Thrive Life Golden Cornbread

 

This sweet cornbread is always a hit.  It is easy to make up and is a favorite at Thrive Life parties.

Golden Cornbread

Printable Recipe

 

1 c. THRIVE Cornmeal

⅔ c. THRIVE White Sugar

1 c. THRIVE White Flour

½ c. THRIVE Butter Powder

2 tbsp. THRIVE Powdered Milk

2 tbsp. THRIVE Whole Eggs

1 tsp. THRIVE Baking Powder

½ tsp. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1½ c. water

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until

fully mixed. Add in water and stir until lumps are

gone. Bake in greased 8×8 pan at 375⁰F for 30–35

minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow

to cool for 15–20 minutes before serving.

Mix and Match Muffin Mix

Most Sunday mornings I bake muffins.  There is something delicious about hot muffins with butter.    The only problem is that on Sunday morning I’m lazy.  I want to make something delicious but easy.  Mix and Match Muffins to the rescue.  I really love to be able to dump, mix and bake.  So during the week I make up a couple of these dry mixes and then on Sunday morning I can be a little lazy and still have wonderful muffins. 

This mix allows you to make whatever kind of muffin you want.  Just add the mix in’s you want and like magic you have blueberry, banana chocolate chip, or cranberry.  

FYI:  This muffin batter is thick, really thick.  don't worry and don't add extra water.  It is supposed to be thick and will bake up beautifully. 

Mix and Match Muffins

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from:  Good Cheap Eats

The Dry Ingredients (This is what goes in the mix):

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons Non Fat Dry Milk powder

½ cup sour cream powder

2 Tablespoons whole egg powder

If you are preparing the mix in advance combine all the dry ingredients in a zip top bag, label well, remove excess air, and seal.

 

The Wet Ingredients (Add these when you are ready to bake the muffins):

½ cup oil

1 ½ cup water

1 Teaspoon extract (I usually use vanilla)

1 ½ cups of the “mix ins” of your choice.   

Possible mix ins:   

• Mashed bananas
• Blueberries
• Chocolate chips
• Raspberries
• Chopped cranberries 

In a large mixing bowl combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, dry milk, sour cream powder, and egg powder.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tins with papers or spray with non stick cooking spray.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, gently mix until blended.  The batter will be thick and lumpy.   Gently fold in the mix-ins.  

For 12 large muffins, fill muffin cups completely, even mound up past the top of the muffin cup.  For 18 small muffins fill the muffin cups almost full. 

Bake 25-35 minutes, depending on how much you will them. 

Sun Oven Day 4: Baking Bread in the Sun Oven

How is baking bread in the Sun Oven different from baking bread inside?
Bread rises more than normal when baked in the sun oven.  To prevent overflow be sure to fill pans only ½ full. 
2 loaf pans fit easily in the Sun Oven.  I love to make bread in my round sun oven cooking pot.  If you are making bread in the round sun oven pot you can put two loafs worth of dough in the pot to make one large loaf.


Because bread rises more then normal in the sun oven, during the second rise (when the bread has been shaped and is in the pan) a minimal rise is sufficient.  I usually let my bread rise about 10 minutes in the pan before putting it in the Sun Oven. 

          

It can be difficult to tell if bread is done when cooked in the sun oven.  The easiest way to tell is to use an instant read thermometer and measure the temperature of the middle of the loaf.  White Bread should reach an internal temperature of at least 190 degrees.  Whole grain breads should reach at least 210 degrees.  

       One of the things I LOVE about baking bread in the Sun Oven is that as long as it is a sunny day I can bake bread in the summer and not heat up the house. 

       My favorite bread recipe to bake in the sun oven is Rosemary Olive Oil Bread  scroll to the bottom of the recipes to see the sun oven directions.

You might want to check out my Ultimate FREE Sun Oven PDF.

 

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

This is the best bread.  The first time I made it I ate almost the entire loaf by myself. (don’t tell.)  

Have you ever seen a recipe and thought “I should make that” and then you don’t?  I saw this recipe over on the Prudent Homemaker about 3 years ago, and I thought 

“I should make that” and then I didn’t.  

 I finally made this recipe for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  I wish I had made it sooner. 

When I bake round loafs I often have a hard time determining when to take them out of the oven.  I recently learned that you can use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.  For white loafs 195 degrees  for whole grain loafs 210 degrees. 

Recipe adapted from The Prudent Homemaker

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

 printable recipe

 2 cups hot water, (105 to 110)

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

5-6 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

In your mixing bowl, proof the yeast by adding the yeast into the warm water.  Let it sit for 5 minutes until nice and bubbly.

Add sugar, olive oil, salt and rosemary.  Mix well, add flour 1 cup at a time mixing between each cup.  You have added enough flour with the dough sticks together scraping the side of the bowl clean. 

If using an electric stand mixer knead 5-6 minutes.  If kneading by hand, knead 10 minutes on a floured surface, turning and folding well.

Pull all sides of the dough into the center, making a big ball. This stretches the gluten and makes a higher loaf. Put the dough in the bowl with the smooth side on top. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. Cover with a clean damp cloth over the top for 1 hour, or until double in size.

Take dough out of the bowl, and punch down.   Pull the edges into the middle all the way around to make a ball.  Cover let rest for 10 minutes.

Form dough into the loaf shape you desire. Put loaves on pan and allow to rise again covered for about 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400º so that it is ready to go at the end of the second rising.

When second rising is done, take a serrated knife and quickly and lightly slash the loaves.

This helps the loaves raise more in the oven.

Put loaf in the oven and cook until a nice browned and reaches an internal temperature of at least 195 degrees.

Small Round loaves: 30-40 minutes

1 Large Round Loaf:  1 hour

2 Sandwich Loafs 40-50 minutes

Take loaves out of the oven. After a couple minutes, turn loaves over on the cookie sheets so the bottoms can dry (or else they stay wet on bottom, even after an hour).

Sun Oven Directions: 

It is difficult to tell when bread is ready to be removed from the sun oven.  The easiest way is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature. 195 degrees and this bread is finished baking.

Prepare dough following the directions above until the second rising. 

Preheat your sun oven to 350 degrees. 

When bread is cooked in the sun oven it rises more than regularly so cut the time of the second rising down to about 15 minutes, or until the dough has filled the pan and rounded on the top.  Be sure to use a dark colored pan (or one that is metal and NOT shiny). 

After the second rising ready to put in the sun oven.

 Using a serrated knife slash the top of the loaf. 

 Quickly place your bread in the sun oven.  Close glass door and secure with the latch. 

For 1 large round loaf bake 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 195 degrees.   

Cheese Burger Buns

In the summer I am always in need of hamburger buns.  We eat a lot of sandwiches in the summer (pulled pork, veggie burgers, cheese burgers)  and for some reason my kids just do not like to eat them on regular bread, they demand buns.

In years past I have hesitated to make my own.  But now that I have three kids, I almost always would rather make my own then drag three kids to the market.

The powdered cheese in these buns make them amazing.  Perfect for a barbeque. 

This recipe has been on my to try list for a long time.  I recently made it for the frits time and LOVE it.  Why did I not make this when I first found it?  I don't know but I'm glad I made it.

Note:  This recipe makes 6 hamburger buns, but can easily be doubled to make more.

 

Cheese Burger Buns

printable recipe

Recipe source: King Author Flour

2 3/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/3 cup cheese blend  powder or 1/2 cup finely grated sharp cheddar

3/4 teaspoon salt*

1 teaspoon onion powder, optional but tasty

1 tablespoon sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 large egg  (1 Tablespoon whole egg powder plus 2 Tablespoons water)

2/3 to 3/4 cup lukewarm water**

*Use 1 teaspoon salt if you use freshly grated cheese

**Use the greater amount of liquid in winter or in drier climates; the lesser amount in summer, or in a humid environment.

Topping

2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed, using an electric mixer, for 2 minutes. To use your bread machine, put everything in the bucket, and let the dough go through its dough or manual cycle; skip to step 3 below if you're using a bread machine.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or rising bucket, cover it, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's noticeably puffy.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 6 pieces; each will be about 111g, a scant 4 ounces.

4) Shape the dough into balls, and place them in the wells of a lightly greased hamburger bun pan. If you don't have a bun pan, space them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

5) Gently flatten the buns with your hand to fill the bottom of the pan's wells, or until they're about 3 1/2" to 4" wide.

6) Cover the buns, and let them rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until they're noticeably puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7) Brush each bun with some of the melted butter.

8) Bake the buns for about 20 minutes, until they're a light, golden brown, and their interior temperature is at least 200°F, measured with an instant-read thermometer.

9) Remove the buns from the oven, transfer them to a rack, and brush with the remaining melted butter. Allow the buns to cool completely, then store airtight at room temperature.

Yield: 6 big buns.