spinach-chicken stromboli (briana holt)

I made this for dinner last night and everyone loved it! It was super easy and it seemed fancy. 

banana bread {muffins}

This is the Lion House banana bread recipe. It never comes out too dense and is just the perfect amount of sweet. It's a favorite at our house. I may have eaten five of these yesterday...and three today. Yikes!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter (I always cut this in half and use 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce)

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. bananas (about 2)

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. mini chocolate chips (optional...but not really. Lol!)

Directions:

*Mash up bananas with whisk attachment on mixer until they are no longer lumpy. Add sugar, milk, lemon juice, and butter (and applesauce if you are subbing for butter). Mix until well combined. Add in dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. 

*Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

**Makes 18 muffins

double chocolate pumpkin muffins

These muffins are delicious. I like to double the recipe and freeze half. You can pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are just perfect. I like to think they are a little healthy, too, since they have pumpkin in them! Ha!

I added mini m&m's on top this time, but I typically don't. They make for a more colorful picture and they kids were even more excited about eating them this time:-)

You can find the original recipe here: thekitchenmagpie.com

Servings: 12 muffins 

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips 

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees
*Mix together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa powder. Add chocolate chips and mix until they are spread evenly throughout the batter.
*Spray muffin tins with non stick spray or line with muffin liners. Use a 2 tbsp scoop to fill muffin tins. 
*Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes.
*cool on racks

      

country apple fritter bread

I made this Country Apple Fritter Bread. It was so tasty I didn't even get around to drizzling on the icing because I kept "tasting" it. I pretty much tasted the entire loaf before it was even lunch time. Yikes!

Here is a link to the blog where I found the recipe:

Country Apple Fritter Bread

Country Apple Fritter Bread

Country Apple Fritter Bread - Awesome!

Serves 8

Bread Loaf

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 apples, peeled and chopped (any kind), mixed with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Old-Fashioned Creme Glaze

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1-3 tablespoons of milk or cream- (depending on thickness of glaze wanted)

Instructions

• 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a 9x5-inch loaf pan and spray with non-stick spray or line with foil and spray with non-stick spray to get out easily for slicing.
• 2
  Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set aside.
• 3
  In another medium-sized bowl, beat white sugar and butter together using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• 4
  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended in; add in vanilla extract.
• 5
  Combine & whisk flour and baking powder together in another bowl and add into creamed butter mixture and stir until blended.
• 6
  Mix milk into batter until smooth.
• 7
  Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apples and half the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
• 8
  Lightly pat apple mixture into batter.
• 9
  Pour the remaining batter over apple layer and top with remaining apples and brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
• 10
  Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using knife or spoon.
• 11
  Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, approximately 50-60 minutes.
• 12
  To make glaze, mix powdered sugar and milk or cream together until well mixed.
• 13
  Let cool for about 15 minutes before drizzling with glaze.

Optional

• Next time I think I would add in walnuts. You can always use other fruit, or you could add in chocolate chips too! (Of course!)
• Substitutions: I've also substituted this with 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, 1/3 cup milk and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda instead of 1/2 cup milk as called out in the bread loaf ingredients.
• Baking options: Bake 30-40 min. for 2 loaf recipe, 15-20 minutes for muffins or 50 -60 minutes for one full loaf recipe or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

pizza dough

I got this pizza crust recipe from my friend Melissa Eastman 11 years ago back when we lived in New Mexico! It has been a family favorite ever since. I really don't think you can mess this up, even if you struggle with bread making.

Pizza Dough:

2 cups flour

1 cup water (warm)

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. oil

*Dissolve yeast in water with 3 Tbsp. sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir for 3-4 minutes with dough hook if you're using an electric mixer, or a little longer if you're kneading by hand. Add flour as needed. I usually just roll the dough out directly on the pizza pan or cookie sheet (you can sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking or use cooking spray). Add the toppings of your choice and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

**I usually double this recipe and it makes one 11x14" pizza and one standard round sized pizza. A single recipe will make one round pizza, but it's not quite enough dough to fill an 11x14" pan.

***Have fun with toppings! Our favorites are traditional cheese and pepperoni OR hawaiian with canadian bacon and pineapple. We also like bbq chicken pizza.

apple walnut muffins

I made these the other day for the first time using the modifications I put in parentheses. They were so moist and delish! They will definitely make it into our muffin rotation.

INGREDIENTS

·        1½ cups whole-wheat flour (I used half and half)

·        2 teaspoons cinnamon

·        1 teaspoon baking soda

·        ½ teaspoon salt

·        ¼ teaspoon baking powder

·        ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

·        2 eggs

·        ⅓ cup pure maple syrup (or honey)

·        ⅓ cup water

·        5 tablespoons melted butter (I doubled the recipe and used 8 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbsp. oil)

·        1 cup shredded apple (see instructions below)

·        ¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1.    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or silicone liners and set aside.

2.    In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well (hole) in the center and drop in the eggs, syrup, water, and melted butter. Stir with a fork until well combined.

3.    To shred the apple either use a cheese grater or - if you really want to make it easy - use your food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Simply discard any big chunks of apple peel that didn't get shredded all the way (but keep the rest in there!). There is no need to remove any liquid or squeeze the apples dry. Gently fold both the apple shreds and chopped walnuts into the batter.

4.    Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Original recipe found HERE