Layered Buttermilk Biscuits

Growing up, one of my favorite foods my grandma made was biscuits.  Homemade buttermilk biscuits.  Flaky and fluffy and oh so delicious.  As Troy and I were preparing for Christmas breakfast with his family, I knew biscuits, muffins and a breakfast casserole would be the best dishes to serve.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the biscuits were to make and how delicious they were.  Enjoy!

Layered Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted from MarthaStewart.com and Food.com

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold

2 cups buttermilk, plus more for brushing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add buttermilk until just combined.  If the mixture appears to dry, add additional buttermilk.  The dough should be wet.

Turn the dough onto a floured board or clean counter top.  Gently pat (do not use a rolling pin) dough until its about an inch thick.  Fold the dough and press to an inch thick.  Repeat about 5 times.  

Use a round cutter or a floured glass to cut the dough into round biscuit shapes.  You can knead the scraps into biscuits as well.  Lay the biscuits close together on a cookie sheet.  Gently brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.  

Happy New Year! And Sweet Clementine Cranberry Muffins too!

Happy New Year to each of you!  I hope you all had a safe and happy celebration and enjoyed the first day of 2014!  We're in the homestretch to my sister-in-laws wedding and will be spending the next couple of days assisting in final preparations.  But - I still wanted to be sure to stop by and share a recent recipe with you!  Check is out!

Sweet Clementine Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Blue Bonnets and Brownies

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 2/3 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 clementines, sectioned and chopped
1 5-oz package dried cranberries
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 2 standard muffin trays.

Melt butter and add to mixing bowl.  Add sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla and whisk briskly to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder.  Use a dry whisk to mix.  Pour mixture on top of butter mixture but do not stir.

Peal and chop clementines and mix with dried cranberries.  Add on top of flour mixture.  Fold the mixture together and few times until mixture is crumbly.  Be careful not to overmix.

Create a small dip in the mixture and add the buttermilk.  Gently fold until the buttermilk is absorbed into the dry mixture.

Fill your muffin cups to the top with the mixture.  Bake for approximately 27-30 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.  Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

Makes 24 muffins.  Store in airtight container.

These muffins are quite delicious!  They were a hit with the family when served on Christmas morning!  One thing to note, they are a little heavier than a "normal" muffin, but still taste great!  Enjoy!

Strawberry Oat Muffins

Morning!  I thawed strawberries earlier this weekend for the delicious Strawberry Cheesecake Delight, but later made an adjustment to the recipe.  I wanted to use the strawberries before heading back to work this week, so I decided to try out a Strawberry Oat Muffin recipe from Spark People. 

Ingredients:
1 cup quick oats
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, but found a simple substitute on About.com.  You'll need milk and lemon juice.  Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice into liquid measuring cup.  Add milk for total of 1 cup liquid.  Let stand for 5 minutes.)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup strawberries, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a muffin tin, or use paper liners.  Prep your buttermilk substitute if necessary. 

In a small bowl, mix oats and butter milk.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together egg, applesauce, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add oat mixture.  Next, add the flour mixture, until just moistened.  Fold in strawberries.

Pour batter into each muffin cup 3/4 way full.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cup is clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

These were wonderful!  I'm looking forward to trying this recipe with different fruits - peaches, blueberries, etc. 

Banana Bread Muffins

I love bananas.  But I don't love bananas once they start to become too ripe.  While fixing dinner tonight, I knew I had to get rid of the overripe bananas sitting on the counter, but I couldn't bring myself to just throw them away.  I searched through my recipe list and found 8 Weeks to a Better You's recipe for Banana Bread and thought I'd give it a try.  So.  Good.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together and fill greased muffin tins.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until inserted toothpick is clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Makes approximately 24 muffins.

The original recipe makes a loaf of bread, but I took the muffin route as we don't own a loaf pan.  I cut the cook time down quite a bit due to this.  I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  After reading a few reader comments on the original post, I was afraid they would be more on the bland side.  The honey gives a perfect amount of sweetness for this delicious muffin.  T's suggestion for future batches is to add chocolate or butterscotch chips.  I think he might be on to something!