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Leah’s Crumb Cake

22 May

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This is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill coffee cake.  This coffee cake (and it is excellent with a cup of coffee!) is a cut above.  It has a wonderful texture because it’s made with cake flour instead of regular flour.  And the crumb topping is not your typical streusel, it’s something much more!  Part of the process in making this is taking the time to shape the topping into little balls of deliciousness!  It’s worth the effort and only adds a few minutes to the total time.  Leah has made this crumb cake several times, and she knows I love it!  It’s probably the recipe I request most often when she wants to bake and is asking for suggestions.  And I’m always ready to eat it once she gets it baked!

Ingredients:

Crumb Topping-

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, melted and still warm

1 3/4 cups cake flour (comes in a box and can be found in the baking aisle with the other flours. Do not substitute regular flour)

Cake –

1 1/4 cups cake flour (do not substitute)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons butter, cut into little cubes.  Need to be softened but still cool

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup buttermilk

confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions-

For the topping- Stir together the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter together.

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Add flour and stir until the dough  is completely combined.  It will appear lumpy.

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Set aside to cool to room temperature while you make the coffee cake dough.

For the cake-  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cut a 16 inch piece of parchment or foil.  Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray and fit parchment or foil into the pan.  Push it down into the corners to fit, and leave excess extended up the sides.

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In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Mix on low to combine.  With mixer still running, add butter, a few pieces at a time and continue to beat until mixture is well combined and butter is incorporated.

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Butter should be fully incorporated and mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.  It will probably take about 2 minutes of mixing.

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Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 1 minute), scraping bowl if necessary.

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Transfer batter to prepared pan and spread evenly.

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Break apart  and shape the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and sprinkle over the dough.

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Coffee cake should be completely covered.  It may seem like too much but trust me, this is the best part!!

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Bake at 325 degrees until crumb topping is golden and cake tests done in center.  It will need to bake about 35-40 minutes.

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Remove from pan by lifting parchment, then slide off of parchment onto serving plate.

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Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

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Homemade Granola

29 Mar

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The first time I made this, I assembled everything, popped the granola into the oven to bake, put all the ingredients away, and cleaned up everything I had used to make it.  Once it cooled, I stirred in the dried cranberries and had my first taste.  I immediately got everything back out and made another batch!  It’s just that good.  I knew at the first bite that the kids were gonna love it and that one recipe was not going to be enough!  I’ve tried many granolas that are too sugary and are more like a dessert than anything else.  This one is perfect!  It’s much more economical to make your own and it is simple.  I love it over yogurt, but it is equally good with milk poured over it and eaten as a breakfast cereal.  And though this probably won’t be an issue, it will keep for a long time (I’ve heard) stored in a jar with a screw on lid, ziplock bag, or plastic container with lid.  Hmmm, I think I’ll go whip up a batch right now…

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)

1 cup shredded coconut (if you are not a fan of coconut, you may not mind it here, it’s not very noticeable)

1 cup walnuts or whole natural almonds

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (comes pre-toasted in a bag or jar in the cereal aisle)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (I used sea salt and like to break it down into smaller pieces)

1/2 cup real maple syrup (this was the perfect sweetness for us, but you can add more if you want)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg white

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, cherries, or other dried fruit or combination of fruit to suite your preference

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine the oats, coconut, nuts, and wheat germ in a large bowl.

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Since sea salt is very coarse, I prefer to roll it out with a rolling pin to break it down somewhat.  A huge chunk of salt in your granola would not be too tasty, but I really like to use sea salt.  Measure out the 1/4 teaspoon salt and place on a piece of foil or parchment and roll with a rolling pin till it’s finer.

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Sprinkle the salt over the oat mixture and sprinkle in the cinnamon.

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Drizzle with 2 Tablespoons olive oil and stir to mix well.

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Add the maple syrup and mix well.  I used just 1/2 cup, and that was plenty, but you can add up to 2/3 cup.

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Separate the egg yolk from the white and discard the yolk (or save for something else).  Use a wire whisk to beat up the white until it is foamy and white.

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Drizzle the beaten egg white over the granola mixture and stir well to fully incorporate it.


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Pour the granola mixture out onto a foil or parchment lined baking sheet, spreading it out evenly.

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Bake in a 300 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, or until granola is lightly browned.  Halfway through, use a spatula to gently turn the granola.  Be careful not to break up the clumps (unless you don’t like clumps)  I love the chunky clumps of granola.  Just turn it to insure that it’s cooking and browning evenly.  Also, you may need to rotate the pan front to back in the oven to brown evenly.

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When granola is lightly browned and feels dry to the touch, remove from oven and cool pan with granola on a wire rack.  Cool completely.  Once it’s cool, transfer to a large bowl and stir in the dried fruit, being careful to not break up the clumps too much.

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Store in a sealed container at room temperature (but it won’t last long!)

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Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits

27 Feb

When my kids were little, I would sometimes make a batch of these cinnamon sugar biscuits for a bedtime snack.  I’m not sure why we started eating these in the evening, because they would make a great breakfast, but somehow they became a bedtime treat.

They are quick to mix together and are really great with a hot cup of coffee!

IMG_2102_1Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 raisins (optional, I left them out since my kids don’t care for them)

3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Frosting:

3/4 cups powdered sugar

2-3 teaspoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place flour, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda into a mixing bowl.

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Stir the flour and sugar mixture then add the shortening.

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Using a pastry blender (or a fork), cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add just enough buttermilk as you stir to cause the mixture to cling together into a ball.

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Turn out onto a floured surface and pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness.

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Cut out with a round biscuit cutter and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

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Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 minutes or so until lightly browned.

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Cool for about 5 minutes, while you mix the icing.

Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and add the milk a teaspoon at a time as you stir, until it is a good consistency to drizzle.

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Drizzle icing over warm biscuits and serve immediately.

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Little Sugar Biscuits

8 Feb

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How can such a simple list of ingredients be so good?  These little sugar biscuits are absolutely addictive!  I had originally planned to make these ahead and have them ready for Superbowl, but it definitely did not work out that way!  Once they cooled and I dipped them in the glaze, I told the kids they could each try just one.  One turned into the whole plate before all was said and done (and I was just as guilty as they were).  So simple, so delicious! They would be the perfect addition to a bridal tea or wedding shower, they’d be good for breakfast or as an after school snack, or just to have on hand to eat any time of the year!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter (not margarine) cold and cut into pieces

1 1/4 cups heavy cream (plus a little more if needed)

5 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

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Add the cold butter which has been cut into pieces.IMG_1782_1

Using a pastry blender (or a fork), cut the butter into the flour until it is well incorporated and the mixture looks like coarse crumb, like the picture below.

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Pour in the heavy cream, stirring gently until moisture is evenly distributed throughout and mixture begins to form into a ball.IMG_1786_1

You will probably need to gather it up with your hand at this point, and press it together into a ball.  You may add additional cream if needed so it’s not too crumbly and will hold together into a ball.IMG_1787_1
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Place it out on a floured surface and sprinkle a little flour on the top.

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Flatten it out a little with your hand, just enough to get a nice mostly circular shape.
IMG_1791_1 Gently roll out with a rolling pin until the biscuit dough is about 1 inch thick.IMG_1792_1 IMG_1793_1

I used a very small round cookie cutter, probably about 1 inch across.  You can use whatever size you prefer.  Cut them out as closely together as you can, then reshape the scraps and pat out again to use up all the dough.IMG_1797_1

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Place them about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

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Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so until barely golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on wire racks.  Once they’ve cooled completely, make the glaze by placing the powdered sugar in a bowl and stir in the 1/2 cup milk and the vanilla.

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Dip the cooled biscuits one at a time into the glaze, flipping over to coat  all sides, then place them on wire racks to drip and dry.

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IMG_1832_1When completely dry, store in an airtight container.  They will store for several days, but you probably won’t have any left to store!
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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

15 Mar

I’m always printing out recipes I want to try.  I’ve had this one for a very long time, but have never gotten around to making it until last weekend.  I’m glad I did!  This is such a good recipe!  The appealing thing about this recipe is that the rolls are made the night before and refrigerated, allowing them to rise overnight in the refrigerator.  I put these together on Friday night before I went to bed, then got up the next morning, jogged at the park, did a week’s worth of grocery shopping, and got back home around 9:30 am, timing it just right to bake the rolls for a late Saturday morning breakfast.  I wasn’t certain about how long I could allow them to rise in the refrigerator but they did just fine.  The timing was perfect since the kids are not up any earlier than that on weekends anyway, and they woke up to the wonderful smell of homemade cinnamon rolls.  These rolls will be on the menu for this weekend as well!

Ingredients:

Roll Dough-

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons if measuring)

1/2 cup white sugar

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

Filling –

soft butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins (optional, I left the raisins out since my kids aren’t crazy about raisins.  You could also used chopped pecans or walnuts if you like)

Glaze –

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons half and half or cream

Directions:

Heat the milk in a saucepan for just a little bit to warm it, but not too hot (or it’ll kill the yeast).  You just don’t want it to be cold, more warm to luke-warm.  Add the butter and stir to melt.  ( it doesn’t have to melt all the way, just mostly)

Pour the milk, butter mixture into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast.  Add the sugar, 3 cups of the flour, salt, and eggs.  Beat for two minutes until well combined.

Once the dough is mixed well, switch to the dough hook (if you have it) and mix in the additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

When the dough has pulled together into a ball, turn it out onto a floured surface.

(At this point, you may need to knead by hand if you weren’t able to use the dough hook in the mixing process) You want to end up with a nice smooth ball of dough.

Lightly oil a bowl, and place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat the top.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.

Once it has risen to almost twice its original size, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it out into a 10 x 14 inch rectangle.

Rub softened butter on the top (about 2 Tablespoons or so)

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the surface.

If you are using raisins, or nuts (or both) sprinkle them over the cinnamon sugar layer.  I didn’t use them, because I would have had a mutiny on my hands!

Roll up the dough into a log starting along the long side.

Seal the seam by pressing it together to close. Slice the log into 12 even slices.  They’ll be about an inch thick.  You can do this easily by first cutting the dough log in half right down the middle, then cut each of the halves down the middle. That will give you 4 fairly equal pieces.  Cut each of the four sections into 3 slices each.  I find that this is an easy way to get even slices, but use any method that works for you.

Places the slices cut side down in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to rise overnight.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Take the rolls out of the refrigerator and allow them to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.

Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

While the rolls bake, stir together the glaze ingredients.  Add enough cream or half and half to be able to mix the glaze until smooth.

Drizzle the warm rolls with the glaze as soon as they come out of the oven.

Serve right away while still warm!  Delicious!

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Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

14 Nov

This is a new recipe that I made on a recent Saturday morning when everyone was home for the weekend.  It is really good.  It’s an easy recipe, the most difficult part being in dicing up the cream cheese.  It is easier to dice into such small pieces if you first put the cream cheese into the freezer for 20-30 minutes.  That helps chill enough so that it doesn’t stick to the knife blade as much.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup water

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbls. grated lemon rind

2 Tbls. butter softened

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat 1/2 cup butter on medium speed with a mixer until creamy.  Gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt, stir well.  Combine milk and water.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk mixure.  Mix at low speed until mixture is blended.  Gently stir in blueberries and cubed cream cheese by hand.  Pour batter into a greased 9 inch square pan.

Combine 1/2 cup all purpose flour and last three ingredients.  Stir well with a fork. Sprinkle mixture over batter.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 55 minutes or until done.  Serve warm or let cool completely on a wire rack.

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Classic Cream Scones

25 Jul

A scone is a cross between a muffin and a biscuit.  This is my most often used scone recipe.  They are absolutely wonderful with a hot cup of coffee.  I usually make these on weekends, especially when Ben is home.  They’re his favorite.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (or 5 1/3 Tablespoons) butter, chilled (do not substitute margarine)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water for glaze

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly butter a baking sheet

In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients then add the chilled butter and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry blender (or a fork).  The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs when butter is cut in sufficiently.

Stir together the cream, one egg, and the vanilla into a measuring cup or small bowl and pour into flour mixture.  Stir until fully combined and dough forms a ball.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured countertop and pat it into a 1/2 inch thick circle.  Using a biscuit cutter (or a small can with both ends cut out like I do) and cut out rounds of dough and place on buttered sheet.  Gather the scraps together and reform until all is used.  (I usually end up with a “baby scone” for the youngest child in the family at the time).

Lightly brush the tops with the egg/water mixture which will give it a nice shiny appearance.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve with butter.  These are absolutely wonderful with a hot cup of coffee!

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Potato Hash with Baked Eggs

25 Jul

When we visited my sister and her family near Spring Hill, TN for the Memorial Day weekend, she gave me two dozen fresh brown eggs from her own chickens.  I wanted to make a breakfast dish to showcase those beautiful eggs.  This one was a winner.

Ingredients:

6 large red potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes

olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

8 eggs

2 teaspoons fresh oregano ( or 1 tsp. dried)

1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

crumbled bacon (optional, but I used it on this recipe)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Dice potatoes and put in a pot with water to cover.  Add 1/2 Tablespoon of salt.  Bring to a boil and cook them until they begin to soften but are not totally done and are not mushy.  Drain well.  Add about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to a non-stick skillet and add the onions.  Saute until they begin to soften then add the drained potatoes and cook until they begin to brown and crisp.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  You may need to add additional oil.  You can stir in some crumbled bacon when they’re done cooking if you decide to use it.  Pour this mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.  Level out the potato mixture, then make 8 indentations in the top of the potato mixture with the back of a spoon.  These should be large enough to hold a raw egg.  Put about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in each indentation and crack an egg into each.  Sprinkle the eggs lightly with salt and pepper and scatter fresh oregano and the parmesan cheese over the top.  Place casserole into the preheated oven and bake until the eggs are cooked to your desired doneness.  About 5-7  minutes for firm whites and soft yolks.  Serve immediately.

swing behind the chicken house

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Pancakes

25 Jul

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine

In a large bowl, compine the dry ingredients, then stir in the wet ingredients.  Mix until smooth.  Lightly oil a flat griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Use a 1/4 cup measure to ladle batter onto hot skillet.

When large bubbles begin to appear, they’re ready to turn.  Brown on both sides and serve hot.

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