Blueberry Scones

I have to admit, I saw THESE scones on Katie's blog a while back and I've been thinking about them ever since...haha. They looked SO good! Like Katie's husband, Brad loves the scones at Starbucks. Actually he loves Starbucks, period. Believe it or not, Brad and I first met while working together in a coffee shop. Pretty romantic, huh? Needless to say, we are big coffee fans. The baristas know Brad's order before he even rolls his car window down...lol. Lately, his orders usually include a scone...the flavor varies depending on what they have available. When I mentioned making homemade blueberry scones, he was in complete agreement!

Last Sunday, I finally had the blueberries and extra time to make these scones. The blueberries were calling my name! So, I gave in...it didn't take much convincing. Here they are!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour, plus 2 Tbsp, plus 1 Tbsp

1 Tbsp baking powder

3 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

6 Tbsp butter, plus 1/2 Tbsp, chilled

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 c. half and half, chilled

2/3 c. frozen Maine wild blueberries (I used fresh blueberries...they weren't frozen, but I couldn't wait long enough to let them freeze!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In small bowl combine frozen blueberries and 1 Tbsp flour and toss to combine. Place blueberry mixture back into freezer.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Take butter out of fridge, cut into chunks and add to flour mixture. Cut butter into flour until pea sized or smaller. Add vanilla and half and half and mix in with a spoon until just barely incorporated.

Take blueberries out of fridge and knead into mixture until mixture forms a ball of sticky dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface and pat down into rough 9-10 inch circle. Cut into 8 triangles and place triangles onto prepared baking sheet at least an inch apart.

Take 1/2 Tbsp butter and cut into 8 small pieces. Place one small piece of butter on top of each scone. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

Source: Katie's Blog @ Good Things Catered

Banana Bread with Pecans

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 overripe bananas

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

Source: Tyler Florence - http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Julia Child's French Bread!

So, I am very excited to announce that I have become a member of an amazing group of bakers called the "Daring Bakers." Each month, I will be faced with a new challenge...probably something that I've never had the guts to attempt before...case in point - Homemade French Bread. And not just any ole' bread, but Julia Child's French Bread.

This month's challenge was hosted by:

Mary at - http://breadchick.com/

Sara at - http://iliketocook.blogspot.com/

I have to admit that when I first saw this recipe - and what a whooper of a recipe! - I was pretty intimidated. After all, it took up 15 pages when I printed it. Yes, you read that correctly - 15 pages! I've made homemade sourdough bread before. In fact, that was my very first blog post a few months back. So, I thought maybe I could conquer my first Daring Baker challenge okay. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. Basically, the only ingredients are flour, yeast, salt and water. The recipe simply takes patience.

After putting it off for several weeks, I finally decided to put my apron on and start kneading last weekend. After an entire day of mixing, kneading, rising, baking, and re-reading the recipe I finally ended up with somewhat beautiful French bread. I started the process around 12pm, and I bit into my first piece of French bread yummy-ness around 11pm (yes it was late, and no we couldn't wait until the following day to try it!). I was proud of my efforts and the final product. My husband, Brad, usually isn't a bread person. But, he couldn't get enough of this stuff. I am a self-proclaimed bread girl, so I was excited to finally finish the challenge. I will admit that I was nervous though. I was worried that my entire day in the kitchen was going to be wasted if the bread wasn't any good. I anxiously watched as Brad took the first bite. After a few long seconds, he finally plastered a big smile across his face. At that point, I knew my efforts had been a success!

We love eating bread with seasoned dipping oil, so we of course had to try this bread with it. It was delish!

Because the recipe is so very long, you can use this link to view it in its entirety:
http://breadchick.com/?p=336

Don't let the recipe scare you. If you take the time to attempt this recipe once, you'll realize that it's worth almost an entire day in the kitchen!

Southern Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

9 1/4 ounces all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 ounce unsalted butter, chilled

2 tablespoons shortening

These biscuits went perfectly with Paula's "Chicken Divan" below. As a Southern girl myself, these biscuits are a staple in my kitchen!

***I had to add a good bit more flour than the recipe calls for. After only adding the 9 1/4 ounces of flour, the dough was too soupy. Just add a little at a time until you get the right consistency.***

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the milk and lemon juice in a glass measuring cup and place in the refrigerator.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips and working quickly, rub the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled milk mixture. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform the scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Source: Alton Brown - http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Red Lobster Style Cheese Biscuits

If you go to Red Lobster mainly for the biscuits (like me), then you will love these. They taste just like the real thing.

2 cups bisquick
1 cup cheddar cheese
2/3 cup milk
¼ tsp. garlic salt
4 tbsp. butter, melted
¼ tsp. parsley

Preheat oven to 450º F

In a large mixing bowl, combine bisquick, cheese, and milk. Mix together until a soft dough forms then beat vigorously for 30 seconds. On an ungreased baking pan, spoon the dough onto the pan in small balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, they tend to bake quickly!

While they are baking, combine the melted butter, garlic salt, and parsley. Once the biscuits are done cooking, brush the butter mixture onto the biscuits while they are still on the baking pan. Best served when warm.

If you want, mix in a pinch of garlic salt and parsley into the dough before baking. This little addition makes the recipe even better!

Source: Betonya Hunt - Thanks Betonya!!! =)

Jim n' Nick's Cheese Biscuits

I love bread, and when I went to Jim n' Nicks BBQ for the first time, I experienced a tiny taste of cheesy goodness...their cheese biscuits! This recipe comes incredibly close...it's one of my new favorites. Thanks so much Rebekah!

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, beaten well

4 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. This recipe makes approximately 12 muffins.

Source: Rebekah's Food Blog - http://workingwifedinners.blogspot.com/

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

***Makes 2 loaves***

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanillla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 inch loafpans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary. Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.

Source: Southern Living magazine

Sourdough Bread

("Starter," "Feeder," and "Baker" Recipes)

Starter:
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. dry instant potatoes
1 c. warm water

Combine yeast, sugar, instant potatoes and water. Stir to mix. Pour mixture into a Mason jar; cover and refrigerate for 3 days (no longer than 1 week). Remove and "feed" starter as per "feeder" recipe. Feed dough 2 or 3 times before making bread. Aged starter causes a higher rise to your bread. Young starter produces less rise.

Feeder:
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. instant dry potatoes
1 c. warm water

Combine sugar, dry potatoes and water. Stir to mix well. Feed the starter by adding this mixture to the starter mixture. Stir starter and feeder mixtures together. Leave starter mixture out of the refrigerator 8 to 12 hours (all day). Starter should be left out until mixture gets very bubbly. Remove 1 cup of starter to make bread. If not making bread, throw away the cup of starter. Return remaining starter to the refrigerator. Keep in the refrigerator 3 to 5 days and feed again. After mixture has been allowed to bubble at room temperature, remove 1 cup for bread or discard 1 cup starter. Repeat this "feeding" process every 3 t0 5 days. As starter grows, it may be transferred from the Mason jar to a 2-quart pitcher with a tight-fitting lid.

Baker:

Each time starter is fed, a cup of starter should be removed for baking Sourdough Bread. The Baker portion of this recipe follows as Sourdough Bread.

Sourdough Bread:
6 c. bread flour (may substitute 1 to 2 c. wheat flour for part of bread)
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 c. corn oil
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 c. Sourdough Starter (see preceding recipes)

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt; stir to combine ingredients. Mix together corn oil, water and Sourdough Starter. Add starter mixture to flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms and all flour has been moistened.

Grease a large bowl with corn oil. Put dough in greased bowl and turn it over so dough is coated with grease (greased on top). Cover tightly with foil and let sit overnight or until doubled in volume. Punch dough down. Knead.

Divide dough into 3 portions. Knead each portion on a floured board 8 to 10 times. Shape dough into loaves and place in greased pans (loaf pans). Brush top of loaf with corn oil or butter. Cover with waxed paper or dish towel and let rise 4 to 5 hours or all day. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Cool on wire rack. Remove from pan, wrap in foil and refrigerate. Baked bread may be frozen.

Add cinnamon and raisins, to taste, to make Cinnamon Bread.

Bread-making is messy! =)