Homemade Bagels - So Quick and Easy

We have heard rave reviews lately about these bagels and had to give them a try.  So this weekend up at Lake Winnepesauki with the Golds I thought we would do it  A house full of hungry kids - even if they were marginally good someone would eat them.   Huge surprise - they were ridiculously easy and SO GOOD!   Add some cream cheese and pepper jelly - BAM!  Tastiness is served right up.

These bagels use self rising flour which you can buy pre-made or make yourself. I make my own self rising flour and have always had wonderful results.

You can make your own self rising flour by mixing:

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift together and use whenever a recipe calls for self rising flour. This will make 1 cup of self rising flour.

To make 4 bagels, combine 1 cup of self rising flour and 1 cup of Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt in a bowl until a dough starts to form. If you just want to make 2 bagels, just use 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of yogurt. The rest of the recipe remains the same

This dough will be pretty crumbly at this point. Turn on a lightly floured surface and brush your hands with a bit of flour.

Knead until dough forms and divide into 4 parts. I weigh my dough on this scale to make sure I have 4 equal pieces.

Roll out the dough balls to form a “rope” and pinch the ends together to make a circle.

Brush bagels with an egg wash and sprinkle with Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning. This stuff is amazing! I use it on bagels, eggs, avocado toast…everything!

You can also top these with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if you prefer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes and 500 degrees for 2 minutes so the tops can brown. 

Butter Tarts

I feel like this is a recipe that needs no introduction.  If you know us, you know.  If you have been around us between Thanksgiving to Christmas, you know.    If you don't like raisins, too bad for you - you are missing out.  If you are afraid to make homemade pastry for this --- fear not, you must do it.  Santa DEPENDS on one of these to be on his cookies and milk plate each and every year or Christmas just may not happen.  This right here is a Sandy Miller specialty.  Heston has been converted.  Our good friend Dave Vick requests them for his birthday ( now that he is in Utah we mail them to him.)

1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Seedless Raisins
2 eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/3 Cup butter
4 Tbsps. Cream
1/2 Cup Broken Walnuts ( I don't do the nuts)

Beat the eggs.
Combine with remaining ingredients except nuts, and boil at medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir and stir and stir.  * You don't want to scramble the eggs - we have done it before and had to strain it through a stainer. 
At this point you add the nuts if you are using them.
1/2 way fill the unbaked  tart shells and bake for 15 minutes at 375.


* Caution put a pan at bottom rack underneath because if you fill too full they boil over and will make a mess in your oven.



MUST MAKE WITH MOM AND KATHY DUNHAM'S PASTRY - RECIPE TO FOLLOW
YOU CAN CAN MAKE AHEAD AND HAVE IN THE FREEZER AT THE READY.

Best Ever Banana Bread

I know, I know, when you see the words best ever you question "is it really?".   At least I do.  Because how do you define BEST EVER?   Your best ever is going to be different than mine.  Best Ever can best be described as something that is outstanding and this is what this banana bread is.   This was made by my mom.   I thought all banana bread was just like this - not so, and I learned that in elementary school when I was over at Devri Hulbert's house. ( story for another day ) . This is the recipe I now always use.   The other day Reagan was so excited that we had browning bananas so we could make banana bread.   The day was busy and hectic and baking up a treat with  6 year old was not on my agenda but it is just what we did.  We made the Best - Ever Banana Bread.


Best - Ever Banana Bread

2 Cups sugar
1 Cup Butter
6 Ripe Bananas ( i dont always use 6 because we aren't huge banana lovers over here )
4 eggs - beaten
2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Chocolate Chips ( semisweet and milk mixed)


Preheat oven to 350
Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
Add bananas and eggs and beat until well mixed
Add in all the dry ingredients and don't over mix
Pour into greased loaf pans - should be 2 of them
Bake for 45 mins to 1 hour and test for doneness
* if the top is getting too dark for you but it is not cooked thru yet - make a loose foil layer over the top.
* cool on rack for about 10 minutes before  removing from pans
* bonus because these are so great to freeze
* for some odd reason this tastes better as bread and not as muffins

The very best part about this picture is that these
little bread pans were my moms 🍞🍞

Almond Joy Protein Bites

We tried these first over Christmas break and they are quick and easy tasty treats.

Make sure you always have a batch in the fridge or the freezer.  They’re great to eat before or after iou workout, as you are sitting in the car waiting for seminary to end, to send in kids lunches, or as a treat to fill your sweet tooth hankering. 

These protein balls are easily customizable. You can switch out the almond butter with any nut butter of your choice. You can also change the flavor by using different extracts or nuts/seeds in place of the mini chocolate chips.   If you don’t have the protein powder, no worries, don’t put it in.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp coconut or almond extract
• 1/4 cup milled flaxseed or protein powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

• Combine almond butter, honey, extract, flaxseed and 1/4 cup coconut into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix well.
• Add oats and chocolate chips.  I didn’t have mini chips so I just chopped up a bunch of regular chips.Mix to combine.
• Use a mini cookie scoop to form balls.  This scoop
  Still seems a bit big.   Eye ball to whatever size you want. Roll balls in 1/2 cup coconut.
• If stacking, use parchment paper between layers.  Store in the fridge or freezer.

NOTES

You can use any nut butter in place of almond butter.

For a smoother, more cookie-dough-like texture, use blended oats or Kodiak Cakes flour in place of the oats.

If you're using all-natural almond butter, you may need to add a little more honey or melted coconut oil to help bind the protein balls together better (if the mixture seems dry and crumbly).