Honey Corn Muffins

These Honey Corn Muffins are our second Club: BAKED pick for the month of October, thanks to Karen for hosting.  The recipe will be posted at Karen's site soon! I absolutely love cornbread and make it often, the kids and picky husband are all sweet cornbread fans. This recipe was great and produced a moist and sweet cornbread muffin. I baked these in my cast iron cactus pan and corncob pan and served them with some vegetarian chili.  I only got a couple of pictures because these were such a huge hit with the kids and picky husband and got gobbled up quite quickly :)  

Mini Basque Potato Tortilla

Our French Fridays with Dorie recipe of the week is for a Basque Potato Tortilla. I have to be honest and admit that I was not too excited about this one since I am not an egg fan, but I made a mini version hoping the kids would enjoy it. I am trying my best not to miss FFwD and like to expose my kids to many different foods, even if they aren't my favorite, to expand their culinary palates. Also, I keep thinking one day I will try an egg dish and like it, taste buds change over time, so I had to give this a go.

This recipe starts out with potatoes and onion that are browned in a cast iron skillet. Yummy! I pulled out my mini cast iron skillet, happy to have an excuse to finally use the thing :) I decreased the ingredient amounts to 1/3 of the original recipe.

After cooking the tortilla on the stove for 8 minutes, it is then broiled for a minute or so under the broiler. My tortilla puffed up a ton, but fell soon after it exited the oven.

No problems with releasing this little guy from the pan. Whew! I was a little nervous about that.

I cut it into eight tiny triangles and the kids were eager to give it a try. I hyped up this recipe and how yummy it would be. Notice the little fingers going for a slice on the above photo. At first bite the kids all said it was good, my oldest called it a potato pie. Then a second bite, and the opinions changed, "it's a little good, but a little lame," said my three year old son. Uh-oh, nothing worse than a lame tortilla! Then my four year old son told me it was good, but he didn't want to eat it right now, he did later come back and finish his piece, yay! My daughter ate about three bites of her tortilla triangle, but didn't finish it. Sigh, I guess they get their egg taste buds from their mommy.


Will have to report back later once picky husband gives this a try, we will save the rest for him. He likes eggs and potatoes so this one might be a winner with him. Even though this isn't a new favorite (pending picky husband's taste test, who knows, he might love it) it was still a fun recipe to try, it was nice to see the components come together and the finished tortilla.

Sky High Sweet Cream Biscuits & Swedish Visiting Cake -- Tuesdays with Dorie

Time for Tuesdays with Dorie and I have two treats to share this week! First off, our pick for today, Sweet Cream Biscuits, chosen by Melissa of Love At First Bite -- thank you Melissa! These biscuits were amazing, probably the easiest of all TWD treats we've made, and the end results were completely delicious.


We love biscuits and I make them often, I have a favorite recipe that uses butter and cream (which can be swapped for buttermilk) and is a little sweeter, and we mostly use it for strawberry shortcake which is one of picky husband's favorite desserts. I can't wait to make these Sweet Cream Biscuits again for shortcakes, and see if anyone notices I've switched from my old standby biscuit recipe.

before baking

I almost always skip the biscuit cutters and just pat my dough into a rough rectangle, then slice it into misshapen squares with a pizza cutter. As long as you don't mind biscuits that are not all identical and a little rustic looking, that is the way to go. Pizza cutters are usually sharper than biscuit cutters, and a nice clean cut is essential to the rising. Also when I just cut the dough into squares, it eliminates the need to reshape and cut scraps, because there are none. That way there are no tough biscuits and all are nice and fluffy...

after baking

Speaking of fluffy, look how tall and fluffy these guys got!

I think they even rose more than my usual biscuit recipe! I baked them at 425 as suggested in the recipe, on an insulated baking sheet (which helps biscuits not get burned bottoms), for 12 minutes. I set the timer for 12 just to start checking since the recipe calls for 14 - 18 minutes, and as soon as I checked at 12 I knew they were done.

These were a huge hit for breakfast and I can't wait to make them again, who knows, they might even become my go to biscuit recipe!

Now on to Swedish Visiting Cake, which was last week's pick, chosen by Nancy at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs -- thank you Nancy! This was a fun cake to make and also an easy recipe to put together and get in the oven. I loved baking in my new cast iron pan (this was the first time I used it, after seasoning) and the cake looked just like the photo in the book.

Although I baked along last week, I didn't get to post about the cake last Tuesday because the internet was down, purposely, thanks to the construction of an addition on our home -- a new master bedroom and bath. I am so excited to have more space! I shared the cake with our construction crew and it was a hit :)

Irish Cream Scones

We love scones for breakfast and I just had to try this recipe for Irish Scones from about.com I changed it up a bit, and instead of an egg wash on top I brushed on some Bailey's Irish Cream before baking. Yum!


Irish Cream Scones
adapted from about.com
makes 8 scones

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) butter -- cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar (you could use less)
1 egg
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cream

1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

Put flour, baking soda, and sugar into food processor and pulse to combine. Add in 1 stick of cut up butter, pulse into you have pea sized lumps of dough, add in egg and cream, process for about 30-45 seconds until combined into a dough.


Press dough into scone pan or shape into 8 inch circle and cut into wedges and place on prepared (with baking spray) baking sheet.

Brush tops of scones with Bailey's Irish Cream...


Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes, less if baking on baking sheet and not using scone pan.


When tops are golden brown the scones are done.

These scones were delicious, very tender and moist. These are also a sweeter scone, you could easily decrease the sugar and not lose out on flavor. A lot of times scones get a bad rap for being dry but these weren't at all. You can serve them plain with tea or add some butter and jam or honey, fresh fruit would also be great.

I served these sandwiched with butter and sugared lingonberries, absolutely delicious!

These delicious scones are my submission for My Kitchen My World -- Ireland.

Orange Scented Scones -- Sweet Melissa Sundays

Time for Sweet Melissa Sundays! Today's treat was picked by Robin at Lady Craddock’s Bakery -- you can find the recipe for these delicious Orange Scented Scones here at her wonderful blog :) I baked these up in my Lodge cast iron wedge pan and they turned our beautifully.

Here is the crumbly scone dough before pressing together and into the wedge pan...just enough dough to fit!

Before and after baking shots...

We really enjoy scones and I was very excited to make these, in the Sweet Melissa Baking Book you have the option of using oat flour or grinding up your own oats in the food processor. I used the food processor and purposely left my oats a little chunky, I love oatmeal in baked goods.

I accidentally skipped brushing the tops of the scone dough with cream and sprinkling with sugar before I put them in the oven, so I made a glaze to drizzle on top after they were baked with 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (warmed up in the microwave) and about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, I added about 1/2 cup powdered sugar at a time to the melted orange juice concentrate and just kept adding until I reached the right consistency. This glaze was great and packed a strong orange punch.

The scones were amazing. Light and fluffy and a little crumbly from the oats. Very tender and flavorful, I'm the kind of person who loves scones with butter and jam or honey but these didn't need any toppings and were wonderful plain with hot tea for breakfast. Thank you for a wonderful pick, Robin! This is a recipe I would make again for sure :)

~~~

One year ago today: Lithuanian Dinner -- Mushroom Stuffed Cepelinai

Cranberry Orange Scones -- Barefoot Bloggers

Our Barefoot Bloggers bonus recipe for June is Ina’s Cranberry Orange Scones, picked by Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef. Thank you, Em! We love scones at our house and the kids and I really enjoyed these, of course picky husband didn't want any because he doesn't like cranberries. I actually forgot that he doesn't like them before I made this recipe, there are so many things he doesn't like that I think I just need to start a "picky husband won't eat" list :)


Cranberry Orange Scones
Ina Garten
with my minor changes in itallics

4 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling -- I upped this to 1/2 cup
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream -- I used 3/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice -- I used orange juice concentrate for a little extra flavor

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I don't like baking scones higher than 375, they get too dried out at 400 for me so I dropped the temp 25 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! This step I actually did in the food processor (14 cup), which I love for doing biscuit and scone doughs.


Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended. I kneaded these in by hand after removing the dough from the food processor.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick. Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.

After one sheet of fluted circle scones I decided to try out my new Lodge cast iron scone/cornbread pan.

There was just enough dough left, and I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure if I had filled it too full or not.


Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, -- I only did the egg wash on my circle scones and skipped the sugar sprinkled on top -- sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked.


I was worried these would stick in the pan but luckily they didn't, yay! The bottoms are a little lighter than I expected, which is fine with me, they were fully baked and nice and fluffy inside. I was playing it safe with these and didn't want burned brown bottoms. Next time I know I can leave them in a little longer in this pan.

This recipe makes a huge batch of scones!

The scones will be firm to the touch. Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, and drizzle over the scones.

Results: We absolutely loved these for breakfast and I would make this recipe again for sure, just leaving out the cranberries in half of the batch for my picky husband :) I think it is a great scone base and open to lots of adaptations.

Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins -- Tuesdays with Dorie

These super yummy, slightly spicy muffins were our TWD pick of the week, chosen by the amazing Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake -- a very fun blogger with hilarious posts, delicious recipes, and photographs that make you drool! Thank you Rebecca, for a fun TWD pick that I've had my eye on for a while.


These were a cornbread style muffin with a trio of add-ins -- corn, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper -- that gave them a ton of flavor. I love cornbread, I could have sweet cornbread with honey and butter for breakfast, spicy cornbread with soup for lunch, and cornbread casserole with my dinner and wouldn't mind it one bit :)

As much as I love cornbread I don't make it that often, so having these as a TWD pick was a perfect excuse! We have a family favorite cornbread, and that is pretty much our 'gold standard' -- it is a sweeter recipe which is the more Northern style cornbread, and it is a favorite of my husband and children. I love to try new cornbread recipes, sweet or savory, but my family kind of grumbles, and asks for our old standby.

The kids were happy to try this recipe but were not fans of the 'yucky spicy green peppers' and picked them out. I know the recipe calls for fresh jalapenos but I had some jarred in the fridge I wanted to use up and used them instead. I thought they gave a nice kick and can't wait to try these again with fresh jalapenos. My other change to the recipe was to double the corn kernels from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. I love the extra juicy corn pieces and cornbread with corn baked in is a personal favorite.

I had enough batter to make one pan of cornsticks and one pan of 'snowflake' muffins with my new silicone snowflake muffin pan. I actually bought this last fall (along with my orange pumpkin one that I made Dorie's pumpkin muffins with) but this was my first time using it. I figured with all the snow we've been having it would be a perfect time to give this pan a try before packing it up with all the seasonal bakeware. I loved the snowflake impressions that were left on the bottom of the muffins. I'm thinking it would be fun to use this pan with some chocolate muffins and dust the bottoms with powdered sugar.
I really enjoyed this edition of TWD and these Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. They would pair beautifully with black bean soup or veggie chili or just about anything -- so hearty with a slight warming spice, yum :)