A soft and fluffy homemade cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting on top Yield: 

12 large rolls Ingredients: 

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 cup gluten
4-5 cups all-purpose flour, divided*

Filling Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (not too hot)
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Instructions: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine and stir ingredients in order listed, adding about 3-4 cups of flour. Knead dough and add additional flour as necessary to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead dough for 5-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

2. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease both sides, and cover with a clean towel. Set dough in a warm place to rise until double in size. If you have a bread machine, you can use the dough setting in place of steps 1 and 2 here.

3. Punch dough down and then cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes. If using raisins, boil them for a few minutes in some water, then drain. (This makes softer, plumper raisins.)

4. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 20 inches. Spread with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle raisins over, if using.

5. Roll dough into a log, starting at the longest side of the rectangle. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Slice into 12 slices. We use a clean strip of dental floss for this step. Just slip the floss under the dough and bring both ends up, crossing over the top and pulling tightly in opposite directions to cut the dough.

6. Place the rolls, cut side down, in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 20-30 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

7. Bake rolls in a pre-heated oven; if using a glass baking dish, bake at 350 degrees; if using a metal baking dish bake at 375 degrees. After 15 minutes of baking, lay a piece of foil loosely over the tops of the rolls, to prevent them from getting too browned on top. My rolls usually take at least 18-20 minutes; check the rolls (I check in the middle, between rolls) for doneness before removing from oven. 🙂

8. After taking dish from oven, cool rolls on a wire rack. If you wish to eat them warm, you can spread frosting on them while they’re still in the dish. 🙂

9. To make the frosting, cream butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Mix in vanilla and then powdered sugar.

These home-baked bagels are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and great with cream cheese or butter! Yield: 

8-12 bagels Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups warm water (112-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt 
4 1/4 cups bread flour
8 cups of water, for boiling
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Additionally, you can add one of the following (or be creative and come up with your own delicious addition to the recipe!):

cinnamon and/or raisins
poppy seeds
onions or garlic
sesame seeds Instructions: 

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.

2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour.

3. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.

4. Punch dough down (if making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now — knead just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough). Divide and shape into 12 balls. (For larger bagels, make only 8 balls.) Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.

7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, turning once half-way through baking. (If making plain bagels, you can flip the bagels; otherwise, just rotate.) Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A slightly sweet, healthy half-whole-wheat bread — our #1 favorite wheat bread recipe! (Scroll down for instructions on making this a 100% whole wheat loaf!) Yield: 

1 loaf Ingredients: 

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see additional notes for a 100% whole wheat version)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast (active dry yeast will work also;

Instructions: 

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

This recipe also makes very delicious 100% whole wheat bread. The bread in this picture was made with Prairie Gold hard white wheat. Follow the recipe as written above, adding these dough conditioning ingredients to this recipe for better texture and softness:

• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (replace 3 tablespoons of the flour called for in the recipe with this)
• 1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (we use granules of lecithin, and add it to the water at the beginning)
• a pinch of citric acid (use sparingly!!)
• a sprinkling of ginger

You could also purchase pre-mixed dough conditioners, which contain some of these ingredients but are more costly. We found our citric acid, soy lecithin, and wheat gluten at a bulk foods store. A little goes a long way!

A fluffy butter mixture that’s easily spreadable Yield: 

2 cups Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water, at room temperature Instructions: 

1. Using an electric mixer, blend butter on HI until fluffy.

2. Continue mixing, and slowly add oil. Continue mixing and slowly add water. Mixture will turn white and be very light and fluffy!

3. Chill until set. (See additional notes.)

Additional Notes: 

*This mixture may be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature. At room temperature, it is very soft and fluffy. From the fridge, it is still spreadable, and softens or melts quickly.

This spread is great for toast, bagels, bread, pancakes, or grilled cheese sandwiches. In fact, I thought the grilled cheese sandwiches were extra crispy when I used this spread instead of plain butter!

We have tried adding salt to this recipe, which makes it taste even better (I love salt) but can make the water separate after being stored in the fridge a while.

A sweet bread with apples and cinnamon throughout, baked in a circular “loaf” Yield: 

1 huge loaf Ingredients: 

Dough ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons dry yeast
5 to 6 cups flour

Apple filling:

3 cups coarsely chopped apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice (skip if apples are tart)

Egg wash:

1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon sugar
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling — optional Instructions: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the first seven dough ingredients, in order listed. Stir in a cup or two of the flour, then add yeast.

2. Add enough additional flour to equal about 5 cups, and stir/knead into a smooth dough, adding additional flour if needed. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

3. Place apple filling ingredients in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Set aside.

4. Punch down the risen dough, kneading to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly-floured surgace, roll the dough into a large round, about 1/2-inch thick. Spread apple mixture over the dough.

5. Fold the edges of the dough over the apples and continue to fold/roll the dough to make one big lump with the filling enclosed. Let rest 5 minutes.

6. Grease a 10-inch springform pan. Place springform pan on a large cookie sheet (to catch any leaks during rising/baking).

7. Now, this part gets messy. Using a sharp knife (I use a serrated one), cut off chunks of the dough and place them in the prepared pan. You should end up with 15-20 chunks of dough (though a particular number doesn’t matter). The apple pieces should be randomly dispersed throughout the dough chunks. Sprinkle with any escaped apple pieces.

8. Combine the egg and sugar, and then dab the egg wash over the top of the dough. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Cover gently with a piece of plastic wrap and place pan in a warm location to rise.

9. When dough has almost doubled in size, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and then place baking sheet/springform in the middle of the oven (remove the piece of plastic wrap first, of course!!!) to bake for 45-55 minutes or until done. When I make this, usually the edges of the top get well-browned before the middle is cooked. So, after about 25-30 minutes, I cover the darker areas loosely with foil — sometimes forming a large loose “ring” of foil (with no foil in the middle) to lay on top.

10. When challah is done, remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan onto a cooling rack and cover with a clean towel until completely cool.

Soft homemade round breads with a pocket inside! Yield: 

8 whole pita pockets (or 16 halves) Ingredients: 

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast Instructions: 

1. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Add 1 cup of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir to mix. Add remaining flour and knead to make a soft dough. (Add additional flour if necessary during kneading.)

Alternately, if you have a bread machine, you can put the ingredients in the pan in the order listed and use the dough cycle. When the dough cycle is complete, then skip to step 3! 🙂

2. Put your dough into a bowl, lightly oil the top, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until almost double (about an hour). I like to turn my oven on for a minute or two, then turn it off, and let the dough rise in there, since our house is cool.

3. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle.

4. As you roll the rounds, set them aside on a lightly floured countertop or table, and cover loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 25-35 minutes, until slightly puffy. (The rounds will still be thin though! :D)

5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place 2 rounds, side-by-side, onto a wire rack, such as is used for cooling things. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes, until puffy and just slightly browned. (If bread is too browned, it will be dry and not pliable.)

6. Remove rack from oven and immediately wrap/layer pita breads in a damp towel, to soften. Continue baking the remaining breads, layering them between damp towels as soon as they’re baked. Allow breads to completely cool.

7. Cut pita breads in half, or split the top edge, and fill as desired. 🙂

8. Store pitas in a plastic zipper bag in the fridge for a few days, or place in the freezer for longer storage. To re-warm pitas, wrap them in a damp towel and then wrap in foil. Place in a warm (200-250 degree) oven for about 20 minutes.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

Soft whole wheat round breads with a pocket inside! Yield: 

8 whole pita pockets (or 16 halves) Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup gluten*
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast Instructions: 

1. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Add the gluten and 1 cup of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir to mix. Add remaining flour and knead to make a soft dough. (Add additional flour if necessary during kneading.)

Alternately, if you have a bread machine, you can put the ingredients in the pan in the order listed and use the dough cycle. Skip to step 3 if using your bread machine! 🙂

2. Put your dough into a bowl, lightly oil the top, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until almost double (about an hour). I like to turn my oven on for a minute or two, then turn it off, and let the dough rise in there, since our house is cool.

3. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle.

4. As you roll the rounds, set them aside on a lightly floured countertop or table, and cover loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 25-35 minutes, until slightly puffy. (The rounds will still be thin though! :D)

5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place 2 rounds, side-by-side, onto a wire rack, such as is used for cooling things. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes, until puffy and just slightly browned. (If bread is too browned, it will be dry and not pliable.)

6. Remove rack from oven and immediately wrap/layer pita breads in a damp towel, to soften. Continue baking the remaining breads, layering them between damp towels as soon as they’re baked. Allow breads to completely cool.

7. Cut pita breads in half, or split the top edge, and fill as desired. 🙂

8. Store pitas in a plastic zipper bag in the fridge for a few days, or place in the freezer for longer storage. To re-warm pitas, wrap them in a damp towel and then wrap in foil. Place in a warm (200-250 degree) oven for about 20 minutes.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

Chunks of challah tossed with egg and milk, topped with fruit and a crumb topping before being baked Yield: 

16 servings Ingredients: 

1/2 of a large loaf of challah, torn into large chunks (about one square inch) — this should make about 12 cups of torn chunks and should fill your 9×13-inch baking dish about 3/4 full.
5 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups milk

3 cups of fresh or frozen berries, cut into bite-sized pieces (We have used cranberries and strawberries so far, and I’m sure blueberries would work, also.)

Crumb topping ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened Instructions: 

1. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Place torn challah in a layer in the baking dish. (Dish should be at least 3/4 full.)

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add the milk and mix. Pour over the bread. Cover dish and refrigerate overnight.

3. Combine crumb topping ingredients in a bowl and cut together until a coarse crumb mixture forms. Cover (or put into a ziplock bag or container) and refrigerate or save until the morning. I also make sure the fruit is all ready for the morning, by chopping if needed.

4. In the morning, stir the bread mixture in the baking dish, and smooth out into a layer in the bottom again. Sprinkle fruit over the top and then sprinkle the crumb topping over the fruit.

5. Bake at 375 degrees (350 degrees if using a glass baking dish) for about 55-60 minutes, until the center is set. If you pulled the dish out of the fridge right before you bake it, then put the dish in the oven before you turn on the oven. If the dish has been out at room temperature for 30+ minutes you can pre-heat the oven if you wish. 🙂

6. Serve hot and enjoy! 🙂 We also like the leftovers, cold. 🙂

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

Ingredients: 

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
Instructions: 

1. In mixing bowl, combine water, sugar, and salt.

2. Add flour and yeast (start with 2 cups of the flour). Stir and
then knead to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for about 5
minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes

3. Grease the outsides of eight 6-ounce glass custard cups (oven-safe). Place cups upside down on ungreased cookie sheets.

4. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Pat or roll each piece into a
5-6 inch circle, on a lightly floured surface (or oil your hands and
just form the dough in your hands). Shape dough over the outsides of the
greased cups. Allow dough to touch cookie sheet, but not to curl under
the edges of the cups.

5. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until slightly puffy.

6. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix egg yolk and water; brush
gently over the bread bowls. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until bread is done
and bowls are golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately, carefully
remove bread from bowls. (I used oven mitts, since bowls and bread are
very hot.)

7. Cool bread bowls upright on wire rack. Serve with chili or soup of your choice! 🙂

Cheesy flour tortillas with a flavorful hot pepper bite!
Yield: 

Eight 10-inch tortillas
Ingredients: 

2-3 tablespoons sliced canned jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
4 ounces finely shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
Instructions: 

1. Whirl jalapenos and water in a blender until peppers are minced.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine peppers, water, oil, cheese, and salt.
Stir to mix. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and stir with a spoon until a
thick batter forms. Add the rest of the flour and stir to form a soft
dough.

3. Add additional flour if needed, to allow you to knead dough with your hands. Knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth.

4. Separate dough into 8 equal portions, and form each into a ball. Let rest 5-10 minutes, covered.

5. Heat a griddle or large frying pan over meduim heat. Roll each
ball of dough into a thin circle (approximately 10 inches in diameter).

6. Fry tortillas on ungreased griddle for 1-2 minutes on each side,
until brown spots appear and tortilla is very hot (but not hard or
crispy!).

7. As you are cooking the tortillas, place the finished ones on a plate and cover with a towel. Don’t over-cook, or the tortillas will be crunchy! When tortillas are cool, they can be stored in a ziplock bag. Or, better yet — enjoy them while still hot!:)

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.