Blueberry Banana Buttermilk Muffins

Blueberry Banana Buttermilk Muffins

(Makes approximately 24 muffins)

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup buttermilk

1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 2 ripened bananas)

1 cup blueberries

Mix ingredients together and spoon into cupcake liners.  Fill liners about half to three/fourths full.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Cream together the shortening and sugar.

Add the eggs and vanilla.

Add the mashed bananas & mix.

Just a quick tip: When you have bananas that are past their prime, but don’t necessarily want to make banana bread or muffins at the time, just peel the banana and put the banana in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Some people like to store the bananas in the freezer, but they don’t peel them ahead of time-this causes an unnecessary struggle when you actually want to use them & you can lose some of the liquid that you need!

Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & the buttermilk powder (if using dry buttermilk).

Supplies!

Mix & add 1/4 cup water (if using dry buttermilk) or add the liquid buttermilk at this time.

Now add the blueberries! Note: Use a spatula to mix in the blueberries so as not to smash them.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Use a toothpick to test for doneness-should come out “clean” with no residue on the toothpick when you pull it out.

Fresh out of the oven.

Take a bite!

86 WW points/24 muffins=4 WW points per muffin

 

Italian Sausage Bread

This breakfast is sure to be a family favorite. The hearty sausage combines with the Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese and bread to create a hand crafted artisan experience. This bread is a favorite among adults and children, and has only four ingredients so it is easy to assemble! 

YUM!

(Makes 2 loaves)

2 loaves Rhodes frozen bread dough

1 tube Rice’s brand Italian sausage

16 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese (approx)

Let bread rise, covered, overnight on a greased cookie sheet. In the morning, roll each loaf out flat, as if making cinnamon rolls. Brown sausage, drain grease.  Sprinkle sausage evenly over dough.  Layer with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Roll up the dough, as if making cinnamon rolls, seal ends and long seam-place seam on the bottom of the roll when placing on a cookie sheet to bake.  Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350-375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.  Once removed from oven, rub a stick of butter over the top and sides of each loaf to keep it soft. Slice loaf into 1 inch pieces and enjoy!

(FYI, I made one loaf of Italian Sausage Bread in the tutorial below. Repeat the same process if making 2 loaves.)

Let frozen bread dough rise overnight on a greased cookie sheet (helps make it mobile so it frees up your counter space). Cover with plastic wrap or clean dish towel to rise.

Note: The dough will continue to rise until it is rolled out. Consider this, and wait until you are going to bed to set out the bread dough to rise, so it only rises about 8 hours. If it is longer than that, it will just rise higher, but it is not a problem-just roll with it!

First step, brown your sausage to get it ready so it can cool a bit before you use you sprinkle it over the dough. The recipe calls for Rice’s Italian Sausage (it is best with this brand & it’s sometimes found in the freezer section) however, it is not available in all places-including where I live now. Therefore, I purchased 1 tube of Jimmy Dean’s Hot Pork Sausage and added Italian seasoning to it, which works just fine.

Brown the sausage on medium heat. (Yes, my kitchen is full of pink kitchen gadgets since its my favorite color. My husband loves that! 😉 )

Drain the grease.

Tip: Take the pan off the heat and turn the burner off. Tip the pan (like previous image) to separate the grease from the sausage and use paper towels to mop up the grease. Careful, grease will be hot. If too hot, set dirty rags in sink to cool and dispose in vented garbage can later, otherwise it could melt your thin plastic trash sack.

If using Hot Sausage, like I did. Add 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (or 2) of Italian seasoning to the sausage.

Let the sausage sit a minute while you prepare your counter to roll out the dough…

Flour your counter to prepare for rolling out the risen dough.

Lightly and evenly sprinkle flour on your counter, just enough to keep the dough from sticking to your counter. I like to flip the dough onto the floured counter top so that the bottom (part touching the cookie sheet) is on top (facing up) because I think the risen side has a nicer texture and look to become the top of the finished loaf. This also allows me to add a little flour to the raw side to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin. (Note: If you do not have a rolling pin, you may use a bottle of wine, etc. to roll out the dough. No judgement here!)

Begin rolling out the dough (like cinnamon rolls).

The dough rolled flat and ready for toppings!

Sprinkle 1/2 lb of the browned sausage over the dough.

Top with about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Roll up into a long roll.

Poke in the ends to keep the good stuff from spilling out the sides.

If your dough isn’t sealing to the outside to create a seam, use toothpicks to “sew” it shut, just remember to remove them before cutting into pieces later.

Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350-375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Fresh out of the oven. Good time to remove those toothpicks if you used them.

Butter the outside to keep it soft. (Tip: Great way to use small remnants of stick butter in your fridge.)

All buttered up. 🙂

Slice into 15 pieces plus the 2 ends.

Since I made one Sausage Bread this time, I will save the remaining browned sausage in the freezer for another time.

Store the cut slices in the fridge in a gallon size Ziploc bag. When re-heating the slices in the microwave, wrap in a paper towel and heat each slice for about 30 seconds.

YUM!

59 WW points/15 slices=4 WW points per 1” sliced piece