Today is World Nutella Day... did you know that? If not you are missing out. There is nothing better then Nutella. It's good on everything and anything. But my favorite way to eat it is with pretzels num! Thank you Ms Adventures in Italy, and Bleeding Espresso for hosting this event.

Although I missed a year, in 2008 I made Butternut Squash Ravioli with Nutella Sauce, 2009 I made Nutella Ice Cream, 2010 I made Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies. This year my first idea was a nutella swirl bread, but I wasn't set in it. I then asked my Mom and her first idea before even hearing mine was Nutella swirl bread... I knew I had to. So I went with it. I just a basic cinnamon raisin swirl bread base and put the delicious nutella and some spice in between. This is great to eat hot, toasted or even with french toast. Oh yes I went there.

Nutella Swirl Bread (Adapted From: Dorie Greenspan Baking From My Home To Yours)

• 1 pack active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch
• 1-1/4 cups just warm to the touch whole milk
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3-3/4 to 4 cups flour

For the Swirl:

• 1/2 cup nutella
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Put the yeast in a small bowl, toss in the pinch of sugar, and stir in 1/4 cup of the warm milk. Let rest for 3 minutes, then stir–the yeast may not have dissolved completely and it may not have bubbled, but it should be soft. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup milk, the butter and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and mix on low speed for a minute or two. Add the salt, egg and vanilla, as well as the zest and the nutmeg, if you’re using them, and mix for a minute. In all likelihood, the mixture will look unpleasantly curdly (it will look even worse when you add the yeast).

Add the yeast mixture and beat on medium-low speed for 1 minute more. Turn the mixer off and add 2-3/4 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until you work the flour into the liquids–you’ll have a sticky mix.  Add another 1 cup flour, increase the mixer speed to medium, and beat the dough for a couple of minutes. If the dough does not come together and almost clean the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour (I did), 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer speed at a medium and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, or until it is smooth and has a lovely buttery sheen. The dough will be very soft, much too soft to knead by hand. Butter a large bowl, turn the dough into the bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours. Scrape the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm enough to be rolled easily. (At this point, you can instead refrigerate the dough overnight if that is more convenient.)

Butter a 9-x-5 inch loaf pan. Put the dough on a large work surface lightly dusted with flour, lightly dust the top of the dough and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 x 18 inches. Gently smear nutella over the surface of the dough–this is most easily done with your fingers. Sprinkle the nutella on top. Starting from a short side of the dough, roll the dough up jelly-roll fashion, making sure to roll the dough snugly. Fit the dough into the buttered pan, seam side down, and tuck the ends under the loaf. Cover the pan loosely with wax paper and set in a warm place; let the dough rise until it comes just a little above the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.

When the dough has almost fully risen, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush the top of the loaf with the butter. Put the pan on the baking sheet and bake the bread for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with a foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when the bottom of the pan is tapped. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold. Invert the bread and cool to room temperature right up on the rack.

I have wanted an Ebelskiever pan for a long long time and I finally got one for Christmas as well as a cookbook with all Ebelskiever recipes. I was excited to try it and wanted to start with a savory recipe. How can you go wrong with cheese? I served these with pasta and we had them more like little garlic breads. They were fun to get that big bite of cheese.

Two-cheese Puffs (From: Ebelskievers)

• 1 cup cake flour
• 3/4 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2 large eggs, seperated
• 1 cup milk
• 3 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan
• 2 1/2 T. fresh basil
• 3 1/2 T. diced fresh mozzarella
• 1 c. marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 200. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and 2 T. of melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold about one-third of egg whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest with 1/4 cup of Parmesan and the basil just until no white streaks remain.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, working quickly sprinkle a heaping 1/2 t. of parmesan into each well. Add 1 T batter into each well, then carefully add 1/2 t. mozzarella to the center. Top each with another 1 T of batter.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp 3-5 minutes. Use a skewer to turn and cook until lightly browned on the second side about 3 mintes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in the oven while you repeat to make 2 more batches. Serve of marinara.

I saw these rolls on Pinterest and instantly saved them, I didn’t get them made for Thanksgiving but then realized Christmas would be just as good as a time… And I had a reason We had our gender ultrasound sound three days before Christmas, and opened our envelope on Christmas Eve morning. We then told the rest of our family over Christmas. So I made these rolls, in all of the rolls I put Merry Christmas except for one I put It’s A Girl. I made sure my Mom got that one. Since she was POSITIVE we were having a boy the look on her face was priceless.

These rolls had great flavor. I think I let them rise a little too much because the paper kind of got lost in the roll, people had to dig them out.

Delicious Dinner Rolls (From: How Does She?)

• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 2 cups of warm water
• about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
• at least 1 cup of butter

Scald milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There might be a few little pieces of butter after 2 minutes thats fine they will melt.

Add 1-2 cups of flour, then add egg, and salt; set aside and let cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve yeast in  warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.

Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture! Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 7-9 cups of flour, adding 2 cups at a time.

At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.

Butter two cookie sheets and set aside. Once dough has doubled in size, prepare workspace with flour and separate into four balls.

Working with one ball, roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.

Cut the dough into squares using a pizza cutter, then cut each into three pieces, you’ll want to end up with 12 triangles.

Put one note in each triangle and roll wide end to tip.

Preheat your oven to 350, and let rolls rise in a warm place. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes. While they are still hot run a stick of butter across the tops for a nice butter flavor.

When I saw the theme for What’s Baking this month I was stumped, “Savory Baking” What is savory baking, for some reason it wasn’t coming to me. Other girls had the idea breads, crackers etc. Then I kind of followed, I am not sure why but baking means sweet for me. I debated most of the month on what to make, thinking crackers then going route of bread. But never fully deciding. It came down to D day and I had to decide, I wanted to use what was on hand, thus came this bread.

This was seriously the easiest bread ever. While having some with dinner Adam said “You can make this anytime” I then explained just how easy. And my goal for 2011 was to get over my yeast fear. I still seem to stray away from them but not as bad as before. And since my test taster loves them so much more I really need to make it more often. Make sure to check out The Jey of Cooking for the roundup soon.

Garlic Herb Braid (From: Amber’s Delectable Delights, Now At: Sugared Whisk, Originally From Taste of Home)

• 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 packages (1/4 oz each) quick-rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1-3/4 teaspoons dill weed
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and seasonings. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and cubed butter to 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into thirds. Shape each into a 15-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 25 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

I picked up these dried blueberries months and months ago. I love me a good blueberry muffin and wanted to make some for myself. But then I started searching for recipes and had trouble finding one with dried blueberries. So I threw them in the cupboard and forgot about them. Recently I found them and decided to just use a regular recipe and sub these.

These muffins are GREAT! I made them big texas sized. But they have great flavor. I loved the flavor the dried blueberries brought to them!

Berry Cream Blueberry Muffins (Adapted From: The Taste of Home Baking Cookbook)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 cups dried blueberries
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1/2 cup veggie oil
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a smaller bowl combine eggs, sour cream, veggie oil, and vanilla; mix until well blended.

Mix wet ingredients into dry, add blueberries and mix until just moistened.

Filled greased muffin pan and baking for 25-30 minutes for texa size muffin pan.

Another Pinterest find. I find myself pinning many things on pinterest but I always get excited when I pin something and already have everything on hand at home. This was one of those times. The grocery store had a good deal on Grands and I stocked up. But found myself with one extra that I just wasn’t in the mood for. It worked PERFECTLY in this recipe. It tasted just like monkey bread but without having to cut all the buns it saved a lot of time!

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring (Slightly Adapted From: All Things Delicious)

When planning our grocery list I added pork roast. A delicious BBQ pulled pork sounded good. But just to take them over the top I decided to make my own buns to go with them. There is nothing better then fresh bread, no matter what the reason.

I have been busy making my own little bun… yes pun intended. We are expecting our second in early May. So far I haven’t had any trouble cooking as I did with my daughter… But I have been having trouble eating what I make.

So bare with me while I work through the first trimester, but do yourself and make these buns! They are soft and delicious and have just the right amount of sweet from the honey.

Brioche Burger Buns (Seen On: So Tasty, So Yummy, Followed From: The Jey of Cooking, Originally From: First Look, Then Cook)

• 2/3 Cup Warm Milk (~110 degrees F)
• 1/3 Cup Warm Water
• 4 Tbsp. Honey
• 2 Eggs, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 tsp. (1 Packet) Instant Yeast
• 3 Cups Bread Flour (plus a few Tbsp. if needed)
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, sliced and softened
• 1 Egg Yolk
• Sesame Seeds

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the butter and turn the mixer on low, until just combined.

Add the milk, water, 2 eggs and honey to a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Add to the dry ingredients.  Turn the mixer on low until the flour is incorporated then increase the speed to medium and knead for 8 minutes.

If necessary, add an additional Tbsp. flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Be careful not to add too much additional flour as the buns will end up too dry (I used 2 Tbsp).  Knead another 2 minutes (totaling 10 minutes).  Form the dough into a ball and place back in the bowl.  Cover with a warm towel and allow to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled, 1 to 2 hours.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface.  Flour your hands, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and form into balls.  Place 2 to 3 inches apart on a lightly oiled, parchment lined baking sheet.  Flatten each ball just a bit with the palm of your hand.  Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise again another hour.

Preheat oven to 400.  Once risen, brush the tops with the egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning the pan once halfway through, until buns are golden.  Transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Augusts What’s Baking challenge was Celebrate Summer. Nothing screams summer to me more then sweet corn. We live in a more rural town and no matter what direction I leave corn all I see is corn fields. And then there is our annual summer trip to Sweet Corn festival in Iowa. So I knew I need to make something with corn, and cornbread is one of Adams favorite foods so might as well make the man happy.

This recipe originally called for scallions. We aren’t big on them so I omitted but it would be fun to play with all kinds of different mix-ins.

Fresh Corn, Cheddar Cornbread (Adapted From: Epicurious)

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels including the pulp scraped from the cobs(cut from about 2 ears of corn)
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar

Adams family is a little more spread out then mine so we spend most holidays with my family. But a few years ago we made a trek down south to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. The meal was pretty much what I am use to with my family just with his families touches. But his Grandma made some very yummy cornbread… Adam has always LOVED corn bread. And of course loved his Grandmas. I asked her for the recipe which she sent me. I stuck it in my cookbook and totally forgot about it.

It has been a while since I made corn bread for Adam so I wanted to spoil him. I remembered his Grandma had sent me her recipe so after a little searching I found it and knew that was the recipe I had to make. We had company this night so I opted to make it in muffin tins so everyone could easily grab one but she normally does it in a baking dish.

Grandma Carols Crusty Cornbread (From: Grandma Carol)

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450

Mix flour, salt, baking powder together. Add in corn meal and mix well.

In separate small bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until just moist.

Bake in greased 9 inch pan for 25-30 minutes.

I made chicken gryos almost two years ago but lately had been hungry for them again so wanted to make them again. This time I decided to make my own pitas to go with them.

These were rather simple to put together and really added to the taste of the gyro.

Pita Bread (From: Jaime Cooks)

• 3 cups flour
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Sugar or Honey
• 1 packet, or 2 tsp, Yeast
• 1 ¼ – 1 ½ cups Water, room temperature
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil, Butter, or Shortening

Mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 ¼ cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. Add some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water.

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it’ll be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450⁰. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick – 6 inches in diameter. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.

Place discs on a lightly greased baking sheet, or parchment paper, and let rise, uncovered, until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes.

Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn’t necessary.