Spiced Squash Muffins

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Burnt Apple.  The name of the blog makes me think of this Cinnamon Apple Dutch Baby I made for a previous SRC post - slightly darker than it should have been but still yummy.  However, on this blog, the term refers to recipe fails, where it all started.  And who hasn't had a good recipe fail?  But since that first brick muffin that went through a wall, the busy cook behind Burnt Apple has come a long way - from someone who could not cook to save her life to "master recipe manipulator", adapting favorite recipes and the fun foods kids want to eat to make them more healthy - all using regular ingredients and even possible on a strict budget.

Traci works, goes to school, has three kids to keep up with, and still somehow finds time to make some yummy (and usually healthy) food and share her recipes.  Her blog focuses on healthy, budget friendly and delicious recipes, with just enough sweet treats thrown in for good measure. (She had a bit of a deprived childhood, so there's some making up to be done.) I especially love the Burnt Apple recipe index which clearly indicates the recipes that have been adapted and offer variations for different dietary needs.

Suddenly it's October, and the weather is beginning to cool down so of course it's time for recipes that say Fall.   There are plenty of apple recipes, lots of pumpkin recipes - she's kind of obsessed with pumpkin this time of year - and she's a big fan of anything with cranberries (me, too!), so if you're looking for recipes that scream Fall, be sure to check out Burnt Apple.

Of course, there are lots of amazing sounding recipes for all the other seasons, too.  Here's my short list of recipes to try:

• KFC Healthy Fried Chicken
• 30 Minute Apple Pie Pretzels
• Cranberry Pecan Steel Cut Oats
• Coconut Pineapple Lime Ice Cream (!!!)
• Homemade Horchata
• Sausage, Eggplant, and Feta Penne

Spiced Squash Muffins
from Burnt Apple

Ingredients:

• Topping:
  * 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  * 2 T oats
  * 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  * 2 T cold butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butternut squash puree
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly grease muffin tin.  (12-15 muffins)
2. In a small bowl mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together the yogurt and sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs and butternut squash and mix until smooth; add milk.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir into wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of topping over the top of each muffin.
6. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to sit for five minutes in the muffin tins before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Measure flour and the rest of the dry ingredients on top of wet ingredients,
then lightly mix them together before stirring them in.

These are the perfect muffins for Fall! (They most definitely are not bricks.)  All those spices are so perfect, and that topping is to die for.  It was hard not just nibbling that off the top of all the muffins when they came out of the oven.  I kind of overfilled my muffin tins - the recipe said 12 muffins, so I made my batter all fit - so the muffins overflowed a bit and there were bits of topping to be picked off the muffin tins once I took the muffins out of them.  It's a tough job...

I would suggest greasing the cups for 12 muffins and having another smaller muffin tin standing by and just grease the cups you may need based on the amount of batter and how it fits.  These are just a bit too full...

Store any leftover muffins in the refrigerator because they are very moist, and then just heat them up in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes (or 15-30 seconds in the microwave if you use one) to enjoy.  And since they're healthy, it's OK to have more than one!  Right?

An InLinkz Link-up

Margarita Sour Cream Muffins

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Karen's Kitchen Stories.  Karen likes to try recipes that are a bit of a challenge, and she's constantly learning new cooking techniques which she shares with her blog readers so we can all learn something new.  She's especially in love with all things bread and has been known as the Bread Queen by other members of the SRC, though she considers herself more of a Bread Geek.  Judging by the long list of bread recipes on her blog, I can't argue with either!  There were definitely some bread recipes that caught my eye.
 

Of course, there are plenty of recipes for other things on Karen's blog, too.  Here are some that I really want to try:

• Pecan Kringle
• Kahlua Cake
• Strawberry Whiskey Sour
• Green Tea Ice Cream

They all sound so good, but in the end I came back to the first recipe that caught my eye, these lovely Margarita Sour Cream Muffins.  It's OK to have tequila for breakfast with these!  Nobody disillusion me by telling me that the alcohol will bake off, all right?

Margarita Sour Cream Muffins
from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon lime oil (optional)
• zest of 1 lime
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.  Generously grease muffin tin or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, sour cream, tequila, orange juice, lime juice, lime oil, and lime zest together.
3. Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt together and then stir it into the egg mixture. mixing until just combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin;  sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a pinch of sea salt.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned.  Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins

These were really fun to mix up.  When you stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, there's a great chemical reaction between the baking soda and the citrus juices.  Preheating the oven is very important because you will want to get these into the oven immediately.

The flavor of these muffins does remind me of margaritas.  They're really tasty, and I love the texture that the cornmeal adds.  While they were good on their own, I thought the muffins could use a little something extra, so I mixed together 2 ounces softened cream cheese, 1 tsp. brown sugar, and about 1/2 tsp. grated lime zest and used that as a spread.  Yum!  (It wasn't quite enough; I really should have mixed up twice as much)

Next time I think I'll use more lime and orange juice and cut down on the tequila - use just enough to get the flavor.  The tequila makes the muffins taste good - you really do get the flavor - but I'm back to thinking that all my alcohol is baking away, and I think I'd rather use my tequila for actual margaritas. I do love a good margarita.

An InLinkz Link-up

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Thyme for Cooking Blog which is all about the food, and life in France.  I wish, wish, wish I had more time to spend poring through this lovely blog.  I want to know about restoring a French farmhouse, and I want to know how Katie, who started in Minnesota and Wisconsin, managed to end up in France - with a few other interesting stops along the way.  We lived in Wisconsin for 15 years, but I do not think there's any chance we'll be ending up in France.  I will most definitely be reading through Katie's posts more thoroughly whenever I find the time!  I love how all her posts include not only the recipe but also an interesting story about what is going on in her life.

For now, I'm glad she loves healthy food, healthy ingredients, and most of all Simple Recipes.  Of course, simple (but tasty) recipes are a big favorite of mine, but this month I really needed something simple.  I spent a week cooking dinners for approximately 90 people at Camp Outreach, and the weeks prior to that were spent planning, shopping, and cooking chicken and taco meat in advance.  If only I could have used a recipe from Thyme for Cooking Blog for camp...   That would have been awesome!  So, Katie, when you read this, feel free to point me to any of your recipes that may have been great camp fare.  There's always next year.  Maybe.

This Italian Beef and Cabbage might have been good.  I am definitely going to try that soon.  Chicken with Red Beets and Cabbage is on my 'to make' list too, along with Beef, Cabbage, and Feta on Barley.  I seem to see a cabbage theme here.

In the end I picked this Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, because chocolate.  And not only chocolate, but double chocolate.  And also zucchini, and it's one of those simple recipes which I thought would be perfect to share, because, with the slightly longer 4th of July weekend, we decided to go visit my parents, and I always try to take something so Mom doesn't have to fix all the food.  This Apple Bread was also a possibility, but the chocolate won out.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
from Thyme for Cooking Blog

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 6-8 oz. chocolate, chopped (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Butter 2 large loaf pans, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
3. Combine butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla in a large bowl and mix well.  Stir in zucchini.
4. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together; stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir gently to combine.
5. Add chocolate chunks and walnuts and stir just until combined. 
6. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans.
7. Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before slicing.

This recipe is a definite keeper.  Deep, dark chocolatey, chunky and super moist.  The first words that came to mind when I bit into my first piece were, "Oh, Baby."  It is so good.  I stored it in the refrigerator because of the moistness, and I think that made it even better.  The two loaves did not last long when I put them out to be shared.  It really was hard to resist grabbing just one more piece.  And it didn't look like anyone was actually trying to resist.

Thanks for the recipe, Katie.  I will be making this again.  And again.  I see why you make it often.

An InLinkz Link-up

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

I made this a couple weekends ago.  It was very simple and tasty.  Because there are only two of us, I only made a half recipe, but it would be just a easy to make the whole recipe, and it would be great if you have a house full of people to feed.  You put everything into the crock pot the night before, and you have a fresh hot breakfast ready and waiting the next morning.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole
adapted from Everyday Dishes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. sausage
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• sliced mushrooms
• fresh spinach
• 12 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
• 30 oz. bag frozen hash browns
• 2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions: 

1. Brown sausage with onion and garlic; add mushrooms and brown.  Add spinach and cook until wilted.  Set aside.
2. Beat eggs in bowl.  Add milk and seasonings.
3. Grease 4 or 5 qt crock pot.   Pour hash browns into crock pot and then add eggs and sausage mixture.  Stir together and then add 1-1/2 cups cheese.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
4. Cover and cook on low overnight.

The original recipe was to be mixed up and refrigerated overnight and then baked in the morning.  I wasn't sure how it would work in the crock pot exactly so I doubled the milk.  I think that was just about right.  I also added a bit more cheese, because it seemed like the right thing to do.

I'll definitely make this again.

10 Grain Muffins with Apples & Cinnamon

I've been using either a 7 Grain or a 10 Grain cereal in my Whole Grain Sourdough bread for ages now.  That's pretty much why I've started calling it whole grain instead of whole wheat - never mind that the recipe still says whole wheat.  On the Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal package there's a recipe for muffins.  For some reason I've never made those muffins, but I was reminded of the recipe when I bought a new package this week.  Usually I keep my cereal in a peanut butter jar, so I don't see the recipe unless I happen to buy a new package, and it usually lasts me quite a while because I use about 2 T each time I make bread.

This time I decided to make the muffins, but of course I changed them up a bit.  I've got lots of apples right now, so I decided to add some diced apples.  And some cinnamon.

10 Grain Muffins w/ Apples & Cinnamon
adapted from Bob's Red Mill

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup 10-grain cereal
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup chopped apples
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Combine milk and cereal; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Cream sugar and butter together.  Add egg and mix well. Stir in chopped apples, then mix in milk and cereal mixture.
4. Combine dry ingredients and stir in; just until mixed.
5. Pour into greased muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and muffins are browned to your liking.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

I am really enjoying these muffins, especially with a little butter and a drizzle of honey.  I think my favorite apple muffins are still these Oatmeal Apple Muffins (seriously, try those; they are awesome), but I am enjoying these for a change.  They're nice and moist, and the 10 Grain Cereal adds a nice texture and a slight chewiness.  I am thinking that I'll at least double the cinnamon next time, because I can't really taste it in these.  For now sprinkling a little cinnamon on top of the honey really does the trick.  So good!  

I also think either all whole wheat flour or at least half would be good.  I just used the unbleached white flour the recipe called for because I figured all the grains in the cereal would be enough, but I'm a sucker for whole wheat flour in my muffins, so I'm trying that next time.

Now I'm going to check out all the other recipes on the Bob's Red Mill site and see what else I've been missing out on.

Related articles

• simple savorings : apple-cinnamon oatmeal muffins

Homemade Pancake Syrup

I used to buy pancake syrup all the time - usually the large 2 pack of Mrs. Butterworth's from Sam's club.  When the kids were at home, we went through quite a bit of that.  I made a lot of waffles.  Nowadays I'm (usually) avoiding buying anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, so I've started making my own syrup.  Seriously, it's really easy, and it tastes just as good.  It's probably cheaper, too.

It's really just sugar and water with some maple flavoring, so I'm not claiming it's actually healthy, but there is definitely no high fructose corn syrup.  I'm sure some real maple syrup would be better - but this is good if you don't have any of that.

Homemade Pancake Syrup
recipe from the back of the maple flavoring

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. maple flavoring

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil
2. Stir in sugars; cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved
3. Remove from heat and stir in flavoring.  Serve warm.  Or cold.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

It's even better if you find one of these cute syrup dispensers to put your syrup in.  We picked one up recently, and I love it.

My mom always used to make our syrup when I was growing up. I never thought to ask her about her recipe.

Overnight Coffee Cake

I've been making this coffee cake for a long time.  It's so convenient - mix it up the day or night before, refrigerate it overnight, and bake it in the morning.  Warm fresh-baked coffee cake for breakfast or brunch.  What could be better than that?

Actually, I think I may have just figured out how to make this coffee cake even better - after all these years!  Add banana!  I don't know why I never thought of it before, but this past weekend I added a layer of chopped banana between the cake batter and the topping.  It baked up ooey gooey and yummy.  I may just be adding bananas from now on.  For now, I'll leave the bananas as optional - while I let my imagination go wild thinking of all the other fruits I can add and should have been adding all these years.

Overnight Coffee Cake
adapted from The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals

 Cake:

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  and/or 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:

1.  Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Stir in buttermilk.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir into butter/sugar mixture and mix well.
3. Spread batter into greased 13x9" pan.  OR divide between 2 round cake pans.
4. Mix all ingredients for topping and sprinkle over batter.  Variation: cut up 2 bananas and spread over batter before adding the topping. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
5. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.

I usually make this in the 13x9" pan. This time I wanted to try the banana but I wasn't sure I wanted it on the whole cake, so I used the 2 round pans.  I spread a layer of banana on top of the batter in one of the pans before sprinkling the topping on, and I did the other pan like normal.  I should have just used 2 bananas and gone with the whole 13x9" cake.  It was that good!

When the kids were little I used to bake this cake in the two round pans all the time.  We'd have one to eat, and I'd freeze the other one for later.  If you use the disposable foil cake pans, one of them will fit nicely into a gallon zipper bag.  My cake pans won't fit, so we just had to eat both cakes.

Related articles

• Banana Streusel Cake
• Coffee Crumb Cake Recipe

Strawberry Muffins

I saw this recipe on Facebook, and I just had to try it. I don't think I've ever had strawberries in muffins before, but they just looked so good.  And I happened to have some strawberries in the fridge...

Fresh Strawberry Muffins
from Home of My Heart

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
• 1-1/2 cups chopped strawberries
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.  Add vanilla and milk.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together.  Stir into butter/sugar mixture, just until mixed. Gently stir in strawberries and coconut.
3. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan.
4. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.
5. Bake at 400º for 30-35 minutes, or until browned.  Cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove to wire rack to cool.

Makes one dozen muffins.

I cut the sugar down just a bit, because I don't like my muffins too sweet, and strawberries are plenty sweet by themselves.  I also added the coconut, which is sweetened. 

I also increased the bake time. I baked the muffins for 25 minutes, like the original recipe said, but even though they were technically done, they just weren't browned as well as I would have liked.  Baking them the extra 5 to 10 minutes gives them a nice crunch around the edges and enhances the flavor nicely.

I'm thinking of adding rhubarb next time - or adding strawberries to my Rhubarb Muffins.  Some kind of combination of the two.  I bet that would be really good.

Cranberry Gingerbread Loaf

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Hun... What's for Dinner? a blog full of recipes inspired by the best recipes from magazines, cookbooks and the web.  Cindy is a stay-at-home mom of two adorable kids.  She married a professional chef thinking he'd be the one doing the cooking in their relationship.  When that didn't pan out, Cindy became an excellent cook in her own right and has even won some cooking and baking contests and been published in several cookbooks.  No wonder I had such a hard time choosing a recipe from her blog!

Here are a few of the recipes that caught my eye:

• Stuffed Zucchini
• Sam & Cat Sloppy Waffles
• Spring Medley Creamer Potatoes
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
• Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Banana Toffee No Bake Cheesecake

There were more, but I just had to stop myself from looking.  I'm sure you know how that is.  I finally decided on this Cranberry Gingerbread Loaf because I just can't resist anything with cranberries.
 

Cindy made this for something called the Crazy Ingredient Challenge, which sounds like a lot of fun.  She's also got something called Simple Supper Tuesday going on every week which is a round-up of, you guessed it, simple recipes. I will definitely have to be checking that out again!

Cranberry Gingerbread Loaf
from Hun... What's for Dinner

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1 egg
• 2-1/2 cups flour, divided (part white wheat)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1 cup frozen cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Generously grease a loaf pan, or line with parchment paper (making sure there is plenty hanging over the edges).
2. In a bowl, mix together the oil, molasses, brown sugar and boiling water. Let mixture cool to room temperature and then mix in the egg.
3. Combine 2-1/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix into wet ingredients until just combined.  Toss the cranberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and gently fold them into the batter.
4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes; until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.

Cindy's recipe called for 2 T of powdered sugar dusted on the top, but I used a little less than 1 T.  After that it was just going everywhere and making a mess.  It really does look pretty, but I think next time I'm going to sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of the loaf before baking and see how that turns out.

I really loved this loaf.  Is it breakfast?  Bread?  Dessert?  A snack?  I'd say all of the above!  Seriously, really good - great flavor, nice texture, and the tart bites of cranberry really make it special.  Nothing crazy about cranberries and gingerbread together.  The flavors are perfect!  I will definitely be making this again.  My husband wasn't a huge fan of the gingerbread spices, but that just means more for me.  Every time.

An InLinkz Link-up

Rum-Glazed Cranberry Scones

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Cupcake Muffin.  Sara was a graduate student at Berkley in California, but now she lives in Boston.  I hope she's surviving the winter they've been experiencing there.  That has to be a huge change from California!

Sara has all kinds of yummy looking recipes on her blog, so of course it was hard to choose.  She has not one, but two recent recipes for fish tacos that look really good.  Some others that caught my eye were:

• Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
• Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup
• Buffalo Sweet Potato Pizza
• Apple Cobbler Bars

 I settled on these scones because I just can't resist anything with cranberries.  And, I've never made scones before, so I thought now would be the perfect time.  The rum glaze didn't hurt either.

Rum-Glazed Cranberry Scones
adapted from Cupcake Muffin

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces
• 1-1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) cranberries
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• Zest of one orange
• 1/3 cup milk

For the glaze:

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 T dark rum
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse a few times, and then add the butter. Pulse until the mixture looks like crumbs with a few larger pieces of butter.  Scrape into a large bowl.
2. In the food processor (no need to rinse), pulse the cranberries, brown sugar, and orange zest until lightly chopped.
3. Add the cranberries to the flour-butter mixture in the large bowl, and mix with a rubber spatula. Add the milk,  a little at a time, and stir until the dough just comes together (you may need to use your hands, but be careful not to over-mix the dough).
4. Cover your workspace with a piece of parchment (or flour it really well), and dump the dough onto it. Pat into a thick circle (about 1/2" thick), and cut into wedges, 12 or fewer depending on the size you want.
5. Transfer to baking sheet and bake 25-30 minutes at 400° F, until browned.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly. 
   Alternate method: transfer to freezer; place scones in sealed container when frozen.  When ready to bake, remove scones from freezer, heat oven to 400° F, brush with glaze, and bake.
6. Make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, rum, and vanilla together until smooth. Drizzle scones with the glaze and let sit until the surface of the glaze dries before serving.
   Alternate glaze:  Mix 1 T rum with 1 T powdered sugar. Before baking, brush tops of scones with glaze and sprinkle with some Turbinado sugar.

I followed Sara's recipe the first time I made these, except that I used twice as much powdered sugar in my glaze because it seemed really thin.  It could really go either way - double the powdered sugar or cut the rum and vanilla in half - and it would still be good.  We ended up with a lot of really tasty glaze all over our scones!

The scones were really good, soft on the inside and crunchy on the edges.  The cranberry and orange flavor is so good.  I liked the crunchiness so much that the next time I made them, I separated the wedges, and I raised the oven temperature to 400°.  Perfect!  They're still soft inside, but you get more crunchy edges.

I also read somewhere that freezing your scones for 30 minutes before baking will relax the gluten in the flour and make them flakier and more tender.  So, if 30 minutes is good, longer is OK, too right?  I made up a batch and transferred my parchment to the freezer instead of a baking dish and the oven.  I froze the scones and then put them into a sealed container in the freezer.  Then, whenever I wanted scones, all I had to do was take out however many I wanted to bake, let them sit on the counter while the oven was heating, brush them with a glaze of rum and powdered sugar, sprinkle with some turbinado sugar, and bake.  It's so handy to have scones in the freezer ready to bake at any time.  I will definitely be making these again and keeping some in the freezer so I can have them whenever I want!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I love anything with cranberries (I previously made these amazing Lemon Cranberry Muffins from the same blog), and the addition of the cream cheese just sounded amazing.

I've made these twice this week.  The flavor is really amazing.  It reminds me of this Almond Tart a bit - probably because of the almond extract and the cranberries.  Those flavors just go together so well.  The soft, slightly sweetened cream cheese is just a bonus.

If you want, you can take a knife (or your finger) and spread that soft cream cheese all over your muffin. Yum!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins
adapted from The Pajama Chef

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided 
• 6 oz. fresh cranberries (or frozen)
•  2 eggs
•  1/4 cup brown sugar
•  1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1-1/2 cup flour, part whole wheat (or use all white whole wheat)
• 1 T ground flax seed (optional)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line muffin tin with paper liners or grease well.
2. Mix cream cheese with 2 T sugar; set aside
3. In small saucepan, combine another 2 T sugar with the cranberries.  Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until cranberries pop.  Mash slightly with a wooden spoon and set aside.
4. In mixing bowl, beat eggs then stir in the rest of the granulated sugar and the brown sugar.  Mix in oil, vanilla, and almond extract.
5. Stir flour, flax seed (if using), baking powder, and salt together; mix into wet ingredients.  Then gently fold in cranberries, being careful not to over-mix or your batter will turn pink.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan, filling muffin cups about 2/3 full.  Use a spoon to scoop cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin, pressing down gently.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes in muffin tin then remove to wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins

I like my muffins dense and not too sweet, so I used the white wheat flour and flax seed and cut the sugar down just a touch.  They were still plenty sweet, but if you like your muffins sweet and light, use 1 cup of sugar in the batter, with an additional 2 T sugar for both the cream cheese and the cranberries.  And use white flour instead of the whole wheat, though white wheat isn't as heavy as regular whole wheat would be.  I would also recommend using cupcake liners because, even with the wheat flour, these muffins wanted to stick to my muffin pan just a little.

The reason I made these twice in one week wasn't just because I love the flavor - which I do - it was because the recipe, as first posted, called for about 1/2 the flour it should have.  (Sarah weighed all her ingredients, so she got it right, but then she used an online conversion calculator when she wrote the recipe post)  I did not even bother to check, just followed the recipe - and they still turned out really good!  Just very delicate.  And hard to stop eating.  Very hard to stop eating.

I will definitely be making these again!

Blueberry Peach Buckle

It's time again for  Secret Recipe Club (Secret Recipe Club) reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Anna's blog Cheese with Noodles.  I always love meeting someone who shares my name!  I'm noticing more Annas recently, but when I was growing up, it felt like I was the only one.

Anna lives in Alaska with her husband and pets, and we share a love of reading, gardening, and of course cooking.  She's much more crafty than I am, though.  I am completely challenged when it comes to stuff like that.

As with all Secret Recipe Club assignments, I had a hard time picking a recipe.  There were so many to choose from, and they all looked good!  Here are just a few that caught my eye:

• Creamy Salsa Dressing - I've been wanting to try some homemade dressings
• Buffalo Turkey Burgers - yeah, buffalo anything sounds good
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes - I've been meaning to try something like this for AGES
• Greek Pasta Skillet - I am definitely making this soon!

But, I had some blueberries in the fridge, and since I don't buy blueberries very often, I don't really know what to do with them.  So, I checked to see if Anna had any blueberry recipes on her blog and found this one.  Who can resist making something called a Buckle?  I don't know who names these things, but doesn't it sound fun?  (OK, so I looked it up -Buckle or Crumble - Is a type of cake made in a single layer with berries added to the batter. It is usually made with blueberries. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.)

While I was looking at the recipe, one of my facebook friends posted something about a blueberry peach crisp, and I decided to add some peaches to the recipe.  It sounded like a wonderful combination!

Blueberry Peach Buckle
from Cheese with Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 C milk
• 2 C flour (I used 1/2 white whole wheat)
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed if frozen)
• 2 peaches, peeled and diced

Topping:

• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 C cold butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating well.  Stir in vanilla and milk.
2. Mix dry ingredients and stir in.  Fold in blueberries and peaches.
3. Spread batter into greased 9" x 9" pan. (will be very thick)
4. To make topping, stir together sugar, flour and cinnamon and then cut in cold butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles course crumbs.  Spread evenly over batter. 
5. Bake 40-45 minutes in 375° F oven or until topping is browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This stuff is so good!  We ate it all weekend for breakfast.  It's fruit, right?  My husband and I both enjoyed it very much.  The cake is nice and moist with a really good flavor.  Besides adding the peaches, I cut the sugar down a little bit and added some vanilla to the cake.  The star of this cake is definitely the blueberries - lots and lots of blueberries!  The peaches really do complement them very well. 

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  From now on, when I buy blueberries, I'm making this!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cranberry Nutmeg Breakfast Cake

This is one of those recipes I almost picked for Secret Recipe Club. (I ended up going with these amazing enchiladas instead)  But this cake just sounded so good, I had to go back and try it.  I'm really glad I did, because this is one good cake!  I like to make coffee cakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and things like that for Sabbath morning breakfast.  I bake on Friday, and we have something yummy to eat over the weekend.  I think this one is going to show up on a regular basis.

Cranberry Nutmeg Breakfast Cake
adapted from Jessie Weaver

Ingredients
   Cake:

• 4 T butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 c. white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 bag (12 oz.) fresh (or frozen) cranberries, coarsely chopped*

  Topping:

• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans
• 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well.  Stir in vanilla, sour cream, and milk.
2. Mix dry ingredients and stir in.  Fold in cranberries.
3. Spread batter into greased 13" x 9" pan.
4. Mix all ingredients for topping and spread evenly over batter. 
5. Bake 35-40 minutes in 375° F oven or until topping is browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This is a really moist, not-too-sweet cake.  I cut the sugar down a little from Jessie's recipe, but then I added the topping, so it's definitely sweet enough.  The cranberries add just the right touch of tartness in every bite.

We really enjoyed this.  Did I say that already?  Yes, it's really good!  Next time (see - next time - I am definitely going to be making this again) I am going to bake it in two round cake pans, the foil disposable kind.  The foil cake pans fit just perfectly into a gallon-size zipper bag.  I used to do that all the time when I made Overnight Coffee Cake when the kids were little. 

Then they got bigger and ate more coffee cake, and I started just baking it in a 13" x 9" pan.  Now that the kids are grown and it's just the two of us, I think it's time to go back to baking two smaller cakes and freezing one.  One of them will give the two of us plenty of coffee cake for the weekend, and the other one will come in really handy for another time when I don't have time to bake. 

Anyway, try this cake.  I think you'll like it, whether you bake it in a large pan, two smaller pans, or even make it into muffins, which is another possibility.

Pineapple Coconut Rum French Toast

It's time again for  Secret Recipe Club (Secret Recipe Club) reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Daily Dish Recipes, a really great blog written by Nicole, a crazed mom of 5 teens who loves cooking, writing, photography, blogging, and scrapbooking, among other things.  And in her spare time, she...  Well, never mind - on to the recipes!

Again, I had a difficult time choosing just one.  Having no idea what kind of recipe I wanted to try, I just started scrolling through Nicole's blog.  Her Green Onion Egg & Toast Tarts look really good, and so does this Coconut Vanilla Kahlua Cow.  I must admit, I'm a bit jealous of those posts sponsored by Kahlua.  I've loved Kahlua ever since my college roommate introduced me to it - for breakfast, on her cornflakes! (with milk)

Speaking of breakfast, when I saw this recipe for Pineapple Rum French Toast, I knew it was the one!   And, oh, was I right.  This stuff is amazing!  Sweet and crunchy and gooey and just plain yummy!

Pineapple Coconut Rum French Toast
Adapted from Daily Dish Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 12 slices bread
• 1 cup brown sugar, divided into two ½ cup measurements
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided into 1 teaspoon measurements
• 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained or ½ cup to 1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
•  5 eggs
• 1/4 cup Malibu coconut rum
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• shredded coconut, optional (I used about 2 T. unsweetened coconut)

Instructions

1. Melt the butter and pour into a 9×13 pan.
2. Lay 6 pieces of bread in the pan, and spread 1/2 of the pineapple across all the slices of bread.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup of brown sugar on top of the pineapple and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon across everything.  If desired, sprinkle shredded coconut on top.
   
3. Place the remaining 6 pieces of bread on top of each of the original slices, like a sandwich, and repeat the process again - layer of pineapple, layer of brown sugar. Sprinkle the other teaspoon of cinnamon across the top and then the coconut.
4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, coconut rum, and milk together. Pour this over the entire dish.
5. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.
6. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator, leave covered and bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and return to oven for 10-15 more minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Remove from oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Serves 6

Nicole's recipe called for coconut milk and rum extract, but I didn't have any coconut milk, and my rum extract didn't smell like I thought it should.  So, I used the Malibu for the rum and coconut flavors and added the shredded coconut to get more coconut flavor.

With the brown sugar and the butter in this, you don't really need any extra syrup, but it's also good with a little extra drizzled over the top.  I made some with brown sugar, water and coconut oil that was really good, with that extra bit of coconut flavor.  I will definitely be making this again! 

And, since I always have such a hard time picking a recipe - have you noticed what amazing recipes all of our Secret Recipe Club member post? - I made Nicole's Potluck Corn, Black Bean & Cilantro Salsa Dip, too.  Be sure to visit her blog for that recipe, but let me tell you, it is really good!