I’ve experimented with different spices and amounts of ingredients, and between that and suggestions from my brother-in-law who also loves to cook, I have come up with a list of ingredients that can be added to almost any ordinary bread recipe to make it extraordinarily delicious!

I have never made a loaf of this bread and had any leftovers. It gets gobbled up in one sitting by our family every time.

All I did was take a regular plain bread recipe that came with my bread machine and add these ingredients to the list. As an added bonus, if you substitute olive oil instead of using butter or margarine like a recipe may call for, you get more moist, flavorful bread!

Just use the same number of tablespoons that the recipe calls for. For example, if it says to add 2 tablespoons of butter, then add 2 tablespoons of olive oil instead.

The Best Homemade Bread

Here we go! These ingredients will make even the most boring bread recipe absolutely scrumptious, and you will no longer be allowed to bring anything else but your delicious bread to any potluck event ever again. So, unless you are prepared for that, do not let anyone else taste it!

1. Honey

Do not even break out the measuring spoons for this one. Just squeeze that bottle for 5-10 seconds depending on how much you love honey! Honey adds a sweet flavor to the bread, as well as a little more moisture.

2. Garlic

Add 1-4 tablespoons of powdered garlic, depending on how much garlic flavor you want your bread to have.

3. Basil

Add 1 tablespoon of dried basil.

4. Oregano

Add 1 tablespoon of dried oregano.

5. Thyme

Add 1 tablespoon of dried thyme.

Best Bread Maker Bread Recipe

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Add 5 ingredients to any plain bread recipe to make it the Best Ever!

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Appetiser

Cuisine: American

Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2+ tsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1+ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1.25 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 tsp bread machine yeast

Instructions

1. Dump all ingredients in the bread machine and turn it on!

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There you have it! If you are using a bread machine, simply add these ingredients to the mix that you are already putting in the machine and proceed as the original recipe directs.

I hope you enjoy this mix of ingredients as much as we do. Do you have any favorite ingredients for bread at your house? Please leave a comment below! Happy baking!

The post 5 Secret Ingredients for the Best Homemade Bread first appeared on True Aim.

I think it is because it’s like play dough and then you get to eat it too. So she gets to play and eat; her two favorite things. And I’m so glad that she likes it because that means I get to spend more time with her.

Homemade Focaccia

My daughter calls this Pizza bread because it kinda tastes like that, but better. It’s the kind of bread that is hard to stop eating. Filled with herbs and topped with the best part of the pizza, cheese.

The dough is just like my Homemade Pizza Dough with a little less water. I suggest doubling the recipe so you aren’t disappointed when it’s gone in like 2 seconds.

That’s what happens at my house. I turn around for just a minute and poof, it’s been devoured.

Easy Homemade Focaccia

 

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Prep time

45 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Seasoned with Italian Herbs, this bread tastes even better than it looks.

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 2¼ tsp yeast (1 package)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp oil
• 2½ cups unbleached flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ cup sliced grape tomatoes
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• handful of fresh basil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Meanwhile, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl or mixer and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
2. Then add 1 tsp oil, flour, salt, pepper, and herbs. Beat until smooth. Dough will be sticky.
3. Add ¼ cup of flour to a flat surface and knead it into the dough for 6-8 minutes or until smooth and stretchy.
4. Grease your large bowl with 1 tsp of oil and place your dough in it, turning once to coat the top of the dough with oil.
5. Cover with foil, turn off the oven and let the dough rise in the warm oven for 30-45 minutes or until doubled.
6. Remove from the oven and punch down the dough. Recover and let it rest for 10 more minutes while reheating the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 9 in. x 13 in. and place on a greased or lined baking sheet.
8. Cover and let it rise for about 30 more minutes. After that, make small indents in the dough with your finger tips and brush with remaining tsp of oil.
9. Top with tomatoes, basil and cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool on a wire rack.

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Do you like making your own bread? What’s your favorite meal to cook with your kids?

The post Easy Homemade Focaccia Flat Bread first appeared on True Aim.

Sundays, we like to be lazy and purposeful at the same time. By lazy, I mean we like to sleep in and not rush things. By purposeful, I mean we still have a routine and do some special things.

Take breakfast for example. Some times I don’t start making it until 8:30 or 9, but I always try to plan something special. This Sunday we tried Cinnamon Roll Monkey bread made with new Pepperidge Farm Pecan Caramel Sweet Rolls from Walmart as a little treat with our eggs.

I added cranberries and orange glaze for a really amazing flavor. My kids were squealing with delight and you know those eggs were gone in 2.5 seconds.

Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

My son got involved in the cooking this day. I’m so excited to see him in the kitchen. Maybe one day he will be making this all by himself. Well I know he will because he can practically do it already other than putting it in the oven.

The great thing about these cinnamon rolls is that caramel sauce already comes with them so you don’t need to add any extra sugar like you usually do with monkey bread.

Plus, I don’t like my Monkey Bread too sweet. This is the perfect balance because the cranberries and orange glaze adds a slight tart flavor that makes you not want to stop eating.

After my son helped me put half the pecans, cranberries, and cinnamon roll pieces in our bunt pan, I put some of the caramel sauce on and then we finished putting the last cinnamon roll pieces on top of that followed by more sauce to help it all stick together.

While the bread was cooking, I mixed up a quick glaze with powdered sugar and 100% Florida Orange Juice, the perfect finishing touch. Really, you don’t want to skip out on it!

Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Cinnamon rolls turned into Monkey Bread that goes perfect with any special breakfast or brunch.

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 Rolls of Pepperidge Farm Pecan Caramel Sweet Rolls
• ½ Cup of Cranberries
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Florida Orange Juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a bunt pan with cooking spray.
2. Cut the cinnamon rolls in quarters. You should have 16 pieces, but don't worry if they separate into more.
3. Sprinkle one pouch of the pecans that come in one container on the bottom of the pan along with a handful of cranberries. Arrange a layer of 8 cinnamon roll pieces on top.
4. Spread 1 pouch of caramel on top sprinkle with more pecans and cranberries. Arranged another layer of the remaining cinnamon roll pieces on top and spread the remaining pouch of caramel sauce on top.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
6. Meanwhile mix together the orange juice and powdered sugar until well combined.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for a couple of minutes before turning out upside down on a plate.
8. Top with orange glaze and serve warm.

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This was so easy to make, so I’d love to try another flavor of Sweet Rolls from Pepperidge Farm with this recipe and bring it to our next family gathering!

How about you? Do you have any easy breakfast or brunch recipes you like to serve on special days?

The post Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread first appeared on True Aim.

Science Co-op is tomorrow and I get to host. We love having people over, but don’t always know what to serve. It’s right in between breakfast and lunch, so we like to make something it just can’t be too much of something.

This week is our last meeting before Christmas break so we wanted to do something a little more exciting than carrot sticks and ranch or a fruit platter like we usually do.

I decided to have my daughter whip up some my favorite appetizers and a festive punch to celebrate the holidays with our friends.

This was a great opportunity to have Audrey practice being the hostess.

She did an awesome job with the shrimp puffs. That’s how you know it’s easy. I mean, she’s only seven!

Next, the punch needed to be made. This was the fun part because it fizzes up like a rootbeer float.

That’s kind of what it is. You can make any kind of punch you can think of with just three simple ingredients; 7up, juice, and sherbet. I just had Audrey add one part of everything and then taste test it to make sure it’s not too sweet or not bubbly enough.

This time we used cranberry cocktail and raspberry sherbet, but I’ve had pineapple juice with mango or pineapple sherbert; pink lemonaid with lemon sherbet; even grape juice with grape sherbet. Although, grape sherbet is really hard to find.

Just add whatever flavors you like and experiment to see how much of each ingredient tastes right to you.

Of course with 9 people coming over plus our family, we had to use some SOLO cups and plates to help with clean up afterward. I didn’t know there were so many different SOLO products including paper, heavy duty, and premium strength.

My younger children have a hard time carrying around bigger round cups, so I usually have to get a smaller sized cup for them, but the SOLO cup is the only one with a squared design and that helps my little ones have a better grip.

I especially love the new ‘It’s My Solo’ cups that come with a label that you peel back and scratch your name on. That way everyone can keep track of their cup and none get wasted.

This helped with prep-time, so we were done with everything in just 30 minutes!

Easy Shrimp Puffs

 

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These shrimp puffs are addicting and so easy!

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Appetiser

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 2 containers of refrigerator biscuits
• ½ lb of baby salad shrimp
• ½ cup mayo
• ¼ cup cheddar
• 1 tsp dill
• 1 clove garlic minced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Rip each biscuit in half and press dough up the sides of each muffin cup. Sometimes if the biscuits are uneven and one is bigger than another, you'll want to rip the big ones into thirds.
3. Combine the next 5 ingredients and spoon about 1 tbs of the shrimp mixture into the center of the biscuits.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.

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Well, almost anything. I don’t know if I would be ready for an epic battle like the one in the video below!

How about you? Do you have any quick finger-food recipes that you like to whip up?

Watch more SOLO® Up for Anything videos, join the conversation on SOLO’s Facebook page, or check out SOLO’s Pinterest page for more inspiration.

The post Easy Appetizers: Shrimp Puffs and Raspberry Punch first appeared on True Aim.

I’d love for my daughter to have this recipe memorized because it is one of her favorite things to eat. I can imagine her waking up early to get a loaf started in time for breakfast, she already does it with scrambled eggs. This is a little more complicated, so I know it will be a while before I can let her take the reigns.

Classic Zucchini Bread

Zucchini can taste bitter if it grows too large, but in bread form, you can’t taste it. I’m sure you’ve experienced going outside to check for zucchini after forgetting about it for just a couple of days. You approach the plant thinking there is a large animal there, but it is this ginormous zucchini. What in the world?! It’s like they suck steroids out of the ground or something.

The big ones are great in bread. You can also shred the big ones, portion it in freezer bags for this recipe and put it in the freezer for a few months.  I like to save the little ones for pizza toppings and grilling.

Most Zucchini breads call for a lot of sugar, and so does this recipe, but I try to offset it with a little shredded apple and use honey.

If I’m making this for breakfast, I’ll use even less sugar and add a more shredded apple and use whole wheat flour. Just out of the oven with a little butter, is my favorite way to eat it.

Classic Zucchini Bread

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Classic Zucchini Bread with a healthier twist

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Dessert, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• ½ cup oil
• ¾ cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 teas vanilla
• 1½ cup grated zucchini
• ½ cup grated apple
• 1½ cup flour
• 1 teas baking soda
• ½ teas baking powder
• ¼ teas salt
• ½ teas cinnamon
• ½ teas nutmeg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare 1 regular loaf pan or mini loaf pan with baking spray or butter and dust it with flour for easy removal.
2. Beat the oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the grated apple and zucchini.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Pour in the loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes for large loaves or 30 minutes for mini loaves or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and turn out on a rack to cool or eat warm.

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I usually double the recipe, especially with our surplus zucchini crop. Ah the smell is heavenly!

What’s your favorite zucchini recipe?

The post Cooking with Kids: Classic Zucchini Bread first appeared on True Aim.

These easy shortbread cookies are one of my go-to cookie recipes for the holidays.  You can make them ahead of time and add mix-ins to create all different kinds of cookies with just one dough.

Continuing the cookie buffet tradition this year, I whipped up a double batch of this shortbread cookie dough.  Making this up and freezing it ahead of time helps lessen meal prep on the big day.  Plus, I can easily create 4 different flavors of cookie from just one batch of dough.

Easy Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup Unsalted Softened Butter

2/3 Cup Confectioners Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Egg Yolks

1/4 Teas Baking Powder

2 Cups Flour

Directions:

My daughter Emma helped me whip up the dough.  She added the softened butter first and whipped it until it was creamy.

Next she put in the sugar and whipped it until it was smooth.  Then added the extract and eggs and mixed until they were incorporated.

The flour and baking powder were last and she mixed it up until it just disappeared.  You don’t want to mix the dough too much with the mixer after adding the flour.  If any flour is left, just mix it with a spatula when you add your mix-ins.

Mix-ins: 

Use 1 cup of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, candy or a combination to create your favorite flavors.  You can also add any spices, extra extracts or zests.  I usually split my dough in half and make two different kinds of cookies, using 1/2 cup of mix-ins in each mound of dough.  You could also try splitting it up into 4 mounds and adding 1/4 cup of mix-ins to each.  This time I made a double batch and 4 different kinds.  Here are the flavors I tried:

Cranberry Pistachio:  1/4 cup dried cranberries chopped and 1/4 cup shelled pistachios finely chopped

Mini Chocolate Chip: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Brown Sugar Pecan: 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Sprinkles: 1/2 cup sprinkles separated in half; 1/4 cup stirred in and 1/4 cup used to roll the cookies in

Other mix-ins that would taste great:

dried apricots, dried cherries, almonds, almond extract, peppermint candies, toffee pieces, lemon zest, lemon extract, lemon head candies, cinnamon chips (chopped), poppy seeds.

After mixing my flavors, I put the dough in plastic wrap and chilled it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  You could also try putting it in the freezer to make it a little quicker.

Then I formed my dough into 1 and 1/4 inch logs and wrapped them in plastic and wax paper.  I put mine in the refrigerator for 2 hours, but again, you could speed that up by putting the logs in the freezer.  If I’m not baking any cookies that day, I keep my dough in the freezer.  It can be kept there for up to a month!

To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  If you’re working with frozen dough, put the cookies in the refrigerator the day before, or leave them on the counter for 30 minutes.  If you want to coat the outside of the cookies with some mix-ins, do that now and then cut them into generous 1/4 inch thick slices.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a non-stick mat about 1 inch apart and bake them for 12-14 minutes, trying not to let them get brown on the edges.

Cool them on a wire wrack and try not to devour them before your guests come!  With the cranberry pistachio ones, that was really hard to do!

Sometimes I make this dough just to have cookies on hand.  To bake a little at a time, I slice off a frozen chunk and put it in the refrigerator to defrost.

What flavors would you try?

For more family recipes, like me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.  Thanks for your support!

The post Easy Slice and Bake Shortbread Cookies first appeared on True Aim.