Kid-Friendly Appetizer: Homemade Pepperoni Bread

Do you remember trying pepperoni bread as a kid? In case you're unfamiliar with it, this dish is almost like a rolled up pizza. Loaded with a delicious filling of pepperoni and mozzarella, it's a big hit with kids-- and adults, too! While you'll find plenty of pre-made options in the frozen foods aisle, why not skip out on the preservatives and artificial flavors and make this stuff from scratch? We took things a step further and even made our own dough. This recipe is easiest to make if you've got a stand mixer, but it's also possible to mix by hand and achieve similar results! Consider getting the kids involved-- this is a wonderful family activity and the end result is a melt-in-your-mouth bread that everyone will enjoy. Read on for our recipe...

Ingredients

• 6 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted unsalted butter
• 1 medium diced onion
• 2 1/2 cups grated mozzerella cheese
• 1 package pepperoni
• dried oregano

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar. Make sure to crush the brown sugar in the bowl so it spreads out evenly.

2. In a separate bowl, combine water, buttermilk, honey, and yeast until dissolved, then add melted butter and pour into the dry mixture. If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. If not, mix by hand, using a large spoon. Stir for about two minutes. Let the dough rest for about five minutes.

3. With a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed, or continue mixing by hand for three minutes, eventually kneading the dough. Adjust with flour or liquid as needed. The dough should be soft, supple, and tacky but not sticky. Add the onions and mix on the lowest speed or again by hand for abou 1 minute until the onions are evenly distributed.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes to make any final adjustments then form into a ball.

5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled, clean bowl then cover with plastic wrap. If you want to save this to finish in the future, refrigerate for overnight or up to 4 days. The dough should double in size. If you want to continue making it that day, let the dough sit out  at room temperature for an hour to an hour and a half until it doubles in size. Punch it (knead it back down for a few minutes) then let it sit for half an hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Dust each piece with flour, then roll them into rectangles. Spread about 1/4 the cheese over the surface of each rectange, sprinkle on some oregano, layer on the pepperoni, then roll the dough up like a rug to form a log. Seal the seam with your fingertips.

7. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper, then place the logs in and place the sheet pans in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans. This should take about 50 minutes in total. The bread is done when it's a deep golden brown and its internal temperature is about 185 degrees.

8. Remove the pans and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes or more before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Creative Baking Recipe: Zucchini Bread

There are so many ways to enjoy zucchini-- and adding it to bread happens to be our favorite! A slice of moist zucchini bread makes a yummy breakfast treat, afternoon snack or dessert. It honestly doesn't get much more simple than this recipe. If you've got two cups of zucchini and a few basic baking ingredients, you're good to go. Read on for this scrumptious recipe...

Zucchini Bread

(makes two loaves)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups zucchini, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup nuts (optional)
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. 

3. Beat in three eggs. Add vanilla, vegetable oil and grated zucchini. If desired, add nuts of your choice-- we recommend walnuts.

4. Pour batter into two greased loaf pans.

5. Bake for one hour. 

6. Allow loaves to cool. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy! 

Breakfast Recipe: Best Banana Nut Bread

Perhaps very little in this world is as good as the smell of a nice, warm loaf of banana nut bread filling a house. The recipe for this treat actually first made its debut in Pillsbury's 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook, and since then has seen many variations. It's not too hard to make, and it's also a perfect way to use up bananas that are perhaps a little more ripe than you'd prefer. It's great served warm, and a slice is perfect topped with a spread like apple butter.  Keep reading below for the recipe...

Banana Nut Bread

(makes one loaf)

Ingredients

• 7 very ripe bananas mashed with a fork
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Prehead the oven to 325F
2. Using a hand mixer or wooden spoon, cream together butter and bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating them in before adding the next.
4. Stir in the vanilla, then the sugar
5. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) to the mixture, then stir in the chopped pecans.
6. Pour the batter into two well-greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Let cool on a rack.
8. Enjoy!

Bread Recipe: Potato Burger Buns

Warm weather means cookouts and of course that means perfect burgers. Where would the burger be without the bun, however? We wanted to come up with a recipe for making our own homemade burger buns to already set up cookouts for success.

For hamburger buns, we've always loved potato rolls. They're so moist, and there's that undercurrent of sweetness that really adds something amazing to a burger. It turns out the secret to perfect potato buns is mashing the potatoes beforehand and mixing them in with high-protein flour. Keep reading below for this fantastic recipe...

Potato Burger Buns

(makes 6 buns)

Ingredients

• 1lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, 1 lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water and a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and add water to just cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through (about 8 to 10 minutes).
2. Transfer 5 tablespoons of the potato water to a boil to cool. Drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until any surface moisture has evaporated (about 1 minute). Remove from heat. Mash the potatoes well. Measure 1 cup firmly packed up of potatoes and transfer to a bowl. Stir in mutter until melted.
3. Combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the warm potato mixture to the flour mixture and mix with hands until combined. Add 1 egg and the reserved potato water. Mix well until the dough is slightly sticky (8 to 10 minutes).
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place on a lightly greased container. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume (30 to 40 minutes).
5. Turn the dough onto a work surface. Only dust with flour if the dough is too sticky to comfortably handle. Pat gently into an 8" square. Use a knife to cut the dough into 9 pieces. Separate the pieces and loosely cover with plastic.
6. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, form the dough pieces into smooth, taut rounds by cupping your hands around the dough and move your hand around in circular motions.Cover the rounds with plastic and let rest for 15 minutes.
7. Line 1 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, firmly press each round into 3 1/2" disk of even thickness, expelling any large pockets of air. Arrange on the baking sheets. Cover once more with plastic wrap and let rise to room temperature until almost doubled in size (30 to 40 minutes). While the rolls rise, preheat the oven to 425F.
8. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake the rolls until a deep golden brown (15 to 18 minutes), rotating halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the rolls fro mthe baking sheets to wire racks. Serve.
9. Enjoy!

Delicious Bread Recipe: Ginger Pecan Pumpkin-Spice Loaf

Who’s ready for fall? When the days get cooler and the leaves start to turn, it’s nice to have some culinary options to embrace the changing weather. This recipe is perfect for those days! As a general note: this pumpkin loaf is equally as good without any pecans or when using only cinnamon and nutmeg, so if that’s all that’s in the pantry, it’s fine—your house will still smell amazing!

Ginger Pecan Pumpkin Loaf

Ingredients

(Makes two, 9x5 loaves)

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 sticks butter, melted
• 2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter two, 9x5in loaf pans

2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda,  and all spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves) together.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin purée, pecans, melted butter, sugars, molasses, eggs and water together until blended.

4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

5. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

6. Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes and run knife along edge of pan to loosen loaf.

Highly Addictive Flatbread Recipe: Rosemary, Potatoes & Goat Cheese

Flatbread is great for so many reasons. You can put just about anything on it and it’ll taste amazing (yay, fridge clean out day!), the dough can be frozen and used in myriad ways later on, and you will feel heroic after making the dough from scratch. Or you can use store-bought pizza dough and feel heroic for being a time saver. Either way you’re a hero. This Potato and Goat Cheese recipe is a win-win, take our word for it and get cooking!

Rosemary Potato and Goat Cheese Flatbread

(Serves 2-4 as dinner; 6-8 as appetizer)

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water; warm, but not hot to the touch
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil

OR 1 lb. store-bought pizza dough 

Note: Using all of the dough doubles serving size. If you'd like to make the serving size listed up top, just use half of the dough you make, and the extra dough can be refrigerated or frozen for later use! 

For the potato topping:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces small yellow potatoes, very sliced thinly (about 5 to 6 potatoes)
• 1 sprig rosemary roughly chopped; rosemary to garnish, to taste
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese
• coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For the Dough:

1. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450º F
2. Sprinkle the active yeast over the cup of warm water. Set aside until yeast dissolves completely. 5-10 minutes.
3. In a mixer (using hook attachment) mix flour and salt, and add the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Keep on a low-medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or until dough is elastic and smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons of flour if dough is extra sticky.
4. Place dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, dray, draft-free place to rise and double in size. Roughly 45 minutes.
5. Uncover and punch down dough, then form into a ball. If not using dough immediately, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the Flatbread:

1. Divide dough in half* and place and roll out thinly, on a baking sheet, in a large rectangle. Brush 1 tablespoon of olive oil all over and pierce the surface all over with a fork to prevent dough from rising.
2.  In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and chopped rosemary with the remaining olive oil. Place the sliced potatoes, herbs and crumbled goat cheese on the dough and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Bake flatbread for 13-15 minutes, or until the dough is crisp, the potatoes are golden and the cheese has melted.
4. Remove from oven and garnish with more rosemary and salt and pepper.
5. Slice and serve immediately.

Creative Dessert Recipe: Ice Cream Bread

So here's a recipe we found that took us completely by surprise. It's an easy bread made with ice cream and flour. Once we heard of this concept, we just had to go ahead and give it a try. After all, it's so simple, why not?

So many recipes call for simply two ingredients: You favorite ice cream (vanilla is a good base, but also try out fruity flavors like strawberry or blueberry), and bread. Most ice creams already have egg in them, and of course there's the dairy, and it already has plenty of flavor, so it would actually work perfectly.

Another way to approach this recipe is to use vanilla ice cream and toss in about 1/2 cup chopped banana, or chocolate chips or your fruit of choice to add some additional variety in flavor and texture. The basic recipe calls for 2 cups of melted ice cream and 1 cup 1/2 flour. Using that as our basis, we decided to do a little extra to pack this bread with flavor. Feel free to experiment with your own favorite flavors (for example, strawberry ice cream with 1/2 cup fresh sliced strawberries would be fantastic). Try to stick with full-fat ice cream, as low-fat or fat-free will leave you with a dry bread. Keep reading below for the recipe...

Ice Cream Bread

(makes about 6 servings)

Ingredients

• 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (if you don't have self-rising flour, use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose plus 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt).
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray an 8"x4" loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together ice cream, sugar, flour, and zest until just combined.
3. Transfer the loaf to the baking pan and smooth out.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick stick in the loaf comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.
5. Remove from the pan and let cool.
6. Enjoy!

Seasonal Recipe: Cinnamon-Spiced Apple Bread

When mornings are chilly and your coffee just isn’t cutting it alone, this apple bread should be your go-to breakfast snack. These are great fresh out of the oven and just as good several days later, packed in lunches or eaten on the go. It comes together quickly and the apples are baked into it, like extra pockets of cinnamon-y goodness—this’ll warm you right up!

Spiced Cinnamon-Apple Bread

(Makes 1 (9x5) loaf)

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups apples, small-medium dice (granny smiths, approx. 2 medium apples)
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350º F and butter a 9x5in loaf pan
2. Mix or sift flour, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, mix the eggs, oil, sugars and vanilla until everything is combined. Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients and incorporate well. Don’t overmix. Fold in the apples so they’re completely covered and mixed in, and place batter in loaf pan.
4. In a medium bowl, combine “Topping” ingredients and blend together. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
5. Bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, around 45-55 minutes.
6. Remove to cooling rack and let cool. Run knife along the edge of baking dish to loosen the loaf. Transfer to serving plate and enjoy.

Easy Dessert Recipe: Chocolate Chip-Studded Zucchini Bread

This is such an easy dessert bread to make it’s insane—and we get not one, but two treats! It might just be us, but we feel really accomplished when we whip up this recipe—it might be knowing what we have to look forward to that gets us going, or the fact that, regardless of whatever else happened in the day, we still made something delicious…either way, it's great.

We love mixing things up a little and surprising our eaters with the zucchini and chocolate chip combo, but you could basically throw anything into this bread and it would taste amazing: apples, pumpkin, banana and chocolate chips…it’s impossible to go wrong! 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Yields 2 loaves

 Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º and grease two loaf pans. (Or line with parchment paper.)
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, sour cream, oil, sugar and vanilla extract for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Batter will be thick.
4. 1/3 cup at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.
5. Gently fold the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips into the batter. Mix until just incorporated.
6. Pour batter equally into both loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before removing to wire cooling rack.