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The Best Braided French Bread Recipe

This is The Best Braided French Bread Recipe ever and it’s not only delicious, it looks a little fancier than a regular loaf of homemade bread. It’s much easier to make than it looks and it has six ingredients! You’ll wow everyone with this amazing recipe!

If you’ve been following along for a while you’ll probably know that there’s almost always a story behind most of my recipes. If you’re new here, welcome! I’ll try to keep it short so you can get to the good stuff–the recipe!

The Story Behind This Recipe

Many years ago we moved to Portland, Oregon, for my husband to attend dental school. We started attending a new church and were fortunate enough to be befriended by a wonderful family named the Myers. I became fast friends with Debra, the wife, and even though she was a little older than me, we had so much in common. I looked up to her as she had seven children, five boys and two girls! My two oldest boys were toddlers then and she always gave me great advice. She was also an amazing cook and I loved learning from her in the kitchen!

Debra’s braided French bread was legendary in our church circles! She taught a class one night at the women’s group meeting and we all learned to make this amazing bread. I promise this is easier than it looks! I’ve shared many photos and step-by-step instructions on how to pull this off below in the recipe section. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect! Mine are never the same exact size and shape. What really matters is how good this bread recipe tastes!

It’s the perfect recipe to deliver to the neighbors because it makes 3-4 loaves. I often double the recipe (as I did here in these photos) so I could have plenty to share. With my double batch, I usually end up with seven loaves but you can make them smaller or shape them into smaller braided rolls or small, round rolls. How you shape them is your choice, but the braided loaf has a bit of a WOW factor!

The Recipe: Debra’s Braided French Bread

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Debra’s Braided French Bread

The most delicious braided French bread is the best recipe! You'll want to make this bread recipe often!

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American, French

Keyword bread, bread recipe, breadrecipe, french bread, french bread recipe, homemade bread, rolls, rolls, bread, homemade, potato rolls, potato,

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Equipment

• Stand Mixer with a dough hook or attachment (I use my bosch mixer for this recipe since I usually double it.) A kitchen aid mixer is what I use when I don't double it.
• Baking Sheet Pan
• Dough Scraper
• Flour sifter (optional)
• Flour sack towel or tea towel
• Squirt bottle filled with water

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp yeast
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter *can substitute oil if you don't have butter
• 4 tsp salt
• 8 cups flour
• non-stick cooking spray
• extra flour for rolling out the dough

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, stir 3 tbsp yeast into a warmed 3 1/2 cups water.
  
• Stir until yeast is dissolved. Let stand for a few minutes.
  
• When the yeast starts to froth on the top, dump it into a stand mixer. Then add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter (softened), and 4 tsp salt. Mix on low speed for about a minute or so.
  
• Start adding flour to the mixture 2 cups at a time. Allow it to mix in for about 20-30 seconds before adding the next 2 cups.
  
• After adding all 8 cups flour, you should have a soft, elastic dough. If the dough is super sticky, add another 1/2 cup-1 cup of flour. Let mix for a few minutes until all the flour is worked in.
  
• Spray a large bowl with a non-stick cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl.
  
• Cover the bowl with a damp towel. I run hot water on a clean flour sack towel to get it wet. You can use any tea or dish towel, just make sure it's clean and not a heavy towel. You don't want the top of the dough to dry out.
  
• Place the bowl of dough covered with the damp towel in a warm place. I use the proofing setting on my oven or the proofing mode on my bread warming drawer to speed it up. You can turn on your oven for a few minutes to get it warm, then turn it off and set it inside the oven. Be careful to not get it over 100 degrees or so. You want it warm, not hot.
  
• Let the dough rise until double in size. If the towel sticks to the top of the dough, gently remove the towel. You can always remove the towel towards the end and use the squirt bottle with water to keep the top of the dough moist. You don't want it to dry out.
  
• Sprinkle some flour onto a clean surface. I use a flour sifter to sprinkle the flour out more evenly.
  
• Dump the dough onto the floured surface.
  
• Try to get the dough into somewhat of a misshapen rectangular shape.
  
• Then start pulling and stretching sections from the side, and pull it over on top of the dough towards the middle, and press lightly down.
  
• This helps give the dough a more uniform look.
  
• When you've got it looking more uniform in shape, turn it over onto the flat, smooth side.
  
• Pat the ends to make it more flat and a long rectangle. This doesn't have to be perfect, just get it as close to this shape as you can.
  
• I do this process to make it easier to cut equal amounts of dough for each of the sections you are going to braid. I make little lines on the top of the dough with my dough scraper to section it into 9 or 12 sections. If you want 4 smaller loaves, do 12 sections. If you want 3 larger loaves, do 9 sections.
  
• Use the squirt bottle with water to lightly mist the top of the dough every so often so that it doesn't dry out while you're sectioning and braiding. I also keep the dough covered with a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out.
  
• Cut 3 sections at a time, then cover up the dough while you braid each loaf. Use your hands to stretch and roll each piece into about a 10"-12" piece.
  
• Pinch the three pieces together with the middle piece on top.
  
• Tuck the three pieces under themselves. You may need to hold them down with one hand while you start the braid with the other.
  
• You can tuck the end under more once the whole loaf has been braided so don't worry if it's not perfect.
  
• Take the right section over the middle section to start the braid.
  
• Then take the left section and continue the braid.
  
• The dough will keep stretching and getting longer as you braid.
  
• Keep the braid going and don't worry if it's not perfect. The dough will rise and hide all your imperfections.
  
• When you get to the end, pinch the 3 pieces of dough together and tuck under. Check the end you began with and make sure it's tucked under too. Get your baking sheets out (you'll need two) and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  
• Now that the braid is done, use your dough scraper and your hand and gently lift the dough and set it on the baking sheet.
  
• You can get two braids on a standard baking sheet pan. I alternate the braided loaves so that they are opposite to each other. Cover with the damp towel again and let rise another 20-30 minutes.
  
• Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. When the top is dark golden brown, it's done.
  
• Remove from the oven and brush the tops with butter.
  
• Variations: Brush the dough with an egg wash or milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds before baking.

  You can make it into individual French rolls, small braided rolls, or just round-shaped rolls.

You’re going to love this recipe! I promise! Each time I make it, I get a little better at shaping the dough. If it’s not perfect, just remember that when the braids start to rise again, then bake, they get a lot bigger and fill in any spots that didn’t look as good when it was in the shaping stage.

I took some of these loaves to each of my neighbors this past week. They were all so grateful and wanted the recipe! I hope you love Debra’s braided French bread as much as we do. The best part about this recipe is that whenever I make it, I think about my sweet friend and all the fun times we had together in Portland. We both moved away from Oregon many years ago but we still stay in touch and she graciously allowed me to share this special recipe with you all!

You may also like my Homemade Rolls Recipe!  Click here!

For the Bosch Stand Mixer click here.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

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This homemade chicken and noodles recipe served over mashed potatoes is a cherished family recipe.

I know you’re wondering how can you have double starches?

Potatoes and noodles?

Trust me, this is a delicious combination!

Anyone who has ever had this meal loves it.

We would have this often when I was growing up and this was one of the first recipes I learned to make when I was young.

It has been passed down four generations and originated, as far as I know, from my Great Grandma Stone.

This was the first meal I ever made for my husband not long after we met.

We were in college at the time, and he and his roommates had helped me move to a different apartment.

I wanted to make them dinner as a thank you to them for helping me.

I made them this recipe and they loved it. Especially my husband!

After he had eaten two giant helpings, he decided he liked me a lot more.

I jokingly tell everyone that I didn’t have him at hello, I had him at homemade chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes!

I went from good friend to girlfriend after I cooked this for him.

It’s still one of his favorite meals.

If you’re from Idaho, you know that potatoes are a big part of every meal.

At least it was when I was growing up.

My parents are from Idaho and I spent my summers there with my grandparents.

Both at home in Washington, and at my grandparents house, we almost always had potatoes with every meal.

About six months after we were married, My husband politely asked me if we could have something else besides potatoes with every meal.  

I said, “Well, what else is there?”

He said “How about some rice or pasta?”

I didn’t even know how to make rice or pasta unless it was riceroni or mac and cheese from a box.

We still laugh about that!

I seriously thought you had potatoes with every meal. I loved potatoes and could make them 20 different ways!

This recipe is great for a large crowd as it makes a lot and it’s actually super easy.

It’s not a time consuming  either and doesn’t make a big mess.

I’m sure way back in the day when my great grandma made this, she probably made her own egg noodles.

I tried once to make my own but to be honest, the frozen ones from the grocery store are better than what I made!  

There are two brands I’ve used, Reams Frozen Egg Noodles and Grandmas Frozen Egg Noodles.

They are sometimes hard to find at the grocery store in the freezer section, so I always ask someone who works there if I can’t locate them.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my husband did when I made it for him the first time!

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Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

This is my family’s recipe that has been passed down four generations. If you’re from Idaho, you’ll know what this is! Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes. Comfort food doesn’t get any better than this!

Course Main Course

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

• 1 whole Chicken
• 1 package frozen egg noodles (Grandma’s or Reames Brand)
• 3-5 tbsp chicken bouillon (to taste)
• 2 tsp salt (water covering chicken)
• 1/2 tsp peper (to taste)
• 6 large potatoes
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tbsp salt (for potato water)

Instructions

• Take a whole chicken and remove the bag inside the chicken that has the liver and heart. Discard.
• Place the chicken in a large stock pot or 7 quart dutch oven pot. Fill up the pot until the chicken is almost covered in water.
• Add salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is almost falling off the bone. (Turn chicken over at least once so both sides are submerged at some point) Remove the chicken from the pot and set on a large plate or platter to cool. There should be about 4-6 inches of stock left in the pot.  
• Peel and wash the potatoes, then cut them into 1-2″ pieces. Put in a pot and cover with water then add 2-3 TBSP salt to the water. Always salt your potato water. This is important! Bring to a boil and check potatoes every so often for doneness. 
  
• Once the potatoes are on the stove and cooking, dump the frozen egg noodles into the same pot of chicken stock. Stir a few times to make sure the noodles all separate and don’t get clumped up. Cook on medium to medium high heat and stir often.  
  
• While the noodles and potatoes are cooking, start deboning the chicken and add the meat back into the pot with the noodles. The noodles usually take 20-30 min to cook fully. Test them every so often so that they don’t get overdone.
• When the noodles are fully cooked and chicken has all been added back into the pot, add in the chicken bouillon. This is not an exact measurement so you may need to add a little more or little less depending on how much stock you had after the chicken was removed for deboning. If you need more salt and pepper, you can add more here. The bouillon has a lot of salt so add that first and then taste and see if it needs more. Turn down the heat to medium low.
• In a glass measuring cup, mix cornstarch and water and stir until there are no lumps and all the cornstarch and water are mixed well. Turn heat up a little so that its boiling and add in cornstarch and water mixture. Stir while adding this. Once the chicken and noodles come to a boil, it should start to thicken. If it’s too runny, make a little more cornstarch and water and add a little at a time until it starts to thicken. If you get it too thick, you can always add more water and bouillon to compensate. It should be the consistency of a thin gravy or sauce. It is not a soup so you don’t want it the consistency of chicken noodle soup.
• Once, it’s thickened, the chicken should shred some as you stir. Turn heat to low and then check and drain your potatoes.  
• Mash the potatoes with 1/3 cup milk or half and half and 1/4 cup of butter. 
• Serve the chicken and noodles right over the top of the potatoes.  

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It’s time for another post on my Holiday Hosting at home series!  I’ve teamed up with two of my talented friends who enjoy hosting and entertaining as much as I do. This week are sharing some recipes, tablescapes, and fall decor. With Halloween and Thanksgiving right around the corner we have come up with some fun ideas for hosting and entertaining. I hope you’ll find some inspiration here for hosting and entertaining in your own homes!

Here is what my friends have been sharing this week for their fall home decor and tablescapes.  If you would like to pin any of these images, please go to the original post linked below each image.  Check out their entire posts  – there is so much beauty and inspiration in each of these, you’ll be amazed.

To Have + To Host

A few years ago, Lory was drawn to a beautiful fall tablescape from a high-end table-top rental company.  When she added up the cost of it for 6 people she realized it would be about $2000! She decided to try and duplicate it for much less and was able to do it for $200. She shares the original tablescape that she found the inspiration from and her version of it and how she was able to do it for less money.  Click here to see Lory’s Friendsgiving Tablescape.

Next, Lory shares how she made these super cute jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers. They are simple to make, yet impressive! They are also healthy! Veggies and Protien all in one!  The recipe calls for turkey or beef but you can use quinoa to make it vegetarian. I love this cute idea!  To see the details and the recipe click here: Jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers.

Home with Holliday

Holliday was inspired to make this beautiful  Thanksgiving Tree with Pumpkins from a bin of unused fall decor items. This is such a creative idea and if you love christmas trees like I do, here is one more reason to make a thanksgiving tree! Click on the link above for the details!

Holliday also shared her Elegant Halloween Tablescape with Pumpkins. The colors are the traditional halloween black and orange, but Holliday added in some softer colors that make this table a little more elegant. I absolutely love how this turned out! For the details, click on the the link above.

Home with HollyJ

This week I shared my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin recipe on the blog.  This is one of my favorite fall recipes.  My family loves it when I make theses and they don’t last long when they come out of the oven.  I also shared a recipe on how to make your own Pumpkin Spice.  This can be used in any recipe that calls for pumpkin spice or pumpkin pie spice.  You can make your own spice mix and never run out! Both recipes are linked above in the same post.

A few weeks ago I shared my favorite homemade roll recipe.  This is the best roll recipe! I make these for every holiday and on special occasions.  You won’t be disappointed when you try these delicious rolls! Click here for the recipe and details: The Best Homemade Rolls

Holliday “Holly” at Home with Holliday

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Elegant Halloween Tablescape

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My love for homemade goods

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love the smell of warm homemade rolls or bread baking!  That smell conjures up sweet memories of my childhood and fun times around the holidays with close friends and family. I really enjoy cooking for everyone in my life. My husband LOVES my cooking!  My second son, Jordan, has said that whoever he marries has to go to the Holly Jolley cooking school before he will marry them. I told him he might be single for a long time! It makes me so happy that my husband and kids love it so much when I make their favorite things to eat.

One of their favorite things is my homemade rolls.  These are no ordinary rolls. This recipe was given to me by my friend Kathy years ago. I think one of the reasons my husband likes these rolls so much is that they remind him of when he was growing up in Farmington, New Mexico, and visiting his grandparent’s spudnut shop.  A spudnut is a doughnut made with potato flour. This roll recipe has potato flakes in the dough so there are some similarities to the doughnuts he grew up eating. I prefer to make these over store-bought rolls. It’s a little more work, but so worth the effort! Anyone who comes to my house for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner knows they will get to have these yummy rolls!

Making the Dough

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The Best Homemade Rolls

These rolls are made with potatoes and are a tiny bit sweet.  They are the best rolls ever!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword rolls, bread, homemade, potato rolls, potato,

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup potato flakes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 8 cups flour

Instructions

• Microwave 3 cups milk for 6 minutes in a glass measuring cup or small bowl.  When done add 1/2 cup butter (1 cube) and 1 cup potato flakes to the hot milk and stir.  Let sit for a few minutes while the butter melts and the potatoes absorb liquid.
• While the milk is in the microwave put 1/4 cup warm water and 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast in a separate measuring cup and let sit.  Do not stir. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer and the dough hook attachment, put the 4 eggs, 1 Tbsp salt, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 cup butter in the mixing bowl. Mix for about one minute.
• Add milk/potato mixture to the mixer on the lowest setting. Mix for about 30 seconds.
• Add 4 cups flour to the mixing bowl one cup at a time and mix for about 30 seconds.
• Add yeast/water mixture, then add 4 more cups of flour one cup at a time.
• Knead on low speed for about 4-5 minutes.  The dough is quite sticky and moist.
• When done mixing the dough, spray a large metal or glass bowl with cooking spray and put the dough in the bowl to proof. Cover with a damp thin dish towel and let rise for about an hour.  The dough will double in size.
• When done proofing, sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Cut dough into 4 sections. I usually do croissants so I roll the dough into a large circle about 1/4" thickness.  Cut with a pizza cutter into triangles and roll up.  Lay them on a greased cookie sheet. Let them rise for about 10-15 minutes and then bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until they start to lightly brown on top and bottom.

Shaping the Rolls

[holly_healthful_tips]   Holly’s Helpful Hints *I use my dough hook on my Kitchenaid stand mixer or my bosch mixer for the entire mixing process. *1 ½ TBSP is equivalent to 1 Tbsp + 1 ½ tsp. *I divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out 4 different circles. I use a pastry scraper to cut the dough. * Can make into knots, balls, parker house shapes or whatever you like. I prefer the croissant shape. *Don’t over bake.  Watch bottom of rolls to make sure they don’t get too brown on bottom. *They are good the next day if you put them in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds.  Almost as good as fresh baked. *I sometimes roll them out into the shape I want, then freeze them on a cookie sheet for about an hour.  Then I put them in a ziplock bag and then I have rolls to bake when I need them. When ready to use them, let them rise on a greased cookie sheet for a couple hours then bake. *This recipe makes about 40-50 rolls depending on how big you make each roll.  This recipe can be doubled but you’ll need a big mixer to handle all the dough. [/holly_healthful_tips]

xoxo,

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Lazy Daisy Cake

The year before my Grandma Benson passed away, I gave her a recipe box filled with blank recipe cards as a Christmas gift.  The following Christmas, she gave the box back to me and had handwritten her favorite recipes on the recipe cards.  A month after this, she passed away. The recipes she wrote for me have become one of my most treasured possessions. Whenever I make this simple, yummy cake recipe, I think of her and the fond memories I have of her.  

One of my favorite recipes that she left for me was “Aunt Mickey’s Lazy Daisy Cake.”  It’s a sponge cake with a cooked, then broiled frosting. This is a family favorite and another one of the recipes I grew up enjoying.  We loved it when Grandma Benson (that’s her in the picture frame when she was a little girl) would come to visit because we knew she’d make us a Lazy Daisy Cake and her Chicken Cracker Casserole. I will need to share that recipe soon, too!  I haven’t been able to figure out who Aunt Mickey is, but I am sure happy she gave this recipe to my grandma! 

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!

Holly’s Helpful Tips:

[holly_healthful_tips]*I usually double the recipe for both the cake and the frosting and bake it in a 9 x 13 pan.  If you have a smaller crowd, you can use an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

*Don’t overcook the cake.  When it’s a light brown on the top and springs back after you touch the middle, it is done.  You can also insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes back clean, it’s done.

*This recipe calls for scalded milk which is milk brought nearly to a boil and then slightly cooled down. Scalded milk makes sponge cakes springier. Slowly heat milk over medium-low heat. The key here is to heat the milk, but not to bring it to a boil. Boiling will burn your milk. Stir continuously to prevent milk from thickening, burning, or sticking to the bottom of the pan. Look for steam and small bubbles around the edges of your saucepan, then remove immediately from heat.[/holly_healthful_tips]

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Lazy Daisy Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp butter

Instructions

• Sift together 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.
• Butter and flour an 8×8 or 9×9 cake pan, and set aside.
• With a hand or stand mixer, beat 2 eggs until creamy. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar in while still beating the eggs. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Scald the 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan and then add 1 tbsp butter into the milk and stir until the butter is melted. Add the milk and butter into the mixing bowl all at once. Mix until incorporated. Don’t over-mix the batter. This is a thin batter.
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cake is done in the middle. It will turn golden brown on top.
• When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and set it aside. Then make the frosting.

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Lazy Daisy Frosting

This is a cooked frosting made in a saucepan and then broiled in the oven after it's spread on top of the cake. 

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp evaporated milk

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine all the ingredients and stir.  
• Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and stir until bubbling. Remove from the heat and pour on top of the warm cake. Spread the frosting to cover the entire cake.
• Turn the oven onto broil and return the cake to the oven on the top rack just under the broiler. Leave the oven door cracked open so you can watch the cake. Don’t walk away as this happens quite fast and you don’t want to burn the frosting. When the frosting starts to bubble, take the cake out and serve it warm.

Check out some of my other dessert recipes:

Aunt Jeannie’s Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

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Simple yummy cake recipe

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Have you ever eaten something and after the first bite, you were transported back to a fond memory? That’s how I feel every time I eat these scones and honey butter!

Disclaimer: This post does include affiliate links for your convenience. This is at NO additional cost to you but earns me a small commission. To read more, check out our disclosure policy.

The Story Behind the Scones and Honey Butter

One of my earliest memories from my childhood was going to a restaurant called Me & Stan’s in Rexburg, Idaho with my grandparents. I distinctly remember the first time I bit into their scones covered in honey butter and I’ve been hooked ever since! Every time I visited my grandparents in Idaho, I always had to go to Me & Stan’s and get my fill. When I went to college in Idaho, I carried on my tradition and would go there often with my roommates.

When I was driving through Rigby, Idaho a few weeks back, I discovered that Me & Stan’s had closed!  I was heartbroken. Not only are the scones and honey butter my favorite thing on this planet, but the memories made there were precious to me.  I couldn’t imagine going the rest of my life without one of Stan’s scones slathered in honey butter! Going there every summer made me feel close to my grandparents who passed away many years ago. Later that week I googled Me & Stan’s and figured out that Stan, now 83 years old, had retired. I had tried to figure out how to make these on my own over the years and could never quite get it right.

After thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided to try to track Stan down. I figured it was a small town and he couldn’t be too hard to find! I got online again to search, and sure enough, there was Stan’s phone number! I called and he answered on the first ring! I introduced myself and told him about my memories of being a little girl and going to his restaurant with my grandparents and continuing to visit during my college days. We chatted for a while and he seemed delighted that I had called him. We became fast friends and we realized he had known many of my extended relatives who had passed on. I decided to get up the nerve to ask him if I could buy his recipes! He told me that he had sold it to a company in Utah and I was crushed! We continued to chat and I shared with him how I had tried replicating his honey butter and scone dough, but I couldn’t quite get it right!  I told him all the ingredients I had used for the honey butter and he shared that I was really close to getting it right. He suggested to use a simple syrup made of sugar and water instead of powdered sugar and validated the rest of the ingredients I had mentioned to help me try to figure it out.  

I then asked him about the dough. He told me to find a sweet bread or roll dough recipe from an old Idaho cookbook. Well, I just happened to have some of my grandma’s old Idaho cookbooks and I started looking through them. I was able to find a handful of recipes, so I had a good idea of what the right ingredients were. I started playing around with some of the recipes I found and I think I’ve finally come up with the perfect scone dough recipe that is as close to Stan’s as I can get!

I used a couple of Stan’s suggestions and was able to get the honey butter down perfectly as well! I was so excited! My family was too, of course, because now I can make the same scones and honey butter that they had grown up eating when we’d visited family in Idaho.

I appreciated the time Stan took to speak with me. He is a sweet and dear man! As we were ending our conversation, he told me to give him a call next time I’m in Idaho and we will go have a coke! I hope to be able to do that with him someday. I’ll never forget the impact this sweet man has had on my life with his delicious recipes and for taking the time to speak with me and share some tips to help me replicate the scones and honey butter. I hope you will also be able to feel a little bit of his love when you try these for yourselves!

[holly_healthful_tips]   Holly’s Helpful Tips:

*Lukewarm is hotter than you think so make sure your water and milk are warm enough to activate the yeast. Make sure the sugar is mixed in well too.

*If you don’t have a kitchen aid mixer, you can use any mixer that has a dough hook to mix up the dough.  If you don’t have a stand mixer, you will want to mix it together with a spoon and then lay it on a floured surface and knead the dough by hand until it’s all mixed together well.

* For frying, I use a cast iron pan, but any deep frying pan will do.

*You can use vegetable or canola oil if you don’t have peanut oil or are dealing with any food allergies

*This will make a large batch of honey butter, but it can be stored for quite awhile in the refrigerator. You can half it if you don’t want to make this large of a batch. We use honey butter on cornbread, biscuits and my homemade rolls to so it’s nice to have a container of it on hand.

*When you’ve mixed all of the honey butter ingredients together, let it go a little longer to incorporate some air into it. This will make it more like a whipped butter.   [/holly_healthful_tips]

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Stan’s Honey Butter

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Chill Time 1 hour hour

Servings 50

Ingredients

• 1 lb Butter Room Temperature
• 1 lb Margarine Room Temperature
• 14 oz Marshmallow Creme
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 cup Honey

Instructions

• Mix 1/2 cup Water and 1/2 cup Sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, remove it from the heat. Set aside to cool.
• In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer, whip 1 lb Butter, and 1 lb Margarine until they start to become fluffy. Then add in 1 1/2 cup Honey, 14 oz Marshmallow Creme, and the simple syrup.
• Keep whipping it until it’s all mixed together well and has formed a creamy, whipped consistency. 
• Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until use. 

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Stan’s Scones

In Idaho and Utah, people call fried bread scones! This recipe is straight from this area and tastes amazing! Fried bread has a lot of names depending on where it comes from in the world but whatever you choose to call it, it's always good! Give this scones and honey butter a try, you'll not regret it!

Course Breakfast, brunch, dessert recipe, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword fried bread, honey butter, idaho scones, scones

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 1 cup Water Lukewarm
• 1 cup Milk Lukewarm
• 1 TBSP Yeast
• 1/4 cup Butter Melted
• 4 TBSP Sugar
• 5 cups Flour
• 2 tsp Salt
• Peanut Oil For Frying

Instructions

• In a mixer or large mixing bowl, blend 1 cup Water, 1 cup Milk, 4 TBSP Sugar, and 1 TBSP Yeast and blend together well. Let stand until it bubbles and looks frothy on top.
• Melt 1/4 cup Butter and set aside. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk the 5 cups Flour and 2 tsp Salt together.
• When yeast mixture is ready, add in the melted butter and then slowly add the flour and salt mixture one cup at a time. Mix together until everything is mixed together well.  
• Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and transfer dough into it. Cover with a damp dishcloth and put in warm place for the dough to rise. Let rise for about an hour or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
• Sprinkle extra flour onto a clean surface and dump out the dough onto the floured surface. Rub flour around your rolling pin and start to roll the dough out into a rectangle. Roll out to about ½” thick and then cut them into 3”x3” sized squares.  
• Put about 1-2” of Peanut Oil in a cast iron pan and heat to about 320-330 degrees. Do not exceed 340 or you will burn the dough. The scones should float in the oil and not sit on the bottom of the pan while frying.
• Fry scones on each side until a light brown color and flip over and do the same on the other side. They will begin to puff up. Drain on a plate with paper towels.
• Serve warm with honey butter.

To see more of the scones and a fun entertaining idea check out my Pie-oneer Day post.

I hope you love these recipes as much as my family and I do! Enjoy!

XOXO

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Photos by homewithhollyj and Cara @catcherintheryephotography  – www.honeyandliving.com

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