for about 20 minutes.  Pinch off enough to roll out a 12″ circle about 1/4″ thick.  Grease your dutch oven and place one dough circle inside dutch oven.  Cook 15 minutes with coals on both top and bottom, then remove from bottom coals and cook another 5 minutes with coals on top to brown the camp bread.

This recipe makes at least 8 12″ pans worth.

Thanks so much to my husband’s cousin Marty down in Kingsville for the recipe and for my father-in-law sharing it and his stories with us.    Get the King Ranch Cookbook for more historic recipes.

Because there are SOOOOO many photos, 19 in fact, I made a whrrl slideshow so the loading time is easier.  Enjoy!

Bread; it’s what brings our family together when the fresh baked smells are filling the air on a Sunday afternoon. It’s what completes our meal.

Bread baking can be quite the task, but it doesn’t have to be and that’s where Kneadlessly Simple comes in.  It’s a tasty cookbook of no-knead bread recipes; recipes that are broken down play by play for you with tons of helpful tips to insure that your bread comes out perfectly.  I love this book.   I love all the helpful hints, flour & bowl tips, how to store bread, explanation of ingredients—basically all the details.  Details, that will make all the difference on whether or not your bread will win the blue ribbon in competition or your family’s tastebuds.

I wanted to pick a bread recipe from the cookbook to share with you and boy was it hard to choose. There were so many delicious looking breads but ultimately, I decided on Rosemary Focaccia with Coarse Salt.  It was simple indeed but packed with flavor!   I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

For more kneadless bread recipes, ACH Foods and Fleischmann’s have created an eight-recipe book, The Bread Breakthrough. This compact cookbook introduces you to the simplicity of baking delicious no-knead yeast breads – on your schedule. You can purchase it for only $1 buck, check it out at breadbreakthrough.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 3/4 cups (13.75 ounces) unbleached all-purpose white flour, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary needles (remove the stems), chopped fairly fine
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
• 1 1/3 cups plus 1/2 teaspoon ice water, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more as needed
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt or other coarse crystal salt

DIRECTIONS

FIRST RISE: In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, rosemary, table salt, and yeast. Vigorously stir in the water, scraping down the bowl and mixing until the dough is thoroughly blended. Vigorously stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. If the mixture is too dry to blend together, stir in just enough more ice water to facilitate mixing, but don’t over-moisten, as the dough should be slightly stiff. If too wet, stir in enough more flour to firm it slightly. Evenly brush the top lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

SECOND RISE: Brush a 15 × 10 × 1-inch (or similar) baking pan with olive oil, then line the pan with baking parchment. Brush the parchment with olive oil. Using a well-oiled rubber spatula, turn the dough out onto the pan; try not to deflate it any more than necessary. Drizzle the dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. With well-oiled hands, lightly pat and press out the dough until it is evenly thick and extends to within 1 inch of the edges all around. Tent the pan with nonstick spray–coated plastic wrap.

LET RISE USING EITHER OF THESE METHODS: For a 2 H- to 3H-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough has almost doubled from the deflated size. (If the pan has a 1-inch rim, the dough should be G inch below it.) Just before baking, with oiled fingertips, make deep indentations, or dimples, all over the dough. Sprinkle evenly with coarse salt.

BAKING PRELIMINARIES: 20 minutes before baking time, place a rack in lowest position in the oven; preheat to 500ºF. Place the broiler pan on the oven floor.

BAKING: Reduce the temperature to 475ºF. Add a cup of ice water to the broiler pan, being careful of splattering and steam. Bake on the lowest rack for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown, turning the pan from front to back for even browning about halfway through. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes more (or until the center registers 209º to 212ºF on an instant-read thermometer) to be sure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cool and cut.

If you would like to win a copy of the Kneadlessly Simple Cookbook, leave a comment here on this post telling me your favorite kind of bread and/or share a bread recipe!  You may enter once a day per person.

Giveaway ends on Nov. 22^nd.

Disclosure: Post is sponsored by ACH Foods, however, my opinion of the product remains authentic as always.

Pizza is like the best ever food invention. You can eat it cold, hot, with meats, vegetables, and even as a dessert.  When I was asked if I wanted to try the new Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast,  I was like heck yeah! Any excuse to make pizza!  We were supposed to have family night but there were ranch duties that needed tended too. Luckily, I was able to spend pizza time with my 13 year old which was exciting because he’s at the age where he doesn’t want to be around his mom so much you know?

Anyways, he agreed and not only did we make some great pizza, we had a lot of fun.  I was cracking up at the “do I just pour?” and “is this how to do it?”.  We decided to make Pepperoni pizza first, then a dessert pizza.  This post will focus on the pizza dough and the dessert pizza but if you need a simple quick pepperoni pizza, all you need is the pizza dough recipe I’ll be posting, some pizza or spagetti sauce and your choice of toppings. It can be made to eat in 30 minutes.

Also, because I took A LOT of photos, I made a slide show for you so that the page doesn’t take FOREVER to load! Just scroll down towards the bottom for that.

30-MINUTE PIZZA CRUST DOUGH (can be found on the back of the Fleischmann’s Yeast package)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 – 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup of very warm water (120° to 130° F)
• 3 tablespoons oil

PIZZA CRUST DIRECTIONS

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil.  Mix together until well blended; about 1 minute.  Add ½ cup flour gradually until dough forms a ball. Add additional flour, if needed, to handle.  Spoon dough out of bowl onto floured surface. Dough will be slightly sticky.  Knead on floured surface.  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic; about 4 minutes.  You can either press dough out to fill greased pizza pan or roll dough to a 12-inch circle and transfer to greased pizza pan.  Top as desired with pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.
Bake on bottom oven rack at 425° for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is brown.

The Pizza Yeast from Fleschmann’s is new and I could definitely tell a difference in it. I think anyone who uses yeast a lot will be able to see the fabulous difference!  I thought I’d give you a close up of the ingredient that makes the whole recipe work!

APPLE CRUMB DESSERT PIZZA PIE

INGREDIENTS

• # 1 cups brown sugar, packed
• # 1 cups all-purpose flour
• # 2 ounces butter, cold, cut in pieces (1/2 stick of butter)
• # 1/4 cup of sugar
• # 2 cans of Apple Pie Filling

ICING INGREDIENTS

• Powdered Sugar
• Milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400′.  Combine brown sugar, flour, and sugar in a mixing bowl; cut in butter until the mixture is like coarse crumbs.  Pour and spread Apple Pie filling all over Pizza Dough Crust; top with crumb mixture.  Bake for about 12-15 minutes. While pizza is baking, combine 1-2 cups of powdered sugar with a few tablespoons of milk to desired consistency.  You don’t want it too thick but not too runny either.  When dessert pizza is done, drizzle icing all over pizza pie!

To see my son doing all the work, check out the slide show made via whrrl!

One lucky winner will receive a $100 gift card!  WOOHOO!

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment answering this question–What is your favorite pizza topping? Maybe like us, you love pepperoni or mushrooms. Maybe you love dessert pizza and have your own favorite fruity topping! Share your ideal pizza with us!

Additional methods of entry, leaving each one in a separate comment, are:

• Share on a social networking site like Twitter or Facebook.
• If you’ve got some of Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast at home, create a pizza and share it via whrrl! (this gives you 10 extra entries)

Giveaway ends on Nov. 1st.  Good luck and enjoy!

Disclosure: Post is sponsored by ACH Foods, maker of Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast , however, my opinion of the product remains authentic as always.

Just because you want to offer healthier snacks for your next party (and maybe the next Super Bowl party) doesn’t mean you have to cut ALL the goodness out!  Offering foods that are cooler make a party lighter.    Try these 3 very simple, but tasty food ideas at your next get-together and I bet you’re gonna be surprised at how big a hit they’ll be!

Tip: To make things even healthier, you can substitute several of the items with low fat products like the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream.

Knorr’s Spinach Dip

• 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (do not use fresh)
• 1 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 c. mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s)
• 1 (4 oz.) pkg. Knorr vegetable soup mix
• 1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• Round Loaf of King’s Hawaiin Bread

Squeeze spinach until dry. In medium bowl, stir together spinach, sour cream and soup mix. Add finely chopped water chestnuts and green onions. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Cut slice from top of round loaf of pumpernickel bread, hollow out loaf to leave shell to contain dip. Use bread removed from shell and top slice to cut into bite size pieces. Butter inside of bread shell, fill loaf with dip and place on platter and surround with crackers or even vegetable sticks.

Meat and Cheese Platter

Obviously no recipe involved but this was a hit! Cubed cheese surrounded by a variety of deli meats.  Oh so good!

Basic Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese,softened
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy. For Marshmallow Fruit Dip:  Add 1/2 cup marshmallow creme to the basic recipe.

What kind of finger food do you serve at home parties? And are you as challenged as I am?

I enjoy making different kinds of quick breads. The flavors you see most often are pumpkin and banana. But have you tried chocolate bread? It’s so good – moist and a great combination of chocolate and cinnamon. The other thing I really like about this recipe is that it makes 2 loaves. One for you, and another one for…you! You should try to share, but it will be tough!

It’s a recipe that Starbucks gave out a couple of years ago to go with one of their coffee flavors. They even sold this bread in their stores. I think mine turned out just as fabulous and yours will too!

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
(from the kitchen of Marcus Samuelsson)

CHOCOLATE BATTER

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

COCOA-SPICE SUGAR CRUST

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• Pinch ground ginger
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 cup decorating or sparkle sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 9x5x3 in. loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

2. Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

4. Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.

That’s all – LOL! I know it’s a lot to follow, but it’s SO GOOD!! I hope you get to try it soon.

Lisa

About the Author:

Lisa from Stop and Smell the Chocolates is a married mom of one amusing son and she loves chocolate! Take a little chocolate break during your stressful day – stop by her blog and you might find a yummy recipe, a funny story, a cup of tea, a household tip, a lovely picture, or a new friend. Lisa looks forward to meeting you and sharing some chocolate!

If you would like to submit a guest post for consideration, fill out the guest writer form!

These dinner rolls are one of the easiest and most delicious bread recipes I have.  I first learned how to make dinner rolls from one of our previous employer’s wife, on the Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch.  She was a great cook and made many things from scratch but boy could she make a bread recipe now!  She always had to make double because each cowboy would eat 4 or 5 rolls each.  Yes, they were that good.

I haven’t made dinner rolls with her recipe for a long time and since I had to cook for the ranch today, I thought it’d be a good time.  Two important things about this recipe. Try to follow directions exactly to have the softest rolls ever.  So when it says little flour, use VERY little flour if any.  And when it says to butter them, be generous!  Enjoy y’all!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 envelope Active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup very warm water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup scalding hot milk
• 1 egg –lightly beaten
• 4 1/2 cups of sifted all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons of melted butter for brushing rolls

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle the yeast over very warm water in a large bowl.  (warm water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist)  Stir until yeast dissolves.

Add sugar, the 1/4cup butter and salt to hot milk and stir until the sugar dissolves and butter is melted.  Cool mixture to 105 to 115 degrees.

Add milk mixture to yeast, then beat in egg.  Beat in 4 cups of flour, one cup at a time to form soft dough.  Use some the remaining 1/2 cup flour to dust a pastry cloth.  Knead the dough lightly for 5 minutes, working in the remaining flour (use if for flouring your cloth and hands).

Place dough in a warm buttered bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1  1/2 hrs.

Punch dough down and knead 4 to 5 minutes on a lightly floured pastry cloth.  Dough will be sticky, but use as little flour as possible for flouring your hands and the pastry cloth, otherwise the rolls will not be as feathery light as they should be.

Pinch off small chunks of dough and shape into round rolls.  Place in neat rows, not quite touching, in a well-buttered 13x9x2 pan. Cover rolls and let rise in warm place until doubled, 30-45min.

Brush tops of rolls generously with melted butter, then bake in a 375′ oven for 18-20minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve warm with plenty of butter.  I pour melted butter on top of the rolls right when the come out of the oven.

Recipe makes about 2 dozen!

I served up my rolls in my brand new, very pretty Tuscan Everyday Baker.  I love that color!

Let me know if you make them!

Amy has a wonderful site, MomAdvice.com, that includes everything from reviews to wonderful, inexpensive recipes.

She’s a stay at home mom, like myself, and also happens to be one of the Eleven Moms.  Not only is she a super nice person, she truly does a lot for people and her Big Give during the holidays was a HUGE success.  She was able to bring in Kenmore with their donation, giving $7500 worth of appliances to their Faith Mission in Indiana.  AWESOME!!!  Lucky for me, I’ll get to meet this giving gal in a few days!!

I heart Amy for many reasons but because I’m a foodie, her food posts always catch my eye.  She’s always doing fun and creative things and many of her meals are budget friendly and fast!  One of her latest recipes is bread and around here, just a simple loaf of bread disappears in 30 seconds so imagine how fast a  fresh loaf of bread would be gone in!

She does extensive reviews on MANY products and really does her research so if you’re looking for someone that you can trust, aside from me of course.  And right now, you can join her in journey to test out the  Mercedes GLK and by the looks of it, it got to play in the snow!

Despite her huge success, Amy is as personable as they come, authentic, and a kind hearted woman.  And well, she’s just plain nice!

Whether it’s food, reviews, or her fun videos that you’re after, she has it all and I can’t recommend you visit her site enough!