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THE SEMISWEET SISTERS

Two sisters who love to bake...

S’mores Pull Apart Hawaiian Bread

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We love our s’mores, so I am always looking for or trying anything s’mores. I had a loaf of hawaiian bread at home and my daughter had been nagging for s’mores, but the weather had not been cooperating so I put this together. She loved it! I think it would be good with a little caramel ice cream topping drizzled on top too. I will try that next time and let you know how it goes.

S'mores Pull Apart Hawaiian Bread

S'mores Pull Apart Hawaiian Bread
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 loaf round hawaiian sweet bread
  • 1½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 2½ cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
  1. preheat oven to 350
  2. cut bread into 1 inch squared going about ¾ of the way down, but not to the bottom
  3. sprinkle half of the chocolate chips in the cuts
  4. put all the marshmallows in the cuts
  5. put the other half of the chocolate chips on top of the marshmallows
  6. cook for 8-10 min
  7. Serve warm

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Vanilla Bundt Cake Recipe Made With Oil

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A basic vanilla cake recipe made with vegetable oil instead of butter or shortening.

Vanilla Cake Recipe made with Oil

This was my first attempt at baking a vanilla cake using vegetable oil instead of butter or shortening.  I wanted to bake a cake for someone’s birthday that had severe food allergies.  They couldn’t have butter or shortening and the only two oils I could use were either soybean or sunflower oil.  I have to admit at first I didn’t know if it was possible to make a good cake with oil. But now that the birthday has passed and the cake has been eaten I can safely say it is possible!

I recommend using a high quality vanilla extract for this recipe, Nielsen-Massey makes one of my favorites.

Vanilla Bundt Cake (made with oil)

The cake reminded me of something that was in between a pound cake and a shortcake. I think it works great as a basic cake recipe that can be used for anything from birthday cakes to strawberry shortcake.  It would have tasted great with strawberries and whipped cream frosting on top but I had to keep the cake very basic. I used my Nordic Ware Bundt Pan for this recipe but you can also use a 9×13″ pan or two 9″ round cake pans. I chose to make mine in a bundt pan because a glaze doesn’t require any butter or shortening unlike frosting recipes.

Vanilla Bundt Cake Recipe Made With Oil
 
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Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the cake pans
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ¾ cups vegetable oil (or 1½ sticks of butter)
  • 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • Oil or butter, for greasing two cake pans
  • Optional Glaze:
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Add the flour, sugar, vegetable oil, baking powder, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. (If you don't have a stand mixer you can use a hand mixer but the batter it pretty thick to mix, I used a hand mixer.) Mix on slow until the ingredients are blended together, then mix on medium for about a minute.
  3. With the mixer on, add 1 egg at a time & mix until each egg gets absorbed. Stop to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula when needed. After all the eggs have been added, continue to mix for an additional minute.
  4. With the mixer on, add the milk, ½ cup at a time, stop to scrape the sides. Continue to mix for another minute or until the mixture appears smooth. Grease two 9-inch cake pans or a bundt pan with oil or butter, and flour them.
  5. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans or pour into bundt pan.
  6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes for the 9" cake pans or 35-45 minutes for bundt pan or until the top is starting to turn golden brown and is springy to the touch.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. The cakes should be at room temperature before you remove them from the pan.
  8. Frost or glaze the cake as desired. If you want to make a glaze just mix a little over 1 cup of powder sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, & a couple tablespoons of milk together in a bowl until you have a thin glaze, using a spoon drizzle or pour over the top of cake.

Adapted from Buddy Valastro’s Vanilla Cake Recipe.

(This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. I included this link to help you find the specific product I used. If you purchase the item from the link we receive a small commission.)

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Famous Braid Bread

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Famous Braid Bread Recipe

My famous bread! Your probably wondering why is this bread famous? Well that would be because of my daughter. When my daughter was about 5 year old, she would add the word “famous” to anything that she loved. So she started asking is she could have a piece of “famous” bread and the name stuck. She is almost 8 now and still calls it famous bread. This recipe makes two nice sized loaves.

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This is how your bread should look after about 5 min in the bread machine.  It should be a ball. If it’s too wet add a little flour and if it’s too dry add some water. Add a tablespoon at a time, until it looks similar to the above picture.

Next you braid the bread. Braid the bread just like you would hair, and then tuck the ends under so it looks nice.

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I usually take a cold stick of butter when it’s hot out of the oven and rub it around the top of the loaf. Just a little goes a long way.  Then TRY and wait about 20-30 min. to let it cool before you cut it, otherwise it will squish down.

Famous Braid Bread Recipe

Famous Braid Bread
 
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Recipe type: Bread
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cup of warm milk (microwave the milk for 1 min.)
  • ¼ cup soft butter, not melted
  • 3 eggs (at room temperature is best)
  • 5½ cups of all purpose flour or bread flour if you have it
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 packet of rapid rise yeast
Instructions
  1. Add ingredients to bread machine in the order above.
  2. Add warm milk, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, salt, and then yeast.
  3. Set machine for dough cycle, this takes about 1½ hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 convection.
  5. Once it is finished put the dough on a floured surface. Break dough into two even pieces.
  6. Then take one of the pieces and break into 3 more even pieces.
  7. Braid these 3 pieces together and place on half of the greased cookie sheet.
  8. Repeat with the other dough and place on cookie sheet. (two can fit on 1 cookie sheet)
  9. Let rise in a warm, not hot place for 30-45 min.
  10. After risen, if you like the shiny look you can brush with an egg wash. (wisk one egg and 1 T. water) then brush on top of dough.
  11. Bake at 375 convection for 15-20 min. should be golden brown.
  12. I usually take a cold stick of butter and rub it across the top of the bread when it comes out of the oven, just a little gives the crust a nice buttery flavor.

 

 

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