Muffins and Mozart

Tag: breakfast

Making the Perfect Apple Scones — August 30, 2020

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com

Making the Perfect Apple Scones

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The perfect apple scones are fresh from the oven….a truly scrumptious breakfast treat…deliciously spiced with the perfect amounts of cinnamon and sugar…buttery and moist with crisp crumbly edges…consisting of soft flaky centers and crunchy golden brown exteriors.

These perfect apple scones are a great reminder that fall and cooler weather are right around the corner.

The perfect apples scones are also very easy to make…so let’s get started…

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Apples

To make the scones you will need about one heaping cup of apples. If you use too many apples, the scones will not maintain their shape because they will contain too many apple chunks and juices.

As far as which variety of apple to use, either use your favorite apple variety or whatever you happen to have on hand.

If you’re buying apples specifically for making the scones, good apple varieties to try include Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji.

Another thing to keep in ind when you are choosing which variety of apples to use is whether or not you will be glazing your scones. If you will be glazing your scones, you will want to use a tart apple, such as a Granny Smith. If not, you will want  to use a sweeter apple, such as a MacIntosh.

You will need to peel, core and shred the apple before aking the scone.

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Other Ingredients

  • 1/2C brown sugar
  • 3/4tsp salt
  • 1Tbsp baking powder
  • ½tsp baking soda
  • 2½tsp cinnamon
  • 2C flour
  • ¼C butter, chilled
  • ½C heavy cream or buttermilk

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Topping

3Tbsp sugar

1/2tsp cinnamon

water or milk, as needeed for prope4r consistency

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Prep Work

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

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Making the Batter

Whisk together the dry ingredients—flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon—in a large bowl Now stir together the liquid ingredients…Shred your apple. Add the shredded apple, then the milk. Mix until they form a soft dough. Add more flour if the dough gets too sticky, Combine the two. Knead a few times, working some extra flour into it until it is barely sticky.

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Shaping the SconesScrape the dough onto a floured parchment or pan.

Divide into two balls of dough….

Flatten until both circles are about 6″ in diameter and 3/4″ thick, using a knife or bench knife that you’ve run under cold water,

Place them on a well greased baking sheet.

Carefully separate the wedges away from the center until there is about 1/2″ space between their outer edges.Sprinkle with brown sugar and/or cinnamon.

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Making the Topping 

Stir the sugar and cinnamon.together. Brush each circle with a bit of water or milk. Sprinkle onto circles.

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Freezing the Scones

Now place the scones in the freezer for about thirty minutes. This serves several purposes, including…

  • allowing them to rise higher
  • giving the the best texture and highest rise
  • making the scones a bit flakier
  • making the scones more tender
  • relaxing the gluten in the flour

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Baking the Scones

  1. Bake for 15- 20 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove and cool….When the scones are cooled,, whisk together the glaze ingredients until they are smooth. Drizzle over the scones then let harden completely…
  2. Bake the scones for 18 to 22 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. When you pull one away from the others, it should look baked all the way through; the edge shouldn’t look wet or unbaked…Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm. When they’re completely cool, wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to several days…
  3. Bake the scones in a preheated 375°F oven for about 30 minutes…Scones are best served warm. They’re delicious as is, but add butter and/or jam (or apple butter), if you like. To reheat room-temperature scones, place on a baking sheet, tent lightly with foil, and warm in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.

Making the Perfect Apple Overnight Oats — August 19, 2020

Making the Perfect Apple Overnight Oats

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I am so not a morning person. I barely wake up until I have had about two entire pots of coffee…so being able to simply have breakfast ready ahead of time is idea for both me and my kids.

The perfect overnight oats is a sweet combination of your favorite fruit…(in this case===raspberries), nuts…(totally optional, but in this case, we’re using almonds)…sweetener—such as honey…and perhaps some extras such as  chia seeds, and obviously oats.

This is a nutritious, delicious, and filling breakfast that is a great way to start to your day.

Now for the recipe…(which, like smoothie “recipes,” doesn’t even really seem like a recipe because it’s so easy and pretty much common sense.

And also like smoothies, there is an endless combination of flavors that you could have…based on which fruit you choose, which flavor yogurt you choose, and so forth…

 

 

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Ingredients

  • Almonds…sliced, slivered, or chopped…1Tbsp
  • Chia Seeds, optional…2tsp
  • Honey, maple syrup,  or any other type of sweetener…which is totally a matter of personal preference)
  • Milk…1C milk…(once again, for hints on which kind of milk, check out this previous post…Visions of Veganism—Milk)
  • Oats…½C
  • Fruit…1/2C fresh or frozen…(such as, guess what, apples?!)
  • Yogurt…1/4C plain Greek yogurt

 

 

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Instructions

Stir together milk, oats, yogurt, honey, chia seeds and pinch of salt until combined.

Pour into a pint-sized jar or resealable container.

Mix thoroughly.

Seal the lids onto the jars..

Refrigerate anywhere from six hours days.

Making the Perfect Apple Muffins — August 17, 2020

Making the Perfect Apple Muffins

/Christy/2 Comments
Preheat your oven to 350. Grease your muffin pan.
Stir together the dry ingredients.
Stir together the wet ingredients.
Make a well in the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingrefients to the dry.
Stir all the ingrdients together.

Fill the muffin liners 3/4 of the way up.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Making the Perfect Apple Coffee Cake — July 12, 2020

Making the Perfect Apple Coffee Cake

/Christy/1 Comment

 

 

The perfect coffee cake is moist and tender…with a perfect gooey middle layer of dark cinnamon filling…and a crumbly streusel topping.….with lots and lots of crumbs.

 

 

This is a simple and quick recipe for a delicious, homemade coffee cake made from scratch…and best of all, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry or fridge…that will be great for making ahead of time and serving for a special brunch or holiday breakfast.

By the way, I used to hate it when I was growing up and my mom would make a cake…saying that it would taste better tomorrow…dang it..I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow…I wanted a piece right then and there…

Same with this coffee cake…I want it as hot as my coffee…straight out of the oven.

 

 

Prep Work

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Grease and flour 9″ springform or Bundt pan.

 

 

 

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Making the Streusel

  • 1/2C flour
  • 1/4C brown sugar
  • 1-1/2tsp cinnamon
  • 3Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3/4C chopped walnuts, optional

Combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Note that making your streusel by hand will help make the streusel crunchier.

Cut in butter with a whisk.

Pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble.

 

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Making the Cake

  • 2 eggs
  • 2tsp vanilla
  • 1C sour cream
  • 1-1/4C milk
  • 1C sugar
  • 2C flour
  • 1-1/4tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

     

Mix together your wet ingredients—eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and milk.

 

 

 

Mix together your dry ingredients—the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.

 

 

Combine the two mixtures. Mix until the batter is smooth, fluffy, and resembles frosting, about two minutes.

 

 

Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan.

 

 

Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture…about three cups… evenly over batter.

 

 

Top with remaining batter.

 

 

Spread evenly using a spatula.

 

 

Sprinkle the rest of the streusel evenly over the top of the cake..

 

 

 

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Baking Your Coffee Cake

Bake at 350 for about an hour…or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least thirty minutes before carefully transferring the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. 

Making the Perfect Raspberry Pancakes and Waffles — May 1, 2020

Making the Perfect Raspberry Pancakes and Waffles

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Making the Perfect Raspberry Baked Oatmeal — April 29, 2020

Making the Perfect Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

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Making the Perfect Raspberry Muffins — April 27, 2020

Making the Perfect Raspberry Muffins

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Making the Perfect Waffles — March 13, 2020

Making the Perfect Waffles

/Christy/1 Comment

Now that we’ve learned how to make the perfect pancakes, let’s move on to making the pancake’s kissing cousin…the waffle…

You might think to yourself, we just learned how to make the perfect pancake batter…can’t I simply use the same recipe to now make waffles…

 

 

Actually…

No!!!

 

Waffle batter and pancake batter may seem very similar….you really can’t use your pancake recipe and expect great waffles.

 

 

 

Why? 

Pancake recipes are created to make flat things without a crispy exterior…

 

 

 

But before we learn HOW to make the perfect waffles, let’s talk about what the perfect waffles would be like.

The perfect waffles are buttery, sweet, and thick…with a perfectly crisp extterior……with a light and fluffy interior…and  topped with the perfect amount of butter, syrup, and whatever else you wanna put on them.

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The Ingredients

  • 1Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2gsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2C buttermilk
  • 1/4C butter
  • 1tsp vanilla or 1Tbsp amaretto
  • 1/3C vegetable oil
  • 1/2C cornstarch
  • 1-1/2C flour
  • 3/4C sugar

 

 

 

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The Waffle Iron

If yuu’re gonna make good waffles, you really should have a good waffle iron, such as this KitchenAid Waffle Baker 

So go ahead and buy one that cooks waffles evenly if your waffle iron has become crabby and temperamental.

If you are shopping for a waffle iron, things to consider include…

  • cool-touch handles...waffle irons with plastic handle heat up less than models with chrome or stainless-steel handles
  • fllip style…using a waffle iton that you can flip pver after pouring in the batter will allow the batter to spread out evenly and also make sure that the waffle cooks evenly on both sides.
  • size…think about how much space you have to store the waffle maker when you aren’t using it.
  • temperature control...adjustable thermostats allow you to control the cooking temperature so that you can make both soft, light-colored waffles…as well as crispy, dark-colored waffles.

Now that you have bought…or found…your waffle iron it is important to read…or have read…the instruction manual because different waffle makers will cook differently.

 

 

 

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Preheat Your Waffle Iron

Preheating your waffle iron before adding any batter to the waffle iron is very important for two reasons….prevents soggy waffles…and makes the batter turn crispy as soon as it hits the surface.

 

 

 

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The “Dry” Ingredients

Place flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, Whisk to combine. Set aside.

(Yes…I do realize that sugar is a dry ingredient, but add it later…you will soon see why.

 

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The $ggs

First separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. This will give them a crispier exterior….as well as make the interior of the waffle more fluffy. and light, instead of heavy and dense.

Now add your sugar,

Whip your egg whites to the soft-peak stage., meaning until stiff peaks form….you should be able to lift the beaters straight out of the egg whites and invert the beaters, and find that the egg white stand up on their own.

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The “Wet” Ingredients

Whisk together your egg yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla In a medium-sized mixing bowl.

 

The Buttermilk…If you do not have buttermilk in your fridge…and are too lazy to go to Walmart of somewhere and go get some, combine a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar with  to a cup of milk.

Some people recommend that you use a combination of buttermilk and regular milk because this makes your batter even thinner…personally I like the extra buttermilk flavor.

 

 

 

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Batter Up

At this point, you should have three bowls of “stuff”===your dry ingredients, your wet ingredients, and your beaten egg whites.

So now let’s combine all three of these mixtures so that we can get on with out waffle making.

 

 

When stirring together your ingredients, it important that you never overmix your batter.

You want your batter to be smooth enough that it flows freely through the dimples of the waffle plate..yet not over-mixed to the point where the flour turns into gluten… making your pancakes chewier, instead of fluffy.

So at this stage, a gentle hand and patience and very important..

 

 

Anyway…how do we do this?

  1. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula and a gentle motion.
  2. Mix together until smooth.
  3. Now scoop the beaten egg whites into the batter, just until combined. It is important that you do this very gently..
  4. Fold the egg whites gently into the batter….being careful not to deflate them..
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Cooking the Pancakes

Scoop 1/2C batter into the center of your waffle iron,

Close the lid.

Let cook until the indicator light or beeping mechanism does its thing. Do not lift the lid too soon.  Lifting the lid too soon could mean that half of your waffle ends up on the top of the waffle iron…while the other stays on the bottom..

Remove hot waffles from the waffle iron.  

The that waffle that you make is probably not going to turn out perfectly. If so, you may need to adjust the amount of batter or color control settings until you get the results you

Respray the waffle pan after each waffle.

Continue cooking waffles until all batter is used,.

 

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Keeping Your Waffles Warm

Preheat oven to 200°F.

Place the cooked waffles directly on the oven rack while finishing cooking the rest of the waffles.

Not only will this keep the waffles warm as you are cooking, but doing this will also make your waffles crispier by allowing the steam to escape and will allow everyone to eat at the same time instead of staggeredly, as each individual waffle finishes cooking.

Just make sure the waffles do not burn…five minutes is about the maximum amount of time they can sray in your oven without burning.

And do not stack the waffles…otherwise, they will turn moist and limp.

 

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Storing

Place any leftover pancakes in a freezer bag once they cool down. Place wax paper between multiple waffles. Squeeze as much air from the bag as possible.

 

 

 

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Reheating

Set out however many waffles you need on the counter for ten minutes…while you preheat the oven to 300 degrees .

 

Clean your waffle iron shortly after each use. This will make cleaning the waffle iron so much easier than if you wait and clean it much later after 

Use a plastic or rubber utensil to remove waffles from the waffle iron. Using a metal fork or knife could eventually damage the sufaces of your waffle iron.

 

 

Making the Perfect Pancakes — March 11, 2020

Making the Perfect Pancakes

/Christy/1 Comment

A towering stack of freshly made pancakes have been a classic breakfast treat for generations…not only for breakfast, one of our family’s favorite meals for dinner is breakfast.

Pancakes are also relatively cheap to make…consisting of ingredients that most of us keep stocked anyway—such as flour, eggs, milk, and butter.

The perfect pancakes are light and fluffy…customized with whatever additional ingredients—such as fruit, candy, or nuts—or topped with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

So let’s see how they’re made…

 

 

 

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The Ingredients

  • n2C flour
  • ¼C sugar
  • 4tsp baking powder
  • ½tsp salt
  • 2tsp vanilla
  • 1½C milk
  • 1 egg
  • ¼C melted butter
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Dry Ingredients

Mix together these dry ingredients.

You can do this with either a whisk or a Mason jar.

You want to go ahead and mix your dry ingredients enough to get rid of any lumps at this stage in order to avoid big lumps….and because later you will need to avoid over-mixing the batter once you add the wet to the dry,

 

 

The Baking Powder…Be sure to check the expiration date on the baking powder canister. If your baking powder is old or expired, your pancakes will not right…and will end up flat, instead of light and fluffy.

If you would like even fluffier pancakes, feel free to double the amount of baking powder.

You might also want to try using only 2tsp of baking powder and then adding 1/2tsp baking soda.

 

The Flour…Spoon your flour into a measuring cup instead of scooping the flour out of the flour canister with a measuring cup, like most of us do…including me.

Scooping the flour causes your measuring cup to be filled with too much flour, often resulting in tough pancakes.

Don’t restrict yourself to only using all-purpose flour…be adventuresome by swapping out half of the flour with another type of flour—such as whole wheat, buckwheat, brown rice, corn, oat, or gluten-free.

 

 

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Mason Jar Method

You can also use a Mason jar to shake your ingredients together.

To do this, layer your wet ingredients first—milk, egg, and oil…and then your dry ingredients—flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a wide-mouth quart-sized jar. Seal the jar tightly . Shake the jar vigorously for at least two minutes…until the ingredients are combined. Once the ingredients are combined, you can either cook pancakes immediately or stick the jar in the fridge for later.

To make your pancakes, simply pour the batter straight from the jar onto your griddle or pan…and cook them…(more on that later)…

 

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Liquid Ingredients

Combine your liquid ingredients.

 

The Butter…Using unsalted butter allows youu to control the taste of your pancakes better..

 

The Buttermilk...Butttermilk is what makes your pancakes tenderest. If you do not want to use milk or buttermilk, use water, coffee, or juice as your liquid base instead…reducing the amount of liquid called for in the original recipe by.one-fourth of the amount.

 

 

 

The Eggs…Bringing your eggs to room temp before mixing into your batter will give you the best results.

To make your pancakes even fluffier, take the time to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. …beat your egg whites  with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form…and finally fold the beaten egg whites into your batter gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.

 

 

 


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Mixing Ingredients Together

You should have already whisked your dry ingredients together before you added in the wet ingredients…so you should be able to combine your wet ingredients and dry ingredients together very easily.

Now gently fold your dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.

Stir until the flour is moist, but there are still a few small clumps of flour.

.Do not over-mix the batter. It’s okay to leave some lumps in the batter.

If you overmix the batter, you will end up with tough and dense pancakes, not fluffy.

At this point, you should add any ingredients that you would like to add to your batter…such as…

  • Banana…one mashed ripe banana
  • Blueberries…1C
  • Cream cheese…3oz finely chopped cream cheese
  • Lemon…1tsp grated lemon peel
  • Orange…1tsp grated orange peel
  • Pecans…1/2C…toast and chop finely
  • Strawberries…1C
  • Walnuts…1/2C…toast and chop finely

 

 

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Resting Your Batter

Now that all of your ingredients have become friends, it’s time to rest your batter. What does it mean to “rest” your batter?

To rest your batter means to simply leave it alone for anywhere from ten to thirty minutes. The longer you rest your batter, the better your pancakes will turn out…

Why should you “rest” your batter?

Resting your batter will…

  • dissolve any small lumps
  • give the baking powder enough time to activate
  • give the flour a chance to absorb liquid in the batter

 

 

 

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The Pan

As far as what kind of pan to use when making pancakes, the best option is an electric griddle…

An electric non-stick griddle makes flipping your pancakes much easier.

But if you’d rather cook your pancakes on top of the stove or don’t have an electric griddle, use a large, about 12,” non-stick skillet with sloping slides….preferably cast iron.

Cast iron will give you even heat distribution allow you to brown your pancakes without having to use tons of butter.

 

 

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Heating the Pan

 

Heat your pan or skillet over medium heat until drop of water sizzles..

Heat a little bit of vegetable oil…(for other types of oils to cook with, check this previous post out)…

Avoid using regular butter because the butter will be more likely to burn and make your pancakes turn out funky tasting.

Reduce heat to medium-low.

 

 

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Cooking

Use a 1/4C measuring cup…or pour the batter from the Mason jar depending on which method you used earlier…to shape the batter into medium-sized circles….about 3-1/2″ wide. 

Cook your pancakes for a couple of minutes…until little bubbles appear and the edges start to get firm.

Be sure to avoid squishing the pancakes with your spatula.

Flip. Once you flip the pancake over, don’t press down on it with your spatula. Let the pancake cook naturally so you do not end up with flat, boring pancakes.

Cook your pancakes for a couple of minutes on the other side…until both sides are lightly golden.

Keep pancakes warm while you’finish cooking the rest by covering the pancakes with aluminum foil and then sticking them in an oven that has been preheated to about 200.°

If you find that your pancakes are browning too quickly, turn down the heat down and let the pan cool down for a minute or so before starting the next batch.

If you find that your pancakes are sticking to the pan, add more butter or oil.

Wipe out the pan between batches…especially if you are using butter instead of oil.

Finish cooking any remaining batter.

 

 

 

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Storing

Obviously most of us know what to do with the pancakes once you finish cooking them, but did you know that you can also make them ahead of time…instead of resorting to buying already frozen pancakes from the grocery store…

I was kinda shocked to find pancakes stored by the frozen biscuits and frozen breakfast burritos and frozen waffles…wonder how many preservatives are in all of these products, right?

 

To refrigerate…put the pancakes in an airtight container…will stay fresh for up to 5 days

To freeze…flash freeze them and store in large ziplocs…will stay fresh up to 2 months

Yogurt…The What — March 7, 2020

Yogurt…The What

/Christy/1 Comment

One delicious way to reap the antioxidant benefits of raspberries is to add them to yogurt.

But first let’s take a look at what yogurt actually is, what the benefits of yogurt are, and other ways that you can incorporate raspberries into your healthier lifestyle without sacrificing the taste of foods that you probably crave as you make this transition—such as chocolate and ice cream.

 

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Say “Yes” to Yogurt

For years, I’ve been saying “yes” to yogurt…I pretty much eat yogurt every single day.

In fact people have been saying “yes” to yogurt for many, many years…in fact, for centuries….since about the yrar 500BC.

Yogurt is made by first heating milk to about 185 °F and then allowing the heated milk to cool to about 113 °F.

Next certain bacteria, called “yogurt cultures” are added to the milk. This ferments the natural sugar found in milk, called lactose…fermentation causes the milk to curdle and create lactic acid….giving yogurt both its flavor and texture.

 

 

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Yogurts of Yore

During the late 1800s...after yogurt was studied and shown to be supposedly responsible for the extremely long lifespans of peasants in Bulgaria, it started to become more popular throughout Europe…(but don’t ask me how they actually enjoyed it becasuse at this time, nobody added flavoring or sweeteners to the yogurt…have you ever tried unflavored and unsweetened yogurt…great for making smoothies perhaps…but definitely not to be eaten straight out of the carton).

In 1919, Isaac Carasso opened the first yogurt manufacturing plant in Barcelona, Spain….calling his business Danone (“little Daniel”) after his son. This brand later expanded to the US under the name Dannon…(as if you couldn’t have figured that out, right?!)

Yogurt was introduced to the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century. The person who was fundamental for starting a yogurt trend was John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium…(yeah, the same Kellogg as the cereals that only stock how many shelves at your local grocery store)…

Kellogg treated patients at his sanitarium not only by giving them yogurt to eat, but also using yogurt in enemas…(think I’ll pass on that one)…

It was not until 1933 that people began first flavoring yogurt…by adding fruit jam to their yogurt…(and we should all thank God that somebody had the sense to do this, right?!)

In 1966 Colombo Yogurt started sweetening their yogurt and selling their yogurt with added fruit preserves…first creating what we know as  “fruit on the bottom” style yogurt.