made by Rachel

This bread is A M A Z I N G.  All hail King Arthur.  Seriously.  I grew up loving Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal bread and this tastes so similar, except it is better cause you can eat it warm out of the oven!  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour, and since I am new to baking bread, I didn't mess with the recipe at all.  

You will need:
3 cups unbleached bread flour (preferably King Arthur Flour brand)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 Tbs salted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs brown sugar or honey (I have made it both ways and both taste wonderful)
2 tsp instant yeast (or 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in the lukewarm milk)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk (I used whole once and 2% once, both tasted the same)

How to make it:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, kneading with the dough hook for 5 minutes.

Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it to rest for 1 hour.  

On a lightly oiled surface, and shape the dough into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, lightly cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for  90 minutes.  

During the last 30 minutes of rising, preheat your oven to 350F.  Bake for 35-40 min or until a thermometer reads 190 degrees when inserted to the center of the loaf.   If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking.


IMPORTANT - be sure to eat at least one piece while the bread is warm.  Slap on some butter and enjoy!  It's soooo wonderful!
 

made by Rachel

I have been wanting to make my owns buns...hamburger buns that is...for some time now but I am usually pretty intimidated by breads.  However, after making a successful pizza dough I thought I would give it a try and they turned out great!  
This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen.  Instead of all white I used some whole wheat flour and I used less sugar because my super talented brother in law said that's what he did - and I pretty much listen to anything he says when it comes to cooking!

For 8 good sized buns, you will need:
3 Tbs milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
2 large eggs, separated
2 cups white bread flour1 cup whole wheat bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Handful of sesame seeds

To make:
Combine 1 cup warm water with the milk, yeast and sugar and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat one of the eggs.In yet another bowl, mix your flours and salt.  Melt the butter and mix into flour with your fingers, creating crumbs.  Next pour in the yeast/water mixture and the beaten egg into the flour mixture until a sticky dough forms.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and kneed until tight and elastic - about 10 minutes - hang in there, your arms mayyyy be sore!
Form a tight ball and place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours.  

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and divide dough into 8 equal cuts.  Role each piece into a ball and arrange on the baking sheet. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with oil and lightly cover and let the dough rise for 2 more hours.

Fill a baking pan with water and place on the bottom rack in the oven.  Pre-heat the oven to 400F.  Beat that other egg and brush on the buns then sprinkle with sesame seeds.  
Bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.  Depending on your oven you may need to rotate the pan of halfway during baking so they all cook evenly.

Transfer the buns to a wire rack to cool and enjoy with your favorite burger or sandwich! 
 

made by Miranda

I finally found a banana bread recipe that I love!  And it is made with wheat flour - even better!  I don't know why, but I always have had trouble with banana bread.  It gets too dark on top and still mushy in the middle, or its too dry, or too bland.  This recipe is exactly how I like it.  It's full of flavor, perfectly sweet, and  (I hate the word, but i have to use it...) moist!!  The recipe comes from King Arthur Flour.  

This recipe calls for 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, but instead I used 2 cups of white whole wheat, which is a little milder than whole wheat flour.

You will need:
2 cups very ripe bananas (4-5) mashed
1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

To make:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Mash bananas in a large bowl.  Add oil, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla and stir well.  Add salt, powder and soda and stir to combine then add flours and walnuts and stir just until flour is incorporated, scraping sides and bottom of bowl.  Try not to overmix.  

Pour into prepared pan and bake about 1 hr.  Halfway through, I put a sheet of foil over the top of my pan to prevent overbrowning of the top and it worked perfectly.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes then tip bread out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before cutting (otherwise steam escapes and your bread might dry out).  

Yum!! 
 

By Miranda

We make a lot of bread at my house so its good to have a few options for what to do with day old bread besides croutons.  Here is a sweet solution for that crusty loaf thats too tough to eat plain. 
Baguettes or French or  Italian breads work well for this recipe - just cut it into 1/2- 1 inch cubes.  Bread should be stale - if its still soft, spread out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven at 250 degrees F for about an hour.  If your bread is too soft it will just turn to mush when the liquid is added.  Bread pudding is best the day it is made.  

Makes about 8 servings.  Serve with whipped cream.

For the bread pudding:
2 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
6-7 cups bread cubes (see above note)
scant tsp cinnamon

For the sauce:
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
Splash of bourbon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.  Place bread cubes in a large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients for the bread pudding then pour over the bread cubes.  Gently toss together until the bread cubes are pretty evenly coated.
Spread in the baking pan and bake for 35 minutes about or until the top is nicely browned.  

Meanwhile, make your sauce.  Melt butter in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat.  Then add the brown sugar and continue to cook over medium heat until dissolved.  Add cream and bring it to a slow simmer- cook like this for 5 minutes or so until thickened.  Remove from heat and add your vanilla and bourbon if using.  Drizzle hot sauce over individual servings of bread pudding and top with whipped cream.  Yum!! 
 

By Miranda

These biscuits are really sooooo good.  The trick is to NOT handle them a lot at all.  The more you handle them, the tougher they get.  So once the liquid is in, just do a few tosses of the batter, and a few folds of the dough, and then stop.  I usually use plain yogurt cause I have it in my fridge more often than buttermilk, and actually prefer it.  Either way, they are a great addition to breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Makes about 10 biscuits, depending on your cutter size.  If you don't have a biscuit or cookie cutter available, just cut into shapes with a knife.

You will need:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Scant 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
5 Tbs butter, cold
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs cold buttermilk or plain yogurt (if yogurt is very thick, add a little milk to thin it)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss together all dry ingredients.  Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or 2 knives until butter pieces are as small as peas.  Drizzle 1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt over flour mixture and toss a few times- add remaining 2 Tbs if needed to soak up the extra flour.  Lightly flour your hands and knead or fold-over the dough just enough times to get it to stick together.  Handle it as little as possible.  
Once you have a ball or mass of dough, put it on a floured counter and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into shapes with a knife or with a cutter.  
Place on a greased baking sheet or on parchment paper.  Bake 10 minutes or until nicely browned on top.  Yum!!
 

Recipe from Miranda, made this time by Rachel

I love semolina bread!  This recipe is Miranda's and it's soooo easy to make and really chewy and delish.  The recipe makes enough dough for 4 small loaves or 2 large loaves of bread.  You can refrigerate the dough for up to 14 days, so you don't have to make it all right away, but can make a small loaf at a time so you always have fresh bread!
You will need:
3 cups luke warm water
1 1/2 Tbs yeast
1 1/2 Tbs salt
3 cups semolina flour
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:
Mix the yeast, salt and water, add sugar and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Add flour and stir or knead with a dough hook in an electric mixer.  Cover, but not airtight, and let sit at room temperature until the dough rises, about 2 hours.
At this point, you can keep the dough in the fridge, or continue to bake it.  

Pre-heat the oven to 450F.  If you have a pizza stone, put this in the oven while it pre-heats.  Dust a surface with flour and shape into a ball.  Let this sit for 40 minutes, while the oven gets nice and hot.  

After 40 minutes, shape the dough into the loaf by turning the dough into itself, like you are making a brain shape - stretching the top of the ball and folding the sides under and into itself.  Slice a few couple inch long slice on the top of the bread to breath while it bakes.

If you are using a pizza stone, sprinkle some cornmeal onto the surface and set the dough on the cornmeal, baking for 30-35 minutes.  

If you do not have a pizza stone you can use a baking/cookie sheet.  Set the cookie sheet on the middle rack in the oven and put another sheet underneath with a cup of water in it.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.