Nutella Biscotti

I love everything Nutella so these were a winner in our book!

Nutella Biscotti
Ingredients
2 1/4 C flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 C sugar
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C hazelnuts (optional, but why would you NOT!?)

Directions
-Preheat oven to 350
-Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, powder, and salt in a medium bowl
-Beat eggs in a large bowl until frothy; add sugar and continue beating for 2 minutes
-Stir in Nutella; add flour mixture and stir until well combined
-Add chocolate chips and nuts
-Divide dough into 2 or 3 logs and with well-floured hands (A MUST), arrange onto parchment paper and form into rectangles/logs around 1/2 inch thick.
-Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat, cool, and lower oven temp to 300.  Using a serrated knife, cut logs into slices 1/3-1/2 inch thick and lay on their sides on the parchment paper lined pan.  Bake 10-12 minutes, flip over, bake additional 10-12 minutes.  Let cool.

Egg and Bacon Cups

Came across a version of these via Pinterest and kinda did what I could with them! Pretty yummy, but I over cooked them a bit.

Bacon and Egg Cups 
Ingredients
6 Eggs
12 slices turkey bacon
6 slices bread
Nonstick cooking spray
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Spray a 6 cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.  Using a large round cookie cutter, cut bread into circles and press into muffin cups.  Set aside.
-Cook bacon in whatever method you use (I prefer to bake it) and place two slices in each cup
-Crack an egg in a bowl and gently place an egg in each cup on top of the bacon.
-Season with salt and pepper
-Bake until eggs are done the way you like them!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Biscotti

We are biscotti lovers. I love nothing more than brewing a fresh pot of coffee in the morning on the weekend and dunking in a fresh biscotti. I made this one for a family party a few months ago and forgot to blog about it! It was a big hit, but definitely was not peanut-y enough. I did not add the peanuts and the next time I make these, I definitely will because it needed that for a peanut-boost.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Biscotti
adapted from Food Network

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions
Position racks evenly in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally. Continue to cook until the butter browns and gets a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar while beating. Then slowly add the butter and vanilla until evenly mixed, about 30 seconds more. Add the peanut butter and mix until combined.

While mixing slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet, in 2 additions, mixing just until absorbed. Fold in the peanuts and chocolate pieces.

Divide the dough evenly into thirds, and put each portion in the center of a baking sheet. Shape the dough with slightly wet hands into logs about 2-inches wide and 15 inches long. Bake until set and brown around the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool logs on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Cut logs crosswise, with a long serrated knife at about a 45 degree angle, into 1/2-inch thick cookies. Place cookies cut side down on the baking sheets. Bake until crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip the cookies over and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes more. Cool biscotti on the baking sheets. Serve.

Strawberry Scones

I have had these bookmarked forever, since I saw them on the now non-existent Good Things Catered blog (Katie, I miss you). When I was perusing Annie's scone recipes (she has a TON), I found these and remembered how long I have wanted to make them. I had a bunch of yummy berries so went for it. I did follow her instructions on flash-freezing, and I ate then throughout the week. We popped the rest of them in the oven for breakfast on Father's Day when the girls came home and they got rave reviews from everyone. Light and fluffy and delicious, but not too sweet. Everything a scone should be!

Strawberry Scones
As seen on Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 large egg
¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt
½ cup milk
1 tsp. orange or lemon zest
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 heaping cup diced fresh strawberries

Directions:
-In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and citrus zest until blended; set aside.  In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Pulse briefly to blend.  Add the butter pieces to the bowl with the dry ingredients and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour, until the largest butter pieces are the size of small peas.  (Logan was sleeping so I just used a pastry cutter and it worked out just fine.)  Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

-Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat.  Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a fork or spatula until a sticky dough has formed.  Knead just a few times to ensure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is cohesive.  (Only if absolutely necessary, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to hydrate the remaining dry ingredients.  I DID NOT have to do this.)

-Transfer the dough to a well floured work surface and pat into a disc about 7-8 inches in diameter.  I needed to sprinkle flour on my hands to work the dough.   Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.  Slice the disc into 8 wedges.

-To bake the scones, preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.  Place the shaped scones on the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on top, about 15 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes before serving.

-To freeze, transfer the baking sheet with the shaped scones to the freezer and let them chill until they are firm, 30-60 minutes.  Wrap the scones individually and store in a freezer-safe bag until ready to bake.  Bake as originally indicated, adding a few minutes to the baking time (usually about 18-20 minutes for me.)

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

I love biscotti. Love love love it. I often make it on Sunday nights as a treat and send C with it or surprise my English department friends with it. I have been wanting to make a chocolate hazelnut biscotti for awhile now, and when I stumbled across this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, I was excited.

I am not sure where I went wrong, because although the taste was good, these were a dental bill waiting to happen. Too crunchy for my tastes, and I love dunking in my coffee or tea! I may have overbaked them so I will either give these another test-run, or I will find another recipe to try.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
as seen on Smitten Kitchen, adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients
1 cup whole hazelnuts, preferably blanched
2 1/2 cups flour, plus flour for work surface
1/2 cup Dutch-style cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on baking sheet and toast about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. If hazelnuts are not blanched, toast them until the skins begin to crack, then remove them from oven and wrap them in clean linen or cotton towel (not terrycloth). Rub hot nuts to remove most of the skin. Set toasted nuts aside.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside.

3. Beat eggs lightly, just until blended, in mixing bowl with whisk or in electric mixer. Remove two tablespoons of egg mixture to small dish and set aside. Beat sugar into remaining eggs until blended. Stir in flour mixture to form soft dough.

4. Divide the dough in half and place one portion on a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, pat it into a six-inch square. Scatter half the hazelnuts on the dough and press them into the surface. Roll the dough into a cylinder about 2 inches in diameter and 12 to 15 inches long. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the roll of dough on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush the tops of both rolls with the reserved egg.

5. Place in the oven and bake about 15 minutes, until firm to the touch (20 minutes in my oven). Transfer to a cutting board, let cool for 10 minutes and cut on an angle into slices one-half-inch thick. Return the slices to the baking sheet, laying them on their cut sides, and return them to the oven. Bake another 20 minutes, until they are crisp and dry. Allow to cool completely before storing or serving.

7 Days of Pumpkin: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Another score from Annie's Eats. This girl loves pumpkin as much as I do and her blog is chock full of yummy pumpkin recipes to try. If you are a fan of the Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins, these are very close to that, with the added bonus of a crunchy streusel topping.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Makes 24 muffins ( I found this to be exact!)
as seen on Annie's Eats, adapted from BakeSpace

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs

1 ¼ cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour

4 tbsp. butter, cubed

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

7 Days of Pumpkin: Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Apparently I not only love pancakes, but syrup as well.

Hello, lover.


These were wonderfully delicious. No one else in my household is a huge pumpkin fan, but C did try one. They were a fairly dense pancake and I think are the perfect autumn breakfast.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
courtesy of Annie's Eats

Ingredients
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of ground cloves
1 cup milk
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tbsp. vegetable oil or melted butter

Directions:
-In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir with a fork to combine. Mix together the milk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil or butter in a liquid measuring cup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together just until combine. The batter will be lumpy which is a-okay. I think I over-mixed a tad which is why mine were so dense.
-Preheat the oven to 200° F. Have a dish ready for the pancakes as they come off the griddle/skillet to go into the oven to keep toasty.
- Heat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add a 1/3 cup scoop of batter to the pan. Let cool until bubbles begin to form on the top surface. Carefully flip with a spatula and cook the second side until golden brown, a couple minutes more.
-Transfer the cooked pancake to the oven safe dish, and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the batter until it has all been cooked, regreasing the pan as needed. Serve with cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, and/or whipped cream.

Chocolate Chip Scones

Just a tip: Do not substitute whole milk for heavy whipping cream. No matter what you read. Because your dough will be a complete runny mess, you will have to add a ton more flour, and your scones will be a little too tough.

Just sayin'.

(which means I created a huge mess, that I attempted to fix and then basically threw on the cookie sheet to bake and prayed. They tasted not too bad for being a complete runny mess, although they were definitely NOT flaky like a scone should be. I will for sure make them again...just correctly next time)

Chocolate Chip Scones

Courtesy of Hershey's

Ingredients:

3 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C granulate sugar

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 C chocolate chips

1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

2 C chilled whipping cream

2 tbsp butter, melted

Additional granulated sugar

Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

-Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

-Stir together flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.

-Stir whipping cream into flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened.

-Turn mixture out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently until soft dough forms (about 2 minutes). Divide dough into three equal balls. One ball at a time, flatten into 7-inch circle; cut into 8 triangles. Transfer triangles to prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional granulated sugar.

-Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, if desired. 24 scones.

Cranberry Orange Scones

One of my favorite combinations is cranberry and orange. I always order the cranberry-orange scone from Starbucks and when I stumbled across this recipe, I had to give it a whirl. And you know what? They are perfect. Tart and slightly sweet at the same time, and delightfully flaky.

Cranberry Orange Scones

(adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen via The Way the Cookie Crumbles)

Makes 8 scones (but mine were HUGE so they can be made smaller)

1½ tablespoons freshly grated orange zest

2½ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour

½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar plus 3 tablespoons

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1½ cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a small bowl, toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar. In another small bowl, lightly beat the egg and yolk, then stir in cream.

3. In a food processor, pulse the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. (You can also just smoosh the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers instead of using a food processor.) Stir the cranberries into the flour mixture. Then gently fold the egg mixture into the flour until just combined.

4. On a well-floured surface with floured hands, pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter). With a 2-inch round cutter or the rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling the scraps as necessary. (Or cut the circle into wedges, which is my standard method.) Arrange the scones about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool about 10 minutes, then serve.

Orange Almond Biscotti

REALLY LATE Day 7 of 12 Days of Treats from the Control Freak

Orange Almond Biscotti

America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 c. almonds, toasted, cooled and chopped coarse
2 Tbsp minced zest from an orange

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl and set aside.
-Cream the butter and sugar until light and smooth, about 2 min.
-Beat in eggs then the extracts.
-Stir in almonds and zest.
-Fold dry ingredients into wet until dough is just mixed.
-Halve the dough and turn portions onto prepared baking sheet.
-Stretch each portion into a rough 13 by 2 in. loaf and pat smooth.
-Bake about 35 minutes or until the loaves are golden and just beginning to crack on top.
-Remove baking sheet from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
-Lower oven temp to 325 degrees and cut each loaf diagonally into 3/4 in. slices.
-Lay each slice cut-side up on baking sheet and return to oven.
-Bake, turning each cookie half way through baking for about 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown on both sides.
-Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

(Optional - dip one side in melted chocolate!)

Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti

Biscotti has become one of my favorite things to bake. I first gave it a whirl on Christmas Day last year, and when I saw this recipe, I could not pass it up. It is a delicious combination and I made them to send in my care package to my family in Idaho. Of course, I saved a few for us. Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea!

Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti

As seen on Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups sugar
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. orange zest
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl; stir together with a fork and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries with a rubber spatula.

Divide the dough in half. Working with one portion of dough, shape into a 12″ x 3″ log on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough so that the logs are laying parallel and spaced apart on the baking sheet. Bake until the logs are golden brown, 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 25 minutes, maintaining the oven temperature in the meantime.

Carefully transfer the logs to a work surface and remove the parchment paper from the pan. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs into ½-inch slices on the diagonal. Lie the slices on one of their cut sides back on the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake for 12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.