Satisfy My Sweet Tooth

Classic Biscuits (January Daring Bakers’ Challenge)

January 27, 2012 – 2:34 pm

So it’s time to reveal this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge! If you remember, back in November I shared this very challenging cake with you and explained a little bit about the Daring Bakers.

This month’s challenge was much more manageable and so easy and fun to make. Who doesn’t love a good biscuit? Or scone as they are referred to in other parts of the world. Sure, they only have a few ingredients and are relatively simple to make, but ask anyone who has failed at attempting to make biscuits and they will tell you that just a few too many kneads or not using the ingredients at the right temperature and you may end up with hard, unappetizing biscuits that resemble hockey pucks more than you would actually like to admit.

But with a few helpful tips and fresh ingredients, you can make light, tall and flakey biscuits in literally just a few minutes. Before you know it, you will be smearing a warm and tender biscuit with honey, butter or whatever your little heart desires.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Tips for making successful biscuits:

Butter and milk must be cold because the chunks of butter are what result in a flakey biscuit (and we want flakey biscuits)
Dough must not be overworked or your scones will be hard hockey pucks
Make sure your ingredients are fresh and more specifically your baking powder. How to tell if baking powder is fresh? Add a 1/2 tsp of baking powder to warm water and it should bubble. What about baking soda? Add the same amount to some vinegar and again look for bubbles. No bubbles=time for new leavening agents!

Biscuits (aka Scones)

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake bread side snack

Ingredients (6-8 biscuits)

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Sift together dry ingredients and place in medium bowl.

Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients using pastry blender or food processor until coarse meal forms.

Stir in milk until just combined. Dough will be wet and sticky.

Pour dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead to gather into a ball. Only knead 4-5 times or the biscuits will not be tender.

Pat dough into 3/4 inch tall rectangle and cut with cutter of your choice that has been rubbed with flour. Continue reforming and flattening dough to combine and cut remaining scraps, but again, handle as little as possible.

Place biscuits onto baking sheet and bake 8 minutes.

Enjoy warm.

Recipe Source: Audax Artifex

combine dry ingredients and sift together

cut in cold butter until looks like tiny peas (coarse meal)

mix in milk

pour dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead minimally

flatten out dough to about 3/4 thick and cut biscuits

bake

What would you like to slather onto one of these tender, flakey biscuits?

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Peanut Butter Cups

January 25, 2012 – 6:00 am

I know, I don’t really need to write anything else do I?

Sometimes when I make things I just know they are extra special.

For example, when I made these Coffee-spiked Chocolate Caramel Bars I knew they were the bomb dot com. Yes, I really just said that.

And I had a feeling these Coconut M&M Cookie Bars would be a hit.

And when my sister and I whipped up these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Peanut Butter Cups, I had a feeling I would be adding these to my all time favorites list.

Chocolate and peanut butter is by far my favorite flavor combination and so I knew I would like these cupcakes, but what I didn’t realize was just how much the chocolate buttercream and peanut butter cups on top would put them over the edge! This is the best chocolate frosting I have ever made! It was just the right amount of rich chocolate flavor and then the subtle saltiness from the peanut butter cup chunks was simply perfection.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate peanut butter cupcake

Ingredients (20 cupcakes)

For the cupcakes

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips

For the buttercream and decoration

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
6-8 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
8 regular-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

Instructions

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.

In a large bowl, and with an electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter together to combine.

Add brown sugar and cream together.

Add eggs and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Alternate adding dry mixture and milk to the peanut butter mixture and mix well.

Add chocolate chips.

Drop batter into paper liners and fill each cup 2/3 full.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean.

For the buttercream and decoration

In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer, combine butter and melted chocolate. Add vanilla and 6 Tbsp of milk.

Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix. Add extra 2 Tbsp of milk only if you want the frosting to be thinner.

Top cupcakes with frosting and garnish with chopped peanut butter cups.

Recipe Adapted from: The Cupcake Bible

combine peanut butter and butter

add brown sugar, then eggs

combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl

alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the peanut butter mixture

add chocolate chips

drop batter into prepared pans bake, cool and decorate

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Tags Chocolate, Frosting, peanut butter | Category Baking Chocolate Cupcakes Dessert Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (16)

Guest Post: Jumbo Fluffy Sugar Cookie

January 23, 2012 – 6:00 am

When I started this blog last summer, I don’t think I fully comprehended what I was in for. Really all I knew was that I was excited to share recipes with my friends and family. What I didn’t know was how obsessed with lighting I would become. Yes, you read correctly. Getting the right lighting to make your food photography pop is enough to make a person pull her hair out. I didn’t know how many amazingly talented people there are on the this thing called the world wide web! And when I started this blog I had no idea what camaraderie I would feel with other bloggers and how wonderfully supportive the whole community is.

Which brings me to why I am so excited for today’s post! I have been drawn to Cassie since I first started following her over at Bake Your Day. There are just some people that seem to exude sunshine and have such a bright personality and positive attitude and Cassie seems to be one of those rare people. She is always posting the most delicious recipes with beautiful photos and also shares stories about her sweet relationship with her husband. I am so grateful and honored to host her here today!

Hello Satisfy My Sweet Tooth readers! I am Cassie and I blog about food and life at Bake Your Day. I love food, and people, and life and I was so thrilled when Mercedes asked me to guest post for her. One thing that I love so much about blogging is all of the other amazing and talented bloggers out there. Mercedes is one of them! We have similar writing and cooking styles so I am excited to share a new recipe with you today!

It’s absolutely no secret that I love cookies. But with attempts at starting the year on a healthy note, a big batch of cookies is not exactly a smart move. I’m pretty sold on these individual batches of cookies. What’s not to love about individual servings?! I started playing around with the recipe after I made this big oatmeal cookie. It’s so fluffy and just sweet enough. I topped it with sprinkles because, well, who doesn’t love sprinkles?

Thanks Mercedes for having me on your site. Enjoy! XO ~ Cassie

Jumbo Fluffy Sugar Cookie

Inspired by Picky Palate

Adapted from All Recipes

2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp beaten egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir the butter and sugar together until creamed. Add the egg and vanilla until mixed.
Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar and stir until fully incorporated.
Place the dough in the center of the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are browned.
Cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy and thank you Cassie!

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Tags Cookies, sugar cookie | Category Baking Cookies Dessert Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (22)

Quinoa Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free)

January 19, 2012 – 8:00 am

Say that three times fast!

Sometimes I need to reign in my enthusiasm for experimentation in the kitchen. I am sure that you have noticed that I like to try new ingredients, techniques and recipes. This usually works out fine for me. Often I will find an ingredient that can help to make baking or cooking a bit healthier. Or one that simply makes a treat more beautiful or appetizing . The only problem that comes from this desire for investigation is when I can’t just settle for 1 new ingredient per recipe. The reason this can present a problem is that when my final product tastes funny or just off, I have a difficult time determining which of the novel ingredients caused the odd taste or texture!

For example, I have seen a few recipes for cookies with quinoa in them. So, when I was cleaning out the pantry at the lake cabin last weekend and came across a box of quinoa flakes that had a cookie recipe on the back and an expiration date that was approaching in a few months, I knew that my date with quinoa cookies would happen as soon as I got home. The recipe was for a gluten-free cookie and called for brown rice flour which I happened to have at home but had never used before. Also, I received a butter substitute called Melt that I have been dying to try baking with, so I threw that into the mix too! Why not?? (A full review and information about Melt to come!)

What did I think about my first quinoa cookie experience? Well I usually love cookies hot off the pan and when I tasted one of these cookies fresh from the oven, I thought there was a funny taste. Almost florally. I know that sounds weird. Again, this is the challenge with using 3 new ingredients in one recipe. Lesson learned. However, after a bit of patience and some cooling, I could taste the nutty saltiness from the peanut butter, the richness from the chocolate chips and I enjoyed the nice subtle crunch from the quinoa flakes. My husband is always the true critic. He is not afraid to turn up his nose and say “you put what in these cookies?” So, when I caught him reaching for his 3rd cookie in a row, my suspicion about quinoa in cookies being tasty was true.

Quinoa Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake dessert snack gluten-free healthy vegan chocolate peanut butter cookie

Ingredients (18-20 cookies)

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (or butter substitute), room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown rice flour (or all-purpose flour)
3/4 cup quinoa flakes
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (if using gluten-free flour)
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl and with an electric mixer, beat honey, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla until combined.

In an small bowl, combine flour, quinoa, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum (if using).

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix to combine.

Add chocolate chips.

Drop batter onto cookie sheets using cookie scoop or large spoon and bake for 12 minutes.

Cool cookies completely on pan.

combine honey, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla

combine dry ingredients

add dry ingredients to wet and mix to combine

add chocolate chips and mix

drop onto cookies sheets and bake

Will you try baking with quinoa?

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Tags Chocolate, peanut butter, quinoa | Category Baking Chocolate Cookies Dessert Gluten-free Healthy Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (18)

Homemade Ginger Chews and Ginger Simple Syrup

January 17, 2012 – 9:55 am

Are you obsessed with ginger chews like I am? I love to buy them at Trader Joe’s! They are such a satisfying little treat with their perfect chewiness and burst of fresh ginger flavor. I really love ginger in just about anything because it gives such warm spice to whatever you add it to.

When I saw this recipe for Candied Ginger from America’s Test Kitchen I had a feeling that the resulting sweet would be very similar to my much-loved store-bought chews. This homemade version punches you with even more of a spicy ginger kick. Also, as a bonus, if you save the syrup that you get after boiling the ginger, it is the perfect addition to cocktails, oatmeal, whipped cream or anything else you can think of that could use a sweet ginger jolt.