Peach Ginger Muffins

This recipe for Peach Ginger Muffins is a variation on the Plain Muffin (with variations) recipe that cam from Grandma’s old church cookbook. That particular recipe had about 10 variations along with it – all sounding just as good as the one before. I have made the Cinnamon Muffin and Date-Nut Muffin variations, and while this peach variation isn’t in the book – I tried it anyway! I have done this in the past, like when I made my own variation in Cranberry Orange Muffins, and that recipe turned out to be DELICIOUS. Let’s hope this one turns out just as good!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Peach Ginger Muffins

Combine in large bowl:

2 cups flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix well with a fork.

Combine in a separate bowl:

1 cup milk

1 egg

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I used canola)

Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring only until moistened.

Fold in:

heaping 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped

1 peach, peeled and chopped

Fill 12 greased muffin cups (or use papers) 2/3 full.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown

I usually mix up the dry ingredients first – don’t forget the ground ginger!

Next, the wet ingredients.

Add not just 1/4 cup, but a heaping 1/4 cup – just because I like candied ginger and that’s how I made them. The more the merrier.

I decided that just to make things easier – add 1 whole peach. They should be FULL of peach.

The candied ginger can go right in with the dry ingredients.

After mixing the batter, I folded in the chopped peach.

The recipe made exactly 12 muffins. Next time I’d add some coarse sugar to the top. It makes them sparkly and delicious.

After baking – they really puffed up!

Oh my goodness – yum!

I love how these muffins turned out – so peachy and gingery! That basic muffin recipe is perfect to use to make up your own delicious flavor combinations, and since it’s peach season, I’m glad I tried using peaches and ginger. It’s a great flavor combo, and one I’ll be making every peach season from now on! All of the above muffin recipes are so good, but you should really try these Peach Ginger Muffins now, while the peaches are in season and perfect!

 

Blueberry Scones

This recipe for Blueberry Scones is out of some old magazine recipes I found years ago. I ripped the whole section of scone recipes out of what I think was an old Country Living magazine, and I’ve been determined to make EVERY recipe in it! My family’s not gonna have a problem with that, I’m sure. The recipes have all been delicious, and today I’m sharing how the blueberry ones turned out. I’ve made Maple Pecan, Cheese-and-Herb, Chocolate Chip, Sesame-Orange, and Scone Bread – all from that article I ripped out all those years ago. Scones are perfect for breakfast, but they’re also great for afternoon coffee or a snack – that’s how my family enjoys them – in ALL those ways!

Today I’m also sharing this cute photo of my mom driving her dad’s tractor. It looks like she’s about 5 or 6 years old here, and she’s all dressed up to help with the hay baling! I mean, when it’s time to bale hay, every girl’s gotta have on her best dress and hat. They weren’t so worried about sun exposure back then, but I’m sure she needed the hat because of the heat. August is when Grandpa would do the baling, and believe it or not, August can be hot in Minnesota! Hot or not – she looks like she’s enjoying the tractor driving!

That hat is just the cutest!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Blueberry Scones

In a large bowl, combine:

4 cups flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

Cut in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Separate:

1 egg

Put white in a cup and yolk in a small bowl.

Beat with a fork:

the egg yolk

1 1/2 cups Half and Half

Add yolk mixture to dry ingredients and mix lightly with fork until mixture clings together and forms a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently 5 or 6 times.

Gently knead in:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Divide dough in half, roll each half into 7 inch round, and cut each round into 4 wedges, making 8 wedges total.

Place scones 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet, pierce with a fork, brush tops with remaining egg white and sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes when using fresh blueberries, about 20 minutes when using frozen berries – or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

I used a pastry blender instead of 2 knives, but use whatever works for you. This is how coarse the butter pieces turned out.

In went the egg yolk/half and half mixture.

The mixture was pretty loose when I turned it out onto my lightly floured counter top. It might need more than 5 or 6 kneads, but don’t knead it too much.

Since it’s blueberry season, I used fresh berries, but I’m anxious to try frozen, too. I know what you’re thinking – that looks like a lot of berries. It was. And they rolled all over the counter when trying to gently knead them in (maybe frozen berries wouldn’t be so roll-y)! It only took a few kneads. I didn’t want to do too much and smash the berries much. Go for it – it will work!

After cutting the dough in half, I didn’t use a rolling pin like the recipe said, I just used my hands to make the round even and 7 inches in diameter.

Onto the baking sheet – I used parchment instead of greasing it. It took a bit more baking than the recipe called for – maybe because these were pretty thick. I might make the rounds a bit bigger and cut the rounds into 6 instead of 4 wedges – cutting them into 4 turned out to make pretty big wedges.

So pretty, and absolutely perfect with a nice cup of coffee!

You can see how many blueberries were in these – delish!

I think this is just another in a long line of delicious scone recipes out of that magazine from about 20 years ago! The scones are chock full – yes, I said CHOCK full of berries. They are so, so good. While I think they could maybe also be delicious with a drizzle of powdered sugar glaze, they were so perfect with our morning coffee and were just fine without it, too. Make a batch of these Blueberry Scones and you’ll be all set for breakfast, afternoon coffee, or just an anytime snack!

 

Caramel Rolls #2

Today I’m sharing how to make Caramel Rolls #2. Obviously I have made a recipe for Caramel Rolls before, so this is the second one. Thus the #2 listing. These rolls are something that my mom was famous for. She made them all the time when we were growing up, mostly because she was firstly famous for making Buns, and the recipe she used made such a big batch, she’d get tired of making them halfway through and make the rest of the dough into Caramel Rolls. Oh heck yeah, we knew we were spoiled. She made Buns and Caramel Rolls a lot. I tried making a half batch back in November, when I used 1/3 of a half batch to make Lingonberry Rolls and then used the other 2/3 of that half batch to make Christmas Tree Rolls for Christmas morning. I hadn’t made Caramel Rolls for years, so I thought it was high time I try again. In my opinion, this is the way to go. A half batch is easier to handle, for me anyway, and I’ll probably do that from now on. A half batch to make Buns, or a half batch to make rolls. They freeze perfectly, and that way it’s easy to make them ahead of whenever you need them and have them all ready to go!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Caramel Rolls #2

Combine:

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1 package dry yeast (since we can’t get dry yeast right now, I used the block of yeast they sent me in one of my grocery orders)

Let it sit for a few minutes and let the yeast get going.

Add:

1 egg

1/2 cup oil (I used canola)

Mix in:

1 teaspoon baking powder

5-6 cups flour, enough to make the dough not sticky (I used about 7 for this batch)

Knead until smooth and elastic – about 10-20 minutes.

Cover and let it rise for an hour.

Punch it down and let it rest for 10 minutes.

At this point, I grease the pan well with butter and put in about 1/2 cup brown sugar and about 1/2 cup of white syrup into the pan – this helps make more caramel for the tops of the rolls.

Form rolls:

Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 14″ x 18″.

Spread on about 1/4 cup softened butter and then sprinkle on about 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white syrup (that’s approximately the amounts I used – the more you use, the more caramel), and enough cinnamon to cover the dough.

Roll up the dough into a tube and cut into slices (I cut this into 16 pieces).

Put the rolls into pan (I used a 9″ x 13″ pan for this half batch).

Cover and let rise 30-60 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown and the middle rolls seem done (not doughy).

Turn out onto a serving platter (I don’t have a platter big enough, so I used a baking sheet with sides).

I had to use my block of yeast instead of the usual packet of dry yeast. It didn’t seem as “active” as the dry yeast, but it worked out fine.

Here are the wet ingredients, all ready to go.

Mix in the dry ingredients and you’re on your way!

I start with a couple of cups of flour, and then put on the dough hook and add the rest.

I “kneaded” it for about 5 minutes with the dough hook on, and here we are all done with the “kneading”. Yes – I did it with my mixer instead of by hand. Don’t judge me.

After the rising and the punch down, we’re ready to form the rolls. While the dough is rising, I put the goodies into the pan.

Roll the dough out to about 14″ x 18″, then spread on the softened butter.

The next layer is the cinnamon – I just cover the dough with cinnamon – I really don’t know how much I used – maybe a couple of teaspoons.

Next layer – brown sugar and white syrup. It’s better to get closer to the edge – that makes better distribution in the rolls – but the closer to the edge you get, the messier it is to cut them and get them into the pan. Oh well – go ahead and get messy – it’s worth it!

Roll it up as evenly as you can – I got the ends a bit smaller and thinner. That’s a no-no. Try to get even brown sugar and syrup distribution over the whole top of the dough to get the rolls more even.

I do the old “cut in half and half again” system until I have 16 slices.

Put the rolls evenly into the pan. You can see that I put 4 in the last row since those were the smaller pieces on the ends. They all fit.

Cover and let rise for another 30-60 minutes.

After baking – yum! Now it’s time to turn them out and let the caramel drip down over everything. I don’t have a big enough platter, so I just used a baking sheet.

Um – yeah. You can see the puddles of caramel here. There are those in my family who thought the rolls weren’t very caramel-y. Seriously – look at that puddle! They might have thought that because they weren’t there that first day to have them warm, when they’re best, but had them the day after. The rolls just aren’t ever as good the second day. Don’t get me wrong – they are still good – they’re just best when warm.

These rolls are perfect with a nice cup of coffee!

I just don’t know what to say. These rolls are so soft and so easy to make and so full of caramel. They just melt in your mouth. It’s one of those things. Caramel Rolls are just something you need to make. I hope this isn’t a lost art – I want my kids to be able to make these for their families. And so on and so on. They take some time to make, but it isn’t hard to do. Give it a try. Make up some of these Caramel Rolls #2 this weekend and spoil your family – they deserve it!

Skillet Hash

I had a few leftovers in the frig, so I made some Skillet Hash. I used a couple of potatoes left from when I showed you How to Bake Potatoes, and a few other frig and freezer items to make one of the most delicious dishes ever – and all from things I found around my kitchen! What a great way to use up leftovers! Use this for a wonderful breakfast or brunch, a nice lunch, or a light dinner – it’s delicious any time of day! I have to say – this is a perfect weekend dish. You want to use up all the odds and ends in the frig and around the kitchen – don’t let things get to the point of having to throw them – that’s just not smart. This is another one of those recipes that Grandma would have liked. Having survived The Great Depression, she just wasn’t one to waste anything. I think she would have liked how this recipe is another one of those (like Garbage Can Frittata) that doesn’t waste a thing. Let’s get started and round up all the leftover goodies from around the kitchen.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Skillet Hash

Heat in a large skillet:

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

Saute in oil until soft:

1/2 of a small onion, chopped (I always have onions on my counter)

3 Tablespoons red pepper, chopped (found in frig)

3 Tablespoons green pepper, chopped (from freezer)

2 cloves garlic, minced (also always on my counter)

Add just until warm:

1-1 1/2 cup Christmas ham, cubed (from freezer (thawed first) – you could also use bacon, diced chicken breast, anything you find)

1 cup cherry tomatoes (found on the counter, but use any veg you have – mushrooms, zucchini, can of tomatoes)

2 large baked potatoes, chopped (left from How To Bake Potatoes)

Top with 2-3 Tablespoons shredded cheddar (found in frig).

Top with:

fried egg (eggs are always in my frig)

Sprinkle on chives (from freezer – grew in my garden last year).

I had plenty of onions, but I used one that had sprouted a bit, so it didn’t go to waste. It was still perfectly fine. I just took out the green part and chopped the rest.

These were the frozen chives (from my garden last year) and some peppers that I had in the freezer. I put them on a paper towel so they aren’t so wet going into the skillet.

Same thing with the leftover Christmas ham from the freezer. Onto a paper towel lined plate to thaw and dry out a bit.

Don’t ask me how I misplaced these cherry tomatoes on the kitchen counter. I have no idea – it’s not a big kitchen – and this is the minced garlic that I always have on hand.

So here are our ingredients – all from my frig or freezer!

I diced up the baked potatoes, too, and fairly small so they would warm up faster.

First in go the garlic, peppers, and onions.

Next were the ham and cherry tomatoes – I wanted a bit of a char on those.

Last, in went the diced potatoes to warm all together.

After it was on the plate, I sprinkled on a bit of grated cheddar cheese, and then on went the fried egg, seasoned with salt and pepper (maybe some Everything Bagel seasoning).

The egg did not get as “dippy” as I usually like it, but like Grandma, I wasn’t going to waste it! 🙂 Lastly I sprinkled on a few of the chives from last year’s garden, and there you have it! A masterpiece! It was absolutely delicious! And all from just walking around my kitchen and collecting anything I could find. Keep this recipe in mind when you have a few things to use up – you’ll love how every time you make this Skillet Hash, it will be a brand new dish!

 

 

Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches

I just found a way to make my husband’s day start in a more delicious way with Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches! This is the year that I want to get better at making things ahead and making my life and the lives of my family easier. My husband is famous for making egg sandwiches for our kids over the years. He made them for sleepovers, after sports practices and events, after choir concerts, after band concerts, after theater events, you name it. If someone came home hungry for any reason, he’d get out the fry pan and make up egg sandwiches for all. He still does (he’s such a pushover). Well, they do take some time to make – time he doesn’t have in the morning – so it’s not something he makes himself for breakfast very often. So instead of his usual quick breakfast of peanut butter smeared between two pieces of whole wheat bread (gulp – how can he even swallow?), I made a batch of these sandwiches he can grab for a good breakfast either before he heads to work, or on the way. This was so easy to do, I feel like I’ll be making these a lot. They’re so good we’ve found ourselves enjoying them for breakfast, but also for a light lunch, a snack, or a late dinner. Recipes for these are all over the internet – I kind of put my own twist on these.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches

Whisk together:

12 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

splash of milk (maybe 2-3 Tablespoons)

At this point you could also add some sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, etc.- I’d do that next time.

Pour into greased 9″ x 13″ pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Cool and cut into 12 squares.

Separate:

12 English muffins

Lay out the bottoms.

Layer on:

12 slices of cheese (I used cheddar)

12 pieces of your favorite breakfast meat – cooked bacon, Canadian bacon, ham, cooked sausage patty (I used bacon and ham for this batch)

the squares of cooked egg

English muffin tops

Wrap sandwiches in waxed paper and label with whatever is inside.

Freeze in zip top freezer bag labeled and dated.

The best way to serve – take out of freezer and thaw in refrigerator overnight. Don’t forget to take it out the night before!

Take sandwich out of waxed paper, wrap in paper towel, and place on a plate.

Microwave 1 minute on 50% power and then on high for 30 seconds.

You can thaw it in the microwave in the morning, but we’ve found that the sandwich doesn’t cook as evenly as when you take it out the night before.

It’s amazing how easy it is to cook eggs this way – and they don’t drip all over the front of your shirt when you bite into it and the yolk isn’t cooked through!

I just lined up the bottom of the English muffins and layered all the goodies on!

Wrap them up, but don’t forget to label what’s inside.

The next morning, wrap in a paper towel and it’s ready for the microwave.

There you go! The hubs is off to work and ready for the day! Carpe Diem! The egg and meat are warmed up and you can see how melty the cheese gets – yum! These breakfast sandwiches are delicious. It’s so great to just have them ready to go – this is making our lives so much easier – unless I have to make more than a batch a week! 🙂 Assemble some of these Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches with your family’s favorite breakfast meats, and send them off to have an amazing day!

 

 

Baked Apples

Oooh, how I love Baked Apples! It’s that time of year, and it’s so important to enjoy our beautiful fresh apples while you can! This recipe is a great way to enjoy them – it’s so easy to do and it’s fairly healthy, too. I totally made this recipe up, and used to make these apples for my kids when they were little and going to school. We’ve had them for breakfast, for an afternoon snack, and for dessert. Seriously – who wouldn’t like apples that taste like a piece of warm apple pie – without the work! This is such a cozy, warm, snack full of love, and I know you’re gonna wanna make these every weekend from now until the end of the never-ending winter to come. The smell of apple and cinnamon cooking – oh baby! It’s the best! Since there’s no recipe card to show you, I’ll just type out the recipe.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Baked Apples

I used one of our amazing and delicious Minnesota Honeycrisp apples for this. I usually make one apple at a time, because I’m usually making these for only one person at a time, but you can fill a square or round pan with apples and use this to serve several people at once.

Wash and dry the apple, then core it so you can fill it with yumminess.

For the filing:

1 heaping Tablespoon quick oats

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon brown sugar

You can add some chopped nuts, too, if you like that sort of thing, but my family doesn’t care for them. I leave them out.

Mix the filling, then spoon it into the open core. This would be enough for two smaller apples – this one was large, and didn’t take all of the filling mixture.

Before putting the apple in the microwave, I put about 1/2 teaspoon of butter on the top of the filling mixture – so it can melt into the filling and get even more yummy.

Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 1/2 minutes, or until the apple is soft. Depending on how you like it, you can go a little less or a little more. I like the apple to stay a bit firm, but get just soft enough. The apple juices start to flow and cook the filling, and the butter melts into the filling and adds some buttery goodness.

If you want to gild the lily, so to speak, you can serve this with a squirt of your favorite canned whipped topping, too! Well, maybe if you’re serving this for a snack or a dessert. I’m not too sure I’d serve it that way for breakfast. Oh who cares – go for it! These apples are sooooo delicious! Your family is gonna love these so much – they may become a habit! Try these Baked Apples and get them hooked!

 

Cheese-and-Herb Scones

This is a recipe for Cheese-and-Herb Scones off of some ripped out magazine pages I’ve had for years, from which I’ve made several recipes: Chocolate Chip Scones, Maple Pecan Scones, and Sesame-Orange Scones. My goal is to make all of these recipes at some point, so I’m on recipe #4 and counting. I love scones, don’t you? Seriously – there’s nothing better than warm scones, fresh out of the oven, slathered in melty butter, and jam. Oh my goodness. Maybe I should go work on recipe #5 right now! Ha! Ok, ok, I’ll leave that for another day. Let’s get on with this recipe. This one’s a little bit different from your regular type of scone. It’s a savory one – not one that you’d slather with butter and jam. Well, I’d still slather it with butter, but I think it’s more the type you’d serve with Grandma’s Tomato Soup and salad instead of a breakfast or tea time treat. These scones are a lot like the Cheese Muffins recipe that my mother-in-law gave me – you should try that recipe, too!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Cheese-and-Herb Scones

In a large bowl combine:

4 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Cut in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs:

2/3 cup vegetable shortening (I used butter)

Stir in:

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Add:

1 1/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

Mix lightly with fork until mixture clings together and forms a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently 5 or 6 times.

Divide dough in half.

With lightly floured rolling pin, roll one half of dough into a 7 inch round.

Cut into 4 wedges.

Repeat with remaining half of dough.

Place scones, 1 inch apart, on greased baking sheet.

Pierce tops with tines of fork.

Brush tops with water and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

The savory part of these scones – the herbs added instead of sugar!

This is what it looks like when the butter is cut in – it does look like coarse crumbs.

I mixed the milk and the mustard together before adding them to the mixture.

Mix it together to make a soft dough and onto the floured surface, ready to knead.

After kneading, the next step is to divide the dough in half and roll it into a 7 inch round.

I cut the scones into 6 pieces instead of 4, just because 4 seemed like they’d be a bit large. Do this with the other half of the dough, too.

Onto the baking sheet, prick the tops with a fork, brush with water, and sprinkle on the remaining shredded cheese. I’m sure I used more than 1/4 of a cup for the topping. How bad can it be to add even more shredded cheese?

O.M.G. These smelled SOOOOO good baking!

These savory scones would be nice as an egg sandwich for breakfast, or they’d be great with Grandma’s Tomato Soup and a salad for lunch, or they’d be awesome plain slathered with the obligatory melty butter. The cheese and herbs make them absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and I’m not even kidding. You’d better make a batch of these today, because you and your family are gonna LOVE these Cheese-and-Herb Scones!

 

Pumpkin Muffins and Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice

When making Pumpkin Muffins, you also need Pumpkin Pie Spice. Why not have your cake and eat it too? Mainly, this is necessary here because I was totally out of pumpkin pie spice after last year’s fall baking season, and I wasn’t going to buy it last year for making delicious pumpkin pie spice tasting things this year. However, I didn’t realize I was out (or I should say I didn’t remember I was out) until halfway through making these delicious Pumpkin Muffins. Well, if you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, I’m famous for being out of ingredients needed to make some of these recipes and because I don’t want to take the time to run out and get said ingredient when in the middle of a recipe, I’ll just try and use something else or make my own. Hence, the recipe for making your own Pumpkin Pie Spice. It’s fall, and with the popularity of pumpkin pie spice EVERYTHING, I go through a LOT of it. Instead of running out, I’d like to be able to make my own and always be able to have it on hand. I mean, who wouldn’t? We can’t have people running out of pumpkin pie spice – what would we do? The world just might collapse. Seriously. Once I started to make these muffins, I realized that it was a HEALTHY muffin recipe. Now, I found this recipe in my mom’s recipe box, and I have absolutely no idea why she would have had a HEALTHY muffin recipe. She’s not known for making healthy recipes – she has the family sweet tooth! I have made a couple of other healthy pumpkin recipes on the blog, 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins and Healthy Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Muffins, but I’m always willing to try one more.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Mix together:

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

You can always tweak these amounts depending on what you like – if you like it more cinnamon-y, add more cinnamon, etc.

You can change the ratio – if you need more spice, you just make a bigger batch. You might want to make a HUGE batch to last you all the way through pumpkin pie spice season.

Use what you need and store the rest in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Muffins

Mix and set aside:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk together:

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used non-fat yogurt)

3 large eggs

1 cup turbinado sugar

Mix until just moistened.

Put batter into muffin tins (recipe says 12 jumbo muffins, but I made regular sized muffins).

Sprinkle tops with:

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Cool in pans 5 minutes.

Mix all the dry ingredients together first.

Next, mix the wet ingredients.

Now mix them together.

I made regular sized muffins instead of jumbo ones.

The aroma of these babies baking – OMG!

These muffins are so good AND good for you – you’re gonna love ’em! Your family will love ’em, too! You’re friends will also love ’em! Make a batch to keep in your freezer – bring them out when you need a quick breakfast or an afternoon snack – whatever you need them for, they’ll be ready to go. This is the first pumpkin pie spice recipe of the season – try these delicious and healthy Pumpkin Muffins!

 

Sesame-Orange Scones

Today I’m sharing a recipe for Sesame-Orange Scones that comes from a magazine article that I ripped out of a magazine years ago. This magazine article had both the Chocolate Chip Scones and Maple Pecan Scones recipes in it, and as I’ve said before, I’m working my way through trying all of those scone recipes because they’ve all been so good. I can’t remember what magazine I ripped them out of (although I THINK it might have been Country Living Magazine) but this ripped out article (which is 9 pages long) has been around here for years. These Sesame-Orange Scones would be great for your Easter breakfast with that delicious sesame and orange flavor.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Sesame-Orange Scones

In a large bowl, combine:

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sesame seeds (set aside 1 Tablespoon)

3 Tablespoons grated orange rind (set aside 1 Tablespoon)

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs:

2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening (I used butter)

Add to dry ingredients:

1 cup orange juice (set aside 1 Tablespoon)

Mix lightly with a fork until mixture clings together and forms a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently 5 or 6 times.

With a lightly floured rolling-pin, roll dough into a 7-inch round (I just used my hands to make the dough into a 7-inch round).

Cut into 4 wedges.

Place scones 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet.

Pierce tops of scones with a fork.

Put in a small saucepan:

reserved 1 Tablespoon orange juice

3 Tablespoons sugar

Heat to boiling and then stir in:

reserved 1 Tablespoon orange rind

Brush over tops of scones.

Sprinkle with:

reserved 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush again with orange glaze.

Serve warm.

Sesame seeds seem to be an unusual ingredient for scones, but they do add a nice, crunch along with a nutty flavor.

I used my pastry blender to mix in the butter.

Ready for the orange juice.

This was how much I mixed it with a fork before turning it out to knead.

I wanted to make the recipe just as it was, but next time I would definitely cut the 7-inch round into more than 4 pieces. 6 or even 8 scones seems more logical.

The scones were huge in the end, and a bit doughy inside – not quite baked through. Cutting them into smaller scones would help that not happen next time.

Even though they weren’t quite done in the middle, these scones were amazingly delicious. They’d be another great treat for Easter morning. That crunch of the sesame seeds and the delicious and somewhat sticky orange glaze make these melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Your family would love it if you made these Sesame-Orange Scones for their Easter morning breakfast!

 

Blueberry Breakfast Bread

This recipe for Blueberry Breakfast Bread is so ridiculously easy, it’s amazing. It came from the same cookbook that I use for the Hopping Bunny Rolls that I’ve made every year since I was a teenager. The recipe is so short and sweet – it’s almost laughable. In fact, when I was looking through that cookbook recently, I laughed out loud when I saw it. I’ve never noticed this particular recipe before, and I just don’t know why. It’s a great quick and easy recipe, perfect for Easter morning. Speaking of Easter morning, I just had to share this photo of my other grandma (she’s the oldest in the back) and her younger sister and one of her two younger brothers. I don’t know if it was Easter or not when this photo was taken, but by the looks of it they were dressed in their Sunday best. I can’t stand it! This is just the cutest!

They really are dressed up! My grandma looks like she was about 7 or 8 years old in this one, so that would have made it about 1918 or 1919 or so. I just love the dresses and how they have their hair done and the fact that both girls are wearing pearls. And just look at her little brother’s little black shoes! So sweet.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Prepare according to package directions (it says to prepare according to package instructions for coffee cake or loaf cake, but the package I used didn’t have any instructions for those, and the product website didn’t either, so I just made the muffin mix the regular way):

1 package of blueberry muffin mix

Pour into a greased 8 1/2 inch round baking dish (I used a 9″ square pan).

Mix:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Cut in with a pastry blender until crumbly:

2 Tablespoons butter

Sprinkle over batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

The muffin mix that I used called for 1/2 cup of either water or milk. I used milk. Maybe next time I’d try a different kind of muffin – I think any flavor of muffin mix would be delicious.

This breakfast bread would be pretty in a round pan, but I used a square one for this. It seems like a lot of topping for the muffin batter, but put it all on – it’s delicious!

The topping bakes up crispy and sweet – plenty sweet!

The recipe says to serve warm with butter, but I really don’t think it needs butter. It’s so good just plain.

I can’t believe how good this bread is (I actually think of it as more of a coffee cake), and how quick and easy it is to make. It’s perfect for Easter morning when you have enough to do – you don’t want to add extra work when it’s not necessary. I think this would be a great breakfast bread to bring with you if you’re heading to someone else’s home to celebrate Easter, too. The blueberry was good, but try other flavors, too, and see how that goes. This Blueberry Breakfast Bread is absolutely delicious – you’re gonna love it!