Cornbread

Cornbread
Source: Pennies & Pancakes (This site is awesome!!!)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil*
1 egg
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar and baking powder together.
3. Lightly beat egg.
4. Add egg, oil and milk to dry mixture. Mix until batter is smooth and there are no more lumps.
5. Pour batter into lightly greased muffin tins and bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly golden.

Makes approximately 12 muffins.

******

This is a perfect cornbread. No more Jiffy cornbread mix for me!

Pizza/Calzone Dough

Pizza/Calzone Dough
Source: The Kitchen

1-1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. salt

1. Combine the water and yeast in mixing bowl, and stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. The mixture should be light brown and milky.
2. Add in salt and flour. Using a stand mixer, mix the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough should be tacky but not stick to you like gum. If it does, then add a pinch of flour at a time until it no longer sticks to you and is just tacky to the touch.
3. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let dough rise for about an hour and a half. It will double in size.
4. Divide dough. You can make two pizzas with this batch.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
6. Stretch dough out to approximately a 10-inch round pizza on a pan. If dough starts to shrink back, let it rest about 5 minutes and then try again. Brush the edge of the crust with EVOO. Top with sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until the crust starts to brown and then slide off of pan and bake and additional 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom of the pizza.
7. Remove from oven and eat once cool enough to enjoy.

Makes 2 (10-inch) pizzas.

*****

This recipe was orignally supposed to be for two thin crust pizzas. I had doubled the recipe - to the above amounts - and made two regular pizzas. The crust was perfect. Not too thick, and not too thin.

This pizza crust was declared a winner. My husband and myself both enjoyed this pizza crust much more than the previous recipe we have been using. It does require more planning since you need to let the dough rise and possibly rest, but it's definitely worth it. You can refrigerate this dough for up to three days before using (after letting it rise), and you can also freeze the dough. I prefer to make the pizzas and then freeze them before baking, if I'm going to freeze something pizza related.

Here are the two pizzas that I made last night: Turkey pepperoni and a buffalo chicken pizza. Yummy!!!

Freezer Biscuits

Freezer Biscuits
Source: Money Saving Mom

4 cups flour (I used all purpose)
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening, butter, coconut oil, or FF plain yogurt (I used butter)
1 to 1-3/4 cup milk (I used 1 cup)

Mix dry ingredients together. Add in the shortening or butter and mix until crumbly. (You can use a KitchenAid or food processor to save time and effort). Add in the milk and mix until a ball forms. (Not a wet sticky dough.)

Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuits. (I rolled mine out and cut it with a pizza slicer. You can also roll the dough out and cut into biscuit shapes. Reroll the dough and cut again.)

To Freeze: Freeze on a cookie sheet for 1-2 hours. Then remove and place in a airtight freezer bag.

To Bake: Pull the desired number of biscuits out and let thaw for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes. You can bake them straight from the freezer but they won’t rise much. (Bake right away at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes if baking from fresh.)

Makes 24 biscuits.

*****

Okay, I actually made these biscuits twice. The first batch I messed up somehow, but my husband and son stilled loved them and gobbled up the half batch that I baked.

The second batch I made with room temperature butter, and 1 cup of milk that was treated with vinegar to be used as a buttermilk substitute. The second batch turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

I might try using shortening the next time I make them to see how they turn out. That's if I can convince myself to buy some shortening since it's soy based and I avoid soy products as much as possible.

Easy (Make Ahead) Garlic (Cheesy) Bread

We LOVE garlic cheesy bread. Problem is that we've been buying the premade frozen garlic cheesy bread at $3-$3.50/loaf of bread. That adds up and kills the grocery budget over time.


Easy (Make Ahead) Garlic (Cheesy) Bread
Source: Life As A Mom

1 large loaf bread, sliced lengthwise
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened
2 tsp. minced garlic (jarred, or two cloves minced)
1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
*Shredded mozzarella cheese (if making cheesy bread)

Mix butter, garlic and parsley flakes together. Spread in a thick layer onto bread. If making cheesy bread, add a thin layer of shredded mozzarella cheese and flash freeze*. *If just making garlic bread, you don't have to flash freeze before proceeding. Place the two sides of the bread together (making it whole again) and wrap tightly with foil.

To cook from fresh or thawed out: Bake at 375* for 25 minutes (wrapped in foil still if only garlic bread. If cheesy bread, open foil and lay bread side by side on baking sheet and bake until cheese is melted and bread starts to crisp - I'm not sure how long that will take at this temperature).

To cook from frozen: Bake at 375* for 35-40 minutes (wrapped in foil), or if making cheesy bread, unwrap and place bread side by side on baking sheet and bake at 400* for 9-15 minutes until cheese is melted and bread is starting to brown/crisp on edges.

*I always make ours and then cook at 400* for about 10-15 minutes. When freshly made, it takes about 10 minutes to start becoming crisp on the edges and when frozen, it takes about 15 minutes.