Pumpkin Scones

Make these. They are delicious. They are English-style scones, in case you are wondering. I got this recipe several years ago from a friend, who in turn got it from somewhere online. This is slightly adapted.


Pumpkin Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 7 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 6 tablespoons cold butter 
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin 
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half 
• 1 large egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball. 

Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have six triangular slices of dough. (*Side note: I like to then cut the triangles again, so I end up with 12 triangles altogether. The size of scone is much more manageable for my little people.) Place on prepared baking sheet. 

Bake for 12–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Spiced Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 2 tablespoons whole milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1 pinch ground cloves 

Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle over each scone. Tip: Put the cooling rack on top of the parchment-covered baking sheet. Then the icing doesn't make a mess when you drizzle it around.

Pizza Crust

I've been looking around for a fantastic pizza crust recipe, and America's Test Kitchen delivered. It says it takes 1.5 to 2 hours to rise, but I often warm my oven to 200 degrees, turn it off, then put the dough in there.  Rises pretty fast - half an hour or so. I use this to make pizzas, obviously, but also to make stromboli (kids call it pizza rolls). Will write about that in a separate post. Can make a double batch in the Kitchen Aid, which is enough for 4 pizzas or strombolis (regular is, of course, 2).

1/2 cup warm water
1 envelope (abt 2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups bread flour (I use whole wheat), plus more for dusting the work surface and hands
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room-temperature water and olive oil and stir to combine.
2. Place flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proceed with the recipe.
3. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate; it is now ready to use in recipes.

You will ask the baking times and temperatures. It depends on the recipe. If you don't know, bake at 425 until it's done. Yum.

Breadsticks!

So, tonight I wanted to make some breadsticks, but since I hadn't planned ahead very far I needed something that would be FAST. I found this recipe and am completely converted . . . super easy, super fast, super super super delicious. Funnily enough, when I went to post the recipe, I realized that Kristen's last recipe was from the same blog---totally a coincidence, as I had never heard of this blog or checked out her site. Anyway, I highly recommend these breadsticks, and I especially love the method of patting all the dough out onto the pan and then slicing them on the pan. So much easier than the traditional method.

Quick and Easy Breadsticks


1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour
1/4 C butter
3/4 C grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Johnny's Garlic Seasoning (*Note: I always use this seasoning from Our Best Bites)

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet). 
4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape. 
5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier! 
6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the Johnny's Garlic Seasoning all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese. 
7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows. 
8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread (or French Toast!)

It's time I finally share this recipe with you guys, because I've made it for years and it's a hit anytime, anywhere. I got the recipe from Kristi Adamson back when we were roommates and I've adjusted it slightly, but not much. This recipe makes two loaves and it's absolutely best the first day. I often give the second loaf away and it's an easy way to brighten someone's day without much more effort on my part.

If we keep both loaves, we usually plow through a loaf and a half before it dries out too much, and then I freeze the rest and use it to make cinnamon swirl french toast whenever the craving strikes. Absolutely divine! (The slight dryness actually works to your advantage in french toast, by the way.) Really, you must try this. And if you are feeling really crazy, pour some buttermilk caramel syrup over the top and you will be in heaven.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups scalded milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening (minus 1-2 Tbsp)
1-2 Tbsp butter
6 cups flour
-------------
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Soften yeast in warm water. Combine milk, sugar, salt, and shortening. Stir in 2 cups of flour. Mix in yeast. Add rest of flour. Knead 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise one hour or until double in size. Knead again. Cut dough into two portions and roll out. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon; divide in two and spread over two loaves. Roll up and place in greased loaf pans; cover and let rise one hour or until it looks like you need to bake it. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack---but make sure you taste it when it's still warm!

*A note on the baking: You have to really know your oven on this one. You absolutely can't bake it too long or it will get really dry and not be very good, but of course it has to actually be done. I highly highly recommend setting your timer for 15 minutes and checking to make sure the loaf isn't getting too brown. I usually cover it with foil at that point and then finish baking. In my oven, 25 minutes is always perfect.

**Also, I usually make this in a breadmaker so I don't follow these instructions precisely, but just in case you are doing it the regular way, here you go!

Stuffed Breadsticks

Remember that ham from the farewell-breakfast-brunch yesterday? I had some leftover. I also made way too much marinara sauce last Friday for Gary's carbo-load dinner. So, what did we make? Think Magelby's Fresh . . . okay, you already know since it's in the title. Stuffed breadsticks!

I have not perfected this recipe. I will come back and edit this post when I do. But what I did tonight was very delicious, and my kids ate and ate, so I have to share.

You will need:

*bread dough (I used this recipe. Subbed butter for oil. But you could use any you want. Or Rhoades. Try this one, maybe. I will try in the future to make this perfect, but what I did was yummy.)
*cheese (I did some mozzerella and some cheddar. Surprisingly, I liked the cheddar better.)
*meat (Used ham and turkey today. Pepperoni or chicken might be yummy.)
*garlic bread topping (This recipe from Our Best Bites. Or just sprinkle parmesan and garlic.)
*dipping sauce - marinara was awesome, alfredo is great at Magelbys, ranch is a good sidenote

Make the dough according to however you do it, but make sure it is very soft, i.e., don't put in too much flour. If it's still a little sticky it will be so soft for the breadsticks, yum. After the first rise, when it's time to make it into rolls or loaves or pinwheels - don't. Roll it into a big rectangle instead. (I did three separate rectangles because it was easier to work with.) Cut it into smaller rectangles, about the size of what you would use for a roll, but a little more 'cause it's a rectangle, not a triangle. Put some cheese and meat in the middle of each rectangle. Then, take each rectangle and wrap the dough around the filling. Place on a greased cookie sheet to rise, covered. Mine rose about 30 minutes.

Before baking spread some butter on top of each breadstick, then sprinkle on the topping. The Our Best Bites topping was amazing (had that left over, too). We think that's what made it taste like Magelbys. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Serve covered in sauce (like the restaurant), or with some dip. YUM, YUM, YUM!

p.s. I'll bet you could make a big batch of these and freeze most of them. Helpful for emergency dinners or if you don't have a lot of mouths to feed. Also, I'm sure you could put in veggies, but we just had ours on the side.

Scones!

I'm talking about frybread-type scones, not English scones. I have tried a million scone recipes over the years, and they all seemed to be either too time consuming or too rubbery and tough in the end. These, however, are the perfect scones and I'm completely in love. I've made them a few times and they've always turned out well. They're pretty quick, too. I know Rhodes rolls work in a pinch, but these are definitely worth the extra 5 or 10 minutes they take to make.

One recipe probably makes 8 smallish scones. Double it if you're making it for the whole fam. Of course they're great for Navajo tacos or simply with jam, cinnamon & sugar, or honey. Please, if you like scones, give these a try!

Oh yeah, and I got this recipe from a sister in my ward. It's in our RS cookbook.

Quick, Never-Fail Scones

1 c. milk (scald)

1 ½ Tbs. Shortening (add to milk, cool to lukewarm)

1 pkg. yeast (dissolve in ¼ c. warm water)

Combine the following dry ingredients and add to the liquids above – blend well.

2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sugar

Knead 20 times.

Let rise 10 minutes. Roll out to ½” thickness. Cut into squares. Deep fry.

Biscuits!

If you know me, you might know how much I love biscuits. I've never found the perfect recipe, but this one just might be it. I actually did everything wrong because I didn't have enough flour and I halved everything except the liquid (whoops), but I added a random amount of extra flour and baking powder and turned them into drop biscuits instead, and they were still amazing! And that's without using any real measuring spoons, too. Just imagine if I had actually followed the recipe.

I got this recipe here, from allrecipes.com. Instead of shortening, I used all (real) butter. Many reviewers said that half shortening, half butter preserved the flakiness but added flavor. Your call, of course. All I know is that I loved the butter version.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg with milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 20 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Cindy's Rolls

I think Cindy got this recipe from Kris. But they're her rolls as far as we're concerned.

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. potato flakes
1/2 c. powdered milk
1 cube margarine or butter
3 c. hot water (not hot enough to kill the yeast)
2 tsp salt
7 c. flour
2 Tbsp  yeast
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients (only 4 cups of the flour for now). Add hot water and butter. Then add eggs and remaining 3 cups of flour. Mix, cover, and let rise 1 hour. If you don't have a mixer you will need to knead before raising. After raising, form into rolls. These work well as crescent rolls, but are also great as regular round rolls. After forming let rise again, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Makes a whole lot of rolls.

Cindy and I have both used the dough to make cinnamon rolls. You simply roll out the dough, spread with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, roll up, then cut into rolls. Raise and bake the same as regular rolls, then frost when they're done.

Note: I wrote this off of a chicken-scratch I made when Cindy read me the recipe over the phone. I've made the rolls with this paper successfully in the past, but if anyone tells me the recipe needs editing, I won't be offended.

No-fail French Bread

1/2 cup warm water 2 tbs yeast 2 cups hot water 1 tbs salt 1/3 cup oil 5 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. In large bowl mix water, sugar, salt, oil and let stand until lukewarm. Add yeast and stir well, then add three cups of the flour. Mix with wooden spoon until very smooth. Add the other two cups of flour one cup at a time until smooth. Leave the spoon in the batter and let rest for ten minutes five different times, stirring each ten minutes. (total 50 minutes) Turn out on floured board. Divide in two and roll each piece into a rectangle and toll up as if for a jelly roll. Put on greased cookie sheet and allow room. This makes two loaves. Beat one egg white and brush on top and sprinkle with sesame sees or poppy seeds. Cut three slashes with a sharp knife and let raise until double -- 1/2 to 1 hour. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes. Can also use this recipe for breadsticks and brush with butter and parmesan cheese.