Cream Cheese Rippled Pumpkin Bread

Doesn't that just sound heavenly?

It was...

I found this recipe from Lick the Bowl Good. Its definitely one of my "go-to" food blogs for great recipes.

I made this to take to a brunch with some friends one morning and it did not disappoint.Cream cheese filling:
8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 T. flourPumpkin Bread:

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1- 15 ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9x5 inch bread pans.

For the Cream Cheese Filling: Beat the cream cheese until smooth in a mixer. Add the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated. Don't overmix! Stir in the flour and set aside.

For the Pumpkin Bread: Sift together the flour, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together eggs until lightly beaten. Whisk in the sugar and melted butter. Then stir in the pumpkin, water, and vanilla.

Combine the flour and pumpkin mixtures, being careful not to overmix. Divide the batter in half. Then, take one half and divide it between the two bread pans. Pour half the cream cheese filling into each pan, then top with remaining half of batter. Smooth the tops and bake an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: I had a little trouble with "smoothing the tops"... They didn't quite smooth right and my cream cheese wasn't exactly the layer it should have been... Instead, it was kind of a blob in the middle of my bread, but it was still delicious... I have a theory that if you add a little more water to the pumpkin mix, it will be easier to pour and spread over the cream cheese layer. Try it or just try the original way and just go with it. Either way, it was delicious!

Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn our and cool loaves to room temperature.

Grilled cheese revamped

I don't even want to call this a recipe, but I just have to share my latest quick lunch. I was looking in the refrigerator for something quick to make for lunch the other day and saw some leftover spaghetti sauce and I had a memory from my teenage years. My mom used to make grilled cheese sandwiches in our sandwich maker (This is a sandwich maker... Looks like a waffle maker)

I love our sandwich maker because I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but hate getting a pan out and waiting for it to brown perfectly... because, I can never get it to brown perfectly and I always end up with one side burned... or both sides not really done and the cheese not even melted.. I can never find the happy medium. But... with the sandwich maker, it grills it perfectly for you and seals the edges nicely.

So... back to the memory I had. I saw the spaghetti sauce and remembered my older brother adding spaghetti sauce to his grilled cheese sandwich before putting it in the sandwich maker. The other day I added pepperoni and made it a pepperoni pizza sandwich. My husband likes to add some deli sliced ham and olives. You can really put in anything you want! And it makes for such a really quick lunch.

I've recently fallen in love with the Bountiful Baskets bread. It is so delicious. The only problem is... Its a little too small for the sandwich maker and my cheese always runs all over...Here's my sandwich that I had for lunch. I ended up having to eat it with a fork because the cheese was EVERYWHERE!

But it was delicious!

Brown Sugar Muffins

1 cup brown sugar

1 cube butter/margarine
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Here's my little helper with all my ingredients:
Cream brown sugar and butter. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Put in paper lined muffin tinsBake at 400 for 12-18 minutes. Just watch closely. I use whole wheat flour and I love it, but it definitely decreases the cooking time. If you use all white flour, you will have to cook them longer. These are so yummy and I love having them for breakfast/snack throughout the day... Enjoy!

Abby Bread

This is a recipe I got from my good friend Abby. She used to live next door to me (***tear***) but we have both since moved from that neighborhood... (***another tear***)

Anyway, I got a lot of good recipes from her and this is one in particular that we LOVE. Its so easy and quick that I can get it made in about an hour andits always ready for dinner! I don't know what she calls it, but we call it Abby bread, since we got it from her!

Now, I know some people are afraid of yeast... but I promise you, you have no reason to be afraid! You can do it!

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
4 cups flour (approx)

Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir in sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes... until it looks like this:
That means your yeast has activated and is ready to go! Add salt, Italian seasoning and 2 cups flour and stir until smooth. Add remaining flour gradually until a firm dough is formed:

Cover and let rise until doubled:
Either roll into snakes, or make one large round about an inch thick. Brush with olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese and more Italian seasoning. Let rise until doubled again.
Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown... and looks like this:
We like to dip ours in light tasting extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. YUM!
Enjoy!

Corn Bread

Sometimes, there is just nothing better than cornbread to go with your soup... Yum. I admit that I usually use the boxed Jiffy pre-mix, but after making this and realizing how easy it is to make it from scratch, I don't think I'll ever use the box again! This made cornbread that was sweet, moist and didn't fall apart like the boxed stuff always does. YUM!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk with 1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Grease an 8 inch square pan.

Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar.

Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended.

Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan.

Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain.

Pour batter into the prepared pan.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Sorry... the only picture I got was in the oven! I guess I was hungry this night!

90 Minute Rolls

I made these delicious rolls with our cheesy potato soup the other night and it absolutely hit the spot. You just can't beat the taste or the smell of homemade bread especially when it will only take 90 minutes to make! Come on... do it! You know you want to!

1/2 cup. warm water
2 T. yeast
2 T. sugar

Add 1st 3 ingredients together and let sit 20 minutes (until the yeast has activated- The yeasty water will be bubbly)

Combine with 1 c. scalded milk
2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. salad oil (I use my vegetable oil)
1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
4-5 cups flour

Add 1 cup flour at a time. Knead and let rise in a warm area for 1/2 hr. Roll into balls (or in my case, I put them in a mini-loaf pan) and let rise for another 1/2 hr. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Seriously yummy... Go ahead and try them- They are so delicious and so fast for rolls!

Tips: I scald my milk in the microwave and then let it set and cool. I don't add it to the yeast mixture before it has cooled off because I don't want it to "kill" my yeast.

For smaller portions: I always halve this recipe when I am just cooking for our family of three... I think it still made 8 mini loaves with a half recipe.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Every year with the holidays approaching, I get cravings for pumpkin flavors... It is just such a delicious taste! I will always remember feeling deprived of these delicious flavors before I had my little baby B last holiday season (Dang gestational diabetes!)... but my wonderful sister made these for breakfast on the first morning home from the hospital and I was in absolute heaven...Any time I even think about making this bread, I practically salivate.

So DELICIOUS! This is one of those things that I can just whip up and take to a luncheon, or if you need a small gift for someone, PERFECT! I love this stuff... and I know you will too
Preheat oven to 350
Ingredients:
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups pumpkin puree
(I just use the small can of pumpkin 15 oz...even though its a little less than 2 cups!)

Mix together oil, eggs and pumpkin. Add everything except flour and chocolate chips. Blend well. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Last, add chocolate chips and stir in by hand.

I love to make these in my mini-loaf pan, but I realize that not everyone has one (I would recommend you get one! They are absolutely WONDERFUL!)Fill whatever pan you are using about 2/3 full-ish...
Bake at 350F
Here are the approximate baking times for different size loaves...

Muffins- 14-16 minutes
Mini loaf pan- 25 minutes
Larger loaf- 1 hour

These really are approximate times... I always have to check mine with a toothpick and when that toothpick comes out clean.... Its done! We love making these... and we eat them for Breakfast every day until they are gone... SO YUMMY!

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

This is the recipe from the back of the Bisquick box- and I love it! These are super yummy biscuits and they are really easy!

2 cups Bisquick mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Mix together ingredients and drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes in 450 oven. When biscuits are done, brush over them with mixture of:
2 Tbsp melted butter and 1/8 tsp garlic powder

Yumm...

Italian Bread with Herbs

Sunday's dinner that I made for my sister was served with one of my favorite breads...Italian Bread with Herbs.

1 T. yeast1 T. sugar1 cup very warm water2 T. oil1 tsp. salt2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white/half wheat)

Mix yeast and sugar into water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Mix in oil, salt, and flour (one cup at a time) until soft dough forms. Knead lightly until smooth. Cover in bowl and let rise 20 minutes. Shape dough into round loaves (each batch makes 2-3 loaves...If you have a bigger family you might want to double the recipe) and cut three small lines in the top of each loaf.
Cover with towel and let rise 20-25 minutes. Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.
Cut into thick slices and serve with this:

Here's how you make it!

Italian Herb Mix

2 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 T. dried oregano

1 T. dried rosemary

1 T. dried basil

1 T. dried parsley

1 T. garlic powder

1 T. minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together with the back of a spoon. The minced garlic helps it clump together a little. Put 1-2 tsp. of mix on small plate and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with warm bread....it is heavenly! (These pictures were stolen off my sister's blog... Thanks Rebecca!)

Michelle's Breadsticks

This recipe is one that my family originally got from my fabulous sister-in-law Michelle. They are the FASTEST and easiest breadsticks EVER!

Preheat your oven to 350

Stir 1 T yeast into 1 1/2 cups warm water

Add 2 T. Sugar and stir

Let rise for about 5 minutes- Just to get your yeast activated

While that is rising, mix together 3 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt.

Stir together flour and yeast mixtures and let rise for 10 minutes. While that is rising, melt 1 cube butter on cookie sheet (make sure you are using a cooking sheet with raised edges!) in the oven. Be sure to watch your butter... I can't tell you how many times I have burned my butter! Sprinkle Parmesan cheese into the melted butter and set close to your floured countertop. Once your bread mixture has risen, roll out into a rectangle (ish) onto a floured countertop and cut into strips. I usually make about 8-10 breadsticks, but you really can cut them however wide/narrow you want!
Take each strip and dip both sides in the butter on the cookie sheet, stretch the breadstick out and then fold in half and twist together.
Mix together a seasoning mix of Thyme, Basil, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and Salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little of the seasoning mixture down each breadstick.
Let pan of breadsticks rise 15 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. These are so delicious, but I take no blame for any coronary artery disease from ingesting too much fat.
I have been making these healthier in the last year or so... Here are the changes I have made. I use 1 cup wheat flour and 2 cups white- They still taste fabulous... I also have been only using 1/2 to 2/3 cube of butter instead of the whole cube. They are still delicious but just not quite as greasy. Good luck and happy baking!