Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks

Of Course, I forgot to get a picture of these delicious breadsticks that taste ALOT like Olive Garden Breadsticks,  And who doesn't love Olive Garden breadsticks!! Give these a try!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 - 120 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should be frothy.

In separate bowl, combine flour and salt.

Add to yeast mixture.

Add melted butter.

Mix with paddle attachment of stand mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined

Knead dough for a few minutes just until dough is smooth. Do not over knead!

Grease a cookie sheet. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips. 

Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Once heated, pop in the bread sticks.

In microwave, combine the following:

1 stick unsalted butter (or 1/2 cup margarine)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt

After 6 or 7 minutes in oven, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture.

Continue to bake another 6 to 7 minutes or until light golden brown.

Immediately upon removal from the oven brush the other half of the butter on the sticks

Allow them to cool for a minute or two

ENJOY!!

Emergency Garlic Bread

The other night I made the Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta and I did not have garlic bread, but I had a few hamburger buns left over and so I decided to make my own garlic Parmesan bread and it went perfect with the pasta!  It was super yummy!!

Ingredients:

Hamburger Buns
Butter
Garlic
McCormick Perfect Pinch Parmesan Herb

Directions:

Separate the buns and spread each half with butter.

Sprinkle with garlic to taste

Top off the bun by lightly sprinkling the Parmesan Herb on the bun. 

Place in broiler for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned.

ENJOY!!

Monkey Bread

I love Monkey Bread! I remember making this with my Granny when I was younger!  I decided that I was going to make it on Saturday and to my surprise my husband has NEVER had MONKEY BREAD! I could not believe it.  Needless to say, he loved it!

Ingredients

3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

                   

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease bundt pan.               

If using nuts, place some in the bottom of the bundt pan.

Mix white sugar and cinnamon in bowl. 

Cut biscuits into quarters. Coat 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan.                

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute.

Pour over the biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

ENJOY!!

Chocolate-Cherry Banana Bread

I had some bananas that were getting ready to go bad and I did not want them to go to waste so I decided to make this delicious twist to banana bread today! It was AWESOME! I love chocolate, cherries and bananas and this was the perfect combination of each! It was just like banana bread with a hint of cherry and chocolate.  I will definitely be making this again soon!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp  vanilla

2/3 cup  mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)

8   maraschino cherries, drained and chopped

2 TBSP miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, milk, egg, and oil. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla.

Add sour cream mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).


Fold in chopped cherries, walnuts, and chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

ENJOY!!

Sourdough starter and bread recipe

This bread is so good and it smells AMAZING as it bakes!

To make from scratch:


1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
3 level TBSP instant potato flakes

Using a good quart canning jar, mix water, sugar, yeast, and potato flakes.  Let this ferment on the counter for two days.

Feed starter following ingredients.  Stir well.

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
3 level TBSP potato flakes

After feeding starter let stand on counter top for 12 hours with lid firmly tightened.  You are now ready to make bread.


Bread recipe: 

Mix starter well and remove 1 cup to make bread. Return the rest of starter to refrigerator.  Repeat this process every 3 to 6 days. 


To make dough:
Place the one cup of starter in a large bowl and add:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn oil
1 TBSP salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
6 cups bread flour

Mix into stiff batter ( I use wooden spoon and then hands) divide into 3 lumps (if you want the smaller loaves or 2 lumps if you use the 9x5 inch loaf pans)

Oil a large pan such as a broiler pan and roll each lump in oil and put in the large pan.  Cover lightly with saran wrap, leave on counter for 12 hours.

Next step: Knead each lump on floured surface until no longer sticky to touch.  Put in oiled loaf pans and cover lightly with saran wrap.  Let stand on counter 6 to 12 hours until risen. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake on next to bottom rack for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and check with toothpick. 

If you do do not want to make bread every 3 to 6 days, you still need to feed the starter every 3 to 6 days to keep it totally alive.  When you feed it always keep 1 cup of fed starter in the refrigerator to feed again.  You can either give someone the excess starter or throw it out.  Do not let it accumulate to much. 


ENJOY!!

Easy Cheesy Rolls

THESE ARE YUMMY AND SO EASY TO MAKE!

 Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 TBSP. Parmesan cheese

1 TBSP. dried Basil

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pkg. Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits

Directions:

Combine butter, Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic.

Mix shredded cheeses in a separate bowl.

Separate biscuits into individual biscuits. Flatten each biscuit slightly.

Place some cheese in the center of the biscuit, then pull the sides up and push together to form a ball. Roll each ball into butter mixture and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees  for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 8 rolls.

ENJOY!!

Banana Bread

This Banana Bread was yummy.  I even added some spice (vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg) to the original recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

If you want to add the spices take:

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Add the final 3 spices in the batter.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.


ENJOY!!