Vanilla Bean Scones

Over the summer I developed a potentially dangerous obsession with petite vanilla bean scones from starbucks. Luckily, my good friend Katie from Good Things Catered came to the rescue and sent me the recipe so that I could make them at home and not have to buy them every day. It turns out, these scones were unbelievably easy to make and are hands down my favorite scones to make because they are not dry and crumbly like a lot of other recipes.

Petit Vanilla Bean Scones

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter, chilled
2 vanilla beans
1 c. half and half, chilled

1/2 c. powdered sugar
water

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.
-In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
-Take butter out of fridge, cut into chunks and add to flour mixture.
-Cut butter into flour until pea sized or smaller.
-Scrape inards of vanilla beans and add to flour mixture.

-Add half and half and mix in with a spoon until just barely incorporated
-Using hands, knead together until mixture forms a ball.
-Turn dough out onto floured surface, divide into three equal pieces.

-Pat down each piece into rough circle at least a full inch thick.
-Cut each circle into 8 triangles and place triangles onto prepared baking sheet at least an inch apart.
-Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

-Remove from oven and let cool.
-Once cooled, make icing by placing powdered sugar in a small bowl and, add 1 Tbsp of water.
-Stirring constantly, add 1/2 tsp water at a time until icing just comes together and is barely pourable.
-Using spoon, drizzle a small amount of icing over each scone and let run down sides.
-Let icing dry completely and serve

Blondies

I made these under possibly the worst baking conditions ever, which is probably why they didnt turn out the way I wanted them to. The best thing about this recipe is that you can add anything into them to tailor them to your tastes. While I just used basic chocolate chips, I can see a plethora of alternative add-ins that would make for equally delicious blondies.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Deb says that these should go in an 8x8 pan, however, I doubled the recipe and still found the blondies to be too thin for even an 8x8 pan. This leads me to believe I did something wrong, which is entirely likely. I will be trying these again for the holiday season with white chocolate chips and cranberries so we will see if they turn out better.

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in chocolate chips or any other possible add-ins.
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. My oven runs hot, so I took them out at about 19 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Blueberry muffins

These are really basic and yummy muffins that aren't too sweet and aren't terribly bad for you. I recently brought them into the office and they were a huge hit.

Ingredients:
1 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. plain lowfat yogurt
1/4 c. milk
1 c. fresh blueberries
cinnamon sugar for dusting

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 6 muffin cups.
-In medium bowl, combine flour sugar, baking powder, soda, salt and whisk to combine thoroughly.
-In large bowl, combine egg, oil. vanilla, yogurt milk and whisk to combine thoroughly.
-Fold dry ingredients into wet and stir until just combined (will be lumpy and thick.)
-Fold in blueberries and using ice cream scoop to spoon, divide batter evenly among 6 muffin cups.
-Generously sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon sugar.
-Place in oven and bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffin is removed clean, about 12-15 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let cool in tins for 2 minutes.
-Let cool completely on wire rack or eat immediately.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are the most amazing cookies ever and so easy to make. I have no idea why they are so much better than any other cookie I make but they are. You can substitute the raisins for chocolate chips or dried cherries but Jim doesn't like me to "ruin" his favorite cookies by not using raisins so I usually just stick to the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oatmeal (note: it cannot be the "quick oatmeal" kind, must be the original kind)
1/2 cup or 1 cup of raisins (or chocolate chips or cherries...amount is really based on preference)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-cream butter
-add sugar and brown sugar and cream until well blended
-add vanilla extract, egg and milk
-sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and add to mixture
-add oatmeal
-add raisins
-drop 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes

Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking

Peach Pie

I made this for my mom's birthday (the 4th of July) and it's a perfect summer pie. Using ripe peaches definitely makes it better (much sweeter and all around better taste) so don't buy peaches the day you want to bake it like I did:-)

Ingredients:
1 recipe basic pie dough (you can cheat and use the box kind if you want)
3 1/2 lbs fresh ripe peaches (you can add a bit more if you want)
2/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cornstarch
pinch of cinnamon
1 egg white

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare pie dish
-Roll out 1/2 recipe of pie dough and line bottom of pie dish
-Place in refrigerator
-Peel peaches and cut into small slices
-Place peach slices into large bowl, add brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon and stir well to combine
-Remove pie plate from refrigerator, brush bottom with egg white and transfer peach mixture to pie
-Roll out remaining dough and top in lattice formation
-Brush top with egg white and place into oven
-Bake for 15 minutes, then tent top with foil and reduce heat to 375 degrees
-Continue baking until golden and juices are bubbling, about 50-60 minutes
-Remove from oven and let pie cool completely on wire rack

Recipe adapted from www.foodnetwork.com

Banana Bread

This is probably the thing I bake the most, and it's also the most amazing banana bread recipe in the world. This was originally yaya's and our mom made it all the time growing up.

*note--if you don't have buttermilk, use half a tablespoon of either vinegar or lemon juice and combine it with 1/2 of milk.

Ingredients
3/4 c butter
1-1/2 c sugar
1-1/2 c mashed banana (approx 3)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c buttermilk
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Directions:
-Cream butter and sugar
-Blend in bananas, eggs and vanilla
-Sift flour, salt and baking soda
-Add to banana mixture - in thirds - alternating with buttermilk and mixing thoroughly after each addition
-Add nuts and mix
-Pour into greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan
-Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes

Basic Brownies

This was my first time making brownies from scratch by myself. I adapted the recipe from a cooks illustrated recipe and didn't read too closely because I used an 8 x 8 pan instead of the 9 x 13 pan the recipe calls for. This might explain why I baked the brownies for an extra 30 minutes and they are still too gooey. I imagine, had I followed the recipe correctly these would have been perfect. they have the right amount of chocolate and the corner piece of my batch are just the right consistency :) They also made great Brownie sundaes, which is one of my favorite foods of all time.

Basic Brownies
adapted from cooks illustrated

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 1/4 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 stick (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 9 x 13 inch (not 8 x 8!!) pan with tin foil and grease foil with cooking spray or crisco. Melt chocolate and butter together either in the microwave or in a double boiler. If using the microwave make sure to check on it every 15 seconds so as not to burn the chocolate. Meanwhile, whisk together flower, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Once chocolate is melted, transfer to a larger bowl and slowly whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time and make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla extract. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into bowl. Pour batter into greased pan and place into pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes. Brownies are done when a toothpick comes out mostly clean, with only a few crumbs.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is another recipe stolen from goodthingscatered:-) I'm not the biggest fan of rhubarb but this pie is pretty good. I made this for both Mother's Day celebrations and it was a big hit (except with Maura who called it "strawberry arugula pie")

Ingredients:
1 recipe basic pie dough
2 c. diced fresh rhubarb stalks
3 c. diced fresh hulled strawberries
1 c. sugar, divided
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp fresh orange zest
1/4 c. cornstarch
very small pinch of salt
1 beaten egg

Directions:
-In large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, and 1/2 c. sugar.
-Toss to combine well and set into colander over sink or bowl and let drain for 1 hour (this step is very important or you get a soupy mess of a pie once it cooks.)
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pie plate.
-Roll out 1/2 recipe of dough and line bottom of pie plate.
-In large clean bowl, combine strawberry and rhubarb that have been drained with remaining sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, orange zest, pinch of salt and cornstarch.
-Toss to combine well and add to pie shell, smoothing out evenly.
-Roll out remaining pie dough and lattice top the pie filling.
-Brush lattice with beaten egg and place pie into oven.
-Let cook for 20 minutes, then place a piece of tinfoil loosely over the top.
-Continue cooking until filling is cooked through and bubbling, about 50 more minutes.
-Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

recipe adapted from goodthingscatered.blogspot.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a pretty basic recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but they are soooo good and it's the same recipe our mom uses.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F.
-Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
-Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
-Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Gradually beat in flour mixture.
-Stir in morsels and nuts.
-Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
-Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
-Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Zucchini Bread

This is something I make around Halloween every year--it's the perfect fall time recipe. The recipe makes 2 loaves so it's perfect for sharing.

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
-In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.
-In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.
-Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.
-Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

recipe adapted from www.food.com

Royal Icing

This is the most perfect cookie icing.

Ingredients:
1 lb (4 c.), powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp meringue powder
4-6 Tbsp water (warning: the amount of water really varies--just keep adding slowly until you have an icing consistency

Note: All tools (mixer, bowl, spatula, paddle) must be completely free of any grease/fat or the icing will turn to water and you will have to start over.

Directions:
-In bowl of large stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, add powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 4 Tbsp water.
-Turn mixer on medium speed and slowly add more water as necessary for icing to just come together (about 1 more).
-Turn mixer on high and beat for 7-10 minutes, or until the sheen comes off of the icing.
-Use immediately and place a damp towel over any remaining icing as this stuff dries quickly!

From here you can add food coloring to change the color of the icing and if you are doing detail work, just put in an icing bag and you are good to go!

(recipe adapted from goodthingscatered.blogspot.com)

Alison's wedding cookies

I made these cookies as favors for Alison's bridal shower. The recipe was actually taken from Julia's friend Katie's blog and they are PERFECT!! The hints of almond and lemon in the cookies are really delish and they are easy to make too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.
-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.
-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

recipe adapted from goodthingscatered.blogspot.com