Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yummy, yummy. Yes, chocolate chip cookies are a staple in most kitchens.  This recipe is dedicated to my sweet mother-in-law who passed away suddenly one month before my husband and I got married. Her recipe is delicious;the cookie dough is simply mouthwatering. The use of shortening vs. butter makes the cookie dough light and delicious. There were times where I was to go to her house to MAKE cookies and she would text me saying, “Hey, I left cookie dough in the fridge just in case you want to use it.” She was seriously the most giving and kind woman that I knew. Her spirit was inspiring and beautiful; I hope to be half the wife and mom as she was! I have named this recipe Mama Julie’s Cookies and I make them in her honor and to bring a piece of her into my husband’s life.

What you need: 

• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 C. shortening
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1. C. dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. chocolate chips

Needed ingredients

To do: 
Mix together the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, shortening, and vanilla until smooth. Next, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gently, add in to the first mixture. After mixing until smooth, add the chocolate chips. Place on trays. Bake at 350° for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool. The cookies may be flatter than to what you are accustomed; worry not, this is normal! Makes about two dozen cookies. ENJOY.

Cookie dough in the mixer that Mama Julie gifted me

Ready to bake

Final delicious product!

Brought to you by the kitchen of: Rebecca

French Bread

I’m definitely a creature of habit, so as soon as I find a few great recipes, I make them All. The. Time. One of these all-star recipes is from my Traditional Home cookbook for French Bread, which I have given a slight twist to, in order to make it mine. Slather on some butter or honey on this bread and you’ll be in heaven!

Here is my recipe for one loaf of French Bread:

1 cup water

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

One pinch of white sugar

2 tablespoons white sugar

1.5 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 cups white flour

1.5 teaspoons ground Rosemary (optional)

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

• Prep 20 minutes
• Rise 1.5 hours
• Bake 20 minutes
• Ready in 2 h 10 m

1. Heat up one cup of water until it reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and add it to your KitchenAid mixer bowl (otherwise use a large bowl if you don’t have a mixer). Add yeast and a pinch of white sugar. Mix and let sit for 10 minutes or until yeast has become bubbly.
2. Add in the sugar, salt, and olive oil. Then, slowly add in the white flour, mixing on the lowest speed with a dough hook as you go. (To know when you’ve added enough flour, the dough should be slightly sticky, and the rule of thumb is if you can press your finger in it, the indent should rise back up.) Sometimes I like to add ground Rosemary to re-create Macaroni Grill’s famous bread. Totally optional, however.
3. Spray a warm bowl with cooking spray, add the dough to it, spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, and cover with a damp cloth so that it can rise. I like to set my bowl outside if it’s warm and humid – otherwise I heat my stove to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, turn it off, and then set the bowl on top of the oven. Let rise for 45 minutes.
4. Once the dough has risen, poke your fingers in the dough so that it deflates. Re-shape the dough, and place onto the pan or bakeware you’ll bake it on. Cut a few slits on the top so that steam can vent through the bread once it cooks. Spray the top of the dough, and cover with warm damp cloth. Let rise for 45 minutes.
5. Brush the top of the bread with the butter, and transfer to the oven once dough has risen. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

I promise your friends and family will be asking for this recipe. Nothing beats fresh bread from the oven, especially with a nice slice of butter on top. Enjoy!

Brought to you by the kitchen of: Robin

Homemade Cracked Wheat Bread

Growing up, my siblings and I always thought that store bought bread was such a treat and our friends always thought that going to our house was for homemade bread was a treat! What were we thinking? Most the whole world knows that one should always choose homemade bread over store bought. The following recipe is one of the favorites that hails from my mom’s kitchen. Now, I make it in my own!  

What you need: 

4 cups warm water

1 tbsp. yeast

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. oil

4 tbsp. honey

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup cracked wheat (if you don’t have this, you can grind bulgar up)

2 cups whole wheat flour

5-51/2 cups white flour

Preheat oven: 350°F. 

How to: 

Sprinkle the yeast into the warm water. Let stand for five minutes. Next, mix in salt, oil, and honey. Add wheat germ and cracked wheat. Finally, add the whole wheat and white flour. Let rise until doubled. It should look like this before kneading and forming:  

 
After it has doubled, knead the dough and form into two loaves. Let rise again. Then bake at 350° for 25 minutes. When done, gently cover the top of the loaves with butter. Your end result should look something like this:  

  
Homemade bread is always a treat. Now that I am an adult, I realize this. I hope you realize this and whip up a batch of this most delicious cracked wheat bread. It is perfect for sandwiches or just perfect fresh and warm with butter. 

Brought to you by the kitchen of: Rebecca 

  

Breakfast Bagels

So, here is the thing. I adore bagels and cream cheese. Here is the other thing. I had never had homemade bagels. One more thing, homemade is always better. Ergo I decided it was time to conquer these homemade bagels. Since I had never made them before, I need to follow a recipe (tear).  

 Here is the recipe that I used:

1 1/4 cups water

4 1/2 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon instant yeast

4 quarts water

1 cup honey (optional)

Toppings:

2 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

2 tablespoons dried onion flakes (optional)

1 tablespoon coarse salt (optional)

Cinnamon sugar (optional-my topping addition)

 Directions:

•  Prep 30 minutes

• Cook 20 minutes

• Ready in 3 h 20 m

1. Combine 1 1/4 cup water, flour, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, vegetable oil, and yeast in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed using the dough hook until well-developed, about 8 minutes. To ensure the gluten has developed fully, cut off a walnut-sized piece of dough. Flour your fingers, and then stretch the dough: if it tears immediately, the dough needs more kneading. Fully developed dough should form a thin translucent “windowpane.”
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and let rise for 2 hours.
3. Punch the dough down, place it on a lightly floured work surface, and use a knife or dough scraper to divide the dough into 6 pieces (or more, for smaller bagels). Roll each piece of dough into a sausage shape about 6 inches long. Join the ends to form a circle. Repeat with the remaining dough, and let the bagels rest for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange small plates with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and onion flakes next to the baking sheet.
5. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add honey, if desired (see Editor’s Note). Boil the bagels, three at a time, until they rise to the surface of the pot, about 1 minute per side. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Dip the tops of the wet bagels into the toppings and arrange them, seeds up, on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Bake in the preheated oven until the bagels begin to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Now what I learned, one needs to grant oneself grace when it is the first attempt at making something new. A few changes that I plan to make the next time:

1. Let the yeast absorb into the water for five minutes before adding the other ingredients and mixing it. I hope that this will help with the dough consistency. Mine was a little bit too hard for my liking. An important note though for those of you who are used to homemade bread dough, the bagel dough should definitely be less sticky.

2.  Bake the bagels for less than 15 minutes. I think the softer the bagel the better. Plus, they will remain more delicious for a longer period of time.

3. Bake the different flavors separately. This seems like a simple concept but I clearly was either, a) too lazy or b) just not baking smartly, and I baked them on the same trays. Your cinnamon sugar bagels should not have a hint of an onion taste.

All in all, I was pleased with the result. They tasted delicious. I covered most of the bagels in cinnamon suger, one in salt, another in minced onion, another just plain. They were all yummy.

So, I dare you to make these on some lazy Saturday morning. Even though these are time consuming, they ARE worth it.