Garlic Knots

We all know that I have an obsession with bread. Anything bread I love! I love making bread. I make fresh bread for my family a few times a week so we can have toast and sandwiches. Now my kids love bread. It is a vicious cycle really. But is it oh so good.

I also love making rolls, bread sticks, and tortillas for dinner. So these garlic knots were perfect for our pasta dinner the other night.

Now, this is a bread machine recipe. I love my bread machine. But I have a confession.....I use it only for dough making. It does all the work and makes no mess. I just dump everything in and in an hour my dough is ready for rising. Wonderful! Now if you don't have a bread machine then just use your favorite roll dough recipe or frozen rolls. Easy peasy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons soft butter

1 cup warm water

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup sugar

3 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons yeast

melted butter

garlic granules

1. Start by putting your soft butter in the bottom of the bread maker pan. In a measuring cup, beat your egg and add a little bit of the warm water while mixing. This will temper the egg. Add the rest of your water to the egg and add both to the pan.

2. Next, add your flour. I do a combination of all purpose and whole wheat but you can do whatever you like :) Just make sure it equals 3 1/4 cup. Add the sugar right on top. Then add salt and yeast. Pop in into your bread maker and press the DOUGH setting.

3. When it has finished rising in the pan, remove from pan and punch down. Roll it out and cut into strips. At this point if you are using your own dough or a frozen (now defrosted) do the same. Tie the strips into knots and place on a greased cookie sheet. Do the same for all your dough strips. Let rise for about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 365 degrees for10-12 minutes until light golden brown. As soon as these come out of the oven brush them with butter ( I used melted tub butter) and sprinkle with garlic granules. Eat and enjoy!

Big Soft Pretzels

I have been wanting to make homemade pretzels for a long time. I finally did it and I can't believe it took me sooo long. They were easy and so delicious! Seriously, we loved them and ate them for dinner one night with a big veggie platter and dips! It was a fun dinner and the pretzels were warm, chewy and had a nice salty bite to them. Amazing. Try them! This recipe is from Alton Brown and it got like a million 5star reviews...and now I know why!



Ingredietns:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
kosher salt

Directions

1.Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

You could also brush with a bit of butter and sprinke cinnamon and sugar on them and dip them in a glaze. Yum! We dipped in mustard and had them plain, they were amazing!

Ham and Cheese Broccoli Roll-ups

This recipe is a spin off of a side dish that my mom used to make for us when I was a kid. I added the roll dough and a yummy sweet and spicy sauce and turned it into a main dish meal! It was soooo good. My husband and kids gobbled them right up. These will for sure be another dinner we will eat around here!



Ingredients:

1 batch of your favorite roll dough or refrigerated crescent roll dough (or Rhodes rolls thawed)
2-3 cups of trimmed blanched broccoli (how to blanch veggies at bottom)
sliced deli ham
sliced cheddar or Colby cheese
honey mustard sauce

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/3 cup light mayo
1-2 tablespoon spicy mustard
1-2 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper
I make the sauce with 1 tablespoon each mustard and honey and then taste it to see what I want to add more of. So just taste and adjust to your liking.

1. Divide your roll dough into 2 balls. I use my favorite roll dough that I make in the bread maker, but use any dough you want. Roll one of the balls out into a circle and you want the dough to be about 1/4 inch thick. Using your pizza cutter cut your dough into triangles. You should get 12 triangle wedges. Get all your toppings ready like this:




2. You are going to work with one triangle at a time. Spread a layer of sauce over your triangle of dough. Then at the wide end of the dough put a piece of cheese, top that with a folded piece of ham, and then top that with 2 pieces of broccoli. Like this:



3.Starting at the wide end again, roll up your filled dough and place on a sprayed and foil lined cookie sheet seam side down. Continue with the rest of your triangles. Now... that one ball of dough will make 12 broccoli ham roll ups, SO you can roll out your other dough ball and make another dozen or you can make a small batch of rolls (like I did). :) Totally your call. This is how all your roll-ups should look, yum!



4. Let those hang out for about 15 minutes and then pop them in a 375 oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. I cooked mine for about 10 minutes and they started getting brown so I covered them with foil and cooked them for another 10 minutes until they were cooked through. Eat with fruit salad or melon and you are good! You can use your extra sauce to dip in if you want, but they are pretty darn good right out of the oven! YUM!

HOW TO BLANCH BROCCOLI: Super easy and really good for meals like this or for even dipping veggies in dip or hummus. Blanching takes away the super crunch raw flavor of veggies, but still keeps them crispy and tender. All you do is bring a pot of water to a full boil. Drop your clean and trimmed broccoli in and boil 1 minute. Take off the heat and drop into a colander and run COLD water over the top of the broccoli to stop the cooking process. You can also drop your veggies into a bowl of water filled with ice for an ice bath..... but I do the cold water running over because it is easy and works. Anyway, that's it

Homemade Tortillas

There is nothing.... I repeat nothing better than a warm homemade tortilla. Seriously, I could just eat a stack of these babies for dinner but I am nice and shared with the rest of my family. These are incredible. They will change the way you look at tortillas forever. Try them, you will love them. Promise!



Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm fat free milk

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil in a large bowl. (I used my stand mixer)
2. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead your dough for two minutes on a floured surface or in your mixer. The dough should be firm and soft.
3. Place your dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
4. After the dough has rested, break off 8-12 sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
5. After the dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
6. In a dry iron skillet or I used my electric skilled (usually used for pancakes)heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
7. Keep your cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat. Eat them when they are warm..... so good!

* Have these with fajitas, soup, on the side with taco salad, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat!

Soft Breadsticks

These are SOOOO good. Seriously, I make them at least once a week. I think I have a problem....I love anything bread related. Anyway, I got this recipe from Taste the Joy and it is a keeper! Really easy and anyone can make these. You don't have to wait hours either, they are done in no time!



Ingredients:

1 TBS yeast
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS malted milk powder (I have made them without this because I didn't have it on hand and they turned out just as good)
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt

1. Mix sugar and yeast together in a bowl or mixer. Pour warm water into yeast mixture. Soften yeast in water, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and knead for 5 minutes or till soft and elastic.
2.Shape into breadsticks and let rise on a foil lined and sprayed cookie sheet for 10-20 minutes, till desired size.
3.Preheat oven to 425 and bake about 10-13 minutes till golden. Then I spray my breadsticks with butter flavored cooking spray AS SOON as these babies come out of the oven. It keeps them soft. Then sprinkle with salt or garlic powder to finish! YUM!!
* These are great with any salad, pasta dish, soup, comfort meal, ok....they are good with anything!

Orange Rolls

These are a great variation of cinnamon rolls and my husband always requests them. The orange flavor is light and clean and is the perfect dessert on a Sunday afternoon!



Ingredients:

1 recipe for rolls *(you can use your favorite, or a frozen bread dough from the store or here is my favorite that I do in the bread maker but can also be done by hand)
1/4 cup tub butter (i love Brummel and brown)
zest from 2 good sized oranges
1 cup sugar

Glaze:
2 tablespoons tub butter
1-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons orange juice(just juice the oranges that you zested)

1. Prepare your dough. Let it rise and then roll out into a large square about 1/4 inch thick. Mix the tub butter, zest, and sugar together with beaters. Beating the mixture will make it light and creamy, perfect for spreading. *Now everyones butter is a bit different so if the mixture is a bit stiff add a drop or two of orange juice. If it seems too runny add a bit more sugar to get a good spreading consistency.
2. Spread the mixture all over your dough but leave a clean 1/4 inch space around the dough because when you roll these babies the filling will spread.
3. Start rolling and when you have rolled the dough into a log, pinch the end to the rolled dough to seal the rolls.
4. Now I make 6 big rolls but you can make these what ever size or quantity that you want. Find the center of your dough and score it with a knife. (I always use floss to cut my rolls, it is so much easier. I just keep a container of floss in my utensil drawer for times just like these :) Ok, Cut about an inch off the log to start with a nice clean even roll. Save the little bit you cut off and put it to the side. Now score the rest of your rolls with your knife so they are all the same size. Remember to leave about an inch to be cut off on the end too, for even rolls. Grab your floss and cut each roll and place it into a 9X13 greased pan.
5. Place your rolls into a warm oven or in a warm spot to rise, about 35-45 minutes.
6. Once they have risen, bake them for 10 minutes at 365, then cover them with foil and cook for 6-8 more minutes. You want the center to be cooked so you don't have a doughy roll.
7. While they are cooking, mix all your glaze ingredients together to form a nice spreading consistency and as soon as the rolls come out of the oven frost those babies! The glaze will melt inside and out and keep them nice and soft. Let them cool for a few minutes and then eat and enjoy with a glass of milk!!

Cheesy Rosemary Focaccia

I made this yesterday to go with our salads for dinner and it was soooo good! Good really isn't the right word to describe this yummy bread, it was was better than good, divine even. I got this recipe from Our Best Bites (love you) and altered it a bit adding cheese and a few more spices too. Try it, it will change your life :)

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling

2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons crushed dry rosemary or finely chopped fresh

2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

dried oregano

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until bubbly. While the yest is getting bubbly, combine 2 cups of flour, salt, and1 tablespoon rosemary.
2. Add flour mixture to yeast mixture along with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Mix well. (I put it in my stand mixer with the dough hook on, but you can use your hands too) Slowly add remaining flour to make a very soft dough- try to resist the urge to add too much flour. You probably won't use the entire extra 1/2 cup flour. I used only about 1/4 cup more. You want a soft, wet dough.
3. Cover and allow to rise about 1 hour.
4. Lightly flour work area and transfer dough onto the surface. Divide in half ( I didn't and just made one big loaf) and shape each half into a round loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza stone. Cover and allow to rise another 45 minutes.
5. Heat oven to 375. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes of until very lightly golden -brown. Take out of oven and brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter, sprinkle with cheese and dried oregano. Broil for 1-2 minutes. Keep your eye on it....
6. Serve immediately and slice into strips or just rip it off and eat!!

Wheat Dinner Rolls

This is a great go-to recipe if you want yummy homemade rolls! You let your bread maker do the work and can have these warm for dinner tonight! ( If you don't have a bread maker I put directions at the bottom for you too!) I make them all the time to complement a delish dinner!

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons soft butter/margarine

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons yeast

1. Measure carefully placing all ingredients in bread machine pan in order recommended by the manufacture. (usually in the order they are on the list above, or wet then dry)

2. Select dough cycle.

3. When dough is ready (usually about 1 1/2 hours) remove dough with floured hands. Place on lightly floured surface. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

4. Grease or spray a 9x13 pan ( used 2 pie pans) and divide dough into 15 equal pieces Shape each piece into a ball, place in pan. Rise in a warm place until double in size. ( I turn the oven on for a few minutes onto 150 degrees, then turn it off and let them rise in the warm oven)

5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Uncover rolls and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

* YOU must try this!! So good! If you don't have a bread machine then all you need to do is let the yeast soften in the warm water. Mix the butter(melt it first), egg, sugar and salt together. Next add yeast mixture. Then add flour a little at a time until it makes a soft dough. Let rise in bowl. Then pick up from step #3 and continue. Bread always takes a little more time but it is worth it!

pizza dough

This is the best and easiest pizza dough recipe. I always make homemade dough because it takes no time and very little effort. It makes enough for two regular size round crusts, eight mini pizzas and/or one large round or rectangular crust. It just depends on how thick you want it so you can play around with it!. I always make the dough and split it into half. I use one half for a medium thin crust and then put the other half into a zip lock bag and put it into the freezer. Then when ever I want to make a crust, bread sticks, or calzones i just take it out of the freezer a few hours before dinner to thaw, and presto.... you're ready!

Ingredients:

2-3/4 to 3-1/4 cups flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons cooking oil or olive oil

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1-1/4 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. ( about 6 minutes)

3. Divide (if you want) and cover left out dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out and add toppings. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until done.

This is what your ball of dough should look like after you have finished kneading it. Now would be the time to put half in the freezer if you wanted to save half. Roll it out and top with sauce, cheese and all your favorites!!

Yummy! Rex loves homemade pizza and asks for it often, so we always make our favorite... BBQ chicken and pineapple. It turns out great every single time!

* one time I didn't add the oil and it turned out perfect, so that is how I make it everytime! Fat free crust!