This pancake is super easy & so much fun to make! I love watching it puff up… and it’s delicious, too.  If you’ve never made one before, give it a try. I’d love to hear from you, if you do.

Dutch Baby Pancake
Yield: One 10” Dutch Baby

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1⁄2 cup flour
1⁄2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp lemon zest, optional
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp butter

METHOD
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
You will need a 10-inch frying pan.
Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
Put the skillet on a medium high and let it get hot.
Add the butter, let it melt, being careful not to let it burn.
Carefully pour batter into the pan.
Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the pancake is puffed and golden.
Lower your oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 5 minutes longer.
Remove pancake from oven.
I like to top it with some powdered sugar.
Cut into wedges and serve at once topped with whatever you like (options below).
Enjoy!

GARNISHES: Syrup, powdered sugar, squeeze of lemon, jam, cinnamon sugar, fresh berries, banana, chocolate syrup, sliced cooked apples, nuts, sweetened ricotta, peaches, mango, pineapples, chocolate chips, whipped cream, etc.

I love baking, and for some reason I bake more in the fall and winter. Although it doesn’t feel like fall with the warm temperatures, my internal clock must know. I decided to make pretzel rolls to use for turkey sandwiches, complete with gouda cheese and honey mustard. They were so warm and delicious that I had to share this recipe with you.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups Milk, lukewarm
1 package Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar
4 Tbsp Butter, melted
1 tsp Salt
3 ½ cups Flour
2 cups Water, hot
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
Coarse Sea Salt

METHOD
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat (if you don’t have either of these items, you can lightly grease your baking sheet).
Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the yeast into the warm milk, allow to sit for about 3 minutes, to activate.
Add the confectioners sugar and the melted butter. Mix to combine.
Add the flour and salt.
Mix with a wooden spoon or if you’re using your electric mixer, use the hook attachment.
Knead the dough for about 5 minutes (I like to use my hands to knead).
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
Turn the dough out onto your floured surface.
With a sharp knife, cut into 6 equal pieces.
This measurement does not have to be exact; the size of the rolls is up to you.
Before you start to form your rolls, place the hot water and baking soda into a shallow bowl.
Mix the baking soda to dissolve, and set aside.
Using a slotted spoon or spatula, dip each roll into the baking soda and water very quickly.
Place on your prepared baking sheet, and sprinkle with sea salt.
Continue until you have done all the rolls.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until light golden brown and puffed.
Set aside to cool.

NOTE: I found that the pretzel rolls don’t really keep well. Once they’re sealed up in either a plastic container or plastic bag, the salt will begin to melt. The pretzels become soft. I didn’t try freezing them, but I do think that’s what I’ll do next time.

I love making pizza at home. It’s really simple to make the dough yourself. The recipe below is my favorite for pizza crust & flatbread (rolled extra thin) and it turns out perfect every time. However, you always have the option to buy a ready made pizza crust, and there’s lots of great options in the grocery store. Anyway, I think the best part of making pizza at home is topping it with all your favorites… and lots of cheese!

The recipe I’m sharing today has become our new family favorite. The toppings are simple, but the flavor is anything but simple!!

Makes one 12” pizza

INGREDIENTS
For Dough:
1 cup warm water
2 ½ tsp dry active Yeast
1 Tbsp Honey
2 ½ to 3 cups all-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Pizza Sauce:
1/2 cup Cilantro
1/4 cup picked Jalapeños
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Cumin

Toppings:
2 to 3 cups of shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
2 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh Corn
½ red Onion, thinly sliced
½ cup Black Olives, halved
2 Tbsp Capers
More picked jalapeños, optional (but nice if you like it spicy)

METHOD
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the honey and warm water together in a small bowl.
Add the yeast to the water and let it sit for 15 minutes until a nice foam forms from the yeast growing.
Place flour and salt in a mixing bowl with the dough hook attachment and slowly add the yeast mixture.
Mix on medium-high for about 5 minutes, until the dough becomes elastic and firm.
Remove dough from bowl and rub lightly with olive oil.
Place in a bowl and cover with a clean dry towel.
Let sit in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes (it should double in size).

While the dough is rising you can make the sauce for the pizza.
Blend the cilantro, pickled jalapeños, olive oil, lime juice and cumin together in the food processor until a smooth paste is formed.
Set aside until you have your pizza crust ready to top.

After the dough has risen, place it on a floured surface.
If you want to make smaller individual pizzas cut dough into portions, or use for one large pizza.
Roll out to desired thickness and size, or shape using your hands, gently stretching the dough into the shape you desire.
Place dough onto a lightly greased pizza baking pan.
Spoon the cilantro sauce onto the pizza crust and spread evenly.
Evenly distribute the cheese and toppings on the crust.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of the crust.
Remove, cut into slices and serve.

For a crispier crust, cook your pizza crust for about 7 minutes before topping it with anything! That’s always an option.

You will be amazed how easy these are to make and they only take about 12 minutes to bake… but in that little bit of time they will also fill the house with the scent of cinnamon. Hope you give this recipe a try. They’re delicious!!

Makes about 10-12 rolls

INGREDIENTS
For Dough:
2 packages Dry Yeast
¼ cup warm Water
1½ cups Buttermilk
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
¼ tsp Soda
½ cup Vegetable Oil
4½ cups All-Purpose Flour

Filling:
½ cup Butter, melted
1¼ cups Brown Sugar, packed
1½ tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Raisins, optional

For Icing:
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Milk
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

METHOD
To prepare dough:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Heat buttermilk until warm.
Add buttermilk, sugar, salt, soda, oil, flour and yeast and mix together using the paddle attachment.
Cover and let rise 15 minutes.
Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 10 x 18 inches.

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients for filling and spread on dough.
Roll up rectangle; cut into 1½-2 inch pieces, and place cut side up in a buttered 9 or 10 inch round cake pan, leaving center empty.
Let rise 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake rolls for 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, you can make the icing by mixing sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.
Ice the cinnamon rolls once they have cooled down.
Enjoy!

Hello Readers of Saucy Girl’s blog! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far. I’ve been MIA for a while… but I have been in action. Some of you may already know, via Facebook, that I am in the process of opening a small recreational cooking school with my daughter – Rachel, called “The Curious Kitchen“. We’re super excited, and hoping for an open date of August 1st. We’d love it if you’d give us a like and follow along with our progress on Facebook.

We’ve also started a Kickstarter Campaign. We only have 14 backers so far. If you want to read about our campaign and help out, click here.

I was feeling badly for neglecting my blog/website, because I really enjoy my food blog & love my readers! So, since the crazy hectic month of June is almost over, I will be doing weekly posts. No matter how busy I am, I’m still always cooking. I have lots of recipes and pictures to share with you all… like this Easy French Toast recipe.

I don’t know about you, but at our house, breakfast is not a meal shared during the week, but the weekend is a totally different story. On Saturday and Sunday I like a hearty breakfast, and I like to enjoy it leisurely. This easy French Toast recipe is delicious and quick. For this recipe I used a small French Sourdough loaf, but I also love making it with a nutty, multi-grain bread. The beauty of it is that you can use whatever bread you have on hand!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Milk or Half & Half
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
4 Slices of Bread of your choice (stale or day old bread works best)
2 Tbsp Butter

Best served with warm Maple Syrup and fresh fruit.

METHOD
Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl.
Place bread (2 pieces at a time) into the mixture, turning once, and then allow it to soak up the liquid for a minute.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Place the soaked bread into the frying pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden brown and lightly puffed.
Remove from pan.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve right away with warm Maple Syrup.
Enjoy!

Note: If you are not serving it right away you can keep the French Toast warm in a 250 degree oven.

I’m super excited to share some news… My daughter and I are opening a recreational cooking school here in Murfreesboro, TN called “The Curious Kitchen”. That’s why I haven’t posted in a little while. I’ve been super busy getting some of the new business things in line, like signing the lease, designing the space, website, creating the calendar of classes, business licenses, tax licenses, resale numbers, etc. Looking forward to choosing the color theme, picking out the tables & chairs, selecting dishes, and so on. We’ve already started a Facebook page for The Curious Kitchen and would love for you to stop by and give us a “like” if you haven’t already. We’ll be posting progress updates on the page as we go along and hope to be open soon!

Even more exciting (to me) than the cooking school, is that my daughter, Rachel, is moving from Los Angeles to Nashville! We will be working together and she’ll be living just a half an hour away!! I’ve missed her so much since I moved to Tennessee 3 years ago. The move was hard, but the most difficult part was leaving my daughter in California. At that time, she was attending Cal State Northridge, plus being a California native, she had no desire to move to Tennessee. Since that time, she has graduated from college, and fallen in love with a Georgia man. So, although I’m not the total reason for her move to Tennessee, I’m extremely happy that she will be here. And she and her boyfriend are only a 2 hour drive apart.  

I’m sharing these corn muffins with you because not only do I love these muffins, they’re one of my favorite recipes to make. Super easy & super delicious! They’re basically cornbread, in muffin form. If you’d like, you can bake them in a baking pan or cast iron skillet, just butter the pan before you put the batter in.

These go perfectly with salad, soup, and or course… BBQ!

To make them even more special you can add some diced jalapeno into the batter… or top them with shredded cheddar & jack cheeses a minute or two before you take them out of the oven. Yum!

Makes 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Sugar
2 sticks Butter, room temperature
2 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup fresh Corn
3 cups Flour
1 cup Cornmeal
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Parsley or Cilantro, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp Salt

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of your electric mixer beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs.
Mix in the milk and the corn.
Stop the mixer and add in the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, herbs and salt.
With the mixer on low combine just until they are blended.
Spoon the batter into the baking cups.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and remove from the pan.
Enjoy ~ I love mine with butter!

I’m a bread lover. Carb lover. Lover of all things starch… pasta, potatoes… you know what I mean. So, I’m sharing my favorite roll recipe with you in hopes that you, too, will become a bread lover (if you’re not one already!).

These rolls are quick and easy. No kneading. No double rise. They are perfect dinner rolls. They also make great sandwich buns and they’re perfect for sliders!

These rolls are also delicious served with Shallot, Parsley & Lemon Compound Butter.

If you want to make herb rolls, just add in whatever herbs you’d like (add them when you add in the first cup of flour). I like to add 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning (pictured below).

Quick Yeast Rolls

Makes 24 rolls

INGREDIENTS
3 packages Active Dry Yeast
1 ¾ cups Warm Water
½ cup Honey
½ cup Butter, melted
2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs, beaten
4 to 6 cups Flour

2 Tbsp Butter, melted, for brushing on top of rolls

METHOD
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine yeast with warm water in the bowl of your electric mixer, using the paddle attachment.
Let it set for about 5 minutes, or until bubbly.
On low speed, add in the honey, butter, salt and eggs.
Mix until combined.
Add the flour a cup at a time, until it is completely incorporated and dough begins to form a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Lightly flour your hands and remove the dough from bowl.
Add a little more flour, if needed, to handle the dough.
Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces.
Form into balls and place on a baking sheet or dish, spacing about an inch apart.
Set aside and allow to rise for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until double in size.
Gently brush the rolls with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter.
Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden.
Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining tablespoon of melted butter, and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt.

Enjoy warm with butter!