Buttery Parker House Rolls ~ And Happy Veterans Day!

Mercy!  

Bet your taste buds will liven up 

when you make these 

dinner rolls!

With Thanksgiving nearing, it’s almost time for an entire day of the "three fabulous F’s,” food, family, and football!

Homemade Banana Crumb Muffins

Use up your ripe bananas with this

banana muffin recipe!

Speaking of muffins ~ remember the Seinfeld episode, “The Muffin Tops?"

Old-Fashioned Biscuits Just Like Grandma Used to Make

The mere suggestion of homemade biscuits, conjures pictures of sweet grandmas and fragrant aromas wafting from the oven.  People love everything about biscuits, a hot oven, a light touch, and lard…

Why should you bake biscuits with lard?  Because you’ll have the most delicious rich biscuits ~ soft on the inside, crusty on the outside ~ that you can imagine!  Lard is commonly used in many cuisines around the world as a cooking fat, or as a spread similar to butter in Europe and North America. 

Unfortunately, lard has gotten a bad rap for years --- it’s not as bad as you may think.  The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s 1906 book, might’ve had a lot to do with it when, in a scene from the book, the workers at a meat-packing plant fall into boiling vats of rendering lard.  It played such a large part in turning people against lard, that an entire pro-lard ad campaign was launched to undo its damage.

Full-page ads ran in all the newspapers picturing healthy, smiling, happy people praising lard...  

 

Actually, while lard is anything but “healthy,” it contains less cholesterol and saturated fat than butter, and no trans fat, unlike most vegetable shorting.  

As Julia Child said, “Everything in moderation…including moderation,”  it truly does make the best pie crusts and biscuits.

On Grandma's farm in Ohio, she fried with lard and baked all of her pies, breads and biscuits with lard.  On our farm down the road, Mom was a Crisco and margarine sort of lady. I cook with a little butter or olive oil, rarely cook or bake with lard, except for when I make these biscuits…

Lard has very little pork flavor, it’s not bacon grease.  It makes crispy fried foods and tender flaky baked goods without leaving a trace of flavor behind.  

In my book, lard is a good source of cooking fat, but I draw the line at eating it smeared on a slice of bread, so I'll keep on making these little bites of goodness…

These biscuits are easy to make, and with a few simple steps the results are tender and delicious.

I’m not saying my biscuits are perfect, no way are they, but slathered with butter, they make me smack my lips and help myself to another one…

Yield: 8 to 10 biscuitsAuthor: Pam

Old-Fashioned Biscuits Like Grandma's

These biscuits are definitely made the old-fashioned way - with lard.

prep time: 30 MINScook time: 12 MINStotal time: 42 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup lard
• 2/3 cups buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven 450° with the oven rack in the center.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Cut in lard until it resembles small peas.
4. Add buttermilk, stirring gently with a fork, to make a soft dough.
5. With floured hands, knead dough gently 4 times in the bowl.
6. Put dough on lightly floured surface, and roll or pat the dough to about 1/4" to 1/2" thick.
7. Cut with a floured 2" cutter.
8. Place cut-out biscuits about 1" apart on ungreased baking sheet.
9. Lightly brush with butter if desired.
10. Bake for about 12 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.
11. Serve warm

 Enjoy!  

Easy Self-Rising Buttermilk Biscuits

No kidding!

These are delicious little biscuits 

just like Grandma used to make!

And no one will believe it when you tell them how easy they are to make!  

You will need just 3 ingredients, four, if adding herbs for this King Arthur Flour recipe.

Keep the butter and buttermilk cold.  Grate the cold or frozen butter ~ it's a fast easy technique to incorporate ice-cold fat into flour.

Use a gentle touch when handling the dough.

Work with it quickly and handle it as little as possible; too much handling will cause the dough to release gluten which will give you dry, tough biscuits.

Stir gently, fold gently, and pat dough into a rectangle before cutting out the biscuits or cutting into 12 squares.  

Bake the biscuits, and rest assured ~ you will have soft buttery biscuits with this recipe!


Easy Self-Rising Buttermilk Biscuits
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour
6 tablespoons butter, cold
½ teaspoon dried rosemary or thyme, optional
1 cup buttermilk, cold

Method:

Preheat oven to 450°.
Partially freeze butter for 10 minutes.
Using a cheese grater, grate hardened butter into a bowl.
Cover, and place in freezer to chill again, about 5 minutes.
Place flour in bowl and work in butter with a pastry blender.
Add buttermilk, stir until mixture comes together, dough will be sticky.
Turn dough out on floured surface, and fold dough over onto itself several times, using a little more flour if needed.
Pat dough into 5” x 8½” rectangle about ½” to ¾” thick.
Cut biscuits with a 2” round cutter or cut the rectangle into 12 small rectangular biscuits.  (If using a round cutter, pat the scraps together and cut additional biscuits.)
Place biscuits on ungreased baking sheet, leaving about 1” between them for crisp biscuits.  Arrange biscuits so they barely touch each other for soft-sided biscuits.   For higher biscuits, place them in an 8” round pan.
Bake biscuits for 12-14 minutes, or until they’re a light golden brown.
Remove from oven, serve hot.
Makes 12 biscuits

Tips:

For sweeter shortcake-style biscuits, add 3 tablespoons sugar to the flour and 1 teaspoon vanilla to the milk.

For cheese biscuits, mix ½ teaspoon dried mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper with the flour, work in the butter, toss in 1 cup shredded cheese before adding the milk.

No self-rising flour?  Substitute by combining 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.


Enjoy!

Savory Sea Salt and Pepper Biscuits

Bill and I were reminiscing about these fluffy warm crisp biscuits for a couple of days after eating them.  That’s how good they are!

I’ve made many a biscuit over the years, and this is definitely one of the best! 

It’s an Ina Garten recipe from her Make it Ahead cookbook.  In her words, “Lee Bailey was a great cookbook author and host.  He often served baking powder biscuits with dinner but I also love them for breakfast with scrambled eggs.  This is a twist on Lee’s original recipe; I’ve added flaked sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.”

Most of the time, I follow the recipe exactly ~ but, when I don’t have half-and-half on hand, I swap one-third cup light sour cream plus 7-8 tablespoons of low-fat milk for the half-and-half, making a lighter biscuit.

I’ve found that sour cream is a great binder when making cornbread or biscuits as it minimizes crumbly baked goods.  Plus, the sour cream imparts richness and a slight tang.

Flaked sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper sprinkled over the top sends these biscuits over the edge…

I can see them sandwiching a fried egg for breakfast!

Salt & Pepper Biscuits

Ingredients: 

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold butter, diced
2/3 cup cold half-and-half
1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon half-and-half, for egg wash
Maldon flaked sea salt
Coarsely ground black pepper 

Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place four, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to combine.
Add butter, breaking up the pieces as you put them in.
Pulse mixer about 10 times, until butter is size of large peas.
With the mixer running, pour the half-and-half down the feed tube and pulse just until mixture starts to come together.
Dump dough onto floured board and quickly knead into a ball.
Roll dough out ½” thick with a floured rolling pin.  (You should see bits of butter in the dough.)
Cut out biscuits with a 2½” round biscuit cutter and place on baking sheet.
Brush top with egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until biscuits are browned and baked through.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 8 to 10 biscuits

ENJOY!

Easy Cornmeal Honey Biscuits

You can whip up these little biscuits in no time!

I’m pretty much hooked on anything cornmeal, and these tasty biscuits fill that craving perfectly.

You can use plain cornmeal, if you prefer ~ I’m a fan of stone-ground cornmeal for its crunchier texture.

With this easy recipe, from Food Network Magazine at hand, it's a piece of cake to have freshly-made biscuits on your dinner table. 

They’re plush, lip-smacking goodness with a little crunch, and a little heat!

Easy Cornmeal Honey Biscuits 
Adapted

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt1/8 teaspoon cayenne
6 tablespoons butter, cold and diced

2/3 cup milk*
1 tablespoon honey

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne in a large bowl.
Work in butter with your fingers until crumbly.
Stir in milk and honey.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Roll dough into 8 balls, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush with milk.
Bake for about 12 minutes until golden.

*Food Network recipe calls for half-and-half.  I use 2% milk.

ENJOY!

The Shipyard Galley’s Zucchini Muffins

Our good neighbor, George, brought over zucchini from his garden the other day ~ they turned into muffins when I was through with them.

I was looking for a recipe for the muffins when I came across this one on King Arthur Flour website.  I’ve always had good luck with the recipes from there, and this recipe is no exception.  Go to the link, if you’re interested in reading about the origin of the name of the muffins.

After reading comments about the recipe, I adapted it somewhat: 

              The recipe called for:                    I swapped:             

            2 cups sugar        ~      1 cup sugar plus 1 cup Splenda

            1 cup vegetable oil       ~      ¼ cup oil plus ¾ cup natural applesauce

            1 teaspoon ground cinnamon     ~    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon        

I used a combo of almost 2 cups dried cherries, dried cranberries and currants. 

They baked faster than the recipe stated, in about 20 minutes.

Recipe yield - 27 muffins:  I used regular muffin tins; filled ¾ full, yield of 20.

The other cup of sugar wasn’t missed, nor was the full cup of oil. The muffins are delicious!

Warmed up in the micro for a few seconds, with a smidgeon of butter on top, they’re divine!  And the recipe is a keeper!

The Shipyard Galley’s Zucchini Muffins

Asapted

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup Splenda

¼ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup applesauce

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3 cups flour

2 cups finely chopped peeled zucchini

1 cup dried cherries, cranberries or currants

1 cup chopped walnuts or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line muffin tins with papers or grease each cup, about 24.

Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla till smooth and a little lighter in color, about 1 minute at high speed.

Add baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, beating to combine.

Add flour, beating just till smooth.

Add zucchini, raisins, currants, nuts, cherries and so forth.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling them about ¾ full.

Bake muffins 20-27 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and transfer muffins to a rack to cool so their bottoms don’t become soggy.

Makes about 20.

ENJOY!

Red Velvet Muffins w/Cream Cheese Swirls for Your Honey

First of all:  my blog was shut down for a few days because Google detected malware on it.  I finally determined that it was connected to the “archives” page, which I then deleted.  I have no idea what happened ~ I’m just happy to be up and running ~ and, may it never, ever happen again!!! 

Now for the muffins:

I love the deep red color of red velvet baked goods; the color is awesome and needs little in the way of decoration.  So, I was happy and surprised to find a flyer with this red velvet muffin recipe in the mail the other day. Red velvet cupcake recipes are a dime a dozen, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one for muffins…

The muffins turned out perfectly.  They have a more dense texture than a cupcake ~ they’re savory, not too sweet ~ not “cupcakey,” with 3-inches of buttercream frosting, and thanks to the swirling cream cheese, these muffins went over the edge, being moist and delicious!

They have just the right amount of sweetness for me; you add more sugar, if you like them sweeter. I think they’re absolutely divine just the way there are!

Your Valentines will love them for breakfast or a treat on Valentine’s Day! 


Red Velvet Muffins w/Cream Cheese Swirls 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Cocoa Special Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup buttermilk
1 (1¼ ounce) bottle red food coloring

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or coat with non-stick spray, set aside.
In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, buttermilk and food coloring until combined well.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in large bowl, stirring well with a wooden spoon.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins.
Place a dollop or two of cream cheese mixture onto each muffin.
Swirl once or twice into batter with a toothpick.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out dry.
Let sit in pans to cool for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Swirl

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Beat cream cheese by hand, or electric mixer, until smooth, about a minute.  
Add sugar and beat together another minute.
Add egg and vanilla; mix together until smooth and creamy.
Do not over-mix, or it will be grainy.
Set aside.

Yum!!!

7-Up Biscuits aka Popeye’s Biscuits

Woo hoo!  Praise the butter, and pass the biscuits!

If you’re a fan of Popeye’s biscuits, you’ll love these biscuits!  They’re a “copycat” for sure…

These are the lightest, fluffiest biscuits you can imagine, with the only problem being they disappear quickly.  This recipe makes 9 biscuits in a 9-inch square-baking dish.  I used an 8-inch square dish and they turned out fine after baking a minute or 2 longer.

This is a very soft, sticky dough.  Use extra Bisquick, like you normally would use flour, to manage the dough sticking on the surface. I sprinkled a little additional Bisquick right onto the countertop; you might want to sprinkle it onto waxed paper or parchment paper for easier clean up.   

Do not knead the dough; just pat it out to about 1-inch thickness.  Use a biscuit cutter, or simply cut the dough into 9 equal squares, before placing them in the pan.  You may have to squish and crowd the biscuits into the pan, but never fear ~ they’ll still turn out fine.

By the way, the recipe can be doubled; bake in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish for even more of a good thing!

These biscuits are the quickest, easiest, “butteriest”, softest biscuits to ever hit your mouth!  

Before

After

7-Up Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick mix

½ cup sour cream

½ cup 7-Up soda

¼ cup butter, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter in a 9” square baking pan.

Pour Bisquick into a large bowl.

Cut sour cream into the mix.

Add 7-Up and mix well, it will make a very soft dough.

Sprinkle additional Bisquick on the counter, or parchment or waxed paper.

Pat dough out to about a 1-inch thickness.

Cut 9 biscuits with a biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits over melted butter.

Bake for 12-minutes or until golden brown.

I’m hooked on these biscuits!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes!