Back when I was a wee lass, my family and I
went to Ohio to visit my
Great Aunt Arlene, Uncle Doyle and my Mema.
It was a trip we took often.
Our time, my sister's and mine, was
spent primarily at Aunt Arlene's watching TV.
We did other things, sight-seeing and
playing with Mema's doll-babies as well.
However, some of my fondest memories
were spent at my Aunt's home.
Liv and I got to spend the night on occasion
and she treated us like princesses.
Really and truthfully, it was good ole spoiling
that was being done but we sure appreciated it!
Anyway, one of the times we visited it was close to Christmas.
Aunt Arlene had already begun her Christmas baking and
one goody that has stood out in my memory for all these years
are her pepperoni rolls.
Those things were fantastic!
They were the perfect finger food and when you
bit into them your taste buds were in for a nice
pepperoni surprise.
The bread was sweet and the spice of the pepperoni
was a perfect combination!
As I grew and became more proficient in the kitchen,
I started experimenting to try to come up with the same
recipe.
I've never been overly pleased with my outcomes.
I used crescent rolls from a can for years.
I'd roll a pepperoni into one roll at a time but
they just didn't quite do it for me.
They weren't quite right.
One time my mom and I used Rhode's Rolls
to mimic Aunt Arlene's Pepperoni Rolls.
I laugh when I think how long it took to make those things!
We had to wait for the frozen dough to rise and then
we'd divide the little balls into thirds and so on and so forth.
Needless to say, looooooooong process.
I somewhat wrote those rolls off my list
for a couple years but,
my hubs loves pepperoni.
He's also quite fond of cheese.
I began to think maybe I could make a bread with pepperoni
and cheese in it.
Like a calzone without the marinara inside.
I was browsing through my favorite food blogs
when I happened upon a recipe for pepperoni cheese bread!
I thought, "Wow! This it it!"
Rolled loaf of pepperoni and cheese! Splendid!
The recipe I had seen used frozen bread dough and I
really didn't want to mess with that.
So, I found a basic white bread recipe that I could put in my
bread machine on the 'dough only' setting.
Then, I rolled the dough out onto my floured counter,
spread a generous helping of cheese and pepperonis onto the dough.
I rolled up the pepperoni glittered dough and placed it into a bread pan.
Of course, I let it rise again and then baked it.
I can't believe how really easy this was to make.
"Thank you my handy bread machine!"
This bread may not be quite the same as Aunt Arlene's Pepperoni Rolls,
but, it was certainly, in my mind, inspired by her rolls.
I wouldn't have made this if it hadn't been for those simple yet
tantalizingly delicious rolls I'd eaten all those many years ago.
