Baked

How was your weekend? Were you celebrating Father's Day?

I baked some apple cheddar buns over the weekend. I love full on white bread anything....I've missed that, since I've been trying out gluten-free baking.  A few ingredients put together to make something so simple and delicious - the humble bun.

Apple Cheddar Buns - makes about 9

1 cup warm milk (about 105f)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet (8g) active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium gala or granny smith apple, chopped
1/2 cup aged cheddar, grated

Preheat oven to 320f/160c. In a small bowl, mix together the milk, yeast and sugar. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes foamy on top. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, oil and yeast mixture until a dough forms.

 Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead in chopped apples and cheese. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes, until dough becomes smooth and elastic.

 

 

Roll dough out to about 1 inch thick and cut out shapes with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place in a greased 7"x7" baking tin. Cover with a towel and set aside in a warm spot, for about one hour, or until doubled in size. Brush tops with a little milk, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. These are great for "bunwiches", or with just a little butter.

That's it for today! Back soon.
janis

Baked

Happy hump day! Hope your week is going smoothly.

I made a pot pie over the weekend, but added a biscuit topping as I'm not huge on the usual pie crust topping. To each his own, I guess. ;) You can pretty much use any combo of vegetables.

Vegetable Pot Pie - makes 4 small pies

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 large fennel bulb, finely chopped
1 lb white mushrooms, chopped
1 medium potato, diced small
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/4 cup scallions, finely sliced
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400f. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion, fennel, carrots, and cook until just soft, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and potato and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle arrowroot powder or cornstarch over vegetables, stir to coat, and cook for 3 more minutes. Add broth and milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes until mixture has thickened.  

Remove from heat and add peas, parsley and scallions, stir to coat. Spoon mixture into 4 ramekins. Top with biscuit dough (see below).

Biscuit topping

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup chives, chopped

To make biscuits:
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in chopped butter with a pastry cutter until mixture is like a coarse meal. Mix in parmesan, then add milk and chives.

Knead dough in bowl, for a few minutes. Pat out onto work surface and cut out shapes using a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter. Top each ramekin with biscuit dough. Bake for about 25 minutes, until biscuit is golden brown. 

Really easy, and sooo good. It's kind of a staple around here. If you try it out, let me know.

Have a great day!

Back soon,

janis

Baked

It's so nice to see sunshine this morning. Hello Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. 

These coconut biscuits are the perfect weekend morning treat, and not too bad for you either. It's especially perfect when you happen to have all the ingredients in the cupboard. ;) I love the light coconut flavour, but the orange butter pushes them over the top. So. Good. 

Coconut Biscuits with Orange Butter - makes 9-12 biscuits

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup coconut flour 

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2 tablespoons arrowroot starch or corn starch (I used arrowroot)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons guar gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean (seeds only), slit down the length, seeds scraped out.

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup coconut milk

2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 375f /190c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, tapioca starch, arrowroot, sugar, guar gum, baking powder and salt. Whisk until well combined. Make a well in centre of dry ingredients and add vanilla, eggs, butter and coconut milk. The dough should be fairly wet and sticky. 

Drop spoonfuls of dough on baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. I made mine a little larger this time, so I got 9 from this batch. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, depending on size, until golden brown on bottom and lightly coloured on top. Allow to cool a little, on a wire rack. Serve warm with orange butter. Mmmm. 

Orange Butter

about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of unsalted butter, softened

zest of one large orange (best to use organic when using zest)

about 1 tablespoon honey

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. That's it! Easy. 

That's it for now! Have a lovely day. 

Back soon,

Janis

Baked

Hello Monday! It's B.C. Day, so it's a holiday Monday. Sweet. How was your weekend?

I'm leaving for a camping trip, so I'll have zero access to internet. Feels strange, but it will be a nice break. Made heaps of food to take on the trip, and these biscuits are part of the hamper. They're really easy to make, and delicious. Love the kick of chili, but you could really put anything in these.

Cheddar Chili Spelt Biscuits - makes about 14

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried chili flakes
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spelt flour, baking powder, sugar, chili flakes and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly. Pour all but 1 tablespoon of the milk over top of mixture, then sprinkle the cheddar cheese. Stir with a fork until a soft ragged dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently to come together. Pat out dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thickness. With a floured 6 cm (2.5 inch) biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, gathering and pressing dough together until finished. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining milk. Bake in a 400f/200c oven until golden, about 18 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Happy BC Day to my fellow British Columbians! Have a great week everyone. Back later this week!

janis
x

Baked

Hello Monday! Still lounging around for the long weekend. Love it.

I made some olive biscuits, as a snack to go with cocktails,  and they're both salty and sweet. I found this recipe via the internet a few years ago (I believe it was created by Jean-Pierre Autrand). Must admit, they are a bit different so I think it may be either a love or hate thing for most people. I happen to love them. If you try them out, let me know what you think!

Sweet & Salty Olive Biscuits - makes about 36 tiny biscuits/cookies

9 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar (I used only 1/2 cup to make them a little more salty than sweet!)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cured olives pitted and coarsely chopped (I used Kalamata olives, though the original recipe called for olives from Nyons. Didn't have those.)

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar until blended, then drizzle in the olive oil and mix until combined. Add the flour and stir through until the dough is smooth. Add the olives and stir in until completely incorporated into the dough.

Place the dough on a piece of waxed or parchment paper, in the centre. Cover with another piece and then roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  The dough is very sticky, so using paper will make it possible to roll out. Refrigerate dough for at least 3o minutes up to over night.

You can use what ever biscuit/cookie cutter you like, but I used a tiny, round, crimped cutter. Cut out shapes and place on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle a little course sea salt on tops. If you have dough left, roll flat again and place in refrigerator until ready to bake.

Bake in a 350F/180c oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

These mini, paper thin, wood boats make a perfect size serving dish for these biscuits.  I picked up mine at Vancouver Special.

Again, if you make these let me know what you thought of them. I'd love to know!

Have a great day. Back soon.
janis

Baked on Monday - Sweet Potato Biscuits

Did you all have a nice weekend? Hope so.

I have to confess, I baked these last Monday to take on my camping trip. They are the perfect camping biscuit as they go with everything and last for a few days. I used "yams" instead of the yellow sweet potatoes this time around, hence the vibrant colour!

Sweet Potato Biscuits - makes about 12-15

1 lb sweet potatoes or yams
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 tblsp unsalted butter, cold
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400f. Wash potatoes and, using a fork, prick the potato several times. Place on baking sheet and bake for about an hour or until soft. When cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh and press through a sieve. You should have about 1 1/4 cup of puree.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter until it resembles course meal. In another bowl, mix potato puree and milk, then add to dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.

Place dough on lightly floured board, knead a little, and pat out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a 2 inch round cutter. Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheet for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm!

Enjoy your Monday! Back on Wednesday.

Baked on Monday

Hello Monday! Can't believe it's already been a week since I posted my very first "Baked On Monday". Hope you all had a great weekend.

It was Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand this past weekend, so in honour of that I've made Anzac biscuits for my Australian husband (Ok. They're for me. He doesn't care for biscuits that much.). As I baked, Robert watched Gallipoli (great old film with Mel Gibson, when he was still beautiful).

Anzac Biscuits

120g of unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 cup flour sifted
1 cup brown sugar (I had to use dark brown sugar for these, as my golden brown sugar was in a 'petrified' state)
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 180c/350f.
Melt butter in a saucepan, then add syrup. Mix baking soda in the 2 tablespoons boiling water and add to syrup mixture. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place teaspoons of batter on tray and flatten with a fork.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, checking for colour. Biscuits are ready when lightly golden. You want the biscuits to be a little more chewy rather than crunchy. Mmmm. Perfect with tea.
Makes about 24 biscuits.

I think I know what I'm going to make for my next "Baked On Monday". Do you like orange?