Mom's Dinner Rolls

2 pkg dry yeast
1-1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2-1/2 Tbsp butter (softened)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup powdered milk
4 cups bread flour

Bread Machine: Put all ingredients in bread machine on dough cycle. Mix and let rise.

Kitchen Aid: Add yeast to warm water. Add sugar. Stir slightly and let sit a few minutes. Add slightly beaten egg and softened (not hot) butter. With bread hook, mix. Gradually add dry ingredients. When completely mixed, let rise to double.

Divide into two parts. Using flour on pastry sheets, roll each half into circle and cut into 12 triangles. Roll up in crescent shape. Place on parchment paper on pan. Let rise again about 30 minutes (optional). Bake 350 about 20 minutes.

Reception Sugar Cookies (Carolyn Mano/Sue Lyon)

1-1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 cups flour

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Roll 1/4" thick and bake on lightly greased pan (or parchment). Bake 350 for ten minutes.

Frosting:

1/2 cube butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla (regular for colored frosting; clear vanilla for white frosting)
1 box powdered sugar
Small amount of milk (to make creamy)

Mom's Banana Nut Bread

1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Blend oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Add remaining dry ingredients. Then add

2/3 cup mashed bananas (about 2-3)
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Bake 350 til browned on top and toothpick comes out clean.

Nutella Cupcakes

Use any cake mix to make cupcakes. (I've tried yellow and chocolate and both were delicious.) You can either 1) drop a little scoop of nutella in each before baking or 2) wait until the cupcakes are baked and cut out a little piece and fill in the hole with nutella put the cut out piece back on top. Here is the frosting:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy Nutella
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
toasted hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

Place the confectioners' sugar, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.*I doubled the cupcake recipe and that made a perfect number for the amount of frosting. If you want 12 cupcakes, you will have extra icing - I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding another use for it like licking the beaters, dipping crackers, etc.

Italian Supreme Calzones

Ingredients:

½ batch perfect pizza crust

2 links Italian sausage, removed from casings

½ medium yellow onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

4 oz. sliced mushrooms, chopped

Sliced black olives

Red pepper flakes

10 slices pepperoni, chopped

Shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp. water for egg wash

Pizza sauce, for serving

Directions: Preheat the oven to 500° F. Place a pizza stone in the oven and let it heat for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, divide pizza dough in half on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into two rounds approximately 7-8 inches in diameter. Transfer to a piece of parchment paper about the size of your pizza stone.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, crumble the sausage and cook until browned. Transfer to a medium bowl. Return the skillet to the heat and add the chopped onion and green pepper. Sauté briefly, about 3 minutes. Mix in the slices mushrooms and sauté a few minutes more. Transfer the veggie mixture to the bowl with the sausage. Toss in sliced black olives and red pepper flakes to taste. Mix in the chopped pepperoni.

Sprinkle one half of each dough round with a small amount of shredded mozzarella, leaving a thin border around the edge. Divide the meat and veggie mixture between the two dough rounds, on top of the mozzarella. Top with more mozzarella cheese, to taste. Fold over the remaining dough on top of the cheese and filling, pinching the free edges of dough together to seal. Brush the tops of the calzones with egg wash, transfer to the heated pizza stone and bake until browned, about 12-15 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

Perfect Pizza Crust

Basic Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
½ cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions:
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.