Chive Biscuits

I made these for Mother's Day. They were so easy and delicious. The family fought over them, and even my non-bread-eater (Hayden) had two. You can substitute parsley for chives.

Chive Biscuits

by Ina Garten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

3/4 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup chopped chives or fresh parsley leaves

1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. With the mixer on low, add the half-and-half and beat until just mixed. Add the chives and mix until just combined.

Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and knead lightly into a rectangle 3/4-inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter (I'm ghetto, I used a baby bottle!) and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are firm. Serve warm.

Lemon Cupcakes

Okay, I know we already have a lemon cupcake recipe on our blog that is amazing. But, this one is different and from scratch. I've been experimenting with different recipes for Brent's brother's wedding. If I wasn't already doing the lime coconut ones, I would definitely do this one. They are so light and so fluffy and so yummy. I could eat them all day (and have been).


Lemon Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) of REAL butter
3 c. cake flour (no substitutions here--you really need the lightness of cake flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons (just zest the other lemons before you squeeze them)
1 c. buttermilk
Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners (I used yellow, although white would also be cute).

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Don't go skimping here--you want the mixture to be almost white and super fluffy. This is absolutely essential to the outcome of the cake.
While butter and sugar are mixing, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. After butter and sugar have mixed sufficiently, With the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

With mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until fully incorporated.

Using a standard cookie scoop, place about 2 scoops of batter into each muffin cup. Fill these almost to the top--due to the final texture (again, think super-moist and light pound cake), these cupcakes won't have a nice, curvy crown, but that's okay--no one will ever know or care.

Bake about 20-25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. You don't want to overbake these even a bit, or they'll start to lose their delicious moisture. Remove from oven and cool completely. Frost with lemon buttercream and garnish with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or fresh mint leaves.

Lemon Buttercream

1 1/4 c. butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 c. powdered sugar

Beat butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice in an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating to spreading consistency. Makes 2 3/4 c.

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Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting

For Brent & Bryan's brother John's wedding reception, the girls are in charge of cupcakes. It's been so fun trying new recipes and searching for the one to make. I found this one on Nie Nie's recipe blog (linked on our blog below). I made these today and they are worth the time and effort. I may not make them frequently, but when I'm wanting to impress--I'm sticking with these. I think I've eaten 6 already.

Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
{from CuisineNie who adapted it from Food Network}
Makes a whole lot (2 dozen).

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp grated key lime zest
1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup loosely packed sweetened coconut flakes (3.5 ounces)

* Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Add the vanilla extract, key lime zest and juice and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 5 parts total, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined.

Fold the coconut into the cupcake batter.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners and fill each liner almost to the top with batter. A spring loaded 1/4 cup ice cream scoop works great for this and ensures the cupcakes are all the same size.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops begin to brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer cupcakes to a baking rack to cool completely.


The Frosting:
5 ounces good quality white chocolate, chopped into small chucks 1/2 cup
(1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp lime juice (bottled or freshly squeezed)
1/4 cup sour cream Fresh lime slices, for garnish

While the cupcakes are cooling you can make the frosting. In a small heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, carefully and slowly melt the white chocolate. Remove from heat and let cool until just slightly warm.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar until well combined.

Add the salt, vanilla extract, key lime juice, and sour cream and mix until very smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and mix just until incorporated. Frost the cupcakes and garnish with a bit of grated key lime zest.

* If you don't want to place fresh lime slices atop, you can always candy your lime slices so they are more edible. Google "candy limes" to find the how-to.

Marinara Sauce

I don't have a picture of this, it's marinara...just picture it in your head. It is so much better than jarred pasta sauce! The funny thing is it doesn't call for any spices except garlic and bay leaf, but for some reason it is awesome. And, because you can make a big batch and freeze it, it is less expensive than jarred pasta. This recipe makes two servings. I used one for manicotti and one for spaghetti. I just added 1 lb browned hamburger to the marinara for the spaghetti and Jeremiah and I fought over the leftovers.

Marinara Sauce
from Giada de Laurentiis

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (some people add more)
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-oz) cans crushed tomatoes (I can only find 28-oz cans, which work fine)
2 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, salt, and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens, about one hour. Remove from heat and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste.

Cheesecake Cookies

Brent has a broker who emails recipes. When I saw this one, I knew I had to try it. You should know that I have an infatuation with Lorna Doone shortcake cookies. And, I didn't realize the cookie part of these are shortbread (made with cream cheese). I was in heaven. They're filling and sweet. So, it doesn't leave you wanting to eat a dozen (like chocolate chip cookies do). They're a grown-up's cookie.

Cheesecake Cookies

Cream Cheese Filling:
4 oz cream cheese
2 TBSP sugar
½ tsp grated lemon rind
1 egg yolk
1 TBSP half and half or sour cream

Beat together until smooth. Refrigerate.

Cookies:
1 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup fine graham cracker crumbs

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add egg, lemon rind and lemon juice. Mix well. Combine flour and baking powder. Add to first mixture and blend well. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in graham cracker crumbs. Arrange on ungreased baking sheets. With finger make an indentation in center of each cookie. Fill with ½ tsp of filling. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove to cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container.

Orange-Honey Syrup

We love to have breakfast for dinner A LOT in my house. You can probably guess that I am not a morning person by that fact! Here is a delicious twist I just came across for regular or maple syrup. Sooo good that I am not sure I will buy Mrs. Butterworth's anymore! Sorry I forgot to take a picture....next time.


Orange-Honey Syrup

1/3 cup honey

1/3 butter

1/3 orange juice

1/2t. grated orange peel

combine all ingredients into a sauce pan and simmer until it thickens. Enjoy!

"Homemade" Doughnuts

I saw this on a friend's blog and had to try it. It was super easy and undescribably yummy! We made it for FHE and my kids have been begging me ever since to make them. Just a note, I would not recommend the biscuits that peel in layers. Just regular old biscuits!

1 tube biscuits (I used regular buttermilk)

Oil for frying (I didn't say they were fat free, just yummy!)
Powdered sugar, milk and a little vanilla for glaze (or you could use frosting)

Dump oil into a deep pan (I used an entire bottle of vegetable oil but it depends on how big your pan is). Heat oil to 375. Using a medicine cup (or something similar) cut out a hole in the middle of the biscuits. Fry the biscuits on each side until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and then place on a cooling rack. Dip each doughnut face down in the glaze and let it melt down the sides (you can do it all over but I didn't make enough glaze for that). Enjoy!

Also, make sure the doughnuts are golden because then they are done on the inside. I tried to fry the middles into doughnut holes but the insides weren't done so if you try making doughnut holes just let them brown up a little more than usual.

This took me abour 10 minutes from start to finish. And next time we are using more than one tube of biscuits!

April Fools Day Cupcakes (and a dinner idea)

I can't take credit for these cute and fun cupcakes. First, they are in a book called Hello Cupcake that has lots of cute ideas for April Fool's Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, birthday, etc. Second, my friend Summer made these last year for her family and I thought they were super cute. I happened to already have the book so I took the time to make them for my family this year.

First, all I did was buy some foil cupcake pans at the store. There are three in a package and they come with the liners too.

Second, I baked up some cupcakes. I decided on vanilla. I also had some leftover cupcakes and made some mini cupcakes, which was a good idea (if I do say so myself) because I ended up using them later on. Just make sure you don't overfill these cupcakes. Two-thirds and no more!

Peas and Carrots

Tint frosting green. I used green Runts and diced orange Starburst.

Mashed Potatoes

Pile on the white frosting, making a well in the center and building up the wall a little. Put a yellow Starburst a little off center and pour on some warm caramel sauce for the "gravy", letting it spill over a little.

Chicken Legs

Frost the cupcake, then secure a mini cupcake (or small doughnut hole) off center with toothpicks. Build it up with frosting until it looks like a cone and then roll around in cornflake crumbs. For the bone, I piped some melted white chocolate into a bone shape and let it set in the freezer, then stuck it on the top.

For dinner, we had mashed potato "sundaes" where we layered mashed potatoes, popcorn chicken and corn into sundae glasses, topped with gravy and a cherry tomato. Super cute and my kids loved eating out of fancy glasses (I got them at the dollar store).

It's a terrible picture and I used instant mashed potatoes which weren't as stiff as homemade, but you get the point, right? I stuck in some Garlic Ranch Breadsticks from the Barefoot and Baking blog too. They were twisted so they kind of looked like a cookie and they were soooo yummy! You can't go wrong with garlic and ranch dressing!