Muffins (using Master Mix)

Preheat oven to 425º.

Beat together in a bowl:
1 egg

1 c. milk

2 T. sugar

Add:

3 c. Master Mix

Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake for 20 minutes.

Options:

Add drained fruit, chopped nuts or chopped dried fruit.

Replace 1/3 of mix called for with quick-cooking oatmeal or all-bran cereal.

Add chopped dried fruit and/or nuts to muffin recipe and bake as a fruit bread; use greased 5x8 leaf bread and bake 40 minutes at 350º.

Coffee Cake (using Master Mix)

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Beat together in a bowl:

1/3 c. milk

1 egg

Add:

1/4 c. sugar

2 1/4 c. Master Mix

Stir until well blended (about 1 minute). Pour into greased 8" square baking pan.

Combine and sprinkle over:

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 T. margarine

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Bake 25 minutes. Serve warm.

Optional: drizzle with powder sugar and milk!

Biscuits (using Master Mix)

Preheat oven at 450º F

Combine in blowl

1 1/2 c. Master Mix
1/3 c. milk

Add milk at once, stirring 25 strokes. Knead lightly on floured board. Roll 1/2 think, cut, plance on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes.

Options:

Add grated cheese, chopped herbs.

Increase milk to 1/2 c. for drop biscuits.

Use as topping on casseroles, cobblers, meat and vegetable pies, or wherever buiscuit dough is called for.

Pancakes or Waffles (using Master Mix)

Beat together in a bowl:
1c. milk

1 egg

Stir in:

1 1/2 c. Master Mix

Bake on hot griddle or waffle iron. For lighter waffles, separate egg, add yolk with milk. Beat egg white until stiff and fold into batter just before baking. Increase milk for thinner batter if desired.

Corn Bread (using Master Mix)

Preheat over 400º (190-200 C)

Stir together in a bowl:
1 1/2 Master Mix
2 T sugar
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. cornmeal
1 t. chili powder (optional)

Combine in a separate bowl:
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1 c. cream style corn (I use regular can of corn and pass it through the processor)

Stir liquids into dry ingredients just until flour is all mostened. Pour into greased 9" square pan or iron skillet, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Master Baking Mix

This is basically Bisquick mix made at home. With this you can prepare corn bread, pancake, waffles, biscuits, coffee cakes and muffins. It is taken from book "Cook More with Less" and I have used over and over again. I recommend it -- Mara

MASTER BAKING MIX

Ingredients:

10 cups of flour

6 T baking powder

1 1/2 T. salt

1 1/2 t. cream of tartar

1/4 c. sugar

Cut in to consistency of cornmeal:

2 cups of vegetable shortning

Stir in:

2 cups of milk powder

Store in covered container at room temperaature. To measure baking mix, pile lightly into a cup and level off with spatula.

Cream Cheese Christmas Tree

This is one of the favorites at my parties. If it is not Christmas, just use your imagination and do other shapes.

Ingredients:

8 oz Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1/4 cup DiGiorno Basil Pesto Sauce (I made my own, see recipe!)
1 TBLSP chopped red pepper
10 serving Nabisco Ritz Reduced-fat crackers (50 CRACKERS, 5 EACH) - (I use the olive oil flavored cracker you can find in Spain, the combination of flavors is perfect)
1 cinnamon stick

Instructions:
CUT block of cream cheese diagonally in half. Place triangles together to resemble Christmas tree on serving plate. Cover with pesto. ADD peppers for the tree ornaments. Insert cinnamon stick at base of triangle for the tree trunk. SERVE as a spread for assorted NABISCO Crackers Size-Wise Savor this tasty festive spread. Each 2-Tbsp. serving goes a long way on flavor

Pesto

I promised this recipe. So here it goes...

ITALIAN PESTO

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried

3 medium cloves of garlic (if you not crazy about garlic, use just 1)

one small handful of raw pine nuts (I did not have pine and used almond, it was good as well!)

roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED (mine was store bought Italian grated cheese for Pasta)

A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.

Instructions:
Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves. Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the rest of the basil, chop some more. I scrape and chop, gather and chop. At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince. Add about half the pine nuts, chop. Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop. Add half of the Parmesan, chop. Add the rest of the Parmesan, and chop. In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the ingredients into a basil "cake" - see the photo up above. Transfer the pesto "cake" to a small bowl (not much bigger than the cake). Cover with a bit of olive oil, it doesn't take much, just a few tablespoons.
You can set this aside or place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Just before serving give the pesto a quick stir to incorporate some of the oil into the basil. She occasionally thins the pesto with a splash of pasta water for more coverage, but for our gnocchi this wasn't necessary.

Makes about 1 cup.

Yogurt Muffins

This is one of my favorite recipes because it never fails, you can vary a lot adding more things and the ingredients are so basic. Enjoy it! By Mara W.

YOGURT MUFFINS

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder (Spanish kind, if you use American, use 1 tsp.)
¼ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1 no flavor yogurt
2 T oil

Instructions:
Blend all ingredients just until smooth. Spoon into muffin pans, 2/3 full, and bake 15-20 minutes at 350º.

Variations:
. Recipe can be doubled and used for “bizcocho”, in 13x9x2 pan.
. Add raisins and cinnamon
. Add apple (1 in small pieces) and cinnamon
. Add banana (2-3 smashed) and nuts and cinnamon
. Add whatever you like and let us know the results!