Unfussy Rolls

1 cup whole milk

½ cup butter

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tbsp dry yeast +1 tsp sugar

4 cups white flour

In saucepan heat milk, butter, sugar, and salt until scalded.  Let cool to lukewarm.  Add eggs and stir.  Dissolve yeast and 1tsp sugar in ¼ cup warm water.  Add yeast to milk and add four cups white flour.  Don’t over mix - treat like muffins.  Let rise until double in bulk.  Shape into rolls*.  Let rise again and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F.  These can be stored overnight in the refrigerator, let warm to room temp 20 minutes before baking. 

*I usually divide the dough into two portions and roll each portion into a circle about ¼ inch thick (use flour as necessary to prevent sticking).  You can brush the dough with melted butter at this point if you wish.  Cut into 12 wedges.  Starting at the end opposite the point roll the wedge into a crescent and curve the ends.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets with the point on the bottom to keep it from unrolling.

From whence it came:  One of the very best cooks I know, Janice Luncford, shared this terrific recipe with me.  These rolls are really tasty, and they're very easy to make.  Perfect for the holidays, perfect everyday!  Just like Janice!

Why it's blogable:  Today I made jam with my friend, Kerinda.  We made lots of jam.  A whole lot of jam.  We made four kinds of jam.  I'm tired from making jam.  And from licking my fingers.  And from licking the bowls.  And from licking the spoons.  It was impossible not to lick because each batch was so good!  We made red raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and apricot strawberry.  I can't decide which one is my favorite.  I think it's whichever one I happen to be eating at the moment.  

I don't want to sound like a snob, but I need to tell you I almost never, pretty much never ever buy store bought jam.  It's just not that good, and once you make your own, store bought is second best, by a long shot!  Homemade jam is not that hard to make, and it's worth the effort!

What does this have to do with rolls, you might ask?  Well, after we made the jam, we were so sad we didn't have any homemade rolls to spread it on.  We put it on store bought English muffins, and it was good, but not as good as it would have been on Janice's Unfussy Rolls.  And then I realized I've never posted this yum-e recipe, and now seemed like the time to do it.  Right before Thanksgiving.  Right before Christmas.  But don't wait for a special occasion to make these, make any occasion special with these delicious rolls!

Click here to get the printable:

Unfussy Rolls

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!

Kerinda's Lemon Bread

1/2 C. shortening or margarine
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C. milk
1 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Rind of 1 lemon, grated
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 C. sugar

Cream together shortening or margarine and the sugar.  Add eggs and milk and blend well.  Add dry ingredients, then grated lemon rind.  Pour into a greased 8x4 loaf pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 60 minutes or until done.  Mix the lemon juice and sugar together and pour over the hot bread in the pan.  Take out of pan when cooled.

From whence it came:  Kerinda gets another pat on the back for giving us another great recipe!  The first time I tried this bread I begged and pleaded for her to give me the recipe.  I didn't have to beg too long, she's pretty nice, she agreed to share pretty quickly.  I have no idea why it took me so long to share it with y'all.  But now that I have, you're gonna be glad I did!

Why it's blogable:  I am a fan of lemon stuff!  Remember when I told you how much I love the Lemon Bundt Cake?  Even more than the chocolate bundt cake?  There's just something about the combination of lemon and sugar (as in lemonade) that makes me smile.  And eat!  Too much!  Lemon desserts always seem to be lite and I always seem to eat too much.  But that brings us to the question...can you have too much of a good thing?  Not when it comes to this lemon bread!

Click here to get the printable:
Lemon Bread

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!

Banana Nut Bread

2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter or shortening
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
1/3 c. milk
1 t. vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 c. chopped nuts

Sift together flour, soda and salt. Cream the butter and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs and bananas and blend thoroughly. Combine the milk and lemon juice or vinegar and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it curdles a bit. Slowly and alternately fold in the milk and flour mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Blend well after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Pour batter into lavishly buttered 9x5x3" pan and bake in a preheated 35o degree oven for one hour, or until bread springs back when lightly touched in the center.

From whence it came: Someone (oh how I wish I could remember who) gave us a little cookbook called Beard on Bread for a wedding gift and this yum-e recipe came from that little book. Sadly, it's the only recipe I've ever even made from the book, but it's so good it makes the book worth having. I really need to try some of Beard's other recipes because if they're as good as this one, they're worth making.

Why it's blogable: This is my favorite banana nut bread recipe. It comes out great every time...at least for me! My poor cute married daughter tried this recipe with questionable results...

(This is an actual picture from her blog.)
I think she was distracted when she made it and added too much sugar, if there is such a thing as too much sugar, which I guess there is when it comes to banana nut bread!

But then she tried it again later and redeemed herself!

(This is also an actual picture from her blog.)

Oh how I love this married daughter of mine. And she picked a really good sonny-in-law for me, too!

This is a good recipe. I always double it and make two, or a double recipe will make seven mini loaves. Mini loaves only take about 45 minutes to cook.

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!

Amish Bread

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2 1/2 cups warm water
4 T. sugar
1 T. Salt
2 T. super soft or melted butter

Combine in a bowl. Set aside.

In your 5 quart kitchen aide mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of “better for bread” flour and 2 packets of rapid rise yeast or 4 1/2 tsp. yeast. (I used regular yeast and it worked just fine.) Add the warm water mixture. (Make sure the water isn't too hot when you pour it in. Yeast and hot water are not friends!)

Put the dough hook on your kitchen aide mixer and start mixing, gradually adding more and more flour until the dough on the hook starts to clean the edges of the bowl (about 4 more cups). Let the machine knead the dough for a few minutes (no more than 5).

Leave the dough in the bowl without removing from the mixer and let rise 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn on mixer for a few seconds to punch down the dough. Let rise for another 45 minutes, punching two more times. Then punch down once more before removing bowl from mixer.

Divide dough in half (this makes two loaves). Roll out into rectangle and then roll up to form a crescent shape on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper). Slash the top four times. Repeat with second loaf. (Or just put into two loaf pans which have been sprayed with Pam.)

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(This is what it looks like before it rises.)

With a pastry brush, paint the two loaves with this mixture: 1 egg yolk and 1 T milk.

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(Give it a nice brush with the egg wash. You don't have to, but it will make it look purdy if you do!)
Let rise another 30 minutes.

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(I know what you're wondering...what's that weird looking bubble on the loaf on the left? You know what that is? It's a weird looking bubble. Who cares, it still tastes amazing, and if it looks too perfect people will think you bought it at the store. If someone in your family complains about the weird looking bubble, bop them on the head with your rolling pin, but not so hard that they can't do the dishes after dinner.)

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove and enjoy!

From whence it came: Quite a few years ago a sweet girl named Margaret Lilinquist gave me this recipe. She was a young mom and she was a great bread maker. She moved away, but I think of her every time I make this yum-e bread!

Why it's blogable: It's a really easy bread recipe, it has very basic ingredients, it will save you a fortune if you make it instead of buying bread, and it's so very tasty! How simple can a bread recipe be? You don't have to dissolve the yeast and the mixer does all the work. Your family will think you slaved all day, and you should let them! Don't tell them it was easy. Milk it for all it's worth!

If you want to: You can add half whole wheat flour and half bread flour to up the fiber and nutritional value. It's really good with the whole wheat flour, and it's great with just white bread flour, too. You can't go wrong either way. The teen daughter who doesn't normally like wheat flour loves this bread! I only use 5 1/2 cups of flour total instead of the six it calls for, but you can do whatever floats your boat. I always bake it in bread pans, it's just easier than rolling it out.

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!

Joyce's Buns

In large mixing bowl mix together:

½ c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
1 ½ t. salt
1 c. boiling water

In small bowl mix together:

1 c. room temp water
1 ½ T. sugar
1 ½ T dry yeast

Dissolve sugar in water then add yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

When the butter is melted and the butter mixture is at room temp and the yeast is dissolved, add yeast mixture to butter mixture, then add 2 slightly beaten eggs and stir. (Make sure the butter mixture has cooled down to room temp before adding the yeast mixture. Yeast and hot water do not get along!) Stir in 5 1/2 c. bread flour, two cups at a time. Stir well after each addition. Cover with a damp towel and place in fridge overnight or at least four hours.

Remove dough from fridge and punch down on floured surface. Cut in half and roll each half into a circle. With a pizza cutter, cut the circle like a pie. For sandwich size rolls, cut each circle into eight pieces. For dinner size rolls cut each circle into twelve pieces. Roll up each piece, starting at large end and place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise until double, about 1 ½ hours. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. (You may need to bake sandwich size rolls a little bit longer.) Rolls can be made ahead of time and frozen.

From whence it came: My Aunt Joyce is famous for her buns. These buns, people! These buns! My Aunt Ethel makes these, too, but for some reason they got the name Joyce's Buns. My Aunt Joyce is terrific! She helped me make the sheet cakes for my daughter's wedding last summer and they were amazing! She is such a sweetheart. Aunt Ethel is just as great, and her buns are just as fabulous! I love my aunties!

Why it's blogable: You cannot beat these rolls. They are so good, and as far as yeast recipes are concerned, this one is easy. All you need is a big bowl and a wooden spoon. No kneading required. I've made this recipe at least a billion times. Don't be scared, you can do it. Give it a try!

A few tips: The original recipe called for cake yeast, which is very hard to find and very expensive if you happen to find it. The recipe works just as well with dry yeast, as long as you use REAL butter and bread flour. Don't make substitutions. All your effort won't pay off nearly as well if you don't use real butter and bread flour. Oh, and just so you know, I always double the recipe. They freeze wonderfully! Make these for your family and I promise they will love you forever!

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!

Click here to get the printable:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34084725/Joyce-s-Buns