Category Archives: Breads and Muffins

CINNAMON CHIP SCONES WITH HOMEMADE CINNAMON CHIPS

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Arrrr!  I came across this little wooden pirate on ebay.  It’s actually one of a set of three nesting pirates.

Why didn’t the pirate take a shower before being forced to walk the plank?

 He knew he’d wash up on shore later.

These nesting dolls bring out obsessive-compulsive disorder tendencies in me.  See how the large pirate’s top half is not quite aligned with his bottom half? I won’t be able to rest until I get them perfectly aligned.  And wash my hands.  And make sure all the hangers in my closet are facing the same way.

These scruffy little guys reminded me of the pirate-themed party I had for one of my son’s birthdays.  It was remarkably like the birthday party Martha Stewart threw for her granddaughter Jude’s first birthday.  Martha held the party at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant Perry St in Manhattan.  Thousands of dollars worth of Steiff animals decorated the table.  The birthday girl wore a “candy coat,” which was handmade out of cashmere hand-dyed in pastel colors.  The “cake table” had three cakes decorated with marzipan animals, which according to Martha, “aren’t too hard to make if you have the patience” (red flag alert).  The birthday lunch menu was simple:  butternut squash soup with Mimolette cheese and pumpkin seeds; asparagus with mesclun, enoki mushrooms, avocado, and black truffle vinaigrette; ricotta ravioli with herbs and tomato sauce; pain de seigle (not even going to bother to look this up); and the three birthday cakes.  For party favors there was a “menagerie of animal sugar cookies, sticking to the color scheme.”  And here’s the kicker — there was only one kid there other than the birthday girl.

Just like my kid’s party — NOT.  Give me a break!  That kid’s first birthday party was nicer than my wedding.  For my son’s third birthday we threw a pirate party at a playground because we didn’t plan it enough in advance and all the fancy restaurants were booked.  Instead of Steiff animals for decorations, we used plastic pirate figurines that I found on ebay, which the kids fought over.  On the  “cake table” was a single cake — a tres leches sheet cake from the Mexican bakery La Ideal (which, by the way, was awesome).  We decorated the cake with more plastic pirates, which isn’t too hard to do, if you have the patience.  For party favors we had pirate eye patches (the ones made out of hard plastic that hurt to wear and the elastic breaks the first time you put it on), and treasure chest banks filled with candy and gold coins and little plastic toys.  There were about 20 kids, and they were all having a great time, until it rained.  Of course.  Just like being on the high seas.  So we gathered everything up and raced to the cars, someone yelling “grab the cake” (it really was THAT good).  My son loved his party, being with his friends, his birthday cake, and, of course, opening his presents.

Like Martha, I kept the menu simple — coffee and cinnamon scones and muffins for the adults, snack mix, fruit tray, and juice boxes for the kids, and birthday cake for all.  Inspired by the nesting pirates and the memory of my son’s pirate party, I made a batch of Cinnamon Scones with Homemade Cinnamon Chips.  These Cinnamon Scones are worthy of any special celebration, and they disappeared quickly at the birthday party.  What makes them special is the homemade cinnamon chips, which “aren’t too hard to make if you have the patience.”  (I don’t recommend substituting with the odd-tasting  commercial cinnamon chips).  They’re even more special if you can serve them warm out of the oven.

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CINNAMON CHIP SCONES WITH HOMEMADE CINNAMON CHIPS
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • For Cinnamon Chips:
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening (i.e., Crisco)
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • For Scones:
  • 1-2/3 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter, chilled and cut into 12 pieces
  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon half and half or whipping cream, divided use
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. For Cinnamon Chips: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until ingredients are thoroughly combined and crumbly. Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until melted and bubbly, approximately 25 minutes. Cool completely, then crush into small pieces. Set aside until ready to use.
  3. For Scones: Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
  4. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Add butter pieces and pulse on and off until mixture is the size of small peas. Stop the processor and add ½ cup of half and half or whipping cream. Process just until the dough begins to clump together. Transfer dough to a medium mixing bowl, and gently stir in half of the cinnamon chips (reserve remainder of chips for another use).
  5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a ¼-inch thick circle and cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Brush tops of scones with remaining tablespoon of half and half or whipping cream. Transfer scones to a greased baking sheet and bake until golden, approximately 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  6. These are especially good served warm.

 Mix the cinnamon chip ingredients until nice and crumbly

 Crush the cooled chips into small pieces  

 Ready to go in the oven 

 Fresh from the oven 

Arrrr! A special breakfast treat

 

FRIENDSHIP BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

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This week’s recipe is inspired by these cast iron Amish figurines from a local estate sale.  I call them Jacob and Sarah, and they are brother and sister.  You can’t really tell by looking at them, but Jacob is humming — it’s barely audible — and Sarah is threatening to tell their mom that Jacob won’t stop humming.  They struck me as a quirky collectible — I’ve heard of people collecting cast iron soldiers, but never cast iron Amish people.  Anyway, it looks like some kid had a lot of fun playing with these well-worn toys.

Inspired by these siblings, I set out to find an Amish recipe.  The recipe that came up in every search was — you guessed it — Friendship Bread, the dreaded chain letter of the world of baked goods.  It’s a quickbread, that ironically, takes 10 days to make.  It begins with sourdough starter in a baggie.  Most of the days simply involve squishing the contents of the bag.  On day 6 you feed your starter with sugar, flour, and milk, and on the 10th day you are ready to bake.  This process creates 5 cups of starter — 1 to bake with, 1 to keep for future squishing, and 3 to share with friends.  I think you’re supposed to leave the baggie full of starter on the doorstep, ring the bell, and then run and hide in the bushes.

Fans of the bread think of it as a way to bond friends by sharing infinite loaves of bread baked in different kitchens that all began from the same starter.  I’m pretty sure my friends are not anxious to be connected to me by a baggie full of starter and bacteria that I bred in my kitchen.  And vice versa.

Friendship Bread should not be confused with the recipe for friendship.  There are lots of variations out there, but they tend to go something like this:

RECIPE FOR FRIENDSHIP

4 cups love

2 cups loyalty

3 cups forgiveness

5 spoons hope

2 spoons tenderness

4 quarts faith

1 barrel laughter

Liberal amounts of understanding

Mix all ingredients together.  Bake with sunshine.  Serve daily.

Now I understand why I have so few friends.  The recipe my friends and I have been using ever since we had kids is more like (1) call once or twice a year to ask a favor, (2) hope you run into each other at the grocery store, (3) “friend” on Facebook, (4) add to contacts list, and (5) exchange Christmas cards.

Anyway, the likelihood that I would spend 10 days baking a loaf of bread for anyone is equal to the likelihood of my kids voluntarily loading the dishwasher.  But I will gladly spend 30 minutes or so baking a batch of Blueberry Muffins.   These are hands down my favorite muffins.  They are almost always a part of what I call a “compassion meal” — the meal I prepare to bring to a friend with a newborn, or who is battling an illness, or who has suffered the loss of a loved one.  I like to include them because they’re great to grab when you’re on the run or don’t have the time or energy to sit and eat a meal.  The recipe was given to me by a friend, and they are, to me, Friendship Muffins in every sense.

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FRIENDSHIP BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Author: 
Recipe type: Muffin
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 ounces vanilla yogurt*
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries
  • Coarse sugar (optional, for sprinkling on top)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place paper liners in 12-cup muffin tin.
  2. Mix together butter, eggs, sugar, and yogurt in a medium bowl. Fold in dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, filling each approximately ⅔ full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and tester comes out clean. Cool on racks. Share with friends.
Notes
*Dannon All Natural Vanilla is my favorite. Avoid using yogurt that contains gelatin, such as Yoplait Light--the texture of the finished product will not be as nice.

UPDATE:  Not long after I published this post, I came home to find this bag of starter and bacteria on my front porch from the kitchen of my friend Patricia (and yes, she is my friend on FB and we do exchange Christmas cards).  🙂