Rosemary Garlic Bread

I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with this combination, but I thought it was pretty tasty. We have a rosemary plant that is being criminally underutilized, so that's mainly why I came up with this. All the kids liked it (as well as the missionaries we had over for dinner).

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread, sliced in half length-wise
1 cube softened butter (please use salted butter, or this will not taste good)
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary (it needs to be fresh, or you'll feel like you're eating pine needles)

Strip the needles from the rosemary and chop them with a sharp knife. Press garlic cloves and add them to butter, along with chopped rosemary needles. Mix with butter. Spread liberally over sliced bread.

Put on baking sheets and put in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes (long enough for the butter to melt and soak into the bread). Then put under broiler for 2-3 minutes until butter begins to turn brown. Watch carefully so you don't burn it! It should look like this:

Slice and enjoy!

Banana Nut Bread

I love this banana bread. Love it. To death. And I have never had this recipe fail me. It turns out perfect, every time. And I feel like I can eat it for breakfast because it has fruit in it and must be healthy :)

Banana Nut Bread
1/2 cup shortening (I always use vegetable oil)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
3 mashed bananas (the riper, the better)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs one at a time. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together and add alternately with water. Stir in mashed bananas and nuts. Pour into well-greased loaf pan (or 4 mini-loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes (40 minutes for mini-loaves).

Overnight Rolls

For Brendan's Pack meeting he has to take a favorite treat and share the recipe. This month they are learning about nutrition and the food pyramid. He picked "Overnight Rolls" This recipe can be made at night before you go to bed and baked as soon as you get up for an easy quick breakfast.

Overnight Rolls
1 3 ounce package butterscotch pudding (cooking pudding, not instant)
1/2 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c nuts, optional
18-24 Rhodes frozen rolls

Grease Bundt pan. Place rolls loosely in pan, layering. Sprinkle with dry pudding. Dissolve sugar and butter, add nuts. Pour over rolls. cover with foil. Let sit on counter overnight. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes in the morning.

Neverending Scones

I had a special request from Aunt Gayle to post this recipe. I shared it on my family blog a few years ago, and she says it's been a family favorite ever since! These are truly addictive and such a wonderful treat!

Neverending Scones

3 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs (beaten)
6 1/2 cups unsifted flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Combine milk, oil, sugar, salt, eggs, and half of the flour. Add the yeast and continue to add the remaining flour. Dough will be sticky. Do not knead. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. (If you don't have time to do this, just add a little more flour to the dough and proceed). Roll out dough on a floured board to 3/8 inch thick. Cut in pieces.  Fry in 350 degree oil for about 2 minutes. Makes 50-60 scones if cut in 2 or 2 1/2 inch pieces. Dough can be refrigerated for up to a week, but it will continue to rise each day.

Twelve-hour rolls

I admit that the name of this recipe scared me off for a while. Who wants to spend twelve hours making rolls? But what "twelve hours" really means is that you can make the dough at night, let it rise in the fridge until morning, and then have fresh rolls for breakfast. Or you can make the dough before church, let it rise in the fridge, and then have fresh rolls for dinner. This is the best roll recipe I have ever found. They are to-die-for!

Ingredients:
1 level Tbsp yeast
1 level Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs (well beaten)
3/4 tsp salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour

Instructions:
Dissolve yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water. Melt together butter and milk and let cool. Add the two mixtures together, then add sugar, eggs, salt, and flour. Dough will be very gooey (I always use 5 cups of flour because 4 1/2 just seems too sticky to me). Dump into greased bowl. Cover. Leave overnight in fridge or for 5 or 6 hours. After it has risen to double the size, turn out onto floured board or counter. Knead for 7 to 10 minutes. Divide in half. Roll out into a circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut into wedges and roll up into a crescent roll. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cover lightly with towel and let raise for 2 hours or even up to 5 or 6 hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Note: After chilled and raised, the dough is very easy to handle and not so sticky. You can make any kind of rolls with this dough, including cinnamon rolls. You can do the first rise in the day, make the rolls and place in pans, let them rise overnight in the fridge, and then have fresh rolls in the morning. This is great for Christmas!