Baked Doughnuts

The snow was blowing.

The temperature was dropping.

The entire family was home safe.

The only thing that would make the day even more perfect was fresh doughnuts!

And since none of us really needed the extra calories from frying them in hot oil – we baked them.

A quick brush of melted butter on the hot doughnuts and a dip in a cinnamon-sugar bath and you never miss the fryer!

Don’t let the yeast scare you – they are very easy to make! These do take some time to raise – so plan ahead.

They’re perfect for a special mid-afternoon treat!

Baked Doughnuts

2 packages active dry yeast (or 2 tablespoons)
1/3 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1-1/2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups flour
1/3 cup butter (melted)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add milk and shortening; stir for 1 minute. Add eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, nutmeg, salt and 2 cups flour; beat on low speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (do not knead).

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter and place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 450 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the doughnuts are baking, combine the cinnamon and remaining 1 cup of sugar.

Remove the doughnuts and brush with butter. Roll the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve immediately.

Trust me – you won’t have to call the kids twice!

Makes about 2 dozen.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Scones

Do you realize that I went the entire month of January without posting a single recipe containing chocolate?

A shocking statistic that must be corrected quickly.

So…how about a Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Scone?

I love making these in the morning – kind of like eating a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast. The oatmeal lets you pretend it’s healthy!

The original recipe called for raisins – but of course I substituted chocolate chips – for obvious reasons. 🙂

I’m thinking some craisins or dried cherries would also be yummy.

Just don’t forget some chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Scones

1 cup flour
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup butter
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder.

Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture looks like pebbles.

Stir in the oatmeal and chocolate chips. Set aside.

Combine the beaten egg and milk. Add it to the oatmeal mixture and stir until just moistened. It will be sticky.

On a lightly floured surface, pat dough unto a 7 inch circle. Cut into 12 wedges. Place a cookie sheet. Brush with milk.

Bake 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

My friend Kimmer lives in the heart of fruit country in Michigan.

Every time she visits she brings me something wonderful – like the huge boxes of blueberries she brought this summer. 🙂

We actually got to see where these beauties were grown during our whirlwind trip to see her a few weeks ago.

And of course – we enjoyed some amazing blueberry muffins for breakfast!

The recipe is her mom’s – making them extra special – since her mom died several years ago from complications following a routine flu shot.

Her mom was an amazing woman and an excellent cook who was always ready to feed a crew. She must have baked thousands of these muffins for family and friends over the years.

Kimmer continues the tradition, making her home a welcome place full of home cooked meals, love and acceptance.

And blueberry muffins on the breakfast table.

Blueberry Muffins
recipe from Kimmer’s Mama

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1- 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups berries

Mix wet together the egg, milk, and oil. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Pour the wet into the dry and mix briefly. Fold in the berries, either fresh or frozen.

Pour into greased or lined cupcake tins. Makes 12 regular muffins or 36 mini muffins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min.

Enjoy hot and fresh from the oven, slathered with butter!

Ginger Chocolate Chip Scones

The calendar says its autumn – and the weather the last 2 days has proven it to be true!

We’re embracing the cooler temperatures, wearing hoodies, drinking hot chocolate and baking.

Dagmar’s discovered these ginger scones in her new tea party cookbook and it was love at first sight – or taste.

Since the book is written with British measurements – she had to do a few alterations.

And of course we added the chocolate chips – because even the best is better with chocolate! 🙂

Ginger Chocolate Chip Scones
original recipe from The Afternoon Tea Collection

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3-3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ginger
1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons honey (or corn syrup)
1 cup chocolate chips

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and egg yolks until light and fluffy.

Sift together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

Mix together the honey and buttermilk.

Add the dry ingredients with the buttermilk and honey to the butter mixture.

Use a fork to mix until you have a soft, sticky dough. Add the chocolate chips and incorporate carefully.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently till smooth.

Press dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Either cut into 2 inch rounds or cut it like a pie into a dozen triangles.

Transfer the scones to a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.

We dusted the top with powdered sugar before serving – but a light glaze would be yummy, too!

Enjoy!

Scones and Lemon Curd

Our little group of home school moms got together last week to kick off our school year.
We hosted things here with a lovely tea party for the moms and hot chocolate and play for the kiddos.

Each mom brought some goodies for our tea table or some treats for the kiddos – or both!

We had a huge selection of teas to choose from – everything from Earl Grey to green tea and herbal choices. And you should have seen our spread of goodies! Wow!

Dagmar was recently given a wonderful book with tea party recipes (thank you Faith!) – so she was in charge of our contributions – one of which was scones with whipped cream and lemon curd.

What a perfect – and very British – combination!

Scones

1-3/4 cup flour
2-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream

Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is the size of small peas.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs. Add the cream and combine.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into it. Combine with a few swift strokes. Do not over mix.

Place the dough on a floured board and pat until 3/4 inches thick. Cut with a knife into triangle shapes or use a biscuit cutter for circles.

Sprinkle the top with sugar and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Yummy for breakfast, lunch or tea time and absolutely perfect for lemon curd!

Lemon Curd

3 lemons (both the zest and enough for juice for 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt

Using a carrot peeler or lemon zester, remove the zest from 3 lemons, but be careful to not get any white pith.

Put the zest in a food processor with the sugar. Process until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Juice the lemons to get 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened – which will be about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, pour into a fancy serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Serve on the scones with fresh whipped cream, or just eat it by the spoonfuls like some moms did!

Enjoy!

Blackberry Streusel Coffee Cake

It’s back to reality around here this week.

The kids are all home again – the washing machine has been going non-stop and there are muddy shoes all over the porch. 🙂

That also means it’s back to cooking in large batches since those teens are bottomless pits who can empty a fridge in 36 hours or less!

But after my little “vacation” I should be full of creative thoughts – right?!

Well – this little breakfast experiment worked. I think you could even say it was a huge hit!

I combined 2 different recipes and threw in some frozen blackberries to make it fun.

If only all my experiments tasted this good! 🙂

Blackberry Streusel Coffee Cake

1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup oatmeal
4-1/2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cup milk

Blackberry Filling

1 quart frozen blackberries
1-1/2 cup sugar (or less – to taste)
4 tablespoons corn starch

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter

Put the blackberries, sugar and corn starch into a saucepan and heat until thickened. Set aside.

Then make the streusel topping by combining the sugar & flour. Cut in the butter to make crumbs. Set aside.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and oatmeal. In a separate bowl combine the oil, eggs, and milk. Add milk mixture to oatmeal mixture until just moistened.

Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Top with the blackberry mixture and streusel crumbs.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake

I don’t often follow recipes.

I may start out with good intentions – but quickly begin second guessing the recipe or making substitutions.

I’ve creating some really amazing flops that way.

But I’ve also manged to pull off some pretty yummy dishes.

This is one of the yummy ones! Years ago I started playing with an oatmeal muffin recipe and in one of my creative moods – it morphed into a coffee cake.

Later I added the apples and – in a moment of brilliance – actually remembered to write down what I had down!

It’s remained a family favorite every since!

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake

1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup oatmeal
4-1/2 tablespoon oil
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup milk
1 can apple pie filling

Crumb Topping:

2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the oatmeal. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the oil, eggs, and milk. Stir into the oatmeal mixture until just moistened.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.Carefully spread with the apple pie filling.

Mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle over the apples.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Banana Streusel Muffins

You know how some people bring home stray animals?

We bring home stray bananas.

You know the kind – the overripe ones found in the little bags at the grocery store that are all spotted.

There have even been a few times when we brought home entire banana boxes full of them.

Our kids used to like bananas, but they have eaten so many really ripe ones that now they will only eat them when they are green. They won’t even touch a yellow banana, let alone one with black spots.

So I hide them in my cooking. I’m always looking for a new banana recipe – like this one – the Banana Streusel Muffin.

Even though it took me four mixing bowls and a trip to the Amish store for eggs, it was worth it! The kids gave them a 2 thumbs-up! (Although that could be because they have almost enough sugar and butter to qualify as a cupcake?!)

At least a few more stray bananas have found a final resting place. 🙂

Banana Streusel Muffin

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream (I did lemon juice in milk)
1/4 butter or margarine (melted)
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium)

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, butter and bananas.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

To make the streusel, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until small crumbs are formed.

Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 1 dozen.

Of course I had to double it since we had a lot of bananas!

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

We went a little overboard buying ripe bananas last fall. Our freezer was so full of them that banana split muffins were a weekly occurrence on our breakfast table. (You can read that story by clicking here.)

We had so many of them that the children have revolted. Too be honest – I’m not sure I ever want to see them again!

It was time for a new muffin.

My quest for a yummy – somewhat healthy and must have chocolate – addition to our breakfast table yielded these little delights.

There were almost like eating a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast and the oatmeal helps me to pretend they are healthy. (I’ve always been good at make-believe!) 🙂

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 – 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 – 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used melted butter)
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed and divided)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup nuts(I used walnuts – but pecans would be wonderful also)
1 – 1/4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the oatmeal and milk; allow to stand for 15 minutes. Grease or line muffin tin with paper liners.

Stir egg, oil, 1/2 cup brown sugar, chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup nuts into the oat and milk mixture.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the oatmeal mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just moist.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 fill.

Combine the remaining brown sugar and nuts, sprinkle on top of the muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

These are heavenly right out of the oven – but they do freeze well and heat up nicely in the microwave.

Yum! We were so ready for these!

I’ve linked this post up with Lisa over at Stop and Smell the Chocolates and at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Banana Split Muffins

I love it whenever I can sneak chocolate into the breakfast menu – and these muffins are a great way to do it!

This recipe came from my mom – it’s on page 57 of the family cookbook she put together for us several years ago. I think it’s the most stained and well-used page in my cookbook. (The Liver Creole page looks pristine however!)

When bananas are cheap, I buy a bunch and freeze them. Then I thaw out the number I need to make these and treat us all to these family favorites.

If your kids don’t like the cherries or nuts – or if you don’t have them – just leave them out. I’ve made the basic recipe with just chocolate chips and it was wonderful!

Personally I love the extras, and it does taste a little like my favorite banana splits!

Banana Split Muffins

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2)
1/2 cup maraschino cherries (snipped)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup nuts, chopped (I’ve used peanuts, walnuts, and pecans)

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, blending completely. Add flour, soda, salt, bananas, and mix well.

Mix in the cherries, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Pour into greased or lined muffin tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.