Recipes

The following recipes are samples from The Braces Cookbook by Pamela Waterman and Brenda Waterman. These recipes are safe for braces and are delicious!

To purchase The Braces Cookbook, please visit www.BracesCookbook.com.


Banana Bread

In our house, this banana bread always disappears in less than 24 hours. It's a treat for breakfast, lunch and snacks, and breaks easily into tiny bites for tender-teeth days. When your braces come off, you could add half a cup of chopped walnuts.

3 large or 4 small ripe bananas, sliced
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine (allow to soften an hour at room temperature if you have time)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 60-65 minutes.

In a small bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the bananas together. Set them aside. In a large bowl, cream the margarine, sugar and eggs. Add the flour, soda and salt to the egg mixture, and then add the bananas. The batter will be a bit stiff.

Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan with shortening or spray-oil, and then pour in batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes, depending on how dark you like the crust. It cuts into neater slices if you let it cool for half an hour. But we can never wait!

Mmm Mmm Milk Shakes

Chocolate
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons light cream
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
1/4 cup of chocolate ice cream
1/4 cup of vanilla ice cream

Vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons light cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

Mix all ingredients in a blender or stir very well by hand. Makes one serving.

Flavored Ice-Cream Shakes

Coffee or Mocha
1 1/4 cups ginger ale
1 cup coffee ice cream
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules or 1 tablespoon
chocolate syrup

Black Cow
11/4 cups root beer
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry
11/4 cups ginger ale
1 cup strawberry ice cream
(optional: 1/2 cup cut-up strawberries)

Chocolate
1 1/4 cups cola
1 cup chocolate ice cream
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

Mix all ingredients in a blender or stir very well by hand. Makes one serving.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon baking soda
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
about 50 Hershey's chocolate Kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 11 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar, using an electric mixer. Add eggs, salt and vanilla, and beat until creamy. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir the baking soda into the warm water. Add water mixture to the peanut butter mixture alternately with the flour, until well blended.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 11 minutes at 350 degrees. While they are baking, unwrap the foil from the Kisses. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, "kiss" them. Makes four dozen. Store in a covered container.

Variation: For a double-chocolate effect, decrease the flour to 2 1/4 cups and add 1/4 cup of cocoa.

Soft-Crust Pizza

Fast, easy, and fun for children to do themselves or as a family "assembly project." These pizzas make use of pre-mixed biscuit dough. Don't have any on hand? See the mix-it-yourself directions below, and then let your imagination lead you to new possibilities in pizza perfection. You might want to make two!

1 tablespoon corn meal
3 cups biscuit mix (purchased or from below)
11/2 cups water
Spray-type vegetable oil, or vegetable oil with a brush
2 to 3 cups pizza sauce (purchased)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of grated cheeses (mozzarella, Asiago, mild cheddar, Parmesan)
Your choice of green peppers, sausage or bacon (cooked and crumbled), pepperoni slices, mushrooms, etc., chopped in small pieces
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pre-bake crust for 4 minutes, then bake complete pizza for 13 minutes.

Sprinkle corn meal all over a cookie sheet or pizza pan. In a large bowl with a spoon, stir together the biscuit mix and the water. Sprinkle your hands with flour, then pat the dough into a 12-inch circle or square, directly on the pan. Build up a bit of dough around the edge to make a rim for holding the sauce. Spray or brush the dough lightly with oil, then bake for just 4 minutes at 450 degrees.

Carefully pour pizza sauce on top, then add grated cheese and the other toppings of your choice. Bake complete pizza for an additional 13 minutes at 450 degrees; checking that the edges are just golden, to keep them soft.

Biscuit Mix:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry powdered milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients with a pastry cutter or fork. Makes a generous 3 cups of biscuit mix. Keep any extra mix refrigerated in a sealed bowl or bag. It will keep for a few weeks.

Twisty Soft Pretzels

Just like the ones you pay two dollars for at the mall kiosks. These are big and soft. Get them while they're hot!

3/4 cup warm water
1/2 envelope yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
Pinches of salt or cinnamon-sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together warm water, yeast and sugar. In a large bowl, mix salt and flour with a large spoon. After 5 minutes, stir yeast into flour mix.

With well-floured hands, shape dough into 6-inch rods, initials, animals or traditional twisted pretzel shapes. Brush them with the beaten egg and place on a greased cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle them with extra salt or cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

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