Common Cuisine |

This recipe is decadently good, yet so simple I was able to make it on impulse, with no special trip to the grocery store. It is not a “diet” recipe by any stretch, but I can justify it on a Saturday morning when everyone will be working hard around the house burning energy all day. This also uses less sugar and butter than the original recipe.

Notice the only time consuming step is thawing frozen bread dough. Make it yourself from scratch early in the morning, for a little more love (and sugar) and a little less forethought. “From Scratch” instructions follow the recipe below.

This recipe got me thinking about making my own nutrient-boosted dough from scratch, and freezing it until I am ready to use it. Like many things I do in the kitchen, I don’t think it would be difficult. It just requires a little planning. I will post the results of any research I dig up!

Thawing time: overnight
Morning prep time: 75 minutes

ROLLS:
1 loaf frozen white bread dough
6 Tbsp butter (3/4 stick), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

ICING:
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
dash salt

Set frozen bread loaf in a 13″ x 9″ baking dish. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray, cover loaf, and set in refrigerator. Allow to rise overnight. HINT: Set your butter out on the counter now, so it will be soft by morning.

75 minutes before breakfast time, stir together 6 Tbsp softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Remove loaf from refrigerator; save your piece of plastic wrap. Place loaf on a floured surface and roll to 12″ x 9″. Spread sugar mixture on dough, leaving 1″ empty along one long edge. Sprinkle raisins and nuts over sugar mixture. Then, starting along the other long edge, roll the dough into a 12″ log. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the last 1″, and pinch the edge onto the log.

Using dental floss or a sharp knife, carefully cut the log in half, then in half again. Cut each quarter into three equal parts. Set the twelve pieces on end into lightly greased muffin cups. Cover with the saved piece of sprayed plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375.

Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in muffin cups for a few moments while making the icing.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter and cream cheese together in microwave. Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla and salt.

Remove rolls to a serving platter, and drizzle with the icing. Serve warm.

Makes 12.

OPTION: Place all rolls in a 13″x 9″ dish, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm, directly from the dish.

DOUGH FROM SCRATCH:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Proceed with rolling and spreading processes above.

I recently discovered how much simpler it is to make bread when you make the dough in your bread machine. My machine has me place in all the dry ingredients, then the liquids, and the yeast goes in a handy little spot on the lid. Place the ingredients in the order listed for your machine, and it should still turn out okay.

This recipe takes some waiting, but not a lot of work. Five minutes to measure ingredients into the bread machine, fifteen to work the risen dough into knots, one just before baking to brush on egg wash.

• 3 ½ C bread flour
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 ¼ C cold water
• 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast (or 2/3 envelope)
• 1 whole head garlic
• 1 T olive oil
• pinch of sea salt
• extra flour for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt, to glaze

In bread machine, layer flour, salt, sugar, 1 Tbsp oil, water, and yeast, in the order recommended by your manufacturer. Set machine to dough mode, and set aside to do its job, about 2 ½ hours.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375. Peel outer layers from garlic head, leaving at least one layer around the outer cloves. Wrap entire head in foil and place in oven for about 30 minutes until cloves become soft. Allow to cool.

Pull cloves off the head of garlic, and squeeze the garlic mash into a small bowl. Stir with 1 Tbsp oil until it becomes a paste.

Prepare two baking trays by spraying the bottom of each.

When dough has doubled in size, pull it out of the machine onto a floured surface. Punch down and knead a few times. Divide into twelve pieces. Roll each piece into an 8 inch log. Flatten and spread each piece with garlic paste, then tie it into a knot and set on the baking tray.

Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray, then cover the first baking tray. Repeat with second tray. Allow to rise at normal room temperature for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425. Bake for 15 minutes until knots are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12.

Somehow my children fell in love with blueberries. If anything has blueberries associated with it, they will eat it until their lips and fingers are purple-stained for two days.

I think it may have something to do with the sweet love Grammy whispers whenever she serves them up: You know, your eyes are so blue because of all the blueberries you eat!

There is just something special about the love Grammy adds to whatever she bakes.

• 1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 3/4 C Brown Sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 C Sour Cream
• 1/4 C Milk
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 3 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C frozen blueberries
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 325.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream, milk, and bananas, and make sure batter is well mixed.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture carefully to banana mixture, mixing just enough to moisten all the flour. Carefully stir in blueberries just before pouring into pans, overmixing will turn the entire batter grey.

Pour into 2 greased 9″ loaf pans. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp brown sugar on top of loaves.

Bake 70-80 minutes, checking carefully beginning after 60 minutes. When ready, a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for one hour or until completely cooled. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.

This kind of bread loaf freezes really well. Wrap first in plastic wrap, then in foil, then put the wrapped loaf in a Ziploc freezer bag. Thaw on the counter for about an hour before slicing and serving with butter.

• ½ package frozen dinner rolls
• ½ C sugar
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¾ C chopped pecans
• ½ C packed brown sugar
• ½ package cook ‘n’ serve butterscotch pudding mix
• 1 stick (½ cup) cold butter

Arrange dough balls in greased bundt pan or large baking dish.

Mix sugar, cinnamon, pecans, brown sugar and pudding mix in small bowl. Sprinkle over rolls.

Slice butter and arrange slices over rolls.

Cover with foil and a dishtowel and let rise overnight on the kitchen counter.

In morning, preheat oven to 350. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Invert onto plate, let stand for a few minutes, remove pan.

Makes 18 delicious, decadent, gooey servings.

Actually, my Nana and my mom have both confessed to me they don’t really have a recipe for stuffing. They just put in a little of this and a little of that. It’s comforting to know I come by it honestly.

Anyway, this is Nana’s best estimate for how she would have made the walnut stuffing I remember from childhood, loosely based on the favorite cookbook she has referred to for 62 years, the Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book.

Submitted by Dorothy Goodnough

• 1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped celery (optional)
• 1 lg loaf 2-day old bread, cut into ½” cubes
• 1 Tbsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 ½ tsp poultry seasoning (or about ½ tsp each thyme, marjoram, sage, and savory)
• 1 to 2 cups walnut pieces (or almonds, brazil nuts, chestnuts, pecans, or pine nuts)
• 1 to 2 cups water, milk, cream, or chicken broth (optional)

Melt butter in skillet or pot large enough to hold all the bread. Add onions and celery, if using, and saute until tender. Stir in walnuts and toast for a few minutes.

Add bread cubes and seasoning. Heat until butter is completely absorbed and cubes are toasted, stirring constantly. If stuffing is more dry and crumbly than you like, add a little liquid at a time until it is the way you like it.

Note: When I make this recipe for Thanksgiving, I will use hearty whole grain bread plus a couple tablespoons of wheat germ, probably substitute extra light olive oil for at least a third of the butter, and use chicken broth for the liquid (I love moist stuffing).