simple easy recipes

It’s Sunday and that’s my day for making cinnamon rolls. I always make them entirely without butter and they always turn out beautifully. I use a trans fat-free spread for the filling and I don’t miss the butter one bit. This time, to keep the edges from over-browning, I used a cake strip and it kept the edges nice and soft, just like the middle.

I can see why it’s one of my most popular recipes. It’s easy and healthier than most other recipes that use sticks of butter. The only problem I have now is… How do I keep from eating all of it by tomorrow?! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I never dreamed I could make my own rye bread as good as the one at the deli but I did. And it’s not only as good, it’s easy too…  because there’s no kneading! I grew up on rustic breads and rye is my favorite, especially with caraway seeds and now I’m making my own!

I have made this bread using the faster method using hot water, and also the overnight method that uses cool water. They both turn out the same. It’s not a big loaf, usually measuring 7 inches across and 3 inches tall.

Caraway seeds give it that “rye bread” taste but you can leave the seeds out and you still get a nice rustic farm bread. I think this is my 6th variation of no knead bread. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I absolutely love my no knead fruit & nut bread. I made it again today and added just a touch more sugar (4 Tbsp total) and that little extra sweetness is perfect for me. With sugar in this recipe, the bread can burn due to the high oven temperature. That’s why I say to reduce to temperature to 400° F when it bakes. But I found another solution to keep the bread from burning.

I raised up my oven rack one slot and it keeps the bottom of the Dutch oven a little farther away from the heat. I used my 3-quart Dutch oven and it easily fit on the raised up oven rack. I still reduced the temperature to 400 per the recipe and I was thrilled with the result – no blackened crust and a perfect loaf of sweet breakfast bread. If your try this whole wheat fruit & nut bread with lots of sweet raisins and walnuts, and if your Dutch oven still fits, try it with the oven rack raised up a notch. This could be a good Easter recipe.

Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Happy New Year to all my fellow cooks. I’m so pleased to see so many people using my recipes and I’m often surprised at which ones are the most popular. My simple whole wheat bread has been wildly popular with almost 1/2 million views on youtube and hundreds of comments here. One question I’m often asked is, “Can I make this with only white or all-purpose flour?” I decided to try it and the answer is… yes.

I used the exact same recipe but substituted white flour for the whole wheat flour and I loved the result. The loaf rose just as tall as the whole wheat version and it was ready to eat in 90 minutes.  My other “easy white bread” recipe is similar (and also quick) but does not use egg while this version uses an egg.

It seems that almost everyone is having success and loving my simple whole wheat bread recipe but when you want a similar, easy white bread that uses an egg, you can try my new Simple White Bread (with egg) recipe, which is exactly the same except it uses 100% all-purpose flour or bread flour. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

There’s something addictive about these Christmas sugar cookies because I can’t stop eating them. So this will be my first batch because I’m not sharing. I’ll make more if anybody else wants some – but these are mine. I used a cookie press because it’s faster and I like that the cookies are tiny, no more than 2 inches across. So these are one-bite cookies but I am never able to eat just one.

For anyone using a cookie press, try to get very fine sprinkles because these mini cookies hold fine sprinkles better than some of the bigger cookie decorations, which seem to roll right off. I like mixing my colors and using blue and purple too. My recipe uses only half the butter of most others. These easy Christmas cookies keep really well. They can be refrigerated and stay nice and fresh for at least a week and I have frozen some for months and they are still good.

For me, Christmas sugar cookies are just part of holiday decorating but it’s decorations you can eat.  Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I’m posting my new simpler way to make one of my favorite one pan meals. This no-fuss dinner cooks in one pan and it takes almost no work. Plus the whole house smells divine with all the spices as they cook. Both the chicken and the potatoes are coated with a mixture of aromatic spices & olive oil and as they’re cooking along in the oven, you have plenty of time to make a salad or cook a side vegetable.

What I like most about this recipe is that the two foods can be separated at the end if either the chicken or potatoes need a few more minutes. Chicken thighs come in all sizes – sometimes I get four in a pack and sometimes six. So smaller pieces will cook faster.  And depending how big you cut your potato wedges, they may need more or less time. So at the end, you can separate the chicken from the potatoes and cook just one of them a little longer if needed. I only had to do that once.

The broiler-type pan is important because chicken thighs have a lot of fat and all the fat cooks off and stays in the broiler pan, not touching the chicken, and not spreading onto the flat part of the pan where the potatoes cook and that keeps the potatoes crispy.

I had posted this recipe before when I used to cook asparagus on the same pan but it was too much trouble so now I just cook my green vegetable separately. This chicken dinner goes really well with asparagus and I’ve had it with broccoli and brussels sprouts, too. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Any time I make apple pie there’s an air of excitement around here. Has it cooled yet? How long before we can taste it? Don’t tell the neighbors – they’ll come over for sure and I want it all for myself. Homemade apple pie never loses its appeal and let me tell you this was delicious.

I used three pounds of granny smith apples and my popular oil crust and it made dinner more than just a meal… it was an event. That may be because I made my orange-sesame chicken, one of my favorite quick dinners. The picture may not show it but this easy chicken stir fry is really really good. And it’s fast. When dessert takes a little longer, like apple pie, I usually opt for a quick and easy dinner.

So anyhoooo… I’m just sharing what I cooked today. Click here for my homemade apple pie recipe. – Jenny Jones

Weekend breakfasts are the best because there’s more time to make things like my caramelized apple oven pancake. It only takes 30 minutes and boy, is it good! You need a 9-inch cast iron skillet and lots of apples. I use two huge apples, weighing 1/2 pound each and I’ve used both Granny Smith and gala, cut into 1-inch chunks.  There’s more apple than pancake in this delicious breakfast but that’s a good thing.

First you melt a little butter and brown sugar in the skillet and cook the apples on the stove top over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until they get caramelized. After 5 minutes, they should look like this.

Now you just pour the batter right on top of the apples. The batter is really light and super easy, made with milk, eggs, and flour basically and you just whisk it by hand – no mixer. As soon as the batter is added, using an oven glove, you put the hot pan in the oven (preheated to 400 degrees F) and fifteen minutes later, it’s done. Then you carefully, with oven gloves, invert in onto a big serving plate and it will look like this…

The edges of the pancake are caramelized just like the apples, which are soft and sticky sweet. You don’t need any topping like syrup but you can sprinkle it with a dusting of powdered sugar if you like. If this is all you’re eating, it will serve two but if you have some eggs and toast and this on the side, it will serve four. And if you’re starving and you make this easy apple pancake, someone I know actually ate the whole thing in one sitting. It wasn’t me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I’m spoiling myself by creating so many quick and easy recipes that I’m no longer willing to take all day to make a good meat sauce. So I changed my recipe from 2 1/4 hours to 45 minutes and now I’ve decided even that was too long. So I just posted a new, simpler, faster recipe for a delicious meat sauce and here’s the best part: Thirty minutes! And it’s delicious!

I didn’t give up any flavor with my new meat sauce recipe. Mainly, I eliminated the carrots, the celery, and the extra liquid which needed all that cooking time.  I love the new simple meat sauce. It leaves me time to make my homemade gnocchi to have with it. This recipe is perfect for beginners with simple ingredients and hardly any work. Click here for the new recipe.- Jenny Jones

When they say dark chocolate is good for you they mean dark. Like 70% dark. So that’s what I put in my easy fudge brownies. I start by melting a dark chocolate bar and it makes the most intense brownie! With no butter!  And wait ’til you see how easy this recipe is. Dark chocolate bars are available in most grocery stores and they sell them at World Market (they’re cheaper there). To get health benefits, it should have at least 70% cacao.You can find bars from 68 to 72% that will work great but I try to keep it at 70-72%. I’ve used Scharffen Berger and World Market brand and there’s no difference in the end result.

Here is what I learned making these delicious brownies: You do not need butter to make rich-tasting, gooey, fudgy brownies and baking without butter is always my priority. (You can use melted butter in place of the oil if you like) I  did a taste test at home and asked my man to try one that had butter and one without and he could not tell the difference. Besides making desserts without butter I always try to use whole grains when possible but that did not work here. I tried and was hopeful but they turned to mush.

So the best I can do is no butter and lots of heart-healthy dark chocolate. Most brownie recipes use a stick or two of butter so if you need a brownie, this one is a better choice than one loaded with saturated fat. My recipe uses extra light olive oil instead of butter but you can use any vegetable oil you choose. And the nuts are optional but nuts are nutritious and full of protein and healthy fats so include them if you can. And toast them first – what a difference! The extra chocolate chips, well… that’s up to you and the darker the better.

One thing about melting chocolate: Chocolate is delicate and burns easily so I melt it in a saucepan but with oil added and over very low heat so it doesn’t burn. It takes about 2-3 minutes to melt but needs to be stirred because chocolate tends to hold its shape when melted and you might not know it’s ready until you stir it. The other options for melting are the microwave (which I have never done) and a double boiler (too much trouble).

This is the second brownie recipe I’ve posted. The other whole wheat brownie is not as fudgy but still nice & chewy and also made without butter, but it’s 100% whole wheat. Both my brownies are easy to make but this simple recipe is good for beginners because it uses just a few ingredients and no mixer is needed. In fact, this batter should only be mixed by hand and not over-mixed.  Oh, and don’t over bake the brownies! They should feel a little soft in the center when they’re done so don’t bake any longer than 20 minutes! Okay, that’s all. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones