How To: Homemade Pita Bread

On By sarafillmerIn Bread, How ToLeave a comment

delish-190621-homemade-pita-0144-portrait-pf-1567692673One of my favorite sandwiches of all time is a gyro, and good pita bread is so essential to that equation. I found an easy homemade recipe on delish.com and it was really good and came together really easily. If you are not comfortable with baking with yeast this is a great recipe to get your feet wet with because it is very forgiving.

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 teaspoon active dry yeast (I used instant)
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in ½ cup flour and let sit for 15 minutes, until mixture foams. (If you are using instant yeast, you don’t have to mix it separately, just add it directly to the the dry ingredients.) Add oil, salt, and 2 cups flour (reserving ½ cup) and stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy mass forms. Dust a clean surface with some of reserved flour and knead until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes, adding more of the reserved flour if the dough is too sticky. Dough should be soft and moist. (You can cover the dough and let rest 10 minutes if you need a rest from kneading.) Place dough in a clean large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Lightly dust a clean surface with flour. Punch down dough and turn it out onto surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll into balls. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.  Preheat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Working one at a time, roll each round into a ¼”-thick circle about 8” wide, sprinkling dough with extra flour if it starts to stick.  Cook each pita one at a time in skillet until an air pocket balloons, then flip, and cook 1 minute more. Cover baked pitas with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.

Easy Fruit Dumplings

On By sarafillmerIn DessertLeave a comment

2295946365_d753a3a686_oI originally found this recipe on Pioneer Woman’s website and for some reason it took me a really long time to try it. The first time I made it was when we had company over for dinner and it was quick and easy to prepare. The second time was last night and my youngest preceded to ask if we could have it for dessert every night. With that kind of endorsement I knew it needed to end up here so I could access it easily and quickly. If you are serving a crowd double the recipe, but I’m posting it in the quantities as if I were making it for my family of four. This recipe would work really well with frozen/fresh peaches also.

  • 1 medium-large sized apple
  • 1 can of crescent rolls
  • 1 stick of salted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • cinnamon to taste
  • 6 oz Sprite

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 8 x 11 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Sprite around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

*If all you have are small apples in the fridge leave them in quarters and cut up two apples. That’s what I did last night and the ratio of apple to breading was perfect.

Blueberry Crumble

On By sarafillmerIn Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten-FreeLeave a comment

downloadI found this recipe on Pinterest when I was looking for recipes that would use up my almond meal. I really liked how simple it was and it came out very similarly to a baked oatmeal so it could be used for breakfast as well.

  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/3 maple syrup or honey
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat your oven to 350. Put your blueberries in a greased 8×8 pan. In a medium size bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and stir until fully combined. Pour your topping over the blueberries and bake for 35 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

 

Blueberry Banana Bread

On By sarafillmerIn Bread, BreakfastLeave a comment

blueberry-bread-recipe-3I recently bought myself a just because present of one of my favorite food bloggers cookbook. Shelly Jaronsky, aka cookiesandcups.com, is one of my go-to bloggers for a recipe that is sure to be a hit. In her cookbook she has a recipe for toffee-speckled banana bread, but since I had fresh blueberries I needed to use up I subbed them in instead. I also added a crumb topping because it makes everything better.

Bread:

  • 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, about 3 large extra-ripe
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup blueberries, slightly tossed in flour

Crumb Topping:

  • 1/3 stick butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray. If you want you can also the the pan with parchment paper to make it easier to take out, which might be a good idea because of the crumb topping. In your mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add the mashed banana, baking powder and salt and mix until well combined. Turn the speed to low and mix in the flour until just combined. Finally, stir in the blueberries.  Spread the batter in the pan and then mix together your topping ingredients and pour them on top. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean. For me it was a little closer to 70 minutes. Let it cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Blueberry Ricotta Cake

On By sarafillmerIn Breakfast, DessertLeave a comment

Blueberry-Ricotta-Cake-4We had some ricotta in the fridge that we needed to use up so of course I immediately started looking for baking recipes that used it. I found this blueberry ricotta cake with lemon drizzle on Pinterest and was really pleased with the result. It would make a great Easter brunch cake, but I do recommend making it the day before because the flavor really stood out the second day. If you don’t have sour cream you can sub greek yogurt, which is what I did!

Cake:

  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter melted (not hot)
  • 15 oz ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest from 1 large lemon
  • 8 oz blueberries (1 1/2 cups), fresh or frozen

Lemon Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9” springform pan and line the bottom with a ring of parchment. Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar on high speed for 2 minutes until frothy. Blend in melted butter until smooth. Add the ricotta, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon zest and beat on medium speed for 1 minute or just until blended. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the top. Bake in the center of oven at 350˚F for 60-65 min or until edges are lightly browned and cake appears set. It will still have a slight jiggle in the center. (My cake was done around 55 minutes but every oven is different so just keep a close eye on it towards the end.) Remove from oven and cool 20 minutes in the pan then transfer to a cake platter. Once cake is on the cake platter, you should be able to easily slide out the parchment from under the cake. To make the glaze, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, adding more juice or sugar to get the consistency you want. Drizzle over the warm cake. At this point the original recipe said serve, but I would let it cool completely and store in the fridge to serve the next day.

Neiman Marcus/Alton Brown-Inspired Chocolate Chip Cookie

On By sarafillmerIn Cookies, DessertLeave a comment

neiman-marcus-cookies-final-3I am always down with trying a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’ve seen the Neiman’s one floating around Pinterest for a long time. Now it would seem that there is a very involved Neiman’s cookie recipe out there and this is not it. It is, however, extremely delicious. A couple things set this recipe apart from your average chocolate chip cookies recipe. First off, it has significantly more brown sugar than normal, is a slightly stiffer dough due to the amount of flour and it is cooked at 300 for 15 minutes instead of 350 for 10. All in all I was very pleased with this cookie, it was so so good.

Update! I have made some changes to this recipe to incorporate some aspects of other chocolate cookie recipes I have tried over the last six months, like adding bread flour and an extra yolk. I think this will be my only recipe from here on out!

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened*
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup bread flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 – 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, based on personal preference

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and lightly grease cookie sheets (I used butter Pam but normal butter or even just parchment paper will work). In a medium bowl beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and yolk and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Carefully mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Turn off the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips. Form the dough into balls about 2 tablespoons in size and place at least 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until you see the edges starting to brown. I would err on the side of under-baking these cookies to make sure they stay nice and chewy.

*I always use salted butter in my baked goods, so do what makes you happy.

Belgian Waffles

On By sarafillmerIn BreakfastLeave a comment

perfect-buttermilk-waffle-recipe-ohsweetbasil.com-2KI gave my younger son a waffle maker for Christmas and started researching waffle recipes, I was surprised to learn that the key to making fluffy waffles is to separate your eggs and whip the whites.  The extra effort is truly worth it, I promise. Recipe and photo courtesy of ohsweetbasil.com

  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and heavy cream. Using a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until a few streaks of flour remain, but the batter is almost mixed together. Add the butter and stir until just combined. Important!! Allow to rest for 15-30 minutes. Heat a waffle iron. Brush butter on both sides of the waffle iron. Pour about 1/3 cup onto the iron and cook per instructions.

Homemade Pudding

On By sarafillmerIn Dessert2 Comments

1388693156176This recipe came from a Pioneer Woman cookbook and since I have made puddings in the past from the box and not liked the artificial flavor of it, I knew I had to try this one and see if it would satisfy the occasional pudding craving I get. It most definitely did not disappoint, and if you have the patience or foresight to wait til it chills to eat it awesome, if not, it tastes good warm too. This recipe makes 8 servings, I cut it in half for my family of 4 and it was perfect.

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 vanilla beans or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons salted butter
  • 6 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (if you want to make it chocolate pudding)

In a medium saucepan, gently whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour in the milk and egg yolks, then whisk until combined. If using vanilla beans, use a small paring knife to split the bean down the middle and use the backside of the knife to scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds in the pan, along with the scraped out pods. If using vanilla extract, just pour it in at this step. Turn the heat up to medium and stir gently for 15-20 minutes. It will seem like nothing is happening at first, but stick with it and soon it will start to bubble and thicken. Let it bubble for about a minute then remove it from the heat. Discard the vanilla bean pods and stir in the butter. At this point you can portion it out and serve immediately with some lightly sweetened whipped cream, or store it in the fridge and serve after it has chilled.

Spinach Soup

On By sarafillmerIn SoupLeave a comment

5242142965_506648d100_o-420x280I found this recipe in the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook, Dinnertime.  We’ve started keeping spinach in the house because of some smoothie recipes my husband likes and I was looking for some other ways to use it up. This recipe was so, so delicious and really simple to make. Pair it with a good crusty bread and it’ll make you like spinach!

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 10 ounces spinach, weight
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 4 ounces grated cheese, if  desired

In a large skillet, heat olive over over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until wilted. Add spinach to a blender or food processor. Pour in 1/4 cup hot water and pulse until pureed. Set aside. In a large soup pot, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onions begin to soften. Sprinkle flour over the top and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes, then pour in milk, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in pureed spinach, then cook another 3 to 5 minutes until thickened. Check seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, or cayenne as needed. Serve in a bowl. Add a little grated Gruyere.

Almond & Blueberry Smoothie

On By sarafillmerIn BeverageLeave a comment

download (1).jpegThis smoothie is one of my oldest sons favorites. As always feel free to sub out the almond milk for your choice of dairy if you want.

  • 1 1/2 cups almond milk
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
  • 2 tablespoons rolled oats (or brown rice flakes or quinoa flakes if gluten free)
  • 1 medium banana, frozen
  • 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter

Combine all ingredients and blend on high until smooth.