Bacon and Cheese Scones with Sea Salt

Bacon and Cheese Scones with Sea Salt

Makes 8 scones.

I wanted these to taste like the scones I have had at Northstar Cafe and Kittie's Cakes, both in Columbus.  I can't say I completely created a replica, but they came pretty close!
Source: Our Nourishing Roots

2 cups freshly ground or sprouted* whole grain flour, preferably a lighter variety like soft white winter wheat (I didn't use freshly ground flour, just regular, and it seemed to still work out okay)
2 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, unsalted, chilled, cut into small pieces
6 pieces of bacon, cooked, chopped into small pieces (about 1 cup)
1 – 1 1/2 cups good sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425.

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, coconut sugar, and salt.  Sprinkle the butter pieces over the top and pulse 10-12 times until the pieces are smaller and it looks like a coarse meal.

Add the cheese and bacon, pulsing once or twice to incorporate them.  Dump the mixture into a large bowl.

Pour the cream over the coarse meal, gently stirring with a rubber scraper until the dough just comes together.  Press the dough into a floured pie plate or cake pan and then turn out onto a lightly floured countertop.

With a pastry scraper, cut the disk of dough into 8 wedges.  Transfer to a parchment-lined jelly roll pan, leaving space between each wedge.

Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are nicely golden brown and the middle looks set.

Cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before moving the scones with a spatula.

Crispy Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Makes approximately 2-1/2 dozen.

Source: A friend adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and below is HER version - yum!

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if you have on hand, vanilla bean paste is amazing
here!)
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick oats)
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, chopped (not “white chocolate”
chips)
1 cup pecans
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (like Maldon or fleur de sel) (for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber
spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl
again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth.
Gradually add oats, pecans and white chocolate and mix just until incorporated.

***I chill the dough for about an hour or two here.

Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between
palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart.
Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.

Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie

Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating
baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Serves 6-8.

The recipe below is designed for a bundt pan, but successfully baked it in a deep 13x9 baking pan. It's rich and delicious. If you want a noticeable apple flavor, add an extra cup of shredded apple after you have formed the balls but before baking. The one cup in the dough itself seemed to get lost and wasn't as strong as I expected.
Adapted from Lovely Little Kitchen and An Oregon Cottage

 

Dough:

1⅓ c. milk, warmed to 110-115 degrees

2 T. butter, melted + 2 T. butter, softened (4 Tb. total)

¼ c. granulated sugar

1 T. instant yeast

3¼-1/2 c. unbleached flour

1½ t. salt

1 heaping c. peeled, grated apple (I used Granny Smith)

 

For coating & glaze:

1 c. brown sugar

1 T. cinnamon

6 T. butter

Make dough:

Add milk, 2 Tb. melted butter, sugar and yeast to a large measuring bowl and stir to combine. Mix 3¼-c. flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook on low. Slowly add milk-yeast mixture and stir until dough comes together. Fold in grated apple. Increase speed to next level and knead the dough for abut 6 minutes, adding 2-3 tablespoons of flour (a tablespoon at a time) as needed for dough to clear sides of bowl (the dough should still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, though).

 

Remove dough from mixing bowl to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Coat bowl with oil (I simply use the bowl I mixed in), replace dough in bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave to sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

 

Use the 2 tablespoons of softened butter to liberally coat a 13x9 baking pan.

 

Remove dough to a lightly floured surface (I use a tea towel for easy clean up) and pat into about an 8x9" rough rectangle. Use a long knife to cut into 64 pieces - it doesn't matter if they're even or not.

 

Coat dough:

Place melted butter in one small bowl and combine brown sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.

 

Roll each piece of dough into a rough ball, dip in melted butter and then roll in the brown sugar coating. Place in buttered pan, layering and staggering dough balls as needed to make an even loaf. Sprinkle any extra sugar-cinnamon mixture on the top.

 

Cover pan with plastic and leave out on counter for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator to finish rising slowly overnight.

 

To bake bread:

Remove pan from refrigerator abut 2 hours before you want to serve it. Leave at room temperature, still covered, 45 minutes to 1 hour and preheat oven to 350 degrees the last 15 minutes.

 

Remove cover, place in heated oven and bake 20-25 minutes until the bread is JUST starting to brown and the sides are bubbling.

 

Cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving dish and topping with apple cider glaze.

Apple Cider Glaze - makes a little over a cup

 

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in apple cider, heavy cream, and salt. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, and then remove from the heat. Whisk in powdered sugar. Add more if needed. Allow to cool slightly before pouring over the pull apart bread.

*If making ahead, store in the refrigerator in a microwave-safe container. Reheat before serving/pouring over bread.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

Makes 1 loaf.

I came up with this recipe after combining a few different ones I found online. It's delicious and my new go-to for zucchini bread.

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. sugar
1 heaping t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c. coconut oil, melted
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 325. Grease loaf pan.  Add egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla to bananas in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in shredded zucchini. Bake for approximately 75 minutes, but check starting around an hour since every oven is different.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 1 dozen cupcakes, 2 dozen mini cupcakes.

A fun and festive dessert!
Source: Cooking Classy

1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 large eggs

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

candy pumpkins, for topping

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 20 seconds, set aside.

 

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together granulated sugar with brown sugar until no lumps remain. Add canola oil, set mixer with paddle attachment (one that scrapes the bowl is preferred otherwise stop and scrape bowl occasionally throughout entire mixing process) and blend mixture on medium speed until well combined. Mix in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in pumpkin and vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in flour mixture and mix until combined, then stop mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and fold batter to ensure it is well blended.

 

Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffins cups, filling each about 3/4 full and adding a heaping 1/4 cup batter to each well. Bake in preheated oven 20 - 24 minutes until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in muffin tin several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

 

For the cream cheese frosting:

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy (at this point I recommend freezing or chilling frosting in refrigerator for a bit, returning to mixer and stirring occasionally, for a more stable consistency). Pipe or spread frosting over cupcakes then store in refrigerator in an airtight container. Bring nearly to room temp before serving. Top with candy pumpkins, if desired.