Baked Apple Cider Donuts (or Doughnuts)

Who doesn't love donuts? We think it would be so hard to make them that we never consider that it could really be easy and wonderful. I have made regular fried donuts that take hours of leavening etc... and they are wonderful but not quick and easy. These baked donuts are super quick and easy and have all the taste that makes us think of fall. I only think about making them during the fall months although they would be good anytime.
You will need donut baking pans. You can find them at most any large store. I purchased mine at an actual kitchen store but you can get them online as well. Here is what they look like.  They are made by Wilton. You might even find them at a Micheals or Hobby Lobby.

The recipe requires two pans and makes 12 donuts.

Turn oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray tins with a little cooking spray. 

Heres what you will need:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tbl. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (now this is tricky. The original recipe called for a lot of pumpkin pie spice in this. I think it overpowered the donut. Particularly if you are using my apple butter recipe. So I add cinnamon and just a little pumpkin pie spice. You will have to determine how much you use. now if you are using plain apple sauce you will want to punch up the spice. I would add more pumpkin pie spice if using plain apple sauce. Play with it till it meets your personal tastes. That is the great thing about cooking. We make it our own.)
1/4-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix together in bowl and set aside.

In large bowl add:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple butter (recipe on this sitehttp://triedandtruerecipes-foodiekatz.blogspot.com/2015/10/spiced-apple-butter.html . You can also use store bought apple butter or even apple sauce. The spice flavor will be different but still makes a great donut.)
2 Tbl. melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4-1 cup apple cider (you want your batter to be the consistency of waffle batter or a thick pancake batter. It should pour but not run)

Mix everything together and then add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. You will want to move quickly as the baking powder starts working right away.

You can do one of two things. Put the batter into a large zip lock bag and snip the corner and pipe the batter into the donut pans about 3/4 full. There is just about a perfect amount of batter for the twelve donuts. Or you can try and spoon it in. This is more messy and takes more time. Tap pans down and place in oven for 10 minutes. Check for doneness (either by pressing lightly or using a toothpick.) If done take out and let cook a couple minutes and then remove from the pan and set on a cooling rack and let cool completely.

After they have cooled completely you will then make a glaze (some like them with a little cinnamon sugar on them. I prefer a glaze.)

glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 Tbl. apple cider

In a bowl that would be good for dunking the donuts in add the powdered sugar. Then start out with
3 Tbl. of apple cider. Mix well. If too thick add a little bit more till it is the consistency you like. I like mine a little thicker so I usually only add 3 Tbl. plus a drop more maybe of the apple cider. Mix well and dunk the donuts half way in the glaze and set back on the wire rack to let the glaze set. You might place some wax paper under the rack to catch any falling glaze. Once glaze has set, store in covered container.
Enjoy!

Home Made Biscuit Mix (Bisquick)

If you use a lot of biscuit mixes then this is the recipe for you. It is a little heavier than the store bought version but will convert any of their recipes. I just add a little extra liquid. You just have to play with it to get the hang of it.

This will last stored in a tight container for 6 weeks or int he freezer for 6 months.

Here is what I do:

10 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp. salt
2 cups crisco (plain or butter or a mixture. I do one cup of each.)

Blend dry ingredients together. Then add the crisco and cut into the dry ingredients till it resembles course crumbs or corn meal. Store in air tight container.

Home Made Yeast Rolls

These are so good and pretty easy to make.

Heres what to do:

1/3 Cup real butter
1 Cup full fat milk
1/3 Cup sugar
1 Tbl. active dry yeast
4 Cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs

I use a Kitchen Aid blender. You can do this by hand also. These directions are for the kitchen aid.
Place milk and butter in saucepan. You are not going to even let this simmer. Watch this close and melt butter. You want the milk to reach 120 degrees. Yeast works best in a temp. of 110 - 115. So if the milk is 120 by the time you pour it into the metal bowl it will cool off. I check it with a thermometer and make sure it is not below 110 as this will not activate the yeast and not above 120 as this will kill the yeast. Pour warmed milk and butter into blender bowl (have the dough hook on the blender) and add the sugar and stir. Then sprinkle with the yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. It should start to foam up and smell like yeast. Add 3/4th of the flour and the salt. Start to blend. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to blend. You will blend on number 2 to 3 for 5-7 minutes. The dough will be sticky but should pull together and be smooth. If it is too sticky add a tablespoon of flour one at a time till it blends to a smooth consistency. It should feel moist and not dry at all. Sprinkle the counter with what is left of the flour onto the counter and put the dough on it and knead for a minute or two till dough is soft and slightly sticky. form into a ball and place in a oiled bowl. Oil the top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap and then a towel. Place in warm area and let rise 60-90 minutes or till dough has doubled in size. Once dough has doubles place dough on counter and pat down slightly. Cut into 12 equal pieces and form into balls. Place on lightly oiled sheet pan. Cover and let rise another 60-90 minutes till doubled in size. Bake in preheated over (350 degrees) for 20-30 minutes till deep brown and done.

Banana Nut Muffins

I love banana nut muffins. Here is my tried and true recipe that I use. I will also tell you how to convert it to banana nut bread.

Here's what I do:

Oven 400 degrees. Line twelve muffin cup tin with paper inserts.

1 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt ( I always add a heaping tsp. But this is a personal taste thing.)
1/2 cup heaping of white sugar
1 large egg beaten
1 cup mashed ripe banana (over ripe with all the specs on them. they get sweeter.)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 Cup vegy oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Add the chopped pecans and mix. Combine egg,mashed banana, milk, and oil in another bowl and mix together. Add the banana mixture to the flour and stir to combine. Spoon into muffin cups filling 3/4 full. Bake 400 degrees 18-20 minutes till golden and toothpick comes out clean when tested.

for bread:
set oven to 350 and pour batter into 8x4 bread pan. Bake about 1 hour or till toothpick comes out clean when tested.

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Buscuits

This is the buttermilk biscuit recipe that I use and rely on. I am currently trying my hand at a few different ones and will post the ones I think are worthy. These are very tasty and always a hit at my house. I will make these over the regular baking powder biscuit recipe (uses milk instead of buttermilk) if I have buttermilk in the house. We don't drink buttermilk so if its here it is because I'm making buttermilk dressing or a cake with it. I usually by a big container and just plan lots of biscuits.

Here's what I do: I use 1 1/2 times this  recipe for the Sasquatches. I don't double it as it is a good size anyway. So 1 and 1/2 more makes a large pan of biscuits. I also cut mine pretty thick.

4 Cups all purpose flour 
1/2 tsp salt
6 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Cup  shortening
2 Cups buttermilk
more flour for sprinkling on counter to roll out biscuits on.

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut the shortening into the flour till it resembles cornmeal. Add buttermilk and stir till all is together.
Lightly flour counter top and turn dough onto counter and knead until smooth. Roll out 1/2 thick (I usually roll mine much thicker 1 1/2 inches at least. How thick you roll them is up to you.)
Using a 2" biscuit cutter (or just a round glass like my grandma use to do) cut the biscuits into rounds. When you have  nothing but the left over dough pieces from cutting the biscuits then mush it back together and flatten out again and cut more biscuits. Do this till all the dough is used up. Place on a large ungreased cookie sheet close together (you want the biscuits touching slightly.) Bake 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown. I also test one that is in the middle of the pan. If it is still doughy cook a few minutes longer. If need be take just the outer biscuits and place the inner ones back in the oven for a few minutes to finish cooking if they need it.


          

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I originally found this recipe in Pillsbury Healthy Baking Cookbook. I will list the original recipe which is lower in fat etc.... then list the one that I also make that is a little higher in sugar and fat. That way you can choose which you want to make. They are both good.


Low Fat version:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 Cup chocolate chips (mini chips work great too)
3/4 Cup 2% milk
3 Tbl. oil
1 egg, beaten

Topping for muffins (optional)
3 Tbl. sugar
2 Tbl. brown sugar

Heat oven to 400. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,salt, and chocolate chips. Mix well. In small bowl, combine milk, oil, and egg, blend well. Add  dry ingredients to wet and stir till just combined. Divide into paper lined muffin cups. Mix the brown sugar and white sugar together and sprinkle on top of the muffins before baking (this is optional. Sometimes I do and a lot of the time I forget.) Bake 18-23 minutes.

Less healthy version: It is not much different. More sugar and usually whole milk.

2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 Cup (or more) chocolate chips. Minis work great.)
1 Cup milk
3 Tbl. oil
1 egg beaten

follow directions above and add sugar topping if you want.

7 Up Biscuits

I guess I'm always late to the party. Who knew? My sweet Mother turned me on to these biscuits which she loves. I had never heard of them. So I gave them a try and they are a quick and good biscuit. Give them a try. They are pretty easy peasy to make and you wont be sorry you did.
I looked at a bunch of the recipes for these biscuits and they are pretty much all the same. So I can't give direct credit to anyone for the recipe as I don't really know who it belongs to.

Here's what I did:

2 Cups Bisquick type biscuit mix
1/2 Cup sour cream
1/2 Cup 7up
1/4 Cup melted butter
3-4" biscuit cutter
Oven 450 degrees

Cut sour cream into biscuit mix. Add the 7up and blend. This makes a soft dough. It should not be runny just soft (I read lots of women say it was so wet they had to use a muffin tin and scoop it in. That is because they made some sort of a mistake. My guess is they didn't read the recipe well and added all the 7 up. DONT ADD ALL THE 7UP, just what the recipe calls for!) Sprinkle counter with a little biscuit mix and pat out the dough. Melt the butter in the bottom of a (this is about an 8x8 square pan) baking pan. Cut out biscuits and place in pan with the melted butter (yes, just set them in all that great butter.) Bake 12-15 minutes.
NOTE: I also read some just place the dough in the pan and pat it out to fit and then take a knife and cut the dough into squares in the pan and then bake. I haven't tried it but sounds like a good idea. I will probably try this the next time I make them.

Simple Pizza Dough

This is the pizza dough recipe I have been using forever. It is good. I don't know if its the best out there but it works and I'm use to it. It is from Emeril Lagasse.

Makes 1 (15 inch) pizza. I always double it. It doubles just fine.

1 Cup warm water (105-115 degrees) 

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 tsp. honey

2 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil

3 Cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

yellow cornmeal for sprinkling on baking pan

If you have not had a lot of experience working with yeast it is very important that your water is the right temperature. If its too hot it will kill the yeast. If its too cold it will not activate the yeast properly. I use a kitchen aid to make my dough. But you don't have too. It just saves my arms all the kneading. I first place super hot water in my bowl to heat it up so that it doesn't drop the temperature of the water when I put the water and yeast in the bow. Once the bowl in warm. I pour out the water and dry it quickly. I run tap water till its as hot as it will get and that is always over the 115 degree temp. needed for the yeast. I put the 1 cup of over hot water into warmed bowl. I use my thermometer to test the water and when it cools to 115 degrees I add the yeast, honey and 1 Tbl. olive oil. Mix lightly and let sit till it foams up (about 5 minutes.) If it doesn't foam then your yeast is no good. 

Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt to mixing bowl. Mix by hand or use dough hook on mixer and blend till smooth. Continue to add flour 1/4 cup at a time and mix after each addition till you get a smooth but slightly sticky dough.  You might not need all the flour. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth but slightly tacky about 3-5 minutes.

Oil a large bowl and place dough in bowl turning to coat dough in oil. cover with plastic wrap and a towel and set in warm place free from drafts till doubled in size. About 1 1/2 hours.

Bake according to directions for recipe you are using the dough for. 

If making regular pizza place rack on second to the lowest level. Turn oven on to 475 and bake pizza till dough is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly. The bottom of your pizza should be golden brown as well.

Easy Peasy Cheddar Cheese/garlic/chive biscuits

In a pinch these work great. They are actually very good. My family loves them. I love them when I'm in a hurry and don't want to deal with scratch biscuits.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (This makes about 8-12. Depending on how large you scoop and drop them.)

1 1/2 Cups biscuit mix (I used Bisquick)

1/2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1-2 tsp. dried or fresh chives ( just as much as you like really)

1/2 Cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together and drop onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 12 minutes or till golden brown and done. Take out of oven and immediately  brush with garlic butter.

Garlic Butter (for brushing the tops of biscuits after they are done.)

1/2 stick of butter, melted

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter and mix in garlic powder and salt. Brush on biscuits with pastry brush as soon as they come out of the oven.

It's that "Fair" time of year. Its time for Funnel Cakes.

One of the blogs I love to look at has posted a lot of  "State Fair" recipes. Oh how fun. The one that was missing is funnel cake. Now I haven't had a funnel cake purchased out in years. I just bring myself to pay $6 for a funnel cake. Since this blog got me all hungry for the artery clogging yumminess of fair foods I thought I would post this recipe. 

If you have ever watched them make funnel cakes at the fair they use these rings that they pour the funnel cakes into. I just use my 10 1/2" cast iron skillet. I don't use this skillet much because it is generally too small for most things but perfect for funnel cakes. 

Top these lovely babies with powdered sugar and or strawberries, whip cream. YUM! I hope you like them.

Funnel Cake

3 eggs

2 Cups milk ( I actually had to use more to get it thin enough. Maybe a cup or more. It needs to run through the funnel. So the batter needs to be just thin enough to run through the funnel. If it helps watch a youtube video of them being cooked to see the consistency of the batter.)

4 Cups flour

1/4 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Beat eggs, milk and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet. Beat batter till smooth. Batter should be thin enough to run through a funnel. Now this is where you decide how you want to do it. You can use a funnel or a small measuring cup. If your using a funnel, fill the funnel up and keep your finger on the bottom. Remove your finger from the bottom of the funnel and let the batter drain into the hot grease swirling it as you go. Who cares how your end product looks as long as it tastes good and tastes like funnel cake. Heat oil up to 350- 375 degrees. Pour batter into pan till it is well swirled and full (about 3/4-1 Cup batter. This depends on how big your pan is and how thick you want your funnel cakes to be. After you start you will figure out what works best for you.) cook till golden brown on one side and carefully flip and cook the other side till  golden brown.

drain a second on a paper towel and transfer to a plate and sift powdered sugar on top. We like a little funnel cake with our powdered sugar at my house. The more sugar the better. 

Good luck and enjoy.

Simple Baking Powder Biscuits

Simple Biscuits: Now I triple this recipe for my family.
2 Cups all purpose flour sifted
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 Cup Criso
3/4 Cup milk
preheat oven 425 degrees. In bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the crisco until mixture resembles course meal. Add milk, stir until blended. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead 8-10 times. Roll dough out (I just use my hands to flatten the dough out till it is about 1 inch thick.) till its 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter. I use biscuits cutters now, but for years I just used a glass to cut the rounds out. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 12-15 minutes. How many biscuits you get depends on how thick your dough is and how big the biscuit rounds are. Like anything practice makes perfect. Don't give up. Like anything you will get better with time if they aren't perfect the first few times.
This is a very simple go to biscuit recipe.

Honey Biscuits

These are quick and easy to make. They also happen to be pretty tasty. 

Honey Biscuits

2 Cups all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 Cup vegetable shortening

1 tsp. cream of tartar

2/3 Cup whole milk

1/2 stick of butter (melt in small pan and set aside)

1/3 Cup honey

Place flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cream of tartar in mixing bowl and stir together. Work in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal. Pour milk into flour mixture and mix well. Pour onto floured surface and knead  12-15 times. Break dough into 1/4-1/3 cup size balls. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Pat down to 1/2" thickness. Brush with some of the melted butter. Bake 450 for 10-12 minutes. While biscuits are baking pour honey into the remainder of the melted butter and bring to a boil. Remove honey/butter from heat and  set aside. When biscuits are done brush with honey butter and serve.