Day Three Hundred Fifty Two: Gettin' My Jam On (Everything)

As I mentioned when I made the Personalized Gift Tags, my birthday was Friday.  My husband planned a dinner with a few friends, and I wanted to make little boxes of late-night snacks for them to take home.  As part of the boxes, I thought to include a little something for breakfast the next morning.  I decided on Martha's Jam-Filled Coffee Cake Muffins because they look seriously decadent and I thought the crumbly, brown-sugar top would keep them moist until they were ready to eat.  (I don't know this to be the case, I was just guessing.)

Martha's recipe calls for the muffins to be made in 2 3/4-inch by 2-inch panettone papers, which are basically fancy, slightly sturdier, cupcake liners.  Despite heroic efforts, I was unable to find panettone papers that size.  I decided to try these adorable, slightly smaller paper muffin cups.  Since these cups are smaller than the suggested cups, I divided the batter between fifteen muffins cups instead of twelve.

Divided batter in ridiculously adorable muffin cups:

A teaspoon of strawberry jam on top:

Covered with a brown-sugar crumble:

I can smell success...or is that just the brown sugar?



About twenty minutes later I checked the oven to find this:

Hmmm.  Looks like I should have used a few more cups.  Nary a single muffin was presentable for my guests.  If you ignored the dripping dough on the outside, however, and actually ate one... They. Are. Delicious.  A herd of elephants or Justin Beiber fans could not keep me from trying this again.

Day Three Hundred Fifty One: Tied Up In Knots

While many kids will only eat the toppings from a pizza, my three-year old daughter only likes the crust.  She will forgo all the greasy goodness of the cheesy toppings for the yeasty castoffs any day.  For her I made Martha's Garlic Knots.  They are just like that really fattening (and amazingly yummy) bread sticks you buy at a pizzeria...only you made it so it's better.

You can make your own dough, or use ready-made pizza dough from the freezer section. Roll it out and then cut it into narrow strips. 

(This is where the photo of the narrow strips of dough should be.  It's currently missing.)





Then tie the narrow strips into little knots (kids LOVE this part) and throw on a baking sheet.

Once they are golden brown, toss them with a mixture of garlic and olive oil.

Fresh from the oven, these are de-vine and probably illegal in California and New York.  

Day Three Hundred Thirty Eight: Cinnamon Buns

With all these photos I've been snapping and saving lately, my poor little computer is filling up.  He's like your grandpa after Thanksgiving dinner:  slow and sleepy.  I've made some efforts to clean up and delete extra files, but in my deleting fervor, I permanently deleted some photos for this blog that I had not posted yet.

:bangs head against wall:  

So, while on Thursday I made Martha's Cinnamon-Nut Buns, (sans nuts) this is the only photo you will see to illustrate their yummy goodness.  Martha's photo:

Since you won't get to see the photo of the cinnamon buns I made, I might be tempted to tell you how wonderful they were and how I basically knocked this recipe out of the proverbial ballpark.

I didn't.

The baseball metaphor may still be appropriate, however, since my cinnamon buns were hard as rocks.  

Day Three Hundred Thirty Seven: Scones For You

Thursday I made Martha's Blueberry-Almond Scones...without the almonds.  I am sure they are lovely with almonds, but since my son has a nut allergy I decided to leave them out.  These are surprisingly easy to make, and you get to use a pastry blender, which is this little medevial-looking torture device.

In case you were wondering, a pastry blender cuts the butter into little crumbly pieces, which results in lovely, flakey breads.  You could accomplish the same thing with a couple of knives, but a pastry blender looks much cooler.

I guess there are several ways to make scones.  After the dough is made you can either: scoop them with a spoon and drop them onto a baking sheet (like a traditional cookie), or you can pat the dough into a circle and cut the into pizza-style triangles.  If you use the latter method, you end up with these perfect triangles of flakey, blueberry goodness:

These were so pretty they looked store-bought.  I was unreasonably proud of them and took more photos of them than a Vogue cover model.   I was so proud, in fact, I packed some up and left them on the doorstep of my British BFF.  She enjoyed them throughly.

And I didn't even have to impress her with my pastry blender-wielding skills.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Nine: Apple Pie Muffins

On Tuesday I made Martha's Applesauce Muffins.  I wanted to make my kids something different for a breakfast treat, so I decided to forgo the cream cheese topping.  Even without the sugary topping, these muffins were great.  Unfortunately, they didn't look nearly as delicious without the icing.

Martha's photo:

....Versus my photo:

Admittedly, my version doesn't look quite as appetizing.  You'll have to take my word:  these were like tiny, cinnamon-apple-pie flavored muffin.

Delicious.    

Day Three Hundred Twenty Eight: Outlaw Cheddar Biscuits

The other day I was craving a biscuit.  I don't know why.  My fat intake must have been terribly low.  Those poor little fat cells were probably starving. To fatten them up I made Martha's Cheddar Biscuits. They are pretty easy to make: cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender, then add buttermilk and cheese until a sticky dough forms.

Roll it out and use a handy cookie cutter to make tidy little biscuits:

Biscuits ready for the oven:

And these are my completed Cheddar Biscuits....

Don't they look gorgeous?  I felt like quite the 1950s housewife when I finished.  

These biscuits are amazing.  They are soft with a hint of cheddar-cheese flavor.  Had I been ignorant of the stick of butter in the recipe, I would have enjoyed them more. They are probably illegal in several states.  

Day Three Hundred Eleven: Blueberry Muffins, Part II

A few days ago I tried Martha's Double-Blueberry Muffins.  It would have been a great recipe, but it includes corn meal in the batter and the course texture didn't fly with my family.  I thought it tasted like I mixed sand in the batter.  In order to redeem myself, Friday I tried Martha's Blueberry Muffins.  This recipe doesn't include corn meal in the batter and therefore tastes more like a lovely cake-y batter.

With my second attempt I learned that my one-year old loves blueberry muffins.  She shoves huge pieces into her mouth like a hungry little hippo.  Crumbs flying everywhere.  It's a beautiful (if slightly amusing) sight.

Day Three Hundred Six: Return of the Banana Bread

Months ago I had an epic banana bread disaster.  I made Martha's Banana Bread using a slightly smaller bread pan than the recipe suggested.  After much of the banana bread had escaped its pan, fell to the bottom of the oven and filled the house with smoke, I realized the importance of a correct-size pan. My house smelled like burned bananas for days.

Lesson #1:  If a specific-size pan is called for, use it.

After this disaster, I tried the same Banana Bead recipe again, using the correct pan.  I was determined that it was going to be delicious:  it has sour cream in it, for goodness sake!

Alas, my banana bread was lovely and moist, but nothing to get excited about. I kept searching for a great recipe.  I've found a few good ones, but kept coming back to this recipe.  Maybe the sour cream was calling my name. I don't know. 

So Sunday I gave the sour cream banana bread another try.  This is the last time, I swear.  I felt like I was taking back a worthless ex-boyfriend, actually.  I had pretty low expectations.

The good thing about this banana bread is that is comes together lighting fast.  Truly, it goes into the oven in less than twenty minutes.  And thanks to the sour cream, it is also very moist.  

The disappointing thing is that this recipe isn't that great.  It's always a little dense.  I'm not a true baker, but I know that baking soda causes baked goods to rise.  I'm wondering if there is not enough baking soda in this recipe, or if the baking soda in my pantry is suspect.  

I know I said I wouldn't, but I may have to try this recipe again...with new baking soda.  

Didn't I say something about a worthless ex-boyfriend?