Roasted Banana Bread

Flavorful banana bread made from roasted bananas.

Coconut Banana Bread

A moist banana bread with shredded coconut for extra texture and flavor.

Caramelized Banana Bread

Take your banana bread to the next level by baking some sweet caramelized bananas into a scrumptious banana bread.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Swirl Biscuits

Perfectly combine pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese into a swirl biscuit with Mediterranean flair.

Cheddar Bacon Swirl Biscuits

Savory, buttery, and tender bacon cheddar swirl biscuits.

Chai Tea Bread

A quick bread full of creamy Chai flavor and topped with a bit of toasted coconut.

Instant Flour Mix (DIY Bisquick)

Don't we all like some surprise baked goodies? Well, having some instant flour mix around certainly makes spontaneous baking much faster and cleanup easier, and thus, more likely to occur! :) However, you'll find yourself using this DIY Bisquick for much more than just baking. You can make pancakes, waffles, and who knows what else! Plus, you have total control over what goes into the mix. Want whole wheat and butter? You got it! White flour and shortening? No problem!

Not sure where to start? Try these biscuits (Cranberry Brie, Cinnamon Cranberry, Garlicky Cheddar), flatbreads (basic, cheesy), breadsticks (Cheesy Peppered, Cheesy Garlic) or even pancakes!

What are you making with your DIY Bisquick?

Instant Flour Mix (DIY Bisquick)

by CJ Huang

Make this instant flour mix (aka DIY Bisquick) and you'll always be ready for some quick flatbreads, breadsticks, pancakes, or biscuits!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 10-12 cups

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		8 cups		flour	I usually use half white and half wheat.
94 grams	3.25 ounces	1.25 cups		milk powder	I used enough milk powder to make 4 cups of milk.
41 grams	3.125 ounces	1/4 cup		baking powder
454 grams	1 pound	2 cups		butter	Or shortening, but butter tastes better :P

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Cut butter into flour. A food processor makes the process a bit faster. You may want to work in multiple small batches depending on the size of your food processor.
	3. Mix all materials together until homogeneous.

Shared with: Full Plate Thursday, Inspire Me Monday, Artsy Fartsy Party,  BFF Open House, Saturday Sparks, Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Traffic Jam, What's for Dinner?, Hearth and Soul, Over the Moon, Inspire Me Monday, Farm Fresh Tuesday, Wine'd Down Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Homestead Blog Hop, Party in Your PJs, Wonderful Wednesday

Basic Pizza Crust

We had a hankering for pizza and some extra time, so I figured I could go ahead and make a basic pizza crust. I like this pizza crust even though it is so simple and straightforward (or should I say, because it's so simple and straightforward)! Since this is a basic pizza crust, it goes well with just about any pizza, and you can easily customize it when you're making your pizza. Since it does take a while to make the crust, I sometimes like to make enough for a few crusts and then freeze for later.

What's your favorite kind of pizza?

Basic Pizza Crust

by CJ Huang

A basic pizza crust made from scratch and suitable for just about any pizza. Make a few extra and freeze!

Prep time: 60 minutes
Cook time: optional
Total time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 pizzas

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		4 cups		flour	I used half whole wheat and half white.
		2 teaspoons	1 packet	yeast
		1 teaspoon		salt
		1 tablespoon		sugar
	12 ounces			milk, warm

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Form Dry Team by combining flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.
	3. Add in milk, mixing until dough formed. You may need to add a bit more milk or flour to form the dough.
	4. Cover the dough, and let it sit in a warm spot until doubled in size. Freeze for later use or roll out and make a pizza! (Optional - I like to pre-bake my pizza crusts since it results in a more crisp crust.)

Shared with: Full Plate Thursday, Artsy Fartsy Party, BFF Open House, Traffic Jam, Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Handmade and Otherwise, What's for Dinner?, Hearth and Soul, Over the Moon, Tuesdays at Our Home

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Easy pumpkin spice muffins - healthy enough for breakfast, tasty enough for dessert!

Outback Bread

A delightful honey wheat bread with a crunchy outside and a soft and sweet inside.

Garlic Parmesan Swirl Biscuits

Another of my Five Friday Finds, this time from Good Cheap Eats. These biscuits are slightly similar to the Garlicky Cheddar Biscuits - just switch the cheddar for some parmesan and add a swirl! I love these types of recipes, where it looks like it took time and effort, but really, it didn't. Don't you?

We ate these swirl biscuits for breakfast, but you could just as easily serve them as a side to Little Lasagnas. In fact, if you served these biscuits with the Little Lasagnas, you'd be well on your way to starting a muffin tin meal! Wouldn't that be fun?

Whenever I eat something with a swirl like these biscuits (or Hua Juan, for example), I always like to peel it apart and especially taste the fillings/texture of the inside. Tell me I'm not the only one?

Garlic Parmesan Swirl Biscuits

by CJ Huang

Mingling the flavors of garlic and Parmesan in a mouthwatering swirl biscuit.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		2 cups		flour	I used half whole wheat and half white.
		1 teaspoon		salt
		1 tablespoon		baking powder
		1/4 cup		butter
		3/4 cup		milk
		2 teaspoons		garlic powder
		3 tablespoons		Parmesan cheese, grated
				Garlic Parsley Butter, melted	optional

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder, and then cut in butter until homogeneous.
	3. Mix in milk until dough forms, and then roll out in a rectangle.
	4. Sprinkle garlic powder and Parmesan cheese on top, making sure not to forget the edges.
	5. Roll up dough and pinch to seal.
	6. Cut dough into 12 pieces, about an inch wide.
	7. Place each piece in a greased muffin tin and bake until golden brown and delicious, about 15 minutes.
	8. (optional) Brush Garlic Parsley Butter on top of each biscuit.

Hint: Try cutting each biscuit apart with dental floss. It's a lot cleaner and neater than a knife (at least for me)! Plus, you get perfectly round biscuits. Just slide the floss under your roll, where you would cut, bring the two ends up, cross, and pull. That's it!

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

Since I had made some flatbread pizza, I started thinking about breadsticks. Breadsticks always seem to go quickly and they're so tasty! I had made some cheesy peppered breadsticks before, but this time, I wanted something like a less greasy version of the traditional garlicky breadsticks you can get when you order pizza. I have to say, these breadsticks definitely qualified, and, they were tastier too! These breadsticks finished in almost no time at all, especially since I used some of the instant flour mix. I opted to twist the breadsticks so that they would look nicer, but it's certainly optional. If you wanted to bring the twisted ones to a party or gathering, you certainly don't have to tell anyone there how quick and easy these breadsticks were to make!

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

by CJ Huang

Quick and easy breadsticks - a tastier and less greasy version of the traditional breadsticks.

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		2 cups		instant flour mix	Or Bisquick
		1/2 cup		water
		1 teaspoon		pepper
		1 tablespoon		garlic
				red pepper flakes	optional
				cheese, grated	I used Romano.

Methods:

1. Combine instant flour mix and water.
2. Add in black pepper, red pepper flakes, cheese, and garlic.
3. Mix well and roll dough out to about a half inch thickness.
4. Cut into strips about 1 inch across to make breadsticks. At this point, I opted to twist them a bit. You could do the same thing to make them look "fancier" without much extra work!

Bacon Parmesan Scones

Savory Bacon Parmesan Scones - a buttery treat with the heartiness of bacon nestled among the peppery notes of green onion and warm, embracing flavors of cheese and rosemary.

Bruschetta

Chopped tomatoes and onion, mixed with basil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and Parmesan cheese, then piled onto a toasted slice of Italian bread for serving.

Mango Cupcakes

For Bobert's first birthday, we needed to make his cupcake! Talking over flavor options with James, we thought Bobert would enjoy mango. Plus, it's the first fruit he went crazy over when we started solids. Since I was making these mango cupcakes for Bobert's birthday, I only wanted to make a few - enough to test the flavor and have one leftover to give him at the party. (Everyone else ate a different cake. I made Bobert's since it had to be egg-free.) This recipe will make about 3 cupcakes, and you could easily scale the recipe to make as many as you'd like. After tasting these cupcakes, I wish I'd made more! Although it's probably good I didn't. :P

Since these cupcakes are egg-free, they won't rise as much as your usual cupcakes, so I filled the cups a bit more than I would with a typical batter. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes or so, and you'll have some scrumptiously moist and yummy mango cupcakes! Even Bobert agrees.

What's your favorite cupcake flavor?

Mango Cupcakes

by CJ Huang

Make a small batch of these moist and flavorful (egg-free) mango cupcakes - made with real mango puree!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 3 cupcakes

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
45 grams	1.625 ounces	3/8 cup		flour
		1/2 teaspoon		baking powder
		1/8 teaspoon		baking soda
117 grams	4.125 ounces	6 tablespoons		mango puree
		1 teaspoon		butter
		1 tablespoon		sugar

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Form Dry Team by combining flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
	3. Cut butter into Dry Team.
	4. Mix in mango puree.
	5. Pour into cupcake mold or muffin tin, and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

November's Top 5

And it's happened again - another month's gone by. Before you know it, it'll be 2015 instead of 2014!

Since it's December, I thought I'd wrap up the year by updating the five most popular recipes of the year. We'll start with the fifth most popular recipe this week, and then work our way to number one!

But for now, here's the Top 5 roundup for November!

	5. Pesto Swirl Bread Pin It A savory pesto swirl bread with loads of flavor.
	4. Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms Pin It Fill some button mushrooms with a bacon and onion cream cheese mixture to make Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms.
	3. General Tso's Meatballs Pin It Sweetly spicy and slightly tangy, you've got to try this General Tso's in meatball form!
	2. Chicken Tostadas Pin It Try these chicken tostadas - avocado and salsa on top of a crispy, crunchy tostada layered with cheesy goodness.
	1. Baba Ghanoush Pin It A simple and tasty eggplant dip, this Baba Ghanoush requires a mere six ingredients and less than 30 minutes.

Leave a comment telling us your favorite recipe of the month!

Pesto Swirl Bread

With our recent basil harvest (over a pound of just leaves!), I'd made quite a bit of pesto. After seeing and hearing about various pesto pull apart breads, I thought I'd make some pesto bread too. However, I wanted something I could eat relatively neatly on the go. I thought about the swirl biscuits. Why not make a pesto swirl bread? And thus, a recipe was born! You just take a basic bread recipe, and instead of forming it into a loaf, you roll it out and spread pesto on the inside. I used about 3/8 cup per loaf. Then, simply roll up the dough and place it in a loaf pan, seam side down, for the final rise. 45 minutes at 350F, and you'll surely smell the wondrous scent of pesto wafting through the air.

What's your favorite way to use pesto?

Pesto Swirl Bread

by CJ Huang

A savory pesto swirl bread with loads of flavor.

Prep time: 15 minutes + rising time
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes + rising time
Yield: 1 loaf

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
106 grams		1/2 cup		sugar
		2 teaspoons		yeast
480 grams		4 cups		flour	I used half whole wheat and half white.
			1	egg
		1.25 cups		milk
		1 cup		pesto

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Sprinkle yeast over milk.
	3. Combine all materials except pesto, and mix until dough formed.
	4. Allow dough to rise until doubled in volume.
	5. Gently roll out dough, and spread pesto on top, making sure to leave a small margin around the borders.
	6. Roll up dough, and seal seam. Place seam side down, and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

October's Top 5

It's time for October's Top 5 recipe roundup! October's all about pumpkin it seems. From pumpkin bread pudding to pumpkin butter! And since Halloween's over now and pumpkins are on sale, why not buy a few and try out these top picks?

Without further ado, here's the Top 5 roundup for October!

	5. Pumpkin Bread Pudding Pin It Make your Spiced Pumpkin Bread into some Pumpkin Bread Pudding almost healthy enough for breakfast.
	4. Spiced Pumpkin Bread Pin It A moist and flavorful spiced pumpkin bread.
	3. Spiced Pumpkin Butter Pin It Got some extra pumpkin? Make your own spiced pumpkin butter, and sweeten it up with a bit of maple syrup for an additional layer of flavor!
	2. Spice Roasted Butternut Squash Pin It You can't go wrong with this simple and flavorful roasted spiced butternut squash - brown sugar, pepper, and garlic make for one sweetly spicy delight.
	1. Pumpkin Yeast Bread Pin It A simple and flavorful pumpkin yeast bread made with roasted pumpkin puree.

Leave a comment telling us your favorite recipe of the month!