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Thursday, September 27, 2018

Whole Wheat Honey Drop Biscuits for Two

 This morning Emily and I decided it was a good day for making something together for breakfast. We went looking through one of our Joy the Baker cook books. We didn't have goat cheese, so we customized the recipe!
 It amazes me how excited she gets to mix things, and to actually help, not usually assisted. 
 We threw on our aprons, and got to work!
I don’t worry if something spills, or if her little fingers end up in the flour mixture or butter, and if those fingers end up in her mouth, well, that’s real life.
 She is obsessed with eating butter by itself. 
I’d say she’s definitely my daughter. Have you noticed the name of this blog? As a child (and even now) I fantasize about butter, and that never really stopped. 
 These biscuits whipped up quickly, and I plopped them in our preheated cast-iron skillet while she watched, since it was so hot. They came out fluffy, buttery, savory, salty, and also a bit sweet from the perfect combination of the salt and fresh honey. 

We added more butter on top, and drizzled some honey as well. We had some fruit and scrambled eggs with them. I’ll keep trying to give her scrambled eggs, although, as of now, definitely not her favorite.  




Whole Wheat Honey Drop Biscuits for Two

Makes: 4-5 biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes, plus more for the pan
*1/2 cup buttermilk, cold (see substitute below)
1 tablespoons honey, plus more for topping

Instructions:
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven as it preheats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With your fingers, quickly incorporate the cold butter and goat cheese until the flour resembled coarse meal. Some of the butter and cheese chunks will be the size of small pebbles, others will be the size of oat flakes. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Whisk together buttermilk and honey. Honey may not completely blend into the buttermilk; that's okay. Pour the buttermilk into the well of the flour mixture. Use a fork to blend together the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until all of the flour is incorporated and no dry flour remains. Set aside.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add 1 tablespoon butter. Swirl the butter around the bottom and sides of the pan until butter is melted and pan is coated.

Spoon batter by the ¼ cupful into the hot skillet. About 4-5 biscuits will fit into the 10-inch skillet. Biscuits should have about an inch of room separating them, but will bake up to touch one another. That's great!

Place in the oven to bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until golden and tops appear dry and slightly firm. Remove from the oven. Let rest for 5 minutes. 

For a glossy finish, brush the biscuits with slightly warm honey. These biscuits are best served immediately, but will last for up to 3 days, well wrapped, and at room temperature.
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Easy Buttermilk In-a-Pinch -
One cup of milk scant one tbsp of lemon juice, or white vinegar. For this recipe, 1/2 cup milk scant 1.5 tsp of lemon juice of vinegar.


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Cinnamon Toast & Today's Adventure

 This morning we decided to make cinnamon toast.
 This is no ordinary cinnamon toast! In fact, the pioneer woman tested multiple ways of making this, and this is her tried and true recipe that she swears by. Emily helped so much with this this morning. She actually helped me measure and pour into the bowl!


She helped mix, she helped spread the mixture on the toast. She stood back when I put it in the oven!
 She had no problem taste-testing our butter/cinnamon sugar mixture. YUM! Also, if your baking sheets look as used as ours, you're doing something right in my book!


Happiest baby ever. 
This cinnamon toast is perfect for one adult and one or two kids, or just one adult 
if you're getting crazy! 
It's buttery, sweet, a bit salty, and it practically melts in your mouth.

Serves: One adult and two kids, or two adults. Four pieces of cinnamon toast.

INGREDIENTS:
4 slices Bread
1/4 stick salted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar 
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
Pinch of ground nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Smash softened butter with a fork. Dump in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. 
Stir to completely combine.

Spread on slices of bread, covering the surface all the way to the edges.

Place toast on a baking sheet. Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. 
Turn on the broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbling. Watch so it won't burn!

Remove from oven and cut slices.


______________________________________________________________________________

After breakfast we went to North Point State Park where we walked barefoot on the beach (Emily’s idea) that was covered in driftwood. 
It was stunning and we had the entire place to ourselves. 
The water was a bit rough because of the coming storms, but that didn’t bother us one bit. 
It was fun picking up sticks, looking at bugs, and exploring the area with a fantastic breeze. 
It couldn’t have been a better morning. We saw a snake as we were walking back from the giant pier. Emily decided she wanted to call her daddy and tell him about the snake, so we did.

Enjoy the photos!












Monday, January 21, 2013

Banana Orange Bread w/ Honey Glaze

--- 2012 ---
A huge year.

Moved three times.
Started a new amazing relationship.
Found love.
Cuddled my puppies at least a million times.
Lost friends.
Gained new friends.
Had many tears.
Laughed a million times.
2012 was a year of change.
A year of extreme sadness and extreme happiness.
My best friend Rachel is home from Florida. Her little girls are the cutest kids in the whole world. Rachel is there for me no matter what and I am here for her.
I don't think another friend like her exists in this world, and I'm perfectly okay with that.
I have two adorable and sweet dogs. They are my babies and my friends.
They are so full of unconditional cuteness and love and kisses.
I am so ridiculously happy and fortunate to have met such a wonderful, loving man.

My relationship is so full of laughter, honesty and understanding.

I love Dan for exactly who he is. He is supportive and kind, brave, and endearing.
He makes me smile every single day.

I couldn't ask for a better person to love or to love me back.
And luckily, I don't have to.
I haven't posted on here in forever. People keep asking me about my baking and my blog and I don't really know what to say. I almost feel like this blog died.

I'm realizing now that it doesn't have to. This blog was a big part of my life. My baking was a big part of my life. I get sad every time I think about this blog and what it used to mean to me. 
I'm thinking of starting it back up again.
Banana Orange Bread w/ Honey Glaze
Adapted from: Paula Deen

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 bananas
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup peach flavored greek yogurt
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon orange zest
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Honey for glaze 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-by-5 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter and flour.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another large bowl, combine the bananas, butter, yogurt, vanilla extract and eggs whisking until smooth. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in the orange zest and ground cinnamon.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Poke holes using a thin knife or toothpick all over the bread. Spread honey over the top and allow break to soak in honey.

Friday, March 30, 2012

White Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies

 Let me start off by saying:

I'm sorry.
 You probably didn't even notice, which is totally fine, but if you did, I've been missing in action.
 I am living in a new place, with a tiny little kitchen. I'm making it work. I like it. There is literally only one drawer in the entire kitchen. One.
And it's okay because drawers are over-rated. 
Wait, what?
Actually drawers are quite fantastic, but if you have my wit and charm, you can make yourself actually believe that having one drawer is great.
 In all seriousness though, it's fine. I actually have more than enough cabinet space and shelves to put all my snazzy appliances and gadgets!

I'm a little embarrassed by these cookies, and a tad disappointed. You see, I looked up so many recipes involving Nutella. Most of them had comments where people were actually excited. Something like "It was so cool, you couldn't even tell there was Nutella in them".
I was a bit panicked by that thought. I mean, why wouldn't you want to know you're eating Nutella? It's just about the best thing on earth, and so I made this recipe hoping so much that they would be bursting with Nutella flavor. But, no, not so much.

They are still absolutely delicious. A bit of crunch around the edges, and chewy on the inside. Absolutely delicious, but not very Nutella-y.
White chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies
Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips or semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped hazelnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and sugar until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Add in Nutella, vanilla.  Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and beating well after each egg.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Turn mixer off and stir in white chocolate chips by hand.
Drop 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Surprise Cookies

It's that time of year. The time when resolutioners are at full-swing at the gym. The time of year when people think "I'm really gonna do it this year".
 And they might. They really might!
 But, I wish they would just go home and come back another day. You see, I don't have a problem with people getting in shape, but I have a problem with "a new year, a new you".
 I say you should change your body and your lifestyle because it's a Tuesday, not because it's a new year. I mean, come on. New years resolutions are so last season. Can I get an amen?
 On that note, these cookies are fantastic. I recommend making them as soon as possible. I also recommend shortening the baking time by a minute, as these cookies were a tad dry.
 Not dry enough however that they didn't get devoured in my house.
There is butter, there is whole milk, there is sugar, there is white flour, there is an egg.
 That's how I do it. I stuff my face with a cookie (or two) and head the the gym. And I try really hard during the week to eat healthy things. I think it's all about balance and trying to slowly achieve what you want.
Things that are achieved slowly in life tend to last the longest, and they tend to be the best. I'm a bit late, but happy new year to you! Now eat a cookie.
Surprise Cookies
adapted from: Martha Stewart Cookies

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
Chocolate Frosting for Surprise Cookies

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.
Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begin to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.