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Crescent Rolls

Crescent Rolls

I’ve adapted from Cook’s Illustrated to use a bread machine for the dough. I’d love to make these up and have them available in the freezer but they never last that long!

When you bake the crescent rolls, make sure the light in the oven is switched off. If it’s on the steam may crack the bulb. You can make the dough up to 4 days ahead of time or even partially bake the rolls and freeze them for longer storage. To do this, begin baking the rolls as instructed, but let them bake at 350F for only 4 minutes, or until the tops and bottoms brown slightly. Remove them from the oven and let cool. Place the partially baked rolls in a single layer inside a zip-loc and freeze. When you’re ready to serve them, defrost at room temperature and place in a preheated 350F oven for 12 to 16 minutes.

Dough
3/4 c skim milk
16 Tbs (2 sticks/8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1/4 c sugar
3 eggs
3.5 c (17.5 oz) flour
1 tsp yeast
1.5 tsp salt

Egg wash
1 egg white beaten w/ 1 tsp water

1. Microwave milk, butter, and sugar in 4c measuring cup until butter is mostly melted and mixture is warm (about 110F.) Whisk to disolve and blend in sugar. Let cool slightly.

2. Place dough ingredients, including milk/butter/sugar mixture in bread machine, following the manufacturer’s direction. Process on the “dough” setting.

3. Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Sprinkle dough with flour to prevent sticking, and punch down. Turn dough onto floured work surface and form into rough rectanagle shape. Transfer rectangle to lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

4. Turn dough rectangle onto lightly floured work surface. Roll to a 20×13″ rectangle, use a pizza wheel to trim edges. Cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut 16 triangles. Elongate each triangle of dough, then starting at wide end, gently roll ending with pointed tip on bottom. Arrange crescents in four rows on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; wrap baking sheet with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

5. Remove baking sheet with chilled rolls from refrigerator, unwrap, and cover. Let rise until crescents feel slightly tacky and soft and have lost their chill, 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, turn oven light off, place rimmed baking sheet on lowest rack, adjust second rack to lower middle position, and heat oven to 425F.

6. With pastry brush, lightly dab risen crescent rolls with egg wash. Transfer baking sheet with rolls to lower-middle rack and, working quickly, pour 1 c hot tap water into hot baking sheet on lowest rack. Close door immediately and bake 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350F and continue baking until tops and bottoms of rolls are deep golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes longer. Transfer rolls to wire rack, cool for 5 minutes, and serve warm.

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Giant chocolate-toffee cookies

My mom sent me this recipe and it is SO good. And I don’t even like Heath bars! I’m still monkeying with the refrigerator time to get the spread just right. I also cut the size of the cookies back so my baking & cooling times aren’t 100%

2.5 oz (½ cup) flour
1 teas. Baking powder
¼ teas. Salt
1 lb. Bittersweet chocolate, I use Ghiradelli
2 oz (¼ cup) unsalted butter
13 oz. (1 ¾ cup) light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 tbl. Vanilla
5 (1.4 oz) heath bars (or similar)
4.25 oz (1 cup) walnuts or pecans, toasted

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside

Microwave chocolate and butter until almost melted, 1-3 minutes. Stir to melt fully, cool to lukewarm

With electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl until thick, about five minutes. Beat in the chocolate mixture, vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture (don’t overmix) then the toffee and nuts.
Chill until firm, at least 45 minutes. If you let it chill too long it will be very difficult to scoop and you’ll have to let it sit at room temperature for a while.

To speed things up you can scoop the dough onto cookie sheets then freeze for 20 minutes or so, then bake.

Heat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment. Portion out golfball size lumps of dough, I use a #24 disher. Bake until dry and cracked on top but soft to the touch in the center, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 min, then remove to a wire rack.

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Quick Tomato Salsa

Salsa

I introduced my mom to this recipe (from Cook’s Illustrated) years ago and promptly forgot all about it. She’s talked it up enough that I finally broke it out again and she’s right, it’s delicious!

1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 small jalapeño chile, minced
1/4 small red onion, peeled and root end removed
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley
1/4 teaspoon table salt
pinch ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lime juice from 1 lime

Pulse tomatoes in food processor until chopped. Transfer to strainer to drain excess liquid.

Pulse all ingredients except tomatoes in food processor until minced, about five 1-second pulses, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add tomatoes and pulse until roughly chopped, about two 1-second pulses.

To Make Ahead:
The salsa can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days. Season with additional lime juice and salt before serving.

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Banana Bread

Banana Bread

I can’t vouch for this personally because I hate, loathe, and despise bananas and everything they touch. My husband and daughters, however, love the damn things so being the devoted wife and mother that I am, I clothespin my nose and make them bread when the bananas go south. This is Kerri’s recipe, verbatim.

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 C crushed banana (I usually put whatever I have that is speckled – usually
2 bananas – the more brown the better)
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C Flour
1 tsp Soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C sour milk (Regular milk with a dash of vinegar will make it sour)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas and vanilla; mix well. Sift Flour with soda and cinnamon, add all at once(I am a lazy cook – I never do the sifting part and it seems to turn out fine – I just kind of dump it all in the mixer). Beat until smooth. Pour in greased and floured loaf pan. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

(Editor’s note: I typically make mini loaves instead. Each pan takes about 2/3c of batter and it makes 9-10 loaves. They bake for 20-30 minutes.)

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Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Big thanks to Trina for the recipe pointer! I usually make Pumpkin Bread as muffins, but these are a true muffin. And practically health food! I used powdered buttermilk and no sunflower seeds.

These muffins are very moist and the added quinoa boosts the protein and offers a nice crunch.

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4 Brown Sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup cooked* Quinoa Organic Grain
2 large Eggs
3/4 cup Unsweetened Canned Pumpkin
1/2 cup Low-Fat Buttermilk (well shaken)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds (Raw Shelled)

Place a rack in the center and preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease muffin tin with pam or crisco w/ flour. Set aside.

Melt the butter and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the cooked quinoa, separating the grains with a fork to distribute them evenly.

In another bowl, beat the eggs. Add the pumpkin, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Gradually stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until the flour is incorporated. It’s fine if the batter is slightly lumpy. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups. (Each should be about 3/4 full.) Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sunflower seeds on top of each muffin. Bake until the muffins are nicely browned around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Set the tins on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins to cooling rack. Eat warm or cool directly on the rack. If not eating the same day, freeze for up to 3 months.

*NOTE: To cook Quinoa, bring 1 cups water to boil. Stir in 1/2 cup Quinoa and reduce heat to medium/low. Cover and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with fork and let stand for 10-15 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: One muffin contains: 200 Calories, 70 Calories from Fat, 8g Total Fat, 3.5g Saturated Fat, 50mg Cholesterol, 220mg Sodium, 30g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 15g Sugars, 5g Protein.

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Pumpkin Scones
Makes 12
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
6 T cold butter, cut into 24 pieces
1/2 c buttermilk + extra for brushing on top
3/4 drained pumpkin
1 egg
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 450F. Pass spices and baking powder through sieve. Whisk sieved mixture with 1/2 c sugar, flour and salt. Using a food processor or pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients just until cut in to resemble bread crumbs with no pieces larger than peas. Transfer (if using FP) to a medium bowl. Mix pumpkin and half and half together and add all at once to dry ingredients. Gently mix with spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Knead gently against side of bowl with back of spatula 5-10 times.

Turn ball out onto floured surface and pat into 8″ round. Cut with floured knife into 12 wedges. Transfer wedges with spatula to baking sheet. Brush tops with half and half and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 13 minutes or until GB&D.

I sprinkled the first 6 with plain sugar and then got the idea to use cinnamon sugar. Definitely a good idea. The dough was very wet and difficult to cut/transfer. Would eliminate 2T pumpkin next time. Using an egg would result in a cakier-Nugget-like consistency, but decided to try without to keep them A-friendly. All in all, very easy and super tasty. There’s a bit of a sour note I can’t decide if I like or not – maybe too much spice? They could stand to be a little pumpkin-y-er. Might try CI’s trick next go ’round.

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Pumpkin Scones
Makes 12
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
6 T cold butter, cut into 24 pieces
1/2 c buttermilk + extra for brushing on top
3/4 drained pumpkin
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 450F. Pass spices and baking powder through sieve. Whisk sieved mixture with 1/2 c sugar, flour and salt. Using a food processor or pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients just until cut in to resemble bread crumbs with no pieces larger than peas. Transfer (if using FP) to a medium bowl. Mix pumpkin and half and half together and add all at once to dry ingredients. Gently mix with spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Knead gently against side of bowl with back of spatula 5-10 times.

Turn ball out onto floured surface and pat into 8″ round. Cut with floured knife into 12 wedges. Transfer wedges with spatula to baking sheet. Brush tops with half and half and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 13 minutes or until GB&D.

I sprinkled the first 6 with plain sugar and then got the idea to use cinnamon sugar. Definitely a good idea. The dough was very wet and difficult to cut/transfer. Would eliminate 2T pumpkin next time. Using an egg would result in a cakier-Nugget-like consistency, but decided to try without to keep them A-friendly. All in all, very easy and super tasty. There’s a bit of a sour note I can’t decide if I like or not – maybe too much spice? They could stand to be a little pumpkin-y-er. Might try CI’s trick next go ’round.

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

pumpkin bars

These are inspired by the squash & cream cheese bars at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op. I snagged the crust from my Lemon Bars and the filling from a Pampered Chef recipe.

Crust:
2 c flour (9 oz)
.5 c sugar (4 oz)
1 t lemon zest
pinch salt
1 c butter (8 oz)

Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg

Batter:
1 c. pumpkin, roasted and pureed (8.5 oz) (can sub canned)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 c. flour (4.5 oz)
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry topping ingredients in food processor, pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Press into a greased 9×13 pan.

Bake until lightly browned, 20-25 min.

Increase oven temp to 375F.

Whisk together filling ingredients; set aside.

For the batter, combine the pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil; mix well. In a large bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir wet ingredients into dry, do not overmix.

Pour batter onto crust.

Drizzle cream cheese mixture over batter. Cut through batter with knife several times for marbled effect. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool; cut into squares.

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Roasted Carrots & Parsnips with Shallot & Herb Butter

I usually make a double or triple batch of the herb butter to keep in the freezer.

1 pound carrots
1 pound parsnips
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced

Position a rack at the center of the oven and preheat to 450F.

Cut the carrots and parsnips into 2 x 1/4-inch matchsticks (alternatively, slice in the food processor). Put them into a large bowl and toss with the oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and toss again. Transfer the vegetables to a 10×15-inch pyrex dish (I use a roasting pan instead) and roast, stirring every 15 minutes, until the vegetables are nicely browned, 40-45 minutes. When they’re close to done check every five minutes.

Meanwhile, soften the butter in the microwave until it is soft but not runny. Combine it with the shallot, chives, rosemary, thyme, and garlic in a small bowl and mix well.

After removing the carrots and parsnips from the oven, add the herb butter and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

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Walnut Crunch Pumpkin Pie

Pastry Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup cold Crisco shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor, add flour and salt. Pulse to mix. Add cold butter and Crisco, which has been cut into small pieces. Pulse 6 to 8 times until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 4 tablespoons ice water evenly over and pulse 3-4 times more until dough holds together. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough holds together. Form into 2 balls, and then flatten each into a disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin roll out one piece of dough into a 10-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Fit a 9-inch pie plate with one piece of dough and flute edges. Reserve 2nd piece of dough for another time. Refrigerate (or freeze) while preparing filling

Filling:

2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2-cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-teaspoon ground allspice
1/8-teaspoon ground cloves
1/8-teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
2 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
3 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 450°F. Whisk first 8 ingredients together in large bowl to blend. Whisk in pumpkin, molasses, eggs, and whipping cream. Pour mixture into frozen crust. Place pie on preheated baking sheet in oven. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and bake until sides puff and center is just set, about 40 minutes. Cool completely. Preheat broiler. Prepare Walnut-Crunch topping.

Walnut-Crunch Topping:

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1-cup whipping cream plus 3 Tbsp powdered sugar

In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt butter. Stir in walnuts and brown sugar and mix until well mixed. Spoon evenly over pie. Broil pie 3 minutes, 5 to 7 inches from broiler, or until topping is golden and sugar dissolves. Cool pie again on wire rack.

In a small bowl, beat heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Pipe around edge of cooled pie.