Braided Spaghetti Bread

I kept seeing a recipe for braided spaghetti bread on Pinterest, courtesy of Rhodesbread.com, and it looked delicious.  I'm not a huge fan of spaghetti but the rest of the family likes it so I thought it would be good to give it a try.  This is one the whole family can enjoy, even the non-spaghetti lovers like me.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 loaf Rhodes bread dough, thawed

6 ounces spaghetti, cooked

1 cup thick spaghetti sauce (my husband makes ours)

1 lb lean ground beef, browned and added to sauce

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 egg white, beaten

Parmesan cheese

Garlic powder

Instructions

1.  Let loaf thaw to room temperature 1-2 hours, lightly covered.  

2.  Spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray, or use parchment paper.  Roll loaf into a 12x16 inch rectangle.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 minutes.  

3.  Brown ground beef and drain,  setting aside.  

4.  Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.  Drain and return to pan, letting cool slightly.  

5.  Heat sauce in saucepan over medium heat and add ground beef.  When bubbly, pour sauce over spaghetti and stir until incorporated.  

6.  Place spaghetti mixture in a 4 inch strip down the center of dough.  

7.  Top with cheese cubes.  

8.  Make cuts 1 1/2 inches apart on the long sides of the dough to within 1/2 inch of the filling.  

9.  Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips towards filling.  Braid strips left over right, then right over left, until you reach the end.  Finish by pulling the last strip over and tucking under the braid.  

10.  Slide dough carefully on the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet, or lift braid carefully with both hands to transfer to the sprayed cookie sheet if you did not use the parchment paper.  The paper made it much easier.  

11.  Brush with egg white and grate parmesan cheese on the top.  Sprinkle with garlic powder.

12.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool slightly and slice to serve.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

Cream cheese. I love it. It makes so many dishes better. Once again, I found we had some bananas on the verge of turning bad. Then I remembered a great recipe from Southern Living that combines bread, bananas, and cream cheese. The recipe seemed pretty simple, so why not give it a shot?

These bananas are ripe and ready for my bread.

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c sugar (I used baker's sugar)

2 large eggs

3 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c chopped pecans (optional)

And we're off! Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each one.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; gradually add to batter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, vanilla, and pecans. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans.

And...here is why my blog is named "Foods I attempt to cook". I realized I had skipped flouring the loaf pans after I had already spooned it up. I guess we will see if that step is truly necessary.

I didn't add pecans because I didn't have any on hand, I hate going to the store more than almost anything, and my son doesn't like nuts of any kind. So I skipped it, but pecans or walnuts would probably be yummy. Maybe next time.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. The sides will start to pull away and a toothpick or knife should come out clean. The recipe said to shield the bread with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent browning if necessary. I didn't do this, but mine seems fine. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire rack before slicing. Or don't. We made it almost 5 minutes before digging in.

Oh, cream cheese banana bread, I love you so! Delicious. As it turns out, skipping the floured pan made no difference. The bread popped right out. Good stuff. This one is a keeper.

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Soft Breadsticks with Dipping Sauce

My husband is making homemade pizzas tonight on his Big Green Egg, so I'm attempting soft, no-yeast breadsticks with dipping sauce on the side. This seems easy enough.

Soft Breadsticks Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c milk

3 tbsp melted butter

Garlic salt

Grated Parmesan cheese



Combine dry ingredients and stir in milk in small amounts until a soft dough forms. Knead 3 or 4 times on a floured cutting board, the roll out into a rectangle and cut into 12 sticks.

Pour melted butter into a 13 x 9 baking pan, adding breadsticks. Turn each breadstick to coat with melted butter. Top with garlic salt and grated Parmesan cheese.



Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes.

Dipping Sauce Ingredients

10 oz tomato sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano



Simmer the tomato sauce with the seasonings for about 20 minutes over medium-low heat.

Serve with breadsticks and pizza.



Hey...not too shabby! This was an all-around good meal. The breadsticks didn't rise as much as I expected them too, but I suspect it was a baking powder issue since it was a bit past its date. I'll be trying this one again with different toppings in the future. It might be good with cinnamon sugar. Yum.

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