Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold



Gather your ingredients: Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside. In a large bowl — I like to use a very wide one, so I can get my hands in — whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Get out your pastry blender.
Make your mix: Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with the pastry blender, using it to scoop and redistribute the mixture as needed so all parts are worked evenly. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop. Even if it looks uneven.
Glue it together: Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You’ll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula, take it out and get your hands in there. Gather the disparate damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.

Pack it up: Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out.
Do ahead: Dough will keep in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer longer. If not using it that day, wrap it in additional layers of plastic wrap to protect it from fridge/freezer smells. To defrost your dough, move it to the fridge for one day before using it.


Makes 2 single crusts or 1 double crust


Source: Smitten Kitchen

Classic Pretzels

1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups room-temperature water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons non-diastatic malt powder or sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/2 to 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Mix the sugar, water and yeast; stir to dissolve. (If you're using instant yeast, skip this step, simply combining all of the ingredients at once.) Add the white wheat flour, malt, salt, and enough unbleached flour to make a soft (but not sticky) dough. Knead well, place in a bowl, and let rise till doubled.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a log, and shape the logs into pretzels. In a large pot, boil together 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons baking soda. Put 4 pretzels at a time into the boiling water, and cook for 1 minute. Transfer boiled pretzels to a lightly greased baking sheet.

When all the pretzels have been cooked, paint them with an egg glaze (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with salt or seeds (if desired), then bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pretzels are well-browned.  Yield: 16 soft, chewy pretzels.

Source: King Arthur Flour

Butterscotch Bundt Rolls

18 frozen dinner rolls
1 (3 ounce) package butterscotch pudding (NOT instant)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter

Arrange frozen rolls in a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle pudding, brown sugar, and pecans over rolls. Drizzle butter over all. Cover bundt pan with a dish towel, plastic wrap, or waxed paper and let rise at room temperature overnight or about 12 hours. Remove dish towel. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before inverting to a serving plate. Serve warm.

Makes 18 rolls

Source: The Essential Mormon Cookbook

Whole Wheat Quick Bread

1 egg, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons molasses or honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, molasses or honey, and butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir well; add to first mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 to 50 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool slightly, then turn out of the pan onto a wire rack. Slice while warm.

Makes 1 loaf

Source: Essential Mormon Celebrations

Garlic Bread Spread

1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 cube butter, very soft
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, the powdered stuff
1 clove garlic
Fresh parsley
Loaf French bread, halved horizontally

Mix altogether in small bowl. Spread mixture on loaf halves. Wrap foil around bottom and sides of halves so edges won't burn. Bake at 350 for 1/2. If not lightly browned after 30 minutes, turn oven to broil and watch bread until it turns light brown.

Source: Mosley Family Favorite

Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted and brought to room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 square baking pan.

Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in small bowl; mix well. Add flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.

Source: Albers Yellow Corn Meal box

Pizza Dough

2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast 
7/8 to 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water* 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
 *Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

1) If you're using active dry yeast, dissolve it, with a pinch of sugar, in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step.

2) Combine the dissolved yeast (or the instant yeast) with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a soft, smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. Don't over-knead the dough; it should hold together, but can still look fairly rough on the surface.

3) To make pizza up to 24 hours later, skip to step 5.

4) To make pizza now: Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise till it's very puffy. This will take about an hour using instant yeast, or 90 minutes using active dry. If it takes longer, that's OK; just give it some extra time.

5) To make pizza later: Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate the dough for 4 hours (or for up to 24 hours); it will rise slowly as it chills. This step allows you more schedule flexibility; it also develops the crust's flavor. About 2 to 3 hours before you want to serve pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator.

6) Decide what size, shape, and thickness of pizza you want to make. This recipe will make one of the following choices: Two 1/2"-thick 14" round pizzas (pictured); Two 3/4"-thick 12" round pizzas; One 3/4" to 1"-thick 13" x 18" rectangular (Sicilian-style) pizza (pictured); One 1 1/2"-thick 9" x 13" rectangular pizza; One 1"-thick 14" round pizza.

7) Divide the dough in half, for two pizzas; or leave it whole for one pizza.

8) If you're making a rectangular pizza, shape the dough into a rough oval. For a round pizza, shape it into a rough circle. In either case, don't pat it flat; just stretch it briefly into shape. Allow the dough to rest, covered with an overturned bowl or lightly greased plastic wrap, for 15 minutes.

9) Use vegetable oil pan spray to lightly grease the pan(s) of your choice. Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of the pan(s). The pan spray keeps the pizza from sticking; the olive oil gives the crust great flavor and crunch.

10) Place the dough in the prepared pan(s). Press it over the bottom of the pan, stretching it towards the edges. You'll probably get about two-thirds of the way there before the dough starts shrinking back; walk away for 15 minutes. Cover the dough while you're away, so it doesn't dry out.

11) When you come back, you should be able to pat the dough closer to the corners of the pan. Repeat the rest and dough-stretch one more time, if necessary; your goal is to get the dough to fill the pan as fully as possible.

12) Allow the dough to rise, covered, till it's noticeably puffy, about 90 minutes (if it hasn't been refrigerated); or 2 to 2 1/2 hours (if it's been refrigerated). Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F.

13) Bake the pizza on the lower oven rack till it looks and feels set on top, and is just beginning to brown around the edge of the crust, but is still pale on top. This will take about 8 minutes for thinner crust pizza; about 10 to 12 minutes for medium thickness; and 12 to 14 minutes for thick-crust pizza. If you're baking two pizzas, reverse them in the oven (top to bottom, bottom to top) midway through the baking period.

14) To serve pizza immediately: Remove it from the oven, and arrange your toppings of choice on top. Return to the oven, and bake on the upper oven rack for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned, both top and bottom, and the cheese is melted. Check it midway through, and move it to the bottom rack if the top is browning too much, or the bottom not enough.

15) To serve pizza up to 2 days later: Remove the untopped, partially baked crust from the oven, cool completely on a rack, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature. When ready to serve, top and bake in a preheated 450°F oven, adding a couple of minutes to the baking times noted above. Your goal is a pizza whose crust is browned, and whose toppings are hot/melted.

16) Remove the pizza from the oven, and transfer it from the pan to a rack to cool slightly before serving. For easiest serving, cut with a pair of scissors. Source: King Arthur Flour

Cream Biscuits

3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter in a small pot or microwave dish, and set aside. Sift two cups flour, the baking powder, salt and (if using) sugar into a large bowl. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream. If the dough is not soft or easily handled, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup cream, little by little. (I ended up using two additional tablespoons, or half the unused cream.)
Turn dough onto a floured surface, mound it into a ball and, using your hands, press it to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds, 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Gather dough scraps and continue to make rounds. Dip the top of each round in melted butter and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately, or flash freeze for future use. [Biscuits can be baked straight from the freezer, and additional few minutes baking time will be needed, usually around 3 to 5.]

Makes 10-12

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Glazed Cheese Croissants

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup small-curd cottage cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling dough
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Sugar Glaze (see below)
• 
  
• In a medium bowl, combine butter, cottage cheese, flour, and salt. Shape into a disk, and wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a well-floured surface, roll dough out to a 14-inch circle. Cut circle evenly into 8 triangles. Roll each triangle up, from wide end to tip, turning ends of roll in to form a crescent shape. Place croissants 3 inches apart on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.Transfer to wire rack. Cool 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make Sugar Glaze: In a glass measuring cup, add 2 teaspoons milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls to 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, stirring until glaze is of a drizzling consistency. It should be thin enough to pour while still thick enough to coat croissants. Drizzle over croissants. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature. Store at room temperature in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

Makes 8 

Source: Everyday Food

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Chocolate chips to taste

Mix together. Place in greased and floured bread pans. Bake at 350 until knife comes out clean.

*replace oil with applesauce if you are counting calories

Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
2 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 375.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with muffin-cup liners. This recipe won't work without them. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with sour cream until thoroughly combined. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together butter and brown sugar, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then beat this mixture into egg mixture. Stir in oats.

Fold in flour mixture and then--very gently--fold in berries. Fill muffin cups about three- quarters full sprinkle a pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake for 21-26 minutes, or until the edges are medium brown and tops are firm. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins and finish cooling on rack.

Makes 24

Source: Wondertime Magazine