Start with bread dough of some sort. Your choosing. I will put our favorite bread recipe at the bottom of this recipe. Don’t be overwhelmed! Buy frozen bread dough from the store, microwave thaw it in a plastic bag, and use it instead of making dough from scratch. And feel free to try your favorite bread recipe for this. PIZZA dough recipes have not worked well for me. Bread and dinner roll recipes do.

While this is the recipe, it is also very flexible. Add more or have less than what is listed below. Try different meats, add more cheese, or just do basic cheese and pepperoni.

• 1 pound pork sausage (fried and drained)
• 6 oz package of Pepperoni
• 6 cups shredded cheese (I use different variations. Mozzarella, Mexican, Cheddar, Colby…)
• sliced olives, mushrooms, onions, peppers, or anything else you might like on a pizza (if desired)

Roll your dough into a rectangle about 16″ long and 12″ wide. Sprinkle on 2 cups of shredded cheese. Place 3 oz. of pepperoni on, setting the pieces side by side, touching, and covering the dough almost completely. I leave about 1/2″ around the edges. Sprinkle on half of the fried sausage. Sprinkle on 1 cup of shredded cheese. Roll up the dough, pinch the ends and fold under, and place on a greased cookie sheet with the seam end down to seal the length of the bread roll.

Repeat with the second piece of dough and remaining ingredients. I am able to fit both stromboli “logs” on my cookie sheets, not touching. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before slicing into 2″ slices.

Notice that there is NOT any sauce. I serve it with Ranch Dressing most of the time because that is what the family prefers. I have offered marinara and pizza sauce but it is only “good” when it’s warm.

BUTTERHORN ROLLS adjusted recipe for Stromboli

Dissolve in a small bowl:

• 1 c. warm water
• 4 1/2 t. yeast
• 2 T. sugar

Mix in a large bowl in order given, mixing slightly after each addition:

• 1 c. HOT milk
• 1 c. butter, soft/melty
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 2 eggs
• yeast mixture
• 4 c. flour

Mix well. Add 3 c. flour. Stir well. Knead on a floured surface (about 1/2 c. flour). Dough will be soft, but not sticky. If it feels sticky, keep adding only a small amount of flour. You shouldn’t need to knead it for long!

Rise to double in an oiled bowl. (I usually use about 2 T. oil). Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap.

Oil the countertop slightly. Dump your dough onto the oiled surface. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Use 2 of the pieces for the recipe above. The other 2 pieces can be made into butterhorn dinner rolls or make another 2 stromboli loaves! I make 4 loaves at a time and they get eaten quickly for lunch the next day. However, I have frozen loaves by cooling them completely, wrapping them in 2 layers of plastic wrap followed by one layer of tin foil. I usually use them within 2 months, but they might last longer in the freezer? To heat them up, I make sure they are completely thawed (place them on the countertop in the morning and reheat in the evening). Place them on a cookie sheet (unwrapped) and heat at 350° for about 10-15 minutes.

Using the “extra” 2 pieces of dough as dinner rolls:

Roll each piece into about 12″ circle. Cut into 8 or 12 “pie” pieces. Roll each pie piece starting at the fat end and ending with the skinny point. Place on a greased cookie sheet with the skinny point against the pan. Rise. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes.

Another thing that I do with the “extra” dough. I just make 2 BIG loaves of stromboli. I use the above recipe and just divide the dough in half instead of 4 pieces. I roll the dough into a bigger rectangle and use the full amount of the filling, bake each one on it’s own cookie sheet for about 30 minutes at 400°. This is a much larger size stromboli but tastes just as good as long as it is baked well! You DO NOT want raw dough in the center.

Put in a small glass bowl and set aside:

• 3/4 c. warm water
• 4 1/2 t. yeast (sprinkled over the water)
• 2 T. sugar (sprinkled over the yeast)

In a large bowl mix together:

• 2 c. HOT water
• 2 t. salt
• 3 T. sugar
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil (or olive oil)
• 4 c. flour (I use organic, unbleached white flour)

Pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl along with 1 c. flour. Stir together until completely mixed.

Stir in 1 c. flour again. And one more.

Sprinkle 1 c. of flour on the countertop. Dump dough onto it. Sprinkle 1/2 c. flour over the dough. Knead to form a soft dough. You might have to add more flour!

Grease bowl with about 2 T. vegetable oil. Place the dough into the bowl, turning the dough so it is oiled on top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a warm, damp cloth. Rise to double.

Oil the countertop lightly. Dump the dough onto it. Form a “log” of sorts and then cut in half. Form each half into a “log” as well. Cut each half into 12 pieces. Grease 2 glass 9×13 pans (I use Crisco). Form each piece into a dinner roll (or as some people say: bun). Rise again.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Butter the top of the rolls as soon as they come out of the oven. I use a plastic sandwich bag on my hand with about 1-2 T. butter on the outside and rub the butter on the tops lightly and quickly. Cool the rolls in the pans, on a cooling rack, trivets, or hot pads on the countertop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ I have used a variety of flours in this recipe, but always have the base 4 cups of white flour to start with.

~ Flours that I have added are: whole wheat, rye, spelt, and barley. Maybe others, but I can’t remember! I want to say that I have used the 1-for-1 Gluten Free flour, but I can’t remember if I have used it with this recipe.

I believe this is the same recipe that you will find on all other sites for buttercream frosting. I don’t do anything special. But I do know that I need to read the recipe sometimes when I have a brain fog & need reminding!

Beat with a stand mixer for 5 minutes, stopping often (especially at the beginning) to scrape down the sides and bottom:

• 1 c. butter (Some people use unsalted…. sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Just make sure it is room temperature! Not melted. If you need to soften it in the microwave, leave the wrapper on and just zap it for 8-10 seconds at a time, turning it once each time.)

SOMETIMES I feel like adding a taste of cream cheese to the buttercream frosting. I add it to the butter after the 5 minutes of beating the butter. I beat for about 2 more minutes:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Add to the bowl all at once:

• 3 c. powdered sugar (I do not sift it. However, I store it in an airtight container and just shake the container a little bit before using it to kind of “fluff” it up. If it still feels heavy, I will just shake it back out of the measure cup and kind of “fluff” the powdered sugar using the measure cup.)

Turn the mixer on slow. Let it stir for about 20 seconds and then add:

• 2 t. vanilla
• 1 T. milk (I usually use 2% milk since that is what we typically drink. Sometimes I have used Almond milk or Half & Half because there was some to be used up!)

Beat the frosting for several minutes. I don’t add more milk unless it is just too stiff. Some days it needs the extra sip of milk. And remember that everyone likes their frosting a certain way. Some like it creamier, others like more firm.

I usually use the frosting immediately. If I need to refrigerate it, I store in an airtight container or storage bag. Sometimes it is a week or 2 before I use it! It’s so full of sugar, it’s good. Just bring it to room temp, beat it with hand beaters or the stand mixer to fluff it up if you want to. Enjoy!

THIS RECIPE FROSTS ABOUT 24 CUPCAKES (depending on how thick you want your frosting!)

In a medium size pot stir together:

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. cornstarch

Slowly stir in:

• 1/2 c. milk (I usually use 2% since that is what we drink regularly)
• 1/2 c. berry juice (and water to make 1/2 c. if you don’t have enough juice from the berries)

Stir together in a bowl:

• 2 egg YOLKS
• 3/4 c. lemon juice

Turn the burner on medium high. Slowly add the egg mixture to the pot, stirring constantly. Add:

• 1/4 c. soft/room temp butter

Stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add:

• 2 – 3 cups raspberries (if using frozen berries, make sure they are thawed before adding them, reserving the juice for the liquid)

Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir a few more times as it cools down for about 30 minutes. Cover and place in the refrigerator for several hours. I usually make this the evening before I make the cupcakes so that it is ready when I need it.

After cooling completely, use a hand mixer or large stand mixer to beat it. I usually leave it sitting on the countertop for an hour before doing this. The filling is easiest to use to fill the cupcakes or spread on the cake to fill when it is room temperature.

I know this is a long process, but I find it to work into my routine so I don’t notice it as a long ordeal. Just snippets of time here and there really.

To fill the cupcakes, I cut the center of the cupcake completely OUT. I remove the piece totally out, fill the hole with filling, place the cake piece back on the top of the filling (patting in only slightly so it does bump up out of the cupcake), and then frost with a buttercream frosting (tubing it so it hides the bump out). Sometimes I add 4 oz. of cream cheese to the buttercream frosting for a hint of it in the frosting. AND sometimes, when my filling is not quite enough….. I will mix some frosting with the filling and fill the cupcakes with that. It’s all yummy!

THIS RECIPE FILLS ABOUT 36 CUPCAKES

Mix together in a large bowl:

• 1 – 10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom (or other desired flavor) soup
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 t. pepper

Stir in:

• 2 – 14.5 oz. cans cut green beans, drained
• 6 oz. container French’s Crispy Fried Onions

Pour into a buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle on more of the French’s Crispy Fried Onions if desired. I usually put a 6 oz. can in the casserole and a 2.8 oz. can sprinkled on top. It really is what your people prefer!

Melt together in a pot:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 T. butter

Stir in and heat up:

• 4 c. thawed sweet white corn (although any corn will do, this is just the most preferred.)
• 8 oz. green chilis, drained
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. cayenne

Eat hot or cold!

This recipe has become a Thanksgiving favorite! My daughter in law made it for Thanksgiving dinner a few years back and now I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without it. Thank you, Kenz!!!