Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, or 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 2/3 cup milk

The texture of the biscuits should be light and tender. The dough should be minimally stirred and kneaded to ensure a flaky crumb.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and sugar. Cut the butter into the flour with two knives held together or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the milk all at once and stir quickly and lightly with a fork for 30 seconds, just till the dough forms a ball around it.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 14 times. Pat to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2 inch cookie cutter. (An empty 6 ounce tomato paste can also works well.)
4. Place touching each other in the prepared cake pans, about 9 rounds of dough per pan. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

• 7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 packages active dry yeast

• ¼ cup sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 ½ cups hot water

• 120 to 130 degrees)

• ½ cup mayonnaise

• 4 eggs

• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar and salt. Gradually beat in water until smooth. Add 2 more cups of flour, mayonnaise and 3 of the eggs; beat well. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding as much remaining flour as needed to prevent sticking. Shape dough into a ball. Place in a large, greased bowl; turn dough once to grease surface. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; divide into three equal pieces. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each piece into 24 inch rope. Place side by side on a large greased baking sheet; loosely braid the ropes. Shape braid into circle, pinching the ends together to seal. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours. In a small bowl, beat remaining egg; brush over surface of the dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated o375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until loaf is browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to wire rack to cool.

• 3 lb. all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp. salt

• 1 oz. yeast

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 3 cups warm water

• 1 tbsp. corn oil

Put 2 tbsp. of the flour into a large bowl, preferably wooden, and add the salt (a little more or less depending on the taste). Mix the yeast and the sugar to a smooth paste. Add the warm water and gradually add a little of the reserved flour until it becomes a thick batter. Lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Make a well in the middle of the flour in the bowl and pour the batter into this.

Cover the batter with a cloth and leave the dough in a warm place until it doubles its bulk. Add the remaining flour and knead the dough until it becomes silky and elastic. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes or until dough leaves the side of the bowl clean. Rub the top of the dough with the oil, cover it with a slightly damp cloth and let the dough rise for 1 hour to again double it’s bulk.

Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and divide into three pieces. Knead each piece again for a few minutes and make into compact shapes to two-thirds fill your loaf pans. Grease the pans with a little oil, add the shaped loaves (the top slightly raised and rounded), cover again and leave the dough in a warm place to rise to the top of the pans.

 Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes (mark 8), then lower the heat to 400 degrees (mark 6), and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes or until the loaves are well browned and shrink slightly from the sides of the pan. Turn the loaves from the pans, tap the bottoms and if they sound hollow the bread is done. Cool on a rack.

• 2 cups warm milk (105 to 115 degrees)

• 2 packages active dry yeast

• 3 tbsp. sugar

• 1 tbsp. butter

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 6 oz. Cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

In a large bowl, combine milk and yeast; stir into dissolve yeast. Add sugar, butter and salt; stir until butter is melted. Stir in 3 cups of the flour; beat until smooth. Stir in the remaining flour and cheese; mix well. Pour batter into a well buttered 1 1/2 quart round casserole. Cover with waxed paper; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Remove waxed paper. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in dish on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen edge; remove from dish. Cool slightly on a wire rack; serve warm with butter.

• 2 extra ripe, large bananas, peeled

• 1/3 cup butter

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Puree bananas in blender (1 1/4 cups). Cream butter with sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in the bananas and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture alternately in thirds with buttermilk, blending well after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Pour into greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes until tests done. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack to complete cooling.

• 1 envelope of onion soup mix

• 1 medium clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tsp. basil leaves

• 1 tsp. oregano

• 1/8 tsp. pepper

• ½ cup butter, softened

• 1 loaf Italian or French bread (about 16 inches long), halved lengthwise

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.In a small bowl, thoroughly blend all ingredients except bread; generously spread on bread halves. On baking sheet, arrange bread, cut side up, and bake 15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Store any remaining spread, covered, in fridge for later use.

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1/4 cup butter, softened

• 1 egg

• 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple

• 1 tbsp. grated orange peel

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1 cup chopped dates

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixer bowl, beat together honey and butter for 1 minute. Beat in the egg, then undrained pineapple and orange peel. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir into pineapple mixture until just blended.

Spoon batter into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan before turning out onto wire rack. Serve warm.

• 6 to 7 cups of flour, divided

• 2 tbsp. sugar

• 4 tsp. instant minced onion

• 2 tsp. salt

• 2 packages active dry yeast

• 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds

• 1 3/4 cups milk

• 1/2 cup water

• 3 tbsp. butter

• 1 tsp.

  Tabasco sauce

• 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

In a large bowl of electric mixer, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, onion, salt, yeast and caraway seeds. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter. Heat milk mixture until very warm (120 to 130 degrees); stir in the

With mixer at medium speed, gradually add milk mixture to the dry ingredients; beat for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes. With a wooden spoon, stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding as much remaining flour as needed to prevent sticking. Place in large greased bowl and invert dough to bring greased side up. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces; shape each piece into a bal. Place 1/2 the balls in a well greased 10 inch tube pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Arrange the rest of the balls on top. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the dough with egg. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

• 2 cup raisins

• Water

• 6 3/4 to 7 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 packages dry yeast

• 2 cups milk

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 2 tsp. salt

• 3 eggs

• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• Powdered Sugar Icing

In a small bowl, combine raisins with enough hot tap water to cover. Plump for 5 minutes; drain well. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a medium saucepan, heat milk, ¼ cup of the granulated sugar, the butter and salt over low heat just until warm (115 to 120 degrees) and until butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. Add to flour mixture; add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for ½ minute, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl constantly. Stir in the plumped raisins. Stir in as much remaining flour as can be mixed in with a spoon. Turn out onto lightly floured board. Knead in enough remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place dough in lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ¼ hours.Punch dough down; divide in half.

Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into 15 x 7 inch rectangle. Brush the entire surface lightly with water. Combine remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle ½ of the sugar mixture over each rectangle. Roll up, jelly roll fashion, starting from a 7 inch side; pinch edges and ends to seal. Place, sealed edges down, in 2 greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans. Cover; let rise in warm place until nearly doubled, 35 to 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped, covering bread with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over browning. Remove bread from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Drizzle with powdered Sugar Icing.

Powdered Sugar Icing

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, ¼ tsp. vanilla and enough milk (about 1 ½ tbsp.) to make of drizzling consistency.

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 (8 oz.) packages refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine sugars, butter, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute.

Reserving 1/4 cup, pour remaining lemon mixture into a 9 inch round layer cake pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Separate rolls into 8 rectangles; spread with reserved lemon mixture. Roll up jelly roll fashion, beginning with the short side; seal edges. Cut in half. Place rolls, cut side down, in prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until dark golden brown. Loosen sides. Immediately turn onto serving plate; do not remove pan, Let stand for 5 minutes; remove pan and serve warm.