Graham Cracker Toffee

I have loved these since I was a little girl. 

One sleeve graham crackers, broken into quarters
~1/2 c. slivered almonds
1 c. (2 sticks) butter
¾ c. sugar
        Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Fill baking sheet with graham crackers, evenly spread out. Sprinkle slivered almonds over top. In a small pan, combine butter and sugar. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Drizzle over graham crackers. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes.

Easy Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bread

This is one of Sadie's favorite lunches. It is so easy to make if you have about 10 minutes. We ate a LOT of this when the kids had online school during Covid. It is so satisfying. The recipe says "serve warm," but my kids have been known to eat the leftovers straight out of the refrigerator. :)

1 or 2 loaves Jimmy John’s day-old bread*

Butter or margarine

Garlic bread seasoning (Click here for the recipe)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Pepperoni

     Cut each loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Lightly butter each piece and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning (substitute with garlic salt, if needed). Sprinkle with cheese and cover with a row of pepperoni slices. Place under broiler for 3-5 minutes, checking every couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Cut each piece into fourths. Serve warm.

*You can ask for "day-old" at Jimmy John's. At the location near us, which happens to be store #00001, it costs 50 cents a loaf and you can buy up to 4 loaves. Sometimes they sell out, but they seem to have it 90% of the time around here. If it's not available where you live, you can always use French bread or Italian bread loaves instead.

Garlic Bread Seasoning

We go through this stuff pretty quickly around here. I always have a container ready in my refrigerator for when we are craving Garlic Bread Pizza, which happens more often than you might think. The recipe is from Our Best Bites.

½ c. powdered Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. basil

2 tsp. marjoram

2 tsp. parsley

     Combine ingredients in a jar (preferably one with a sprinkle top) and shake well.

Sprinkle on top of breadsticks, or combine 1 ½ Tbsp. seasoning with ½ c. of softened real butter and spread on a loaf of French bread (cut in half lengthwise). Wrap in foil and bake at 375° until the butter is melted. Or broil open faced for a few minutes so that it gets brownish and crispy.

Dad's Biscuits

These started out as "Mom's biscuits," as in Jeff's mom, Carol Stowell. Jeff learned this recipe from his mom and has been making them for years. I thought it fitting to start calling them "Dad's biscuits" since Jeff is always the one who makes biscuits around here (with a lot of help from Sadie).

2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar (or angel cream)
4 tsp. baking powder
½ c. shortening
½ c. milk
        Sift together flour, sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and baking powder; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once, stirring only until dough follows a fork around the bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured surface. Knead gently for 30 seconds. Pat or roll to ½” thick. Cut with biscuit cutter or glass. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in a very hot oven, 400° or 425° for 9-11 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn on the bottom. Makes about 12 medium biscuits.

Pizza Dough

This is the pizza dough recipe I used for years before I started using this one. For a softer, thicker crust, increase the amounts by 50% (or multiply each amount by 1.5). 

1 c. + 2 Tbsp. water
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. yeast
        Combine all ingredients, mix well and knead in mixer or by hand for a few minutes. Optional: add some Italian seasoning and garlic in with the dough. Grease pan well. Spread dough and top with whatever you like on your pizza. Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes.

Breadsticks

These are definitely a favorite around here. My friend Marcia brought these to every church potluck. It was her signature dish and always a crowd favorite. Once Marcia moved away, she finally shared the recipe with me. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm posting it here. ;)

Make pizza dough or other bread recipe as directed. (I use this recipe.) Let sit for 5 minutes then stretch and roll to fit on a jelly roll pan edge to edge. (Use a silicone baking mat or sprinkle pan with cornmeal or spray with Pam.)

     Mix together:

¼ c. soft tub margarine

¼ c. parmesan cheese

¼ c. mayonnaise

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. parsley flakes

     Spread this mixture on the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top, if desired. Cut into sticks with the dull side of a butter knife or a pizza cutter. (Don’t use a pizza cutter if your dough is on a silicone baking mat.)

     Bake at 350° for 13-15 minutes until they are very light brown. Break apart and enjoy!

Easy Pizza Dough

This recipe from my friend, Paula, can be thrown together pretty quickly. I usually increase the amounts a little to make a crust big enough to cover our baking sheet. If I make 2.5x the recipe, I can make a pan of pizza and a pan of breadsticks. I've included the larger amounts below.

1 ¼ c. flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

    Combine in mixing bowl. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. instant yeast over mixture.

Add 2 Tbsp. oil and 1 c. very warm water. Let sit for 1 minute without stirring then stir for 2 minutes. Add 1 ½ c. flour and stir. Dump onto floured surface and knead for 2 minutes, adding more flour as needed. (Depending on how lazy I’m feeling, sometimes I just knead it inside the bowl.) Dough should be soft, but not sticky (“When patted it will sound like a babies bottom”).
     Cover dough and let sit for 15 minutes while toppings are being prepared. Press dough onto a greased pan. Add toppings* and bake at 400° for 10-12 min.
     This dough works well for breadsticks, calzones, pizza rolls, and sloppy joe or BBQ buns. [*our preferred toppings are pretty basic, including Easy Kids Pizza Sauce, shredded cheese, pepperoni.]

1.25X the recipe:
1 ½ c. + 1 Tbsp. flour 
1 ¼ Tbsp. sugar 
1 ¼ tsp. salt 
1 ¼ Tbsp. instant yeast 
2 ½ Tbsp. oil 
1 ¼ c. water 
1 7/8 c. flour 

2.5X the recipe:
3 1/8 c. flour
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
2 ½ tsp. salt
2 ½ Tbsp. instant yeast
5 Tbsp. oil
2 ½ c. water
3 ¾ c. flour

Easy Kids Pizza Sauce

I learned this recipe while watching "The Food Nanny" years ago and we've been making it ever since. It's so easy and inexpensive and it tastes great!

8 oz. tomato sauce
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. garlic salt
a good dash of pepper
a little bit of sugar
a little bit of salt
        Combine all & spread on pizza dough.

Peasant Bread (2 recipes)

I love how quickly I can throw together a quick batch of peasant bread for dinner. Below are the two tried and true recipes I use over and over again. My kids' favorite is the first one which is a pull-apart version with Italian seasoning. From start to finish, it only takes about an hour with 5-10 minutes of prep work. The second recipe is baked in Pyrex bowls and looks a lot prettier. I serve it sliced. It takes a good 2 hours with a longer rising time, but still only 5-10 minutes of prep. Honestly, when you look at both recipes closely, they are so similar that you could probably mix and match the style or flavor to get your perfect version.

Peasant Bread (or as my kids call it, “pheasant” bread)
Raisinglemons.com
2 ¼ tsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 c. flour
2 c. warm water
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
        Combine all ingredients and stir. Preheat oven to 425°. Spray hands with non-stick cooking spray. Divide dough into 2 balls and put on greased cookie sheet or use a silicone baking mat. Cover with towel and let raise 20-30 minutes. Pull in sides; brush top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and Italian seasoning.
        Bake at 425° for 10 minutes; then reduce heat and bake at 375° for 15 minutes. The recipe suggests serving with olive oil and balsamic vinegar garnished with Parmesan cheese for dipping, but we like it straight out of the oven as is. 

“My Mother’s Peasant Bread”
Alexandracooks.com
(I use our nested set of 3 pyrex oven-proof bowls) 
4 c. (512 g) flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast
2 c. warm water
        In 2.5 qt. pyrex bowl, combine dry ingredients then add water and mix until flour is absorbed. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
        Preheat oven to 425°. Grease two smaller oven-safe bowls (1 qt. and 1.5 qt.) with butter. Using two forks, punch down dough and scrape it from sides of bowl, turning it over on itself. Divide the dough in half and put in the two prepared bowls.
        Let the dough rise for about 20-30 minutes, uncovered, until it has risen just above the rim of the smaller bowl. (You can place the bowls on top of the oven which should be warm enough for them to rise.)
        Bake for 15 minutes at 425°. Reduce heat to 375° and bake for an additional 15-17 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Banana Bread

Don't have any ripe bananas on hand? Years ago, I remember a friend of mine using a jar or two of baby food bananas in a pinch. I haven't tried it myself, but if you've just got to have banana bread right now and can't wait until your bananas are ripe enough, it might be worth a try. :)

3-4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. sugar (can reduce to ¾ c.)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 ½ c. flour
        Preheat oven to 350°. With wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over mixture and mix in. Add flour and mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and slice to serve.