The Art of Biscuits

Up until about the last year, I would just assume to buy the store bought biscuits sold in a tube. Homemade biscuits can be so dried out. Well, now I make my biscuits. I have found that I would rather just cut them into squares with a pizza cutter instead of cutting them with a round cutter. Here are a few recipes that I have tried that have been yummy!


This recipe is like the flaky biscuts that you can buy at the grocery store, only better and with out all of the preservatives that you find in premade food. I looks more complicated than it is.
Flaky Biscuits
INGREDEINTS FOR 10-12 SERVINGS:
2 ½ C. Flour
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbs. Shortening
1 ¼ C. Cold Buttermilk
8 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Cut into 1/8 –inch Slices
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening to flour mixture in ½ inch chunks. Mix using your fingers until only pea sized pieces remain. Add all but 2 Tbs. of buttermilk to flour mixture and mix with fork. Add remaining buttermilk if needed. Dough should be sticky, but come off sides of bowl. Spray work surface and rolling pin with nonstick spray. If you continually sprinkle flour over the work area and rolling pin, you will add too much flour to the dough. Transfer dough onto center of prepared work surface and form dough into a ball. Pat down into a 10-inch square, then use a rolling pin to roll into an 18 X 14 inch rectangle. Think about how to fold a business letter into thirds to fit into an envelope. Thinking of the dough as a letter, place butter slices on center of third of dough. Using a scraper to pull the dough up, fold the bottom third onto the center third and then place butter slices on it. Next, fold the top third down. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the folding and butter placement. You should end up with a lumpy rectangle that is about 6 by 4 inches. Place dough in freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from freezer. Roll dough into 10-inch square about ½ inch thick. Cut dough into 3-inch squares using a pizza cutter. Transfer squares to an ungreased baking sheet placing 1-inch apart. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden, about 15 minutes.
COMMENTS: This recipe came from the Black Bear Inn in Tahoe, Ca.


This recipe is very easy.
Cream Biscuits
INGREDIENTS FOR 1 DOZEN:
2 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Sugar
1 to 1 ½ C. Heavy Cream
1/3 C. Butter, Melted
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425. Use an un-greased baking sheet. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in dry ingredients with a fork to blend and lighten. Slowly add 1 cup of cream to the mixture, stirring constantly. Gather the dough together, when it holds together and feels tender, it is ready to knead. If the dough seems shaggy and pieces are dry and falling away then slowly add enough additional cream to make the dough hold together, Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead for 1 minute. Pat the dough into a square that about 1 inch thick. Cut into 12 squares and dip each into the melted butter (or just brush the tops). Place the biscuits 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly brown. Serve hot with jam.

Baker's Dozen Yeast Rolls

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to make rolls. I am so much better at rolls than I am bread. Here are a few new recipes that I have stumbled accross that have been added to my collection.

Baker’s Dozen Yeast Rolls
INGREDIENTS FOR 13 ROLLS:
2- 2 ½ C. All Purpose Flour
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Pkg. Yeast
½ tsp. Slat
¾ C. Warm Water
6 Tbs. Butter, Melted, Divided
¾ C. Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 tsp. Honey
1/8 tsp. Garlic Salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add water and 2 Tbs. butter; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in cheese and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rise for about 10 minutes. Divide into 13 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in a greased 9-in. round baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 for 11-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine the honey, garlic salt and remaining butter; brush over rolls. Remove to a wire rack and cool.


I found this recipe in Simple and Delicious

Overnight Honey-Wheat Rolls

Overnight Honey-Wheat Rolls
INGREDIENTS FOR 1 ½ DOZEN ROLLS:
1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast
1 ¼ C. Warm Water, Divided
2 Eggs
1/3 C. Honey
¼ C. Canola Oil
1 tsp. Slat
1 ½ C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 ½ C. All Purpose Flour
Melted Butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup warm water. Add the eggs, honey, oil, slat, whole- wheat flour and remaining water. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Cover and refrigerate overnight. Punch dough down. Turn onto a well-floured surface; divide in half. Shape each portion into 9 balls. To form knots, roll each ball into a 10-inch rope; tie into a knot. Tuck ends under. Place rolls 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 50 minutes. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter.

A Zucchini Avalanche

I am back at it again. For anyone who has ever grown Zucchini, you know that a family of 6 only needs 1 plant. Well I have several - NOT SURE WHAT I WAS THINKING!!
Everyone seems to have their own zucchini - so who do you give it all to. Everyone, it appears, already knows what to do with it: Leave it on a neighbor's porch in the middle of the night. I haven't tried this yet. We have just tired to use it up, which has been hard since I am the only one that will eat it as a vegetable at dinner. I do have a husband that will eat a few bites to set an example to our kids and I have 1 daughter that just tolerates it. We have to get creative with our uses.
So here are some new recipes:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
1 ½ C. Shredded Zucchini
2/3 C. Sugar
¼ C. Milk
1 Egg
2 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Oil
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 1/3 c. Flour
¾ tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
1/8 tsp. Salt
½ C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
½ C. Chocolate Chips
Powdered Sugar, Optional
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Pat shredded zucchini dry with paper towels. In a bowl, combine sugar, milk, egg, oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Add the zucchini, milk mixture and chocolate chips to the flour. Stir until moistened. Scrape into loaf pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean, 33-45 minutes depending on the oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top, if desired.

My kids LOVED this recipe.





Pineapple Zucchini Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 ½ C. Flour
1¼ C. Sugar
½ C. Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
3 Tbs. Canola Oil 2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini
1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
FROSTING :
2 Tbs. Butter, Softened 2 C. Powdered Sugar
8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
2 Tsp. Vanilla
Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
Preheat oven to 350°. To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.
Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.
NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.
And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

This recipe came from The Tasty Kitchen - The Pioneer Woman's recipe web sight. You should check it out.

Zucchini Bread With Dried Cranberries

1 ½ C. Flour

1 ½ C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbs. Ground Flax Seed

1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Powder
¼ tsp. Baking Soda

3 Eggs
1 Tbs. Vanilla Extract

½ C. White Sugar
½ C. Brown Sugar

½ C. Applesauce
½ C. Canola Oil

¼ C. Shredded Carrots
2 C. Shredded Zucchini

1 C. Dried Cranberries
½ C. Chopped Walnuts
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Whisk together the flour, whole wheat flour, flax seed, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and soda in a bowl until evenly combined; set aside. Beat the eggs, vanilla, sugars, applesauce, and oil in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture, carrots, zucchini, cranberries, and walnuts until not dry spots remain. Divide batter between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Too much Zucchini...

What to do with to much Zucchini?


One Zucchini plant is enough Zucchini for a family of 6. Well, bought a pack of seeds. I planted 2 plants in our back yard. We have had a few Zucchini from them. However, we have another garden out in the country on some friends property. I planted the rest of the pack of seeds. All of the plants seemed to all come up and are doing amazing. Which means we are already sick of Zucchini. I have already given away a ton. We are going to have people hiding from us when we go to thier doors because they don't want any more Zuccini. So if you have this problem or maybe would just like some ideas for your Zuccini, here are a few recipes to help you out.

ROASTED VEGETABLES
From The Kitchen of Jamie Hurren
Comments: use any variation of veggies
INGREDIENTS:
Cubed and chopped veggies of choice (red potatoes, carrots, zucchini, squash, broccoli, peppers, onions, etc)
Olive oil
½ tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp pepper
lots of granulated onion or real onions
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all in bowl.
Transfer to 9x13 pan.
Bake 375 for 30-3 minutes or until tender.


Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
From the kitchen of Julie Mustard
½ C. Margarine
4 Tbs. Cocoa
½ C. Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 ¾ C. Sugar
½ tsp. Baking Powder
2 Eggs
½ tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. Salt
½ C. Butter milk
2 C. Grated Zucchini
2 ½ C. Flour
Cream margarine, oil, and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and blend again. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Mix in zucchini. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan. Top with ½ C. chocolate chips, ½ C. Brown Sugar and ½ C chopped pecans. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Can be lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Zucchini Bread
From My Grandmother who is my cooking inspiration.
Grease & Flour 2 loaf pans or 1 cake pan
Beat Together:
1 C. Vegetable Oil
1 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
Then Add:
2 ½ C. Washed and grated Zucchini
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
3 C. Flour
3 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Baking Powder
Pour into pans and bake on 350 for 60 minutes.

I have also grated Zucchini in sloppy Joes and Spaghetti. My family never knew. Pretty sneeky - I know!

White Bread

I stopped buying bread from the store. It can be so expensive when we go through a loaf a day for lunches. I have a really good wheat bread recipe that I have been making. I asked my husband how he liked it, he said it was good but so was store bought white bread. He really likes white bread but my kids and I all really like wheat bread. I made him a sandwich from this bread and he couldn't tell the difference. The best part is that it doesn't have all of the junk that they put in the store bought kind.

White Bread
1 1/8 C. Warm Water
2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbs. Sugar (you can use a little more sugar if you like your dough a little sweeter)
3 C. Flour
1 Tbs. Vital Wheat Gluten
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbs. Nonfat Dry Milk1
½ Tbs. Canola Oil
¼ C. Potato Flakes
Add the ingredients in the order listed into a mixer bowl (like a kitchen-aid) with a dough hook attachment and mix on low for 10-12 minutes. Or mix it on the dough cycle in your bread machine. After all the mixing is complete, if the dough still seems too gooey and you are unable to handle it, add 1 Tbs. flour at a time, and mix after each addition until the dough is manageable with your hands. Let rise 45 minutes -1 hour, punch down and use to make bread, cinnamon rolls, cookie sheet pizza, rolls, or anything else you can think of! Let rise after you have made your creation and bake according to the direction of the recipe you are making.If you are making it into bread, form into a loaf at this time, place in a loaf pan, let rise in a warm place 45 min -1 hour and bake 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If you are making this recipe in a bread machine. Follow your bread machine’s directions and add the ingredients in the order listed in their recommendations. (Only one loaf will fit in a bread maker)

*I found this recipe from food storage made easy.

Old Fashioned Lemon Bread

This was a yummy bread. I took this bread with me to our park day. I came home with an empty container. Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
1 ½ C. All-Purpose Flour
1 C. Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
2 Large Eggs
2/3 C. (5 fl.-oz. can) Evaporated Milk
1/3 C. Olive or Canola Oil
1 ½ tsp. Grated Lemon Peel (about 1 lemon - reserve lemon for later use)
Lemon Syrup:
1/3 C. Sugar
¼ C. Lemon Juice
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 8 x 4-inch baking pan.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Beat eggs, evaporated milk, oil and lemon zest together in medium bowl. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Using the skewer, poke numerous holes in the hot bread, piercing all the way to the bottom. Slowly drizzle the hot Lemon Syrup over the bread (Syrup will soak into the bread). Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes; run knife around edge of bread. Remove bread to wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon syrup:
Combine sugar and lemon (1 lemon) in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and a light syrup is formed.

Easy Whole Wheat Bread

I made this this morning. It was so good. My kids ate a whole loaf when they came home from school.


4- 8x4 in. loaves
7 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 C. Gluten Flour
3 Tbs. Yeast
5 C. Steaming Hot Water
2 Tbs. Salt
2/3 C. Oil
2/3 C. Honey or 1 C. Sugar
2 ½ Tbs. Bottled Lemon Juice
5 C. Whole Wheat Flour

2- 8x4 in. loaves
3½ C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 C. Gluten Flour
1¼ Tbs. Yeast
2½ C. Steaming Hot Water (120-120 F)
1 Tbs. Salt
1/3 C. Oil
1/3 C. Honey or ½ C. Sugar
1 ¼ Tbs. Bottled Lemon Juice
2½ C Whole Wheat Flour

Mix together first three ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough. (one day I had to add a bit more flour till it pulled from the side)
Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves and place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan (Ours raised a little higher). Do not remove bread from oven, turn oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.
Important Note: To make a 2 loaf recipe of this bread every other day for 1 year (1 loaf a day) you need 275 lbs. of wheat ground into flour, 4 gallons of oil 46 lbs. Of honey or sugar, 8 1 lb pkgs. of yeast, 61 C. of gluten flour, 3 2/3 qts. of lemon juice and 7.3 lbs of salt.
If you do not have a mixer with a dough hook and are kneading this by hand gradually add last cup of flour to keep dough from sticking to counter, you will add more flour when kneading by hand than when using a mixer simply to be able to handle this moist dough. With wheat bread, always add the least amount of flour possible to keep bread moist. Knead 10 minutes, shape into loaves.

*I sprinkled my bread with Zoom before I baked it.