Giant Cinnamon Rolls!

Looky at what I found at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet in San Marcos, TX

Original price $38, scored for $9.99!

I'm going to try my cinnamon roll recipe in these and see how they turn out.     I'll post pictures in the morning!

St. Joseph's Day Bread Recipe

Also known as Pane di San Guiseppe. I modified this for the bread machine. Use the 1 1/2 pound setting.

3 cups bread machine flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
2/3 cup hot water, but not too hot
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons star anise, ground (powdered
1/4 teaspoon Penzeys Baking Spice (optional)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon cornmeal*

To help protect the yeast, put the ingredients in this order in your bread machine pan -- water, butter, salt, honey, flour and yeast. Add the raisins at the nut/fruit chime signal. If possible, remove the mixing paddle before the final rise and baking, and sprinkle the top of dough with the cornmeal.

This tastes great warm or cooled the next day.
Don't just bake it on March 19, to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Joseph, but enjoy year-round on any day!*The cornmeal represents the sawdust, since St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade.

King Me!

My Mardi Gras King Cake!

I used the dough from my Betty Crocker bread machine cinnamon rolls recipe, and modified the filling recipe from Country Woman magazine (February/March 2012) "The King of Cakes"

DOUGH:
3/4 cup water, plus 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 1/2 cups bread flour (I use 1/2 cup white whole wheat, 2 cups bread flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bread machine yeast

FILLING:

1 8 ounce package Neufchatel Reduced Fat cream cheese

2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

5 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 teaspoon Penzeys Cake Spice, or 6 teaspoons cinnamon

ICING:

1 - 2 cups confectioner's sugar - depending if you want to drizzle or spread

1 to 2 tablespoons skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Yellow, Green and Purple sprinkles

Tiny plastic baby or pecan half - the lucky person who finds it in their slice becomes King (or Queen!) for the day and can expect a year of good fortune. And bring the cake for the next gathering! Insert from underneath after baking.

Use your machine's dough setting, then divide dough into four balls. Roll out approximately 14" x 4"

In small bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over rolled out dough.

In another bowl, stir the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle over cream cheese.

Roll long ends together and attach ends to make a ring. Let rise in warm oven* for about 1 to 1 hour fifteen minutes or until doubled. (*my oven's lowest setting is 170, I preheat while I'm preparing the rings and then turn off)

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Mix icing ingredients together and spread over cakes. Sprinkle colored sugar on top.

Serve and enjoy while still warm (also tastes great at room temperature).

I made four 6" cakes with this recipe. A perfect size to eat one and give the others away to hungry friends! You can also make a single large one or even 2 medium size.

Filling! Ready to pop into the oven to rise --->

Maple Pecan Bread

It took two tries, but it was worth it. Even though the recipe said you could use the rapid bake cycle, the inside was not done all the way through.









This is the modified Nutty Whole Wheat Bread recipe from the Cuisinart Bread Maker booklet. I thought pecans would go really well with maple syrup (they did!)...and I also increased the amount of maple syrup. Try to find the real deal "good stuff"! I used the Vermont dark amber grade. The instructions called for the whole wheat cycle, but next time I am going to try the regular cycle -- especially if you are using the less hearty/grainy white wheat flour. 4 1/2 hours is a long time to wait!

For a one-pound loaf you will need. . .

3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3/4 cup bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup shelled pecans - break some in half, leave some whole

Place all ingredients except nuts in order listed. Add nuts at mix-in signal.
Tastes really great served slightly warm with a little bit of butter and maple syrup - yum!

Other mix-in options include walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

Sunflower Seed Bread

Here's another winner from the Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook! It's actually called "Honey-Sunflower Loaf" on page 35. The ingredients listed are for a 1 pound and 1 1/2 pound recipe, shown in that order.

Water - 2/3 cup, 1 cup
Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons, 2 tablespoons (not a typo!)
Honey - 1 tablespoon, 2 tablespoons
Bread flour - 2 1/4 cups, 3 1/4 cups
Sunflower seeds, shelled - 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 teaspoon, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Bread machine yeast - 1 1/4 teaspoon, 2 teaspoons

Place ingredients in order recommended by your bread machine. Select Basic/White cycle, use Medium or Light crust color. Sunflower seeds can be added at the Raisin/Nut signal or 5-10 minutes before last kneading cycle ends. I found they do need time to mix in, don't be alarmed - they will! I also used the already shelled roasted salted sunflower seeds found in the potato chip aisle and cut back the salt just a little bit.

This turned out wonderful. We used it to make tuna fish sandwiches - a great combination, and also great on its own with butter and even a little bit of honey!

Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook, 1995 ISBN: 0-02-860367-2

As I've mentioned in previous postings, this is one great book. If you can find it, buy it! All the recipes are for 1 and 1 1/2 pound loaves - most machines can accommodate one or both of those sizes. I've put the ingredients for the 1 1/2 pound size in ( ).

The buttermilk made this bread super moist--and yummy! Give it a try next time you have extra buttermilk left over, or need an excuse to buy some. (I get the low-fat version.)

BUTTERMILK BREAD

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 cups) Buttermilk

2 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) Butter or Margarine, softened

2 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) Honey

2 1/2 cups (3 1/4 cups) Bread Flour

1 teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) Salt

1/4 teaspoon (1/4 teaspoon - not a typo!) Baking Soda

1 teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) Bread Machine Yeast

Place all ingredients in the order recommended by your machine's manufacturer.

Use Basic/White cycle, Medium or Light crust color. Do not use the delay cycle

Cinnamon Raisin Bread - Bread Machine Version

Another favorite bread machine recipe from Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook. The Sun Maid Organic Raisins at Costco are smaller, so you'll get more in each slice! And the new Penzeys Cinnamon blend adds a perfect cinnamon-ness.

CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD

For 1 pound size, 1-1/2 pound size in (x)

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon margarine or butter, softened (2 tablespoons)

2 cups bread flour (3 cups)

2 tablespoons sugar (3 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (1 teaspoon)

1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)

1/2 cup raisins (3/4 cup)

Place ingredients in your machines recommended order. Add the raisins at the Raisin/Nut signal or 5-10 minutes before the last kneading cycle ends.

Enjoy!

Honey Corn Bread

With all this "chili" weather, what better to go-with than some Honey Corn Bread? Especially a recipe from Betty Crocker. As previously blogged (see Cream Cheese Rolls, Cinnamon Rolls, Spicy Apple Bread, Garlic Basil Bread, Parmesan Pine Nut Bread), I love her bread machine recipes! This is from another one of her bread machine cookbooks. (which also has a great pumpernickel bread -- to be posted soon).

It turned out really good, with a nice texture - not coarse, almost soft. And it is not overly sweet, the honey flavor is just in the background. I liked Betty's suggestions about using the leftovers as croutons and homemade bread crumbs. Here are the directions for the 1-1/2 pound loaf.

HONEY CORN BREAD

1 egg plus enough water to equal one cup

1/3 cup honey

3 tablespoons butter, softened

3 cups bread flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons dry milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Select Basic/White cycle and Light or Medium crust color (I used the Light). Enjoy!

P.S. Also good to note how fresh this bread lasts, even two days later!

Cinnamon Rolls

CINNAMON ROLLS

DOUGH

3/4 cup water, plus 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons butter, softened
*2 1/2 cups bread flour (1/2 cup white whole wheat, 2 cups bread flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast
CINNAMON FILLING
*1/3 cup sugar (1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (Penzeys Vietnamese)

2 tablespoons butter, softened
VANILLA GLAZE
*1 cup powdered sugar (2/3 cup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons milk

Place all ingredients in bread machine pan, except the cinnamon filling and glaze. (I know, duh!).

Select Dough/Manual cycle.

Grease a 9x9x2 inch square pan. Prepare Cinnamon Filling.

Flatten dough with hands or rolling pin into 9" square (or best attempt) on lightly floured surface. Spread or dot with 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; sprinkle with Cinnamon Filling. Roll dough up tightly; pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut roll into 1' slices. Place in pan. (Stop here and refrigerate if needed to bake later). Cover and let rise in warm place 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until double.

Heat oven to 350, bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle Vanilla Glaze over warm rolls. Serve warm.

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*Modified from Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook, page 79. I subsituted 1/2 cup of the bread flour with King Arthur White Whole Wheat. I probably don't use two tablespoons of butter, but just dot the dough with bits of butter instead. I also reduced the sugar in the filling to 1/4 cup, with enough left over to refill our cinnamon sugar shaker. I use Penzeys Vietnamese cinnamon. I've played with the glaze, too - reducing it to 2/3 cup powdered sugar and splashing in enough milk to get the right consistency. Nine rolls is the minimum amount you'll get, depending upon how long you make the roll and if you cut the slices a little less than 1" wide. You can also prepare the rolls the night before, refrigerating at the point you have sliced and put in the pan. In the morning, let them get a little close to room temperature and then proceed to let them rise until double. I put them in the oven, select the lowest setting and then turn it off when it is preheated. It is warm but not enough to begin baking. I also reduced the heat from 375 to 350, as these bake and brown pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I've discovered they do not freeze well, either at the prebaked or baked roll stage.

Here's a link where someone actually figured the calorie stats, along with comments and more variations. I think and hope my changes may make it a little bit healthier.

Kinda Kolache

This was my attempt to make cheese kolaches, with the leftover cream cheese filling from the cream cheese coffee cake. I used my cinnamon roll bread machine recipe for the dough, made golf-ball sized balls and tried to center the cream cheese. But I couldn't figure out how to make and get it to look like the traditional squares. So I flattened them and added more cream cheese on top until it looked like a cream cheese danish. That's good in my book, too. I let them cool and then drizzled a little glaze...further distancing away from a kolache... While it resembled a danish, it tasted just like a cheese kolache. Only with more filling, and frosting. Which in my book is win-win. Everyone here liked them and I'll definitely do this again next time I'm in a cream cheese baking mode and mood!

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I also had enough leftover dough to make some cinnamon rolls, albeit smaller. I thought I had posted my recipe earlier, but I will do so in a separate post.

Spicy Apple Bread

Mariani Dried Fuji Apples from Costco + Penzeys Apple Pie Spice

+ favorite Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook = Spicy Apple Bread!

I made the one pound version. (1-1/2 pound ingredients in enclosures). I think next time I will add a little more butter and more apples - perhaps 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup. I tossed in a handful of chopped walnuts at the last minute and that may have contributed to a little dryness. It was still tasty with a little bit of butter, though!

SPICY APPLE BREAD

2/3 cup water (1 cup + 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon margarine or butter, softened (2 tablespoons)

2 cups bread flour (3 cups)

1/4 cup cut-up dried apples (1/3 cup)

1 tablespoon dry milk (2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon sugar (2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)

1 1/2 teaspoons Apple pie spice (2 1/2 teaspoons)

1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (2 teaspoons)

Place ingredients in order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Select Sweet or Basic/White cycle. It smells wonderful while baking!

Bread Machine Recipe - Garlic Basil Bread

I like to fix this when we are having Italian food. It's another yummer from the Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook, page 27. Recipe is for 1 pound, 1 1/2 pounds in (x).

GARLIC-BASIL BREAD

3/4 cup water (1 cup+1 tablespoon)

2 teaspoons butter or margarine, softened (1 tablespoon)

1 clove garlic, chopped (2)

2 cups bread flour (3)

1 tablespoon dry milk (2)

1 tablespoon sugar (2)

1 teaspoon salt (1 1/2)

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves (1 1/2)

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast (2 1/4)

Place in order your machine likes, select Basic/White cycle, Medium or Light crust color. Smells and tastes great!

One of my favorite bread machine recipes

This is my go-to recipe when I need a regular, no-fuss loaf of bread. It is sized for a 1 pound machine. Put in the order your bread machine prefers.

1 cup water

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup bread flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon dry milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon yeast

Parmesan-Pine Nut Bread

Did you buy a bag of Costco's Kirkland Pine Nuts and now wonder what to do with it? Try this! I make the 1# version, I'll type the1.5# ingredients in (x). This is our new favorite to go with pasta and salads.

PARMESAN-PINE NUT BREAD

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) water

2 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) olive oil

2 cups (3 cups) bread flour

3 tablespoons (1/4 cup) grated Parmesan cheese --I used the Kraft in the green container. Maybe you are supposed to use the other, but Kraft works great!

1 tablespoon (2 tablespoons) dry milk

1 tablespoon (2 tablespoons) sugar

1 teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt

1 1/4 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) bread machine yeast

2 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) pine nuts

Measure all ingredients except pine nuts and place in bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Add the pine nuts at the Raisin/Nut signal or 5-10 minutes before the last kneading cycle ends. (I put mine in the last 5 minutes). Use Basic/White cycle, medium/light crust color.

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook, 1995. ISBN: 0-02-860367-2

I have made this recipe, the pizza dough, the cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip banana bread, I'm flipping through it right now to see what else has been dog-earred, cinnamon-raisin will have you clawing at the machine while it's baking, oh! Almond-Honey Whole Wheat, Oatmeal-Pecan... Suffice to say, if you don't have this book, get it!