Like many of you, some of my favorites recipes were shared with me by family and friends. While I’ve bragged about the blessing of being related to amazing cooks, today I want to spotlight the baking talents of my niece, Jennifer.
She and her husband, Marty, are professional photographers, specifically for horse shows, but their expertise in capturing “the shot” doesn’t stop there. Wait until you see Marty’s hummingbird pictures featured in Green Thumb Gardening tomorrow.
Jennifer’s mother, my youngest sister Sherry, was also a professional horse trainer and photographer. She passed those skills to Jennifer. When Jennifer and Marty were married, he caught the camera bug, and the rest is history. You can see their amazing work at barrstudios.com.
Sherry never was much of a cook but Jennifer remembers baking cookies with her as a child. They both lived with my parents for awhile and Jennifer spent hours in the kitchen with my Momma, which is probably where she learned her love for cooking and baking. Flash forward to the talented woman Jennifer has become in the photography world and in the kitchen and you can understand why our family has bestowed upon her the title of “Baking Queen.”
Jennifer can make anything from cannoli and eclairs to focaccia and French bread, and from pies with homemade crusts to elaborately decorated cakes. Ah, her patience matches her many skills.
My all-time favorite bread recipe hails from Jennifer’s kitchen. After all, is there anything more enticing than the aroma of fresh baked bread?
Jennifer usually visits us in Columbus each year when she is traveling to cover a horse show in south Georgia. A couple of years ago during one of her annual stopovers, she asked what she could contribute for dinner. I told her we would be grilling hamburgers and she offered to make homemade buns. That is when I fell in love with Tasty Buns.
They are easy to make, the dough is versatile, and the finished bun is well, mighty tasty! When I say versatile I mean versatile. I’ve experimented with this bread dough and made rolls, pig-in-the-blankets, and pizza crust.
Ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 packet of dry active yeast
1 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil or butter (I prefer butter, salted not sweet cream butter)
1 tsp. sugar (I’ve experimented and usually use 1 Tbls.)
1 tsp. salt
Stir together 2 cups flour and yeast. In a separate bowl, heat water, milk, oil or butter, sugar, and salt to lukewarm in microwave. Do NOT overheat this or the bread won’t rise. Add all at once to flour mixture. Beat until smooth about 3 minutes. (No skimping, THREE minutes!)
Mix in enough flour, 2 – 3 more cups, for soft dough. Mix well. (I usually just mix with wooden spoon) Turn onto lightly floured surface and let rest under bowl for 10 minutes.
Shape into 12 slightly flat balls (or 6 to 8 for larger buns). Place on greased baking pan or parchment and let rise until doubled in size.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
*If you are making rolls. Use above temperature and baking time. For pizza crust, 
spread dough on pan or pizza baking stone and top with favorites ingredients. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 425 degrees.
If you don’t use all the dough at once, the remainder can be stored for up to four days in the refrigerator. I wrap the dough in clear wrap and place in an airtight container.
Is your mouth watering yet? Hot bread, right out of the oven. Yum! Yum!
