Saturday, December 19, 2015

Biscuits with Honey Butter





A couple of days ago I ate some Popeye's biscuits. This was not my first time having these biscuits but for some reason these particular biscuits were the best I ever had. They were perfectly buttered and soft. So like how I start every idea for a recipe I headed over to Pinterest. To my delight I found a copycat Popeye's biscuit recipe. The recipe is also known as "7-up" biscuits. The recipe has only 4 ingredients!! I have never made biscuits before and was very interested to try it out because of the short ingredient list.




Biscuits 
makes 9 large biscuits or 15 small biscuits
2 1/2 cups Bisquick (Biscuit Mix)
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-up
1/4 cup melted butter

Honey Butter
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbs honey


 I have made these biscuits about 5 times and this is a very soft dough. The first couple of times I made it I used a fork to cut in the sour cream, rolled out the dough on a floured surface, and cut the dough. I got a little frustrated using this method because the dough was very soft and sticking to everything. I found myself adding more bisquick mix to help with the sticking and over kneading the dough. So my advice to you, use a stand mixer with a dough hook and use a cookie/ice cream scoop to portion the biscuits. This made the process super easy. I also changed the ratio of the ingredients. Adding the honey butter is a delicious option.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9x13inch square pan.


Cut sour cream into biscuit mix


add 7-Up. 


Using a cookie/ice cream scoop, portion out the biscuits and place them in the pan with the melted butter. After biscuits are place in pan, flip them so both sides are covered in butter.






bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix melted butter and honey together
Pour or brush the honey butter over the hot biscuits!!
This biscuits are so soft and fluffy. The honey butter takes it to ANOTHER LEVEL!!
Store in fridge in an air tight container or ziploc bag.


 

Friday, December 4, 2015

Turtle Cookies!!!




It’s National Cookie Day!!!! In addition to my chocolate chip cookie recipe this is another cookie you will love. Turtle Cookies!! After the chewy cookie is baked you top it with toasted pecans, buttery caramel, and milk chocolate.

Start out with My Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe minus adding the chocolate chips.

Ingredients
Cookies (makes 30 cookies using 2 tablespoon measurement)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ sticks (6 oz) butter, brown and cooled (I used salted unsalted is fine)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Turtle
1 tablespoon butter (salted or unsalted)
1 ½ cups of pecans (halves or chopped)
20 individually wrapped caramels (such as Kraft)
1/4 cup milk or heavy cream
2 cups milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoon vegetable shortening
After dough is prepared, cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add pecans Stirring frequently. Make sure not to burn your pecans. This will take about 2-4 minutes
Unwrap caramels place in a microwave safe bowl.


Remove the dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 325 degrees, make sure the racks are in the middle of the oven.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
 

I used an ice cream scoop to measure the dough. After the dough is scooped I halved the dough

Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the cookies half way through. The edges should be golden, but the center of the cookie should look soft. Every oven is different so keep an eye on the cookies at the 10 minute mark.

While the cookies are baking you can make your turtle.
Place unwrap caramels in a microwave safe bowl with 1/4 cup of milk or heavy cream. Microwave for 90 seconds and stir. Return to microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir. Place back in microwave in 15 second increments if caramels are not melted completely.

Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl with 2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening. Microwave in 30 second increments stirring until chocolate chips melt.



 After the dough is baked, while it is still hot use the bottom of a spoon and press lightly in the middle of the dough. This makes a well for your turtle.








 Start placing the pecans in the well you have made. I made sure all the cookies had to pecan halves. It's totally up to you. You can add more or less depending on your taste buds.

Once the pecans are placed in the well add the caramel, I placed a teaspoon of caramel onto of each cookie.
The last is the melted chocolate. I added about 2 teaspoons.

After the turtle is complete, place the cookies on a cooling rack. It will take about 20-30 minutes (room temperature) for the turtles to set.


These cookies are YUMMY!!


Saturday, November 14, 2015

Brownies!!!!!





My name is Missy and I am a Choco-holic!! I am not ashamed. And when I'm craving chocolate nothing satisfies me as much as a Brownie does. This recipe makes a delicious brownie. It's chewy and chocolatey. You can keep it simple or get fancy. Try swirling in some peanut butter or Nutella. I swirled in a few tablespoons of cookie butter.

I also browned the butter. If I can give you any advice, BROWN THE BUTTER!!!! This gives the brownie such a toasted carmely flavor.

Brownie Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon honey 
5 tablespoons coco powder 
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup 
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon salt 



Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment paper or grease and flour the pan.

In a large saucepan, brown 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, allow to cool for at least 10 minutes or 5 minutes in the freezer.

In a bowl mix 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. 

In a separate bowl mix the cooled brown butter, stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Add the flour/coco mix stir to combine. Make sure to scarp down the sides to make sure all ingredients are well combined.

Spread batter into prepared pan.


Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.



Frosting Directions 
In a small saucepan over medium heat melt the butter

After butter is melted and the honey, chocolate syrup, coco powder, and powdered sugar. 

Stir until all ingredients are combined. Turn off heat. 

Add vanilla and salt. Stir until combined. 

While brownies are still warm, pour icing over them. 

Let brownies cool completely before cutting. 

Double the recipe if you want a thick layer of icing.





I have added Oreos to this brownie recipe. Add half the batter to the prepared pan then add full size Oreos on top of the batter. Cover with the rest of the batter. After you add the icing add crush Oreos pressing them lightly on the icing.


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The Chocolate Chip Cookie


I have been on the hunt for the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. I have come across a couple of recipes that advise you to do a couple of things. Everything from using brown butter to cold butter to cornstarch to chilling the dough. So I decided to try to incorporate some of the ideas in hopes of making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. And I believe I have cracked the code to the perfect cookie. These are the perfect cookie for me. Crispy edges and chewy center!! This will be my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ sticks (6 oz) butter, brown and cooled (I used salted)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup each of white, semi-sweet, & milk chocolate chips/chunks  


Directions

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat add the butter. You want to brown the butter. This will take 5-8 minutes. Once the butter has melted completed it will start to foam then bubble.




 It will look like butter is going to boil over. Don’t Panic!! When the butter starts to boil remove from heat and stir for a few seconds. Return to heat.  After the crazy boiling you want to keep a close eye on the butter. It will brown immediately. The smell of this brown butter is intoxicating. It smells like toasted nuts. It smells AMAZING!!! Once the butter is brown remove it from the heat.
Let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Or place it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl using a hand mixer beat together the cooled brown butter and both sugars for about 1 minute.
Add the eggs one at a time. Then the vanilla and almond extract. Beat until combined.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until there are no flour clumps. Remember to scrape down the inside of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.

Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 325 degrees, make sure the racks are in the middle of the oven.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Using an ice cream/cookie scoop or spoon, scoop ¼ cup of dough and roll into balls. Place on the lined cookie sheet making sure the cookies have room enough to spread.

Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the cookies half way through. The edges should be golden, but the center of the cookie should look soft. Every oven is different so keep an eye on the cookies at the 10 minute mark.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes or until they are firm enough, then move the cookies to a cooling rack.
Repeat until all the remaining dough is used. Enjoy with cold milk!

Makes about 2 dozen cookies