The 'Best Biscuits'

Brandon and I enjoyed some great biscuits on our trip to Portland and have been looking for a great biscuit recipe to recreate the deliciousness of Pine State and Jim & Patty's. I think this recipe comes pretty close! Lots of butter and sour cream makes everything better, right? Makes 12 large biscuits.

-Your Homebased Mom

4 C flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp soda

½ C butter

16oz sour cream

3-5 tsp water

Melted butter

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl or your food processor. If using food processor, pulse until butter is small and well-blended pieces or cut in butter by hand using a pastry cutter

Add in the sour cream and water and mix well

Pulse again until well mixed

Add more water if it is too dry (just a little at a time.)

Knead a few times on the counter and roll out to 1 inch thick

Use a biscuit cutter to cut or dip a drinking glass into flour and cut

Freeze individually on a cookie sheet

After they are frozen, place in a freezer bag to store, use as needed

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet

Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes or until top is golden

Twice during the baking process baste the tops of the biscuits with melted butter

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

I don't know that I've ever seen a muffin recipe that had all brown sugar, and crumb toppings are always a plus, so I tried these out and was not disappointed! Nice and moist even the next day.

-Deliciously Sprinkled

MUFFINS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1/2 (1 stick) cup unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, plus 1/4 cup to press on top (I added all of mine to the batter)

CRUMBLE:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Lightly spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray or line with muffin liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric or stand mixer combine brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk, mix until combined.

Mix flour mixture until just combined. MUFFIN BATTER WILL BE THICK! Gently, fold in blueberries.

In a small bowl, mix together  sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter until mixture becomes crumbly. Set aside.

Using an ice cream scooper, scoop muffin batter into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle each muffin with the crumb mixture. Using the 1/4 cup of the blueberries you have leftover, press a few of them into the tops of each muffin.

Bake at 425F for 5 minutes. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350F and continue to bake for 12-15 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool for 5-10 minutes before enjoying!

Pancake Bites

I'm convinced that everything tastes better in mini form, including these cute pancake bites. Use whatever you'd like in these pancakes; bacon, sausage, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc!

Preheat oven to 350. Place Demarle mini muffin tray on perforated baking sheet. Divide desired fillings (bacon, sausage, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc) evenly into wells of 20 count tray. Place a scoop of you favorite pancake batter (1/2 this recipe) on top and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Hash Brown Cups

These hash brown cups make a great weekend breakfast. Customize them to fit your taste! 

-Tiphero.com

20 oz. bag refrigerated shredded hash browns

4 Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil (2 Tbsp. if using a Demarle tray)

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

pinch ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Use a Demarle Straight-sided muffin tray (no spray), or Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick spray. Spray generously to keep the cheese from sticking.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until combined.

3. Scoop about 1/3 cup of the hash brown mix into each muffin tin. Press the hash browns down into the tin and up the sides. Let it come up over the top a little bit, as they will shrink down once baked.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

Filling

6 large eggs

3 Tbsp. heavy cream or half and half

pinch of kosher salt and ground pepper

cooked and crumbled bacon or sausage

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or melting cheese of your choice)

1. Scramble the eggs together with the cream and salt and pepper in a large measuring cup with a spout.

2. Divide the bacon or sausage evenly among the muffin wells, then top with the cheese.

3. Then pour the egg mixture evenly, filling each about ¾ of the way full.

4. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the egg is no longer runny in the middle.

Ebelskivers

Uncle Brian and Aunt Luraly introduced me to Ebelskivers when Mom and I took a trip to visit them in California when I was 8. They use traditional iron pans to make their Ebelskivers and I always wanted to have one, but Brandon surprised me one year with an electric Ebelskiver maker and I love it! These Danish treats are traditionally filled with jam or applesauce, but our favorite fillings are Nutella and lemon curd.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 large eggs, separated

2 cups whole milk

4 Tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, and using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, suing an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter right away.

Monkey Bread

This year for Conference, we made monkey bread instead of our usual doughnuts. Yummy!
*Don't fill your bundt pan more than ¾ full. If you have dough left over, make a few cinnamon rolls.

-Sally's Baking Addiction

DOUGH

         1 package (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

         1/4 cup warm water (110F-115F)

         1 and 1/4 cups warm 2% milk (110F-115F, 2% or higher milk fat, no lower)

         1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

         1/4 cup granulated sugar

         2 large eggs

         1 teaspoon salt

         5 cups all-purpose flour

COATING

         3/4 cup unsalted butter

         1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar

         1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

         2/3 cup light or dark brown sugar

         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

VANILLA GLAZE

         1 cup (120g) confectioners' sugar

         3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream (or milk for a less creamy texture)

         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir it around a bit and let it sit for about 2 minutes. Add the milk, melted butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes (using a dough hook if you have a stand mixer or using a hand mixer). By hand add enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. About 5 cups total.

2.Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Do not over-knead, which will yield a tough, chewy bread. The dough is ready when it is smooth and when you can poke it with a finger and it springs back. Form dough into a smooth ball and place into a large greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. I greased the bowl with cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

3.Make the coating: melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small bowl. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon together in another small bowl. Set aside. You will use the rest of the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla later.

4.Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Punch the cold dough down very gently to allow the air bubbles to release. Pull apart pieces and roll into balls, about 1.25 inches in diameter. You will need 40-45 balls total, so be modest with their size. Dip each ball, one by one, in the melted butter and then generously roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat them. You may need more cinnamon-sugar depending how heavy you coat each ball. Arrange them in the bundt pan as you go.

5.Preheat oven to 350F. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until combined. Pour the buttery mixture over the dough balls in the bundt pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly. Cool for 5-10 minutes and invert onto a large serving plate.

6.Top with the glaze. Simply whisk all of the glaze ingredients together and pour over the bread. You may either cut the bread into generous slices or let everyone pick off the gooey pieces themselves. Monkey bread tastes best served on the same day, but will stay fresh for 3 days if stored covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.