Lemon Raspberry Rolls

Thursday night I posted a question to my Facebook friends, "Two weeks without baking has me going crazy. What should I bake up tomorrow?"

Cookies were the most popular suggestion, but a treat using beer and bacon (for Tom) won everyone over. However, I didn't go with either. Why Not? It wasn't because we don't have beer or bacon, but rather because we had a container of fresh raspberries in the fridge that were screaming to be transformed into something amazing.

And then Joy the Baker came along.

As did her Lemon Raspberry Breakfast Rolls.

They're cinnamon rolls minus the cinnamon. Replaced with brown butter. 

The real question here is, why isn't brown butter an air freshener yet? Because dang, that is quite possibly one of the best scents out there!

I almost threw out the dough because I had forgotten to add the sugar in with the yeast and milk. I didn't realize it until I was half way through kneading it. I wasn't sure if that would make a big deal but I added the sugar and continued on.

It turns out that that was just a minor blip that did not impact the final product. And everything worked out just fine.

Actually, it worked out too well. Because these things are just too good. I struggled (and failed) to stay away from them as I cooked dinner. We brought one to a friend last night and I think she would agree: These are pretty amazing.

Speaking of last night, we watched "All the President's Men" outside at a park in Rosslyn. Everything was going well until we were near the end of the movie. We started to hear some funny noises around the park and then....

The sprinklers turned on!

Someone in the city forgot that the park would be occupied by a few hundred people, relaxing on their blankets and enjoying a movie. We skedaddled our butts right out of there and headed on home.

Happy Saturday Everyone! Will anyone be doing any baking? If not, I hope you still get yourself a delicious treat and enjoy the weekend!

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

I have a confession to make. I secretly really love going to the dentist. Is it strange that I feel like falling asleep while the hygienist is working on my teeth?

Yes. It sure is. 

My dentist called me on Wednesday. They had an opening and asked if I could come in yesterday at 9:00. Sure! Why not. The only bad part about the experience was paying for the appointment. I'm without dental insurance this year because of school. Maybe I could go the year without going to the dentist, but I really don't want to mess up my teeth after years of braces and a herbst appliance.

Anyway....

On my way home I stopped at Hannaford to pick up some frozen blueberries. I had brown butter blueberry muffins on my mind all because of Joy the Baker's new cookbook that I got in the mail Wednesday. 

I've followed Joy's blog for almost two years so obviously the cookbook needed to be ordered. Her humor and style of writing comes out in each recipe. So does her love for baking.

This was my first time experimenting with brown butter but it won't be the last. I may have accidentally gotten some of the warm butter on my finger as I was mixing into the batter and it may have tasted really yummy.

The  muffins were good, but not the best I've ever had. That could have been my own doing (I wonder if frozen blueberries affect the taste, or perhaps I didn't cook them long enough). All I know is that I'm super excited to bake the other recipes in the book. 

And in case you were wondering, I am cavity free once again (*knockonwood*)

Raisin Bread: The Bread Machine Way

Good news! I finally got a real  run in yesterday. We got out of class two hours early so I was able to hit up the indoor track. I quickly realized why I did not enjoy running on it while I was an undergrad (overcrowding, dry air, boooring), but it felt awesome to get in some speed.

Anyway, two weeks ago, while I was on my "detox" I had the BIGGEST cravings for raisin bread. The weird part is I couldn't remember the last time I had had it. Where was that craving coming from?

So once my "detox" was over, what do you think I made?

Whole wheat raisin bread

While it satisfied my craving, it could have used more than 1 cup of raisins. The raisins soaked in water an hour before being added into the bread dough, but perhaps a longer soaking time would have made them better. 

Whole Wheat Raisin Bread

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients 

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all-purpose flower

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1 cup raisins, soaked*

*Soak the raisins in a bowl of water before adding them. I soaked them about an hour, but perhaps a longer soak is needed*

Directions

1. Add ingredients to the bread machine, leaving out the raisins. 

2. Set bread machine to "sweet" bread and begin baking process

3. Add raisins on first beep. 

Serve warm with butter and enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins!

I absolutely love fresh blueberries. They're my favorite fruit. A few weekends ago I picked 10 pounds worth of blueberries in Colchester and ended up freezing most of them.

I still had some today, only 1 cup's worth. They were squishy and I personally didn't want to eat them, nor did I want to toss them out. So what was I to do?! Make BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!!!!

And let me tell you, they are muy delicioso!

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Flour

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup olive oil

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup milk

Zest of 1 Lemon

1 cup blueberries (more if you wish ;))

Topping:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup King Arthur Unbleached Flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

Juice of 1/4 large Lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin trays with muffin cups or grease.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well and form a well in the center of mixture.

In another bowl add the oil, egg, and milk. Mix and add to center of dry mixture. Add lemon zest and mix ingredient. Add the blueberries and fold into the mixture. Add the combined ingredients to the miffin tins, filling them 3/4 of the way. Add topping, recipe bellow.

Topping: Combine the sugar, flour, butter, and lemon juice in small bowl. Mix well and add to the top of muffins. Be careful not to add too much lemon juice as the mixture will become too moist. It should look like a Streudal topping, mine just looked like a colored addition to the muffin.

When completed, put the muffin tray into the oven and cook 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Use the toothpick to test for done-ness.

Sit back and enjoy the combination of fresh blueberries and zesty lemon!!! MMmmm MMMm

Happy Valentine's Day

This morning I made breakfast for Tom. I picked up some Vermont Smoke and Cure Bacon from Hannaford. I had one of the meat cutters I work with help me choose it. He said it was by far the best bacon.


I also found a recipe for pancakes from marthastewart.com (yes I know, I'm a dork). I had some frozen strawberries that Tom and I picked this summer at Mazza's, so I let those thaw over night with some blueberries and sugar to add them on top. It was a delicious breakfast!



Pancake Recipe:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add egg, milk, butter and whisk, making sure that there are still lumps in the batter. Put on griddle and flip when bubbles come to surface of pancake and begin to pop. Tadah! Deliciousness!