Breads Archives - Page 2 of 3 - The Sparrow's Home

Freezer Friendly Scones

August 17, 2017 by Susan 4 Comments

Freezer scones. Scones are best fresh from the oven, & this makes that possible even on the busiest morning. A basic recipe ready for you to make your own.

People have opinions about scones.

Should they be dense, like a compact, sweeter version of a biscuit? Tall and cakey? Buttery and shortbread-like? Round? Triangular? Free-form?

Regardless of how one describes their perfect scone, one thing is agreed upon: scones must be enjoyed fresh from the oven. Scones are notorious for going stale, becoming heavy and doughy. Gone is the crisp, buttery exterior…the tender crumb.

We don’t have to stand for that! We can have perfect scones whenever we want!

These scones are equally delicious baked immediately, or flash-frozen to be individually baked up for a warm, fresh treat anytime.

Quick Chewy Breadsticks

August 2, 2017 by Susan 6 Comments

These chewy breadsticks are so quick and easy! With hardly any rising time, they come together super fast. The perfect, dippable, complement to your meal.

Are you often caught like me at meal time trying to come up with quick sides to go with your dinner? I’m not what you would call a ‘meal planner’. I plot a general menu in my mind for the upcoming week before grocery shopping. Planning main dishes is one thing, but I usually end up just picking up a variety of what looks good in the produce section and figure it’ll work itself out.

After all, I’ve always got pasta and rice on hand, and my easy reference bread recipes hanging inside my spice cupboard. I’ll tell ya what…these quick chewy breadsticks have come to the rescue more than once.

The Best Banana Bread Recipe

May 3, 2017 by Susan 3 Comments

Hands down the best banana bread I’ve ever made. Moist and tasty, and so easy to mix up!

Everybody thinks their banana bread recipe is the best. I’m not here to start any fights, but…

Let me give you my testimony. I’d been making banana bread since I was in elementary school. It was good, don’t get me wrong. (Mom, grandma’s recipe is fine…please don’t disown me). I’ve even made variations over the years and tried other recipes just to see, but always went back to my old standard. Until, that is, I tried this one several years ago.

Oh my!

Easy King Cake for Mardi Gras

February 28, 2017 by Susan 7 Comments

I’ve made some delicious, but labor intensive king cakes. This recipe for an easy king cake will hit the spot this Mardi Gras without taking forever.

Do you know about king cakes? Growing up Yankee, I had never heard of them. One of my college roommates was from Louisiana and introduced me to them. They’re a food and party game in one.

You see, traditional king cakes have a plastic baby hidden inside of them. Yup, you heard me right. A plastic baby. Tradition says that the person who finds the baby in their slice of cake brings the cake to the next party. Nowadays, it’s just a fun addition, and many homemade cakes don’t have them (some recipes say you can use a coin or a dried bean instead). If you want to read about the history of the plastic baby in the king cake you can find it here and here.

Simple Cream Cheese Pastry

November 1, 2016 by Susan 11 Comments

Try this simple cream cheese pastry for your next brunch. It’s made with just a handful of ingredients and bakes up quickly. It is one of our favorites!

Call it a Danish, coffee cake, or pastry…this cream cheese filled delight will wow you. And it’s really easy to throw together. Double win.

This is one of my husband’s favorites, but I don’t make it a lot because it’s not especially healthy. And by ‘especially healthy’ I mean, not healthy at all. But it’s soooooo good. It is a regular on the menu for our Christmas brunch, and if he’s lucky, we’ll have a few other brunch opportunities throughout the year. And sometimes, like today, I’m just surprising him with it on a blustery day.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cake… and the Best Reason to Be Exhausted!

July 13, 2016 by Susan 31 Comments

This oatmeal breakfast cake is dense and satisfying. Use quick-cooking oats and they’ll dissolve into the batter, use old-fashioned oats for more texture. We like it best with chocolate chips, but it’d be delish with your favorite fruit baked in, too!

I just walked in the door from an impromptu trip to Nashville, TN (I live in Minnesota, remember).

This is the fourth year that my eldest son has participated in a week long service oriented mission team. In past years, they’ve served in Louisiana, South Carolina and Indiana– and this year they are in Nashville.

The group’s focus is threefold:

They serve at the host church, doing projects like putting in sidewalks and building sheds.
They visit various ministries in the area and not only learn about them, but serve with them. (Yesterday, they worked at a community garden and harvested over 1,200 pounds of potatoes!)
They have classes that help them dig in to how God has made them, and how they can step into service and leadership in their home church and community.

A week before the trip was scheduled to begin, the lady who has always done all of their meal planning and preparation had to have emergency surgery. Since my college roommate and dear friend is one of the leaders of the trip, we were chatting about it and I mentioned that I couldn’t come for the whole week, but could come down and feed them the first few days, and get meals prepped for the rest of the week.

So that’s what I did.