Best Cornbread Recipe Ever

I have been searching my whole life for a cornbread recipe that wasn't so crumbly and dry that it was impossible to spread butter on without it just coming apart in my hands, but also used ingredients that I had on hand and didn't require a special trip to the store.

This. Is. It.

Moist Cornbread Recipe:

§  1 c. cornmeal

§  3 c. all-purpose flour

§  1⅓ c. sugar – I used 1 cup

§  2 Tablespoons baking powder

§  1 teaspoon salt

§  ⅔ cup vegetable oil

§  ⅓ cup. melted butter

§  2 Tablespoons. honey

§  4 eggs, beaten – I used 3

§  2½ cups whole milk – I used 2 cups 2% and 1/2 cup whole

Instructions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

2.      In a large mixing bowl, stir the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3.      Pour in the vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk, and stir just until moistened.

4.      Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. (I had to bake for 50 mins) Watch the cornbread towards the end, you want it to be turning golden and starting to show some cracks.

5.      Remove from oven, serve warm with butter or honey or simply plain. It’s amazing!

Resurrection Rolls

This was an amazing recipe given to me by my mother-in-law.  As we made them, we were able to talk about the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a simple way that the children could participate and understand.  We will definately be making this a tradition.

Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients:

1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough 

8 large marshmallows 

Melted butter 

Cinnamon 

Sugar

Directions:

1. Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the cloth that was wrapped around Christ's body. 

2. Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ. (Explain how the marshmallow is pure and white, just as Christ was pure and perfect.) 

3. Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial. 

4. Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.  Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will "ooze" out of the seams) 

5.  Have the children place the rolls in the oven (tomb) and seal the tomb (shut the oven door).  Explain how Christ was in the tomb for 3 days.  Bake according to package directions. 

6.  Cool.  Open the tomb and break open the rolls, the body of Christ is no longer there!!



Dinner Pinwheels

This is T-Man's favorite dinner of all times and a surefire hit with all of my kids.  The thing that they love the most is that this meal always ends with cinammon rolls at the end!

  

I like to buy frozen dough because it is so fast and easy, however you can use your own roll dough recipe as well.  I have a great roll dough recipe that I will share with you later.

First I buy Rhodes frozen bread loaves.  They already come in three perfectly portioned lumps of dough.  I place them in three well greased bowls first thing in the morning and by dinner time they have thawed and risen enough to use.  Next, I roll each dough piece out into a large rectanglar section.

The next step is to spread with butter and then your choice of toppings.  I forgot to take a picture, but that's okay because there are so many different topping choices.  Some that we have tried are, dijon mustard, deli ham, and cheddar cheese.  I have also done veggie cream cheese instead of butter, deli turkey, and swiss cheese.  We have done a little pizza sauce (don't do too much or they don't work!), pepperoni, and cheese.  And they have all been delicious.

After your toppings are added, roll it all up into a large snake.  The same way you would do cinnamon rolls.  And cut into 12 approx 1-1 1/2 inch pieces.

Place in a pan to rise.  I would give them at least 30 minutes if not more.  You will know they are ready when they are filling the pan. 

And then bake those beauties at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (check on them after about 15 minutes).

And voila a meal any kid will eat!

I usually use two of the bread loaf sections for dinner rolls and then the last section is saved for cinnamon rolls for dessert.  Just roll the cinnamon rolls out the same with your favorite cinnamon roll filling and follow the same baking directions. 

Best Ever Rolls

2 cups milk

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup luke warm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 beaten eggs

8-11 cups of flour

1. In a saucepan combine milk, shortening and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and then cool.

2. In a small bowl combine luke warm water, yeast, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Set aside and let dissolve.

3. When the milk mixture cools, pour it into a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the flour and all of the yeast mixture, salt, and eggs. Beat until smooth, then add the rest of the flour.

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size, then punch down, re-cover and let rise again.

5. When the dough has risen again, punch down and shape (here is where you would divide it into three sections and roll them out for pinwheels, BUT this recipe is also awesome for dinner rolls if you want to shape them accordingly.)

6.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until almost touching (about 30 min.)

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

 

My Favorite Cinnamon Roll Filling

4 Tbsp melted butter spread all over rolled out dough

 

In a Bowl, mix:

1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Sprinkle over melted butter all the way to the edges.  Add raisins if desired.

 

Awesome Cinnamon Roll Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp butter

a couple of drops of vanilla.

 

Mix until smooth and flowing, but not overly runny.  Add a little extra milk if needed.

Sconers

A meal and a dessert all in one!

There are two ways to approach this meal, the lazy way, or the probably tastes better in the long run way.

For this meal, I went with the lazy way, which is spray a large bowl with non-stick cooking spray and dump in 24-36 frozen Rhodes dinner rolls in the morning and let them thaw all day.

Then roll out very thin and using a pizza cutter, cut into little squares like this:

Next fry them up in some oil (350 degrees) flipping after a few minutes.

And place on paper towels to absorb the oil and cool off.

To dinner-ize them, we topped them with chili (a can of Nalley's with cheddar doctored with ketchup, mustard, and a pinch of brown sugar), and cheese, salsa, and sour cream, in Navajo taco fashion.

But for dessert, we saved half and tossed them with honey butter and cinnamon sugar. My kids ate their dinners in record time to get to these:

If I have time, I usually make the scones from scratch using this recipe.

SCONES

1 Cup Sweetened Warm Water (water with a pinch of sugar dissolved)

2 Tbsp Yeast

In a bowl add yeast to sweetened warm water and set aside for five minutes.

1 Cup Scalded Milk (put milk in sauce pan and cook on high heat remove just before boils)

2 Tbsp Shortening

3 Eggs

1 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Sugar

6 Cups Flour

Cool milk to luke warm. Pour into mixing bowl along with shortening, eggs, salt, and sugar. Add flour a cup at a time along with yeast mixture. Mix well until a smooth elastic dough forms.

Let raise until double, then punch down. Let raise again, then roll out and cut into scones. Fry in hot oil until each side is golden brown.

Octopus Bread Bowls

The best way to get my kids to eat soup is to present it to them in a fun and creative way that they had a hand (or tentacle) in making.

OCTOPUS BREAD BOWLS

2 cups milk

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup luke warm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 beaten eggs

8-11 cups of flour

1. In a saucepan combine milk, shortening and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and then cool.

2. In a small bowl combine luke warm water, yeast, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Set aside and let dissolve.

3. When the milk mixture cools, pour it into a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of the flour and all of the yeast mixture, salt, and eggs. Beat until smooth, then add the rest of the flour.

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size, then punch down, re-cover and let rise again.

5. When the dough has risen again, punch down and shape.

6. To shape, pinch two large globs of dough equal in size. Roll one of the globs into a perfect ball. Cut the other into eight small globs and roll them into snakes of equal length. Grease a cookie sheet and arrange the eight legs into a circular pattern and place the ball on top. Let rise for another 30 min- 1 hour.

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

8. Cut the top of the head off and scoop out the guts, leaving enough room to add any soup or filling desired.

Makes 9-12 octopuses