Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes with Marshmallow Honey Butter

 You're dying, right?  I know!  These pankies are pretty outrageously good.  And I'm picky about raisins.  But in these, they shine...without outshining. 

If you've paid any attention to my sources, you might be saying, wow, she's really cooking a lot from Joy the Baker.  It's true, I'm in love with her cookbook, and we're still having a good honeymoon.  But this week especially, because her first chapter is called pancakes pancakes pancakes...and lesser breakfast items.  How could that not show heavily during Pancake Week?

Then there's the butter.  Dessert Club member Sheri made some killer Marshmallow Honey Butter to fill her winning Russian Rose Bread, and I just had to try it.  What better palate than pancakes?

Also.  My 6-year-old has really terrible allergies in the spring.  Someone told me if you eat local honey it helps reduce allergic reactions to pollen, so I bought some at the market where we got our Halloween pumpkins.  Couldn't hurt, I figured.  Turns out, she doesn't even like honey.  But we've been having a good time using it up anyway, and if she happens to ingest any, well, we'll take any help we can get.  She did like this honey butter, at least. 

 Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes (print recipe)

Makes about 3 dozen small pancakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
2 T packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Big pinch freshly ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 T pure maple syrup
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled plus more for the griddle
1/3 cup golden raisins

1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200 degrees F.  This will help keep the cooked pancakes warm while you finish the entire batch.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Set aside.

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, maple syrup, and melted butter.  Add the buttermilk mixture, all at once, to the flour mixture and fold together with a spatula until all of the flour is incorporated.  Fold in the raisins.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

4.  Heat griddle over medium heat and add a touch of butter to melt.  Spoon or pour batter onto the hot griddle.  Heat until the bottom is browned and the top is bubbly.  Flip and cook through, about 2 minutes on each side.  Place on a heatproof plate in the oven to rest until ready to serve. 

Recipe from Joy the Baker by Joy Wilson

 Marshmallow Honey Butter
Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup butter (I used salted), softened
1/4 c honey
1/4 c marshmallow fluff

In an electric mixer on medium speed, whip ingredients until fluffy and well-combined.  Serve with pancakes or pretty much anything in the world. 

Recipe from Dessert Club member Sheri Wadman

Bacon Black Pepper Waffles

 As far as I'm concerned, waffles are honorary pancakes.  I do not judge these breakfast sisters by their shape; I embrace their likenesses, while respecting their differences.  The main thing is that they are hot, comforting...and freakin' good with maple syrup. 

 And if there happens to be bacon and black pepper in them, all the better.  And all the more embracing that will be taking place.  My kids only thought these were so-so, but keep in mind they are accustomed to toaster waffles with artificial "blueberry" bits in them; I have no one to blame but myself.  I, however, lo-o-o-o-o-ved these waffles; I froze the leftovers and ate them for breakfast all week, savoring every sweet-salty-smoky-spicy-buttery bite.  Can't wait to make them again.

 

Bacon Black Pepper Waffles (print recipe)

Makes 16 waffles

10 slices bacon

2 1/2 tsp fresh, coarsely cracked black pepper, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1.  To make the bacon: position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange bacon slices in a single layer across the sheet.  Sprinkle generously with 2 tsp black pepper.  Place in the oven to bake until bacon is brown and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place bacon slices on a plate lined with paper towels.  Once cool enough to handle, chop bacon into bite-size chunks and set aside while you prepare the waffle batter.  

2.  Set your waffle iron on a level, clean surface and turn on to preheat.

3.  To make waffles: in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and brown sugar.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk.  Add the buttermilk mixture, all at once, to the flour mixture.  Stir until just incorporated.  Fold in the bacon.  Try not to overmix the batter.  If a few lumps remain, that's OK.  Cook according to your waffle iron instructions.  Serve with warm maple syrup - heaven!

Variation: If you don't eat bacon, or just want to try it a different way, subtract the bacon and black pepper and add 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon to the batter!

Recipe from Joy the Baker by Joy Wilson

Blueberry Orange and Almond Pancakes with Orange Maple Glaze

 Hello there and welcome to pancake week.  Let's start off with a twist on a classic: who doesn't love blueberry pancakes (besides my 6-year-old)?  Orange zest, orange juice, orange-maple glaze, and a smidge of almond take these just a teensy bit over the top.  All in a good way.

 Blueberry Orange and Almond Pancakes (print recipe)
Makes 12 to 16 small pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 T granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tsp orange zest
Scant 1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
3 to 4 T butter, for griddle

1.  Place rack in the upper third of oven and preheat oven to 200 degrees.  The oven will keep the pancakes warm as you cook them in batches.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, orange juice, zest, and almond extract.  Whisk the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.  Fold in the blueberries.  Let batter rest for 5 minutes while the griddle heats.

3.  Over medium heat, melt 1 T of the butter in a cast-iron skillet or griddle.  Spoon 2 T batter into the hot pan and cool until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.  Place pancakes on ovenproof plate and store in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest of the batter, adding butter to the pan as needed.

Orange Maple Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T fresh orange juice
1 T pure maple syrup

Whisk together powdered sugar, orange juice, and maple syrup.  Serve alongside warm pancakes. 

Recipe from Joy the Baker by Joy Wilson

Coconut-Buttermilk Pound Cake

 I think this is the end of Loaf Week.  How did you like it?

I actually still have more breads in the queue to post, if you can believe it, but I think we will take a pause after this one, and catch up on Dessert Club and other goodies. 

This is a great one to end with.  Because even if you are a little picky about coconut, like me (it's a texture thing), you will love this because toasted coconut is a different thing altogether.  It's crispy and toasty and not shreddy-chewy like its former self.  And it's all throughout this cake! 

Ironically, Martha Stewart calls this loaf a "cake", but we found it not as sweet as some of the "breads" posted earlier this week.  So this one is actually more like a bread.  Whatever.  They are all good. 

Coconut-Buttermilk Pound Cake (print recipe)
Makes one 9 x 5-inch loaf

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 T buttermilk, divided
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted*, divided
1 cup confectioners' sugar

*Toast coconut in a 350F oven for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often.  Watch carefully when toasting; coconut can go from browned to burned before you know it.

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Butter and flour a 9 x 5 or 10 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 8 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed.  Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down bowl.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with two 1/2 cup additions buttermilk, and beat until combined.  With a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/4 cups coconut.

2.  Transfer batter to pan and bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 60 minutes.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, 1 hour.  Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack. 

3.  Whisk together confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 T buttermilk.  Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

Recipe from Everyday Food, September 2012

1 year ago:  Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting
2 years ago:  Apple Dumplings with Cider Sauce
3 years ago:  Halloween Sugar Cookies

Walnut Streusel Bread

 My girls love anything with cinnamon.  Even Poppy, my 2-year-old, asks, when she sees me making something in the kitchen, "Can we put cinnamon in it?"  I usually say yes. 

In contrast, they think they don't like nuts in things.  So when I served this up for breakfast one morning, I just called it "Cinnamon Streusel Bread."  And they ate it right up.

But you and I, we're grown-ups.  Not only can you handle the walnuts, you'll probably love the bread all the more for them, as I do.  Sweet & spicy, soft with a nutty crunch.  Amazing.

Walnut Streusel Bread (print recipe)
Makes one 9 x 5-inch loaf

Streusel:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Dash of salt
2 T butter, melted
2 T chopped walnuts

Bread:
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 T butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fat-free buttermilk
Baking spray with flour

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  To prepare streusel, combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add 2 T melted butter, stirring until well combined.  Stir in nuts.  Set aside.

3.  To prepare bread, weigh or lightly spoon 9 ounces flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Combine 5 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in vanilla.  Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until combined. 

4.  Scrape half of batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with baking spray; sprinkle with half of streusel mixture.  Spread remaining batter over streusel; swirl.  Sprinkle remaining streusel on top of batter.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs cleaning.  Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.  Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe from Cooking Light, October 2012

1 year ago:  Grapefruit-Buttermilk Sherbet
2 years ago:  Orange Marmalade-Ricotta Cupcakes with Marmalade Buttercream Frosting
3 years ago:  Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon-Raspberry Coffee Cake

 This gorgeous thing was on my list of contenders to make for Summer Fruits DC, so I made a tester ahead of time for dinner at a friend's house.  I've really been into cakes without frosting lately.  They are so versatile, and just as important, easy to make and store.  But simple does not mean boring.  I was attracted to this recipe because it seemed so thoughtful.  A vanilla buttermilk cake with a lemon cream cheese layer, and raspberries added on top halfway through baking, so they roast just the slightest bit, and some sink into the cheesecake layer.  Just amazing.  And of course, perfect for breakfast or any time thereafter.

Lemon-Raspberry Coffee Cake (print recipe)
Makes 10 servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 egg
1 cup fresh raspberries
Powdered sugar, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment.  Grease and lightly flour pan; set aside.  For cake, in a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 

2.  In a medium mixing bowl beat 1 cup of the granulated sugar and the butter with mixer on medium to high until combined.  Add 1 egg and the vanilla.  Beat on low to medium 1 minute.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to sugar mixture, beating just until combined after each addition; set aside.

3.  For cheesecake filling, in small mixing bowl beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar on medium to high until combined.  Add lemon peel and 1 egg.  Beat until combined.

4.  Spoon half the cake batter into prepared pan, spreading to edges.  Pour cream cheese mixture on cake batter, spreading to edges.  Dollop remaining batter on cream cheese layer, carefully spreading to edges of pan.

5.  Bake 20 minutes or until puffed.  Gently press raspberries into cake.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes more or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.  Loosen edges of cake from pan; remove from pan.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, April 2012

1 year ago:  Chocolate Pudding
2 years ago:  S'mores Pie
3 years ago:  Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins

Gingerbread Mini Cakes

Ahem.  Don't mind me.  Just taking almost an entire month to get one more post written.  Looks like the days of being two months ahead on this blog are over.  Does anybody still check it?

Just in case you do, here's an easy fall treat for you.  Fall baking truly rocks, doesn't it?

Of course, we made these in the summer, and served them for a girls' tea party with friends.  We have a lot of those.  Tea parties, not friends.  It's better that way - more gingerbread cakes for us.

These are made with pumpkin, molasses, and all those warm fall spices I love.  When I see a long list of 1/2 and 1/4 tsp of lots of herbs in, say, a dinner recipe, I reject it - too much work!  But when I see a similarly long list of spices, for something like a cake or muffins, I pounce on it eagerly.  Because I know it will be delicious, and oh, so worth it.  As these mini cakes are!

Gingerbread Mini Cakes (print recipe)
Yield depends on mold size - makes 60 mini muffins or 18 canelé or standard muffins

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature plus more for muffin cups
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for muffin cups
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp fine salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin purée
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Butter and flour 18 standard muffin cups or whatever mini cake mold you are using.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.  In a medium bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Whisk in pumpkin purée until smooth, then whisk in molasses, eggs, and buttermilk.  Add to flour mixture in 3 additions, stirring well to combine.

2.  Divide batter among muffin cups.  Bake until puffed and set, 35 minutes (12-14 for mini muffins), rotating pans halfway through.  Let cool completely in pans on wire racks. 

3.  Whisk together confectioners' sugar and 2 T water.  Spoon over muffins and let glaze set, about 15 minutes, before serving.  Or dip tops of mini muffins in glaze and let extra drizzle off before setting upright to set.  (Refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)

Nutrition per 3 mini muffins:
165 cal, 3g fat, 25mg chol, 156mg sod, 32.6carb, 0.8g fiber, 18.7g sugar, 2.6g protein

Recipe from Everyday Food, Jan 2012
1 year ago: Devil's Food Cake with Black Pepper Boiled Icing (oh, yes)
2 years ago: Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy Seed Streusel
3 years ago: Strawberry New York Cheesecake-Stuffed Blondies

A Study in Blue

Is anyone else head over heels for the new Sherlock series?  I'm mad for it, dangling from the Season 2 cliffhanger by my fingernails.  The first episode of Season 1 is called "A Study in Pink", so I'm paying all geniuses involved  a little homage here as I wade through last month's efforts to come up with something blue for Dessert Club.

After realizing I'd just drawn the worst possible color, I set to brainstorming every possible way I could interpret "blue" into a dessert.  Bleu cheese.  Blue cornmeal/corn chip.  Blueberries.  Dried blueberries.  Blueberry preserves.  Blue raspberry.  Blue Jell-o (whatever flavor that is.)  Blue cotton candy.  "Blue ribbon ______." 

I first thought of some kind of blue corn muffin with a sweet blue cheese spread.  I ordered some blue cornmeal and collected recipes, intent on avoiding the "easy" route of just making something with blueberries, in favor of a more creative, and, if I was lucky, pleasantly surprising creation.  So I made some blue corn muffins.  A few kinds in fact.      

But they weren't very blue.  And they weren't very good.  Not when I would be competing with colors like white, pink, and brown.  Next I tried a blue corn biscotti with dried blueberries and pine nuts.  Sounded promising.  But even a dip in blueberry syrup or blue-white chocolate coating couldn't redeem them.  Where was Sherlock when I needed him?!

I looked at recipes I could make with blue Jell-o - poke cupcakes and the like, but I just couldn't bring myself to avoid natural foods that were at least close to the color blue, or blue in name.  So I reluctantly but resignedly turned to the blueberry.

I wasn't down about it for too long, though, because there are some amazing blueberry recipes out there.  I looked at blueberry crisp marshmallows, blueberry pie pops, and even considered trying to make a blueberry bagel (still might.)  In the end, I settled on a blueberry doughnut, because I simply love my doughnut pans and don't use them enough.  When my test batch came out of the oven, I started to look around the kitchen to see what on earth I could use to crank up the blue factor.  

I mashed blueberries to make the glaze, but it was really a bright pink more than a blue or purple, so I did add a few drops of blue food coloring.  Then I found a genius discovery in the back of my baking cupboard - a jar of lavender sugar my sister-in-law sent me from England, which I cherished but hadn't really known what to do with.

I glazed, sprinkled, took notes for next time, and I had my recipe.

The night of Dessert Club, I added dried lavender to the batter as well as the topping, just a little for some essence.  I took out the cinnamon and added a hint of nutmeg and ginger. 

And I stacked them all up on a bed of blue rock candy from World Market.

I didn't win Dessert Club this time around.  But I had quite a journey getting there.  It was good for me, having to think and improvise, push past my comfort zone, and risk making a mistake that would be all mine.  Kinda like a certain detective I know. 


Lavender-Blueberry Doughnuts (print recipe)
Makes about 24 doughnuts

Doughnuts:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dried lavender buds
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed, picked over, and dried

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Scant 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, mashed
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 to 3 drops blue food coloring, optional
Lavender sugar, for sprinkling

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 an position an oven rack in the center.  Lightly coat the doughnut pans with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  To make the doughnuts, in a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger and lavender with a whisk. 

3.  In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla with a whisk until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large wooden spoon until completely combined.  Gently fold in the blueberries until just combined.  Do not overmix.

4.  Using a pastry bag with a hole cut in the tip just larger than a blueberry, divide the batter equally among the doughnut wells.  Bake the doughnuts for 8 to 10 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched.  Remove them from the oven, invert the doughnuts on a wire rack, and allow them to cool completely.

5.  To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, mashed blueberries, lemon zest, and as much lemon juice as needed to make the right consistency.  Dip the top of each doughnut in the glaze and lift, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl.  Alternatively, use a pastry brush to "paint" the glaze over each warm doughnut.  Sprinkle with lavender sugar and serve.

Recipe adapted from So Sweet: Cookies, Cupcakes, Whoopie Pies and More from Sur La Table

1 year ago: Pistachio-Cardamom Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (my Frosting for the Cause post)
2 years ago: Strawberry-Buttermilk Sherbet (so good)
3 years ago: Double Chocolate Mall Muffins

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Oh, man.  I saw Ina Garten make these years ago, and I've been sitting on the recipe, as with so many others, until the time was right.

First of all, the flaky layers are awe-inspiring, how they rise, as they bake, into towers of pillowy satisfaction.  And those golden freckles of melted cheddar take them way, way over the top.

I'll concede, not the healthiest item on the blog.  But a cheddar biscuit goes with a lot of healthy things, like veg-loaded soups, salads, or omelettes.  Or it could just be your meal or snack, any time of day.  It is so tender, so flavorful, so darn deliciously flaky.

And thank you, Ina, you crazy upper-class diva with manicured gardens, beck-and-call husband, and fantasy-bubble life not a one of us can relate to.  Apparently I needed permission to make square, rather than round, biscuits, saving both time and dough.  And you gave it to me.  For that, and the nirvana that was eating one of these warm out of the oven, I thank you.

 Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits (print recipe)
Makes 8 biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 T baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
12 T cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten with 1 T water or milk
Sea salt for sprinkling, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 425.

2.  Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

3.  Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.  With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened.  In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with a small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough.  Mix only until roughly combined.

4.  Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times.  Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches.  With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles.  Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through.  Serve hot or warm.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

OREO's Birthday Cake

Finally, finally, here is the star of Dessert Club: Cakes!  This beaut won first place for PRETTY and second place for YUMMY, with a very discerning crowd, so you know it's amazing.  And I happen to know its maker worked long and hard to perfect it.

She was inspired by the birthday-cake-flavored Oreos that have been about, probably limited edition, to celebrate the classic cookie's 100th birthday.  I have always liked Oreos, but also took them for granted until I served a mission in Toronto, Canada, for eighteen months.  Turns out Canada's Oreos are different from America's - why did no one tell me?! - and I had to write home begging for regular installments of the "authentic" treat. 

And finally, just a trivia tidbit.  I've typed "oreo" so many times putting this post together, I had to wonder where the name came from.  Five seconds of research just taught me there is no definitive word on the matter, but the most popular theory is that the name is a combination of taking the "re" from "cream" and placing it between the two "o"s in "chocolate" - making "o-re-o."  Good enough for me.  

OREO’s Birthday Cake (print recipe)
Chocolate Oreo cake with Cake Batter Cream Cheese Frosting
In honor of, and inspired by, Oreo’s one hundredth birthday!

Birthday Cake Oreos - 1 package Oreos (21 cookies)
1.  Chop 12 Oreos (a little more than 1/2 of them), and toss with 2 Tbsps flour and set aside for the chocolate cake.
2.  Separate cookies from filling for remaining Oreos (9 cookies), reserve filling for frosting and cookies for decoration.

Chocolate Oreo Cake
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I used an “Americano” from an espresso machine)
1/2 package Oreos, prepared as above

1.  Preheat the oven to 350. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

2.  Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.

3.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Stir in the Oreo chunks.

4.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Cake Batter Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
2 stick salted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup yellow cake mix (DRY MIX–NOT BATTER)
Filling only (not cookie part) from Oreos reserved for frosting, 9 cookies

1.  In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, Oreo filling and extracts on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cake mix and beat on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until fully combined.

2.  If frosting is too thick, mix in a bit of heavy cream or milk until desired consistency is reached.

Cake from Ina Garten adapted by Bean Town Baker
Frosting inspired by angieriver.com and confessionsofacookbookqueen.com but created by Dessert Club member S.W.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Happy Pancake Day!  As you know Mardi Gras = National Pancake Day.  And the entire week before lent = Pancake Week.  Which is usually celebrated here with a pancake-a-day.  Reality is, I have the recipes to try, and I made some of them, but I just couldn't pull it off in time this year.  Sorry for the downer.

But the good news is, I have one for today, and it's so awesome.  One of those many recipes that make me smack my forehead wondering why I never thought of it before.  If you're only going to make one pancake today, or this week, this is an awfully good one to go with!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes (print recipe)
(Makes 8 to 10 pancakes)

Pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 T canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 T ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 T butter
2 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk in the buttermilk, oil, and eggs, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine.)

2.  For the filling, in a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Pour filling into a pastry bag with a small tip or a squeeze bottle with a small tip.  Set aside.  This should be about the consistency of toothpaste.

3.  For the glaze, in a medium, microwave-safe bowl, heat butter and cream cheese until melted.  Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla; set aside. 

4.  Heat griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat.  Spray with nonstick cooking spray if necessary.  Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet.  When pancake has started to cook a little, swirl on the cinnamon filling. 

 When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside.  Transfer to a baking sheet to keep warm in the oven.  When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake. 

*Save extra filling for next time.

Recipe adapted from The Baker Chick

Maple Bacon Brown Sugar Scones

Let me paint you a scene, and I hope my verbal weakness doesn't make it too blurry.  It's the setting in which these scones were made, and the mood I was in.  Humor me.

Two days before Christmas.  Ed took the girls on a surprise outing to the movies after dinner and I had the house to myself.  The dishwasher gently churned.  The Christmas tree lights burned bright.  I donned my apron and set my Christmas music to shuffle on iTunes.

I worked slowly, deliberately, making these scones for breakfast the next morning with the leftover bacon from dinner.  Grated my butter.  Measured sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg.  Worked them together with my pastry cutter.  Folded in the buttermilk and bacon.  Letting my thoughts wander where they would, mostly touching on old friends I'd recently gotten Christmas cards from, and also those I hadn't.  Chris Benson.  Melanie Henrich.  Jake White.  Kat Young.  Flipping through good, and sometimes bittersweet, memories.  Drinking S. Pellegrino from the bottle.

Then a new song came on, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" by Lisa Arrington (you can hear a sample here.)  My thoughts turned to Christmas, to my spiritual roots, to my faith in Jesus Christ.  I kneaded the dough and patted it into rounds. 

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God.

He, to rescue me from danger, 

Interposed his precious blood.

Brushed the dough with butter and sprinkled it with turbinado sugar.  Cut into wedges, slid the scones into the oven.  Let the house fill with tempting scents as I sat in the living room, staring at the lit tree, contemplating the birth, life, and death, that means so much, means everything, to me.  That made my life, my family, my friends, everything, possible. The only reason Christmas is important.

I know this is a baking blog, and spiritual sharing is a bit out of the ordinary.  But I had a special time making these, and I wanted to write it down. 

'Cause you don't really need me to say much about the scones themselves.  I mean, look at them.  Look at the title.  Look at the recipe.  Brown sugar, bacon, maple glaze, etc.  No more words are needed.

 Maple Bacon Brown Sugar Scones (print recipe)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cups (12 T) cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
5 strips cooked bacon, crumbled (plain or Cinnamon Sugared Bacon, recipe below)
Coarse sugar for sprinkling

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Grate the cold butter and replace into fridge and freezer while assembling the other ingredients.

2.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry cutter until it forms coarse crumbs.  Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.  Fold in bacon crumbles.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.

3.  Divide in half and pat into 7-inch rounds.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Cut into 6 or 8 wedges.

4.  Bake at 425 for 12-14 minutes.  Top with maple glaze.  Makes 12 to 16 scones.

Maple Glaze
1 1/2 T maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 4 T water

Combine syrup, vanilla and powdered sugar and stir until combined.  Add 1 T water and stir in.  Add more water, a teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.  Pour over scones.

Cinnamon Sugared Bacon
5 to 8 slices bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish.  Dredge the bacon in the sugar, both sides, and lay on a wire rack set over a foil-covered baking sheet.  Bake the bacon fro 20-25 minutes or until crispy.  AMAZING!

 Recipe from HowSweetEats.com

Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Raspberry Fluff Frosting

 The picture of this cupcake really speaks for itself.  It also says, "Kari can't lay an Oreo straight."  But it's artistic.  And my 4-year-old was helping. 

But LOOK at this!  A chocolate cupcake with a whole Oreo inside?  I am embarrassed I had to see this in a Martha Stewart magazine.  I don't experiment with recipes very often but I should have been able to come up with this one.  Either way, we all have it now, and it is AWESOME (sung in falsetto voice.) 

Kids love it, and they love to help make them.  This is on my birthday party short list.  So fun.

Now shall we talk about the frosting?  Butter, raspberry jam, and marshmallow cream.  So fluffy.  More AWESOMENESS (falsetto again.)  I shared with friends and the reports came back the kids loved the frosting, too.

 

But.  You can do almost any frosting here, you know.  Anything goes with Oreos!  Maybe a cookies & cream frosting?  I made these a second time and experimented with an Irish cream frosting; I loved it.   I didn't write the recipe, but it was roughly - 6 T soft butter, beaten with about 2-3 T Irish cream creamer (the liquid kind, like you pour in coffee or, in my case, warm milk) and about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, adding more sugar or creamer as need to get the right consistency.  Delicious. 

Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Raspberry Fluff Frosting (print recipe)
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
12 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
3 T seedless raspberry jam
3 cups marshmallow topping
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.  Melt 2 T butter; let cool.  In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Lightly beat egg and egg yolk and add, along with melted butter, buttermilk, vanilla and 1/2 cup hot water; whisk until smooth.  Spoon 1 T batter into each muffin cup and top with a cookie.

 2.  Top each with 1 T batter.  Bake until cupcakes are puffed and set, 15 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.  Let cupcakes cool in pan on a wire rack. 

3.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter and raspberry jam on medium-high until smooth.  Add marshmallow topping and confectioners' sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth, 3 minutes.  Transfer mixture to a pastry bag with a 1/4" tip or a quart-size zip-top bag; with scissors, snip a small hole in one corner.  Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and serve immediately. 

Recipe from Everyday Food

Pistachio-Chai Muffins

This recipe helped dispel a misconception I had about chai.  For some reason I thought it was a kind of tea, like black tea or green tea.  (I only drink herbal tea so I really didn't know.)  In much of southeast Asia "chai" is the generic word for "tea."  In those areas, a warming blend of Indian spices is added to tea to make what they call "masala chai."  Since English speakers already use the word "tea" for tea, "chai" became the word for spiced tea for us.  When I looked up what kind of spices go into chai - ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel seeds, cloves, pepper - I realized that sounded JUST like my total fav herbal tea - Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice.

So I got out the box and read the following off the side:

Brimming with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves, a cup of our aromatic Bengal Spice tea is like a trip to an exotic spice market in a faraway land. This adventurous blend is our caffeine-free interpretation of Chai, a piquant Indian brew traditionally made with black tea. Try Bengal Spice with milk and sugar for a true Chai experience.

 So there you go.  I've been drinking chai herbal tea for years and not even known it.  It's the best.  When I put it all together and realized two bags of Bengal Spice were going into these muffins PLUS there were pistachios, it was a no-brainer.  AMAZING!  And they are as good as they sound.  Or even better.

Pistachio-Chai Muffins (print recipe)
7.9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 chai blend tea bags, opened (I use Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice herbal tea, tiger on the box)
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/3 cup shelled dry-roasted pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T water

1.  Preheat oven to 375.

2.  Weight or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Cut open tea bags; add tea to flour mixture, stirring well.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Combine buttermilk, butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and egg in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. 

3.  Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.  Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle nuts evenly over batter.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in pan on wire rack. 

4.  Combine remaining 1/2 tsp vanilla, powdered sugar, and 1 T water, stirring until smooth.  Drizzle evenly over muffins.  Makes 12 muffins.

Recipe from Cooking Light, May 2011