Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Jalapeno Biscuits.

it’s smitten kitchen, as always. these were FANTASTIC on the side of whatever we ate them with.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
Drained and chopped pickled jalapeños, to taste (I used about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 425°F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Either cut the butter pieces into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or rub them in with your fingertips until well-combined. Stir in the cheddar, jalapeños and sour cream until the mixture forms a sticky dough. Pat it out to a 1/2-inch thickness on a very well-floured counter and use a 3 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut six rounds. Bake on an ungreased (or parchment-lined, if your baking sheets are as “weathered” as mine are) for 15 to 17 minutes, until golden on top.

Irish Soda Bread (March 22, 2010)

how else to celebrate st. patrick’s day? irish soda bread is pretty awesome; i tried this recipe on something of a whim.

Ingredients

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 2 cups buttermilk
* 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

i ended up adding in raisins, maybe a half cup? or a whole cup. i don’t remember. anyways, some of the comments on allrecipes say that this version was too cake-like for their taste. i can see that, but i thought the texture was certainly within the acceptable soda bread parameters; it could’ve been a little more dense, but i was fine with it. and we were happy with it – it got eaten pretty quickly over the following days. i’d be willing to try another recipe, but i’d also have no problems going back to this one too. solid A.

Skillet Scones (November 7, 2009)

via martha stewart; the breakfast recipes in there all look insanely good.

basically, we bought some pumpkin butter a week or so back, and i don’t want it to go to waste. so i made skillet scones, because they seemed easiest. here we go:

2 cups all purpose flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1.75 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp instant dry milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten

1) combine the first 6 in a bowl; work the pieces of butter in. and the water and egg and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.

2) on lightly floured surface, pat dough into an 8-inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.

3) heat cast-iron skillet over medium low heat, dust with flour. arrange wedges in skillet and cook, uncovered, until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side.

mine were pretty well-done, as our stove tends to be very hot no matter what we do. but the recipe worked well, and the scones were cooked through and quite tasty, esp. with the pumpkin butter. if we had a bigger skillet, i would’ve liked to make more, since these went pretty quick.

mm.

Zucchini Bread (August 6, 2009)

Another Smitten Kitchen recipe.
Adapted from several sources

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. (See those pictures of the cakes inside their non-stick pans? Yup, they’re pretty much hanging out in there for the time being.) Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

I was a bit short on zucchini because I used half of in a lasagna that we made earlier this year. So I added some craisins. It turned out pretty good. I am not sure I would make it all the time with the craisins, but they saved this one.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread (October 22, 2007)

Vegan Pumpkin Bread
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup flaked coconut

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add the pumpkin puree, oil, and coconut milk, and mix until all of the flour is absorbed. Fold in the flaked coconut and toasted walnuts. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

3. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and cover loaves tightly with foil. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil, and turn out onto a cooling rack. Tent loosely with the foil, and allow to cool completely.

These were pretty good also, for being vegan. These kinds of bread never rise the way that I want them too and they often (and this was no exceptions) seem too dense. I might try them again…but this time using regular brown sugar instead of dark. The dark sugar kinda took over this bread and made it more “spice” bread than pumpkin bread.