Amish Friendship Muffins

I got some starter from a friend last week and made my bread yesterday.  I used this recipe which actually is for muffins but I made two loaves out of it instead.  Very tasty, my hubby is happy with it!

Amish Friendship Muffins

1 cup Amish batter
2 cups flour
3/4 cup oil
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Stir well.

Add 1 cup chopped nuts if desired.

OPTIONAL:
1 cup apples, chopped
1 cup raisins or
1 cup blueberries

Mix well.  Put into muffin tins well greased if not using liners.  Sprinkle with topping on each muffin and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done.

TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup margarine

Mix well and sprinkle over tops of muffins before baking.

Chicken Puffs

These would have been good if they had more filling in them.  I think since I used homemade crescent roll dough they  needed more filling than called for but I would make them again.

Chicken Puffs

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
3 Tb chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
6 Tb butter
3 (10 oz) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough (or I used homemade crescent roll dough)

In medium saucepan over medium heat slowly cook and stir skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, onion and garlic.  Cook until onions are tender and chicken is lightly browned.

In medium bowl, blend chicken mixture, cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Unroll crescent rolls and divide in half to create 12 rectangles.  Place approximately one tablespoon of chicken mixture on each rectangle.  Fold into balls.

Arrange balls on large baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Red Lobster Style Biscuits

Of course you can't replicate Red Lobster's amazing biscuits exactly but these are pretty darn good.

I don't have measurements but all you do is take some biscuit mix (I used Bisquick).  Mix in some milk just until moist.  Add in some shredded cheese and garlic powder if desired.  Bake until done...350 degrees for 12-15
minutes.  Brush with butter and sprinkle top with garlic salt, or powder.

Coffee Cake

This is my Grandmom's recipe for a sour cream coffee cake.  I usually double it and get three round cakes out of it and freeze a couple.  They freeze really well.

Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:  1/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add to creamed mixture alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour 1/2 batter into buttered 9x9 baking pan.  Cover with 1/2 of nut topping.  Pour remaining batter over filling and top with rest of nut mixture.  Bake about 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

I snitched one bite of these and all I can say is  YUM!!  Can't wait for breakfast in the morning.  Be warned that this make a LOT of dough.  I could barely use my electric hand mixer because there was so much.  It said that it makes 2 dozen but I think I ended up getting 33 buns, most of which are in the freezer.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns

2 Tb active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
4 eggs
1 cup shortening
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1/3 cup instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 tsp salt
7 to 8 cups flour

Filling:
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing:
3 Tb water
2 Tb butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add eggs, shortening, pumpkin, milk, sugars, pudding mixes, salt, and 6 cups flour.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough; divide in half.  Roll each portion into a 12 inch x 8 inch rectangle; brush with butter.  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 inch of edges.

Roll up jelly roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal.  Cut each into 12 slices (or more).  Place cut side down in two greased 13 x 9 inch baking dishes.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 minutes, or until golden brown.  In a small bowl, combine water, butter, and cinnamon.  Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Spread over buns.  Serve warm.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

These did taste a little like cake doughnuts.  I liked the smaller ones but they had a bit too much sugar for me.  The larger ones were perfect with the sugar on just the top but I like the smaller ones you can just pop in your mouth.  Next time I'll only dip half the smaller ones in the sugar mixture

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

10 Tb unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

3 cups all purpose flour plus more for pan

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

Topping:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

350 degrees.  Butter and flour 12 muffin cups.  Make batter:  In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice.  In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin.  In large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until done, about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon.  Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan.  Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture.  Let cool completely.

**I got 12 regular sized muffins and 24 mini muffins out of this recipe.  Not sure how they got only 12 standard muffins unless they had huge muffin tops.

**I just used a dash of ground nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon.



Bread Machine Pizza Crust

 Made homemade pizzas tonight with homemade crust for the first time.  I've only ever bought premade crusts before.  This will be used quite often from now on...good texture, soft and chewy, and nice flavor.  I may add garlic to mine next time.

Bread Machine Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tb honey
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup flour (you can mix bread flour and wheat flour)
1 Tb yeast
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 Tb parmesan cheese

Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed.  Once cycle is finished plop dough onto floured area and divide into portions.  Let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Roll out each portion to desired thickness.  Continue to follow your pizza recipe for further instruction OR

For basic pizza--

Pre-bake crust for 8  minutes at 425 degrees.  Then top with whatever toppings.  Brush edges with olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes more, until edges are brown and toppings are melty and gooey.

Cheddar Cornmeal Waffles

These were okay.  I think next time I would leave out, or use less, cornmeal.  We aren't big fans of that much cornmeal taste.  Otherwise I think they would be pretty good.  I added some garlic powder to make them garlic flavored and the amount of cheese was just right. 

Cheddar Cornmeal Waffles

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 8-oz pkg sharp cheddar cheese

3 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup club soda

1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

Sift or whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Stir in cheese.  In seperate medium sized bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, club soda, and oil, stirring to combine; gently stir into dry ingredients just until blended.

Using a 3/4 cup measure, spoon batter onto a preheated, lightly greased waffle iron.  Cook 5-10 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.  Repeat with remaining batter.

This post is linked to:
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative Party Blog
Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
Homemaker Mondays at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
Tasty Tuesdays at A Beautful Mess
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple

Pumpkin Spice Bagels

Pumpkin Spice Bagels

2/3 cup plus 2 Tb water (70 to 80 degrees), divided
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3 cup bread flour

1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast...or 2 1/2 tsp

1 egg white

1 Tb cornmeal

In bread machine pan, place 2/3 cup water, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, spices, flour and yeast, in order suggested by manufacturer.  Select dough setting (check after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 Tb of water or flour if needed).

When cycle is compelted, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Shape into nine balls. Push thumb through centers to form a 1 inch hole.  Stretch and shape dough to form an even ring.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes; flatten rings slightly.

Fill a Dutch oven 2/3 full with water; bring to a boil.  Drop bagels, two at a time, into boiling water.  Cook for 45 seconds; turn and cook 45 seconds on other side.  Remove with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

Whisk egg white and remaining water; brush over bagels.  Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal.  Place bagels 2 inches apart on prepared pan.  Bake at 400 degrees fro 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

I made 6 large bagels and 4 mini ones out of this batch.  Not sure why they wrinkled up so much when I dropped them in the water but the texture came out nice.  It's chewy and not real crunchy, which I like.

I tried these with honey and plain cream cheese.  I like the cream cheese way better but it wasn't bad with honey either.  This will definitely be my breakfast in the morning!

This post is linked to:

Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at At the Well

Tasty Tuesday at A Beautiful Mess

Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven's Homemaker Haven

Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative Party Blog

Show Us What You're Working With at Me and My Bucket

Family Food Fridays at Get Healthy Cheap

Designs by Gollum

Banana Honey Nut Loaf

This would be better if you made two smaller loaves.  Mine was getting a little overdone but the middle wasn't cooked yet so it tastes a little too done.  I think it could be good though, with some adjustments.

I was almost out of walnuts so I used a mixture of walnuts and pecans.

Banana Honey Nut Loaf

Topping:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 Tb honey
pinch of salt

Loaf:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Make topping:  in medium size bowl, blend together flour and butter with your fingertips.  Stir in nuts, honey and salt, then work mixture together with your hands to make crumbs (mixture will be very moist). Set aside.

In large bowl, prepare loaf:  whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and nutmeg.  Make a well in center of dry ingredients.  In medium sized bowl, whisk eggs, honey, oil, mashed banana and vanilla.  Pour into well in flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Stir in nuts and transfer batter to prepared pan.  Sprinkle with topping.

Bake for 55 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pan directly to rack and cool completely.

Pumpkin Scones w/ Pumpkin Spice Frosting

Let me just say that this is the best recipe I've ever made.  In my entire life.  The only thing I didn't like about it was that it didn't make more!  I'm going to make another batch for the freezer but unfortunately I don't see these lasting long in my house.  Ever.

Scone Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 stick cold or frozen butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 egg

Directions:

Mix first 8 ingredients together.  Cut in butter.  In seperate bowl, mix pumpkin, cream and egg together.  Beat wet into dry mixture a little at a time and just until mixed.  Don't overbeat.  Shape dough into disk on sprayed pizza stone or rectangle (3 inches wide by 1 inch think) on parchment lined baking sheet.  Cut into wedges.  Pull wedges apart so all sides are exposed.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Stick fork in center of largest wedge.  It should come out clean.  In not, bake another 5 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tb canned pumpkin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup heavy cream

Mix first 6 ingredients.  Drizzle cream in while whisking until frosting reaches molasses consistency.

**I have no idea how you're supposed to "shape" scones and cut and seperate them.  The dough was just too sticky.   This is the second time I've tried making scones and this was the case in both instances.  So I just cut them the best I could and kind of mushed them apart.  Then I pulled them out after 10 minutes or so and cut over the lines again.  They needed more like 23 minutes of cooking time, instead of the 15 minutes it called for, so I pulled them out and cut over the lines a second time.  And as I said, these turned out SO SO good!

This post is linked to:

Colleen's Kitchen Recipe Swap at And Baby Makes Five

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale

Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table

Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'



Butternut Squash Bread

I've made butternut squash rolls before that we ate but weren't terribly excited about.  This was really good though.  My husband ate almost the entire loaf by himself!

Butternut Squash Bread

1 (.25 oz) pkg active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1/2 cup and 2 Tb mashed, cooked butternut squash

1/2 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)

1 egg, beaten

2 Tb plus 2 tsp butter or margarine, melted

2 Tb and 2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I did half white, half wheat)

In bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand 5 minutes.  Add squash, milk, eggs, butter, sugar, and salt; mix well.  Gradually add 3 1/2 cup flour; beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form soft dough.  Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.  Punch dough down.  Shape into three loaves; place in greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.  Bake at 375 degrees fr 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden.  Remove from pans and cool on rack.

**I only got two loaves out of this but I had one larger pan.  I also froze one of them for later.

This post is linked to:
Meatless Mondays

Pumpkin Muffins

I posted a Lemon Muffin recipe like this not too long ago, explaining that I could never find canned pumpkin around here to make the pumpkin ones that I liked.  Well, I finally found some and bought 5 large cans so I made some muffins with one of them.  This is the most simple recipe and freezable as well.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 can pumpkin pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger

Mix pie filling and cake mix until thoroughly mixed.  I don't like many seasonings so I only add two or three shakes of cinnamon and one or two shakes of nutmeg and ginger.  Mix until combined then bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Apple Bread

I haven't tried this yet but it sure smelled yummy!  I double this recipe and got three regular sized loaves out of it.  They're all in the freezer at the moment but I'm looking forward to trying this.

Apple Bread

2 cups flour (I used half white and half whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peeled, finely chopped apples
1/2 cup pecans, optional

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in dry ingredients and apples and pecans a half at a time.

Pour into well greased, well floured, 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans.  (Or small loaf pans, or muffins)

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove to cool.

Lemon Muffins

I used to make these muffins with canned pumpkin but with the pumpkin shorage last year I can't find pumpkin anymore.  The only other pie filling I thought might work was the lemon creme and my son fell in love with these!  They're the most simple muffin recipe you'll ever find but I personally like them better with pumpkin pie filling if you can find it.  And if anyone wants to know, it's also a Weight Watcher recipe.

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can lemon pie filling (or pumpkin) 

Mix together the cake mix and pie filling until thouroughly mixed.  The batter will be very thick.  Put into muffin cups or loaf pan and bake according to the box of cake mix directions.

These freeze well and keep for a few months very nicely.

Zucchini Muffins

This is my mother-in-law's recipe and it's fantastic!  It has lots of zucchini so it's a great way to use up the tons of zucchini you're getting from your garden.  Plus it's a veggie and my kids love these!  This can also be made as a loaf instead of muffins and I'm sure they would freeze just fine. 

Zucchini Muffins

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon

Sift all the above together in a bowl.

Beat 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 1/4 cups sugar, 3 tsp vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and beat well.  Stir in 2 cups grated zucchini and 1 cup nuts if desired.  Pour batter into 2 loaf pans (or 24 muffin cups).  Bake loaves for 40-60 minutes at 350 degrees or muffins for 20 minutes.

Cheesy Muffins

This was a Pioneer Woman recipe I found through someone else's blog.  (Sorry that I can't remember which one!)  They were pretty good.  I had 8 leftover so I'm trying the freezing method with these, hence the picture of them already to go to the freezer since I forgot to take one earlier.

Cheesy Muffins

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 Tb sugar
1 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups colby jack cheese, shredded (I used about 2 cups of cheddar)
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter

Whisk together dry ingredients then stir in cheese.  Whisk together wet ingredients.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and stir together until just moistened.  Pour into greased muffin tins (makes 12 muffins) or into 1 loaf pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes (a bit longer if making a loaf...closer to 30 minutes.)

Nutty Pecan Waffes

I'm not a big breakfast person usually, but every once in awhile I feel like real breakfast food. I do breakfast nights often and usually only make plain waffles or pancakes, which I'm not that excited about and usually end up eating something else. But then I found this recipe, and was excited for breakfast night! And this didn't disappoint.

Nutty Pecan Waffles

3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tb baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda

3 eggs, seperated
2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups finely chopped pecans

Preheat waffle iron. In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and baking soda. In seperate bowl, beat together egg yolks and milk. Add milk mixture, butter and oil to flour; stir gently to combine. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks have formed (I skipped this part and just threw them in...turned out fine); fold into batter.

Pour mix onto hot waffle iron and sprinkle generously with chopped pecans. (I mixed the pecans into the batter.) Cook until golden brown.

I got 14 waffles from this.

Raspberry Scones

These only turned out okay and I'm not sure why.  I've never made scones before so maybe the batter was supposed to be as runny as it was but it didn't hold together to even cut them out.  So I just did like drop biscuits and they turned out okay.  The flavor was good, they just looked weird.

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tb granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup low fat milk, plus 2 tsp divided
3 Tb canola oil
1 egg
3/4 cup fresh raspberries (I used frozen)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees and spray baking sheet.  Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Combine 1/2 cup milk, oil, and egg then pour liquid mixture into dry mixture.  Add berries.

Smear flour on cutting board and turn dough onto it.  Pat into an 8 inch circle.  Score into 8 wedges, cutting halfway.  Bake 20 minutes; finish cutting wedges and place on wire rack.

Mix powdered sugar and 2 tsp milk.  Drizzle over scones.  Serve.

Sweet Potato Zucchini Bread

I got this recipe from a friend and it became one of our new favorite breads. And a great way to get some veggies into my very picky son! I used some frozen shredded zucchini I had put away from our garden and some mashed sweet potato that I had in the freezer. I doubled the recipe and usually get four loaves out of that which freeze great.

Sweet Potato Zucchini Bread

2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar (can use part brown and part white)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I do half oil half applesauce)
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini (or more)
1 1/2 cup grated peeled sweet potato (or more)
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted, optional

350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan (I use two.) Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Beat sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla to blend in large bowl. Mix in zucchini and sweet potato. Add dry ingredients and walnuts and stir well.
Transfer batter to prepared pan(s). Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. (Set your timer for 45 minutes and start checking depending on how many loaves you do. Mine are usually done in about an hour or just under.) Cool bread in pan for 15 minutes. Cut around bread to loosen. Turn out on rack and cool completely.

If freezing I just wrap each loaf in some plastic wrap and stick in a freezer bag. It keeps for at least a few months and tastes just as fresh when it comes out.

This post is linked to I'm Lovin' It