Cranberry-Orange Cream Scones

The other type of scone that I made was a more traditional scream scone with a biscuit texture rather than a cake texture. They were still light and fluffy and moist though, not dry and cracking like I often see of scones purchased from a bakery. These scones I made fresh on Sunday morning, rather than the blueberry scones which were done ahead of time. Both types were gobbled up by our friends for breakfast so I would say they were both a success!

Cranberry-Orange Cream Scones
From Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted cutter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
1 tsp grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in food processor to combine, about 3 pulses. Scatter butter and orange zest evenly over top and continue to pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some slightly larger pieces of butter, about 12 more pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl ad stir in dried cranberries. Stir in cream until dough beings to form, about 30 seconds.

Turn dough and any flour bits out onto floured counter and knead until rough, slightly sticky ball forms, 5 to 10 seconds. Pat dough into 9-inch round and cut into 8 wedges.

Place wedges on prepared baking sheet. Bake until tops or scones are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blueberry Scones

Continuing with my HP weekend recipes, we are now onto Sunday morning's breakfast. I made two different kinds of scones. These blueberry scones I was able to make earlier in the week, freeze and then bake them directly from frozen. They have a great crunchy exterior with the sugar on top and a nice soft interior loaded with blueberries. You could also substitute other berries like blackberries in this recipe with great results as well.

Blueberry Scones
From Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients
16 tbsp unsalted butter (2 sticks), each stick frozen
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove half of wrapper from each stick of frozen butter. Grate unwrapped ends (half of each stick) on large holes of box grater (you should grate a total of 8 tablespoons). Place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt 2 tablespoons of remaining ungrated butter and set aside. Save remaining 6 tablespoons butter for another use. Place blueberries in freezer until needed.

Whisk milk and sour cream together in medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen grated butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until butter is thoroughly coated.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture and fold with rubber spatula until just combined. Using spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured counter. Dust surface of dough with flour and with floured hands, knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square. Fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to counter. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.

Transfer dough to floured counter and roll into approximate 12-inch square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from counter. Roll dough into cylinder, pressing to form tight log. Arrange log seam side down and press into 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

TO MAKE AHEAD:  After placing scones on baking sheet, either refrigerate them overnight or freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, for refrigerated scones, heat oven to 425 degrees F and follow baking directions above. For frozen scones, do not thaw, heat oven to 375 degrees F, brush the tops with melted butter and sugar and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Monkey Bread

I have had monkey bread many times before but I have never made it myself. The ones that I have had all were made using pre-made biscuit dough and while they were delicious, they don't hold a candle to the flavor and texture to this mixture. Five people at the entire pan in less than an hour and we wanted more. Thank goodness this recipe takes quite a long time to make or I might be tempted to make it much more often which would really hinder my goals or becoming more healthy. It is definitely worth the time and effort for a special treat or occasion.

Monkey Bread
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
Dough
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided, 2 tbsp softened and tbsp melted
1 cup milk, warm (about 110 degrees F)
1/3 cup water, warm (about 110 degrees F)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package instant yeast
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 tsp salt

Brown Sugar Coating
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp milk

Directions:
Butter Bundt pan with 2 tbsp softened butter. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar and yeast. Mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball. Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a draft free area until dough doubled in size, 50 to 60 minutes.

For the sugar coating:  While the dough is rising, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Place melted butter in a second bowl. Set aside.

To form the bread:  Gently remove the dough from the bowl, and pat into a rough 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces.

Roll each dough piece into a ball. Working one at a time, dip the balls into the melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into the bowl. Roll in the brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in the Bundt pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.

Cover the Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in a draft free area until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the pan and bake until the top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around the edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

For the glaze:  While the bread cools, whisk the confectioners' sugar and milk in a small bowl until the lumps are gone. Using a whisk, drizzle the glaze over the monkey bread, letting it run over top and down the sides of the bread. Serve warm.

Banana Bread

We eat a lot of bananas in our house, but just like with the banana ice cream I made last month, sometimes we don't get to them all in time and they start getting too ripe to eat raw.  It happened again a couple of weekends ago so I had to come up with something to do with them.  Again, I may have been rushing fall again a bit but my first thought was banana bread.  I have been searching for a banana bread recipe for some time and just hadn't found one that I really liked.  I decided to hit the internet and try to find a new one to try with these bananas that were crying out to be eaten.  I found this recipe from Williams Sonoma and decided to give it a try.  I am glad I did.  The bread was nice and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.  I wish it had a little bit more banana flavor and next time I will adjust the amount of banana I use.  The recipe below takes this into account and I have already adjusted it to add more banana to the batter.  I also added some chopped walnuts that weren't in the original recipe since I had them in the house.  You can very easily leave these out.  This was great for a quick breakfast or a snack and it was really good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.  So versatile!

Banana Bread
Adapted from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, smash the bananas with a fork.  Add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended.  Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended.  Fold in the walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, spreading it evenly.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

Remove from oven and let cool 15-20 minutes.  Remove from pan and continue to let cool on a wire rack for another 15 minutes (or if you are like me, immediately cut and eat a piece since I can't resist warm banana bread).

Coffee Cake

My brother Jason has a thing about coffee cake.  You know those square ones from Entemann's that are dusted with powdered sugar?  He can eat an entire one by himself.  I kid you not.  He takes a knife, cuts it into bite size pieces and goes to town.  My grandparents bring him one whenever they are asked to bring a dessert for something and the rest of us are basically resigned to the face that we will never get any.  Oh well.

Jason has decided to join us for Sunday True Blood and snacks.  He took time this summer to watch all the past seasons and got caught up with the current season so a couple of weeks ago he came over for his first installment of our time honored tradition.  I couldn't think of a better way to introduce him to our Sunday night ritual than with one of his favorite sweet treats.  I hit the cookbooks to find the perfect recipe and my handy All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook did not let me down.  I have had this book forever and it has definitely produced some good recipes.  This one was no exception.  The recipe makes 2 nine inch round cakes.  We used one for Sunday night and I brought the other one to work.  It was gone by lunchtime to rave reviews.  If you are looking for a good classic crumb cake, this is one to try.

Coffee Cake
From All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Ingredients:
 Crumb topping
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Prepare crumb topping:  In a medium bowl, combines flour, granulated and brown sugars, and cinnamon until well blended.  With fingertips, blend flour mixture and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Set aside.

Prepare cakes:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula.  Increase speed to medium; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.  Reduce speed to low; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a cup, combine milk and vanilla.  With mixer at low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.  With hand, press crumb mixture to form 3/4 inch chunks; sprinkle evenly over batter.  Bake cakes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.  Cook in pans on wire racks 15 minutes.   With small metal spatula or butter knife, loosen cakes from sides of pans.  Invert cakes onto plates, then transfer, crumb side up, onto wire racks to cool completely. (I actually just let them cool completely in the pans and they were fine.)  Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls

To round out our anniversary brunch menu a couple of weekends ago I knew I wanted to do something sweet for my mom.  When I was younger and we would go to the mall together I remember quite a few times where we would share a cinnamon bun as a treat.  We both loved the gooey filling and thick cream cheese icing,  I really like working with yeast doughs and I had time on Friday afternoon to make the dough so what better to give my mom for her anniversary brunch.  So I hit the internet looking for advice and recipes and in my searching I came upon a caramel apple cinnamon roll from Annie's Eats.  Not only does my mom like cinnamon rolls but she also likes apple desserts so I thought this would be a winner.  I made the rolls exactly as Annie's recipe states but made more of a traditional cream cheese glaze/icing rather than a caramel sauce based topping.  I wanted that cream cheese flavor to shine through.  The icing was so good that we used it for our berry salad too so if you wanted to just make the icing as a topping or dip for fruit that would work too.

I left my cinnamon rolls bare since the men in the family requested them without icing.  I just served the icing on the side.  I think that worked out really well because everyone could control how much or how little of the icing they wanted.  These rolls include two pretty long resting times and can be refrigerated overnight after the second resting period so I suggest making the dough the day before you want to cook these.  I took them out of the refrigerator about 3 hours before I needed to put them in the oven and they came out great, flaky and buttery.  I wish I had taken some of the leftovers home with me but I left then all with the happy couple.  I hope you enjoyed them!

Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the cinnamon rolls:
6 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp, ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
5 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
1 cup plus 2-4 tbsp. whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature (I used buttermilk)

For the filling:
1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the glaze:
5 oz. cream cheese
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, salt and butter on medium-high speed until smooth.  Mix in the egg and lemon zest until incorporated.  Mix in the flour, year and milk until a dough forms.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed, about 8 minutes until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky.  (You may need to add a little extra flour or liquid to achieve this texture.)  Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  To make the caramelized apples, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the apple slices, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix until the apples are evenly coated.  Cook about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Set aside to cool.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon to blend; set aside.

Mist a work surface with spray oil.  Roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the dough with flour if needed to keep it from sticking (about 12x14 inches for larger rolls or 9x18 inches for smaller rolls).  Combines the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to blend.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the surface of the dough.  Evenly distribute the caramelized apples over the top of the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up the dough into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll.  Pinch the seam shut, and with the seam side down, slice the log into your desired number of rolls.  Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, place the rolls about 1/2 - 1 inch apart.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 75-90 minutes, until the rolls have grown into each other and have nearly doubled in size.  At this point, the rolls can also be covered and retarded in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.  Pull the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to let the dough proof.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in the baking sheet about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

To make the glaze, combine the cream cheese and butter in a small heatproof bowl and microwave in 15-20 second intervals until it is warm enough to whisk together.  Whisk in the mil and vanilla extract until smooth.  Whisk in the confectioner's sugar until smooth.  Swirl the glaze over the top of the cinnamon rolls or place into a dish to serve on the side.  Let cools slightly before serving.

Home Fries

Potatoes are so versatile.  As Joe likes to say, boil 'em, bake 'em, put 'em in a stew.  Anyway you slice them, I love all kinds of potatoes.  I love them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I always preferred home fries to hash browns for breakfast.  I think when home fries are cooked right they are more flavorful than hash browns.  Plus they are so much more versatile and you can add all types of ingredients and seasonings to them.  The home fries that I made for brunch were a very simple recipe with just onions and potatoes but you could definitely add other vegetables like peppers or zucchini to it too.

In our house, home fries are not only a breakfast dish.  I make them a lot for dinner too.  This method only takes about 20 minutes to cook so we often pair them with steaks, burgers or grilled chicken.  They taste just as good, maybe better, reheated in a pan the next day.  By the way, sorry for the seemingly blurry photo.  That is actually steam coming off the potatoes and this is the only picture of them that I took.  I will have to take a better picture next time I make them.

Home Fries
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

4 medium potatoes (I prefer to use Yukon gold), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. olive oil

In a large skillet that has a lid, over medium-high heat, saute onions and olive oil for 2-3 minutes until the onions begin to soften.  Add in potatoes, salt, pepper and garlic powder and mix to coat potatoes in olive oil.  Cover and let potatoes cook, untouched, for 5 minutes.  Remove lid and mix up potato and onion mixture.  Replace lid and cook, untouched, for 5 minutes more.  Repeat this process until the potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft and cooked through on the inside, about 20-25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Saturday was my parents' 28th anniversary.  It feels like just yesterday that we threw them a big 25 anniversary.  Time is really flying by.  Joe, David and I decided to make brunch for them to celebrate.  Normally it would have been dinner but Mom had to drive David to the airport to leave for vacation that night so brunch worked out much better.  To satisfy everyone's favorites we created a menu with nice variety and I think it was a success.  I know that Jason, who was away for the weekend and missed it, really liked it based on the picture message I got yesterday showing him wolfing down the leftovers!

Mom tends to go for the sweeter breakfast meals so for her I made caramelized apple cinnamon rolls with cream cheese glaze, although we kept the glaze on the side per the request from all of the men at the table.  We also had a berry salad (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries) which was great on its own but also terrific with the cream cheese glaze.  Dad is an egg man so for him we made a vegetable frittata.  We rounded the meal out with thick cut bacon and home fries because who doesn't like bacon and home fries?  To top it off and celebrate we had mango or peach bellinis (sparkling wine mixed with mango or peach nectar), yum!

Vegetable Frittata
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
8 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet oven proof over medium high heat.  Saute onions and peppers for 2-3 minutes, add tomatoes and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes.  Whisk until combined.

Pour eggs over vegetables in skillet and sprinkle cheese over egg and vegetable mixture.  Place skillet in oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and cut into slices.  Serve immediately.