Pizza Crust

I realized I did not post temp for oven or cooking time in the original post: 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.

Original post:

A savory baking recipe for you today. Pizza crust. This recipe was originally shared on the Reading Rainbow program on PBS. Years ago. My mom started using it then for her own homemade pizza. It's simple and delicious.

The recipe:

1 c. warm (not hot water)
1 to 1 1/2 T. instant yeast
1/2 T. sugar to feed the yeast.

Swirl together and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. This will get your yeast working.

Add...
2 1/2 c. to 3 c. bread flour (you can use all-purpose, but bread really is best)
1 t. salt or garlic salt for a little more flavor

Knead in the last 1/2 c to 1 c of flour. Mixing this with the dough hook on a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer is easiest - allow dough hook to knead about 5 minutes. Allow to rest, covering bowl with a clean towel for half an hour to an hour. Oil pizza pan and your hands well. Spread dough out on pan. Top with your favorite pizza toppings.

Makes one large, thick crust pizza. I used this amount to make the two smaller pizzas pictured in this post with slightly thinner crusts.

Making Baking Healthier: Blueberry Lemon Cookies Revisited

One of my sweet friends just recently discovered I am blogging about baking when she saw my blueberry lemon cookie post posted to my facebook. She immediately tried the recipe out but gave it her own healthier twist. I asked her if I could share the healthier version with you and she agreed!!!

This is a photograph of her blueberry lemon cakes taken by her. Don't they look great???? And here is her recipe and a few words from her too (all noted in italics.)

The recipe

1/2 c. butter (any trans fat free version should work)
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
(Didn't have zest, so...)
1.5 -2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 eggs (could have used 3 whites)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. skim milk
Lots of blueberries

Mine went in at 350 degrees in greased extra large muffin tins. Each had about 3/4 of an ice cream scoop's worth of batter. They probably baked 15-20 minutes. I removed them still warm and covered them with lemon icing (just powdered sugar and lemon juice) My family devoured them! They are extra yummy served warm out of the oven with a fork... Splenda people could also use like 1/2 c. Splenda and 1/2 c. brown sugar and that would still be good with a lower glycemic index.

Thank you so much for sharing, Amanda!!!!! And share again any time. :) Love getting ideas for lighting a recipe. I can't wait to try this one. We have to go and pick some more blueberries!

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

My kids and I LOVE blueberry picking. We went to a nearby patch last weekend and had eight pounds to eat and cook and bake with!

I went hunting for some new blueberry recipes and found this recipe for blueberry lemon cookies on a website I will have to give credit to later because I am not finding it easily when googling the recipe tonight and it is written down upstairs. Anyway,

The recipe:

3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 t. lemon zest
2 eggs
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars; and lemon zest and eggs. Beat well. Add the baking powder and salt. Then add the flour and milk alternating between the two until total amounts are added. Beat well. Gently fold in berries. Drop by heaping tablespoons full unto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes.

These are super yummy and would be just perfect for a brunch. They reminded me of blueberry pancakes and I loved the hint of lemon in them.

So, find a nearby blueberry patch if you live in a place where blueberries grow and get picking!



***Side note: Don't you just love the new cutting board that the cookies are sitting on in the picture? My mom gave it to me - a man sells these beautiful wooden cutting boards at a craft show every year in beautiful Manistee, Michigan.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

My wonderful man's birthday was last week. His mother had already made him his very favorite - carrot cake. So I decided to make a strawberry/rhubarb crisp to eat on his birthday. He's a fan of most things sweet, so he was good with that plan. :)

The Recipe:

Fill a large pie plate with rhubarb cut into 1" pieces and strawberries sliced (about 3 c. of each) that have been mixed with 2 cups of sugar. (you can see from the picture, I used a 9 x 13 dish, if you decide to use that large of a baking dish, consider doubling the following topping recipe, if you really like the crisp part.)

The all important crisp topping -
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
5 1/3 T cold butter

Cut with a pastry blender or crumble with fingers until butter is in pea size pieces. Add a handful or two of old fashioned oats. Distribute evenly over rhubarb and strawberries. Bake at 375 for 40 to 50 minutes - until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Without further adieu, Molasses Krinkles!

The long awaited Molasses Krinkles post. These are a holiday favorite in our family. To give them a more summer twist, sandwich them with a bit of vanilla ice cream.

The Recipe:

Mix thoroughly -
3/4 c. soft shortening - NOT BUTTER
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses

Sift together and stir in -
2 1/4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cloves
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger

Chill dough. Roll into balls (about 1" in size); dip into a bit more sugar. Place sugar side up, 3 " apart on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops of water to produce cracks. Bake just until set but not hard at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Now for some reason, the picture above shows that mine turned out a bit more puffy then normal. They should be a bit flatter cookie. I guess I'll make another batch soon to see if I can get that right. :)

Coming soon...

Happy holiday weekend!

Just wanted you to know - I am baking strawberry/rhubarb crisp and molasses kringles today. I promise to post about them both soon. :)

I started a post on peanut butter sheet cake - if I have a chance today, I will finish it up and get it posted.

Thought you'd like to know, I am still baking - just baking and busy!!!!

This picture is of one of the cookie cakes I made recently to celebrate a new baby boy! Fun, fun. Read more cookie cakes here.

Swedish Pastry and What I've been up to lately...

So sorry for my absence on the blog. I had a couple of busy weeks and I wasn't even baking to be able to blog about it, if I had had the time to blog, which I didn't. :)

I attended the Orange conference in Georgia with a team from our church. It was a wonderful conference. So many new things to mull over, and real encouragement that our church really does a great job of loving kids and loving families. I am glad I am in a place that really great doesn't mean you don't keep working on making it even better. Anyway, all that to say that I was busy preparing to be away and then I was away and now I am home and trying to recover.

I baked Kristina Kregler or Swedish Pastry Tuesday for a brunch at our mom's group. It is one of my very favorite things and I love that, while it is pretty simple, it does take a little bit of technique to make it. I would love to learn how to really make pastry someday - you know from someone who was a professional. For now, I will continue to make Swedish pastry...

The Recipe:

1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
Use pastry cutter to cut together into pea-sized pieces.

2 T cold water. Add these one T. at a time. You will probably need to add more than just 2. I added 5 1/2 T. on Tuesday. You add one T. and toss it in with a fork. You want the dough to come together and away from the sides. Like this:

This was even a bit on the dry side but once I picked it up and put it into two equal sized balls, it worked fine. (Just an fyi, the above amounts and directions are how you mix a pie crust.)

Take each half of the dough and on an ungreased cookie sheet, using the heel of your hand, push the dough into 2, 3 inch strips, that are just about the length of the cookie sheet. (Keep dipping your heel of your hand into flour as you press the dough out.)

Set aside.

Next, in a saucepan, bring to a boil:
1 c. of water
1/2 c. of butter

Take off the fire immediately and add:
1 c. sifted flour

Stir until smooth and add
3 eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. (You may want to get your eggs ready by cracking all three into a juice glass - it makes adding them one at a time that much faster; and get your muscles ready - this is hard work mixing the eggs in)

Lastly, stir in:
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. almond flavoring

Spread this mixture on top of the first (see the previous picture). Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

When cool, frost with:
1 T. butter to 1 c. powdered sugar.
Add 1/2 t. almond flavoring and enough cream (or I used milk) to make the right consistency to drizzle over the top of the pastry. You can make the pastry ahead but do not frost until just before serving because it will get soggy.

Doesn't that look yummy????? Enjoy!!!!!