Taste of Home makes baking easier with simple instructions, tips

The editors of Taste of Home magazine are following up their successful “Taste of Home Cookbook” with a volume devoted to baking.

“The Taste of Home Baking Book” includes more than 725 recipes passed from home cooks to the magazine editors. The ring-bound edition includes a subscription to Taste of Home magazine and a couple of splatter guards to keep the batter off its pages.

The book also includes handy tips and how-tos, and color pictures for many of the recipes.

The editors pride themselves on recipes that include easy to follow, step-by-step instructions and rely on ingredients that are easily found at the supermarket.

Taste of Home books can be purchased in bookstores and through Reader’s Digest Books, its parent company, at www.rd.com.

Swiss-Onion Bread Ring

This recipe from Judi Messina, Coeur d’Alene, appears in the new “Taste of Home Baking Book.” With the ease of refrigerated bread dough, this tempting cheesy bread offers a delicious, down-home goodness. It is crisp and golden on the outside and rich and buttery on the inside.

2 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds, divided

2 tubes (11 ounces each) refrigerated white bread dough

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

3/4 cup sliced green onions

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds into a greased 10-inch fluted tube pan. Cut the bread dough into 40 1-inch pieces; place half in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the cheese and onions. Top with 1 teaspoon poppy seeds; drizzle with half of the butter. Repeat layers.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately invert onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 loaf

Approximate nutrition per 2-ounce serving: 176 calories, 8 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 41 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrate, 18 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 280 milligrams sodium.