Cranberry Crumb Muffins

It is December! Time for oranges, cranberries, gingerbread, cinnamon, mmm... I LOVE it!!! Time for baking and listening to Amy Grant sing about the season. We put our tree up on Black Friday, are down shopping, will have Christmas cards out this week, and am baking and delivering my holiday cookie plates this Saturday. I think it will be about 30 this year. Not to bad. Going to make all my favorites toffee, fudge, sugar cookies, peanut butter kiss cookies, and one of Paul's favorites homemade oreo sandwiches rolled in crushed candy canes. I have been experimenting with cranberry muffin recipes. One was cranberry upside down muffins. One was a cranberry orange combination, and one was a cran-apple combo. These were my favorite and they were probably the healthier version. Next, I am going to try fresh cranberries in my waffles. Yummy! I will let you know how that turns out. Speaking of waffles, last year we tried these gingerbread waffles that were yummy...don't forget to try them this season.

Lemon Cranberry Muffins
Source: Eating Well

Put the following ingredients in your cart:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
3 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal,
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (thawed), coarsely chopped

Put your apron on and get bakin'...

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

In your mixer combine 1/2 cup sugar, yogurt, oil, egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Gently fold in cranberries.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and remaining l teaspoon lemon zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.

Bake the muffins about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving

Cheesey Garlic Bread Swirls

Whoa! Where did the week go?! I think I posted on Monday and promised cake pops...oopps. My apologizes. This baker has been busy with orders and classes this week. Never got around to those cake pops. But I have a few great projects that I have ventured this week...can't wait to share them with you! Till I get caught up with life...these cheesey, butterey, fatty spirals of goodness. Once again...from my new Our Best Bites Cookbook. Here is the link to their instructions...

Want these for your Easter meal?

No Wait Breadsticks

I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it again...my boys are bread LOVERS. Heck?! Who isn't?! Another quick and easy bread recipe that doesn't require rising...and they are GOO- OOD (pronounced in two syllablles...) I sprinkle mine with garlic bread seasoning (recipe below) and whatever shredded cheese I have on hand. I saw the idea of stretching the breadsticks and shaping them in a Semi-Homemade magazine.In case you can't tell in the picture...I shaped them into hearts and spirals. I served them in the mason jars going down the center of the table. So...cute...yet easy...and YUM! (Do I overuse the ...?)

No Wait Breadsticks
Source: The Sisters Cafe

Toss the following ingredients into your cart...

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tab. yeast
2 Tab. sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt


Put your apron on and get busy...

mixing your dough! Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in your mixer. Add sugar and let it sit and bubble for a few minutes. Add salt and flour and knead in mixer for about 3 minutes. Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes in the mixer. On a sprayed cookies sheet, spread dough out to cover sheet. Cut to desired width. Then you can twist, keep flat, shape, whatever. Brush with butter and any of the following: cheese, garlic salt, parsley, italian seasoning, parmesan...etc... I use the garlic bread seasoning below. You can roll them out to fit the cookie sheet and they will be puffy and soft. If you prefer a thinner, cruncy breadstick roll them out to fit a cookie sheet and a half.

Preheat your oven to 375. While it warms, your breadsticks will rise for 10-20 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden.

Garlic Bread Seasoning
Source: Our Best Bites

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 tsp. Kosher salt

2 Tab. garlic powder

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. basil

2 tsp. marjoram

2 tsp. parsley

Cheese Muffins

Paul is a bread man. If there is fresh bread, rolls, etc. with dinner, he is already a happy man despite what is really placed in front of him. My boys have inherited this gene. Enter the cheese muffin...savory, not sweet. Thrown together in the mixer in 5 minutes, bake for 20...no yeast, no rising. No preplanning, rolling, no sweat. I hope they change your life like they have changed ours. Thank you pioneer woman!

Cheese Muffins

Source: Ree Drumond... The Pioneer Woman

Put in your shopping cart the following ingredients...

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 Tab. sugar

1 Tab. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups shredded Colby-jack cheese (I use whatever I have...Cheddar, Swiss slices, whatever...)

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter

Put your apron on and get baking...

I mix together my dry ingredients first. Then I add the wet ingredients into the mixer. Mix well. I add my cheese last. Pour into greased muffin tin. Makes 12 muffins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in 375 degree oven. Test one to make sure they are not doughy inside.

Gingerbread Waffles

I got a waffle iron for my birthday in October and since have tried probaly ten recipes for waffles....look out...here they come! What isn't to like about waffles? Hot, fresh, filling, the aroma... And my boys scarf them done no matter what recipe I decide on. I gave them frozen Eggo waffles the other morning when I was rushed and they turned their little noses up at them saying they tasted funny. The boys loved these holiday gingerbread waffles though. They smelled so good cooking!( The waffles that is, not the boys...if clarification was needed.) My house smelled like Christmas all morning. We ate ours with maple syrup, but I also think these would be good with fresh whipped cream.

Gingerbread Waffles
Source: Annies Eats

Put in your shopping cart the following:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
4 large eggs
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and
cup milk
½ cup sour cream
3 tbsp. unsulfured molasses

Put on your apron and...

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk to blend. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, butter, milk, sour cream and molasses and whisk to blend well. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk to combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Preheat a waffle iron, fill each section adequately and cook til golden. Serve immediately.

SUPER Easy Pizza Dough

I have been selling this pizza dough on Fridays for a friend. She is a raving fan. My family never complains on pizza night neither. This recipe is pretty darn simple too. No fancy seasonings, it looks pretty, and tastes like dough from Papa Murphys. (in my opinion). Pizza is a great dinner to just let the kids create. My Ben loves to spread the sauce, make pictures out of pepperoni, sprinkle the cheese... He loves it! This dough also freezes pretty well too.

Easy Pizza Dough





1/2 cup warm water


1 envelope (2 1/4) tsp) instant yeast


1 1/4 cup water at room temperature


2 Tab. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (as Rachel Ray would say "EVOO"


4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting


1 1/2 tsp. salt





Measure the warm water into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand till it is bubbly. (About 5 minutes). Add the rest of the water, (room temp) and the olive oil to the big measuring cup and stir.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed and slowly add the water/oil/ yeast mixture. Switch the attachments...that is...put on dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and well mixed. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for up to 2 hours until it is double in size.

To bake, place your pizza stone in the oven while it preheats. Heat oven to 500 degrees. I don't have a pizza stone and just use a pizza pan...it works just fine. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in two. This makes enough for two big pizzas. Cover two dough balls and let them rest on work surface for about ten minutes but no longer than 30.

Working with one piece of dough, form it into your pizza circle. I form mine right on the pan. (Spray your pan or dust with flour) Top as desired. Bake till golden brown 8 to 12 minutes. Make second pizza or freeze that ball of dough for next time!

Aunt Niecey's Rolls

My family is a little set in our ways. Why try anything new if you already have the best? Roll recipe that is... I am talking about years and years of my Aunt Denise baking her de-li-cious homemade, melt in your mouth, always fluffy, and amazing crescent rolls. Rolls are her assignment for EVERY family event. And they always steal the show. My husband can eat like 6 of them with his dinner...it is quite the feat. After trying to find MY own perfect roll recipe (none compare) I gave up and called my Aunt "Neicey" for her recipe. Want to know the secret? They are Lion House Rolls. To learn all about The Lion House check it out here. They are famous for their recipes. This recipe requires time...two separate times for the dough to rise. But it is SOOO worth it. Look out here they come...

Aren't they beautiful. AND... I offer these rolls anytime for friends and customers. Check out the weekly menu tab. A dear friend of mine Paula Dean told me you can freeze freshly made rolls, pull them from the freezer a few hours before meal time, and warm them up in the oven. SHE would never steer you wrong. Sure enough...I tried it and WOW! Tastes exactly like freshly made,-slaved-over-the-stove -all -day- rolls. Paula, once again, you have changed my life for the better. And... without further ado...here is the recipe...

Lion House Rolls

2 packages dry yeast - if you don't have packages...this is 4 tsp.

1 egg

2 c. warm water

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup dry milk/powdered milk

5-6 cups of flour

Combine the yeast and water in your mixer and let it sit for awhile, five minutes or so until it is bubbly and you can smell the yeast. Add the sugar, butter, salt, dry milk, egg, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat till smooth and there are no butter chunks left.

Add 2 more cups of flour, 1 at a time and beat until smooth. Add still another cup of flour and mix until it is well mixed in. Take dough out of mixer at this point and knead on a floured surface till it is not sticky anymore and it is smooth and satiny.

Gather dough in a ball and put in greased bowl. Let rise in a warm place until triple in bulk. My mom would always put hers by the fire place. Mine go in a room with the door shut and a space heater on. This step seems to take about two hours for me.

On a floured surface, let the dough rest for about 10 min. This lets the gluten in the dough relax a bit and lets the dough roll easier without springing back too much. I roll mine out in a big circle like a pizza dough and cut it into triangles like cutting a pizza. Roll each triangle starting at the short end to the skinny point to make your crescent rolls. You could also do clover leaf rolls by rolling dough into small balls and dropping three into each muffin tin. These turn out really pretty too.

Place on greased baking sheet. I swear by Silpat!!! Brush with melted butter. And let rise about another hour and a half til puffy.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 min. My oven is CRAZY and only takes 9 minutes...so check your rolls early the first time!