Strawberry-Hearts Shortcake

 
1 can country biscuits (NON-flaky kind)
Cleaned Fresh Strawberries

Sauce
1 lb. frozen whole strawberries
1/2 cup water
1 TBL. lemon juice
6 TBL. sugar (white)
Cool whip (set aside for topping) 

Make the sauce first. Put the strawberries, water, lemon juice, and sugar in a sauce pan on high heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the strawberries are soft. Chill the sauce in the fridge.

To Make Heart Strawberries: Ok, you're going to have to experiment here and i will do my best to explain since I didn't take a picture. Sorry! =) PULL off the green stem of the strawberry-DO NOT cut off =) Slice the strawberry down the center length wise (use the photo). Take a perry knife and cut the bottom sides to form the point of the heart. Use the perry knife to gently cut the top of the strawberry into a heart. Only make as many hearts as you have biscuits! =)

Take your store bought biscuits and place them on a baking sheet. Place one heart on each top and very gently press the strawberry SLIGHTLY down into the biscuit.

1/2 way through the baking process open your oven and re-push down your hearts into your biscuits. Let the biscuits finish baking. Bake according to package instructions.

Top with the chilled strawberry sauce and cool whip!

Ashlie's Notes: This post was LONG over due! Sorry to all of my friends that have been asking me for this simple recipe that I made for my sweetie on Valentines day! SUPER tasty recipe!! I'm certain you will all love it! You can also try this cute heart technique with muffins! =)

Flour Tortillas from Scratch

3 cups flour
3 TBL Shortening
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup very hot to boiling water
1 wet (rung out) dish towel

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Add shortening then water. Mix together with your hands to make sure dough is well incorporated.

Place wet dish towel over dough. If you do not do this the dough will dry out as you are rolling out/cooking tortillas.

Break off 1 inch ball. Roll in hand and place on flat FLOURED surface. With a floured rolling pin roll out tortilla as flat as flat can be!

Place in a (already heated up) skillet on medium low heat.

Once you start to see little bubbles forming (about 10-12 seconds) go ahead and flip the tortilla and cook for about 10 seconds. Always go by the BUBBLES and not the timer. Once you flip the tortilla you wont see bubbles so for the second side try and stick to a certain time. The tortilla is perfect if you see tiny LIGHT brown spots. The cooking process speeds up as you go along because the skillet gets hotter. You should only be flipping your tortilla once.

Place tortilla in a large bowl. Wrap tortillas in dry dish towels. This will keep them warm and that's how us Mexicans do it! =)

Continue process until dough is gone.

Ashlie's Notes: Makes about 16-18 tortillas. Takes about an hour to finish everything. These are great for breakfast tacos, bean tacos or just heated up a little bit with peanut butter. My kids eat these by themselves. They absolutely LOVE homemade tortillas. I make these around the holidays and give them away to neighbors! I store these on the counter in a freezer bag. You will have to heat them up for about 8 second in the microwave the next day. Do not over heat or you will get a HARD tortilla =)

Dinner Rolls (Bread Machine)

1 cup water and 1 TBL water
1 large egg
4 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/4 cup bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (bread machine yeast)

Place wet ingredients into bread machine first then dry ingredients with the yest being LAST.

Make a small well in your dry ingredients and pour the yeast into the well.

Select dough cycle.

Form dough according to your wishes. I place 3 small balls into each muffin cup. This makes the roll like a pull apart roll and they look nice =) Spray muffin pan with non stick spray if you do this.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2-3 hours or until doubled in size.

Bake in oven at 350 for 8-12 minutes (I do 10 mnts.)

Brush tops with melted butter =)

Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine)

To give you a brief back ground of my evening while making these, after I had waited the time for them to rise as I was bringing them in I dropped the cookie sheet with the buns (this is so my life =) luckily I remembered someone once told me that to get dough to rise (or in my case "re-rise") heat your oven up to 200 then turn it off and place your bread dough in and it will rise. So I did this and they had re-risen in 10 minutes. A CLUTZ PROOF RECIPE and very very yummy!!
1 1/4 cup slightly warmed milk
1 beaten egg
2 TBL. butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3 3/4 cup bread flour
1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast

Add wet ingredients into your bread machine then dry EXCEPT yeast.

Make a small well with your finger in the flour and pour in your yeast making sure it never touches the wet ingredients.

Place your bread machine on the "dough" cycle.

When done take out and place on a well floured surface. Cut dough in half. Roll out each half so that it is a 1 inch thick circle.

Take an inverted (AKA=upside down cup) and make 3 1/2 inch rounds. Between the two rolled out halves you should make 12 circles/buns.

Place on a GREASED cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart from each other. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour or until doubled in size. (For me that was one hour and I placed these outside because for me dough rises so great outside!)

Bake at 350 for 9-10 mnts.

For your entertainment, my son later that night had one of the buns stuck to his buns =) I guess at some point he sat on his hamburger lol. It was just too cute =)

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (Bread Machine)

Bread Machine version and FOOL PROOF =)

ROLLS
3/4 cup water and 2 TBL.
2 TBL. butter, softened
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. bread machine yeast

Filling
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 TBL. butter, softened

Glaze
3 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt


Put wet ingredients in first, then dry ingredients EXCEPT YEAST.

Form a well with your finger in the flour and pour your yeast into it.

Set your bread machine for the dough cycle.

When done take dough out and place on a lightly floured surface, roll out into a 9 inch square.

Mix your brown sugar and cinnamon. Rub the butter onto the dough surface then sprinkle with the sugar mixture.

Roll up tightly into a log and pinch the edges to form a closed seal (not the ends though)

Cut into 1 inch slices (making 9 rolls) and place in a greased 9x13 dish. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. I placed mine outside for best results =)

**You can also place these in the fridge overnight (after they rise) but you will need to let them rise again in the morning for about 30 minutes**

Bake at 375 for 16-17 minutes.

Frost or drizzle with glaze =)

This was my first time ever making cinnamon rolls from scratch and my what a great success!! It's fool proof I PROMISE!!

Sweet Hawaiian Bread (Bread Machine)

This is a Bread Machine version of Sweet Hawaiian Bread and it was so yummy!!! I will definitely be making this over and over again!!! I have also noticed a big and better difference in my bread by using actual Bread Flour or "Better For Bread Flour" as opposed to using just regular flour. Just to let you bread makers know!! =)

3/4 cup and 2 TBL. of pineapple juice
1 egg
2 TBL. vegetable oil
3 TBL. honey
3/4 tsp. salt
3 cups Bread Flour
2 TBL. dry milk powder
2 tsp. fast rising yeast (I have Fleischmann's BreadMachine Yeast which is also great and can be used in all "fast rising yeast" recipes =)

Put ingredients into bread machine according to manufactures instructions (mine calls for all wet ingredients in first, then dry ingredients with the Yeast being put in LAST)

Set the machine for "Sweet" or "white" depending on your machine.

Set the crust as "Light"

When done let cool for 15 minutes before cutting =)

Italian Herb and Cheese Bread

Bread Machine Version =) This recipe was SOOOO GOOOD!!! I made the loaf yesterday and my husband and son have already almost finished it only a day later! Makes great sandwiches or serve warm with butter. Better than Subways!!!

1 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 TBL. EVOO
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour (if you use regular flour just make sure you sift it which you will later in the recipe)
2 tsp. sugar
1 TBL. dried parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. active dry yeast

Measure precisely and add liquid ingredients to the bread pan.

In a medium bowl mix together all dry ingredients EXCEPT THE YEAST.

Gently pour the dry ingredients (EXCEPT YEAST) into the bread pan.

Use your finger to form a well (hole) in the flour where you will pour the yeast. Yeats must NEVER come into contact with a liquid when you are adding ingredients. Measure the yeast and carefully pour into the well.

Snap the baking pan into the breadmaker and close lid.

Press "Select" button to choose the French setting.

Choose crust color (I did Light)

Press Start button! =)

About 1o-15 minutes before this was done I lifted the lid and sprinkled some shard cheddar on top and closed the lid. MMMmm

Chocolate Chip, Sour Cream, Banana Bread

Oh yes ladies, this is actually as good as it sounds. SUPER DUPER YUMMINESS!!! I'm always looking for new ideas when it comes to using up those bananas that are about to go bad and honestly, I get tired of doing banana bread but this is definitely the way to go!! My husband absolutely loved this!

1 cup butter (I did 1/2 butter and 1/2 applesauce. Next time I will do all applesauce)
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 ripe bananas, smashed
1 cup sour cream (I used Light)
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the whole package)

Pre heat oven to 350.

Cream together, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, sour cream and bananas.

In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients then mix the wet and dry together.

Add chocolate chips and mix well.

So this will make 3 large loafs or it will make 12 mini loafs. I made 12 mini loafs and baked them for about 22-23 minutes. Stick a knife in the center to check BUT make sure you don't stick it into a chocolate chip and then think the bread still needs to cook when you look at the knife like I did!! =) If you do the 3 large loafs then bake at 350 for 1 hour OR until knife inserted comes out clean =)

Let cool before taking out of loaf pan.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Don't judge the muffins by their photo!! These are seriously the BEST banana muffins I have ever had and the topping is so yummy!!!

Muffin:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 medium sized bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/ cup butter, melted
dash of ginger
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 TBL. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon (or more to your liking-I add a tiny bit more =)
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 TBL. cold butter

Preheat oven to 375. Get a 12 muffin pan and spray with non stick spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl mix the first 4 muffin ingredients together.

In a separate bowl mix bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, ginger, lemon juice and melted butter together.

Add dry mixture to banana mixture and mix well.

Fill your muffin cups with mixture and set aside (DO NOT place in oven yet)

In a mixing bowl mix first 4 topping ingredients together and then cut in butter until crumbly.

Sprinkle on top of each muffin cup then bake in oven for about 18 minutes.

Ashlie's Notes: This picture does not do these muffins justice, they are SO YUMMY!!!!!

Coconut Bread

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. coconut extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup coconut

Combine all ingredients and pour into 2 regular sized greased loaf pans (I used my 4-loaf pan twice for 35 minutes OR until knife inserted comes out clean). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (if you use 2 regular loaf pans)

Blueberry Banana Scones

So this was my first attempt at ever making a scone and sadly to admit, it was my first time trying one too...and what a SUCCESS!!!! Oh my were these so darn yummy!






1 cup blueberries
1 small ripe banana
1 cup white flower
1 cup wheat flower
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup + 1 TB Buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

cinnamon sugar for topping (tsp. of each mixed together)


Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients to make a sandy like texture. In a separate bowl smash the banana then set aside.(My butter was not at room temp so I put it in the microwave for 20 seconds and it did the trick.)

Beat the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together then add the smashed banana. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Add the blueberries and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

Take a cookie sheet and line with foil. Spray with non stick spray.

This dough is sticky (because of the banana) so you cannot roll it out to cut into triangles. What I did was take a spoon and spoon some of the dough onto the cookie sheet and I formed it into a triangle with the spoon. It worked perfectly.

Sprinkled the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture before putting in the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes. Be careful when you go to take them off because they can stick.

Strawberry Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter (at room temp)
1/4 cup honey OR 2/3 cup sugar
lemon zest, from one lemon
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup mashed strawberries, fresh or frozen (I used 6 or 7 fresh strawberries)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. (I used a 4 loaf pan)

Smash bananas and strawberries and set aside.

Whisk together first 5 dry ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix butter and honey; beat for 2 minutes. Add eggs, lemon zest, yogurt and vanilla; beat until combined, add applesauce, banana and strawberries. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Scoop into bread pan.

Bake 50 - 60 minutes for large loaf, 35 minutes for smaller loaves, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Lion House Rolls

If you haven't been to Utah and had the pleasure of partaking of the yummy rolls that are made at the Deseret Book stores all over. These rolls are certainly known through out Utah, they are HEAVENLY and Lion House is kind enough to share the recipe with us and they are pretty easy to make which is important when it comes to the uncoordinated such as myself =)

*They also make your home smell really yummy while baking and this is important =)

* 2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
* 2 tablespoons dry yeast
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder (instant or non-instant)
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup butter or shortening
* 5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine water and milk powder, stir until dissolved.

Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour.

Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then 2 minutes at medium speed.

Add 2 cups more flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes as medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand).

Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer.

Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour.)

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about 1 T.vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl so it is covered with oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until double in size.

After dough has risen, sprinkle cutting board or counter with flour and place dough on floured surface.

Roll out and cut rolls in desired shape and size. (I just cut into strips then roll the strip up and it comes out nice looking)

Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans.

Let rise in warm place until rolls are double in size (about 1 to 1 ½ hours).

Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.

Brush with melted butter while hot. (This is important for maximum yummy-ness =)

The BEST Banana Bread Ever =)

I've really never had banana bread as good as this! I've been using this recipe for as long as I can remember I think it's from my family cook book =)

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup margarine (or 1/2 cup apple sauce)
3/4 cup sugar
2 lg eggs
4 medium sized ripe bananas smashed
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
cinnamon (optional)

Makes 1 loaf

Oven 350

Grease 6 x 9 loaf pan (I use non stick spray)

Mix dry ingredients together. In separate bowl mix wet ingredients. Mix two bowls together. Throw in GREASED bread loaf pan. Before placing in the oven I sprinkle the loafs with a little bit of cinnamon. Then place in oven.

(I typically use a 4 loaf bread pan and it takes about 30 minutes. Insert knife in center and make sure it comes out clean.)

Bake for 50 mnts. Then let cool. This bread is VERY moist =)

The Perfect Biscuit

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tbl. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425

Combine dry ingredients and sift together well. Add shortening and milk. Knead together to form dough. Keeping kneading until all lumps are out. Roll into 1 inch thick. Cut off into biscuit shapes and bake on an un greased cookie sheet for 15 mnts OR until SLIGHTLY golden brown on edges.

Usage for these Biscuits: These biscuits are super yummy but should be eaten with a topping like Country Gravy for Biscuits and Gravy and or (Strawberry sauce from Couer a la Creme recipe-see previous post for Couer a la creme) and a heaping spoon full of cool whip.

A Huerta Family Recipe =)