The Garage Plan Shop Blog

Pita breads are those delicious rounds of bread with a pocket that you can stuff with sandwich fixings. Here is a recipe that is especially easy for the beginning baker. The hardest part, is cutting the pocket which if you find too challenging, just skip it and fold the round in half when making your sandwiches. Or just as tasty, skip the sandwich and spread some butter on them while still warm and enjoy. You can also visit https://goodfoodblogph.com for the best kitchen gadgets.

Pita or Pocket Bread

Ingredients – Group A

2 ½ cups of flour

1 ½ tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Ingredients – Group B

1 ½ tsp sugar

1 pkg of dry yeast

1/8 cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of warm water

In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients group A. Then make a depression in the middle of the mixture and add the rest of the ingredients in Group B to it. Stir it together starting at the center and work your way out to the edges incorporating all of the ingredients. Knead it with your hands for a minute or two until it’s a nice doughy ball. Cover the bowl with a clean damp towel and let it rise for 30 minutes. Divide into 8 pieces and roll or press out dough on a floured surface. Rounds should be about 6 inches in diameter. Place rounds on greased cookie sheets and let them rise again for 15 to 30 minutes. Place sheets on bottom rack in oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-11 minutes.

To cut a pocket, carefully poke a serrated knife in the edge of the bread pointing toward the center and carefully cut through half of the bread.  You will usually hit some air pockets that will open the bread up nicely to hold whatever you decide to stuff it with.

Tags: Recipes

Every region has its own special foods that you don’t find everywhere else in the nation.  In my area, we have a coffee cake with its own legend of being created accidentally and of course a rivalry as to which bakery actually sold it first.  These cookies are an adaptation of it.  Even if you are not familiar with the rich buttery gooey goodness of that cake, give these cookies a taste, and meet me in St. Louis sometime to try their inspiration.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cookies

½ cup butter

¼ tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 pkg cream cheese(8 oz)

1 box butter recipe cake mix

Powdered sugar

Beat the butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese.   Once it is light and fluffy, pour in the dry cake mix and mix it well.  Chill for thirty minutes.  Roll into balls about teaspoon size and coat with powdered sugar.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Tags: Recipes

If you insist on dedicating hours to the tedium of rolling, cutting and decorating multitudes of sugar cookies, turn your head, this isn’t for you. This is an old fashioned sugar cookie recipe from Spice Kitchen and Bar that tastes great and requires no rolling or cutting. It’s good for any time of the year, but you can dress them up for the holidays by using colored sugars when you flatten them.

Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1 tbs grated lemon or orange peel

1 cup sour cream

3 ½ cups flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Sugar for decorating

Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the egg and grated peel, then mix in the sour cream. Sift together the dry ingredients and stir into the mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Tags: Christmas cookie recipes, Christmas cookies, cookie recipes, sugar cookie recipes, sugar cookies

Here’s a muffin recipe that uses two of Thanksgivings favorite flavors. I like to serve them warm for breakfast as a preview of the goodies to come. And remember, since they are muffins, you don’t have to mix them to death, a few lumps in the batter is okay.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

2 cups flour

¾ cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 lightly beaten eggs

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl mix together the pumpkin, eggs, butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Then gradually beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the cranberries and nuts. Fill greased muffin tins ¾ full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Makes approximately 12 muffins.

Tags: breakfast muffins, muffin recipe, pumpkin cranberry muffins

This is a fun way to eat fruit, and it is quite a crowd pleaser. This fruity salsa can be served as an appetizer, a light dessert, or as a refreshing accompaniment to barbeque. Don’t be limited by the ingredients, choose your favorite seasonal fruits and enjoy.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

3 kiwis peeled and diced

1 medium orange peeled and diced

1 cup of blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries

2 cups of strawberries diced

2-3 tbs of sugar

1-2 tbs of lemon juice

Mix fruit together with sugar and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate.

10 8” flour tortillas

¼ cup of melted butter

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of sugar

Cut tortillas into pie shaped wedges and arrange on a cookie sheet.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes until crispy. Let cool and serve with the fruit salsa. If you want to get fancy, whip up a bowl of whipped cream to go with it.

Tags: cinnamon chips, fruit salsa, fruit salsa recipe