Sweet Cinnamon Scones

A while ago, I found a really yummy sounding recipe for Sweet Cinnamon Scones. I was so eager to try it, but had a really hard time finding cinnamon baking chips in my grocery store. Thankfully, just before Christmas, they were in stock!

So thrilled and excited to make these, I got up on Christmas morning and made them for my family. Unfortunately, they were a total dud. :( All that waiting for nothing!! But, the idea still sounded really tastey to me and I decided not to give up. I went back to an old standby that's never let me down...America's Test Kitchen.

The recipe below is an adaptation of ATK's glazed, slightly-sweet cake scones with the cinnamon chips, some vanilla, and a touch of ground cinnamon mixed in. Keep in mind, these are cakey scones and less like traditional scones that have a similar texture to biscuits...but that's what I prefer. Plus, the addition of an egg makes them cakey but also allows them to stay fresher longer. :)

The results of adapting the recipe were exactly what I'd be hoping for! These scones are light, cakey, slightly sweet and have just the right amount of cinnamon. Do yourself a favor and give these a try. They freeze really well (pre-baked) and can be stored in the freezer until you are ready to pop them into the oven for a quick breakfast (or even a lighter dessert!!)

Sweet Cinnamon Scones

2 C. all purpose flour
1 T. baking poweder
3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 T. very cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 C. cinnamon baking chips
3/4 C. heavy cream, plus more for brushing – about 1 Tb.
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

For the cinnamon-sugar topping:
1 Tb. cream
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor. Process with six 1-second pulses, until combined.

Pour the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the cinnamon chips to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in the egg, vanilla, and heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Transfer the dough and any remaining dry flour bits to a countertop that has been lightly dusted with flour. Knead the dough by hand just until it comes together – do not over knead!

Lightly dust an 8-inch cake pan. Press the dough evenly into the cake pan. Turn the dough out on to the countertop. (You should have a nice, flat, and even disk to work with!) Cut into 8 equal wedges. (At this point you can flash freeze the wedges in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then put them in a ziplock bag and freeze until needed).

Place wedges on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the 1 T. of heavy cream. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are light brown. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes (ATK recommends truly letting the scones sit for the 10 minutes. It firms them up and improves their overall texture).

Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy with coffee or tea!

Fruit-Filled Puff Pastry Donuts with Lemon Glaze

Are you looking for a simple, delicious way to elevate a donut? This recipe is it! It's called a donut but could also be called a popover. It also really reminded me of a toaster pastry only more fresh and flaky.

Using store-bought puff pastry, this breakfast treat comes together quickly and is definitely kid and adult friendly!



Fruit-Filled Puff Pastry Donuts with Lemon Glaze
Makes about 9 donuts

1 egg
1 Tablespoon water
1 package (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
Cut-up fruit, such as strawberries, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, etc. (I used strawberries and blackberries)
Sugar

Lemon glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup confectioners' sugar

To make the lemon glaze, combine ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. The consistency should be slightly thick but runny. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork; Set aside. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Using a round cutter, cut the pastry sheet into 9 (3-inch) circles. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet. (Don’t waste the scraps – re-roll them and cut into as many circles as possible)

Place half of the pastry circles onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Top each with a small amount of cut-up fruit and top fruit with a pinch (about 1/8 teaspoon) sugar. Brush the edges of the pastry circles with the egg wash. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. Press the edges firmly to seal and crimp edges with a fork. Using a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut two small slits in the top of each filled pastry.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown on the top and the bottoms. Let the pastries cool slightly and drizzle the lemon glaze, or simply shake confectioners sugar, over the tops.

Adapted slightly from The Comforts of Cooking

Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

Growing up, my dad was always in the kitchen. After he took a job that allowed him to be home by 3pm, he became the primary cook in our house. Once he got his bearing, tried some new recipes, and gained some confidence, it was wonderful!

To this day, I am still amazed at my dad's ability to look in the pantry, have no real direction, and whip up a super-yummy dinner in no time. I cannot do this....I am a cookbook/ recipe cook. I like having the comfort of having the recipe with precise measurements right in front of me. Oh, I tend to do "off recipe" almost every time (adding a little this or a dash of that) but I always tend to stay true to the heart of the recipe. What kind of cook are you??

Here you'll find a recipe that will always, always remind me of my dad. I'd never made my own Corned Beef Hash (we typically got it out of a can!) but this was to-die-for. Surprisingly easy, I was able to whip this up Easter morning all while trying to entertain a 1 year old. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and maybe it will bring some fond memories your way.



Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

Yield: 4 large servings (or up to 6 smaller servings)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cups finely chopped, cooked corned beef
3 cups chopped, cooked potatoes
4 Eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Heat the butter in a large cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, until translucent.

Add the corned beef and potatoes, salt, and pepper and spread the mixture out evenly in the pan. Increase the heat to high or medium high and press down on the mixture with a metal spatula.

Do not stir the potatoes and corned beef mixture, but let them brown. If you hear them sizzling, this is good. Use a spatula to life up a corner to see if they are browning. Once nicely browned, use the spatula to flip sections over in the pan so that they brown on the other side. Press down again with the spatula. If there is too much sticking, you can add a little more butter to the pan.

Make 4 indentations in the corned beef hash so that there is only a thin layer of hash. Crack each egg into a well.

Continue to cook in this manner until the potatoes and the corned beef are nicely browned and the eggs are cooked to your preferred done-ness (I like over-easy so I only cook them about 2 minutes). Top with fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Braided Breakfast Casserole

I have been making this breakfast casserole a long time. I love to make it when I have guests or am going to a brunch. Really, it's scrambled eggs in a fancy braided crescent roll hug. I also really like that you can put whatever you want in the eggs to make it different. For this recipe, I used asparagus, onion, red pepper, cheese, and chopped turkey bacon. Again, use whatever veggies you have on hand to make this a deliciously different breakfast!

Adding the cream cheese in with the eggs is also really great. Although not the healthiest option, they really do make creamy, delicious eggs. And a note on the crescent rolls - this recipe calls for 2 cans but I have seen tubes of sheet crescent rolls...you might want to try it because it would make the braiding a lot easier!



Braided Breakfast Casserole

4 oz. (half a brick), cream cheese
1/4 C. milk
1 T. flour
8 eggs
1 tsp. dill, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 T. butter, melted
1/2 C. cheddar cheese
2 cans (8 oz.) crescent rolls
2 C. total of your favorite fillings - I used onion, asparagus, turkey bacon, red pepper and a little more cheese!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the packages of crescent rolls - do NOT separate. On a lightly greased cookie pan, arrange dough in a rectangle and press seams to help seal them. Starting on the longest side, cut dough into 8 strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and milk. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Separate 1 egg - reserve the egg white. Add the yolk and the remaining 7 eggs, dill, salt, and pepper and whisk until smooth. Add you fillings and mix well.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the egg mixture and cook, 4-6 minutes, until eggs are set but still moist. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the filling evenly over the crescent rolls - sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.

Starting at one end, lift one strip of dough, twist one turn and lay across the top of the filling. Repeat, alternating sides to form a braid. Fold bottom edges of dough up at the ends of the braid.

Brush with the remaining lightly beaten egg white. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Blueberry Crunch Muffins

This summer, my husband and I took our 4 month old son to Michigan for a short, little weekend getaway. We had an amazing time fishing, swimming, and soaking up the sun.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was going blueberry picking. All along the winding roads of Michigan, there are blueberry farms that allow you to pick as many blueberries as you want! It's so economical too, compared to the grocery store prices! Plus, these blueberries are bursting with flavor! So, I picked blueberries until my fingers were purple and now I have a good stash in my freezer.

They are perfect to use in recipes like my Blueberry Crunch muffins. These are a surprising little muffin because they are cakey, tender, and so delicious. I really like the fruit combined with the crunchy, cinnamon-sugar topping. So whether you just want some muffins for yourself, are bringing them to a neighbor, or want to impress houseguests...give these a try!



Blueberry Crunch Muffins

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 C milk
1/3 C unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C. fresh blueberries

For the crunch topping:
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

Mix dry ingredients together, set aside. Beat egg and milk together in small bowl, set aside. Beat softened butter until light and fluffy. Alternate adding in egg and flour mixtures, mixing after each addition. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, turn pan over onto a wire rack removing all muffins then turning them over with tops up. Let them cool enough so they may be handled.

For the crunch topping:
Melt the butter. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

Once muffins have cooled dip the tops (or all sides, if you want it extra crunchy!)in melted butter then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on wire rack to finish cooling.

May be served warm or cool. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

This is another recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) geniuses. They have many, many scone variations so I decided to use what I had on hand to make my first scones! What’s great about these is you can use any mix-ins you have. Plus, you can freeze the scones instead of baking them right away and have warm, bakery style scones whenever you want them!

I chose the cream scones as a base because I wanted a creamy, yet flaky breakfast (or any time of the day, really) treat. Then, I also decided to do the “cakey scone” variation. This adds an egg and slightly reduces the butter and cream. I loved the overall texture and cakey-ness of the scones. They would have turned out much more biscuit-like had I not gone this route.

Also, I loved how easy shaping these scones were. Using the cake pan and pressing the dough to form a disk made cutting perfect scones so simple! They look really impressive but are truly simple to pull together.



Cranberry-Orange Scones

2 C. all purpose flour
1 T. baking poweder
3 T. sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp. salt
4 T. very cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 C. dried cranberries
3/4 C. heavy cream, plus more for brushing – about 1 Tb.
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. orange zest
Juice from 1 orange

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Zest an orange and set aside 1 tsp. to use later. Place cranberries in a small bowl. Juice the orange over the cranberries and allow them to plump up while you work.

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process with six 1-second pulses, until combined. Sprinkle the orange zest and butter evenly over the dry ingredients. Process with twelve 1-second pulses.

Drain the cranberries. Add them to the food processor bowl and pulse together with one quick pulse. Stir in the egg and heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Transfer the dough and any remaining dry flour bits to a countertop that has been lightly dusted with flour. Knead the dough by hand just until it comes together – do not over knead!

Lightly dust an 8-inch cake pan. Press the dough evenly into the cake pan. Turn the dough out on to the countertop. (You should have a nice, flat, and even disk to work with!) Cut into 8 equal wedges. (At this point you can flash freeze the wedges in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then put them in a ziplock bag and freeze until needed).

Place wedges on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are light brown. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes (ATK recommends truly letting the scones sit for the 10 minutes. It firms them up and improves their overall texture).

Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy with coffee or tea!

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

What happens when you attempt to make homemade cinnamon rolls and they completely fall apart on you? You make Monkey Bread! That’s exactly what happened when I came up with this recipe. I set out to make homemade cinnamon rolls but when I started rolling up the dough, it fell apart. Instead of scrapping the whole recipe and pulling out a box of cereal, I made it work for me. Traditionally, Monkey Bread is torn biscuits with a cinnamon sugar coating that pulls apart to eat. This cinnamon roll disaster turned into a really delicious breakfast item that would be great for a brunch or a Sunday morning treat. This recipe is proof that you don't have to give up on a recipe that doesn't turn out exactly how you expected!


Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread with Buttermilk Frosting

6Tbs. butter, melted, divided (this is used to grease the pan, for the filling, dough, and brushing on top. Just less than one stick will be used for the entire recipe)

Cinnamon-Sugar mixture:
¾ C. packed brown sugar
¼ C. granulated sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt

Dough:
2 ½ C. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ¼ C. buttermilk

Icing:
2 Tbs. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs. buttermilk
1 C. powdered sugar, sifted

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour 1 Tbs. of the melted butter into a 9-inch cake pan and brush to coat. Set aside.

For the Cinnamon-Sugar mixture: Combine the sugars, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbs. of the melted butter and mix with a fork until it resembles coarse, wet sand. Place in a Ziplock bag and set aside.

For the dough: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and 2 Tbs. of melted butter in a measuring cup or small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon just until the liquid is absorbed.

Dust your work surface and hands with flour. Put dough on the work surface and knead about 30 seconds until the dough looks smooth.

Working in batches, take about 1 Tbs. of dough, roll into a ball and place into the ziplock with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Shake until the dough balls are coated. Drop the dough into the cake pan. Once all of the dough has been coated and put into the pan, pour any remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough. Brush with 2 Tbs. melted butter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the dough is cooked through. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

For the icing: While the Monkey Bread is cooling, begin making the icing. Whisk the cream cheese and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, whisking as you add it. Whisk until the icing is smooth and there are no lumps. Pour over the bread and smooth evenly. Cut into wedges and serve.

The Monkey Bread goes great with a tall glass of ice-cold milk!