Chocolate Babka

I would call this a chocolate cinnamon roll. Delicious, easy and makes a good amount. I did a different variation of the streusel topping. From the reviews of this particular recipe everyone complained that the topping didn't stay on the dough. So I did it different and it turned out great! Definitely worth trying. I also did my dough in my bread machine on the dough setting. Took 1 1/2 hours and it came out perfect.

Chocolate Babka

Prep Time: 2 Hours 35 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ready In: 3 Hours

Servings: 10

"These babka rings are made from a rich yeast dough spread with a chocolate and

cinnamon filling. The loaves are rolled up, finished with a sweet streusel topping, and

baked."

INGREDIENTS:

BABKA DOUGH

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

2 cups bread flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup water

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon salt

CHOCOLATE FILLING

5 (1 ounce) squares semisweet

chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter, chilled

STREUSEL

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, chilled

1 egg beaten with

1 tablespoon water for glaze (optional)

**MY TOPPING**

2 tablespoons of milk

2 tablespoons of melted butter

1/4 c. sugar

I brushed on milk, the sprinkled with sugar, brushed on butter and sprinkled with remaining sugar.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Warm the milk and melt 1/4 cup butter in a glass or ceramic bowl in the microwave

for 30 seconds, or on the stovetop in a saucepan. Combine the bread flour, 2 cups

all-purpose flour, yeast, and 1/4 cup sugar. Add the water, the milk-butter mixture,

the egg, and the salt to the dry ingredients and mix well.

2. Use the dough hook in a stand mixer on low speed or knead the dough by hand

until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. If the dough is too wet,

add more bread flour, about 2 tablespoonfuls at a time (up to 8 tablespoons) to

make a workable dough; too much flour can make the dough dry. Cover the dough

with a damp cloth and let rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

3. Make the chocolate filling and the streusel while the dough is rising. For the filling,

stir together the finely chopped chocolate, the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar. Cut in

1/4 cup chilled butter with a fork. To make the streusel, combine the confectioners'

sugar and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; cut in 1/4 cup chilled butter until the mixture

resembles coarse crumbs.

4. When the dough has doubled, punch the dough down and cut it into two equal

pieces. Loosely shape each piece into a ball. Cover the dough with a damp cloth

and let it rest for 10 minutes.

5. Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface to form a 15x4-inch rectangle.

Sprinkle with half the chocolate filling, roll up to form a long log, and seal the seam.

Attach the ends to form a circle and place the ring, seam-side down, on a

parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Use a

serrated knife or kitchen shears to cut slits at 1-inch intervals around the rings.

Cover the rings with damp kitchen towels and let rise until doubled in size, about 30

minutes.

6. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

7. Brush the loaves with the egg wash, if desired. Sprinkle streusel on top. Bake the

loaves for about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets to promote even browning,

until the bread is a deep golden brown.

**CAUTION** Do not unless you REALLY want to ruin how awesome these taste!

Nutrition

Information

Servings Per Recipe: 10

Calories: 477

Amount Per Serving

Total Fat: 20.4g

Cholesterol: 80mg

Sodium: 296mg

Amount Per Serving

Total Carbs: 65.5g

Dietary Fiber: 2.8g

Protein: 9.5g

Posted By : Tracy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 4/24/2010

Strawberry Margarita Pie (non-alcoholic)

Well, it was good. Not really a strawberry margarita taste, but kind of. I didn't want to use alcohol because my kids wanted to eat it. Maybe next time we will do a grown up one and see if it tastes more like the drink.

Your favorite pie crust - baked and cooled.

1 1/4 qt. strawberries, sliced and divided.

3 T. cornstarch

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. margarita mix

Splash of orange juice

1/4 t. vanilla

Put a layer of fresh sliced strawberries on the bottom of the pie. Mash 1 qt. of strawberries and cook with sugar, cornstarch, margarita mix and orange juice. Stir constantly until the liquid turns clear. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir. Pour over fresh strawberries in pie crust and chill overnight or in the freezer for at least 4 hours. Top with whip cream if desired.

Posted by: Tracy

This recipe was taken from the Kellogg's All-Bran website. I added 3 T. of ground flax seed with the cereal and banana mixture. I also needed to cooked it 1hr 15min - with the last 15min. on a speed bake (if your oven has that setting). Came out super moist and delicious.

Banana Date Bread

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

2	cups all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup chopped, pitted dates
1/3	cup boiling water
1 1/2	cups All-Bran® Original
	or 1 1/2 cups All-Bran® Bran Buds®
1 1/2 cups	mashed, fully ripe bananas
1/2 cup	margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup	sugar
2	eggs
1/2 cup	coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
1. Stir together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In medium mixing bowl, stir together dates and water. Cover, let stand 10 minutes. Add KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN cereal and bananas. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cereal softens.

3. Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar until well combined. Add eggs. Beat well. Mix in cereal mixture. Stir in flour mixture and nuts. Spread batter evenly in 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

4. Bake at 350° F about 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. For easier slicing, wrap tightly and store overnight in refrigerator.

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices

posted by: Tracy

Making Strawberry Jam

3 Cups of crushed strawberries

4 1/2 Cups of sugar

1/2 Squeezed fresh lemon

Wash strawberries...

Great for composting...

Sliced and ready to be turned into jam.

*photo missing* take the bottom of a cup and mash the strawberries, measure 3 cups of mashed strawberries and add all ingredients to a bread machine. Select "jam" cycle (mine was 13).

Boil jars and lids to sterilize...

It takes 10-15 minutes...

This is what it looked like after 1 hr 15 min in the bread machine

Carefully pour hot jam into the hot jar.

Put lids on immediately to seal

Jam is ready!

Crustless Quiche

This is a recipe my cousin made up that requires no crust, which cuts down greatly on the calories usually associated with this dish. And it tastes amazing!!! It's one of our family's favorite recipes!


INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. mild sausage
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
1/4 c. chopped onion
4 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
2 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4. c. Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Brown sausage; drain well. Spray 9 or 10 inch pie dish with Pam. In blender, process until smooth the milk, sour cream, flour, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and eggs. Combine milk mixture, drained sausage, green peppers, onions and grated cheese in mixing bowl. Pour into prepared pie dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let set for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Posted by Debi

Ropa Vieja

I found this recipe on Recipezaar. It is my first attempt to make it, but it was easy and amazing! This is the note the contributor posted with the recipe:

I found this recipe in our local newspaper. It is an easy crock pot version the Cuban Ropa Vieja which requires several hours of simmering on the stove top. This dish is essentially a stew and will be wonderful served with a side salad, corn muffins or tortillas and rice. NOTE: Sirloin steak or chuck roast can be used instead of the skirt or flank steak called for in the ingredients list. the exact seasonings for the canned diced tomatoes doesn't matter as long as you choose a type that includes garlic. Petite diced tomatoes and no-salt added varieties also work.

Ingredients

* 8 ounces tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup water
* 3 bay leaves
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 2 tablespoons garlic, minced (bottled)
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 large onion (for about 1 cup slices)
* 2 lbs skirt steaks (or flank)
* 1 red bell pepper (for about 1 cup pieces)
* 1 green bell pepper (for about 1 cup pieces)
* 14 1/2 ounces garlic balsamic & olive oil diced tomatoes
* 2 cups cooked rice (for serving)

Directions:

1. Put the tomato sauce, water, bay leaves, vinegar, garlic, cumin, salt and black pepper into the crock pot. Stir to combine.
2. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters. Thinly slice the onion quarters, and add them to the crock pot.
3. Place the beef over the onions, and spoon some of the liquid over the meat. (If ou are using skirt steak or flank steak, there will be several thin pieces, and they will overlap in the pot.).
4. Rinse bell peppers and discard the seeds and membranes.
5. Cut the peppers into quarters, thinly slice them, and add the pieces to the crock pot.
6. Pour the diced tomatoes with their juice evenly on top.
7. Cover the pot and cook on low until the meat is so tender that it practically falls apart, about 8 hours if using skirt or flank steak or 10 hours if using sirloin or chuck.
8. About 20 minutes before serving, cook the rice.
9. Before serving, removed the beef and vegetables from the crock pot to a large serving bowl.
10. Use two forks to pull the beef into shreds. There should be some cooking juices in the bowl, but if not, add about 1/2 cup juices.
11. Stir to mix the beef and vegetables.
12. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
13. Serve all but two cups of the beef vegetable mixture over hot rice.
14. Refrigerate leftovers, skim off fat and store in the refrigerator for up to to 3 days or a month in the freezer. Use the leftovers in a beefy tortilla soup.

NOTE: I served this with yellow rice and black beans, instead of white rice. I think it added a lot of flavor to the dish.

Posted by Debi