heartsandroses
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| Mon, 11-27-2006 - 4:24pm |
I was just reading the post re gifts for teachers and zeroed in on yours when you made mention of sweet and quickbreads!
In the past, I have sent Harry & David gift baskets/towers to DH's family and at the same time, baked dozens of cookies, made fudge, etc. here at home.
This year I'm asking myself why I pay $40-$50 to H&D to send baskets to them, when I have so much here that usually just ends up on my a$$. So! I've decided to wrap up my own baked goodies and send them off to them instead.
I've got my lists of cookies and goodies pretty much down, but would you mind sharing some recipes for your breads? A small loaf of a nice bread would make a nice addition to the treats, since neither one of my SIL's bakes -- and one barely cooks at all.
Julie

I make zucchini bread from scratch and a cinnamon swirl yeast bread, which is time consuming. But, I buy Pillsubury's quickbreads and then change the recipe a little. For instance when making the orange cranberry bread, I will add my own chopped cranberries & walnuts and use orange juice instead of water, and, I make an orange icing to go with it. When I use the pillsbury banana bread mix I use my own fresh, very ripe banana to add sweetness & richness to it. In all of them I use butter instead of oil to make it richer and more flavorful. I don't usually make the cinnamon quickbread from the box as it tastes too fake to me. So, I will make one of them from scratch as well. And I also make biscotti: chocolate almond and regular almond. Then I dip half the slices into melted chocolate and roll in some chopped almonds. They are very yummy.
I buy inexpensive tins or baskets at the dollar store and fill them with the cookies and biscottis for our neighbor and my friends. The quickbreads usually go to co-workers and teachers. I can post the recipes for the biscotti and homemade breads tomorrow if you want - I'm at work now and don't have them with me, obviously! LOL~
I really enjoy all this baking, but this year with dd19 away at college, I am pretty much on my own - dd17 doesn't really enjoy it as much as we do!
I've added this one recipe for my favorite cookies that I happen to have here at work....haha:
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
In a large mixing bowl combine butter and cream cheese. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of the flour, sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla extract and almond extract; beat until combined. Stir in remaining 1 cup flour. Divide in half. Cover dough and chill for 1 to 2 hours or until firm.
On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of chilled dough at a time to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Use a drinking straw to make decorative holes or hanging holes. Transfer cutouts to an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown and cookies are slightly puffed. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, cool thoroughly. Use a sifter to sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving...we actually paint them with confectioners sugar icing dyed in different colors instead.
Makes 3 dozen.
So you just tweak a pre-packaged bread mix with your own dried fruits and nuts? I think I can handle that! I was at the supermarket just yesterday and a few varieties were on sale 10 for $10! Maybe I'll make a special trip just to take advantage of that. Do you make full-sized loaves or small ones? I was thinking of making the smaller ones, but I'd need to go out and buy new loaf pans if I do.
My DS has been asking for weeks when 'we' were going to make sugar cookies and I had planned on making the dough today. I pulled out my recipe and it is very similar to yours -- no almond extract tho, just the vanilla and no eggs at all. I puzzled over the lack of eggs the first time I tried the recipe, but they turned out fine and didn't get hard, like sugar cookies are apt to do!
If you have the time and don't mind, I'd love to have your recipes you mention!
Thanks so much,
Julie