Breakfast

#FoodieExtravaganza: Doughnuts

~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

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July has arrived and that means it’s time for another #FoodieExtravaganza! Each month we take turns hosting and selecting a foodie holiday associated with that month. Somehow in all the planning July was overlooked so in a mad dash in the second half of June Lauren of From Gate to Plate told us to celebrate the doughnut. If anyone is keeping score, National Doughnut Day is actually the first Friday in June, but none of us are complaining to be celebrating one of America’s favorite breakfast treats today. July is national culinary arts month so let’s just go with that. Also in July: Fried Chicken Day (today, the 6th), Blueberry Muffin Day (the 11th), and Junk Food Day (the 21st).

I have a soft spot for doughnuts or is it donuts? However you spell it, I’ll eat it. While I prefer a yeast and fried doughnut, I made a cake doughnut. It’s simply easier and less messy. Besides, I need to use my doughnut pan!

I swear, over the past few months my sweet tooth has re-awoken after 6 years of being dormant. I am now searching for that something sweet after dinner, something I get from my dad! That something sweet can be as small as a handful of M&Ms or as decadent as some ice cream. And speaking of that sweet tooth, chocolate is starting to reign supreme, too. Even when my sweet tooth was pretty vocal, I always gravitated towards those sugary, tart sweets over chocolate. I don’t quite know how to handle this new taste preference, I now seem to always have a bag of chocolate covered raisins in the pantry.

Thanks to the chocolate love, I gravitated heavily towards a fancier doughnut than I’d typically do. Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts. Because. Cinnamon. And chocolate. What could possibly be bad about that?! I did think chocolate chips inside the doughnut and the chocolate ganache on top of the doughnut was just a touch too rich, so I omitted the chips. They weren’t missed. However, not having them in the batter resulted in a lower yield of doughnuts. But for 2.5 of us, one dozen was plenty!

We enjoyed these doughnuts for Father’s Day breakfast. And the father of my children was definitely getting impatient while I finished glazing and photographing the doughnuts. Firecracker’s insistence on regaining possession of his toddler table for his trains didn’t help speed things along. But everyone waited calmly. And the wait was well worth it.

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts Sew You Think You Can Cook

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts

Ingredients for doughnuts:

  • 2 C flour
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1/4 C cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cream of tarter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • 3 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for toppings:

  • 3 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 C heavy cream

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a doughnut pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cream of tarter, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla.
  4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined.
  5. Pour batter into prepared doughnut pan. Bake 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Let doughnuts cool in the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
  6. Make the cinnamon sugar: In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
  7. Make the ganache: Put chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring, until the chocolate is melted. Allow ganache to cool slightly. Set aside.
  8. Brush cooled doughnuts with melted butter. Dip in cinnamon sugar. Top with ganache.

*This recipe is adapted from Melanie at http://melaniemakes.com/blog/2014/03/triple-chocolate-snickerdoodle-donuts.html*

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts for #FoodieExtravaganza from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Be sure to check out these other doughnuts:

Gluten-Free Matcha Doughnuts – Three Ways! by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Raspberry Cookies n Cream Baked Doughnuts by Baking in Pyjamas
Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts by Making Miracles
Baked S’mores Doughnuts by Tara’s Multicultural Table
Strawberry Shortcake Donut Tarts by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
15 Minute Funnel Cake Bites by From Gate to Plate
Cake Mix Donuts by I’m Hungry
Doughnut Trifle by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Watermelon Doughnuts by The Freshman Cook
Baked Cherry Lemon Donuts by Caroline’s Cooking
Orange Glace Donuts by Basic N Delicious
Medhu Vada – Savory Lentil Doughnut by Sneha’s Recipe

If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you’re a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

#SundaySupper: Easy to Make Patriotic 4th of July Recipes

~ lk529 ~ 8 Comments

It’s July 3rd, the day my Firecracker turns two! (TWO!) It also happens to be the day before Independence Day – the 4th of July. Which is why #SundaySupper is celebrating with Easy to Make Patriotic Recipes.

To kick start a festive morning, might I suggest these stars? They’re a baked pancake, which I’m dubbing “breakfast cake.” It makes me think of that Jim Gaffigan skit:

You’re not having cake for breakfast; you’re having fried cake, with syrup on top!

I made this breakfast after returning from my brother’s wedding in FL last month from a bare pantry. I think that qualifies my recipe as being “easy to make.” I didn’t have any butter, so I used oil, and I didn’t have enough sugar for both the baked pancake and the syrup, so I decided to add vanilla to the batter and keep the sugar for the syrup.

I used a star cookie cutter to make the shapes and topped them with strawberry syrup and fresh blueberries. The leftover pieces of “cake” were handed to Treat, with no sugar I didn’t feel too guilty about it.

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The 4th of July is in my top three of favorite holidays. I love creating menus in my country’s colors. Three years ago I went all out with a Red, White, and Blue Spread: complete with colored star shaped ice cubes and dyed pasta! Two years ago was my first year (probably ever) missing the fireworks display, but I had a good reason. Last year I was on cloud 9 celebrating the holiday (and Firecracker’s 1st birthday) with my entire family where I spent my childhood Fourths.

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My 1 day old Firecracker – 2014

This year we will be experiencing our first California 4th of July. I am hoping for a fog-less, smog-less night so we can watch up to 3 Fireworks shows from our balcony. We’ll be grilling burgers, drinking sangria, and chowing down on rice krispie treats. (I can’t not have rice krispie treats!)

Breakfast Cake Stars with Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients for Breakfast Cake:

  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 C buttermilk
  • 1/4 C vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Strawberry Syrup:

  • 2 C diced strawberries
  • 1 C + 1 tsp water, divided use
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp corn starch

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ cake pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.
  3. Make the syrup: Put strawberries in a saucepan with 1 C water and the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 15 minutes, or until the syrup has started to thicken and the strawberries have broken down.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining teaspoon of water and the cornstarch. Add to the syrup. Allow syrup to thicken another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain.
  5. Option: Using a cookie cutter, cut shapes out of the breakfast cake. Serve with strawberry syrup and fresh blueberries.

*This recipe is adapted from April at http://www.girlgonegourmet.com/2016/06/pancake-squares.html*

Breakfast Cake Stars with Strawberry Syrup for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

All-American Appetizers

America the Beautiful Beverages

Raise the Flag Breakfasts

For the Red, White and Blue Salads and Main Dishes

Oh Say Can You See Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement

#MuffinMonday: Chocolate Chip Blood Orange Muffins

~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

Muffin Monday

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

About a month and a half ago I finally had the opportunity to discover first hand the beauty that is the blood orange. I’ve known of them but had never found them anywhere. And then one of the farmers markets had them and I grabbed a fair few. Most of them I simply indulged in my new favorite thing to do: cut open a blood orange and snap a photo of it (see Instagram) then squeeze the juice out of it and have a fresh glass. As blood oranges can vary in color from orange to dark red I had a blast being surprised by each slice of the knife. I came to the conclusion that the darker the fruit, the sweeter its juice.

 

When I made these muffins I “wasted” the darker oranges on the juice that went into the batter. The ones I’d saved for the photographs looked like your boring, everyday run-of-the-mill orange. Go figure. The pigment of your orange will actually affect the final color of your muffin.

This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins.

Chocolate Chip Blood Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 C flour
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • zest of 3 blood oranges
  • 3/4 C chocolate chips
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 C fresh blood orange juice (3-4 oranges)
  • 1 stick  butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Mix in the chocolate chips.
  3. In another bowl whisk together the eggs, juice, butter, and vanilla.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Divide batter among prepared muffin tin.
  5. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Allow muffins to cool in the pan 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from Tara at http://tarasmulticulturaltable.com/blood-orange-chocolate-chip-muffins/*

Chocolate Chip Blood Orange Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Banana Bread and Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles

Grilled Cherry Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Jamaican Me Hungry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Margarita Sour Cream Muffins from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Pancake Muffins from Passion Kneaded

Sweet Corn Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#SundaySupper: Waffles!

~ lk529 ~ 16 Comments

I am so excited to be back blogging with the Sunday Supper Movement. My last post was the Regional Specialties themed day – OVER TWO MONTHS AGO! I have definitely missed being able to share the table with this great group of foodies.

As soon as the theme was revealed for today’s event, you know I couldn’t miss out on this one. Waffles! If you know me but at all you’d probably have reported a missing person had I not chimed in today. Thanks, Sue from A Palatable Pastime, for hosting today’s event at a time in my life when I could finally participate in #SundaySupper. I know you did it just for me and not because National Waffle Iron Day is Wednesday. 😉 Be sure to scroll past my recipe for a collection of over 35 waffles recipes.

Having made just a few waffles in my day, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make my own waffle. I did it “by feel” and needed to adjust my flour amount before I was comfortable with the batter. I’m happy to report that my waffles worked out, and my creative flavor combination wasn’t a failure.

I love pairing cherries with chocolate, so those hand picked cherries of ours found their way into my waffles. As sometimes the only way to get Firecracker to eat is by way of waffle or pancake, I knew I had to throw something nutritious in there. That’s where the beets come in. I was going to roast them and toss them in a smoothie, but this way was easier.

An Original Recipe

Chocolate Cherry Beet Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 C flour
  • 3/4 C whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 C cocoa powder
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 C milk
  • 1/3 C vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 C shredded beets, patted dry
  • 2 C fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
  • whipped cream for serving (optional)

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
  3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the beets and cherries.
  4. Into a hot greased waffle iron, drop 1/3 C of batter and cook until browned. Serve with whipped cream.

Chocolate Cherry Beet Waffles for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Sweet and Sinful:

Savory Brinner Winners:

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement

SRC: Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie

~ lk529 ~ 19 Comments

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It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

This month I was in a mad scramble to make something from my assigned blog, The Avid Appetite. While I’ve had my assignment for a month, it’s been one heck of a month between my husband going on his first work trip since the boys have been born, finally getting internet, and traveling for my brother’s wedding it’s been hard to get into a rhythm that supports my hobby!

Rachel is the mastermind behind The Avid Appetite. Rachel has been sharing her culinary adventures for over five years! She’s a wife, mother, and brand licensing professional living in NJ. Sounds busy to me. She shares family stories on Tuesdays (hey, me too, with my Tuesday Tattles series!), consider yourself pre-warned for some adorable Penelope cuteness overload.

Her recipe index left me with 15 items to consider for today’s reveal! From those 15, real consideration was given to a Chicken and Pineapple dish and a Baked Oatmeal. Had I been assigned her blog two months ago when I was in my blood orange obsession there’s no question that I would be sharing this Loaf Cake or these Shortcakes. And I will be revisiting her Caramelized Potato Parsnip Tart next week, too.

Due to my {self imposed} shortened time table I settled on a smoothie. Her sweet daughter sold me on the Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie. Precious. Well, that and the fact that I had some farmers market strawberries in my freezer. It’s as if it were meant to be because the amount called for in her recipe was the exact amount I had saved! I did substitute plain Greek yogurt for the vanilla so I doubled the amount of vanilla extract. I can’t believe I’ve never thought to put extracts in my smoothies. That quality of sweetness can’t come from anywhere else. I felt like I was drinking a smoothie from a smoothie place, not my own kitchen. It reminded me very much of a smoothie I used to get in between classes back at Auburn. Amazing how something so simple can bring back memories over 6 years old.

This smoothie recipe will make two servings. I saved one glass (aka what Firecracker didn’t finish) for the next day and it was still perfect!

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie for Secret Recipe Club from Sew You Think You Can Cook (kid approved)

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 C frozen sliced strawberries
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. Place ingredients in a blender. Pulse until smooth.

*This recipe is modified from Rachel at http://www.theavidappetite.com/home/2016/1/31/strawberry-vanilla-smoothie*

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie for Secret Recipe Club from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in The Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Kumquat Jam

~ lk529 ~ 13 Comments

I think my favorite thing about living in the Los Angeles area are the farmers markets. My son loves them, too! I have an adorable conversation saved on my phone of him saying “farmers market. blueberries. home. mouth.” I’m not sure what we’re going to do when berry season is over, he’s not yet two so “in season” is going to be quite a feat to explain.

While there is a farmers market across the street from our place every week, I had to take a trip to a larger one. Just to explore. There was more citrus at that location and I picked up some kumquats for my husband. Kumquats were one of the first “adventurous” items we picked up at the grocery store and he’s grown quite a fondness for them.

This particular batch was turned into jam! The resulting condiment has a bitter tartness. I think it’s the first time I’ve understood bitter as being a positive flavor component. The bitterness from the kumquat peels provides a balance with their natural sour edge.

 

Kumquat Jam

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz kumquats, sliced and seeds removed
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1/2 C orange juice
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer over medium-low heat for 35 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently.

*This recipe is adapted from Nicole at http://wonkywonderful.com/kumquat-jam-recipe/*

Kumquat Jam Sew You Think You Can Cook

Cherry Whole Wheat Scones

~ lk529 ~ 11 Comments

Apparently the thing to do in Southern California on Memorial Weekend is go cherry picking. Cherries have a very short season, only about a month! Through the connectivity of Facebook, I found out about a U-Pick Cherry Farm an hour and a half north of us. We decided it’d be a fun thing to do on our 6th wedding anniversary.

There were notifications on the farm’s website about a smaller crop yield this season and that their Memorial Day weekend hours would be shortened. We made an effort to leave first thing in the morning. That “first thing in the morning” didn’t quite happen and we arrived at the farm at 11am. (Their hours for the day were to be closed at 1pm, so still plenty of time.) The traffic halted about a mile and a half from the gate and people were parking on the side of the road. We found a spot to park a mile away and started to unload. We noticed however a ton of people returning to their vehicles empty handed. Stuart asked someone and she said the farm was closed but that there were other orchards further down the road.

cherry picking 1

Down the road we went. We joined another mass of people and waited in line for almost an hour to get into this smaller orchard. They grow 6 varieties of cherries but two of them had already seen the end of their season. Predominately Bing and Rainier were the varieties ripe and ready to pick, though we did snag a small handful of Brooks and Utah Giants. Don’t ask me which are those latter two out of our three pound bag though!

Cherry Picking 2

Unlike our first choice orchard, this one didn’t have a picnic area. We instead ate our packed lunch in the back of the van when we returned from our harvesting adventure.

picnic in the car

Next year we will be more prepared and arrive when they open so we can check out the largest cherry orchard in Southern California. While still satisfied with our yield, the day ended up not being the one I’d envisioned. Fruit picking in California is quite different than in Ohio; way more people and a little more stress. But, now we know. Time to look for other fruit picking opportunities!

I will do my best to share my cherry creations while cherry season is still on. First up: scones.

When I told my mom we were making scones she immediately had to whip up her Blueberry Scones. I watched her make the dough via FaceTime and realized that her recipe looked a lot like the one I’d just made for the cherries. The only variations: whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose and heavy cream in place of milk, oh, and obviously cherries instead of blueberries.

Cherry Whole Wheat Scones (prep)

Cherry Whole Wheat Scones

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick cold butter, cubed
  • 2/3 – 3/4 C heavy cream
  • 1 C chopped fresh cherries

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cubes of butter until it looks like crumbs.
  3. Add the cream and mix with a fork until combined. Fold in cherries.
  4. Form (“mush” is the term my mom used) dough into a disk and place on a baking sheet. Cut into 6-8 wedges. Spread wedges apart slightly if you want crispy edges or leave touching for soft edges.
  5. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on the edge/top. Scones will be done when  toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Amy at http://www.wholesomelicious.com/cherry-pie-scones/*

Cherry Whole Wheat Scones Sew You Think You Can Cook

SRC: Honeyed Lemon Fruit Salad

~ lk529 ~ 24 Comments

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Good morning and welcome to another edition of The Secret Recipe Club. For a little “behind the scenes” information, The Secret Recipe Club (SRC) is divided into three groups. Each group posts on a different Monday of the month. I am in Group C and always post on the 3rd Monday of the month. Which meant that during those special months with five Mondays there’d be two weeks without any fun reveal day! So now, on the 5th Monday of the month there is a themed reveal and it’s a “free for all,” which means that there aren’t any group restrictions. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of the other bloggers in the club.

The end of May unofficially marks the beginning of barbecue season and so today, the Secret Recipe Club is sharing recipes that would be perfect for your upcoming summer picnics and barbecues.

I was assigned the blog An Affair from the Heart written by Michaela. Michaela and I sound like we could be great friends! She describes herself as a “party thrower, gift giver, wish I were craftier, liver & lover of life” kind of gal. It’s that “wish I were craftier” bit that made me smile as I can relate completely. She is a stay-at-home mom to four children and has been married for 25 years this year!

I searched for great side dishes to accompany any summer picnic barbecue or family reunion. I always love a good pasta salad to eat alongside my grilled burger or dog and her Creamy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is definitely on my radar. Any family reunion isn’t complete without my Aunt’s 7 Layer Dip and Michaela’s Not Your Average Mexican Layered Bean Dip looks like it could compete (because it’s avocado free, an allergy I developed while pregnant with Firecracker that I won’t try again until I’m done breastfeeding Treat). Ultimately I went with a fruit salad, after being distracted by a Shirley Temple Float, because how could I not be?!

I altered her recipe to use fruits that were available to me and that met my family’s taste preferences. That’s the beauty of fruit salad – make it however you want! Because of my overall volume of fruit, I only ended up using one carton of yogurt instead of two. I didn’t adjust the honey accordingly and my local variety of Eucalyptus honey was quite over powering. I would of course make this fruit salad again (and use a sweeter honey). My husband loved having it as his mid morning snack in his lunches all week. Truth be told, this fruit salad was part of the very first meal we cooked in our new home!

P.S. I know I said in my SRC Reveal Post two weeks ago that I was supposed to get internet that day, well, it didn’t happen and now today’s the day! Theoretically. I’m not holding my breath on it though, that’s for sure. So, once again, I’m sorry to my fellow club members, but I promise I’ll be stopping by all your picnic worthy posts soon!

Honeyed Lemon Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 C grapes, halved (I used red)
  • 2 C cubed fresh pineapple
  • 1 ½ C chopped strawberries
  • 2 tangerines, segmented
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, cubed
  • 1 container (6 oz) lemon yogurt
  • ¼ C honey
  • Juice ½ large lemon

Steps:

*This recipe is adapted from Michaela at http://www.anaffairfromtheheart.com/2015/08/honey-lemon-fruit-salad/*

Honeyed Lemon Fruit Salad for Secret Recipe Club from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in the themed Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

#MuffinMonday: Apple Carrot Muffins

~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

Muffin Monday

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

My cookbook library received a well deserved expansion this past Christmas and we excitedly started cooking out of them immediately. One of the books I received was a signed copy of Giada’s Happy Cooking. This cookbook is quite different from her previous cookbooks in both feel and format. Looking through the book makes me feel like I’m going through a beautiful magazine instead of a book book. There’s even a very honest introduction written by Giada.

The first thing we made were the black bean brownies. All I can say is these were… different. To be fair, we changed it up and used a can of refried black beans instead of regular black beans. Stuart took the interesting result to work for others to try our experiment. Successful wouldn’t be the term to describe that baking adventure! Maybe we’ll give them another go and follow her recipe exactly.

Apple Carrot Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook (2)

Today’s muffins came from Happy Cooking. I did have to use all AP flour because I was out of wheat flour and omitted the flax meal. As always, I used cinnamon applesauce in place of the unsweeted regular applesauce called for. I also substituted golden raisins in place of dried goji berries. (I wouldn’t recommend shredding baby carrots, but you do what you gotta do!) Even with my changes, these muffins were definitely successful!

This recipe makes one dozen muffins.

Carrot and Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
  • 1 C dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 C flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 C cinnamon applesauce
  • 1/4 C apple juice
  • 1/2 – 2/3 C shredded carrot
  • 1/4 C golden raisins

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and allspice. Add half of the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix until combined.
  4. Add the applesauce and apple juice. Mix until incorporated.
  5. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in the carrot and raisins.
  6. Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin.
  7. Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Allow muffins to cool in the pan 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is modified from Giada’s Happy Cooking*

Apple Carrot Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook (1)

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded

Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles

Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love

Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen

Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Blueberry Scones

~ lk529 ~ 5 Comments

The last time my mom came to visit (in Ohio) she made a batch of blueberry scones. She had an early flight out of town and wanted to take one with her in the cab to the airport. Apparently, she makes these scones almost once or twice a month as an easy grab-and-go breakfast.

I decided I’d take advantage of her spontaneous baking and take pictures of the scones, but every time the thought crossed my mind I’d get distracted. Probably had a diaper to change, ha! And then before I knew it, there was only one scone left. The boys in my house quickly gobbled up these scones.

My mom had the scone batter made and popped in the oven before I even knew what was happening. There isn’t any excuse not to make these myself, especially because I now have the recipe.

My mom usually uses frozen blueberries but she used fresh blueberries the last time she made them and declares them better that way. Use whatever you have, other fruits would work in this recipe, too.

Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 C flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick cold butter, cubed
  • 1/4 C sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 2/3 C milk
  • 1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the cubes of butter until it looks like crumbs.
  3. Stir in the sugar. Add the milk and mix with a fork until combined. Fold in blueberries.
  4. Form (“mush” is the term my mom used) dough into a disk and place on a baking sheet. Cut into 6-8 wedges. Spread wedges apart slightly if you want crispy edges or leave touching for soft edges. Sprinkle scones with a little extra sugar, if desired.
  5. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on the edge/top. Scones will be done when  toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-sweet-scones-66409*

Blueberry Scones - Sew You Think You Can Cook