Peanut Butter Scones

So peanut butter has been a big deal lately. A loves it and will eat spoonfuls of it these days. She has always had a thing for it. Since it isn't quite pumpkin season (that's next week as next week is September and September is when I get rid of last years frozen pumpkin if we have any left) and we wanted scones for this wonderfully cool mountain morning (it is about 50 outside), I made peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate chip scones. I made a variety of scones actually all with a peanut butter-oat base.

Recipe:

2 c flour (I used 1 c sorghum, 1 c brown rice, 1/2 c oat, 1/2 c arrowroot powder + 1/2 tsp gelatin + 1 tsp gum)
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 c oats
1/4 c cold butter in cubes
3/4 c buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 c peanut butter
add ins: chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, whatever you want really

Pre-heat oven to 400F. Mix the first five ingredients well. Add in the butter bit by bit until you get a cornmeal consistency. To the buttermilk add the egg and whisk together. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry mixture.  Add the peanut butter. As you shape the scones put your add-ins in and work them in well. The original recipe called for doing this all by hand, but I'm a lazy baker and used my kitchen aid. On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, shape the dough into a circle that is about an inch thick. Cut the scones, but do not separate them. Bake until done (they bounce back, a toothpick comes out clean, however you can tell something baked is done) which for us was about 20 minutes. Should make around 8 scones.

As you can see, my math was a little off as I grabbed the wrong measuring cup for the flour. I used six half cups as opposed to six third cups. Thankfully I realized it and was able to adjust the mixture so that I really made a 1.5 recipe. I ended up with a lot of scones, so the freezer will get some. I did a few plain, a few with raisins, a few with raisins and chocolate chips, and some with just chocolate chips. Here is a picture of what they looked like when they went into the oven (and there is another wedge on a 2nd cookie sheet):

And one of what they looked like when they came out:

After they are done do let them cool and re-cut them.

I apparently need to get the recipe book they came from, Baked, so I added it to my Amazon wishlist.

Happy Baking! If you decide to try this recipe please let me know what you think!

Black Forest Bread Pudding

Okay, so bread budding, seriously Carolyn? Yes, I have always really really liked, okay, loved, bread pudding. For the past several years since I haven't had any bread I've been missing out. Last week when I made cupcakes for A & Chris, my cupcakes failed to hold together. There should have been enough gum, but they just didn't stay as cupcake, and crumbled well coming out of the tin. Well, I decided that I couldn't just throw the crumbs away, so what to make? I decided to make bread pudding with the crumbs. Here is the recipe:

I used a Paula Dean recipe that is heavily modified.

1 cup vanilla sugar (the recipe called for 2 cups granulated sugar, but since I used cake I figured I could cut some sugar here)
about 4 ounces cherry jelly
5 large eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 cups crumbled chocolate cake
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup chocolate chips (original recipe was for pecans, but I put in chocolate chips instead)

For sauce:

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 c butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoons vanilla
1/4 cup alcohol (brandy, godiva, etc)

Mix together the sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour over the cake and let sit until oven is warm.

Preheat oven to 350F, grease/line a 13x9x2 inch pan.

Crumble together the brown sugar, butter and chocolate chips.

Pour the bread mixture in the pan. Cover with the chocolate chip mixture. Stick in the oven and bake until "set", 30-45 minutes.

For the sauce: mix everything sans alcohol in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add the alcohol. Pour over the bread pudding.

Ah Fall...

Well, this past week has been a good one overall.  Fall has arrived and we've got great fall weather.  We are really starting to see trees change color and lose their leaves.  With all the rain we've gotten the past few days there are even some bare trees already. It is difficult to believe how much change happens so quickly.  Last week A and I went for a walk at the prairie.  I realize how much I've missed the prairie this summer and it was nice to get out and enjoy the crisp morning when I went.

playing with shadows on the fall flowers

Ready to walk with the fun sunglasses

I also managed to finish my quilt.  It isn't perfect by any means and I think only a few of the corners match up right, but it is done and A likes to drool all over it. I will never quilt with the gingham that I used again, but may use it for future bindings.  I like the pattern, so you will probably see many iterations of it. 

A is continuing her drooling and hopefully we will get to see some rewards to the teething soon.  We shall see as always. She has really started to work on sitting up and crawling. Today she was kind of doing a "downwards dog" (if you know yoga, it is basically having your hands and feet on the floor, with your rear end in the air, and looking toward your knees) but no real movement to speak of at that time.  As opposed to "army crawling" she is more "army pushing" with her legs. She is working on these skills enough that she jars herself awake at night sometimes. Here she is sitting up all on her own.

As we wrap up September we really don't have much going on.  Chris and I are continuing to put applications in and resumes out places, so hopefully something with break soon.  We are at least one day closer to landing a new job, so that's hopeful at least.

One other very fall thing I did this week as create a pumpkin pound cake.  It is quite tasty, recipe as follows:
3/4 C butter
1.5 C sugar
2 TBS vanilla
2 C Flour mixture (I used 1 C sorghum, 1/2 C oat, 1/2 C tapioca, 1/4 tsp gelatin, and 1 tsp guar gum)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
about 10 ounces of pumpkin
4 eggs

Cream (mixer on high setting) the butter and sugar for about five minutes -- make it creamy! Add the vanilla and cream a bit more.  Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing about a minute after each addition to ensure complete incorporation to existing batter.  While the butter and sugar are creaming, mix up the flour, baking soda, and spices in a separate bowl.  After adding the eggs, gradually add in the flour to the wet mixture. Add in the pumpkin as a last step.  Scrap down the sides of the bowl occasionally, but let it beat at a medium speed for about five minutes.  Distribute in muffin tin or bread tin, or however you want to cook it.  Cook it at 325 F for 30-60 minutes depending on tin used.

I prefer to use muffin tins for things because that gives up easy single serve portions that are easy to freeze/thaw.  Also, if I have to take bread/muffins/cakes etc on a trip it is super easy to have muffin sized things made.

I'm sure that this is the first of many things I will be exploring the use of pumpkin in.  I didn't quite use up my can of pumpkin, so I may try to make pumpkin waffles or something, we'll see. 

I hope that you all have a good week! See you in October!

Blondies (For Katie)

1.5 c of packed brown sugar
1 c butter
2.25 cup flour (1 cup sorghum, 3/4c tapioca, .5 c arrowroot, 1/4 tsp gelatin, 1/2 tsp guar gum)
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
Optional: 1/2 tsp cinnamon, chocolate chips, nuts of any sort, etc.

Melt butter and sugar in a sauce pan over low heat until butter is completely melted -- this will help carmalize some of the sugar and blend the butter well.  I added my vanilla at this stage, essentially making very gooey caramel.  Add in the eggs to the sugar mixture after the mixture has cooled back down to room temperature (don't want to cook the eggs in the warm caramel).  Mix in the flour.  Makes a 9x13 pan.  Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes.