Carol Ragsdale gave me this favorite muffin recipe in South Africa around 23 years ago. It is a great, basic recipe that can be changed in so many ways. Leave plain, add chocolate chips or blueberries, or reduce the milk slightly and make banana muffins. Experiment and see how many combinations you can come up with, but to get you started, check out the options at the end of the recipe.
Saffron bread is one of my favorite holiday breads. I think it is best warm with Thimbleberry jam, but raspberry is a good second choice.
This recipe calls for mixing the dough then letting it rise before kneading. We were not sure why, so we did an experiment. We made both dough “exactly” the same (used weights and did at same time) and we kneaded before rising on the one, and after kneading on the other. There is a difference in taste, but it was minimal. However, most everyone voted that kneading after the dough rose tasted better.
This bread drys out quickly. Be sure to cool it and wrap in an airtight bag or tin foil. It freezes well and tastes great toasted.
Mom really likes Red River Cereal and wanted me to try it. I agree. It is very good! However, it takes awhile to cook, so we decided to look for muffin recipes that use it. After cooling the muffins, we freeze them for an easy breakfast. Just remember to pull early so they can thaw out.
This is one of the recipes Andrea made in Culinary Class this week. I think we all agree it may be our very favorite recipe so far this year. (Ummm, schoool year 🙂 )
These scones were a favorite treat at Allan’s coffee shop. They are super easy to make, but also super easy to mess up.
Be sure to start with cold butter and cold whipping cream. The less the dough is handled, the better the scones will be. Feel free to make the dough and place in the refrigerator a few hours or over night before baking. Remember that a cold dough and a warm preheated oven help these scones stay nice and flakey.
With zucchini growing nicely this year, Mom looked for a new recipe to use some of the extra up. She gave us a loaf of this bread that Adrian decided was a lot better than the chocolate cake we usually make because of the lemon.
The loaf Mom gave us was frozen and it defrosted very nicely. She recommended not glazing it until ready to eat. We decided to only make half the glaze and it was plenty.
While living in Slovakia, Allan was gone many nights. Often I would go to the office with him, play on the computer a little and just be lazy while he worked in the other room. I found a few bagel recipes that were good, but this is my favorite.
Mark decided to surprise us with bagels. He and Megan made them with shredded white cheddar cheese and they were wonderful.
We learned this recipe from Rose H., a friend in Swaziland. The dough can be made early and set aside until ready to braai (grill). We often enjoy this instead of store bought rolls when we cook outdoors.
Not quite as good as English Muffins, but a lot less work! This makes great toast. It always bakes up with a flat top, so I only let it rise to the top of the pan.
