How to Make Fry Bread

In this article, we gonna show you simply how to make fry bread. It can be used to make tacos, desserts, sandwiches, etc.

RECIPE:

• 2 cups flour 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 Tbsp canola oil OR vegetable oil 
• ¾ cups water (can also use milk or buttermilk) 

Any desired toppings such as taco fixings, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce, honey, cheese, etc.

**You may need more/less water and flour as you mix to get dough to correct consistency

DIRECTION:

1. Preheat a skillet filled with about ¾ of an inch of canola or vegetable oil. 
2. In a mixing bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. 
3. Make a well in center and pour in oil and water. 
4. Mix together with the spoon or by hand until dough comes together. 
5. If too dry add a little more water. If a mixture is too wet add a little more flour. 
6. Continue to mix or knead dough until it holds together well and is not too sticky, should take less than 5 minutes. 
7. Divide dough into 8-10 balls. 
8. Flatten each dough ball into a disc shape and poke a small hole in the center. 
9. It’s best to keep dough discs separate because they may begin to stick together if you don’t fry them right away. 
10. Fry the discs in hot oil until puffed and pale golden brown on each side, about 20-30 seconds per side. 
11. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate to drain briefly. 

Top as desired and serve immediately.

Banana-Pecan Rum Cake Recipe

This is basically banana bread, in a cast iron skillet, with a crunchy top.  And to be honest, it's the second time I have baked it in 24 hours.  The first time I wasn't paying attention and dumped the entire container of sour cream into the batter rather than just 1/2 cup and then couldn't figure out why it wasn't baking.  And then it overflowed inside the oven.   

Banana-Pecan Rum Cake 
8oz cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup sour cream 
1 tsp rum extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
 chopped pecans
Extra brown sugar for topping 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12" cast iron skillet with flour cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar until just combined.  Add eggs one at a time.
3. In a small bowl, mash 3 bananas until just mashed but leaving a flew chunks.   Add bananas and sour cream to cream cheese mixture and mix.
4. Add flour, one 1/2 cup at a time, to the wet mixture until just combined.  Do not over mix and liquefy.  Add remaining dry ingredients.
5. Pour batter into cast iron skillet and sprinkle top with a good amount of extra brown sugar and chopped pecans.  It creates a crust on top that is my favorite part.
6. Bake for 30+ minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

A little note about this cast iron skillet in particular....My grandmother gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago.  She wasn't able to be there with us that year so she included a card explaining that this cast iron skillet was now 5 generations old and she wanted me to have it.  It is probably one of the most special gifts I've ever received. 

Homemade Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Blueberries will be coming into season pretty soon- a lot earlier than normal because of how warm it's been.  I've seen blueberry bushes at the nursery with full-size blueberries on them already.

 If you haven't ever tried to make homemade blueberry muffins you really need to.  That box mixes with the little can of blueberries the size of peas is nothing compared to homemade blueberry muffins with giant blueberries.  This recipe is really easy and really good- even Todd who hates blueberry muffins said, "those are really good....I'll eat those."  I'll be honest...I have more kitchen disasters than I care to admit.  I made these last night and used self-rising flour by accident.  They exploded all over my oven.  So we went for round two today....this time with all purpose flour.

Homemade Blueberry Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising..note to self...)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs 
2 cups blueberries 

Crumble topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon 
1/4 cup butter (cool...not solid but cold enough that you can make a crumble out of it)

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl beat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, room temperature butter, vanilla, milk, and eggs until combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.
3. Fill muffin liners 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter.  (I used jumbo liners and got 11 muffins out of this batter).
4. To make crumble topping mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and add butter that you've cut into small cubes.  With your hands "snap" the butter cubes with the flour mixture until it begins to come together and becomes a crumble.  Stick with it...as your hands melt the butter a little it will start to make a crumble.  Top each muffin with a little crumble topping.
5. Bake 20-30 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your muffins.

Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

Ingredient:

Buttermilk Biscuits

 2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold (!!), cut into very small chunks
1 cup buttermilk

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. "Snap" the butter into your flour mixture.  Literally pick up the small chunks of flour covered butter and snap them between your fingers.  This will flatten each little piece of butter but keep the butter "in tact" so you will be able to taste it in your biscuits.  Don't try to cream the butter into your dough.  You can see the butter in my dough in the picture above.
4. Add buttermilk until it's just combined.  Do not over mix.  Dough should be very sticky.
5. Turn dough out onto a floured dough board and gently press it to 1/2" thick.  Do not use rolling pin.  It should be lumpy and bumpy!  Fold the dough in half and gently press it together again (don't press together too much...that "fold" is what makes them easy to split open once they're baked!).  Fold it in half one of more time and press it out to 1" thick.
6. Using a biscuit cutter, cut into rounds.
7. You can use the scraps but they will not be nearly as good as the original biscuits.  
8. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you want soft sides and "taller" biscuits, make all of the sides touch on the baking sheet.  If you want "crunchy" edges, don't let them touch.
9. Bake approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.

I obviously baked mine without the sides touching which is why they aren't as tall as you're probably used to seeing them.  The insides are still incredibly fluffy and perfect, they just have a nice "crust" on the outside which I personally love.

I love biscuits and honey...especially this honey from the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I swear the taste better if the honey is dripping down between your fingers.

Some people swear that White Lily flour is far superior to any other type of flour...it's all I've ever used because that's what my grandma uses.  It's what I grab when I'm at the grocery store just like people who prefer Heinz over Hunts...or Duke's (or Blue Plate!) over Kraft. Whether it's really better...well, you be the judge of that. :)

ETA: There was a question about using self-rising flour opposed to the all-purpose flour I had originally listed in the recipe.  I used self-rising which is what I pretty much use for everything.  I have a special seasoned flour I use to frying things so nearly everything else I bake would only benefit from the leavening and salt in the self-rising flour.   Sorry for the confusion. ;)

Chocolate Chess Pie Recipe

This Chocolate Chess Pie is my gramma's recipe.  I thought it would make a perfect addition to our New Year's Day black eyed peas and collards.  Well.  What happened was...I made the first pie.  And then we ate it.  I had every intention of taking pictures of it for my blog. But we demolished it.  At 10:00am. So then I made another one.  And we ate half of that one too.  Before I could take pictures.  It just happened.  In our defense, we shared some with my neighbors.

If you've seen the movie The Help, you remember Minny's chocolate chess pie.  I did a little google search to find the actual recipe they used for the the movie and it's nearly identical to my gramma's recipe.  I made The Help's version too.  We had a little taste off and really couldn't tell the difference between the two.

It's a fudgy-gooey chocolate pie.  Nothing fancy about it.  Just good.  My gramma's version has sugared pecans on top but I am kind of pecaned out after Thanksgiving and Christmas so I left them off.

Happy New Year's weight loss! ;-)

Gramma's Chocolate Chess Pie

1 pie crust
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
2 1oz squares unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1 5oz can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Option pecan topping:
1 1/2 cup pecan halves and pieces
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter and chocolate squares in 30 second intervals in microwave safe bowl.  Stir after each 30 seconds until smooth.
3. Whisk evaporated milk, eggs, and vanilla together. Add to chocolate mixture.
4. Stir together granulated sugar, flour, and salt, then add to chocolate mixture whisking until smooth.
5. Press pie shell into 9" pie plate.  Prick bottom with form.
6. Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 45 minutes (maybe 50 depending on your oven).

For pecan topping:
1. Bake pie for only 40 minutes.  Remove from oven.
2. Stir together pecans, light brown sugar, corn syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Sprinkle over pie.  
3. Bake an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool at least one hour before serving. Top with whipped cream.

Cherry Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe

I love pound cake.  I love cherries (especially maraschino cherries...and the juice). The two together should be great, right? Right!  If I were having an Easter brunch at my house...I think this would definitely be on the dessert table. 

Cherry Vanilla Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/4 all purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 10oz jars maraschino cherries, drained and chopped (save the juice!)
1 vanilla bean, scraped and reserved

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray with flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy.  Add sugar, beating until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
3. In another bowl, sift together 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually add, one cup at a time, of flour mixture to butter mixture until combined.
4. Toss chopped cherries with 1/4 cup flour.  Add to batter and gently stir.  Add vanilla bead seeds. Stir.
5. Spoon into bundt pan and gently tap on counter to release any air bubbles.
6. Bake approximately 1 hour 20 minutes until wooden pick comes out clean.
7. Turn pan upside down on wire rack to cool and allow cake to release.

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

Mix together and add additional tablespoons of cream until it thin enough to drip down side of cake.

Lemon Icebox Pie Recipe

Lemon icebox pie is one of my favorite desserts.  I really just love lemon.  I love the smell of lemon.  My favorite cleaner smells like lemon Pez.  I drink lemonade until it makes me sick.  This is a perfect dessert for your Easter lunch.  Or a cookout come to Spring.  Those of you who are snowed in right now probably don't want to hear me talk about Spring, huh? :-/

 There really isn't anything to this pie.  Sweetened condensed milk is the start of some of the best desserts.  This recipe is nearly identical to my key lime pie recipe. And please do not put whipped cream on this pie.  After you make the filling you will have left over egg whites for a reason! It must have meringue!

This recipe is made for a 9-inch pie, I just made them in small individual dishes this time.

Lemon Icebox Pie
yield: one 9" pie or 4 small pies 

crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 sugar

filling:
1 can sweeten condensed milk
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (none of that stuff in the plastic lemon!)
3 egg yolks (save the whites!!)

meringue:
3 egg whites
7 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Finely crush graham crackers in a food processor.  Mix in melted butter and sugar.  Press graham cracker crumbs into a pie dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 8 minutes.
2. In a large bowl whisk together sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and eggs yolks.  I usually give it a quick taste to make sure it's tart enough.  The egg yolks aren't going to kill you.
3. Pour filling into pie dish and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside to cool.
4. For meringue: Let egg whites reach room temperature.  Beat egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until stiff peaks form.  Make sure your bowl and beaters are very clean.  If any fat or yolk gets into the whites they won't peak for you.  Add sugar gradually once peaks have formed.  If you add all of the sugar, in the beginning, you will be beating your whites for 30 minutes before they pick up for you.  Add vanilla and continue to beat.  I choose to put my meringue in a large piping bag.  I cover the top of the pie with a good layer and the put little dollops on it pulling the bag straight up to create a little peak.  Bake at 325 for a good 20 minutes of so until the meringue is golden brown.  

If you make this pie the day before you plan on serving it, wait until the day of to top with the meringue.  It will droop and sag if you make it too far in advance.  I prefer my lemon pie cold, so after I bake the meringue, I stick it in the fridge until it's time to serve.  Don't let it sit in there too long or the meringue will form little sweat beads and drop.

Mississippi Mud & Perfect Chocolate Frosting Recipe

I got this recipe out of one of my absolute favorite cookbooks, Southern Living's Comfort Food.  I already made so many of the recipes in this book before I even got it (poppyseed chicken casserole, okra, and tomatoes, coke cake....the cherry divinity continues to defeat me.).  It's also full of pictures.  I'm big on pictures in cookbooks because you eat with your eyes first.  Before I buy a cookbook, I flip through it and look at all of the pictures and honestly...if a recipe doesn't have a picture, I probably won't ever make it.  I don't think this recipe makes a dense enough cake to be called a brownie...it reminds me of those Snackwell's devil food cookies.  But I will tell you one thing....the chocolate icing is darn good.  Todd stuck his finger in it while I was making it and said, "that'll do.....that'll do jusssst fine!" It's a perfect chocolate sheet cake icing.

Mississippi Mud
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup melted butter
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3 cups miniature marshmallows
chocolate frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add butter, eggs, and vanilla, Beat lightly until smooth.  Stir in pecans.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9 pan.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove pan from oven, sprinkle marshmallows over top and return to oven for 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove pan and spread marshmallow over top until smooth.  Carefully spread chocolate frosting over marshmallows. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Chocolate frosting
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (16oz) bag of powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients at medium speed until combined.  Beat at high speed for a few minutes until frosting lightens in color and reaches spreading consistency. 

Pistachio Pudding Cake Recipe

This recipe has been around for a long time and I'm sure y'all have all heard it if not make it yourselves. I had forgotten all about it until one of Todd's friends brought up pistachio pudding the other day. Thankfully, I will have company this weekend and if the cake isn't gone by Sunday, someone will have it in a to-go box. I can't be trusted around this cake! It would be a great cake to make for Easter and obviously St. Patrick's Day. It's super simple and can be doctored up any way you want!

Ingredient:
1 box white cake mix
1 small box of pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp some type of extract (I actually used 1 tbsp of vanilla butter nut extract and a splash of almond extract)
(And yes, I added about 6 drops of green food coloring to enhance the color of the pistachio pudding. A little "enhancement" never hurt nobody!)

How to:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes. After removing the pan, run a knife around the edges gently to loosen the cake. Place your plate on top of the pan and flip it over. It should come out easily. If it doesn't- you're probably going to have an ugly cake. ;-)

I topped it with a simple almond glaze. I mixed approximately 1/4 cup powdered sugar with a splash of almond extract and a few splashes of milk. Stir it up, if it's too thick, add a little more mix. Drizzle over the top. Let the cake cool before glazing it or it'll run right off. 

You could add pistachios to the mix, you could glaze it with an orange juice glaze, you could frost it completely. And if anyone asks, you tell them that yes, you absolutely made this cake from scratch, it took hours, and you are really quite exhausted.

Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops Recipe

These were a labor of love.  I wanted to make an orange treat to take tailgating this weekend.  I used my pumpkin whoopie pie recipe and turned it into a cake pops.  I mixed the cake as the recipe says, but poured it into two round cake pans (a large sheet pan would work just as well) and baked it until a knife came out clean when poked in the center.  I let them cool and crumbled them up into a large bowl. I used the same cream cheese frosting, too.  I just dumped the whole batch of it into the crumbled pumpkin cake and mixed it up.  One great thing about pumpkin is it makes a really moist cake.  It sticks together well which makes this whole process a little easier I think.  I used a small cookie scoop to make equal size balls and rolled them smooth.  I stopped at 35 balls because I just didn't need 100 cake pops. This cake makes a TON.  I then melted a very small amount of candy melts in the microwave (about 30 seconds) and swirled lollipop sticks in it before sticking them into the cake balls.  (Candy melts and lollipop sticks can both be found at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, etc).  Dipping the end of the stick into the candy melt before putting it into the ball helps the ball stay on a little better.  I lined them all up on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the fridge overnight.

Today I took them out of the fridge and let them reach room temperature.  Now, I know all of the cake ball pros out there say to freeze them, do this, do that...I was overwhelmed with all of the different ways to make these so I just kind of winged it.  I poured my candy melts into a glass bowl and melted them over a pot of water- SLOWLY. If you melt them too fast, it'll lump up on you.  I also added a few spoonfuls of Crisco so that it would thin out a bit.  One cake pop at a time, I gently spooned the candy over the cake ball and used the spoon to help it cover.  If you try to dunk them in the candy, the ball will more than likely fall off.  Give it a good coat and then stick it on some wax paper to dry.  I topped mine with cinnamon and chopped pecans.  I also made a few with just plain orange sugar for those who don't like nuts.

I am also not putting these back in the fridge or freezer.  I don't care what anyone says, candy sweats when you take it out of the fridge or freezer and they'll look terrible, so they're staying out until Saturday! 

I already know I do not have the patience to make all of the fancy cake pops there are out there.  These look adorable all tied up with their little ribbons but Lawdy! They take some time, y'all!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

After a little Twitter talk, I've come to realize that not many people know what a whoopie pie is. We got whoopie pies from the Amish. Amish women would make them for the farmers and when the farmers would open up their lunchboxes and see them, they'd yell "WHOOPIE!" hence the name whoopie pie. They're typically chocolate with a vanilla frosting center like a giant oreo but this version is amazing. You can only make them in the fall and winter when you can buy canned pumpkin. I can't take credit for the recipe. It's Martha's. My only advice would be to make them very small. This recipe says that it makes 12..it really makes about 50 because there is just no way you can eat one the size of your hand. What am I going to do with them all? GET THEM OUT OF MY HOUSE ASAP. That's what.

FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES INGREDIENT:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING:

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.
3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.
4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)
5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins Recipe

 Pumpkin Spice Muffins 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon (I gave it a few extra shakes for good measure)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup pumpkin (1 can)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

cream cheese filling:
4 oz cream cheese (I used reduced fat and kept it cold so that it wouldn't run everywhere)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together all of the muffin ingredients (no special way...just put them all in a mixing bowl and give them a good whisk).
3. Mix together cream cheese filling  ingredients.
4. Using my 1 1/2 T cookie scoop (cookie scoops are one of my FAVORITE kitchen tools.  They make baking so easy.) I put one scoop of muffin mix in the bottom of each muffin liner and gently evened it out across the bottom.  Then I put about a 1 1/2 teaspoon scoop of cream cheese filling right in the center but don't spread it out.  Then I put another 1 1/2 T cookie scoop full of muffin mix right on top of the little dollop of cream cheese and gently spread it out around the edges so the cream cheese was hidden.
5. I gave each muffin a little shake of cinnamon sugar and baked them for approximately 15 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins

Tip: Pumpkin baked goods are even better cold so keep them in the fridge!