Pumpkin Granola

It is still Fall and I am still making everything pumpkin.  Granola is a great snack but can often pack in a surprising number of calories.  This recipe is relatively "skinny."  The canned pumpkin is utilized as the glue for the granola mixture.  The pumpkin puree combined with the traditional pumpkin spices makes this a very flavorful granola.  I have been eating this plain as a snack and with a banana and milk as a quick breakfast.  As with any granola, you should feel free to adjust and improvise the ingredients to make this what you want.

Recipe from Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and pat dry with paper towel
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts, or whatever you like
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, apricot or dates
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp oil (coconut or canola)
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325° F.  
• Spread oats and quinoa out on a parchment lined baking pan. Toast in the oven 10 minutes, stirring once.
• Remove the oats from the oven, pour the toasted oats into a medium bowl and add the ground flaxseeds, pepitas, pecans and dried fruit. 
• Reduce oven to 300° F.
• Add maple syrup, pumpkin puree, oil, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, salt and vanilla.  Stir together with a spatula. 
• Spread back onto a baking sheet and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until golden.
  

Gingerbread Bundt Cake and the return of baking

It is Fall!  After a hot, long Summer, I can finally turn on my oven again.  To celebrate this occasion I decided to make a very autumn dessert for a luncheon my mom was throwing.  This gingerbread bundt is my new favorite recipe.  The cake tastes unique and flavorful without being too sweet.  The recipe is very easy and the best part is that gingerbread is best made the day ahead of time.  Therefore, this is the perfect thing to bring to a party. 

There are some interesting ingredients in this cake.  Most notable is the cup of molasses and cup of Guinness that makes the rich, dark syrup for the cake.  Lucky for me, I always keep both ingredients on hand.

I pulled the recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen.  If you are looking for a new blog to follow, I highly recommend it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
•  1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• Confectioners sugar for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  HEAVILY grease and flour your bundt pan.  I had a lot of gooey goodness left in my pan after baking even after I thought I over-greased.  Really go for it with this one.

Pour guinness and molasses into a large (yes large) saucepan, bring to a boil and then remove from heat.  (You will have some Guinness leftover.  Do NOT let that go to waste!)

Whisk in baking soda.  There will be a fizzy, foamy reaction that occurs.  Don't panic, just keep stirring until it calms down and let it cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of your stand mixer whisk together eggs, white sugar and brown sugar until well combined.  Then, add in the oil and molasses/guinness mixture. Stir until just combined.  Add in the flour, baking powder and spices and whisk again until just combined.

Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, check at about 46 minutes.

Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.
 

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Somebody in my house turned 26 recently and a party was in order.  We invited our friends over for drinks and snacks before heading out to the bars in Uptown.  I knew that cupcakes or cake were a must.  However, I also wanted something that wasn't too messy or too fussy so people could easy grab and eat while chatting.  I settled on these ice cream cone cupcakes which are my friend Kelly's specialty.  They were quite the hit!  I was surprised by the number of people at the party who had never had these before.  


Here is the recipe I used.  It can also be found on the side of many cake cone boxes.


Ingredients:
1 box of funfetti cake mix (or your mix of choice)
1 box of cake cones
Frosting of your choice (either the store bought or recipe below)


Directions:
- Follow the recipe on the cake mix box
- Place 12 cake cones in a muffin tin
- Fill each cone 3/4 full with cake mix
- Bake at 350 for 18-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Immediately take baked cupcakes out of the muffin tin and place them on a cooling rack. This prevents   the cones from getting soggy
- Repeat the filling/baking process until all your cake mix has been used


Frosting
- Once cupcakes are completely cool it is time to frost them
- If you bought store bought just spread it on ;)

Or

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 package of Philly cream cheese (low fat is fine), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

- Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.

- Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cupcake

Place cones in muffin tin cups and fill 3/4 full

Bake at 350 for 18-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean

Once cupcakes are completely cool, frost, decorate, and place animal print candle in the center.    Now, sing happy birthday and celebrate!

Some Many Recipes, So Little Time

I may have a food blog addiction.  I am currently following over 20 different food bloggers on a daily basis.  Logging into my Google Reader and getting the daily rundown is now part of my routine.  I follow bloggers that write about everything from clean eating (Gracious Pantry) to baking (Brown Eyed Bakers) to vegan (Engine 2 Diet) to breads (Wild Yeast) and a little bit of everything in between.   When I see a recipe I want to try I will copy the URL into an email and then email it to myself.   Recently, I discovered that I had a large number of recipe emails.  So, here is a list of Summer recipes you should give a try:

Smitten Kitchen: Tzatziki Potato Salad: a new twist on a summer classic.

Mississippi Kitchen: Layers of Love Torte: a calorie BOMB but I sent this to my brother because it looked like something he would devour and still stay incredibly skinny (I hate him for this).

Annie's Eats: Mexican Lasagna: a little odd to mix mexican and italian but I sent this to my friend CT.  It totally looked like something she would enjoy.

Brown Eyed Baker: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars: I will make these.  Yum!

Let me know if you give any of these a try.  I'd love to hear how the recipe turns out for you.

Red Velvet Cake

March 29th is a special day in our family (yes, this post is really delayed!).  It is my Dad AND my brother's birthday.  This year my Dad requested a red velvet cake to celebrate.  After searching the web for a good recipe, I settled on a Southern style recipe with some modifications.  I also learned that red velvet cake is basically chocolate cake with a TON of red food coloring thrown in!

Ingredients

vegetable oil, for the pans

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring ( 1oz)

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream cheese frosting

1 lb cream cheese, softened

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened ( 1 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.

2.   In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

3.   Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

4.  Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

5.  Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

6. Cream Cheese Frosting: In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber 

7. Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. 

8. Enjoy with the Birthday Boys!

  

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

This post could also be titled, "what to do with leftover buttermilk."  Buttermilk is such a rare ingredient that I was somewhat at a loss for how to use it up.  Then I recalled that when I was growing up the presence of buttermilk in the fridge usually meant my Mom was baking Irish Soda Bread.  I chose to give this recipe a try because it maintains the same great flavor without having to make an entire loaf of bread.  In fact, I baked this recipe, allowed it to cool and then put the most of the muffins in the freezer.  They will be a great treat to warm up one by one.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup salted butter
1 cup buttermilk (low fat is fine)
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup raisins (I used golden raisins because that's what my mom always uses)
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray small muffin tins or large muffin tins with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With pastry cutter or two knives used scissors fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (You can also do this part in a food processor and let the blades mix the flour & butter together or just use your fingers). In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk and egg until blended. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine but do not over stir. Stir in raisins.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.  Then, take a brush and lightly brush the top of each muffin with a little egg. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (longer for the larger muffins), or until cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.

4. Remove muffin tin or tins to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack. Serve warm or cool completely and store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature.

Flappers

Last weekend, JQ, Lukey and I had breakfast at Colossal Cafe in St. Anthony Park (website found here).  It is the cutest place owned by one of our former high school classmates.  My review of her place, "oh. my. gawd!"

If you are in the tri-state area you need to make your way to Colossal!  Everything was amazing.  The space is cute, the people are friendly, the coffee is strong (and there are self-serve refills!), all the food is homemade delicious and the menu is filled with great cafe/diner comfort foods.  There was one item in particular that I have seriously been thinking about ever since we left.  That item is the Flapper.

A Flapper is a yeasted pancake.  It is lighter than a normal pancake and has much more flavor.  I also thought the texture was far superior.  Instead of being soggy like a normal pancake, this held its form and had something like a crust on it.  I consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and will rate these Flappers as the best darn pancake EVER.

Here is a recipe I came across for yeasted pancakes.  I am going to attempt to make these at home but will definitely also return to Colossal very soon.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

• 
  

• 1 1/2 cups milk

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 3 large egg yolks

Directions

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until lukewarm ( or microwave for about 20-30 seconds). Transfer milk to a large bowl, and stir in sugar and yeast. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.


Whisk in flour, salt, butter, and egg yolks until batter is smooth (don't overstir). Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer bowl to a warm place (I always use my unheated oven); let dough rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours)


Heat griddle to 375 degrees. Using a 2-ounce (1/4-cup) ladle, pour batter onto griddle, creating several pools, 2 inches apart. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on the top and the edges are slightly dry, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, flip pancakes; cook until golden on bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm.

Rhubarb Lemon Buttermilk Bundt

Hello Friends, I must apologize for the long absence.  The month of April just slipped away from me.  However, I am back at it so please continue to check back regularly for some recipes worth sharing.

Rhubarb Lemon Buttermilk Bundt

March was unusually balmy here in Minnesota and with that came a flourishing crop of Rhubarb.  Rhubarb is a Midwest staple but not readily available everywhere in the country.  However, at my parents house we have more Rhubarb than we know what to do with.  So, last weekend I took about a pound of Rhubarb stalks out of their garden and decided I would work this into a brunch baked good for my upcoming Book Club gathering.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Cake cooling before adding the lemon soak & glaze

Recipe adapted from honey & jam

The rhubarb, lemon and buttermilk blend in this recipe to make a very delicious sweet and tart cake.  The buttermilk also made the texture of this cake pretty dense without feeling heavy.  I will definitely be making this again.

For the Bundt Cake
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour1 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon fine sea salt1 cup unsalted butter1 3/4 cups granulated sugarzest of 1 lemon3 eggs1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (i used lemon extract)3/4 cup buttermilk1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and very thinly sliced (3 cups prepped)


For the Lemon Soak
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon sugar

For the Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, more as neededJuice of 1 lemon1 tablespoon nearly melted butter
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-cup bundt pan.
To make the cake, sift the 2 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the lemon oil. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. The batter will be very thick.
Toss the rhubarb with the 2 tablespoons of flour and fold half into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining rhubarb on top.


Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate the pan and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched (Mine took about 1 hour and 15 minutes total). Cool the cake in its pan on the wire rack for 30 minutes before inverting and removing the pan.


To make the lemon soak juice 1/2 of a lemon into a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Throw this in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then whisk with a fork until sugar is dissolved.  Ladle this over the cooled bundt cake and let it soak in.

To make the lemon glaze, whisk the confectioners sugar, lemon juice and butter together. The mixture should be thick. If it’s not, whisk in another tablespoon or two of the sugar. Spread the glaze over the cake as soon as you remove it from the pan.

The finished product.

Note: If you want to make this a day ahead bake the cake, let it cool, and then wrap and cover over night. Then, the next day add the lemon soak and the lemon glaze.


Another note: if you cannot find Rhubarb, try blueberries, raspberries, or cherries.

Butterscotch Blondies

Here is an excellent recipe for Blondies.  We originally came across this on one of my favorite blogs, Annie Eats.  She uses the recipe to make a decadent two layered cake with butterscotch AND chocolate ganache poured over it.  It looks delicious but a little rich for my taste so I made a few adaption.


Here is the recipe for Butterscotch Blondies adapted from Annie Eats:

Butterscotch Blondies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 (11 oz.) package butterscotch chips, divided

NOTE: you can really use whatever kind of chips you want with this recipe.  It would be delicious with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, m&ms, white chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc.  I just used butterscotch because my Mother gave up chocolate for lent.

For the butterscotch ganache (Optional):
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9X13 glass brownie pan. 

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed until creamy.  Scrape down the bowl and mix in the eggs until well incorporated.  Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed just until combined.  

 Stir in 1 cup of butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into your pan.  Sprinkle the top with some remaining butterscotch chips.

 Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

To make the butterscotch ganache, combine the cream and the butter in a small saucepan.  Warm over medium-high heat until the mixture is almost boiling.  Place the butterscotch chips in a small, heatproof bowl.  Pour the cream mixture over the butterscotch chips and allow to sit for 30 seconds.  Stir until smooth.

Then, I simply cut a blondie and poured the ganache over to serve.  It was really, really good!
 

  

My Aunt's Artisan Bread

You know that really cliche question, "If you could bring only one thing with you on a deserted island what would it be?"  Well, I'd want to bring my Aunt who has some extreme outdoor survival skills.  For example, we went camping in the Boundary Waters for one week and every morning my Aunt made us homemade bread OVER a campfire!  Yea...So there.


A few Summers ago I had the pleasure of attending a BBQ at her house.  Served at this BBQ was an amazing artisan bread.  It is so hearty with a good crunchy crust and one of the simplest french bread recipes I have come across.


Here are the instructions straight from my Aunt: 


This makes two round loaves, but warm I think one loaf only serves about four people because it is pretty yummy!  

3 C  warm water
1 1/2 TBSP yeast
2 tsp coarse salt,  OR     1-  1/2 tsp  of reg salt
6 C flour to start.  white or whole wheat.   I use whole wheat pastry flour, and sometimes add an extra grain like a 7 or 10 grain hot cereal for 1 or 2 cups of the flour.

Stir all around, and leave on the counter 2 hours.  At this point you can refrigerate 1/2 and bake 1/2 or bake all of it. Add more flour by kneading on the counter till you can shape it into 2 separate loaves.  Note,  it should not spread all over a cookie sheet.  It should stay in a round shape.  If it doesn't you need to knead a little more.  Put corn meal on the sheet, and then the loaf. ( this is like the grease)  heavily flour the top with white flour and cut diagonally 3 times. Don't try to remove the flour till later.

Let rise till double maybe another hour. (I put mine in an UN-heated oven to keep it in a draft free place).  Once it has risen,  bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees, WITH a pan of HOT water in the oven. (I usually fill a brownie pan halfway with water) This will make a great crust.  about 20-23 min. (or until it sounds hollow when you knock on it)

You can totally make it white bread. Just do it to texture.... :) 

If you have refrigerated the dough, you will need more than an hour for it to rise. 


She then ended the note by providing two different phone numbers in case I had a baking emergency and needed a little advice. :)

Everything Cookies- And I mean Everything

Every once in a while I get the urge to purge our pantry.  When I lived in Omaha with 4 other girls this was a BIG event.  Now that I just live with one roommate the pantry purge is not as exciting but still necessary. In an effort to not waste crumbs (or the last 1/4 cup of 9 different kinds of cereal) I started baking this into a cookie.  These cookies have been affectionately named EVERYthing Cookies and always get rave reviews even though no one ever knows what they are eating.

The base recipe is Paula Deen's (I know- this is not healthy) Monster Cookie Recipe.  However, see my notes at the bottom for other ingredient ideas.  You can essentially just wing it.

Couldn't help myself...

EVERYthing Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup raisins, optional
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Notes: other things I like to add broken pretzels, stale graham crackers, any type of cereal, any type of dried fruit, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, hot chocolate mix, peanuts, walnuts, coconut, nutella, to name a few.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. (just eyeball it) Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Graham crackers are one of my favorite snacks.  The sweet taste of honey can be topped with just about anything: jam, peanut butter, nutella, frosting!  I typically just buy the store bought kind, but recently I couldn't help myself by trying to make them.  I was pretty skeptical about whether the homemade would be worth all the trouble.   However, I must say, these were particularly delicious and not too hard to make.  The batter reminded me of Ginger Snap batter but a little sweeter.

I pulled the recipe from one of my favorite food blogs: The Kitchn

The Costco size box of grahams. YUM!

Graham Crackers
makes about 2 dozen crackers, depending on size

1/2 cup white flour
2 cups cup whole wheat flour, or graham flour - found in some health food stores (I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used a full teaspoon)
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons honey (I used 3)
1 tablespoon molasses
1/4 cup water (make sure it's cold water)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the texture is dry and crumbly. (Also, you can do this in a food processor; just blend the butter in short bursts.)

In a small bowl, mix the honey, molasses, and water. Toss this with the dry ingredients until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl with your fingers and form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. (I left mine overnight)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough out on a counter or on wax paper, sprinkled with whole wheat flour. (I just sprayed mine with PAM) Use a pastry scraper or an index card as a guide to cut the dough into small rectangles. (I used a knife) Poke each cracker with a fork, then place them on an ungreased baking sheet.  (I tried to poke the crackers to resemble the store bought kind for effect)

Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. (Make sure you get them crispy otherwise they will be more cookie than cracker)  If stored in an airtight container these will keep for a couple weeks.

Blueberry Scones

Blueberry Scones

I LOVE a good scone and have found they are way easier to make than you would think.  In this recipe I use blueberries but you can easily replace the lemon & blueberry with whatever flavor you are craving: cranberries & orange, chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, etc.

Ingredients
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk 
(or whatever milk you have in the fridge)
1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces 

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries 

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted ( you can also use walnuts)
Cooking spray 

1 large egg white, lightly beaten (you can also use EggBeaters)

2 tablespoons sugar 


Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. 


Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently fold in blueberries and pecans. Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).  Try not to over-stir, this will keep the scones light.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface; pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut dough into 10 wedges, and place the dough wedges on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush egg white over dough wedges; sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake scones at 375° for 18 minutes or until golden. 


Serve warm or these keep nicely for a few days.  I’ve also had success with freezing these for about a month and just defrosting a couple at a time.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chips

If you are my friend and you live in Minneapolis, chances are I gave you baked goods for your birthday. (Hope you liked them!)  I love baking but I just don't have the metabolism of four teenage boys so I cannot consume all that I like to bake.  Therefore, baking and giving is my favorite thing to do.  

This recipe was given to my friend Chelle on her 26th birthday.  As I recall it was a really dreary weekend AND she had to work on her birthday.  So, I delivered this bundt cake with a note instructing her to just eat her feelings.  I hope she did just that and enjoyed!

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/3 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk or plain yogurt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and an 8x8 inch baking dish. (I used a Bundt cake pan)
2. Stir chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon in small bowl until well blended; set streusel aside.
3. Sift together (or just STIR TOGETHER) all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, and egg in a large bowl until fluffy. Mix in mashed bananas and buttermilk or yogurt. Add flour mixture and blend well.
4. Spread half of batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel. Bake coffee cake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes and serve.

I found this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs: Buns in My Oven