French Bread (bread machine recipe)

I love this recipe. SO GOOD. I could eat it all in one day. Hope you love it as much as I do!

In Bread Machine:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Set for "dough cycle".

1. Dough may be halved for two loaves, or you can just make one big loaf.
2. Roll dough out on floured surface into a rectangle, then roll it up to make a loaf.
3. Slit top of loaf with a sharp non-serrated knife, about 1" apart.
4. Place on greased baking sheet and let rise 1 hour in warm room.
5. Brush on egg wash and bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 mins.

Guinness Bread with Molasses

I found this on Simply Recipes and of course had to try it! If you look through this blog you'll find another beer bread recipe. I'd link it but I don't feel like searching for it myself. It was a super simple recipe much like this one that you can use any sort of beer, but when I saw this one I was like yup the hubby will love this one. I'm not too fond of Guinness myself so I'm not sure how well I'm going to like it but we shall see! I'm on a bit of baking rampage today. This bread, some chocolate chip cookies (recipe to come), and then the other beer bread so I can use up this bag of flour I bought (if I don't it will be awhile again before I even remember I have it, so no use it letting it go to waste! I'll just make everyone around me fat!)

Here is the recipe for the Guinness Bread with Molasses (pictures to come. As you can imagine my kitchen is a disaster!)

Do not use stale beer for this recipe, you want the carbonation.

Ingredients
3 cups self-rising flour*
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup molasses
A pinch of salt (roughly 1/8 teaspoon)
12 ounces of Guinness beer
Butter for greasing the pan and painting the top, about 3 tablespoons

* If you don't have self-rising flour, you can substitute using a ratio of 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, plus 1/8 teaspoon of salt, for every cup of self-rising flour. Have made both ways though and got better results from the self-rising flour.

Method
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan well with butter.

2 Pour the flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl and whisk to combine.

3 Slowly pour the Guinness into the flour mixture. (The “pub cans” are larger than 12 ounces, but they have better carbonation, so I pour most of it out and leave a swig to drink. This has never failed me, but if you are a stickler, use a 12-ounce bottle of Guinness instead.) Start stirring the beer into the dry ingredients, and when you are about halfway done, add the molasses. Mix well, just to combine. Don’t work the heck out of the batter – because that’s what it’ll look like – but you don’t want lumps, either.

4 Pour into the loaf pan to no more than 2/3 full. Pop into the oven immediately and bake for 50 minutes. Since ovens can vary, check the bread after 40 minutes and see if a toothpick inserted into the deepest part of the loaf comes out clean. If it does, you’re done.

5 Let the loaf cool a bit, maybe 5 minutes, and then turn it out onto a rack. Paint it with lots of soft butter, which will melt as you go.

Our Valentine's Day Meal

We didn't go out to a fancy Italian restuarant or any restuarant for that matter. We decided to stay in this Valentine's, so I made us dinner. It turned out amazing thanks to wonderful recipes I found online (and that my friend suggested). Here are the recipes for our amazing dinner! They are super simple and sometimes simple is the best! The hubby loved loved loved the dinner so that is always a plus!

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (sifted)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) can beer
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
4. Pour melted butter over mixture.
5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 beef roast, any kind
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package brown gravy mix, dry
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package ranch dressing mix, dry
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Place beef roast in crock pot.
2. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast.
3. Pour the water around the roast.
4. Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

For dessert I made these M & M bars and although they're good, they're not as good as the reviews said they were. I was a bit disappointed with them but the hubby said they were yummo! I prob won't make these again (look for the carmel bar recipe so much better)

M & M Dream Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup M&Ms
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, coconut, baking soda, and salt; add melted butter and stir until moist (the mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 1 1/2 cups and press remaining crumbs into a greased 13X9-inch baking pan (I line the pan with non-stick foil.).

2. Bake 12 minutes at 375°F.

3. Combine milk and peanut butter; carefully spread over baked crust. Sprinkle on M&M's and chocolate chips. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over chocolate pieces and lightly press crumbs down.

4. Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.