Breads – Mark's Recipes

Tea Biscuits

The secret of good tea biscuits is in the dough. It should be soft but not sticky. A little kneading improves not only the quality of biscuits but assures tall, plump and tender biscuits. A hot oven (450 F) is recommended. Knead with a gentle touch as too much handling will produce a tough biscuit.

Perfect tea biscuits should be golden brown with a fairly smooth, level top. They should be slightly moist, tender, light and flaky.

Serve immediately after baking. Reheated biscuits are never as good but they may be wrapped in foil and heated in a hot over (400 F) 10 to 15 minutes.

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Ingredients

2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ cup shortening or margarine
1 cup milk

Instructions

Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening (or margarine) with 2 knives or pastry blender, until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Make a well in centre and add milk slowly.
When all the milk has been added, stir dough rather vigorously until it comes freely from the side of the bowl.
Turn dough onto lightly floured board and knead lightly for a few minutes. Roll or pat out to desired thickness (about ½ inch). Cut dough with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter; place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in in a hot oven (450 F) for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 15 to 19 biscuits.

Notes

Variations:

Cheese – Decrease shortening to 3 tbsp and salt to ¾ tsp. Cut in ½ cup grated cheddar cheese with shortening.
Buttermilk – Decrease baking powder to 2 tsp, add ½ tsp baking soda. Substitute 1 c buttermilk (or sour milk) for milk.
Sweet Cream – Substitute milk with ½ c skim milk and ½ c whipping cream.
Fruit or Nuts – Add ¼ c sugar and decrease milk to ¾ c. Add ¾ c raisins, currants or nuts with milk.
Whole wheat – Use 1 c whole wheat flour and 1 c white flour.

Yorkshire Pudding

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Ingredients

4 large eggs measured in a jug
Equal quantity of milk to eggs
Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp lard beef dripping or vegetable oil

Instructions

Heat the oven to the highest temperature possible, however, do not exceed 450F/230C or the fat may burn.
Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.
Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible – up to several hours.
Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or ½ tsp vegetable oil into your chosen Yorkshire pudding tin, or a 4 x 2″/5cm hole tin or 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.
Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.

Without Fail Pancakes

A recipe from my childhood, and my children's childhood.

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Ingredients

4 eggs
3 c milk
3 c flour
2 tsp sugar
6 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp shortening melted, or lard
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Beat eggs lightly, add milk.
Sift together dry ingredients, and add slowly to egg mixture.
Add melted shortening to batter. Add vanilla, mix lightly.
Cook, flip, cook, eat.

Keto “English Muffins”

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Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter unsalted
1 large egg
pinch salt
3 Tbsp almond flour
½ tsp baking powder

Instructions

Place the butter in a microwave-safe 4-inch ramekin. Melt it in the microwave, then allow it to slightly cool.
With a fork, mix in the egg and salt.
Mix in the almond flour, thoroughly mixing until smooth.
Mix in the baking powder.
Microwave for 90 seconds, until puffed and a toothpick inserted in rthe center comes out clean.
Invert the muffin into a cutting board and allow the bottom to air out for a couple of minutes, it will be very moist. If the bottom sticks to the ramekin and the muffin won’t come out, carefully loosen it with a spoon.
Cut the muffin crosswise into two slices. Toast in a greased skillet, or in the toaster on the lowest setting.

Keto Baking Powder Biscuits

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Ingredients

1½ c almond flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
2 large eggs
½ c sour cream
4 tbsp butter melted
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, salt, baking powder, garlic powder and onion powder.
In a small bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, butter. Whisk until smooth. Pour into large bowl with dry ingredients.
Mix with a whisk or spoon until batter is evenly mixed. It will be quite thick. Stir in cheese.
Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cavities; each will be about 1/4 c.
Bake biscuits about 10-11 minutes or until tops are golden.
Allow biscuits to cool slightly before eating.

Keto French Toast Sticks

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Ingredients

8 large eggs
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Instructions

Bring eggs, cream cheese, and butter to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 8x4 loaf pan, and line with parchment.
Combine eggs, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, and blend at high speed until smooth. Add in coconut flour and baking powder, and pulse until combined.
Pour into prepared pan, and bake 50-60 minutes, or until firm in the center.
Let cool, then refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Slice into 24-36 stick shapes. Fry in butter until brown on all sides.
Optional: dip in a sweetener / cinnamon mix before serving.

Fathead Dough #2

This is the crust that made us think "THIS is pizza!"

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Ingredients

2 c shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp cream cheese
3/4 c almond flour
1 egg beaten
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 deg, place pizza stone on middle rack.
Melt mozzarella and cream cheese together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until it begins to blend.
Add egg, almond flour, and Italian seasoning, and mix until dough forms; there will still be strings of cheese. Knead until fairly well blended.
Turn out onto parchment, place another piece of parchment on top. Using rolling pin, roll as flat as you can; the thinner it is the crispier it will be.
Remove upper parchment. fold edges of dough slightly to create a "crust". Using a fork, poke holes throughout the dough so that bubbles don't form.
Slide dough and parchment onto pizza stone, and bake for 6-8 minutes, depending on thickness. For crispier dough, flip over and cook for 2 minutes more.
Remove from oven, let cool slightly. If bubbles did form, flatten out the crust while it's still warm.
Throw some pizza shit on top of it. Bake it again until pizza.

Keto Naan #2

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Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp honey (will be eaten by yeast)
2 Tbsp water lukewarm
1 c almond flour
3 Tbsp coconut flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 egg lightly beaten

Instructions

Proof the yeast by mixing it with the honey and lukewarm water in a small bowl or cup. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 7 minutes. The mixture should be bubbly.
Combine almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt in food processor. Pulse until thoroughly combined.
Pour in the apple cider vinegar with the food processor running. Once it has distributed evenly, pour in the egg. Stop the food processor and add in the yeast mixture. Pulse a few times until the dough comes together. The dough should be sturdy, but sticky to touch. Form into a ball, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rest in a warm draft-free spot for 30-60 minutes.
Wrap the rested dough in cling film and knead it through the plastic for a minute or two.
Divide the dough into four pieces. Roll fairly thin between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper with a rolling pin.
Heat up a skillet on medium heat.
Heat up a little oil or butter, add the rolled out naan and cover immediately with a lid. Cook for 30-40 seconds on each side, until lightly charred and bubbly.

Notes

After all the version of keto naan I've tried, this recipe worked really well. A keeper.

90 Second Keto Mug Bread

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Ingredients

1 Tbsp coconut flour
1/4 c almond flour
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional 1)
1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs (optional 2)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a mug until well combined.
Microwave for 90 seconds.
Remove from microwave, let cool for 1 - 2 minutes. Remove from mug.
For heavens' sake, don't use optional 1 and optional 2 at the same time. That's why they're numbered.

Keto Cinnamon Pretzels

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Ingredients

PRETZEL

1 1/2 cup mozzarella shredded
2 tbsp cream cheese
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 egg beaten

CINNAMON-SUGAR COATING

3 tbs coconut oil melted
1 tsp butter melted
1/2 cup monk fruit or sweetener of choice
2 tbs ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a glass or microwave safe bowl, microwave the mozzarella and cream cheese for 1 minute. Half way through stir the mixture.
Add in almond flour, coconut flour, and beaten egg, stir.
Divide your dough into 5 sections and form each one into a pretzel shape and place on baking sheet. If you find your dough too sticky, wet your hands.
Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned

Cinnamon-Sugar Coating

In a small bowl, melt the coconut oil and butter in microwave (About 15 seconds).
In a separate small dish, whisk together the sweetener and cinnamon.
Brush the pretzels with the coconut oil and butter mixture, then immediately toss into the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.

Notes

The first time I made these, I cut the dough into 4 pretzels and baked for 20 minutes. They turned out perfectly, but we had them just before dinner ... and were then so full we didn't have dinner.