The Missionary Cook Book-- 10 Easy All Purpose Flour Recipes for Beginners

 

For those who have been following the joyful journey of this family, you know that my youngest son Luke is now a missionary and away from home. I know I'm not the first mom who's had a child leave home and want to be sure they eat healthy easy meals. Missionaries for our church are not paid to serve (for those who don't know). They actually go on a volunteer basis and pay their own way. Their food allowance is meager. So, I decided to send my son a monthly recipe book with several new easy meals and recipes to try out. Not every missionary has a chef for a mom. Luke told me he has several with him who have no idea where to begin. So here's where to begin. This stuff. The basics.

Last month we started with All Purpose flour recipes. To ensure Luke always has access to these recipes, I decided to share these recipes here on the blog. Plus, I figure this is also an excellent place for other moms and missionaries, college students, new parents, beginning cooks, and, well, anyone, to access the basics. 

I hope these will help you and those you love. 

I get all my All-Purpose flour from Panhandle Milling for these recipes. I am their corporate chef and company recipe developer and I know that these recipes will work with this flour. They will ship anywhere in the US. 

Mom's Easy All-Purpose Flour Recipes

 

Mom's Best Drop Biscuits

2 cups (8 ½ oz) all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk or almond milk* (cold)

½ cup melted butter slightly cooled

2 Tbsps. melted butter or coconut oil for brushing biscuits

Directions:

·       Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Combine buttermilk and melted butter in a medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small lumps on the surface of the cold buttermilk.

·       Add the buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until just combined and batter pulls away from sides of the bowl. Drop by ¼ cup scoops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.

·       Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter and cool a few minutes before serving. 

 

Quick Cinnamon Jam Breakfast Cake

¾ cup sugar

1 ¾ cup  All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ cup melted butter

1 egg

½ cup milk

½ cup blackberry or strawberry jam

Cinnamon Mix

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:

·       Preheat oven to 375°. Spray an 8-inch cake pan with non-stick spray.

·       Mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the melted butter, eggs, and milk in a separate bowl. Blend just until combined.

·       Spoon into the prepared pan. Dot with jam, 1 tsp at a time over the top. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes. 

5-ingredient Basic Soda Bread

3 cups (12 ¾ oz. or 360g) All-Purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 (12 ounces) can Soda (ginger-ale, Sprite™, etc.)

½ cup (8 oz) melted butter or vegetable oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
• Form a hole in the dry ingredients and add the melted butter and beer. Stir until just combined. Pour into a greased loaf pan 9x5 inches.
• Bake 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 

Quick and Easy Thin-crust Pizza Dough

6 cups (30 oz) All-Purpose Flour

2 1/2 cups (20 oz) water

1 Tbsp.  baking powder*

1 Tbsp.  rapid-rise yeast

1 Tbsp.  salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

·       Combine all ingredients in a mixer and knead for 5 minutes at medium-high speed.

·       Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Form into 3 10-inch crusts. 

·       Transfer the crust onto a lightly floured pizza peel and top with sauce, cheese, and pizza toppings of your choice. Bake at 475°F for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot.

*The addition of baking powder ensures the quick rise of the dough. It is optional.

Mom's Fudge Brownies

1 cup butter
4 cups sugar
1Tbsp. vanilla
8 eggs
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:  

·       Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands before baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a half-sheet pan (18-in x 13-in x 1-in).

·       Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a mixer with a paddle attachment.

·       Add the flour, cocoa, and salt, mixing for 2 minutes. Pour into the prepared half-sheet pan and spread out evenly. Bake 40-45 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center will come out with moist crumbs (150°F). Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands after baking.

Mom's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, slightly melted

2 cups dark brown sugar, packed

2 tsp high-quality vanilla

2 eggs

3 ¼ cups  All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp.  baking powder

12 oz.  semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 oz. Milk chocolate chunks

Directions: 

·       Preheat oven to 350°.

·       Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

·       Add the eggs one at a time and mix well between additions. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and mix 1-2 minutes, just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and chunks. 

·       Scoop by rounded Tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-13 minutes and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Mom's Fluffy Sugar Cookies
1 ½ cup butter, softened
 ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup milk
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
4 ½ cups  All-Purpose Flour
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder

Directions: 

·       Preheat oven to 375° F.  Wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands before handling raw flour and dough. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

·       Add the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and milk. Stir well. Combine the flour mixture with the creamed butter mixture, just until combined.  

·       Scoop by rounded Tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper. After handling raw flour and dough, wash and sanitize all work surfaces, utensils, and hands.  

·       Bake until lightly golden, about 10-13 minutes. Allow cooling on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to another location. Store in an airtight container. Yield approx. 5 dozen cookies

 

Grandma's Old-Fashioned Pancakes

1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour

1 Tbsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 ½ cup milk

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

• Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the milk and melted butter; mix until smooth, about 20 turns.
• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Authentic Navajo Frybread and Navajo Tacos

2 cups  All-Purpose flour

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1 ½ tsp salt

¾ cup of Lukewarm Water

1 lb. lard or shortening (for frying)

Directions: Combine All-Purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add lukewarm water to make a soft dough. Fold dough over until smooth. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat about 3 inches of oil or shortening in a heavy pan at high heat. A deep fat fryer can be used to heat oil to at least 360° F. Divide the dough into four equal parts and roll into round frybreads of 1/4" thickness. Cut a 1/2" size hole in the middle of each rolled piece. Fry until it's golden on both sides, turning once. They'll puff up and brown if the oil is hot enough. Drain on paper towels.

Navajo Taco Toppings: Taco Seasoned Ground Beef, Chili Beans, Diced Onion, Diced Tomatoes, Shredded Lettuce, Shredded Cheese, Hot Sauce. Serve with toppings listed. Makes 4 tacos.

Chef's Homemade Tortillas

5 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp.  baking powder

1 cup shortening or butter

2 cups water

Directions:  In a gallon bowl, measure and mix the flour, salt, and baking powder. Measure the shortening. Cut shortening into flour, baking powder, salt, and seasoning with the paddle in an electric mixer and mix until the shortening is in fine pieces smaller than peas. This can be done using the lowest speed setting on the mixer and allowing it to mix for 2-3 minutes. Boil the water in a small saucepan on the stove. Carefully pour the boiling water into the flour mixture. Combine with a paddle or spoon for about 3 minutes. Remove dough from the bowl and form it into 18 dough balls. Roll the tortillas into rounds. Cook on a medium skillet (medium-high heat) until done (about 2 minutes on each side). It should bubble up. Put cooked tortillas in a deep covered pan with a lid to keep tender. Serve immediately.

There you go! Make some healthy homemade stuff so your mom doesn't worry about you.

Love, Mom

Always My Very Best,

Chef Tess

High Protein Ancient Grain KAMUT® and Seed Pancake Mix

Today we finally perfected an all purpose combination of this flour with other ancient seeds and pseudo-grains that will give you excellent results in baking lighter items like cakes, cookies and muffins.  

Remember the KAMUT ® is Cool post where we discussed the epic-awesome power of this amazing grain. It is always organic, non-GMO, and the standard of excellence in ancient perfection.  I'm a fan. Can you tell?  KAMUT ® has an amazing Origin dating back to cultivation in ancient Egypt.

•  Modern studies into the grain made an amazing Determination of phenolic compounds in old varieties of durum wheat using liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
•  It is also recently had amazing reviews in a study  on Prebiotic effect of soluble fibres from old durum-type wheat varieties on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains. 

 

Those eating this ancient grain have greater ability to deal with oxidative stress on the body as well as lower levels of inflammation markers in their system. With all the hype that the anti-grain movement has been getting, I like to see  well educated response from grain growers, like the article Here. We should differentiate this grain from modern wheat.  

Dr. Bob Quinn, PhD said, 

"Not all wheat is created equal. 

Neither is all gluten created equal. "

KAMUT ®, though it contains gluten, contains a very primitive form of it that only contains 28 chromosomes (compared to modern hybrid wheat that contains 42). Because it is also high in ancient forms of gluten protein, it is excellent for pastas and breads, but it does tend to make life a little more difficult for light and fluffy things like pancakes.

The combination of the high protein ancient quinoa and amaranth will give your flour all the essential amino acids for a complete protein, with all the ability to form fluffy lighter baked items.   

We use the NutriMill Electric Grain Mill  and I really do love the quality of the flour it produces.   Doing your own flour will not only provide clean fresh nutritious flour, but provide you with flour that has not been able to go rancid from sitting around. Your baked goods will taste amazing!

Chef Tess Ancient Grain Flour All Purpose Flour:

10 cups whole grain  KAMUT ® here

3 1/2 cup organic quinoa

1 cup organic amaranth

Fine mill to a flour. I use the finest setting on the nutrimill.

High Protein Ancient Grain KAMUT ®and Seed Pancake Mix

9 cups all purpose ancient grain flour (see recipe above)

1 cup egg crystals

1 cup non-gmo Soymilk Powder

1 cup Blanched Almond Flour

1/3 cup Aluminum Free Organic Baking Powder

2T sea salt

2T NuNatural Stevia Powder

1 cup Flax Seed

1 cup sesame seed

1T natural vanilla flavor powder (optional)

To prepare: Combine 1 part mix to 1 part water. Sit 5 minutes.

 Cook on medium hot in a non-stick pan 2-3 minutes per side.  Serve hot with your favorite sauce or syrup.

There you go darlings! Have fun with this amazing blend!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

9 Grain Carrot Cake Pancakes with Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

We love pancakes. What's not to love about fluffy confections that you can drizzle in syrup and eat any time of the day? My youngest son will, at any given time, drop everything and ask for pancakes. No doubt he got that love of pancakes from his adorable daddy.  My husband Ace would eat them every single day. Oh. He does. That is his breakfast almost every day. He's adorable that way. Adorable. Once in a very long while he'll ask for something else, but usually it's pancakes. Whenever I complain about his habit in that regard he'll usually shoot back his heart-melting puppy-dog expression and say, "Steph, when I find something I like, I stick with it." Sigh. Swoon. He loves me forever. Oddly enough, I get a little tired of the same old pancake. I like to switch things up. I also have a mad-sick-evil love for carrot cake. Don't ask me how it started. I don't know all the secrets of the universe that bring together two perfectly paired atoms in the cosmos. Why question fate? Why?  Enters {dramatically with 2001 Space Odyssey music playing boldly in the foreground}...the 9 grain carrot cake pancake of extreme glory drizzled with the ever evil-divine butter toffee sour cream syrup. Sigh. Swoon. I'll love them forever. Something is coming...something wonderful.

Are you ready for the big shocker on this? You can make them sugar free. Yup. This is actually sweetened naturally with a low calorie beauty. How cool am I feeling right now? I can't really tell you with a mouth full of carrot cake. Grin.

9 Grain Carrot Cake Pancakes

with Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

1 c Chef Tess 9 Grain Baking Mix

1/3 cup granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1/2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup fine shredded carrot

2/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients and cook on a medium hot griddle as you would regular pancakes.

Now we need syrup right?

The first time I ever shared this Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup was when I posted the recipe for the Gluten Free Butterscotch Pecan Buckwheat Pancakes. Those are amazing drizzled with this syrup. I'm not going to lie. This syrup over the carrot cake pancakes nearly made me pass out. It is just a deliriously-divine combination.Yup. Incandescently happy. The being kissed by Mr. Darcy kind-of-happy. {Pride and Prejudice aside my darlings, I think he's adorable.}
That being said, here's the recipe for the butter toffee sour cream syrup.

Chef Tess' Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2T butter
1 cup sugar or  granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener) 
1 tsp ultra gel
1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil
2T hot water
Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Stir well. Serve warm over hot pancakes. Store any un-used portion in the fridge. Yields 1 1/2 cups.
Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup Mix

1/2 powdered sour cream

2T  powdered butter

1 cup sugar or granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1 teaspoon cornstarch or ultra gel

1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil

1/2 cup hot water

To make the syrup, combine the dry ingredients and the flavored oil. Stir well. Add the hot water and bring to a simmer over low heat in a medium size heavy bottom sauce pan. Cook 2-3 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Do not over-cook or the syrup will get very thick. Serve over the pancakes. Store unused portion in the fridge after use. I doubt there'll be much left over. 

There you go. Make some carrot cake pancakes. Sigh. Swoon. You'll love them forever.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

My 9 Grain All Purpose Baking Mix for Muffins, Pancakes and Cornbread

In anticipation of my upcoming class on April 28th called "Grain Mixology" and how to use pre-blended grains from Honeyville Grain. I'm going to be sharing some of my favorite things. One of which is this  9 grain mix. In the past, I've shared my recipe for a homemade baking mix that I call "All Purpose Baking Mix" here . As delicious as that mix has been to use, I'm going to have to say good -bye to it for a long time. Not that there's anything wrong with baking with white flour or even soft white wheat flour in that recipe, I just have found a new love with my new whole grain version of the mix that has given me light muffins, fluffy pancakes and hearty homemade corn bread that I can honesty call a light tasting, whole grain, no sugar added, almost fat free delight to eat. You control the ingredients. I use soymilk powder in mine that is non-gmo and delicious. You can also use almond milk in place of the liquid if you would like. All I know, is that I've been eating these sugar free, low fat muffins most of this last week. I've made variations on the recipe and used the base mix. They're moist. I'm hooked. 

Chef Tess 9 Grain All Purpose Baking Mix
 for Muffins, Pancakes and Cornbread

9 cup  9 grain flour (9 grain mix milled into flour in my grain mill)

1 cup instant non-fat dry milk or soymilk powder

1 cup  egg powder

1 cup granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1/3 cup baking powder

2T salt

Basic 9 Grain Muffins: One dozen large muffins: pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine 4 cups 9 grain baking mix with 1 ¾ cup water. Mix until a smooth batter is created.  Line a standard size muffin pan with 12 muffin liners and lightly mist the pan with a non-stick spray. Scoop muffin batter into muffin pan divided evenly between twelve muffins.  Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and muffins spring slightly when touched.

9 Grain Apple-Pecan Spice Muffins with Crumb topping:

Pre-heat oven to 350  degrees. Combine 4 cups 9 grain muffin mix with 1 ¾ cup water, 1 1/2 cup shredded apples, ½ cup chopped pecans,  1 tsp vanilla, and 2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East spice blend. Batter will be thick. Divide between 24 well oiled muffin cups. Top with crumb topping*. Bake 22-25 minutes.

*Crumb topping: ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup 4 grain rolled mix (or quick oats), ½ cup granulated erythritol, 3T melted butter, 1T water. Combine until chunky.  Sprinkle generously on top of muffins.

Peanut Butter and Jelly 9 grain Muffins 

Combine 4 cups of the 9 grain baking mix with 3/4 cup peanut butter powder. Add 2 cups water. Stir until well combined and let batter sit about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a muffin pan. Scoop pan to almost full with batter and then lightly mist the top of the batter with oil. Make an indent in the top with your thumb. Fill with your favorite jam.

Crumble topping is optional...but it's just yummy. Combine 1/3 cup 9 grain mix, 1/4 cup Erythritol and 2T melted butter or flavored olive oil.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Basic 10 grain Pancakes:

Combine 1 cup 9 grain mix, 1 Tablespoon whole grain Teff and ¾ cups water. Cook on a hot griddle that has been lightly oiled. I love them with a devilish drizzle of Choke Cherry infused Honey. It's just evil. 

Basic Sweet 9 grain Cornbread Muffins (with Peach Mango Jalapeno filling)

Combine 1 ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup yellow cornmeal and ½ cup granulated erythritol in a quart size bowl. Add ¾ cup cold water and combine well.  
Filling (optional): Make a small  well in the top of the muffin and add a tsp of homemade Peach Mango Jalapeno jam or jam of your choice. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide between 12 well greased muffin cups. Bake 18-22 minutes until golden brown.

Basic Savory Bacon, Cheese Corny  Cornbread Muffins:
Combine 1 ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup yellow cornmeal and 1 tsp Chef Tess all purpose seasoning in a quart size mixing bowl.  Add ½ cup of your favorite cheese, ¼ cup real bacon bits, minced onion ½ cup Freeze dried corn.

 Add 1 ½ cup cool water to the dry ingredients and allow to sit for 10 minutes (to hydrate the corn). 

  Divide between 12 well oiled muffin tins. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 18-22 minutes until golden brown. Optional delightful touch...paint the tops of these little gems with a little melted butter or olive oil and then sprinkle generously with BBQ rub of your choice. I prefer D-dog's.

I made a few other variations on the muffins...but I think this is enough for one post. Yes there will be more to follow. 

Get the printable version Here.

There you go. Make more muffins!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Butterscotch Pecan Buckwheat Pancake with Butter-Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

Monday I try to share a little about cooking with food storage. Since I started writing the book on cooking with food storage for Honeyville, it has seemed to spill into some of the rest of my posts. I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to keep a balance. But, since today is the official day, I'm showing you my new favorite addiction. Buckwheat pancakes. I love them! They're gluten free and soooo pretty to make, it's a wonder that I haven't been making them every single day for the last ten years. Buckwheat is also a very good source of protein and the fiber is just outstanding!  Recently I had the insane idea of also making the Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup. It is my own recipe...and I have to tell you that the combination of the lightly nutty and beautiful buckwheat pancakes with a kiss of butterscotch are just completely made whole by the syrup. Oh the syrup...the syrup...is Evil. Liquid evil. You will never recover. I swear you'll hate me. But...that's a risk I'm willing to take.

My Butterscotch Pecan Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cup certified gluten free buckwheat flour or the organic is here. (I milled my own)

2 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2T Melted butter or olive oil

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup low fat buttermilk or unsweetened soy milk

1/2 tsp butterscotch oil or 1tsp butterscotch flavor

1/4 cup fine chopped toasted pecans (optional)

Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix well. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients.  Cook on a hot oiled griddle until bubbles come to the top, flip pancakes and cook on the other side. Serve hot with Butter Toffee Sour Cream syrup.

To make the Pancake mix for later use:

11/2 cups Buckwheat flour

2T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2T powdered butter 

1/4 cup whole egg powder

1/4 cup instant non-fat dry milk or soy milk powder

1/2 tsp butterscotch oil (blend into the dry ingredients)

1/4 cup fine chopped toasted pecans

Add 1 1/2 cups water to mix. Stir with a whisk to combine. Cook on a hot oiled griddle until bubbles come to the top then flip the pancakes and cook on the other side. Serve hot with butter toffee sour cream syrup.

Chef Tess' Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2T butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp ultra gel
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil
2T hot water

Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Stir well. Serve warm over hot pancakes. Store any un-used portion in the fridge. Yields 1 1/2 cups.

Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup Mix

1/2 powdered sour cream

2T  powdered butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch or ultra gel

1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil

1/2 cup hot water

To make the syrup, combine the dry ingredients and the oil. Stir well. Add the hot water and bring to a simmer over low heat in a medium size heavy bottom sauce pan. Cook 2-3 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Do not over-cook or the syrup will get very thick. Serve over the pancakes. Store unused portion in the fridge after use. I doubt there'll be much left over. 

There you go. Make some buckwheat pancakes. You love me right now right? I know...it's an evil relationship, but it's all good. To get the printable version, go here. 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess