FAVORITE PANCAKES

Back in the mid-70's (I think!), I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine.  Rather than buy "boxed pancake mix" with rather "strange ingredients", prepare this--  it is so easy, quick, and good.

This recipe is for about two servings, but can easily be doubled/tripled :

1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons salad oil (or melted butter)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sometimes, I add about two tablespoons of wheat germ.  I add more buttermilk if batter is too thick.

Cast-Iron Dutch Baby (PUFF Pancake) w/ Blueberry Sauce *

M-m-m-m-m-m...

♪ Cast Iron Skillet, ...take me home

to the place where I belong... ♪

(Adapted from John Denver's song-- 

Take Me Home Country Roads.)

I don't know of many other things that

can take me back as quickly to 

when my mother was standing at her 

old wood-burning kitchen stove 

than this cast iron skillet can--

that is one of the reasons why

this PUFFY PANCAKE is a favorite

to make and enjoy!

Other reasons include "I like the taste

of these, and the ease of making them!" ...

and, they remind me of my son's wife,  

Audra, who made these for us when 

we were visitors.  

Depending on the degree of hungriness, this might serve three people, OR, oh my goodness, ...just ONE "Starvin' Marvin"! (?)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• ...............................
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' (powdered) sugar
• ...............................
• Blueberry Sauce with optional lemon wedges.  Recipe for sauce is below.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scatter the butter into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.  Place on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 450-degrees.  (Watch to make sure butter doesn't get too hot while you are making the batter.)
2. Meanwhile, pour the eggs* into a blender and blend on high until light and foamy.  Remove the blender's lid and add the milk, flour, granulated sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt.  Blend again until all the ingredients are completely incorporated.
3. Remove the heated pan with the butter from the oven, pour in the batter (do not stir), and return to the oven immediately.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and puffy.
4. While the Dutch baby cooks, make the blueberry sauce (recipe is shown below).

 5.  When the Dutch baby is done, remove form the oven and use an offset spatula to loosen and lift it onto a cutting board.  Cut into wedges.  Sift the powdered sugar over each piece and serve with lemon wedges (optional) and blueberry sauce.  

This is also tasty served with Maple Syrup, or 

with... whatever you like!

BLUEBERRY SAUCE RECIPE:  (I cut the following amounts in half, and had enough.)

• 2 pints blueberries, fresh or frozen.
• 1/4 cup (or 4 tablespoons) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (or 3 teaspoons) lemon juice

     DIRECTIONS:  In a nonreactive*** sauce pan, and over medium heat, stir together the blueberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice.  Simmer until the blueberries begin to pop, about 15 minutes.  Mash lightly to release more juice.  Let cool just until ready to serve.

* I found this recipe on Facebook.  It was submitted by Rachael Narins in November of 2016-- shared by Grit Rural American Know-How and can be found at (http://www.grit.com/food/recipes/dutch-baby-recipe-zerz1611zfis)  

** My 8-yr. old foster boy has taken a real interest in cooking/baking and I am happy about that.  He gets his stool to stand on and doesn't miss anything!  At first, he was uneasy while learning to crack an egg, but, ... He cracked the three eggs for this recipe just like a PRO!!! 

     

*** Non-reactive material is glass, plastic, stainless steel, glazed ceramic, unglazed clay, Corning Ware, or non-stick (which has the metal coated). Calphalon and Alpholon cookware have non-reactive surfaces on them. Le Creuset has a porcelain surface over the cast iron.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

This muffin speaks for itself!  

It says, "I am moist, and 

I am flavorful with my 

blend of cranberries, oranges, 

and nuts!"

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (OR 1 cup?) of granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole cranberries, chopped.
• 1/4 cup finely grated carrots (totally optional)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup orange juice 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used "Smart Balance" oil.)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt).
2. Stir in chopped cranberries.
3. Beat egg, orange juice, oil and orange rind.
4. Add to dry ingredients all at once.
5. Stir JUST LONG ENOUGH to moisten.
6. Spoon into greased (or lightly sprayed) muffin cups.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
7. Sprinkle tops with a tiny bit of sugar (Turbinado sugar looks best, but "regular" will do.)
8. Bake at 400-degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned and a bit firm to the touch.

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS*

I am posting this recipe here because 

I do NOT want to lose track of it.

Servings:  12 muffins (This recipe makes 18 smaller muffins if you don't fill the cups as full)

Prep Time:  15 Minutes

Bake Time: 25-30 Minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).

Total Time: 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour, fluffed up and leveled off.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened (right now, I only had salted butter here)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I usually don't like almond flavoring very much, but I trusted the author of the recipe and followed directions--  ah-h-h-h-h, PERFECT!!!!!!)
• 1/2 cup milk (I only had whole milk)
• 2 and 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar (mine was sort of light golden brown, and coarse)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees. (With my oven, I preheated to 360-degrees.)  
2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.  Spray the pan AND the liners lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar for about 2 minutes.  
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
6. Beat in the vanilla extract and almond extract.  (It's okay if the batter looks a bit grainy.)
7. Gradually add the set-aside flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed ONLY long enough to just "combine".  
8. By hand, and with a spatula, gently fold in the blueberries ONLY until evenly distributed.  Again, ... do NOT over mix!
9. Scoop the batter into the sprayed muffin liners with a cookie scoop if you have one.  This amount of batter will make 12 muffin liners very full.
10. Next, sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar evenly on the top of the muffin batter before baking.
11. Bake for "about" 30 minutes OR just until lightly golden and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
12. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  Then, run a knife around the edge of each muffin to carefully loosen it from the pan if needed because, sometimes, the blueberries touching the edges want to stick.   
13. Transfer the muffins to a rack.  Cool completely.  
14. Eat ONE and then put the rest outta sight for a while OR they will just keeeeeeep disappearing (I say they're that good!).  

Below:  I use this kind of a container 

w/snap-on clear plastic cover to keep these 
fresh longer.  (This is a photo of "smaller" 
muffins because,when making this batch, 
I did not fill the cups as full.)

*Total credit for this main recipe belongs to: http://www.onceuponachef.com/2014/07/best-ever-blueberry-muffins.html  

Because this recipe was copyrighted, I wrote to get permission to share this recipe here. Yay!,-- this is  what I received back this morning:

On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 9:27 AM, JenniferSegal <jennifer@onceuponachef.com> wrote:

"Sure Doris- that would be fine.  Thanks for checking! Best, Jenn."   To that, I say "THANK YOU, Jenn!!!!"

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Pancakes

                                                                         Photo by Doris

Okay,... so I sometimes think I won't be 'doing this' (posting recipes/photos) too often because my most favorite recipes are already posted,... but, ... but, ... but, then I leave the 'door' open that I just m-i-g-h-t sneak one in here and there.   And,...I'll tell you what prompted me to do it.   I was reaching for a box of All-Bran cereal.  At the same time, I'm still hearing remembering two of my grandchildren describing this kind of cereal as looking like chicken feed ("chicken mash", they said, after the milk is on it for more than a minute)!  Even though I'm not crazy for the flavor and texture of this very plain kind of cereal, it's what I'll do because I know fiber is good for me (good for many).  BUT!, with the box already in my hand and making its descent from the cupboard this morning, I couldn't help but see the notice "New Recipe on Back"-- well, of course, I had to give that a look!

Ah-h-h-h, a couple of things factored into my next decision-- the picture looked gooooood, I was very hungry, I happened to have every one of the listed ingredients on hand, a-n-d, ... since I was already planning to eat the bran, why not eat it like this!?!?!  So, ... I did...and I will be putting the recipe for these on my list of 'favorite things to make for breakfast'.  They also passed the 'taste testing' from my hubby.  They're a mix of pancake/banana nut bread, etc.  I'm not done, yet!-- with adding a little butter and 100% maple syrup made from our own trees on this farm, my description is a simple "M-m-m!'

Some might say these are 'heavy', but I say it's more that they are "filling" (satisfying)-- two were great plenty for me. 
Yield:  I think I ended up with 10 of these 4.5" pancakes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup 100% whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup Kellogg's All-Bran Original cereal
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 and 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• Maple Syrup
• Banana slices and additional chopped nuts for garnishing (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, Kellogg's All-BRAN Original cereal, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.  Mix together.
2. In a second bowl, combine the slightly beaten egg, milk, ground flax seed and mashed banana; stir until well combined.  Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir only until just combined.
3. Stir in the 1/3 cup chopped nuts, optional
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter* onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or into a skillet.  Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown**, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and its edges are slightly dry. 
5. Top with syrup, banana slices, and additional nuts, if desired.

*  I like to use my larger cookie scoop for this because it's about the same size and the batter dumps from it so easily (I guess it has no choice when I shove it out with the lever).

**Remember that with using the whole wheat flour, we already have a 'darker batter'-- so, when they say "golden brown", it's a little different look than we'd have when making all white flour pancakes.  Don't have the heat so high that they get 'dark' before they're done in the middle.

 ▼

Leave nuts out of the batter and off the top if you have a 'non-nut liker' in your group...

▼

P.S.  I make up a double batch of these, cool each pancake on a wire rack, then layer 'em  between squares of Saran Wrap or waxed paper.  Next, I stick those little stacks in a Ziploc and I can freeze them, or just refrigerate them for enjoying over the next few days.  It's so convenient to pull one or two out, put 'em in the toaster and... ENJOY!!!   Some mornings, I take one of these (okay, maybe two!), fold it in half with a thin layer of natural peanut butter in between.  I liked that, too.

Whole Wheat 'n Oats Banana Pancakes

Don't let the '12-ingredients' part stop 
you from making these!  

They are easy, and............ I LIKE!

A BONUS:  You'll KNOW what's in THESE!*

*I remember attending a meeting held in the auditorium of the high school in Shawano when the lecturer said something like this about the packaged/convenience food we buy:  "If your first and second grader children cannot (or could not) pronounce the words in the ingredient list, don't buy it, don't eat it!"

----------------------------------

If you like a combination of banana, peanut butter and chocolate, do this:

Above:  Use the same recipe for the pancakes, but drizzle them with a 2:1 ratio of pure maple syrup and creamy peanut butter.  Oh, ...and top 'em with a KISS! (Depending on the quantity you want, use twice as much syrup as peanut butter.)

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2. 1 cup whole wheat flour
3. 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4. 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (I used 'light' because that's what I had)
5. 2 teaspoons baking powder (I use the aluminum-free kind that's now readily available)
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt (Kosher is good)
8. 1 whole egg
9. 2 cups whole milk (I used 2%)
10. 2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus a bit more for the griddle
11. 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
12. 1 banana, coarsely mashed

You could also add chopped nuts to the batter if you wish.

DIRECTIONS:

• Place the rolled oats into a mini food processor or blender.  (I put the oats into a pint jar and then used my regular 'big boy' blender.)  Blend until it is the texture of coarse flour.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the ground oats, wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.
• In a large liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla and coconut oil (because my coconut oil was cool and sort of 'solid', I measure out the amount and just barely warmed it back to 'liquid state' before adding it).
• Mash banana coarsely and add to liquid mixture; stir in.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir (or whisk) just long enough to combine.  
• Let the batter sit for a few minutes while the griddle heats up.
• Spread a little coconut oil over a hot griddle.  Use a quarter cup to measure out pancake batter onto the preheated griddle.  

• Flip once the bubbles begin to pop and no longer fill back in with batter.  Keep warm and repeat with the rest of the batter.

Let's have some...

Thanks for stopping by!

This recipe adapted from www.simplyscratch.com

Banana Blueberry Crumb Muffins*

It's hard to believe we can get to THIS kind of 

"GOODNESS" in just about 25 minutes 

from start to finish!

What a wonderful  "marriage"!   Three very ripe bananas and one cup of fresh blueberries--  oh, how GOOD they end up tasting after meeting up with the other ingredients!!!

Yield:  12 muffins
Prep. time is about 5 minutes
Baking time is 18-20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

........

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed (but not into mush)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

.......

• 1 cup fresh blueberries

.......

• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2  teaspoons butter, at room temperature

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 365-degrees
2. Line one 12-count muffin tin with papers
3. Ever so lightly, spray liners with non-stick spray.  Set aside.
4. In a med. bowl, combine the 1 and 1/2 cup amount of flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together well and set aside.
5. In another med. bowl, combine smashed bananas, sugar, slightly beaten egg, and melted butter.  Stir until well blended.
6. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, barely stirring-- stir JUST until all is moistened.
7. Spoon muffin batter into muffin papers (a cookie scooper works great for this)
8. Drop the fresh blueberries (equally) on top of the muffin dough in the tins-- I ended up having about six blueberries for each muffin top.
9. Gently press each of the blueberries down into the dough.  They don't have to be totally covered.  (I do it this way so that my stirring doesn't break the blueberries as they could be IF they had been mixed into the dough.)  Set aside.
10. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of flour, and the cinnamon together.
11. Using a fork, cut in the 2 teaspoons softened butter until evenly mixed.
12. Sprinkle the brown sugar/butter mixture evenly over the tops of the muffins.
13. Bake for 18-20 minutes OR until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
14. ENJOY!!!!  

*  This recipe was adapted from the recipe I saw on the blog of  http://realhousemoms.com/ in 2013.  I didn't make any huge changes.  How I did change: Lightly sprayed the paper liners, reduced the sugar a bit, introduced the fresh blueberries to the batter in a different way, reduced the total amount of the final crumb topping, and reduced the oven temperature just a little.  

Sausage Gravy over Cheddar Cheese'y Biscuits

It was again time to feed my "southern roots" with some sausage gravy over biscuits.  

My mother was born in Texas, moved to Oklahoma, and then grew up in Arkansas before coming to this farm as a new bride in April of 1930.  I liked  loved making trips to the south with her-- the southern food made/served by her family made a strong impression on me.  For sure, the freshly made biscuits for breakfast EVERY morning-- they were so high, light, and delicious.  Besides variations of sausage gravy to go with them, I remember they often partnered their "blue ribbon biscuits" with a tasty warm pudding-type rice dish which had in it the most plump/sweet raisins I'd ever seen-- I've LIKED raisins ever since!!!!  

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Yesterday, I browned the sausage; then, made the gravy.  I refrigerated this overnight. Today, after church, I quickly made up the cheddar biscuits and this is what I ended up with.

GRAVY  INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound tube of pork sausage (I used the sage flavored variety)

..............................

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 of 12 oz. can whole evaporated milk
• 1 of 12 oz. can water
• salt and pepper, to taste.

GRAVY  DIRECTIONS:

I browned this sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it was brown.  Then, I removed it from the pan with a slotted spoon  and set it aside, but left the drippings in the pan for making the gravy.
..................

1. Stir the butter into the drippings until melted. 
2. Sprinkle the flour into the drippings/butter mixture and stir until smooth.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook this drippings/butter/flour mixture only until light brown.
4. Gradually whisk in the evaporated milk and the water until all is smooth, and cook until thickened.  You must constantly stir this to prevent sticking/scorching. This period of cooking will "cook" the mixture and eliminate a "flour" taste.
5. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Stir in cooked sausage.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes.  If gravy becomes too thick, you can stir in a little more milk.

000000000000000000

BISCUIT  RECIPE:  

   

Here are the links to two of my favorite biscuit recipes-- they are already posted in this blog:  

http://milkmaidrecipebox.blogspot.com/2012/03/angel-biscuits.html

...and,...the recipe for the biscuits I made today is here:

http://milkmaidrecipebox.blogspot.com/2011/12/wannabe-cheddar-bay-biscuits.html

Cinnamon Roll Cake

The THOUGHT and SMELL of cinnamon anything makes me feel loved-- 

why IS that!?  Probably because the thought and smell of 

things baked with cinnamon take me back to when I was growing up

 and enjoying the foods prepared by my mother.  

 I LOVE memories like that/this!!!

When I did a Google search for "Cinnamon Roll Cake", I found I could choose from only 4,890,000 websites.  Seriously!, THAT many websites containing these three words!?   I decided it was time I joined the MILLIONS and make this--but,  because of the sugar content, just every now and then?

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla (I used one)
• 1 and 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

Cake Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, vanilla and milk.  Mix well.
2. Add dry ingredients; stir in just until well blended.
3. Pour batter into a GREASED 9x13" baking dish.  
4. Set aside and prepare topping as directed below.

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened

Topping Directions:

Below:  Stir together the topping ingredients until creamy, like this...  

Below:  Drop evenly in small dollops over top of cake batter in pan.  Swirl through the batter and dollops with the tip of a knife, like this...

Below:  BAKE AT 350-degrees for about 40 minutes (According to your own oven, check for doneness with a toothpick; you might need 41-45 minutes?)

GLAZE INGREDIENTS & Directions:

Combine...
1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla (or maple flavoring?)

2 and 1/2 tablespoons milk (just enough to make it thin enough to pour over the top of the cake).

I found that most who made this cake suggest serving it warm.  I liked it best after covering it and letting it spend the night in the refrigerator.  By the next morning, it wasn't so soft and could be cut more 

neatly--  then, if you want it warm, a quick few seconds in a microwave makes it taste as if it were just pulled from the oven.  

Company joining you for breakfast?  

Make this the day before, cover tightly

...serve warm the next morning.

I can't give 'credits' as to where I got this recipe from because after looking at so many websites and finding so many recipes the SAME, I have no idea as to WHICH one I chose. I just know THIS is the recipe I followed for the cake pictured here.

Ham and Broccoli Breakfast Casserole

Have ham left over from your Easter dinner?   

It can be used like this...

You'll have a ham'y, cheese'y, broccoli'y breakfast casserole like this... 

It does have a 'broccoli' taste-- so, if you like broccoli, you'll probably like this!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 plain, or whole wheat, English muffins, cut into bite size pieces  (The very first time I made this, I used 5 muffins but that change made for a 'drier' casserole-- even if it was still good, it's my opinion that using 4 muffins is best.)  OR, you could substitute with cubed French bread, or something like cubed Texas Toast with the crusts removed.
• 2 cups broccoli florets (rinsed well).  Use only 1 cup if you prefer less of a broccoli taste!
• 2 cups leftover ham, cubed/diced. (You could substitute ham with 1 pound browned/drained pork sausage.)
• 8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, divided (I used Vermont's extra sharp Cabot cheese)
• 12 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• Salt, as desired
• Ground black pepper, as desired

DIRECTIONS:

• Lightly 'grease' a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a mixing bowl, toss together the cut English muffin pieces with the broccoli florets, diced ham and about 3/4 cup of the shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese.  Once tossed, pour into the prepared baking dish.

• In the same mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk paprika and crushed red pepper.  Add in a few dashes of salt and pepper as well.  
• Pour the egg mixture over top of the ingredients in the baking dish.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
• In the morning, sprinkle the remaining shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese over top of the casserole.  Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 to 20 minutes(?), or until the casserole puffs up and slightly browns on top. 
• Let sit for 10 minutes, then serve while warm.

This recipe was adapted from one at www.onedishdinners.com

Blueberry Bake

This recipe came to me through Cheryl. 

It is SO quick to make, and tastes SO fruity!

INGREDIENTS:

10 servings....

Ingredients for the batter:

• 1 and 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/3 cup skim milk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

•     2 tablespoons butter, melted in dish      
•     4 cups blueberries, fresh OR frozen

        

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hr

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3.  Stir in milk and mix well into a smooth batter.
4.  Melt butter in 9x13-inch baking dish in the oven for a minute or so.
5.  Pour batter into melted butter.
6.  Evenly sprinkle blueberries on top of batter. Do not stir in.
7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, OR until done.

Monkey Bread (A pull-apart "breakfast'y" cake)

And,... under the cover is...  this...

Recipes for this are all over the Internet.   If you google "recipe monkey bread", you are likely to come up with 1 MILLION 200 THOUSAND websites.  Is that a lot, or not?!?!?   


Below:  This morning, we had 23° (after a long period of abnormally warm temperatures, this is probably a more "normal" for March 26).  Here is the monkey bread having its photo taken outside in this morning's bright morning sunshine...

I'm including this in my collection because of a 'sweeeeeet memory'.  It's because the first person who gave me the recipe was the late Shirley Schneider (Mrs. George) of Shawano.  She and her husband were the owners of the Schneider Monument Company in Shawano, but I met Shirley back in the mid 80's.  Shirley went with me to Chicago for a meeting and we had such a good time.  She was a sweetheart (gem!) of a woman.   (Shirley actually gave me two different recipes for this, both good!  Of the two, this one is just a bit easier to remember...without looking at a card.)

Here,... have a chunk (clump?)...

I love using nuts when baking-- in fact, I haven't meet a nut I didn't like (including humans, if they're the nice/humorous kind!), but,... because some people have 'nut allergies',  so I don't put a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts into the bottom of the greased Bundt pan UNLESS I know only our family will be having this.  

1. Grease or spray a bundt cake pan.  Set aside.

2.  Combine these ingredients in a plastic bag (or bowl).  Set aside.  This will be your 'sugar coating': 

1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


(If you have some of this sugar/cinnamon mix left over when you're all done, put it in a sort of shaking container and sprinkle on warm buttered toast........... M-m-m-m-m-m-m....)


3.   Open 3 of the 7.5 oz. tubes of buttermilk biscuits (10 ct.); cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.  Put these cut pieces into the bag or bowl of 'sugar coating' and shake or stir until each piece is evenly coated.  Put the sugar-covered biscuit pieces into the prepared Bundt pan. (Some bakers say the 'buttermilk' kind don't dry out as much.)

4.  In a medium saucepan, heat together 1 stick butter and 1 cup brown sugar (packed).  Heat this together over medium heat until mixture is well blended and starting to get 'bubbly'.   Now, pour the prepared/hot TOPPING SAUCE mixture over the sugared biscuit pieces in the Bundt pan.

5.  Bake at 350-degrees for 35-40 minutes or until top is rich golden brown.   (To test for a 'doneness clue', I stuck a wooden skewer down into the 'monkey clumps' to see if I had any 'raw residue' on it.)   

6.  Let stand in pan for a minute or two. Invert onto plate.  Break little clumps off and enjoy while warm.

Angel Biscuits

In the past, I've made biscuits with plenty of baking powder as the 'lifter'; and others with cream in place of the 'fat'.  This recipe uses yeast as the 'lifter' with a less-than-usual amount of baking power... they're called 'Angel' biscuits because of how the yeast 'lifts them up', I guess.  Just like in real life, there were some 'braggers'-- seriously, these biscuits were no different.  The highest ones  (the 'show offs!') in this batch were just under 2" and others were about 1 and 1/2"--  

One might think these are 'more work', but... what's 'work' about softening a tablespoon of yeast in 2 tablespoons of warm water and setting it aside for five minutes?  From there on, everything moves along quickly.

I like these even better with honey!  Biscuits are a 'memory food' for me.  My mother was born in Texas, then had a home in Oklahoma before moving to Arkansas with her family.  After that,......and,...........because of a letter/photograph she submitted  to a magazine, she met and married an out-of-her-area farmer (my dad).  With her "I do", she was to become a dairy farmer's wife for all of her married life.  I think that, along with her making so many other good foods, she was the 'queen of biscuit making'.  And,... whenever we'd 'go south' to visit her relatives, it seemed to be a given that we'd have hot biscuits in the morning-- with gravy and scrambled eggs, with gravy/sausage, or with warm creamy 'raisined' rice.   How can the sight, aroma and taste of 'those days' linger so long?  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (or 1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons warm water 
• 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk OR sour milk

Optional additions (may add one, two, or all three):
1/4 cup very finely shredded carrot
2 tablespoons finely snipped parsley
2 tablespoons very finely chopped green onion

DIRECTIONS: 

• In a small mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Like this...

• Preheat oven to 450-degrees.
• Meanwhile, in a larger mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk this together very well so that the 'small amount ingredients' are well dispersed...

• Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening or lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  At this point, if you wish, you can add the optional carrot, parsley and green onion bits.  Whisk together well.

• Make a well in center of dry mixture, then add softened yeast AND buttermilk (or sour milk) all at once.  Like this... 

• Using a fork, gently stir just until moistened....

• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface.  Quickly knead the dough by gently folding and pressing the dough for only 6 to 8 strokes or until the dough is nearly smooth.  Pat or lightly roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut dough with a floured 2 and 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, dipping the cutter into flour between cuts.* (For more about 'cutting' biscuits, see my note at the bottom.)

• Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet (I used parchment paper).  Bake in a 450-degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until biscuits are 'golden brown' and done.  Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve hot.  Makes 8, or 10, or 12 (depending on how thick the dough is when you start cutting).

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m....

* You know how you end up with little tags of dough left between where the circular biscuit cutter cuts?  Well, ... who says biscuits HAVE to be round?  Not me!   In order to avoid those 'tags' of dough that can get tough if you try to put them together again and re-pat them, do this:  Just pat (or lightly roll) this whole batch of biscuit dough into a square or rectangle-- then, with a knife, cut into shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds, or ??).  Transfer to baking sheet.  Done!

I first got this recipe from a newspaper insert that I came across one day as I was building a fire in the furnace. Later, I saw this same recipe in the 1990 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Old-Fashioned Home Baking.