Sunday, October 30, 2022

How to Make Dinner Rolls (with yeast)

 

 
Everyone in my family loves yeast bread. 
 
My grandmaw and mom made Parker house rolls rolled out and cut with a biscuit cutter and then folded in half. That is a pretty big recipe even when cut in half, so I like to make this smaller buttery yeast roll recipe for regular days (which are still special if we have yeast bread). These rolls are the round type.

Here is what you need to make Yeast Dinner Rolls.
 
2 teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons sugar (one with the yeast and then one mixed in with the flour)
1 cup warm milk 
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 large egg
Half a cup of melted butter
 
 
Here is how you make the yeast rolls.
 
Put the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar in a medium bowl.
 
Warm up the milk to 105 to 115 degrees. Do not get it too hot, or it will kill the yeast. Pour that in with the yeast and sugar. Stir and then cover for 5 to 7 minutes for the yeast to "work." 

Melt the butter in a mixing cup or bowl until melted.

Add the egg, melted butter, flour, salt, and that other tablespoon of sugar and mix well.

Lightly flour the cabinet and knead the dough for around 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth.

Put the dough in a large greased mixing bowl and cover with Saran wrap. Let it rise until double which can take from an hour to sometimes as much as three hours. 

Punch down the dough and then roll into small balls and place in a greased baking dish. I use a 9 x 13. 

Let the rolls rise again until double in size. Cover with Saran wrap, because that helps hold moisture and heat and aids in the rising process. 

Bake at 350 F for 15 to 20 minutes or until the tops are browned.

Spread a little butter on top as soon as the rolls come out and are still hot.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

How to Make the Best Ever Apple Muffins with fresh apples


 

How to Make Fresh Apple Muffins

I live in North Carolina close the mountains where we have apple orchards. Also, I have my own heirloom apple tree that my son Caleb gave me for my birthday.

I’ve tried lots of apple recipes, but this is my favorite one for bread/muffins. The secret to this apple recipe is that you grate the apples, so that you don’t have hollow holes and hunks of mushy apple inside the bread.  The texture and flavor with grated apples is just amazing.

The array of spices in the recipe is also great. You can play around with spices of course, so if you have pie spice etc, you can also try that in place of something or just an addition.

I am pretty sure you’ll love these muffins. I was up last night at 4 am eating three of them, because I could smell apple muffins all through the house.

 

Apple Muffin Recipe with fresh apples

 

1 ½ cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 ½ cups plain flour

¾ cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4  teaspoon baking soda

½  teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon allspice

½ walnuts ( or more)

1/3 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

5 apples (I like to use 3 Granny Smith and 2 Fuji)

 

  1. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix this really well.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a fork and then mix with the cooking oil.
  3. Stir the nuts in the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. This coats them with a little flour so they do not sink to the bottom.
  4. Core and peel the apples and then grate. I use a hand cheese grater. Yes. It is a lot of work, but this is what makes these muffins taste fabulous.
  5. Pour the egg/oil in the bowl of dry ingredients and add the grated apples. I suppose you could mix this with a spoon, but this is thick batter. It works best to just use your hands and smash the ingredients with your hands. Just squeeze until everything is well mixed. Do not overdo it. Quick breads get rubbery if over-mixed.
  6. Put paper liners in muffin tins. This recipe makes 18 total cupcakes. Spoon the batter into the paper cups. Yes. The batter is really thick. You may need to lightly tap the batter into the paper cups, but do not mash down tight. Just even them out a bit.
  7. Bake for around 30 minutes at 375 degrees F. 

Let cool and eat. They are okay when hot, but the flavors meld and the apples settle after a couple of hours, and then these muffins are fabulous – as good as any apple muffin I’ve ever eaten anywhere.