Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day quite like pancakes….said no one…. until now. My daughter wanted heart shaped pancakes for dinner so I told her to make them. We used the recipe for buttermilk pancakes from the Joy of Cooking and spooned the batter into a squirt bottle and this is the yummy result.
Highly recommend for adults pairing it with Irish coffee. Of course the bacon can be enjoyed by all!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’m late to the banana bread party that happened early this Spring but this stuff is good. Really good. My family will eat it for breakfast, lunch, an after school snack, or even dessert. So now you too can make this easy recipe and wow your family and friends.
Banana bread starts with you guessed it, bananas. When the bananas are past their prime I don’t always have the time to make banana bread. So I freeze them. Yes, I put them directly into the freezer brown spots and all and after a while when they are good and frozen the bananas will look a lot like this.
When I decide to make banana bread I usually double the recipe so I can make one loaf to eat right away and another loaf to either give to someone else or freeze for another day. So the following recipe will make two loaves but you can divide it in half and just make one if you so choose.
The process is not pretty. Frozen bananas are ugly and slimy but oh so necessary for banana bread. Take the 6 bananas out of the freezer and let them defrost for an hour or so in a bowl. Put them in a bowl or they will eventually leak all over your counter. You’re welcome for that small tip.
Cut open the bananas. I use a pair of scissors for this. As you peel the skin off the banana hold it over the bowl you want to mix it in. They are a squishy mess at this point and will likely fall into the bowl. If Obviously throw the empty skins away. I’m sure there is something out there telling us what can be done with banana skins but this is not that blog. Once you have peeled all your bananas mix them well. I use a Kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment.
When the bananas are well mixed add 2 cups of granulated sugar, mix again until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle, mix again briefly and then add 1 cup of oil. I use coconut oil but canola or another neutral oil will work as well. Mix again until the oil is mixed in and not floating on the top.
Add 4 eggs and mix well. Scrape the sides of the bowl and paddle and mix again before adding 6 TBSP of milk and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. I don’t think it’s important which type of milk is used. Regular, 1%, almond milk, whatever type of milk you have in the fridge will work. If someone tries buttermilk in this recipe let me know how it goes. Mix again.
Add 2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of salt, and 4 cups of all purpose flour. Mix again. If up to this point you have ignored my advice to scrape the sides of the bowl and paddle attachment right now is when you should listen to me. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle, making sure that you get all the way down to the bottom of the bowl because you want everything to combine together.
Use a non-stick spray to coat the insides of two loaf pans before you evenly pour the batter into the pans.
Bake on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 350 for an hour.
Check to see if it is done by using a long toothpick and poking it in the center of the bread on the top. If the toothpick comes out dry you are good to go. Otherwise if it is still gooey bake for an additional 5-10 minutes and then check again.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before you slice it. These freeze really well and can be made in smaller mini loaf pans. If you use a smaller loaf pan start checking to see if the bread is done after 40 minutes.
Friday night is pizza night. These mini pizzas are just a few of the ways you can personalize your own pizza using this versatile French bread recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups unbleached flour ( I use King Arthur’s bread flour)
1/2 tsp salt (kosher or regular iodized is fine)
1 cup warm water
1 package of rapid rise yeast (or 1 TBSP of instant dry yeast, either will work)
1 1/2 tsp of sugar or honey
Put the yeast, warm water *important only warm not hot*, and sugar ( or honey) in a mixing bowl. I use a Kitchen aid mixer. Use the dough hook attachment to briefly mix the ingredients, maybe 30 seconds or so. You could also use a wooden spoon at this point but I just use the dough hook.
After you’ve briefly mixed it, stop the mixer and use a kitchen towel to cover the bowl. I leave the dough hook attached because it will be used again in 20 minutes. This break allows the yeast, sugar, and water mixture to bubble.
After 20 minutes the mixture will be bubbly and a bit thicker. At this point remove the towel and add the salt. Then mix for just 10 seconds or so.
Add the 3 cups of flour to the bowl and begin mixing it on a low speed still using the dough hook attachment.
After maybe 30 seconds or so increase the speed to 2 and add water to the measuring cup already used for water earlier. Tap water is fine, it doesn’t need to be warm. Pour the water a little bit at a time into the bowl of dough while it is mixing. The goal is to make the dough a little bit wetter without leaving any residual water at the bottom of the bowl. So you most likely will add about 1/2 a cup of water total before the dough is the consistency that you want.
So what kind of consistency do we want? Sticky yet starting to clean the sides of the bowl at the top. If you’ve made other dough from scratch like those for cinnamon rolls, this dough is not going to feel or look smooth and elastic like that type. Mix it for 2-3 minutes max at level 2 speed going no higher than 4. While it is mixing get a large bowl and coat the inside with olive oil.
After you have tilted the bowl in all directions to distribute the olive oil up the sides of the bowl there will still be a puddle of oil at the bottom of the bowl. I have not measured how much olive oil I pour in but I will guess that it is less than 1/4 a cup.
Turn off the mixer, use a plastic scraper to scrape back into the mixer the dough clinging to the hook. Scrape the dough out of the bowl directly into the oiled bowl. You can use your hands or use the scraper to flip the dough completely over in the bowl so that it comes in contact with the oil on each side.
Remember that towel? Briefly get it wet, just ball it up and wave it underneath warm water from the faucet. Not dripping wet just a little damp. Now use it to cover the bowl with the dough. Let the bowl sit covered for about an hour to let the dough rise.
After an hour the dough should fill the bowl and may be touching the bottom of the towel that is draped over it. Take off the towel and the dough is ready to use.
If you are making pizza preheat the oven to 450, if you are baking bread preheat the oven to 400. While the oven is preheating sprinkle some all purpose flour on the clean surface that you will use to roll out the dough. The countertop that I use is quartz and does not require alot of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter as I roll it out. In our old kitchen with the laminate countertops, I needed to use more flour on the surface to keep it from sticking. Start by using part of a 1/4 cup of flour and see how much of it you need.
If you are making pizza or loaves of bread spray your pans with a non stick spray and set aside.
My family has gotten spoiled with mini pizzas. Everyone can choose their own toppings and everyone is happy. Grab a handful of dough from the bowl and put the lump of dough on the floured surface. Using a marble rolling pin or a floured wooden rolling pin start rolling the dough out into a circular shape. I have a double sided hand held mini roller that I bought years ago from Pampered Chef and this tool is very useful making the mini pizzas. Once you have the dough in the size and shape that you want place it onto the prepared pan and it is ready to be topped however you like. Repeat until you use up the dough.
In the beginning it’s kind of hit or miss in terms of judging the size of dough ball to roll out. You might end up with a thicker or thinner crust depending on how much dough is used and how thin or thick you roll it out. No worries! It all bakes the same, start by setting the timer for 12 minutes if your pizzas are especially thin. In general we bake ours for 12-15 minutes depending on their thickness.
Enjoy!
If you decided to bake bread instead, make your bread into the shape that you want and let it rise in the pan for 20 minutes covered with the same towel that you used before. Uncover and bake at 400 for 25 minutes and presto, you have freshly baked bread.
I typically double the recipe so that I can get either two full size loaves of bread, 10-12 mini pizzas, or a combination of these options. The dough can also be used to make stromboli, mini calzones, or a sausage roll. I bake the sausage roll or stromboli using the directions for the bread and the calzones I bake for 15-20 minutes at 400.
Give it a try and you will be surprised at how easy it is. Happy baking!
Look at that! I bet you want to know how my biscuit looks that beautiful. No secrets here. I just followed my Grandpa Oliver’s advice, if you can read you can cook.
I got the best biscuit advice from two different sources, Chrissy Teigen and Reese Witherspoon.
Chrissy’s contribution was the emphasis on cold butter. Not just butter that was cold, then cut up and left on the counter. Not good enough. Put that cut up butter back in the fridge until it is COLD and you are ready to use it within seconds. I tried it this way and combined with the advice from Reese, I’d say we have a winner.
I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of this but to have layers in your biscuit you need to make layers in your dough. Thanks Reese! Roll out the dough so it is about an inch thick, then fold the dough in half and roll it out again. Repeat this rolling and folding. I probably did it four times. The last time you roll the dough out, roll it so it is about half an inch thick.
Cut the biscuits out in a straight up and down motion. Don’t twist the biscuit cutter!
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet right next to the edge of the pan and right next to each other so they are touching. I had not ever heard of this but it makes sense. The biscuits will rise taller instead of spreading out wider if they don’t have room on the sides to expand. Apparently biscuits are very supportive of each other.
Keep gathering the scraps of dough and re rolling until there really isn’t enough dough to make another biscuit. Here is the last piece of advice …use that little bit of leftover dough to roll with your hands into a snake shape. Put that bit of dough next to the biscuits on the pan that don’t have any other biscuit friends to support them on their sides.
I didn’t have time to get a photo of the freshly baked pan of biscuits before they were devoured. The only proof I have is the photo of these remaining three biscuits.
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