Youthful Bread

This is a recipe originally given to me by my friend Shannon.  She did such an amazing job describing it to me that my mouth was literally watering!  Another plus was that it is fantastically easy to make.  The day after Shannon gave me the recipe, I decided to stop by the store on my way home from our church's moms group.  The recipe calls for a 12 ounce can of beer.  As I stood waiting to be rung up, the cashier looked at me closely and said, you're over 21 aren't you?  I smiled and said that there came a time in life when it is really quite flattering to be carded.  She looked at me in disbelief and said, "Oh come on, you can't be more than 23 or 24!  You've got a few years before you need to be flattered".  Well, needless to say I AM over 24, well over, and that made my day!  It wasn't a fakey flattery, it was sincere and I LOVED it!!  So I have affectionately named this bread, Youthful Bread, in commemoration of that wonderful moment in the Albertson's check out line.  

I added 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the bread and was thinking some roasted garlic might be nice too.  I've also tried out adding more pictures as I make the recipes.  Let me know what you think!

Let's drink, oh I mean eat, to your youth!

Beer Bread 
Ingredients:

3 cups flour, sifted

3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 (12 ounce) can of beer
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1-2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Method:

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

2.  Mix together all dry ingredients.

3.  Add beer and mix

4.  Mix in cheese
5.  Spread into a greased loaf pan
6.  Pour melted butter over mixture.
7.  Sprinkle top with Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese.

8.  Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Click here for printable recipe

Feeling Corny?

It's been cold up here in the northwest!  Lots of snow, which is gorgeous.  Last night I was feeling in the mood for some nice warm comfort food and decided on chili.  To go with that, I wanted cornbread, but not dry cornbread, something warm and filling and not as crumbly.  I had a few different recipes from different friends and looked them over.  Unfortunately I had ALMOST all the ingredients.  I was missing a couple key ingredients, namely a cornbread mix.  So I grabbed my box of corn meal, turned on my imagination, uh... culinary expertise, and came up with this recipe, which was divine. It's also incredibly easy - an "open, dump and mix" recipe! We drizzled it with honey and it was so delicious.  It could stand by itself it was so good and filling.  It's our go to cornbread now for sure!

So go to it! You won't regret it!

Deluxe Cornbread 
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup flour (used white whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. honey
1 can corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sour cream

Method:
1.)  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2.)  Grease a 8X8 or 9X9 pan - it's pretty thick - you can use a bigger pan to make a thinner bread, just be sure to reduce the heat to 350 and cook for less time.
3.)  Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt together.
4.)  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
5.)  Spread into greased pan and cook for 45-60 minutes, until bread is golden on top and knife inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.


Click here for printable link

Comfort & Peace

This is my "does everything" bread recipe. You can use it to make loaves of bread, rolls in various forms and best of all... cinnamon rolls. It's from my mom and it's what bread has meant to me my whole life.  When we made bread, this is what we made, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and every special event in between.  Our family's favorite use for this bread dough was cinnamon rolls.  They are fantastic, as many of my friends will attest to; I'm thinking of a certain red-haired music minister and his soon-to-be-wife as I write this post.  In my own family they have become a Christmas morning tradition.  This year, Christmas was riddled with illness, so I'm a little late in making them.  Better late than never though and my house smells absolutely amazing at the moment.  There is something so utterly peaceful and comfort-filled in the act of making home-made bread.  From the time it takes to rise -you can't rush it and knowing that you've set aside time to focus on this is calming - to the kneading of the dough, my mind and my body calm and focus on all that's important in my life.  It's as if I've gotten back to an elemental state.  I think this is why I've loved having a garden this year and making food from scratch.  It's slower paced, it's full of thought and patience, it takes you back to memories of family and it brings your family in to help, to watch, to enjoy. 

Take a moment to step out of the frenetic pace of life and let peace and comfort rise up in you with this delicious bread.

***A tip:  Kneading the dough is crucial.  The more time spent kneading, the better and lighter your bread will be.  It's also one of the best parts of making bread, so don't skimp on it!

Sweet Bread Dough/Cinnamon Rolls 

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
4 cups milk
1 cup shortening

8 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

2 pkgs. of yeast (dissolve in 1/4 cup water & 1 tsp. sugar)

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

***For Cinnamon Rolls

butter

brown sugar

cinnamon

Method:
1.) Heat sugar, milk & shortening, until melted & sugar is dissolved.
2.)  When mixture is cool, add 8 cups of flour & yeast
3.)  Let rise until dough doubles in size

4.)  Mix together the remaining 4 ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt)

5.)  Punch down dough and add the flour/soda/powder/salt mixture.

6.)  Knead and shape into desired shapes (loaf, rolls or cinnamon rolls)

****For cinnamon rolls:  Take a ball of dough and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness, spread melted butter over rolled out dough, sprinkle brown sugar & cinnamon over it (also delicious to add nutmeg, ginger &/or cloves to this mixture!).  Once butter, brown sugar & spices are spread over the rolled out dough, roll dough up into a long log.  Cut into desired size slice and place face up in a baking dish.  Make sure you leave enough room between the rolls in order for them to rise. 

7.)  Let dough rise again (proofing)

6.)  Bake at 350 degrees until bread sounds hollow when tapped with a finger.

Click here for printable version

Christmas Movie Nights Begin!

Four years ago, we started a tradition in our family (actually we copied some friends and added our own little twists) and we call it Christmas movie nights.  Beginning the first Friday in December we watch old Christmas classics, like White Christmas, Shop Around the Corner and The Bishop's Wife while testing out new Christmas treats and deciding whether they rate high enough to be considered a Buegge family Christmas tradition.  For me this combines two great loves, old movies (and by old, I mean black and white, MAYBE technicolor) and trying out new baking recipes!!  It doesn't feel like we've rung in the season until these nights begin.  We had a slower start this year and had our first official "movie night" last night.  I played it safe with a tried and true favorite, Pumpkin Bars, and then as tradition mandates a new recipe, Cranberry Orange Bread.  I love these flavors together and this bread didn't disappoint. 

You'll find lots of recipes for this combination  bread, I've taken a few and combined them into one that we loved.  We hope you love it too!

Cranberry Orange Bread      
Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat and it was very tasty!)
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup orange juice
zest of 1 orange (less if you like a more mellow orange flavor)
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I used a bit more, 1 1/4 cup b/c I really like them.)

Method:
1.  Combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
2.  In a separate bowl, stir together egg, orange juice, orange zest, melted butter and vanilla.
3.  Add egg/orange juice mixture to flour mixture and mix.  Combine until dry ingredients are just moistened
     by wet to achieve best bread texture.  Over mixed batter becomes hard and chewy.
4.  Fold in cranberries.
5.  Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 60-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted
     in middle comes out clean. 
6.  Cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove from loaf pan.

Click here for printable version