Egg-Free Friday Peanut Butter Rolls

While searching for egg-free recipes I found the blog TREAT & TRICK. This blog is amazing. Her recipes are eggless, and pretty healthy to boot (she uses a lot less sugar than average recipes; something I truly appreciate). She also makes bread right from scratch, without a bread machine! Talk about amazing.
I wanted to share one of my family’s favorite recipes from this blog; Peanut Butter & Jelly Rolls. I am not posting the recipe, because I did not have to change a thing! I did however, use a slightly different method, and tried a different filling.

I placed all the ingredients except for the peanut butter and jelly into my bread machine; in the order recommended for my machine. I set it to dough cycle, and cleaned my kitchen while the machine did its job.

Next I divided the dough into 12 balls. I put 6 of them into the refrigerator. I rolled, filled, and wrapped the first six per the recipe.

Let them double in size, then bake.

Rub some butter on as soon as they come out of the oven. Try to snap a picture before the vultures swoop in.
Here’s what happened with the second batch: I was curious to see how the dough would behave if I didn’t cook it right away. I left it, covered, in the fridge over night. In the morning I pulled it out and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour. The dough behaved exactly the same as the first batch. This is wonderful, because I can double the recipe, and serve rolls for breakfast.
Ready for the filling variation? I added chocolate chips instead of jelly. Simply divine! There is nothing better than chocolate and peanut butter.
These bad boys were so delicious they were devoured in minutes! After the family gobbled them up, I received a few requests. My stepson would like them with pizza filling, and hubby wants ham and cheese filling. I have yet to try these versions, but I am sure it would work out perfectly since the dough is not too sweet.
If you want your family to think you are a culinary genius, give this recipe a whirl.
What would you fill these rolls with?

Dear Bread Machine, I Was Wrong

Do you remember my bread making fails of the past? Probably not, I didn’t have too many visits then (I still don’t, but hey its getting better). If you want to laugh at my kitchen fails, check this and this out.

I wasn’t always a horrible bread maker, in fact I used to make really good bread. Using this same bread machine. Well, after the couple of fiascos mentioned above (plus a few undocumented ones) I called my once beloved kitchen appliance many bad names. This is why I am apologizing. The problem was the user, not the machine.

Why the change of heart? I tried this recipe (now one of my family’s favorite breads), followed all the tips, AND consulted my bread machine manual. I think my biggest problem was that my liquid (usually water) was too hot. Anyway, I have had so many delicious loaves of bread since then.

Here it is- Potato Bread SUCCESS!

Bread Machine, I am sorry for my behavior. Thank you for your forgiveness.

Let me tell you, my household is thrilled that my bread machine and I have made up. I use it multiple times during the week for bread, rolls, sweets, pizza crust, etc. (That is a warning, more bread machine posts in the future.)

Do you have any favorite bread machine recipes?

Potato Bread Fail #2, and What's for Dinner This Week

I tried bread machine potato bread again. I finally found my digital thermometer, so I made sure to bring the water and potatoes to temp. I also bought new yeast, just in case mine was old (who am I kidding, it was old). I measured everything according to the recipe, turned on the bread machine, and patiently waited. What happened? I got a very lovely bread bowl again! Actually, the first bread bowl looked more lovely- this last one was pretty dark. (I did not take a picture, because potato bread take 2 was a lot like potato bread take 1. I will try one more time, this next time I am going to use my bread machine to make the dough, and bake it in the oven. We'll see...

What's for dinner this week? (Some is the same as last week because we had leftovers a few times, and didn't get to the planned menu for the day.)

Sunday- grilled chicken, potatoes, and veggies
Monday- something from the pantry (tuna helper)
Tuesday- pork Steak on the grill
Wednesday- roast, potatoes, and veggies
Thursday- leftovers
Friday- chicken burritos
Saturday- something crock pot and grab-n-go; thinking sloppy joe's

Bread Machine Potato Bread Take 1

I came across a wonderful idea while reading one of my to-read blogs thefrugalgirl.com. Blogger Kristen does Food Waste Fridays, where she posts about the food wasted in her household during the week. She had potatoes that needed to be used up, so she made potato bread. This recipe was pinned! Well, her recipe is for real homemade bread, like kneading, rising, baking, the whole shot. I felt a little intimidated. So I headed to my new favorite recipe book- Pinterest- and searched for a bread machine potato bread recipe. Found this recipe from food.com, and got to work.

I boiled my potatoes. I saved the water. I mashed the potatoes. I threw everything in the bread machine. I pushed start. I looked at the clock, "Good the bread will be done right before the hubby gets home."

I was proud of myself, a little giddy actually. I tend to get that way when I master another awesomely frugal tactic. (That is something the hubs says he loves about me. I'm not sure if it is the frugality, the giddy excitement I get, or the comical combination. He loves it and we'll leave it at that.)

Are you excited? Bet you can't wait. Well, I am sad to say that I have not mastered potato bread.

What did I do wrong?  My research tells me that I may have used too much flour, the yeast may have been old, the water too hot, or even too cold. (Um, I never found the thermometer I was looking for.) I am not giving up. I will try to master potato bread.

Hubby tells me to look on the bright side, "At least you know how to make a bread bowl. It might be good with soup in it." Thanks honey.