Mandazi

I learned about Mandazi (a.k.a. Maandazi, or Mahamri when made with coconut milk) about 6 years ago, from a cookbook for a popular Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, NJ.  That recipe used bananas, and when I tried it I didn't get a very good result (I'm 100% sure that was my fault, rather than the fault of a bad recipe).   Today my oldest daughter had to choose a country to report on for school.  Thanks to the presence of African wildlife, she picked Kenya.  One of the things that we needed to research was the nation's cuisine, among which, was Mandazi, and my daughter thought they looked fantastic.  I searched online for a quick recipe, and once again I found myself whipping up a batch of these fritter-style doughnuts-like fried breads popular in much of Africa. This time the result was pretty fantastic, and I decided that the recipes are both worth sharing.
(I believe this is pronounced "maenDAzee", but if anyone knows more about this please feel free to educate me.  The cookbook calls it Mandizi, but that's the only time I've found it by that name.)

Mandazi:
2 cups of flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (some recipes call for yeast)
1 tsp butter (yes, that is teaspoon, not tablespoon)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. allspice (Other recipes called for cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg.  I used cinnamon)

Mix together the flour, spice(s) and baking powder.  Cut in the butter.  Add the sugar and mix in.  In a separate bowl beat the egg, add the water and milk to it, and add them to the dry ingredients.  Knead into a soft but workable dough.  Cut into desired shapes and fry in hot oil until lightly golden.

"Mandizi"
Angel  of the Sea Bed and Breakfast Cookbook

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup self-rising flour
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas

Beat egg and milk together.  Add the flour and sugar.  Blend in the mashed bananas.  Drop by rounded tablespoons into hot oil.  Turn with slotted spoon when brown.  Drain on paper towel and dust with powdered sugar.  Make sure the oil is not too hot, as the centers won't cook until the outside is too brown.

Cinnamon Rolls

I found this recipe online and have made it twice, and they are positively mouthwatering.  This is a no-yeast recipe (Apparently there is a heated debate as to whether yeast should be required to make a good cinnamon roll? I found all sorts of commentary on this.) and is relatively easy to make, despite the long list of ingredients.  I'm sure they are terribly unhealthy, but TRUST ME, they're worth the occasional indulgence.  

Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (divided) 

Filling:

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

Start off by preheating your oven to 425 and greasing a 9" round cake pan or pie plate, or a square baking dish.  Combine the filling ingredients until crumbly and moist-through, and set them aside.  

To make the dough, in two separate bowls whisk together the dry ingredients and the milk with 2Tbsp of the melted butter.  

Mix them together just until it's wet through, and then dump them onto a well floured surface and knead them about a minute. 

 Using your hands and a rolling pin, form a rectangle about 12" long and 9" wide.  Brush another 2Tbsp melted butter on top and then pour the filling onto the dough, spreading it evenly up to about 1/2" from the edges, and press it in with a spoon or the back of your measuring cup. 

Roll the dough into a log.  It is soft, and this will be a bit messy.  Even if they don't look great they sure taste crazy-good and the frosting will cover the lumps.  Cut the log into 8-9 (8 for round pans, 9 for square) sections, and lay them in the pan.  Brush on the remaining 2Tbsp of melted butter and bake them for about 20-25 minutes.  The recipe calls for dumping them onto a greased cooling rack and cooling them for 10 minutes before frosting them.  I frosted them right in the pan after allowing them 10 minutes to cool.  It kept the gold, I mean frosting, from wasting and they kept well covered with cling-wrap in the fridge.  My husband claims that they're even better when they're chilled.  It's a close call.  Either way, they're delicious, and I plan to keep this recipe ready for holidays and special occasions (when I don't mind gaining 4 pounds at breakfast).  

Notes: This amount of frosting actually covered BOTH of the batches that I made!  After liberally frosting the first batch (I admit, I like frosting and I drowned the rolls in it) I froze the other 1/2 and used it when I made the second batch 2 months later! It was still fantastic and covered them completely.  These pictures were of my second batch.  

I also found that you can put this all together at night and store them, covered, in the fridge until morning and then bake them and frost them.  I did this for Christmas morning and they baked while we opened gifts.  

Pancakes! Pancakes!

This is one of those things that I dedicated myself to and it paid off.  I have tried approximately 365,912 pancake recipes, and through a lot of trial and error I have finally created a perfect set of my own custom recipes.  I have my mouthwatering, blubber-building, buttery carb-cakes, and my lean, mean, muscle-building protein pancakes, and my tiger-striped pancakes (GO TIGERS!) and my whole wheat cranberry pancakes... (to name a few)  And, of course, the shape and topping possibilities are endless.  Here are some of my pet recipes:

Amanda's Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
Mix well and fry in butter until golden brown


Amanda's Whole Wheat Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs


Amanda's Whole Wheat Cranberry Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. dried cranberries sprinkled onto each pancake just after you drop it on the griddle.

Amanda's Power Pancakes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups soy milk
2 scoops Body Fortress Vanilla protein powder
2 eggs

(For a carb-based menu item, these tote a relatively low calorie count and pack a whopping 6-8 grams of protein per pancake depending on the size.  I usually top mine with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.)

Amanda's Cornbread Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla (optional with this recipe)
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

"Fillng":
3/4 cup brown sugar
3-4 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. melted butter

Glaze:
6 oz. cream cheese - softened
2 Tbsp. butter - softened
1 cup powdered sugar (you can add more or less of this depending on how thick you want your glaze/frosting)
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare your glaze and set it aside. Mix the filling ingredients and put them into a small zipper bag or a pastry bag.  Make the batter as you normally would and pour it onto your griddle to make your pancakes, then snip the corner off of the filling bag and drizzle the filling in a spiral shape onto the pancakes on the griddle.  Flip as you normally would.  After you pancakes are golden on both sides stack them up and glaze them with the cream cheese glaze.

Tiger-striped Pancakes
Inspired by on of my girls' favorite bedtime stories ("The Boy and the Tigers" by Helen Bannerman) this recipe  also boasts a bit of school-pride for us, as the tiger is our district mascot.  Divide your favorite pancake batter into 2 bowls, and mix 1/2 cup cocoa and 1 Tbsp. milk into one of the bowls.  After pouring the regular batter out on the griddle streak the cocoa batter across the top with a spoon.  Flip as normal.  ENJOY!

(Who says you shouldn't play with your food?!?!?!?!?)