LOADED Pumpkin Scones

Last week was my sweet Seestors birthday. She had the day off. She said she was going to go shopping. I told her to get her rump over to my house, "you don't need to shop! You need to bake." She's my baby sister, I like to boss her around. She said she really needed some new jeans. I said, "whatever, when your done being depressed from trying on jeans come bake with me".

Did I ever tell you I'm eight years older than my sister? And that her name is really Carla, and that I prayed night and day when I was a little whipper snapper that the the good Lord would bring me a baby sister. My prayers were answered.

She mentioned that she wanted a Red Velvet Cake for her birthday. I am not a big fan of Red Velvet Cake. It's usually dry, and I prefer things of a moist nature, over dry. I put a shout out on Twitter for a moist Red Velvet Cake. Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake came to my rescue. She pointed me to this recipe that Smitten Kitchen had posted. It was pretty darn good. I would double up on the frosting next time and maybe take it out of the oven 5 minutes earlier....and Oh did I say we only used a third of the food coloring that it called for? I didn't think my kidneys could handle all that artificialness. Ack! If you are a Red Velvet Cake lover I would definitely give this cake a two thumbs up. (With the recommended modifications, of course.)

While my sister was doing her thang with the Red Velvet, I decided I needed to make something too, just in case the cake was a bomb. Plus Big D had been whining about these scones I made and had her taste test. She said that she wanted to marry them. So I thought I'd better try to duplicate my first try, and take pictures this time. Well....I was able to duplicate, but the picture thing, kinda was hit or miss. I was too busy "yacking" with my Seestor, and kinda forgot some steps. But I trust that you will be able to figure it all out. Scones really easy.

If you live near a Trader Joe's well then you are in luck because you can get yourself some of this stuff pretty darn easy and inexpensive too. I just so happen to live a mere 2 1/2 hours from the nearest. Not complaining just sayin'. You can find candied ginger in most grocery stores, if you are unable to find it, then no worries just leave it out. It will be fine....I promise.

Measure out a 1/2 cup and give it a rough chop. Ahhhhh the aroma, is heavenly. I heart ginger. I do realize you need to be careful not to overdo it in recipes, you don't want your scones tasting like Pine-sol.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients.

Cut cold butter into cubes like so and with a pastry cutter cut the butter into the dry ingredients. This is where my visiting with my Seestor got in the way of my photography. But like i said, I trust you can handle this step with out a visual.

In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients. Pumpkin, egg, and buttermilk. Whisk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

Pour wet mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Gently mix until just combined. Fold in pecans, cinnamon chips, and ginger. Yup, you guessed it, forgot yet another picture.....or two. Hey it was my sisters birthday I was trying to give her my undivided attention.

At this point you will need to line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and dust lightly with flour. Divide dough in two. Place each half on baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar. Take a knife and cut dough into 6 wedges, like a pie. Pull sections gently apart, leaving a small space between wedges. Put baking sheets in freezer uncovered for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove dough from freezer and bake for 20-25 minutes. When scones are golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean they are done.

Pumpkin Scones

printable recipe~found at Tasty Kitchen

• 2-¾ cups All-purpose Flour
• ⅓ cups Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• ¼ teaspoons Allspice
• 10 Tablespoons Cold Butter, Cut Into Cubes
• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin
• 1 whole Egg
• ¾ cups Buttermilk
• ½ cups Chopped Pecans
• ½ cups Chopped Candied Ginger
• ½ cups Cinnamon Chips
• ¼ cups Milk, For Brushing
• ½ cups Raw Sugar, For Sprinkling
• 
  

• • 1. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.

  2. Add cubes of cold butter in to dry ingredients, cut in with a pastry cutter. Cut until mixture is mostly combined and crumbly. It’s OK to have some visible chunks of butter.

  3. In a small mixing bowl combine wet ingredients: pumpkin, egg, and buttermilk. Whisk to combine.

  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour wet mixture into the well. With a large spatula stir together until everything holds together. Be careful not to over mix.

  5. Now fold in pecans, candied ginger, and cinnamon chips.

  6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly dusted with flour. Split dough in two. Shape and pat each section of dough in to a 6-8 inch circle, each circle should be about 3/4 inch thick. Brush each circle with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.

  7. Using a serrated knife cut each circle into 6 pieces, like a pie. Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a little bit.

  8. Place the pans in freezer for 30 minutes uncovered. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

  9. Remove from freezer and place in oven for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of scone should come out clean, no wet crumbs. Edges of scone should look baked through not doughy at all.

  **10. If you like you can serve scones plain or iced. Maple Glaze Icing= 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 2-3 tablespoons milk. Whisk together and pour over partially cooled scones.

  
  

These Scones have won over the hearts of non-Scone lovers far and wide. Heavens to Betsy these Babies are loaded with goodness! They are moist but not cakey. Perfectly loaded with just the right amount of flavor and spice and everything nice!

I heart Pumpkin! What's your favorite Scone?

NOTE: Help me Rhonda! I have no clue as to why the last text in this post is underlined. It wanted to be blue too, but I was able to change the text color to black, but could not get rid of the lines. CWazy!

Dinner Rolls

I have a versatile White Bread recipe, for bread machines, that I want to share with you and in the process share a few tips that I have found helpful in perfecting a excellent loaf or dough from a bread machine.

Do you have a bread machine?

I love mine!

It seems like many people that bought a bread maker, back in the day, when they were new and exciting, were not happy with how their bread turned out, and subsequently never used it, or sold it in a garage sale or left it to collect dust somewhere on a basement shelf. If that person is you, I urge you get that bugger out and try his recipe. I promise you it will be life changing.

White Bread ~recipe for bread machine

printable recipe

1 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

3 1/4 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons yeast

Tip #1 Always add wet ingredients in the bread pan first. The reason behind this is to keep the yeast away from liquid ingredients until the kneading begins.

Add 1 cup lukewarm water and egg to pan.

Sugar comes next.....

Add flour, completely covering the wet ingredients.

Tip #2 Always use bread flour. Bread flour has higher protein and gluten content than all-purpose flour. Gluten provides structure and more volume to bread.

Dig yourself a little spot for the yeast.

I read once that placing the yeast in a divot over the mixing paddle helps to incorporate the yeast into the wet ingredients while distributing it evenly through out the dough. Hey, sounds good. And it's kinda fun to make your yeast a little cave in the flour. (I could not find the source of this tip, so don't quote me on it. Actually if you could please not quote me on anything, it would be much appreciated!)

Measure three teaspoons of yeast into divot.

Tip #4 Always make sure your yeast is fresh. Check expiration date, DO NOT use expired yeast. Always store yeast in refrigerator.

Add 1 teaspoon salt.

I sprinkle mine around the edges. Do not leave salt out. It is necessary element of bread, it controls the growth of the yeast which aids in the rising of the bread dough.

Now plunk your bread pan down in the machine, and set the proper settings. If you are going to make a loaf of bread out of this use the 2 lb white bread setting on light to medium crust.

We are making Dinner Rolls so we are going to use the dough mode. I use this setting ninety-five percent of the time. It works fabulously!! It does all the work, and then you can take the dough out and make phenomenal dinner rolls, in all shapes and sizes, or cinnamon rolls, or cinnamon bread. The skies the limit!

TIP# 5 Don't be afraid to open up the top. You don't want to stand there half the time with the top off, because that will mess up the temperature that needs to be maintained for the bread to rise properly. But you do need to make sure everything is mixing properly, if not you may need to give things a little help.

Tip#5 continued See how the ingredients have been shoved to the corner and are not mixing in, stick a spatula along the side and help that flour into the dough.

TIP#6 You may need to add more water. One tablespoon at a time. If the dough looks dry and/or is just flying around on a layer of flour, then by all means add a tablespoon at a time of lukewarm water until your ingredients are mixed completely and have formed a smooth ball of dough.

This is what your ball of dough should look like. Firm and smooth and not too dry or too wet.

I quite often will add 1-2 extra tablespoons of water, but not every time. So it's best to watch your dough and judge by the looks if you need to add more water or not.

NOW that your dough looks good you can go read your book or do a load of laundry or clean your grout.

This is how finished dough should look.

Dinner Rolls

Dump the contents of bread pan on to a dry, clean, lightly floured surface.

Cut dough in half, then half that , then half that......well you get the idea.

You should come up with 16 pieces of dough. Similar in size.

Tuck each piece into nice round balls, don't squish or roll, just tuck.

Or pinch. Bring it together at the bottom, making a perfect round ball for your dinner roll.

Like so.

Place them on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover with a cloth and set in warm place for half and hour to rise. Pop them in a 375 degree oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.

These little guys pop right up and say, "Howdy", when you bake them.

I like to take a stick of butter and rub it all over the rolls when they are hot out of the oven. MMmmmgood polka dot period.

Well then of course you need to butter them on the inside too. Actually these rolls are so good, you could leave the butter step out, but why? I will not disclose how many dinner rolls were eaten in the making of this post. It's a dastardly number.

This dough works great for Parker House rolls too, or if you have ever made The Pioneer Woman's Rosemary Rolls, this dough works perfect for them too!

All of the tips that I shared with you in this post can be found in the Better Homes and Gardens Best Bread Machine Recipes. If you are going to make the most of your bread machine this book in indispensable. It is full of tons of tips and every recipe I have used from this cookbook has turned out perfectly. However, the above recipe is not in this cookbook it was graciously given to me by my sister-n-law....to whom I will ever be indebted to for my ever growing mid-section, due to excessive dinner roll consumption. I'm tellin' ya you can't eat just one!

Oh, I hope I have not given you too much information. Using your bread machine should be simple, easy, and should be done often. So if you are sequestering your bread machine away in some dark dank place in your home, do the guy a favor, haul him out and make your family some rolls, Man!

bread MAchiNe

This would be my bread machine. Shoved away in the oddball cupboard above the microwave, along with some seldom used cookbooks and recipe clippings. Go BULLDOGS! That machine, and I have been through alot together. Thirteen years, four babies, three kitchens, in sickness and in health, through thick and through thin, in sweet times and in stale. Well I think you get the idea, my bread machine and I have been pretty close. I wish I would have put a mark on him for every loaf of bread he's baked, and every batch of dough he's kneaded and rose. At times I have felt somewhat ashamed...like because of my dependency on him, I am somehow a lesser baker. But because I use my oven every day does that make me a lesser cook.

These are the things I ponder....

In the beginning I never let him out of my sight. He had a special place in my heart/kitchen. But as the years passed other appliances have whipped and beaten him to my affections.

In search of a recipe, I opened the cupboard above the microwave, which is above the coffee pot. The cupboard that is always near, but then just too far. I stood on tip toe, in my thread bare socks (I need me some slippers, man...the tile in our house does a number on my socks), cranking my neck to reach the book I wanted. Then I realized.....it has been a dang long time since I had used the bread machine. I stumbled back wondering if this wasn't as good a time as any to rekindle our once kneady relationship. Should I get a step stool to get him down? Or just tip him out of the cupboard until he leaned on my head and then pray for a safe landing on the counter below.

Of course, I chose the latter choice being that I am one to react now and think later. It worked out. He gave my head a kiss, he'd been missing me. Then he slid down into my arms so I could embrace him fully, swinging him around with all the strength and passion I could muster. He, my bread machine.....just in case you forgot and thought I was actually lifting a man out of my cupboard....made a safe landing on my kitchen island. Sigh......

I had me a little conversation, right then and their with my neglected appliance....."Hey...it's been awhile. Wow, did I not wipe you off before I put you away. Egads! you're a mess. I'm so sorry. You think you still gotta few loaves left in ya? Wanna give er a try?".

This is what I do. I talk to my appliances....strange but true.

I cleaned him off. Good as new. He still loves me.

Do you have an appliances you once were once smitten with, but now have tucked away in a cupboard or storage room somewhere. Maybe you should take it out and dust it off and rekindle the love you once had. Or at the very least give it away and clear up space in your cupboard, if you're sure your relationship is over, that is.

I, however, still have a twinkle in my eye for this hunka, hunka......and to that I say let's make some bread baby!

Yours Truly,

Goofuss

MONKEY bread

It was a busy week last week, both my boys had birthdays! Sandwiched between Christmas and New Year that makes for ALOT of eating and celebrating! I try to spoil my kids rotten when it comes to what they want to eat on "their day". Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.....the skies the limit. Tuesday was Luke's birthday he turned 11, he requested homemade donuts for breakfast, and fried chicken for dinner. Like I said, "the skies the limit". So when Noah (14), who's birthday was Thursday, said he would like Monkey Bread for his birthday breakfast, and take-out pizza for dinner. I kissed him, and hugged him, and thanked him, until he said, "MOM alright already!"

This recipe is so easy EVEN a monkey could make it! I love my Monkey Chef!

Monkey Bread

printable recipe

3 cans of Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt 2 sticks of butter in saucepan with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, over medium heat. Stir until the butter and the sugar have become one, this takes about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add 1 cup of granulated sugar and 3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon to a 1 gallon Zip-loc bag, toss it around so the sugar and the cinnamon become one.

Now take your cans of biscuits, and peel back the paper on the can that allows you to let the biscuits out of their tubular dwelling. Now here is where things get scary....if you're jumpy like me. It NEVER fails, when that can pops and the biscuits Boing out of their tubular home, I ALWAYS jump. AH! Why is that. I know it's gonna pop, I know it's just biscuits. But I always jump.

Confession: I jump when the biscuit can pops open. It ain't gonna change people.

Sorry, you can leave now and never come back if having revealed my freaky character to you is totally disturbing. I understand.

So after I jump and yelp "AH!", I then take the biscuit dough and divide each biscuit into 2 or 3 parts. I like to mix it up. Give the bread some textural variety. Some pieces will be more caramelly and others will be more bready, if you do it with varied size pieces of dough. Or if you like things orderly and you want all your pieces the same size then that works too!

Toss the divided pieces of biscuit dough into the sugar. I do one can at a time. Zip up the bag give it a shake, then I add the next can of biscuits, until all three cans have been added and shaken and completely deliciously covered with cinnamon sugar.

I use a nonstick Bundt pan.....you can use any ring shaped pan. Dump the entire contents of the biscuit dough and cinnamon sugar into the pan. No need to grease the pan.

LUVerly!

Now whisk 1 teaspoon of vanilla into the brown sugar and butter mixture.

Pour evenly over the biscuits. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, and let rest for 5 minutes, then place a plate that is at least 2-3 inches wider in circumference on top of pan and invert your Monkey Bread onto the dish.

VOILA!

Delicious OOOey, gooEY Monkey Bread. Fit for any birthday breakfast! Or really any day of the week.

Enjoy!