homemade Donuts!

Maple Bars

Source: Our Best Bites

3 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup very warm (105 degree) water
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon white sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon mace (optional; I didn’t use it)
2 teaspoons table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups bread flour*
1/4 cup shortening
3 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Peanut oil for frying (I used two 24-ounce bottles)**

Maple Icing

1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon maple extract
1/3 cup (plus more if needed) hot water

Combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 cup very warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow it to proof for 5-10 minutes or until frothy.

While the yeast is proofing, combine the sugar, mace (if using), salt, baking powder, and 4 cups of flour in a large bowl. When the yeast is ready, add the shortening, egg yolks, and vanilla and mix with the paddle attachment for 1 minute to break down the shortening. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients and mix on low until blended. Repeat with the next 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Switch to the hook attachment and add the remaining 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix until no white spots remain and then turn the mixer to medium speed and knead for 2 minutes. Add more flour a little bit at a time if necessary. (You don’t want the dough sticking to the bowl too much.)

While the dough is kneading, bring a large pot of water to a boil (a little more than 2 quarts of water). Lightly flour a baking sheet.

When the dough is done kneading, transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Form a 6×6″ square and cover it with a clean cloth. (Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour too, so the cloth doesn’t stick to it. Not that that happened to me.) Place the pan in the oven and place a 9×13″ pan on the rack beneath the baking sheet. Pour the boiling water into the 9×13″ pan and close the door to the oven. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled.

When the dough is done rising, remove it from the oven and place it on a lightly floured surface. Bring another pot of water to a boil. Punch down the dough and roll it into an 11×12″ rectangle. Use a pizza cutter to trim 1/2″ off all the edges of the dough. (so that you have even rectangles. I used the scraps to make a 13th gimp-doughnut.) Cut the dough into 12 rectangles about 5×2″. Use a flexible scraper or large spatula to carefully transfer the dough rectangles back to a floured baking sheet, spaced about 1 1/2″ apart. Place the baking sheet uncovered back into the oven and pour the boiling water back into the 9×13″ dish. Rise for 30-45 minutes (or more), until the dough is doubled.

When the dough is almost done rising, heat 2+ inches of peanut oil in a large, high-sided pot with a candy thermometer attached to it. Heat it to 350 degrees. When the oil is hot enough, in batches of 2-3, use the rubber scraper to carefully transfer the rectangles to the hot oil and fry for 30-40 seconds and then flip and cook for another 20 seconds or until golden brown. Remove doughnuts from the hot oil, allow to drain on paper towels, and repeat with the remaining dough.

While the dough is cooling, whisk together the icing ingredients. Dip the dome-iest side of the bars into the icing and spread it out if necessary. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes before serving. (Yeah right!!) Makes 12 doughnuts.

*I just realized that this says bread flour. Oops. I definitely used regular flour. I’m sure it makes an even lighter dough, so next time I will use it, but obviously is still works with regular flour.

**I saved the used peanut oil. Just funneled it right back into the bottles for the next time I make these babies.

Homemade Pretzel Dogs

Homemade Pretzel Dogs

Makes 8 Pretzel Dogs

1½ cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 package (1 scant tablespoon) active dry yeast
4½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (or salted butter, but decrease the 2 teaspoons of salt by a bit)
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons butter (regular or unsalted), melted
coarse sea salt or kosher salt, for sprinkling

8 good quality hot dogs

Combine the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.

Add the flour, salt, and butter. Combine with a spoon or the paddle until it start to come together, then switch to the dough hook. Mix with the dough hook on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. You may need to add a bit more flour, but be aware that this is a pretty soft dough. You should be able to touch it without it being impossible to get off your fingers, though.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. I like to put mine in an oven that has been turned to 170˚ (warm) for about a minute, then turned off.

Preheat the oven to 450. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. In a large pot, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, knead down the dough, turn it out onto a slightly floured work surface, and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a rope that’s about 20 to 24-inches long, depending on how big your hot dogs are. Starting at one end, wrap the dough around the hot dog, pinching each end together so that it’s sealed. Place onto the pan and repeat with the remaining dough and hot dogs.

Place the pretzel dogs into the boiling water two at a time and boil for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat slotted spatula. Return the boiled pretzel dogs to the pan, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with the sea salt. (I forgot to do this butter and salt step until after I had baked them. It worked fine.)

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

If you have extra dough, you can shape them into dinner rolls, cut a slit in the top, let rise for another 20-30 minutes, boil, and bake at 450 until golden.

Easy Crescent Taco Bake

Easy Crescent Taco Bake

Refrigerated crescent dinner rolls unite as a quick crust to hold ground beef, cheese, salsa and seasoning in this easy-to-assemble main dish.

Ingredients

1

can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1

lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

3/4

cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa

2

tablespoons Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix (from 1-oz package)

1

cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)

Steps

• 1Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 9-inch square pan or 10-inch pie plate; press over bottom and up sides to form crust.
• 2In 10-inch skillet, cook beef over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in salsa and taco seasoning mix; simmer 5 minutes. Spoon meat mixture in crust-lined pan; sprinkle with cheese.
• 3Bake 14 to 17 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and cheese is melted. Served topped with lettuce and tomato, if desired.

* Pile on your favorite toppings! Try shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, additional salsa, sour cream and avocado slices.

* A 4.5-oz can of Old El Paso® chopped green chiles can be added to the meat mixture.

Cream Cheese-Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

Ingredients

1

package (8 oz) cream cheese

2

cans (17.5 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Supreme refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

1/4

cup butter, cut into pieces

Steps

• 1Heat oven to 350° F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray.
• 2Cut block of cream cheese into 24 equal-sized cubes. (Start by first halving block so that you have 2 thin pieces, and then cut each thin half into 12 equal squares.)
• 3Set aside icing from cinnamon rolls. Separate each can of dough into 5 rolls; unroll each roll, and cut each in half.
• 4Take a section of dough and fold it over so you have a rectangle shape that is 1 layer of dough thick. Place a square of cream cheese in the dough; fold over the dough, and gently crimp it around the cream cheese. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
• 5Place cream cheese-filled dough balls in pan. Place butter pieces on top.
• 6Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown across top. Cool 10 minutes; run knife around edge of pan to loosen. Place heatproof serving plate over pan and turn over; remove pan. Cool 10 minutes longer.
• 7Drizzle reserved icing over top of bread, allowing some to drizzle down side. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.

*Although monkey bread is best served fresh and warm, it can be reheated the next day in a 200°F oven or in the microwave.

*For an even sweeter monkey bread, roll each square of cream cheese in brown sugar before rolling into dough.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Just line em up.

This is what it should look like in the oven.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 40 salted saltine crackers or enough to line your pan
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
• (optional) 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with at least a 1/2 inch edge or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
2. In a small pot combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixture should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. It will get all bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit a couple of minutes to melt. Sometimes I melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute then spread it on. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts if desired. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Notes

Note: You should either use salted butter or salted saltines but not both. I used salted crackers and unsalted butter in this one.

Read more at http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/03/saltine-cracker-toffee.html#HvgF27Vl2p0RKq4r.99

BROWNIE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips plus about 1/3 cup more for garnishing
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus about 1/3 cup more for garnishing
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray or grease 12 muffin cups. *Or you can opt to do mini-muffin bites and cook around 8 minutes or until center comes out clean with a toothpick test.
2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar, butter, and water. Microwave on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir in 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted. Stir in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and baking soda, stirring until blended. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then, stir in 1/2 cup each peanut butter chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into muffin cups.
3. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly wet. Place pan on wire rack. Centers of brownies will fall upon cooling. If not, tap centers with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole.
4. Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, then stir. While brownies are still hot, spoon about a tablespoon of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Cool completely in pan.

Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter

A broccoli and tomato "tree" with pretzel "trunk" and cauliflower "snow" are delicious dippers for a cool and creamy dip

Ingredients

Creamy Herb Dip

1/2

cup sour cream or crème fraîche

1/4

cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

3

tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

3

tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

1/2

teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1

small clove garlic, finely chopped

Vegetable Platter

3

cups fresh broccoli florets

14

grape tomatoes

1/2

yellow bell pepper, cut into strips

1 1/2

cups fresh cauliflower florets

3/4

oz (about 40) pretzel sticks (from 15-oz bag)

Steps

1In small bowl, stir together dip ingredients. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

2Rinse and thoroughly dry vegetables. Trim broccoli and cauliflower floret stems.

3Arrange broccoli on serving platter to form tree shape and tomatoes to form garland. Arrange bell pepper to form star and cauliflower to form snow (see photo). If desired, cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

4Just before serving, arrange pretzels at bottom of tree to form trunk. Serve with dip.