Easy Baked Breads to Serve With Lite Meals

Having taken my own advice for the past week and eaten lighter meals I ’m feeling more like a person again and less like a stuffed bear. In fact I’m ready to make my dinners a bit more filling by adding some bread items. I don’t want the hearty artesian loaves that go so well with heavier soups and stews though. I want lighter choices that allow me to take just one and leave the rest in the kitchen, or pass the basket to the other end of the table.

I also want a variety to go with the different meals but I don’t want to buy large amounts of several things and have to deal with leftovers.  This means that I will probably have to bake these items myself, so I want them to be easy and fast to make. Finally, and this will hit home with those who have done any baking recently, I want them to be affordable. The regular price of baking supplies has really gone up this year. I don’t want recipes that are time consuming or call for special ingredients. I want recipes that depend on pantry staples but whose taste can be varied with optional add-ins. Sounds like a tall order? Not really. I had 3 stand-bys already, and with very little research, found 3 more.

Only one of the following recipes is a mix, but I normally keep several boxes in the cupboard because they’re so quick and handy. The rest use ingredients I always have, so I can make these items whenever I want.  I can alter the flavor of 4 to compliment the other dishes being served and 3 I can make in any quantity. The other 3 aren’t large, only serving 2 to 3, and 4 dieters or people with small appetites, so there aren’t many leftovers.  For my situation, they provide a win-win solution.

First my 3 stand-bys:

JIFFY MUFFIN MIX:  The only product included here from a mix. 12 pieces per 1 box, made as directed.
I make this according to box directions, but bake it in a metal ice cube tray or the bottom of a loaf pan.
It’s easier and people seem to like the more rustic appearance of its presentation cut in squares rather than as muffins. I get 12 pieces, as opposed to the 5 muffins recommended, and this makes less seem like a lot more.
To the bran and plain mixes I add dried fruits, raisons, cranberries, chopped apricots or nuts.  To the corn muffins I like to add chopped peppers, onions and/or sundried tomatoes.
I top the fruit and plain flavors with sprinkled sugar and cinnamon, the filled corn mix with paprika or maybe a little grated Parmesan.

DROP BISCUITS:  Yields 6 biscuits. Multiply or divide amounts for desired quantity
1 cups flour—–SEE NOTE
2 Tbs. baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 ¼  Tbs. shortening
½  cup milk—buttermilk is an option
1 Tbs. sugar – optional (I always add it in)
Work shortening into dry ingredients, add milk all at once. Stir until just incorporated. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet spacing at least 1” apart. Top with sprinkled sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a PREHEATED 450 deg. oven for 12-15 mins.
NOTE: The  1st 3 ingredients can be replaced by 1 1/8  cups self-rising flour
The first 4 ingredients can be replaced by a baking mix like Jiffy or Bisquick-See package for recipe.

CLASSIC SCONES:
2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
4 Tbs. butter
2 eggs beaten-reserve 1 Tbs
½ cup cream ( I use milk)
½ cup raisins or other chopped dried fruit –optional—Also optional are herbs or grated lemon or orange zest to taste.
Sift dry ingredients, cut in butter. Add well beaten eggs and cream. Toss dough on a floured board and roll then pat into a ¾ inch thick round on a greased baking sheet. Score into 8 wedges and brush the reserved egg, diluted with a bit of water, over the top. If you like sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a PREHEATED 425 deg. oven 15 mins.
NOTE:  The 1st 3 ingredients can again be replaced by 2 ¼ cups self-rising flour.

Here are the 3 recipes  I’ve recently found:

ONION BREAD: This is from a LUNCH& BRUNCH Cookbook by Barbara Grunes.  12 slices
(1) 8 oz. package of refrigerator biscuits (I used a tube of Grands and pulled them to cover the pan)
4 Tbs. butter
1 lg. onion- sliced thin
1 egg
cialis wholesale Glucose is any type of sugar that is found in several tissues of eyes, intestine, lungs and blood vessels. Stress affects a person both mentally as well as physically, finally resulting in the formation of large, fairly discrete nodules in the periurethral region of the order cialis without prescription browse around these guys prostate. While men and cialis prices http://djpaulkom.tv/dj-paul-attends-icon-manns-third-annual-pre-oscar-dinner/ women are taking their antidepressants, they may also want to engage in some cognitive therapy. If your erection troubles are not caused by infection:When the cause of prostatitis is found to be not infection, the situation is cialis generic wholesale Prices complex. 1 cup sour cream
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp poppy seeds
Arrange biscuits to cover the bottom of an ungreased 9”cake pan. In a small saucepan, melt butter and sauté onion until soft (This can also be done in a microwave. Depending on the oven it will take between 1 and 2 mins. loosly covered) Beat egg, sour cream and salt in a bowl. Cover biscuits with onion, then with egg mix and top with poppy seeds. Bake in a preheated 375 deg. oven for 30 mins. or until center is set.  This is a show stopper. Pretty with a cake-like texture, is easy to make, and bakes exactly as directed.

The next 2 recipes are from Ruthie Wornall’s 3 INGREDIENT COOKBOOK and are really easy. Though they don’t lend themselves to the addition of fruits or contain sugar, they are good topped with poppy seeds, caraway seeds, herbs or grated cheese or with dried herbs in the mix. Each recipe can be divided or multiplied to make the desired quantity.

SOUR CREAM ROLLS: Yield 24
1 cup self-rising flour
½ cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup sour cream
Combine all ingredients and stir to combine. Drop by tablespoons into greased mini-muffin tins until nearly full and bake 35 degs. for 35-40 mins. or until slightly brown on top and firm to a poke with your finger.
NOTE: These are very moist with a cake-like texture and are a bit tricky to bake. Be sure the tins, especially the bottoms are very well greased or they don’t release easily from the pan. They don’t accept add-ins to the batter, but do support a full range of toppings including cheese.

classic scones recipe

MAYONNAISE ROLLS: Yields 12
2 cups self-rising flour
1 ½ cup milk
4 Tbs. mayonnaise
Combine all ingredients, mix well and pour into greased muffin pans until full. Bake in a preheated 400 deg. oven for 22 mins.
NOTE; This recipe is my new go-to if I’m caught short for any meal. They can be topped with anything and served with butter, jam, really any spread available or plain and they keep and reheat well.

Because I’m not in the medical profession, a nutritionist or a registered dietitian, I don’t often calculate nutritional values on recipes. This posting is different, however, because I’m recommending bread items to serve with lite meals normally associated with dieting. I want my advice to be correct so I calculated the caloric values of 4 recipes. The caloric counts of the scones and Onion Bread depend on the add-ins and brand of commercial biscuits used.

The Jiffy muffins according to the package information, made and divided as I suggest, are 75.5 calories per piece. The Sour Cream Mini Muffins, made with margarine are 53.5 calories per muffin. The Mayonnaise Muffins, again made with margarine and skim milk are 61 calories per muffin.  The drop biscuits made with skim milk are 64 calories. Using light mayonnaise and sour cream would make a slight difference, but not much because the caloric values are not great enough to make a significant change when divided among so many pieces.

These numbers may seem high, but when compared to the caloric listings of commercial brands of rolls and muffins, even mixes, in a standard chart, they are much lower. They are also lower than the caloric values of the average slice of bread, pita or tortilla shell. Best of all, they are easily made from ingredients normally in the house which makes them handy and affordable.

onion bread recipe

NOTE:  1 cup sifted all-purpose flour + 1 ½  tsp. baking powder + pinch of salt = 1 cup self-rising flour.
Biscuit mix, such as Bisquick or Jiffy is different from self-rising flour. In addition to the above,  per cup, it contains
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. baking soda
¼ cup non-fat dry milk
¼ cup shortening
Easiest mixed with a blender, but can be done by hand. Add shortening in 2 batches. Mix should be mealy.  It’s recommended that this be made in batches of at least 4 cups, better still 8 cups simply for practicality since it can be kept at room temperature for 3 months and in the refrigerator for 4.
I haven’t used this recipe myself, but have seen it in several old family cookbooks and found it on Google, so I believe it’s reliable.