Posted: January 13th, 2012 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | | No Comments »
If you didn’t grab a copy around town – or you don’t live in Denton – here is the January issue of Little D After Dark. My article is on page 17, Eat Your Convictions – featuring Local Bagels.
Enjoy!
Posted: November 5th, 2011 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | | No Comments »
This is the article that was published in this month’s Little D After Dark - in case you don’t live in Denton or didn’t pick up a copy!
Fall flavors are a personal favorite of mine. You get to experiment with spices and take on the challenge using seasonal produce and flavors that evoke in us memories of fall as children.
Typical flavors like apple, cinnamon, caramel, maple and pumpkin remind us of fall festivals and setting the holiday table and baking with friends and family. Just the thought of apple cider makes me want to don a sweater and grab a scarf.
But in reality, I sometimes tire of apples and cinnamon, and I just get sick of people finding odd new places for us to experience pumpkin.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m the first to line up for a pumpkin spice latte. It’s not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And pumpkin soup is a family favorite in the winter.
Let’s be real though: Is pumpkin ravioli really necessary?
So this year, let’s shoot for something a little different to share with friends and family. Let’s go beyond pies and cakes and cookies and traditional holiday fare. Let’s get creative with breakfast – the most important meal of the day – and focus on the often-forgotten but always-tasty flavors of bacon and maple.
That’s right. A new breakfast must have something for us to slow down and savor with friends and family this holiday season, a tasty new scone that satisfies both your sweet and savory side.
Maple is great on its own, but let’s face it: Bacon makes everything that much better. And while some people aren’t hip to the idea of bacon in a baked good, this soft and flavorful scone will change the minds of naysayers in the first bight.
I like to enjoy my scones with a fresh French press of coffee, preferably the Indonesian roast by Bookish coffee. The spiciness, low acidity, and smoothness of the Indonesian coffee really balances the maple and vanilla flavors. French press is also my brewing method of choice since it eliminates the paper filter and allows the oils to give the most robust flavor to the finished cup of coffee. I also love that Bookish is roasted locally and frequently assuring freshness with each cup.
And if you really want to earn the best-guest award when visiting family this holiday season, whip up a batch of these scones and order an extra pound of coffee to give to your hosts. They’ll appreciate the extra tasty breakfast that they don’t have to get up and prepare for you, and they’ll love the caffeine boost after too many of Uncle Jim’s bad political jokes.
BACON MAPLE SCONES
3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cups cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
5-6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons of melted butter
course sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 425. In large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Cut in cold butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in bacon crumbles. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Divide in half and pat into two circles, each about 1 inch in height. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Cut each circle into 6 or 8 wedges. Bake at 425 for 12-14 minutes. Top with maple glaze.
MAPLE GLAZE
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water
1 cup powdered sugar
Combine syrup, vanilla and powdered sugar and stir until combined. Based on the consistency of the glaze, add water one tablespoon at a time and stir – if you accidentally add too much, just add a bit more powdered sugar. Continue to stir until desired consistency is reached. Pour over scones and enjoy.
Makes 12-16 servings
Bookish Coffee can be purchased online at bookishcoffee.com
Posted: December 29th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread | Tags: banana bread with pecans, banana pecan bread | No Comments »
I don’t know about you — but December has been overwhelmingly busy. Between the holiday rush at work, gatherings, catering, holiday shopping, celebrating and what not — I am pooped. But I am so happy with all that has happened over the last month. I’ve made some super tasty treats — some that will be shared later – and some that won’t — and I’ve also forgotten to take pictures of almost everything… (hence, the won’t.) But December has been fun! I’ve seen the majority of my family, eaten way beyond my fill of holiday food, and… *drumroll please* opened a brand new Kitchen Aid 6 qt Professional Stand Mixer! (Yes, this was the big gift of the year.) My poor little Sunbeam will go into partial retirement until I need it for big projects. (It desperately needs a break… it told me so, when all of the whisk attachment wires popped off mid-recipe.)
In other news — the hubby and I are about to embark on what seems to be a very interesting year. So before the madness begins — we are taking a little break for a few days — an early anniversary celebration — a little bit of rest — a much needed sabbath. It seems that so often we fail to rest between everything — and we overexert ourselves and become worn down, sick, and over all tired of life. For me it often means that I become overwhelmed by thinking of everything that needs to be done, everything that needs to be accomplished, everything I have yet to get to — and my years start to rush right by me. So rest is necessary. Necessary so that we can deal with things a little at a time — and take the time to really hand our lives over to the Lord and listen to how He is leading us.
I’m not really sure how the banana bread fits in here — but it does — I promise. If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know that banana bread is not a stressful recipe, an undertaking, or something I ever need extra ingredients for. It is so adaptable. So it makes sense that it would be the first recipe I go for in the new mixer. I had the bananas sitting all nicely spotted on the counter, the pecans sitting freshly toasted in the jar — it just seemed right. And it was — it was so right I ate a giant piece of the bread this morning for breakfast — sooooo good. There is just something really calming about baking something you know well — something that doesn’t have tricky timing or temperatures or measurements or expensive ingredients. Its not trying to be impressive, its just really good banana bread. So I hope that you end your year with a little rest before heading into 2011 — and I hope you really enjoy the comfort of this tasty banana bread.
Banana Bread with Pecans
adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
3 c flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 c cup canola oil
½ c sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature, well beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ c mashed ripe bananas
3/4 c sour cream
½ c chopped toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.Beat oil and sugar on medium speed until well-mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Add the bananas and sour cream, and mix well. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Stir in pecans and coconut. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.
Let cool for at least one hour before serving.
Posted: September 15th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread | Tags: banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread, chocolate chip peanut banana bread, easy banana bread, peanut banana bread | 1 Comment »
This last weekend was the birthday of my amazing hubby Ryan –he turned 27. We celebrated this weekend with some of our amazing friends — Ryan claimed that it was one of his most favorite nights of all time. I couldn’t agree more, we had an absolute blast. We are so blessed to be friends with such amazing people. I can’t believe we are getting old so fast. It is crazy — things are not at all like we thought they would be — they are quite possibly better. But sometimes we still feel like we are 18. Time is just flying by so fast–but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t want to spend my life with anyone else.
But amongst all of the birthday busy-ness I still found time to bake. Of course I made him breakfast (which I’ll post later this week) and some super yummy cupcakes — but I also continued my peanut/butter baking!
Okay, so there may not be actual peanut butter but there are peanuts in this banana bread! Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I am on a perpetual quest for new banana bread recipes and new things to do with the bananas that get brown too quickly for me. So there I was, reading through the magnificent Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and there it was — chocolate chip peanut banana bread. I know, I know, not actual peanut butter, but I had just bought peanuts for one of the peanut butter recipes and I don’t use them that often, so this would be a great use of resources, and well, it just seemed perfect. What I really like about this bread is that the banana is super light and sweet and just dances in the background to the beautiful chocolate chips and the little tiny bits of peanuts add an amazing crunch.
MMM….. I just get so excited about it — and the next day it was even better. The banana flavor came out more, it was like all the flavors had a little party over night where they all bonded and became better friends. So, if you can possibly keep your hands off of it, I suggest waiting to eat it the next day.
Chocolate Chip Peanut Banana Bread
adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
1/3 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 c mashed ripe bananas
1/3 c whole milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c sifted self rising flour
1/2 c finely chopped unsalted peanuts
1 c chocolate chips (I used 60% cocoa)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs on at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, milk, vanilla, and salt. Max in the sifted flour until well combined. Stir in the peanuts and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Posted: August 15th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread | Tags: blueberry cake, blueberry coffee cake, blueberry crumb cake | 1 Comment »
I sometimes over buy on produce… yes, I am guilty. So a day or so into the week I often look into the fridge and wonder… “So what should I do with all of this beautiful produce that I no longer believe we will be able to eat during our busy busy week?” And out come the cookbooks and ideas of cookies and cakes and breads and crumbles and buckles and all kinds of glorious things. Then there was the coffee cake. It was in one of Ina’s cookbooks. I had been waiting patiently for an excuse (c’mon, like I really need one) to bake this little blueberry coffee cake. It has lots of crumbles, its soft, and its from my favorite Ina – (she has only done me wrong once.)
And what a better way to start my day than with a delicious blueberry coffeecake and some coffee… it was such a nice thought I decided to make it happen. Yay! Very easy, super delicious, you will love this coffee cake. You will enjoy it for breakfast, you will enjoy if for snack… and you will enjoy it for dessert.
In the mean time I’m going to keep baking up my extra produce… especially with all of my newly found time.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home
For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.
For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.
For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.
Posted: May 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | Tags: cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls from scratch, homemade cinnamon rolls | No Comments »
I have spent many a morning wishing for a delicious cinnamon-y, soft, buttery cinnamon roll. Warm and gooey and covered in something I will have to work extra hard to spin off later. And I have been searching high and low all over the Dallas/Denton/Lewisville area for this cinnamon roll, but everything is just too bread-y, or too hard, or too sweet or flavorless. But I saw these sweet little babies somewhere… and it was only a small matter of time until I could come up with an excuse to make these sweet morsels of deliciousness. And man… what a way to wake up! If you follow my twitter feed and happened to be up on Sunday morning around 8 am you probably saw my ecstatic tweets about how amazing my apartment smelled when these guys were baking away. It didn’t help that I also had a little mug of coffee in my hands… (I don’t normally drink coffee in the morning).
So I give you… Cinnamon Rolls via The Pioneer Woman. And I’m just do us all a favor and link straight to the page. Trust me.. her step by step instructions are amazing and I could not do a better job.
So don’t wait.. here you go… http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/ — and don’t wait too long to try them.. okay?!
Posted: May 16th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | Tags: banana bread, cream cheese, cream cheese and banana bread, cream cheese banana bread | 1 Comment »
You know, when I was a little girl… I remember my mom making banana bread. You know how the bananas are perfect for just a day or two, then they start to over ripen — (I like mine with just a tiny bit of green.)– and she would let them over ripen, and when I would ask about them – “Mommy, the bananas have spots, should we throw them away?” and she would simply reply… “No, no, we are saving them for banana bread.” Mmmm… I would think… I like banana bread. And I still do. And I let my bananas over ripen to the point of Ryan asking… “Alyssa, when can we toss these things?” And then I make banana bread. And while I have made some tremendous banana breads – using whole wheat, and half wheat, pecans, walnuts, and lots of butter and no butter and yogurt and I am still always ready for a new recipe… just to see. And I stumbled across this one. Full of cream cheese and banana and just tangy enough and perfectly soft and yummy. And do I even need to discuss how the house smells while it is baking away in the oven? Good. Really good.
Cream Cheese Banana Bread
adapted from Southern Living Cookbook
3/4 c butter, softened
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
2 c sugar
2 large eggs
3 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blened. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil the last 15 minutes to prevent browning. Cool on wire racks for at least 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool 30 minutes.
Posted: March 25th, 2010 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | Tags: banana bread, banana chocolate chip, banana chocolate chip espresso muffins, banana muffins | 2 Comments »
I am guilty every now and then of not eating the bananas on purpose… there they sit on the counter top – ready to jump into my cereal bowl, top a peanut butter and honey sandwich, or talk me into a little bowl of ice cream. I let them get those nice brown sweet spots, those great little brown spots of goodness… spots that mean banana bread, banana cake, banana stuffed french toast…. all kinds of banana yummies. Because with those bananas come some pretty endless possibilities.
And I am very happy I let those little suckers sit. (Now, I will admit, that once my husband tried to throw my sweet sweet brown skinned babies away! But I stopped him and baked them very quickly into a tasty loaf of bread before he complained of the “whole apartment” smelling of banana.”)
You see… its been a very busy busy couple of months. And some sweet friends had a very very precious little Olivia. And for having the said Olivia I promised a wonderfully baked treat. And it took me a little longer to bake up a treat than originally planned — but I don’t think the sweet new parents cared when I delivered a box of freshly baked goodies… with one of new Dad’s favorite things… coffee.
You see, John likes coffee a lot… I mean a lot a lot… like, borderline too much. (And yes, his is on the extreme side of that line.) So how perfect is a little espresso in a little muffin action? Especially when paired with two of my favorite things, banana and chocolate.
So enjoy… and just a note, I’m posting the original recipe, but I may have had a little extra banana in that batter, and trust me, it was not a bad thing.
Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
1-1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Yield: 12 muffins (I got 16)
Posted: March 21st, 2010 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast | Tags: biscuits, biscuits from scratch, drop biscuits, quick biscuits | 1 Comment »
Posted: November 29th, 2009 | Filed under: Bread, Breakfast, Uncategorized | Tags: buiscuits, cheese biscuits, dinner biscuits, Herb biscuits | No Comments »
Thanksgiving was wonderful, full of family and food and winter-y goodness without snow and freezing weather… it was great. There was a precious little baby, and in-laws that don’t live close enough, and excitement over a future wedding… and did I mention the food? Great. Really good food. And lots of it. We cooked together, in the kitchen, all the women in the family, just kneading and mixing, and baking, and covering and checking temperatures and tasting. (The tasting is the best part.) I made a few things, one of those things will be seen later in the week, but this may have been my favorite thing when I think about it.
Savory biscuits are perfect for holiday dinners… better than brown and serve rolls, soft, and not so hard to make that you can’t make them the day of. In fact, I had most of the ingredients in the pantry. (Alright, lets be really honest, I keep an awkwardly stocked pantry when it comes to baking stuffs… I have an entire cabinet just for baking stuffs… I am strange, and I accept that.)
These are just cheesy and herby enough to go well with a meal without being overwhelming. The don’t really need any extra butter, and they are best right out of the oven.
Gruyere and Herb Biscuits, adapted from The Cheese Board: Collective Works
(The original recipe called these scones, but I decreased the baking time for a lighter, fluffier, moister pastry)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely ground yellow cornmeal
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ pound Gruyere cheese, grated
½ cup chopped herbs (I used thyme and chives)
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and salt together into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add cornmeal and whisk together.
Add the butter to the dry ingredients, and, using the paddle attachment, beat on low speed until butter is the size of small peas. Add the Gruyere and herbs and mix just until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Put the buttermilk and cream together in one bowl or liquid measuring cup, and then slowly add to the mixture on low speed until it is just combined and there is a little flour left on the bottom of the bowl. You may not need all of the liquid!
Empty the contents of the bowl onto a floured surface. Pat the dough together and work in any pieces of dry dough. Sprinkle some flour on the top of the dough, and, either using a rolling pin or just your hands, press the dough until it is about 1 ½ inches thick. Using a circular cookie cutter, dipped in a little flour each time, cut out the scones. Feel free to roll any scraps together and cut those, too. (Alternatively, you can shape the mound of dough into a rectangle about 9 by 6 inches, divide the dough in half lengthwise, and then cut each piece into 6 even triangles.)
Place biscuits onto prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush the beaten egg onto the tops of the scones and bake for about 15 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through, or until light brown on top.
Yields about 12 biscuits.