laceyaltadraper@gmail.com

Copycat Rhodes Rolls: Soft, Fluffy, and Freezer-Friendly!

October 21, 2024 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever enjoyed the warm, buttery goodness of Rhodes rolls, you’ll love this easy copycat recipe that captures all that deliciousness right in your own kitchen. These homemade rolls are a staple at my house, I make them at least three times a week for my kids lunches. They’re not only simple to make but also freezer-friendly, allowing you to enjoy fresh-baked rolls anytime you want. Let’s dive into this recipe that’s sure to become a family favorite!

Why You’ll Love These Rolls

Soft and Fluffy: With the perfect balance of ingredients, these rolls are incredibly soft and fluffy, just like the Rhodes originals.
Customizable: You can add your favorite herbs or cheeses to personalize your rolls.
Freezer-Friendly: Shape the rolls, freeze them, and bake them fresh whenever you crave them!

The Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup warm milk
¼ cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ to 4 cups flour

Instructions

Proof the Yeast: In a mixing bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes bubbly and frothy.
Prepare the Milk and Butter: In a microwave-safe container, warm the milk for 30-60 seconds. Slice the butter and add it to the warm milk, allowing it to soften and melt.
Mix the Dough: To the yeast mixture, add 3 ½ cups of flour. Start mixing, then pour in the warm milk and melted butter. Add the salt and continue kneading.
Adjust Flour as Needed: Gradually add the remaining ½ cup of flour until the dough is just slightly sticky. You may not need the entire amount, so keep an eye on the consistency.
Knead the Dough: Knead the dough for about 4-6 minutes on medium speed until it is smooth and elastic.
First Rise: Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
Shape the Rolls: Punch down the risen dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a roll and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
Second Rise: Allow the rolls to rise for another 30-45 minutes, or until they double in size.
Bake: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.

Freezing Instructions

If you’d like to save some rolls for later, here’s how to freeze them:

After shaping: Place the rolls on a greased baking pan and cover them tightly with plastic wrap.
Freeze: Once frozen, you can transfer the rolls to a freezer bag for longer storage.
To Bake from Frozen: When you’re ready to enjoy them, take the frozen rolls and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Let them rise for 4-6 hours or until doubled in size. Then, bake as directed.

Tips for Success

Warmth is Key: Ensure your water and milk are warm but not too hot, as high temperatures can kill the yeast.
Don’t Rush the Rises: Giving your dough time to rise is crucial for achieving fluffy rolls.
Experiment with Flavors: Feel free to add herbs like rosemary or garlic powder for an extra layer of flavor!

Whether you bake them fresh for dinner or prepare them in advance to pop in the oven later, you’ll love how simple and delicious homemade rolls can be. So gather your ingredients and start baking—your kitchen (and your taste buds) will thank you! Enjoy!

The Best Ever Chocolate Cake {Magleby’s Copycat Recipe}

October 2, 2020 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 3 Comments

The only non-negotiable about my wedding reception was the cake. Flowers, reception location, table linen colors? All were a little up in the air. But the cake had to be a layered Magleby’s chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. If you’ve ever had a slice of rich, delicious, fudgy, cake from Magleby’s you understand why its the cake I wanted to be eating in slices out of the freezer for weeks after the big day. My mom even packed up some for me to take on our road trip honeymoon. It’s just that good.

This homemade version is just as delicious and can be whipped up quickly in a casual 13 x 9 pan or easily made into rounds for a decadent, {dare I say wedding worthy?} dessert.

From a bakers perspective, one of my favorite things about this cake is the lovely, flat cake surface it creates. It doesn’t sink in the middle like many homemade cake recipes, and it doesn’t mound up in the center like so many boxed cakes either. The flat surface perfect for frosting! And it makes layering a dream because there is no need for trimming the cakes before frosting and stacking.

Be sure to cool completely before frosting, and enjoy a cake so delicious, its worth hauling on your honeymoon.

Serving Size:

Time:

Difficulty:

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup water
½ cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
FOR THE FROSTING:
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. baking cocoa
5 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9×13″ pan
In a small sauce pan heat butter until melted on medium heat. Add water and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth, then bring to a slight simmer then set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl combine flour, granulated sugar, and salt.
Add cooled chocolate mixture and stir until just combined and smooth.
In a small separate bowl add eggs, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture into the batter and gently stir until combined.
Fold the sour cream into the batter gently. Don’t over mix.
Pour batter into the prepared pan & bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out with only a few crumbs.
Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
FOR THE FROSTING*****
Add butter, cocoa, milk, and vanilla to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
Once all the butter is melted and mixture is smooth remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar.

*****If you’re making a layered cake be sure to double the frosting recipe so there’s enough for in between the layers

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

September 29, 2020 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

Sunday breakfasts are a favorite for me and my family. Depending on our church schedule, I usually end up with extra time to bake something extra delicious. This past Sunday morning called for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.

As I gathered my ingredients to make these delicious fall muffins, I realized I was about one cup short of chocolate chips. Seeing as how I had refilled my chocolate chip canister earlier this week, I imagine that more than one pair of little hands found their way into the jar. Luckily, we had about a dozen fun-sized Hershey bars leftover from recent activity. So my girls and I chopped those up to mix in and saved the 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for sprinkling on top. Adaptability is the name of the game around here! The chopped-up chocolate chunks were delicious in this recipe and many other substitutions would work just as well. I’m thinking about trying white chocolate or cinnamon chips but you could easily omit the chips completely and have pure pumpkin muffins.

Here’s hoping you have extra time this week for extra delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Serving Size:

16 Muffins

Time:

Difficulty:

East

Ingredients

2 C flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 c. chocolate chips (reserve a few for topping the muffins)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 and line a 12 count muffin tin and a 6 count muffin tin with paper or silicone tin liners.
Mix flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl mix milk, oil, sugars, pumpkin puree, and eggs until well blended.
Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently, only until just combined.
Add chocolate chips and gently stir until incorporated.
Fill tins almost all the way full* and bake for 5 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking another 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

*because this is such a heavy batter as long as you leave about 1/4″ space from the top of the liner the muffins will puff up, not over the edges

The Mystery of the Missing Donuts: Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

September 24, 2020 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

When September rolls around here in Utah sometimes it doesn’t feel like the ushering in of Autumn. We’ve been known to have temperatures well into the 90’s, or early freezes and snow flurries depending on the year. Sometimes all you have is the word, September to remind you that the seasons are changing. But a pumpkin spiced donut helps too.

We first whipped up a batch of these on September 1st, just to make sure we kicked off fall right. They were worth waking up extra early on a Tuesday morning to make sure my first grader had cinnamon sugar in the corners of her mouth as she skipped off to school. I guess mandatory masks have their plus sides.

We only waited a few days for another batch, a breezy Saturday morning where you could almost smell the leaves changing colors. We savored the first batch, eating all six before they cooled, and I left the remaining on the kitchen counter. We had a few to take to grandmas and a few for later. I knew the donuts wouldn’t make it through the day but I was surprised after loading the girls up the car to find the plate completely empty. No donuts for later, and none to share at grandmas house.

I began a frantic search for the eight missing donuts, after interrogating each child and deciding the two-year-old was the likeliest culprit. We searched in cabinets, toy baskets, garbage bins, anywhere we thought those stubby two-year-old arms could easily reach. After a half-hour of searching not a single donut turned up. We couldn’t even find cinnamon sugar evidence anywhere. With no real evidence, we came to the conclusion that she fed them one by one to Rico, our Great Pyrenees. In fact, the lack of evidence is what led us to that conclusion, it was all licked up, every last crumb.

Trying to find the humor while living my own “who stole the cookies from the cookie jar” moment would’ve been easier if these pumpkin spice donuts weren’t so perfectly delicious. Thankfully, enough time has passed now, and enough batches of donuts have been eaten in the meantime, that we can laugh about it now. And whenever I have a half dozen of these lovelies baking in the oven without fail Rico appears at the door, looking extra drooly and expectant. I can’t blame him.

**You will need a donut pan! Don’t have one? I’d suggest you invest! I bought mine at King Arthur Flour. Don’t want to buy one? I saw a great tutorial on how to make your own here

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Serving Size:

16-18

Time:

1hr

Difficulty:

Beginner

Ingredients

15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
4 T. melted butter
3 eggs
3 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
CINNAMON SUGAR COATING
3/4 c melted butter
3 t. cinnamon
3/4 c sugar

Directions

Mix the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix only until combined. Over mixing will make the donuts tough and dense.
Spoon the batter into a large piping bag, or a ziplock bag with a corner snipped off.
Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan, filling them about 3/4 full
Bake at 350 F for 18-25 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove onto a cooling rack
For the cinnamon sugar coating, mix cinnamon and sugar together,
Dip both sides of the donut in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Grandma’s Cookies

March 31, 2015 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

cake-like cookies, cookies, old-fashioned cookies, unique cookies

The other day my father called us all together for a family meeting. He has cancer. He wanted to talk to all of us about the way his estate would be settled when he dies. I was assigned dessert for the dinner portion of the meeting. I decided on nostalgia and made these cookies for the event. It was great to be together with my brothers and sisters and my dad. They are amazing people and I am a better person just because I am related. My dad opened the meeting saying something like “When I die and things are settled I want you to make your mother proud.” He ended the meeting by telling us that none of the “things were his and none would ever really be ours. “Everything belongs to God.” At any rate–I made the cookies and I’m pretty sure that they brought back more than a few good memories for my family. So I decided to give them a re-post. If you haven’t made these yet, give them a try. I’m sure you will have a new family favorite of your own.

The photo above was taken this particular occasion. You will notice yellow sprinkles on a few. On the last 2 dozen cookies I added lemon extract, lemon zest and a few lemon chips. They were a delightful twist to an old favorite.

And now the re-post…..

Fair warning; this is going to be serious.

I love the kitchen! I love dishes, dishtowels, kitchen gadgets, family conversations, recipe books, oh yeah…I also love cooking/baking. It’s just a little something that I picked up from the hours I spent in the kitchen with my mom when I was growing up. You will hear a lot about my momma over the years. In fact, it’s because of her that I started collecting my favorite recipes to put on a blog ! She is the reason for so many things. I’m not really ready to talk about it yet, but my mom passed away a couple of months ago. She was my biggest cheerleader and inspiration. She was also my editor. I don’t know how objective she was about my writing but I do know that she had me correct a few misspelled words now and then. Mostly she would just read through the post and then call and tell me how wonderful I was. I miss that. I miss her. Wow.

I thought it might be appropriate to come back to blogging with a recipe of her mother’s. I was one of the youngest of the grandchildren and my memories of my grandmother are sketchy at best. What I do remember of her, though, was complete kindness and really encompassing hugs. I wish that I had the same memories as my cousins and siblings about these cookies, but my memories come from my own mother making these unique cookies. I’m told that grandma would bake them in her wood burning/coal stove and then store them in a big roaster. Grandkids and friends alike were welcome to stop in and dip their hands into the roaster for one of these nostalgic cookies. I’ve collected a lot of recipes over the years and I’ve never run across one quite like it. I find these cookies to parallel a grandmother in many ways; they take time, they are sweet and they bring happiness to all around them.

I made these cookies shortly after Momma died. Somehow digging out this recipe and laboring with love over them made me feel closer to both her and grandma. I took a few to a cousin and dropped some off to my brother who always claimed to love them most. I reintroduced them to my own children who had no memory of this cookie and was glad I had taken the time to share a memory.

Make them for the people you love. Take a few minutes and tell them a story about your own grandmother. There’s just something about the kitchen. I feel close to my momma there. She wrote a post for me in the spring and asked me to post it in the fall. That will be my next gift to this blog and any who love their mother and grandmother. If you will notice these ingredients are so simple and most surely found in most pantries– nothing fancy here except the finished product.

The first thing to remember is that this is a sticky dough. Refrigerating the dough for at least 2 hours makes it manageable, so there’s no reason to get all excited and preheat the oven when you crack the eggs…

The happy ingredients:

In a large bowl ( and I mean Large bowl) cream together:

1 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening

Add:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Carefully incorporate:

5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 cups canned milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans * optional (Okay I have a confession: I don’t love nuts in these cookies so I make them in stages and add nuts for those in the fam who love nuts or are nutty…)

Remember, the dough will be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 2 hours. I always tell my girls to do a test batch of cookies when they start baking, just to see how the shape holds. If you feel like it needs more flour, toss it in!
I’ve never been successful using a cookie scoop with these cookies. I always use either two spoons or a spoon and knife. This would be called the “old-fashioned” way of shaping cookie dough. This is how we did it in the old days. My momma taught me that.

Cookie Dough, Sweet Suppertime, Grandma's Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and drop cookies onto parchment-covered cookie sheet or greased cookie sheet. Bake about 12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the top springs back when you tap it carefully with your finger, avoiding burning yourself. Come on and try it. If grandma could manage this in an old coal stove 80 years ago I think you can do it! If you can’t handle that do the standard insertion of a toothpick coming out mostly clean. You are baking the equivalent of a mini-cake here. Some of mine will turn out flattish and some will turn out nice and rounded. Either way they will melt in your mouth and flood your mind with a million happy memories.

Cool 2 minutes on a cookie sheet before moving to them to a cooling rack, or as grandma did; a dry, clean dish towel.

Frost with vanilla frosting of your choice. Grandma Reba’s recipe is below. I always use her recipe when I make these cookies, flour and all. 🙂 There are some things you just don’t mess with. You will want to frost them while they are still slightly warm so that the frosting sort of runs down the sides just a bit. Sprinkle them with chopped walnuts if you love walnuts.
Share a few… because that’s what your grandmother would do.

Grandma's Cookies

This old fashioned cookie is well worth the effort. Cake-like in texture, this cookie evokes memories of days gone by and visiting with good friends and family.

Author: Shanon for Grandma Dunsdon

Recipe type: Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 whole eggs
2 cups canned milk
5½ to 6 cups flour (sometimes even more if it is humid)
*optional chopped walnuts or pecans
Grandma's Frosting
1 square butter softened
2 Tablespoons flour
1½ package powdered sugar
canned milk to desired consistency

Instructions

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add salt, soda, vanilla and eggs just until blended. Carefully incorporate flour and milk. Add chopped nuts if desired and reserve a few for sprinkling on the top of the cookies if you are nutty. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically to make sure that you the dough has mixed up nice and even. Refrigerate overnight or at least two hours.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees until the edges brown and the top of the cookie springs back when touched.
Cool until just slightly warm and frost with vanilla frosting. Top with chopped nuts as desired.

There you have it….a memory.

White Chocolate Covered Popcorn

December 6, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Christmas popcorn, Christmas treats, sweet suppertime

It doesn’t get any easier than this! ( And yes, I realize that these are in the same classification of Rice Krispie Treats.) No judging until you have tried them! This popcorn treat is fun to make, fun to eat, fun to package, fun to vary, fun to give away, fun to keep…..well you get the idea.
This summer I attended the wedding reception for the son of a good friend of mine. As we left they had adorable popcorn cartons filled with the most delicious variation of popcorn mix that I had ever seen. Then I tasted it and fell in love. Your imagination is literally your only limitation with the mix. For the Christmas Season I have used mint creme candies, crushed candy canes, chocolate coated candies and chocolate covered pretzels. At Halloween I love to toss in candy corn or/and pieces of caramel. Sometimes I drizzle milk chocolate for added color. I had a dream the other night that I started with a layer of potato chips, milk chocolate, popcorn, white chocolate, pretzels etc. Yes I dream food! This is a great last minute party treat and a super delicious neighbor gift at Christmas!

This is how I made mine today…

Pop one 3.3 oz butter flavor popcorn in the microwave and pour out on a large jelly roll pan covered in parchment or wax paper. Remove all unpopped kernels. My mom had a handy Tupperware that could do this job but alas I had to use the hunt and peck method.
Now it’s to add all the the nummy treats to the top of your popped corn! Reserve a few of your smaller treats to add to the top after you have drizzled your white chocolate. When I make mine I sort of break the pan into sections, putting different treats in each section so that when I put them in a bowl or package it all up it looks like there is a lot of variety.

Now comes the super fun part; melting and drizzling the white chocolate. Pour 1 package (12 oz) of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl (I like glass). This is how I melt mine;
Microwave on half power for one minute.
Remove and stir once.
Microwave on half power for another minute.
Remove and stir a couple of times.
Microwave on full power for 30 seconds.
Stir until smooth and start drizzling baby! I like using a metal tablespoon (dinnerware style) to do this.
Now, be generous and get a good coating on this as the chocolate is what binds it all together. When you have it all nice a pretty, toss on those reserved candies to add color and texture to what the eye sees before the mouth consumes.

Let your masterpiece sit for 30 minutes while the chocolate dries. Gently break it in to pieces for serving. It goes a bit like this at my house; one for the bowl, one for me, one for the bowl, a bite for me… this usually yields 1/2 bowl and one happy tummy. 🙂 If that’s the case wrap it up pretty and give it to someone you REALLY like.

White Chocolate Covered Popcorn by Sweet Suppertime

Ingredients

1 3.3 oz. bag butter flavored microwave popcorn, popped and unpopped kernals discarded
1 12 oz bag white chocolate chips
Candy of your choice such as:
chocolate coated candies
chocolate covered pretzels, broken in large pieces
chocolate mint cremes
crushed candy cane…the possibilities are endless

Instructions

After popping the popcorn, pour it out on a large jelly roll pan covered with wax paper or parchment. Sort through the popped corn and discard any kernels that have not popped. Spread out evenly on the pan. Sprinkle your desired candies on the top. Be as generous as your taste buds and budget allows. Reserve a few candies to place on top of the finished product.
Melt one 12 oz package of white chocolate chips in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Use half power for in minute in the microwave, remove and stir. Microwave for an additional minute on half power, remove and stir. Microwave one last time on full power for 30 seconds. Remove and stir until smooth, then quickly drizzle over the prepared popcorn and candies. You will want to use the entire bag of white chocolate as this is what holds the popcorn bark together. Sprinkle any reserved candies on top and allow to cool and dry for 30 minutes.
Gently break into pieces and enjoy! (and maybe even share)

Momma’s Bread

November 27, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 1 Comment

Do you know anyone who does not love the smell of homemade bread? Do you know anyone who would turn down a warm slice of bread slathered with homemade raspberry jam? Me neither!

I am so lucky because my mother taught me to make bread at a very young age. In fact, I have so many fond memories of homemade bread with my mom that I am having a hard time choosing which one to put down for the sake of this blog collection. Is it the countless times that I walked through the door after school to the comforting smell of homemade bread? Is it the feel of the dough in my hands or watching her hands knead and shape the loaves? Is it watching her slice off a piece and then listening to my brothers tease her about how she just couldn’t cut the loaf straight?

Ultimately what I would love to remember my whole life and what I would love for my own children to know is that for years she never used a recipe and she didn’t have a machine to do the kneading. She had a small sauce pot that, I would imagine, held about 2 cups of flour and she used her silverware to measure with. She didn’t measure the temperature of the water she was proofing yeast in and she didn’t measure anything. I can see her in my mind working over the dough adding cups, dashes and sprinkles. I see her swirl the bowl with warm water after sprinkling the yeast and a dash of sugar so that the water would contact the yeast without necessarily stirring it. And I see her pinch at the dough and feel it to see if it feels just right after adding the last bit of flour. “Come here Shanon,” she would say, “feel the dough… this is how is should feel.” To this day I love the feel of a good dough and my hands tell me long before my taste buds do if the dough was done right.

Then she was asked to teach a class at church about bread making. I could not for the life of me figure out why she seemed so concerned about this. She was, after all, the master at this! She worried and fretted and made batch after batch. She was working out the measurements so that she could send the ladies home with a recipe. I wonder how many neighbors received a loaf of her bread during the weeks that led up to that class? The recipe that follows is the culmination of her efforts. Later in life my dad bought her a Braun mixing machine. I am happy that, before she taught me to make bread in that machine, she taught me to make it by hand. For the sake of this post, I made the recipe by hand and my biceps and abs (for some reason) are feeling it today! You can easily use your machine to do this, but I have to say it was pretty fun to do all by myself. The thing I think everyone should understand about making bread is that even ugly bread smells and tastes good. Practice makes perfect (until you need a great photo or somewhere special you needed to take it 🙂

To start your bread making, scald 2 cups of milk in a saucepan. To me this means that the milk starts to form bubbles around the edges or forms a thin film on the top layer. Remove the pan from the stove top and add 2/3 cup shortening 2 1/2 Tablespoons salt and 6 Tablespoons sugar. Stir until the shortening is melted and the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add one cup cold water and set this aside to cool a bit.

Yup! That’s a Mickey Mouse scraper, he’s my bud.

While the milk mixture is cooling a bit, let’s proof the yeast. In a glass bowl measure 1 cup of warm water. I like to put water in the bowl and warm it up a bit before I actually put in the warm water I will be using to proof the yeast. It’s a quirk. Anyway, if you want to take the temperature of the water you are using you will want to keep it around 100 degrees. If you feel adventurous and don’t want to take the water’s temperature, hold your wrist under the running water until it feels nice and warm but not hot. Hot will kill the yeast. Put one cup of warm water in your glass bowl and then sprinkle 3 Tablespoons of active dry yeast over the water. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast mixture to feed the yeast. Swirl the bowl or give it a quick stir. Just one. Then set it aside to get it all nice and foamy. It takes about 8 minutes or so. Put it in a nice warm place. It is the king of this process!

shanon balser, sweet suppertime, proofing yeast

Working with a bowl that can easily hold 10 cups of flour, pour the warm (but not hot) milk mixture into the bottom. Add the yeast mixture and 7 cups of flour. Stir to incorporate the flour. Add 2 of the 3 remaining cups of flour and begin working the dough with your hands.

bread by hand, homemade bread, bread, sweetsuppertime

Now it’s your choice whether to keep working in the bowl or live dangerously and work it on the counter. You have about 10 minutes to spend with this guy, so get comfortable. If the dough sticks to your hands, sprinkle the last remaining cup of flour, a little at a time, onto your dough and work it in. Most likely you will need the whole cup.

I like working the dough on the counter after I have gained control of the dough in a large bowl. Folding the dough like a package, bring the edges in to the center over and over again. Pull and stretch the dough. This is where you form the necessary gluten that makes the dough light. Work the dough in this manner for about 10 minutes until bubbles of air form and pop.

Form the dough into a ball, brush with oil, cover it with a clean dish cloth, and leave it to rest and raise for about 45 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

bread, sweet suppertime, shanon balser, homemade bread

While the dough is rising grease 3 large bread pans both on the bottom and sides. I like using wax paper or parchment. Momma always kept a piece inside her shortening container for such uses.

Punch down the dough. This is my kids’ favorite part; punching down the dough for me. Divide the raised dough into 3 equal parts and shape them into loaves. There is really no magic to this. Some people shape it into a rectangle and roll it up. I fold the dough in on itself just like when I am kneading it. Grabbing the top in my fingers I roll it back and forth on the counter to smooth the top and shape it into a nice roll that matches the size of pan I am using.

Place the shaped loaves in the prepared bread pans and brush with oil. Cover with a towel and once again place in a warm spot to raise until double or reaches the top of the loaf pans. This takes about 45 minutes. After about 30 minutes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now it’s time to bake the bread/masterpiece. Place the loaves of bread on the center rack of the oven at 350 degree for about 35-40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. I like to brush the top of the loaves with butter.

Now it’s time to call the family and get out the butter and jam. Actually I never have to call the family… the smell of fresh baked bread summons them all on its own. This is a baking project well worth the time! Enjoy one loaf right away and take another to a neighbor. No worries there is still one left for supper.

sweet suppertime, homemade bread, bread recipes

Momma’s Bread Recipe by Alta Chamberlain for Sweet Suppertime

Scald two cups of milk. Remove from heat and add 2/3 cup shortening, 6 Tablespoons of sugar and 2 1/2 Tablespoons of salt. Stir until shortening, sugar, and salt are dissolved. Add 1 cup cold water, stir.
Dissolve 3 Tablespoons yeast in one cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar, and let rise to a foamy sponge
(about 8-10 minutes).
When the milk mixture is lukewarm, add yeast and seven cups of flour (momma used all purpose flour, feel free to use bread flour). Stir briskly until blended (about 1 minute). Add remaining 3 cups of flour and knead until the dough is smooth and air bubbles form and pop. This should take about 10 minutes. You may need to add additional flour if the dough is too sticky, but don’t add too much as the dough will become stiff. Moisten the top of the dough with oil. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.
Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise until the center of each formed loaf has raised to the top of the bread pans.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake on center rack for approximately 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and brush with butter if desired.
Makes 3 loaves.

Note: Momma used all purpose flour and sometimes used half wheat flour and half white flour. I use bread flour and love making the half and half as well.

Raisin Filled Cookies

November 4, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

Early in the spring I asked my mom to write a post for my recipe blog. I asked to her to review some of her memories of childhood and write, for me, a memory. The following post is hers. She mailed this to me in the spring and I called her to tell her that I had gotten it and to thank her for sharing this memory. She told me, “Shanon, I would like you to publish it in the fall. I won’t be here, but the story would be best suited for the fall.” My mother passed away in late August and I have watched the leaves change and drift to the ground. Still I have procrastinated publishing this piece. I’ve enjoyed seeing the letter perched on my dresser these last months. It’s a connection to her and somehow in publishing her recipe and memory, I feel like I am moving on and I’m not sure I like that feeling.

With that being said…. here is my mother’s memory:

My favorite time of the year has always been early autumn when nature steps out in an array of brilliant colors; but I also enjoy late autumn when the leaves start to fall and the air becomes chilly. By this time the harvest had been safely gathered in and it would be time for the final preparations for winter and Hog Butchering time. Probably that doesn’t sound exciting to folks today, but with a fresh supply of lard, we knew our winter days would be filled with the smell of doughnuts frying or raisin-filled cookies baking.

My Dad would carefully trim all the fat from the meat and cook it in a large kettle on our wood burning stove. I bet some of you have paid good money for commercial “pork cracklings” from this process. The melted lard was then poured into crock jars, sealed and placed in a cool spot for winter cooking. The best cooks today know that pure lard makes the flakiest pie crusts and pastries. My mom made doughnuts and cookies by the dozens and the remaining ones were put in a heavy roasting pan placed on the bottom shelf of her cupboard where everyone could find them. My very favorite was her Raisin-Filled Cookies. Many years ago I copied this from my Mother’s old worn, torn, almost unreadable notebook.

Filling:

Combine 1 cup sugar with 3 Tablespoons of flour in a medium size mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups raisins and toss to coat.

Bring one cup of water to a boil. Add the flour, sugar and raisin mixture to the boiling water. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened; approximately 3 minutes. Cool completely. Refrigerate overnight if desired.

Cookie Dough:

Cream together 1 cup lard(I used shortening)and 1 cup sugar.
Add 1 egg and beat well.

In a separate bowl combine 3/4 cup whole milk with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. In another bowl combine 3 1/2 cups flour with 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sift together.

Add the flour mixture alternatively with the milk mixture to the creamed mixture until incorporated.

Roll the dough very thin on a well-floured cloth and cut into rounds.

Place a teaspoon or more of the filling on half of the rounds,

top with remaining rounds and press edges together.

Bake 375 degrees 12 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges. Do not over bake.

Store in an airtight container or an old roaster on the bottom shelf where all the people you love can reach them. These are always better the second and third day as the dough on the cookie softens. Full recipe at the bottom of this page!

(Shanon, did you know the rest of the “lard” story? Just for your information: When some of the first settlers came to this area, they found that the hollow to the west and north part of town was covered with grasses, sagebrush, oakbrush, with a stream running through it. But it was also full of rattlesnakes. Since pigs can kill rattlesnakes, the settlers would put all their pigs in this spot from springtime until late autumn. Then the men and boys would ‘holler’ to the pigs and most of them would come and the others were found and taken to their separate shelters. Some called this area “Hog Holler” and others called it “Hog Hollow.” It didn’t matter as both names were familiar. An LDS church house was later built on part of this area; and at the dedication of that Chapel, the original names were researched and mentioned in a talk by one of the Stake Presidency. It brought back memories for us old timers; but “comers”didn’t appreciate that name for their church or address. Today the Chapel and area is appropriately named Temple View and it still gives a magnificent view of the whole valley.)

So, there you have it; my mother’s memory of raisin filled cookies. I’m so glad she put this memory in writing for me and so glad she showed me around the kitchen. As I worked on these I could almost hear her giving me little bits of advice and tips to make them turn out just right; and they did. Man I miss her.

Old Fashioned Raisin Filled Cookies from my momma Alta Dunsdon Chamberlain

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup boiling water

Cookie Dough
1 cup lard (shortening to those of us who don’t have a pig handy)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups flour (plus some for rolling)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening (lard) and sugar, add egg and beat well. Add vanilla to milk and set aside. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in another bowl and alternatively add dry ingredients and the milk mixture to your creamed sugar/shortening/egg mixture. Mix well.
Roll dough very thin on a well-floured cloth and cut into rounds. ( I used an old tuna can) Place a teaspoon or more of the raisin filling on half of the rounds, top with remaining rounds and press edges together.
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes, until edges turn golden. Do not overbake.

Note: For fun I filled a few with raspberry jam and a another with Nutella. Then, just because I couldn’t help myself, I added a glazing to a few and they turned out so pretty.

Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

April 20, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

I married a football/baseball player. Soccer never entered the realm of his imagination…until he had a business trip to Seattle and we couldn’t reach him and there were tryouts and phone calls from a coach and one thing leads to another and pretty soon you are picking your husband up from the airport and telling him that he is going to raise a soccer player. 4 soccer players. (yes I know that was a run on sentence)
It’s a great story, but for those who are just looking for a Wild Rice and Chicken Soup recipe, it’s best to stick to the story at hand.
Jake is my second son and first soccer player. He went to Minnesota one summer to play soccer and we followed. He flew…we drove with the other 5 children for two days straight because that is how much we love watching Jake play soccer…or football….or baseball or anything. Jake stayed with his team and we stayed in a brand new, very empty, hotel somewhere near a town called Elk River. There is a little cafe there called Olde Main Eatery and they were the masters of feeding our small crowd the most delicious home cooked meals you could ever imagine! Look them up–they have 5 stars. The point is that they served this creamy wild rice soup that literally warmed the soul and made old Campbell ‘s soup commercials look lackluster. If I had a dime for every time my kid’s have said, “remember that wild rice soup in Minnesota?”… well let’s just say I would have quite a few dimes.
At the risk of ruining their fond recollections of the Olde Main Eatery, I set about to at least put a wild rice soup together that would help them remember the fun we had. My family loved it and since I believe that every kitchen should have an inexhaustible repertoire of great and varied soup recipes, I thought I would post this baby!

Here’s the short list of ingredients you should gather. I got my wild rice from Costco and I’m sure you don’t need HEAVY whipping cream but since that’s what Costco sells in the quantity I use then heavy cream it is. After this soup is refrigerated you will need to thin it and for that I used milk. You know how rice absorbs all the moisture:)

Wild Rice and Chicken Soup by Sweet Suppertime

Prepare:
one cup uncooked wild rice according to package directions and reserve

Saute:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions or one medium onion
3 stalks chopped celery
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:
32 ounces chicken broth/stock (reserve 1 cup for thickening)
4 chicken bouillon cubes *optional
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cooked chicken breast cubed

Simmer for 15 minutes. In the last 2 minutes add remaining 1 cup of broth (reserved) mixed with 2 tablespoons flour until all lumps are gone. I always pour this through a strainer to avoid lumping.

Add:
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooks wild rice
2 cups cream

bring back to a low boil and serve immediately.

Garnish and Serve:
Top with slivered almonds, fresh parsley and sliced green onions.

Don’t add the rice too far ahead because it will absorb much of the liquid in the soup. When reheating you will need to add milk or additional cream, but it is delicious the second day if for some wild reason you have leftovers!

Chocolate Cupcakes

April 15, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

What is it about cupcakes? I think that is has something to do with the cake-to-frosting ratio. That and the fact that they are your own personal reminder of childhood birthday parties, filled with games, pinatas and being friends with everyone in the class. Cupcakes are fun to make, fun to frost, fun to sprinkle,and fun to eat.
My husband has issues with most cupcakes for that very reason; they are usually adorable but not incredibly tasty. I guess I made it my personal quest to give him a cupcake that was worthy of being called a cupcake–that handheld cake of deliciousness. I started with a solid batter that doesn’t pull apart when you take the liner off and then I filled it with creme and topped it with a variety of favorite frostings. He capitulated! For a man who watches his sugar intake, I watched him sneak behind my back for seconds and thirds. Victory is sweet.
This recipe is good without the filling and is delicious with any kind of frosting. The clear favorite at my house was the peanut butter frosting.

**There are a couple of things I’d like to point out about how I do cupcakes. I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the cupcake pan. It fills it to about where I would like it, which is about 2/3 full. This puts a nice top on the cupcake when it bakes.
Another thing is that when I fill the decorating bag I always need extra hands so i fold the bag over a cup. In this case I am using a large decorating bag so am also using a really big cup. It just lets me drop the frosting down without much mess.
May I add one more note? I don’t always swirl and sprinkle! There are plenty of cupcakes inhaled at my house frosted the traditional way with a butter knife…

Chocolate Cupcakes by Sweet Suppertime adapted from Taste of Home Magazine
Pre-heat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake pans

3 1/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar with oil and eggs and beat until fluffy. After this I don’t really pay too much attention. I just start adding the rest of the ingredients beating well and scraping down the sides so that I have a nice smooth batter. Fill cupcake pans with each cup being about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Don’t over-bake.

Cupcake Filling by Sweet Suppertime

1/3 cup butter
3 tablespoons shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
After the cupcakes are baked, it’s time to fill them! Let them cool first, of course.
( To get this piped inside, I cut an “X” with a sharp knife in the bottom of the cupcake liner and pipe it in with a decorating bag using the wide circle tip) You don’t need much, just about a tablespoon. The consistency for this should be a lot like frosting just a bit fluffier. If you need more body, add shortening one tablespoon at a time and beat well.

Peanut Butter Frosting by Sweet Suppertime

5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Approx 1/3 cups milk, or enough to create the consistency you desire

Mix until creamy, frost with a knife or put it in a cake-decorating bag and swirl it up!