Best Banana Pancakes ever!

by Samantha Tingey

Ingredients

For Pancakes

                 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup                  and leveled off

                  2 tablespoons sugar

                  2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

                  1/2 teaspoon salt

                  1 small, over-ripe banana, peeled (the browner, the                           better)

                  1 cup plus 2 tablespoons low fat milk

                  2 large eggs

                  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

                  3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For Cooking

                  Vegetable oil

                  Unsalted butter

For Serving

                  Maple syrup

                  Sliced bananas

                  Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Instructions

   .     In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

         .        In a small bowl, mash the banana with a fork until almost smooth. Whisk in the eggs, then add the milk and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour the banana mixture and the melted butter into the flour mixture. Fold the batter gently with a rubber spatula until just blended; do not over-mix. The batter will be thick and lumpy.

         .        Set a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat until hot. Put a pad of butter and one tablespoon vegetable oil onto the griddle, and swirl it around. Drop the batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto the griddle, spacing the pancakes about 2 inches apart. Cook until a few holes form on top of each pancake and the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top is puffed, 1 to 2 minutes more. Using the spatula, transfer the pancakes to a serving plate.

         .        Wipe the griddle clean with paper towels, add more butter and oil, and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve the pancakes while still hot with maple syrup, sliced bananas and confectioners' sugar if desired.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

by Samantha Tingey

Ingredients

   ▪     1 c. whole milk

         ▪        1/2 c. vegetable oil

         ▪        1 tsp. salt

         ▪        2 c. (10 ounces) tapioca flour (I used Bob's Red Mill -- I found mine in the          gluten-free section of the grocery store)

         ▪        2 eggs

         ▪        3/4 c. Parmesan cheese (get a small block of Parmesan and shred it           yourself... it makes a BIG difference)

         ▪        3/4 c. sharp or medium cheddar cheese, shredded (shred yourself.. just like          the Parmesan)

Instructions

         ▪        Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

         ▪        Combine the milk, oil, and salt in the saucepan, and whisking occasionally, bring it to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from heat as soon as you see big bubbles coming through the milk.

         ▪        Add all of the tapioca flour to the saucepan and stir until you see no more dry tapioca flour. The dough will be grainy and gelatinous at this point.

         ▪        Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (Alternatively, you can do the next few steps by hand. Be prepared for a work-out.) Beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed until it smooths out and has cooled enough that you can hold your finger against the dough for several seconds.

         ▪        Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. With the mixer on medium, beat the eggs into the dough in two additions. Wait until the first addition has been fully incorporated into the dough before adding the second. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

         ▪        With the mixer on medium, beat in the cheese until fully incorporated. The resulting dough will be very sticky, stretchy, and soft with a consistency between cake batter and cookie dough.

         ▪        Using an ice cream scoop, a tablespoon measure, or a dinner spoon, scoop rounded portions of the dough into mounds on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Space the mounds an inch or two apart. Dip your scoop in water or spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

         ▪        Transfer the sheet with the puffs to the oven and bake for 25-28 minutes, until the puffs have puffed, the outsides are dry, and they are JUST starting to color. Do not over bake! Cool briefly and eat.

World's Best Dinner Rolls

by Jessica Skankey

Yields 24

Ingredients

2 c. whole milk (if you’re in a pinch, you can use 2%, but whole is best. Don’t use 1% or skim)

½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 packages active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.), preferably bread machine yeast

2/3 cup warm (105-115-degree) water

8-9 cups all-purpose flour

3 beaten eggs

Instructions

1. Combine milk, 1/2 c. sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm. I usually rub some ice cubes along the sides of the pan or pop the entire pan in a sink full of ice cubes to cool the mixture down because this step can take forever. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
2. While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. If the yeast hasn’t bubbled, you’ll need to repeat this step–moving on with yeast that hasn’t been activated properly will only end in heartache for you and hate mail for us.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 c. flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.
4. Add beaten eggs. Why should you beat your eggs first? Same reason you should combine your dry ingredients before adding them to moist ingredients when making cookies and cakes–it ensures everything is well-mixed and can be evenly-distributed through your dough or batter. If you add the whole eggs, your dough may not be as consistent.
5. Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft–it will be coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still stick to your finger when you touch it. Don’t worry, it will firm up during the rising process. Part of what makes these rolls so good is that they’re so soft and light; if you add too much flour, they will be heavy and dense. Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean towel; allow to rise 1 hour.
6. Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half.
7. Spray 2 9×13 glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces. I like to use a pizza cutter because it has a blade on each side, so it cuts right through dough without sticking to the blade. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like playdough. Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan.
8. Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.
10. When done, remove from oven. Rub a stick of cold butter over the tops of the rolls.
11. Then pop the rest into a bowl and no one will ever know that you cheated.

Notes

1. MAKING AHEAD: We have received tons of comments and emails asking about making these rolls ahead, or freezing the dough, etc. Note that we have never before tried any of these methods so we can’t give you an answer for sure. You can try freezing the dough after they have been shaped (but before the second rise) and you can certainly try cooking and cooling completely and then freezing. Just keep in mind we only make these fresh and eat them hot from the pan so that’s all the info we can give you.

From: http://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/worlds-best-dinner-rolls/

Biscuits

by Chelsy Marriott

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp cream of tartar

¾ cup butter

1 cup milk

1.     Preheat oven to 450 F. In large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork stir just until moistened.

2.     Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for found to six strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat of lightly roll dough until ¾ inch thick. Cut dough with a floured 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary.

3.     Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve warm. Makes 12 biscuits.

Tip: the trick to tender biscuits is to treat the dough very gently. Work it as little as possible when blending in the ingredients.