Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
4 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup mashed banana (2-3 bananas)
1 dark chocolate raspberry bar (or whatever chocolate you want to add. or just leave plain.)

**I often substitute apple sauce for eggs, other dairy or dairy like products for sour cream. I have also halved the recipe because I only had one banana.**



Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar and bananas. (I use wand mixer here and just toss in whole bananas) Add eggs, beating well, then add sour cream and vanilla.

2. Mix dry ingredients. Add to creamed ingredients. Smash chocolate bar with meat mallet in ziplock bag, then mix into batter.

3. Pour into well-greased loaf pan. Bake in 350° pre-heated oven for 1 hour-ish.

Seventeen hour Cinnamon Buns

This recipe comes from my beloved Betty Crocker cookbook that was my Nana Jane's. They don't actually take seventeen hours. It just seems that long while you're waiting for dough to rise when you really want to be eating cinnamon buns. Totally worth the wait. Don't be silly. Just make 2 batches.

1/4 cup warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 cup luke warm milk* (I used rice milk)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/4 cup soft shortening (I used Earth Balance "butter")
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups flour

In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Measure flour by dip-level-pour method or sifting(if you are so anal retentively inclined.) Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and half flour to yeast. I say half because a Polack doesn't read directions well and had to fish out mostly half of the flour. Seriously, who lets me in the kitchen? Mix with a spoon until smooth. Also, may have considered using the wand blender here next time. Add enough remaining flour to "handle easily." I ended up adding all the flour and then a little more.

Round up in greased bowl, bringing greased side up. Cover with cloth. Let rise in warm place (85°) until double, about 1 1/2 hours. Or in my case an hour because I used the warm oven Paddy had just made bacon in. Punch down; let rise again until almost double, about 30 minutes.

Roll dough into oblong, 15x9" approx. Mix 2 tbsp. softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. (Okay, I used about 4 tbsp "butter", 1/2 cup sugar and 3 tsp cinnamon. No one ever complains about too much butter, sugar and cinnamon in their cinnamon buns, right?) Spread all over dough.

Roll up dough tightly at the wide side. Seal well by pinching edges of roll together. Even up roll by stretching slightly if necessary. Cut roll into 1" slices. Place in a greased 13x9" glass pan. Cover and let rise until double, 35 to 40 minutes. (See? Isn't the wait killing you right about now?) Heat oven to 375°. Bake for 20 minutes.

Mix a little bit of milk into a lot of powdered sugar to make the icing. Yeah, eyeball it. You can do it. Frost cinnamon buns while warm. EAT!

Internet ciabatta

In my efforts to learn to make bread this is one of the recipes I have come across that both Paddy and I like very much. The first time I followed the recipe. This time I used rice milk instead of cow's milk, which had no effect. Next time I think I may add some herbs or maybe olives? Oh, and when I say I followed the recipe, I meant ingredients. I always push the rising times beyond what the recipe says to make things as sour as possible.




Ingredients

* 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
* 2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1/3 cup warm water
* 1 cup bread flour

* 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
* 2 tablespoons warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

* 2/3 cup warm water
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 cups bread flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. To Make Sponge: In a small bowl stir together 1/8 teaspoon of the yeast and the warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a bowl stir together yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the water, and 1cup of the bread flour. Stir 4 minutes, then over bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.

2. To Make Bread: In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened; add salt and mix until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

3. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.) Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

4. At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425 F (220 degrees C).

5. Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment to a rimless baking sheet with a long side of loaf parallel to far edge of baking sheet. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone or tiles, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaf with parchment onto back half of stone or tiles. Transfer remaining loaf to front half of stone in a similar manner. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool loaves on a wire rack.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ciabatta/Detail.aspx