One-in-a-million puffs

If confidence is the key to winning a recipe contest, then Laurel Hatfield might as well have a million dollars in her pocket. The 22-year-old home cook from Priest River, Idaho, had never entered a recipe contest before. Now, she’s one of 100 finalists in the 41st Pillsbury Bake-Off. And she plans to win.

“I’m being very optimistic. When I entered, everyone just laughed at me,” says Hatfield. “Well, I made it.”

After reading about the call for entries in the newspaper, Hatfield began experimenting. She had never created a recipe of her own, but she’s not known for following them anyway. She starts with a recipe as a guide and then improvises, she says.

She entered a handful of possibilities, but her Creamy Apple Puffs recipe has put her in the running for the million-dollar grand prize.

“It actually wasn’t one of my favorites at the time,” she says. “Now, it is.” She pulled together the breakfast biscuits stuffed with cream cheese, apples and dates from ingredients in her refrigerator.

Hatfield’s husband Jakob was the chief taste tester for her creations. “My husband, he is really picky and tells me what I’m doing wrong,” she says.

She learned to cook by watching her mother and grandmother while growing up in Priest River, and she has always loved being in the kitchen. Today, Hatfield is a stay-at-home mom to 4-year-old Hailey and 5-month-old Emily. “One of the things that I do love to do is bread and hot rolls,” she says.

When Pillsbury held its first bake-off contest in 1949, the only requirement was that the recipe use Pillsbury’s BEST flour. Because women rarely worked outside the home and had hours to spend in the kitchen, the recipes sent to the contest were often lavish and time consuming, according to Pillsbury.

Recipes for scratch cakes were the largest category of entries in the first decade of the contest, followed by yeast and quick breads, pies and cookies. There were very few main dishes in the final round. The first winning recipe, for No-Knead Water Rising Twists, required the dough to be wrapped in a tea towel and submerged in warm water to rise.

Now, convenience is key. Recipes for this year’s bake-off had to be simple and quick to prepare. It takes just 15 minutes to get Hatfield’s biscuits ready for the oven. She’ll be competing against 94 other women and five men from 33 states.

Hatfield will go to Hollywood on June 26 for the competition. She plans to make it a family vacation with her husband and their daughters. And they’re keeping their return plans open — just in case.

Here’s her recipe:

Creamy Apple Puffs

From Laurel Hatfield of Priest River, Idaho

For the puffs:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 (17.3-ounce) can Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle Refrigerated Extra Rich Biscuits

1 cup loosely packed, shredded unpeeled apple (about 1 large), drained on paper towels

1/4 cup chopped dates

For the icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until well blended; set aside.

Separate dough into 8 biscuits; separate each evenly into 2 rounds. Place 8 rounds on ungreased cookie sheet. Spread each biscuit round on cookie sheet with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture to within 1/2 inch of the edge.

Top each with 1 rounded tablespoon loosely packed apple and 1 rounded teaspoon dates. Press remaining biscuit halves out slightly. Place each on apple-topped biscuit round; press edges to seal.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, blend 1/2 cup powdered sugar with enough milk for desired drizzling consistency until smooth.

Immediately remove rolls from cookie sheet. Drizzle icing over warm rolls.

Yield: 8 rolls

Approximate nutrition per serving: 330 calories, 14 grams fat (5 grams saturated, 38 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrate, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 780 milligrams sodium.

This is the first Pillsbury Bake-Off winning recipe from 1949. It originally required the dough to be wrapped in a tea towel and submerged in warm water. Pillsbury has updated and streamlined the recipe for today.

No-Knead Water-Rising Twists

From Theodora Smafield of Rockford, Ill.

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups Pillsbury BEST All Purpose or Unbleached Flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package active dry yeast

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, salt and yeast; blend well.

In a small saucepan, heat milk and margarine until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Add warm liquid, vanilla and eggs to flour mixture; blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, stir in remaining 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups flour to form a soft dough. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place (80 to 85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes. (Dough will be sticky.)

Grease 2 large cookie sheets. In a small bowl, combine nuts, remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; blend well. Drop about 1/4 cup dough into nut mixture; thoroughly coat. Stretch dough to about 8 inches in length; twist into desired shape. Place on greased cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover; let rise in warm place, about 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Uncover dough. Bake 8 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets; cool on wire racks. Serve warm.

Yield: 12 rolls

Nutrition per roll: 320 calories, 12 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 34 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrate, 35 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 290 milligrams sodium.