Bran Muffins

Mom used to make a batch each of blueberry and bran muffins. I loved the bran muffins smeared with margarine. That was back when I really disliked the taste of butter and you could find the simple bran muffin boxed mix. Here are some bran-ish muffins that go great with real butter (or Smart Baance.)

 Bran Muffins
 2 C bran cereal flakes, crushed
1 1/3 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

 Heat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Stir cereal milk and vanilla in medium bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes until cereal us softened. Beat in oil and egg. In separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. Add flourmixture to cereal mixture just until moistened. Divide batter into liberal and bake for 15 minutes or until firm when tapped or toothpick comes out clean.

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Photo by Heidi

These little coffee cakes taste delicious with or without the optional cinnamon chips. Enjoy!!!

Preheat oven to 375〫. Grease 12 muffin tins, or line with paper muffin liners (I prefer the paper).

Streusel Topping:

2 tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon butter In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon and brown sugar and mix until well-combined. Cut in butter and mix until mixture resembles course crumbs. Set aside.

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Optional - 1/4 cup cinnamon chips (cinnamon-flavored baking chips that look like chocolate chips)

1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Sift together dry ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center, then set aside. In another medium bowl, combine oil and brown sugar and beat well. Add egg and mix well, then gradually beat in milk. Pour oil mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Fill prepared muffin tins about 2/3 full (I use a large scoop). Sprinkle streusel topping over batter, then bake at 375〫 for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted near the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool completely. Can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, for 2-3 days. Makes 12 muffins.

Blueberry Muffins

photo by Heidi

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• Another new favorite for our Muffin Wednesdays!  I thought about using the poppy seed muffin recipe as a base for blueberry muffins, but this recipe got such great reviews, I decided to try it.  We did not need the crumb topping; instead I used coarse sugar to sprinkle on the tops before baking. The original recipe insists the blueberries be fresh, but I like to use frozen and don't mind that the batter turns purple.
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen wild blueberries)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I used turbinado, but regular would also work), for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners (I prefer liners).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the center and set aside.  In a small bowl, beat together oil, egg and milk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once, and stir just until moistened. Batter with be very thick and lumpy.  Gently fold in blueberries. Be careful not to overmix, or muffins with be tough.  Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full (I use a large scoop).  Sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake for 14-20 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted near the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool on rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.  Serve warm, or let sit overnight at room temperature, loosely covered.

Chocolate Muffins

I did a thorough search for chocolate muffins, as I did for poppy seed, and kept going back to the almond poppy seed muffin recipe that I liked so much.  I finally decided just to adapt that recipe.  It worked so well, I plan to make blueberry muffins next week!  I'll let you know how that goes.

This makes a dense muffin that is sweet, but not too sweet, because there so much cocoa in the recipe.  You can probably reduce the cocoa and increase the sugar to your liking.  I also considered adding 1/4 cup water to the recipe, as I had seen in others, but left it out because a heavier muffin was what I was looking for.  For us, these muffins were delicious just the way they were, but I may tweak them for fun later.

One difference between this recipe and the poppy seed recipe is that the chocolate muffins contain no baking powder--only baking soda.  I noticed in all the other chocolate muffin recipes that this was the case, and I thought they would taste better this way.

I had enough batter for a dozen muffins, plus one more.  I put a muffin liner in a very small Pyrex bowl and placed it on a pie tin on the bottom rack of the oven.  It took several minutes longer to bake, but I was glad I didn't waste any of that delicious muffin batter.

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup milk

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa

½ cup mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325°F. Line 12 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups.

In large bowl, stir together 1/2 cup brown sugar, the oil, egg and vanilla. Beat in sour cream and milk with spoon until blended.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa and chocolate chips and stir until well blended. Make a well in the flour mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (I used a large scoop). Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (tops will look cracked). Remove from pan to wire rack. Makes one baker’s dozen.

Poppy Seed Muffins

photo by Heidi

These are almond-flavored--our favorite!  I looked all around the web for good recipes and liked this one the best, because it is simple and makes only a dozen muffins.  In fact, I think this is a great basic muffin recipe with lots of possible variations. I adapted it to make my chocolate muffins.


As you can see, these muffins don't brown on top. If you let them get brown, they will probably be too dry.  I cool mine completely on a wire rack, then cover them loosely with plastic wrap, so they will stay moist.  They are probably best the day after they are baked, like many quick breads.

1/2

cup sugar

1/3

cup vegetable oil

1

egg

1

teaspoon almond extract

1/2

cup sour cream

1/4

cup milk

1 1/3

cups all-purpose flour

1/2

teaspoon baking powder

1/2

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon baking soda

1        tablespoon poppy seeds

3

teaspoons sugar (optional)

2

tablespoons sliced almonds (optional)

• Heat oven to 375°F. Line 12 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups.
• In large bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, the oil, egg and almond extract. Beat in sour cream and milk with spoon until blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and poppy seeds and stir until well blended. Make a well in the flour mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (I used a large scoop). If desired, sprinkle batter with 3 teaspoons sugar and the almonds.
• Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack.  Makes one dozen.

Banana Muffins

Photo by Emily Hale

Here is another excellent recipe from the Perry Family reunion recipe book. It was submitted by Jenny, my lovely and talented sister in law who I think of as a healthier, whole food recipe seeker version of me.

The recipe came from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, but I adapted it a little due to necessity, ambition, as well as accident (oops, I added a whole stick of butter instead of 6 T). Notice how decadent the picture looks, thanks to the extra two tablespoons.

I like to add Hodgson Mill Multi Grain cereal with flaxseed and soy to muffin batter because it adds excellent fiber and protein as well as a little texture. They mill the flaxseed so that you don't miss out on the Omegas that you might not get with whole flaxseed. I mean, have you ever tried to bite into a flaxseed? Those things are like slippery little time capsuls that go through your system and come out whole. Lovely image, sorry.

These muffins are tasty and sweet and can be made with all whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, or a combination of flours. If you don't use the multigrain cereal, increase the total flour to equal 2 cups. This is how I made it...

Banana Muffins
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour
1/3 C multigrain cereal
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 C chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)
6 T butter, room temp (or use the whole stick like I did by accident. Mmmm, buttery)
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 C plain yogurt
2 - 3 smashed, overripe bananas

Heat oven to 375. Grease and flour muffin tin (this makes about 24 small, not mini, muffins or 12 large muffins) In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together. I prefer to do things like this by hand, making it less fluffy and resulting in a denser end product. But you can use a mixture and beat until fluffy if that's what you like. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, yogurt and bananas. In a separate bowl whisk together flour(s), baking soda, salt, and 3/4 C nuts (of using). Gently add to banana mixture and do not overmix. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pans and top with remaining nuts, if using. Bake about 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway until golden and just set on top.

Grilled Pizza

photo by Emily Hale

This post is for my brother Chris who just moved to a new house with a Weber. The grill I have is the cheapest gas grill made, but it works dandy, and it was a perfect gift from my parents. We've used it a lot lately since our power has been out twice in the past month. I used it to boil water for mac n cheese the other day. Soon I hope to try grilled french toast, a tip from the Hale's.

So here's grilled pizza. At first you think you're failing because the dough won't be symmetrical no matter how delicately you try to put it down. And holes will tear through and inevitably start to burn around the edges. But all this adds to the rustic tastiness, trust me.

Dough makes four 10" pizzas for four 5' people
1 C warm water

1 tsp sugar
1 packet yeast
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 C flour


Soften the yeast and sugar in water. When foamy, whisk in oil and salt. Stir in flour until combined and turn out onto floured work surface. With oiled hands, knead until dough comes together in an elastic ball, two minutes. Add more flour as needed. Let rise until double in an oiled, covered bowl, about 30 min. Punch down and let double again, although I have skipped the second rise and it worked fine, maybe due to the humidity here...?

To make generous single serving pizzas, divide dough into fourths, or make smaller pizzas to help maintain your sanity. Stretch the dough and brush with herb oil (this is simple yet essential, recipe below) before placing on the grill.

Cook dough on one side until done to your liking, flip over and add tomato sauce (the simpler the better, recipe below) toppings (our favorites are prosciutto or pesto shrimp and black or kalamata olives) and cheese. The best cheese is a mixture of torn fresh mozzarella, shredded part skim mozzarella and diced fontina. Cover the grill to let the cheese melt and remove just before the bottom burns.

Herb oil is olive oil heated for two minutes with minced fresh rosemary and sliced garlic.


Simple Tomato Sauce

Saute one or two garlic gloves, diced or pressed, add a large can of peeled tomatoes, a basil leaf, oregano and salt. Let simmer while smashing the tomatoes and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Donuts Donuts Donuts

photo by Emily Hale

Our wonderful Primary President told me about a childhood memory she had when her mom would make donuts for her big family. She said the donuts went faster then her mom could make them, which is really saying something because these are quick! They are so delicious, I ate 3! My 10 month old love the donut holes and my 3 year old especially loved the sugary coating.


Donuts

canned biscuit dough, I used the buttermilk variety and liked it but flaky doesn't work well
1/2 C sugar
shortening or vegetable oil

Heat the shortening or oil in a deep skillet over medium heat, enough to be about 1/3 to 1/2 inch deep. Put sugar into a coating tray or plate, set aside. Using a small cookie cutter or knife, make holes in each biscuit. Save the "holes" to fry too. The oil is ready when a wooden or bamboo spoon bubbles when inserted into the hot oil. Use one of the small "holes" to test the oil. Fry each side until golden brown. Remove from oil, and immediately toss into sugar, coating all sides. Serve immediately, if not sooner.

Runsas

Photo by Emily Hale

Here's a recipe I've wanted to try for a long time because the picture in America's Best: Lost Recipes looked so delicious. It took me until a couple days ago to make them because they seemed intimidating. But they were just as delicious as they looked and they turned out almost exactly like their picture. How often does that happen?Here is why I love this recipe (other than the addicting food it creates).
Ingredients: it only calls for a few once the dough is made, and you most likely have them already.
Universal: everyone in my family loved these, Abby (who is 3) ate as much as I did!
Leftovers: aren't as good, but very close. Abby and I enjoyed some for lunch today, two days after making them, just nuked them for 1.5 minutes.
Accomplishment: although they're easy to make, they're somewhat time consuming. Start making the dough about two and a half hours before you plan on eating them. Especially since the rise time is estimated. But once you're done and quietly enjoying them with loved ones around your table you will feel very happy with your time spent in the kitchen. After all, anything made with homemade dough is truly satisfying.
Foolproof: well, pretty much foolproof. America's Best comes from America's test kitchen where they scrutinize over recipes, trying them over and over until the finished product is perfect.

Runsas (Beef and Cabbage Buns with Cheese)
An "old-fashioned Midwestern recipe brought to Nebraska by Volga Germans"

DOUGH
3/4 C warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 Tb sugar
1 egg
3 1/2 C flour (or more)
2 packages yeast
1 tsp salt

FILLING
3 Tb butter
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped fine (for my family's taste I used about a quarter of an onion)
1/2 small head cabbage, cored and shopped (about 3 cups)
salt and pepper
8 slices good, white american cheese

1. FOR THE DOUGH: Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Mix the water, condensed milk, oil, sugar, and egg in a large measuring cup. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, add the water mixture. This is where you made need more flour than what is called for, to make a soft dough. After the dough comes together increase the speed to medum and mix until shiny and smooth, 4 - 6 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface, shape into a ball, and place in the greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let rest in a awarm place until double, about 1 hour.

2. FOR THE FILLING: Melt 1 Tb of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. add the beef and cook until just beginning to brown, about 6 minutes, breaking up any large clumps. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a paper-towel-lined plate.

3. Pour off all but 2 Tb fat from the pan. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add cabbage and toss until just beginning to wilt(don't overcook the cabbage as the slight crunch is nice in the buns). Return the beef to the pan and season with salt and pepper.

4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray. Divide dough into eight equal pieces. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll a piece of dough into a 7-inch circle. Place the dough round in a deep cereal bowl and top with one slice of cheese. Spoon 3/4 C filling over the cheese and pinch the edges of the dough to form a bun. Transfer the bun, seamside down, to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover the buns and let rise until puffed, about 20 minutes.

5. Heat over to 350. Bake the buns until golden brown, about 20 minutes, switching and rotating the pans halfway through baking time. Brush the hot buns with the remaining melted butter and serve.

Peppermint Bread

This is an excellent recipe to make with kids. The boys and I made a batch today and even my two-year-old helped.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 10 inch fluted tube pan or 4 small (5.75 X 3 in) loaf pans) with cooking spray and set aside. Sift together in a large bowl and stir together well:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, combine:

1 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup oil (we use light olive or canola)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon peppermint extract (we use the Organics brand--it does not contain alcohol and it gives just the right amount of mint flavor without being too strong)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Pour batter (it will be thick) into the prepared pan(s) and bake at 325°F for 50-60 minutes (large pan) or 30-35 minutes (small loaves). Allow to cool 10 minutes on rack. Remove from pans; cool completely on rack. Delicious served warm, too. When cool, wrap in plastic wrap. These freeze very well!

Dinner Rolls

Photo by Emily Hale

Better than Rhodes, these rolls are from my Betty Crocker bread machine cookbook. The trick is not to add too much flour. I had to stop myself from adding a little more during the second knead but I'm so glad I didn't! They were perfect, and would be great for Thanksgiving. It was a sticky task forming the dough into balls, but I coated my hands in flour, again resisting the temptation to mix more flour into the dough. The rolls were very soft and almost spreading out from the ball-shape. Take-away: DON'T ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR!

These could be made without a bread machine; after kneading for ten minutes, let rise until double, about an hour. Then proceed to dividing and shaping.

Dinner Rolls

1 C water
2 TB butter, softened plus additional for top of rolls
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 1/4 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TB bread machine yeast, or quick active dry yeast

Add all ingredients in bread machine and set on dough cycle. Remove from pan when done and divide dough into 15 equal pieces (start with three big pieces, then five from each). Shape each piece into a ball and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double, about half an hour. Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.
Heat oven to 375, bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter while still hot.

Strawberry Bread

Here's a different quick bread that came from Everyday Foods a while back. It's one of my favorites. If we buy a ton of strawberries and there's no way we'll eat them all before they go bad, I wash them and cut off the greens, let them freeze in a single layer on cookie sheets, and then bag them up for long term freezing.

Strawberry Bread

5 TB plus 1 Tsp unsalted butter at room temp, plus more for pan
1 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, quartered, and mashed with a fork
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan. In a small saucepan, bring strawberries to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with 1/3 cup water, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in reserved strawberries.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with foil after 45 minutes if top is getting too dark.) Cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges; invert onto a rack. Reinvert; cool completely.

This recipe calls for fresh strawberries, but you can substitute thawed frozen berries. Softened cream cheese is a delicious spread.

Indian Fry Bread (for Navajo Tacos)

photo by Emily Hale

No one in Michigan seems to know what Navajo Tacos are. It must be a western thing...?
The ingredients for the fry bread are so simple, and yield such an amazing product. I was very delighted. Pile them with chili, or beans and meat, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, or honey butter for a sweet treat. This recipe comes from the Hale's, who got it from a neighbor, Marcene Taylor.

Indian Fry Bread

2 C flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 C warm water
1 1/2 C shortening (to fry in)

Combine dry ingredients. Add warm water to make dough, will be sticky. Don't add too much flour, or else bread will be tough. Break off a golf-ball-or-so sized ball and pull out with fingers to form a disc. Fry in heated shortening on both sides until browned. Drain on paper towels. The best fry breads have bubbles and holes, so perfection and over handling is not needed!

Lemon Bread

If Audrey is having a birthday or is baking with me in the kitchen, chances are we are making lemon bread. Her favorite thing to do is grate the lemon zest!

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray one 9 by 5 loaf pan or 4 small loaf pans with cooking spray. Combine and set aside:

3/4 cup milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2. Wisk together in a large bowl:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar

3. In a medium bowl mix together well:

6 Tbsp oil
2 eggs
grated zest from 2 lemons
milk/vinegar mixture from step 1

4. Combine wet and dry ingredients from steps 1-3 and stir until moistened. Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean (large loaf - about 60 minutes; small loaves - about 30 minutes).

5. For the glaze: While the bread is baking, wisk together 1/4 cup sugar and the juice of 2 lemons until sugar dissolves. When the bread is done and still warm, run a knife around the edge of each loaf, prick all over with a skewer or toothpick, and brush or pour the glaze over the bread. Allow loaves to cool completely in the pans on a rack.

This bread does not freeze well, but we like to chill ours in the refrigerator. The small loaves are fun to give away--I buy treat bags at craft stores for a festive presentation (I wrap the loaf in plastic wrap first, then put it in the bag).

Sweet Potato Crescents

I love this roll recipe. I am not usually one who makes a lot of rolls... I find the effort not worth the final product. Until this recipe came along. I made these because my husband on a whim bought canned sweet potatoes and I had no idea what to do with them. I don't usually even like real sweet potatoes. What on earth would I want canned ones for! Now I buy them myself and all because of this recipe. These rolls are soft and buttery and if I serve them for dinner, my kids won't actually eat anything else that I have made. This happened on Thanksgiving Day. They didn't want anything to do with the turkey, stuffing, salads, or anything else, but they each put away 3 or 4 rolls and would have kept going if I would have let them! And as far as rolls go, I think this is a pretty easy recipe. The instructions that came with the recipe are for mixing by hand, but I mix everything up in my bosch and it couldn't be easier. Enjoy, I know you will love them!

Sweet Potato Crescents

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 can (15 ounces) cut sweet potatoes draned and mashed (the cans I buy come in 40 ounces, I usually use it to make 2 batches of rolls)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening (I usually use butter becuase I don't usually have shortening on hand)
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
5 to 5-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter melted

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Beat in the sweet potatoes, sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and 3 cups flour. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; divide into thirds. Roll each portion into a 12-inch circle; cut each into 12 wedges. Brush with butter. Roll up from the wide end and place point side sown 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Well, it is about time I post a recipe. I have loved so many of the recipes everyone else has shared. I have used a lot of them. I thought I should return the favor. This is an awesome recipe! I found it on the internet somewhere a couple years ago. I had to make it yesterday for a shower and it was just as yummy as ever. It is perfect for this time of year.

1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I like to add a little more)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I think that is way too little, I usually go with 1 1/2 cups)

Mix oil and sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and cinnamon. Mix well. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix just until blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 for 25 -30 minutes (This time is for the small loaf pans and it will make 3 loaves)

Sweet Corn Muffins

This is very similar to the cornbread at Austins, a restaurant in Fort Collins. It was the first one we went to on our first visit here, and we loved the cornbread. Theirs has green chiles in it, but this recipe doesn't call for them. Next time I might add a few. I made half this recipe and it made 10 muffins. And I used canned corn, because that's what I was trying to get rid of.


Sweet Corn Muffins

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the honey, eggs and salt. Mix in flour, cornmeal and baking powder. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. Fold in corn. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tops of muffins are lightly browned.

Potato Cinnamon Rolls

photo by Emily Hale

I can't remember a time when Jon didn't more or less demand these sweet rolls from his mom, but it's easy to see why they always come to his mind while visiting the Hales. What makes them so good are the leftover mashed potatoes (make sure they're not garlic-y or cheesy or anything weird like that). To be honest, I'm not sure what the potatoes do for the dough to make these so tasty. Maybe they add texture, moisture, depth of flavor. All I know is that eating them tonight took me right away to the dining table at the Hales after a Sunday dinner and games, the dogs moping under the table. I miss them! (Jon 's family, not necessarily the dogs.) I made a half batch and it made about a dozen and a half rolls. I used pecans, because that's what we had, and a little less than half a stick of melted butter to brush over the dough before sprinkling with brown and white sugar and cinnamon. You can sprinkle as much or little as you like. I like using string or floss to cut the rolls, laying the string under the log of dough then crossing the ends over the top. I made a simple icing of about 4 TB soft butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, powdered sugar and milk to moisten until it seemed right. I'm so glad I finally have this recipe. Thanks Ida!

Potato Cinnamon Rolls
(created by the chefs at Ruby's Deli)

2 C scalded milk
1/2 C shortening
1 C mashed potatoes
2 pkgs. yeast
1/2 C warm water
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 C sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
1 C raisins
7 C flour
cinnamon and sugar
Powdered sugar icing

Pour milk over shortening and allow to cool to lukewarm. Soften yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add to milk mixture with the eggs, sugar, salt, mashed potatoes and 4 cups of the flour. Beat with the mixer until smooth and well blended. Flour nuts and raisins with part of the remaining flour and add to the dough. Slowly add remainder of flour to make a soft dough. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size. Divide dough in half and roll in rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Spread with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up and cut into 1 inch slices. Place on a cookie sheet and cover. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Ice