Monday, February 28, 2011

Gina's Pepperoni Bread



Bread is one of the greatest wonders of the world!  There is nothing like the making of fresh bread from working the dough to the smell of baking bread. I'm always looking for awesome bread recipes that can be used as appetizers or snacks.  

My imagination is going wild with ideas for variations to this recipe . . . but that's a future post.

Imagine a loaf of bread, assembled similar to a cinnamon bun, loaded with pepperoni and cheese or whatever filling you decide on.

I love that this bread can be made ahead and frozen for a future party . . . or make two at a time and put one away for a lazy day.


This recipe comes from my filing cabinet full of recipes and I have no idea where it came from!




Ingredients



Dough:


3 ¼ cups flour 
1 package (¾ tablespoon) yeast
¾ tablespoons salt
½ tablespoon sugar
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil


Filling:


1 tablespoon olive oil

8 oz. shredded cheese, your favorite
Pepperoni


Egg wash:


1 egg 
½ tablespoon water
Garlic salt




Directions

• Mix flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in large bowl; stir until combined.

• Add warm water and olive oil; stir until dough forms.

• Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

• Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

• Roll dough out into rectangle on floured surface. Let rest.

• Spread cheese evenly over dough. Top with pepperoni.

• Roll dough tightly and fold edges inward and pinch.

• Let rest for 40 minutes, covered in plastic wrap.

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

• Whisk together egg and water, coat loaf with egg wash. (I use a smallish paint brush that is just used for baking.) Sprinkle with garlic salt.

• Bake bread for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and firm.

• Remove from oven, cool on wire rack, then slice.








Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chocolate Indulgence for Valentine's Day!




Molten Chocolate Cake

Have you ever had Chili's Molten Chocolate Cake?  

It is one of my favorite desserts from Chili's!  Pure chocolate indulgence :)

The Food Network Kitchens has come up with their version . . . 
impress your sweetie with this restaurant-style dessert!  




New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake

Cooking Channel TV has the recipe!  Emeril never lets me down!  
I can't wait to make this New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake :)  
How about adding some glazed strawberries on top
to make it extra special for Valentine's Day?





Design Sponge has a recipe with photo instructions
 on how to make one of my favorite candies!  
Surprise your sweetie by making a batch of these
 homemade chocolate peanut butter cups . . . 





Karen at Mommy's Moments has an awesome recipe for
 Fudge Lovers Cream Cheese Cake that gets my vote.  
This is what I'm making for my sweetie . . .





Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries Recipe

Chocolate Covered Strawberries . . . it is as easy as melting
 chocolate chips of your choice in a double boiler and
 dipping the strawberries in the melting chocolate.  
Click here for an article with variation ideas.





White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake recipe
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake from Fine Cooking
I seriously want to try to this recipe!  My sweetie may get two sweet treats . . .






Sunday, February 6, 2011

Valentine Treats




Time to start thinking about the sweets
we will be making for our sweeties.

Sweets are my favorite thing to prepare 
. . . and I love to bake.

Bad combination . . . yet good.

At least for Valentine's Day it is a good thing.

Recipes for sweets is something I go out and hunt!

From now until Valentine's Day, I'll be bringing you
recipes from other bloggers and from my collection
that are perfect for the occasion.

Here are some that I've hunted down recently . . .


Click on the photo go to the original website that
includes the post, recipe and instructions.


Krista from While He Was Napping 
found these on Hershey's Website.






Krista from While He Was Napping
whips up some awesome looking
Whoopie Pies!


Red Velvet Covered Cookies

Trisha from 3 Four and Under made these
Red Velvet Cookies using some common ingredients
to make them fast and easy.  Very cute and clever!



Ami from Ali Lilly
made an awesome discover that
makes these sweeties fast and easy.
Cute too!
How about printing out these cupcake holders
 and make these cute little tags to pair up
 with Ami's sweetest cupcakes ever?


Diane has taken care of all the design
work for you . . . just print them out!


Enjoy!






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