Homemade Slider Buns

1T- yeast

1-1/4C warm milk

3-1/2C bread flour

1T- salt

1/4C- sugar

4T- butter, at room temprature

1- whole egg

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, egg, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix to distribute the ingredients. Mix in the liquid ingredients.

Using the dough hook of your mixer, knead the dough until it forms a smooth uniform dough. About 8 minutes of kneading on speed setting 3 or 4.

Remove dough from mixer, and place in a clean bowl that has been coated with oil. Proof dough until it has doubled in size (about an hour).

Punch down the dough, and cut the dough with a knife into 2oz portions. Do not tear the dough apart. It will destroy the gluten proteins you made by kneading the dough.

Roll the portioned dough into little balls, and set on your baking sheet that has been sprayed with oil.

Cover the portioned rolls to prevent them from drying out. Let the dough double again in a warm place. 

Add an egg wash* to the rolls to give them a beautiful color.

Bake the dough at 350 degrees until golden brown. About 20-25 minutes. 

* Egg wash

1- whole egg

1T- whole milk or water

**To make full sized buns, portion out 4oz of dough.

Sourdough English Muffins

2T - granulated sugar
2C- warm water, do not exceed 110 degrees
1T- active dry yeast
1C- sourdough starter
8C- AP Flour
3T- milk
1/4C- room temperature butter
1T- salt
1/4t- citric acid

cornmeal for dusting of baking sheets

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Stir in and dissolve the yeast. 

Mix in the sourdough starter and 1 cup of flour. Let this sit for a few minutes, until the mixture begins to bubble.

Add the milk, butter, salt, citric acid and a second cup of flour, and beat well. 6 cups of flour, one cup at a time, to form a dough that holds together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You may not use all the flour.

Knead the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer, with the dough hook attachment at medium speed for about 8 minutes. Add flour only as necessary to prevent sticking. Place the dough in the greased bowl, turning it so that a thin film of oil coats all sides. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it stand until it has doubled in size.

After about 1 - 1.5 hours punch it down, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, cover it and let it sit for a 5 minutes.  Divide the dough into two pieces to make it easier to work with and roll each piece out separately to a 1/2-inch thickness. 

Cut the dough into 3-inch rounds; re-roll and cut any remaining scraps. Place the rounds, evenly spaced, onto cornmeal dusted baking sheets (do not crowd the muffins, sprinkle the tops with additional cornmeal and cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise until light and puffy, about 1 hour.

Carefully transfer the rounds right-side up to a large electric ungreased griddle preheated to 350°F.  Cook them for about 10 to 12 minutes on each side. Remove them from the griddle and cool on a rack.

Corn Pancakes with Chorizo, Fried Egg, and Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients- 

3/4C Masa Harina ( corn flour) Maseca Brand

1 pound pork chorizo (chorizo seco is better, but if you only have the wet one it works.)

1/2C all purpose flour

1/2C yellow cornmeal

1t- sugar

1t-  salt

1t- baking powder

1/2t- baking soda

1 1/2C- buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk, use 1 1/2C 2% milk with 1 1/2T of lemon juice)

4 large eggs (2 eggs are for the pancake batter, the other two will be fried to place on top of your pancakes. 

4 tablespoons (about) corn oil

Pancake Toppings-

Queso Fresco or Queso Casero

Tomatillo Salsa

Cilanto

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread Masa Harina on heavy baking sheet. Bake until fragrant and golden, stirring often, about 15 minutes. 

Cool Masa Harina. 

Cook chorizo in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown. 

Using slotted spoon, transfer chorizo to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. 

Sift Masa Harina, flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. 

In a separate bowl whisk buttermilk, 2 eggs and 3 tablespoons oil to blend. 

Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and whisk just until blended. The batter will be thick.

Lightly coat griddle with the last table spoon of oil. Heat over medium heat. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto griddle, and using the back of a spoon spread batter to make a bigger pancake. Cook until bottom is golden, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook until second side is done, about 3 minutes. Repeat until all batter is used, and don’t forget to oil your pan between each pancake. 

Fry your eggs sunny side up, over medium heat just until the whites have set but the yolk is still runny.

Place pancakes on a plate, add your fried egg to the top, sprinkle with chorizo and tomatillo salsa. 

Recipe for the tomatillo salsa can be found here: http://food-bully.com/post/2903210017/chilaquilles-de-mi-mama This is the red sauce version. Which would be just as good as the green sauce. 

Enjoy

Aloo Paratha-

1C whole-wheat flour + 1/4c for rolling

1/2C water 

Pinch of salt

3 medium potatoes

1/4t salt

1/2t cumin seeds (Jeera)

1t oil + more for cooking

1 diced serrano chili

1/2t garam masala (optional)

Making the Dough

Mix flour, salt and water together to make soft dough (if the dough is hard add a little more water one teaspoon at at time). 

Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. 

Set the dough aside and cover, let the dough rest for at least five  minutes.

Potatos

Boil the potatoes with the skin, with enough water that the potatoes are covered.  Cook the potatoes until tender. Remove them from the water and let them cool down. 

Take your cumin seeds and sautee them in a small pan with 1t of oil until they release their aroma and start to brown. Remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl.

Peel the skin off and place the potatoes in the mixing bowl with the cumin. Add the green chilies, and salt.

Making paratha

Divide the dough and potato mixture into 6 equal parts. The potato balls should be about 1 1/2 times larger than the dough balls.

Roll the dough into 3 inch diameter circles. Place the potato balls in the center. Seal by pulling the edges of the rolled dough together to

make a ball. Proceed to make all six balls.

Let them settle for 3 to 4 minutes before rolling them.

Heat the skillet on medium high. 

Dust your rolling surface with whole wheat flour, the roll out your dough. Press lightly until you’ve made a 6” round. Press too hard and the potato filling will come out. If your dough sticks to the pin, just dust it with more flour.

Place the rolled out dough over the skillet. Once the dough has changed color and starts to brown, flip it over. Add some oil to the top of the paratha, and flip over, do this to the other side as well. The goal is to get the paratha golden brown. 

If your paratha starts to puff, simply press down with your spatula. 

Cool the parathas in a tortilla warmer until ready to eat. 

Enjoy

Pancake Art-

Although this is a simple pancake recipe, the design element takes it to the next level.

The best thing about the squeeze bottle pancakes is that you can make any design you want. I made hearts, but stars, mickey mouses, and flowers are also fun to and easy to make. 

1-3/4C all-purpose flour

2t baking powder

1T sugar

1/4t salt

2 eggs

1-1/4C whole milk

In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients until the egg is well incorporated into the other ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix well.

Transfer the batter to a plastic squeeze bottle with a wide tip. This will allow the batter to flow through easily. 

Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Squeeze batter out of the bottle in the  shape desired.  Cook until bubbles are visible on the top of the pancake. Gently flip the  pancake and cook on the other side until golden brown.  Transfer to a plate and repeat until all the batter is gone.

Serve pancakes with syrup.

Carrot Cake Pancakes-

I think I have a pancake addiction and it’s all because of these carrot cake pancakes. The pancakes are delicious all on their own, but once you add the cream cheese maple frosting it really takes them to a whole new level. I usually make these on weekends when I have more time for making breakfast, but they would be equally good for a weekday (breakfast for) dinner. 

3/4C- flour

2T- sugar

1/2t baking powder

1/2t- pumpkin pie spice

1/4t- salt

1- egg

3/4C- milk

1-1/2T- melted butter

1/4t- vanilla extract

1/2C- shredded carrot

1/2t- chopped crystalized ginger

2t- chopped walnuts (for garnish)

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla and mix well. Fold in the shredded carrot and chopped ginger.

Heat a pan on medium high heat and spray with non-stick spray (or butter). Add 1/4C of pancake mix to the pan at a time to make pancakes.  When pancake starts to bubble flip and cook. Pancakes should be golden brown. 

You can top the pancakes with cream cheese frosting or maple syrup and garnishing by adding the chopped walnuts.

*Cream Cheese Frosting-

4oz cream cheese at room temprature

2T- butter at room temprature

1/4C- maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a the bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk until ingredients are combined and resemble a runny frosting.

Top pancakes with frosting and enjoy. 

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Italian Butter Cookies

3oz- unsalted butter

3oz- vegetable shortening

3oz- sugar

1-  large egg (2oz)

1/2t- vanilla extract

1t- almond extract

8oz- all purpose flour

1oz- corn starch

Colorful sprinkles for decorating. *optional*

Melted dark chocolate for coating *optional*

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

Cream the butter and shortening with the sugar until mixture reaches “ribbon stage”.

Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix until well incorporated. 

Add the flour and corn starch. Mix until cookie dough batter looks uniform.

Take batter and transfer to a piping bag with a large star tip. 

Pipe dough on parchment paper to silver dollar sized cookies. Start in the middle and work your way out in a circular motion. 

Sprinkle with colorful sprinkles or leave plain.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes at 375. The bottom of the cookies will be slightly golden.