Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Scones

 One of the pluses of auditioning for conservatories is the traveling. I've gotten to know a few new cities, and little weekend trips to schools feel almost like a mini vacation (once you forget the stress of the audition itself).
 On a recent trip, we spent the night at a DoubleTree hotel. This hotel gained my endless admiration, because not only does it serve guests warm chocolate chip cookies, but its shuttle from the airport has a giant picture of a cookie on its side. I believe the 3-year-old sitting next to me was almost as excited as I was.
 This week, I had a couple of days off between trips, and all I wanted was to get back in my kitchen. So, inspired by those fabulous chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cinnamon scones were born. I've never been a huge fan of scones, because they're often dry and pretty tasteless, but these are something special.
 Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Scones

(from My Kitchen Craze)

Scones

2 cups all purpose flour

⅓ cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, cold and cut into small pieces

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cups chocolate chips

Cinnamon Glaze

1 cup powered sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

Scones:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the four, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Whisk together.

Add cold butter. Using a pastry cutter or two forks (or your fingers), cut butter into flour mixture, until butter is broken up into small pieces the size of large peas. The mixture should look sandy.

In a small bowl combine vanilla extract and milk. Pour mixture into dry ingredients.

Mix until the dough starts to come together and pull away from sides of bowl. Add in chocolate chips, stir until combined.

Pat dough into a large disc about ¾ inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut disc into 8 wedges. Place wedges on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the scones are lightly browned. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool.

Cinnamon Glaze:

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon milk. Mix until glaze becomes a smooth, pourable consistency. Add additional milk a teaspoon at a time to thin glaze as needed.

Drizzle glaze over cooled scones. Allow glaze to set before serving.

Note: If your dough becomes too dry, add in a few extra teaspoons of milk. If your dough is too wet, add in an extra tablespoon of flour.

Little Almond Pancakes

I've mentioned this before, but making naturally gluten-free dishes is sometimes better (and often simpler) than trying to pull together flour mixtures and adjust moisture levels to adapt a recipe. I was recently making breakfast on a Saturday morning, and my mom requested that I keep it gluten-free so she could have it too. But I wanted pancakes. Um, issue.
Pancakes are one thing I've never been able to replicate really well using gluten-free flours. I decided to try a recipe I heard of a while back, that uses nothing but almond meal as a binder.

These are shockingly delicious. The almond gives a really nice flavor to an otherwise plain pancake, and they are actually pretty fluffy, with a little bit of crunch from the nuts. Most importantly, they get golden-brown and crispy on the outside, while still being soft enough inside to soak up plenty of maple syrup (or the topping of your choice; fruit compote would be delicious, but that involved way too much planning ahead for a weekend morning).
 Enjoy!

Little Almond Pancakes

(slightly adapted from The Nourishing Home)

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup buttermilk 

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter, but the coconut oil adds a lovely flavor), melted

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a small bowl combine the blanched almond flour, baking soda and salt.
Sparate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in a medium bowl; set aside.
Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk in the melted butter (or coconut oil). (Be sure the melted butter/oil has cooled to touch before adding.) Whisk in the milk, maple syrup and vanilla.
Add the dry mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking well to thoroughly combine, making sure there are no lumps in the batter.
Using a clean large wire whisk, whisk the egg whites rapidly until very foamy (about two minutes).
Then, use the whisk to gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter until well combined. The batter will be thick; if you'd like to thin it out a little bit, add an additional tablespoon or two of milk.
Ladle a spoonful of batter onto the griddle to form a silver dollar size pancake (about 3” in diameter). (It's important to keep them fairly small in order to maintain the great texture.)
Cook for a few minutes, until pancakes begin to dry out at edges and the bottoms are a golden brown. They will cook quickly, so keep an eye on them.Carefully flip and cook another few minutes until done, but not over-browned.Serve hot with desired toppings. 
             -makes about 15 - 3" pancakes

Strawberry-Stuffed French Toast Casserole

They say that when it comes to gifts, the thought is what counts. In my opinion, eh, this is sometimes true. In some cases, of course it is, but in others, not so much. For father’s day, I wanted to make my dad something really personal. He always used to drink Pellegrino from the bottle, probably without even realizing that he was doing so; finally, I casually mentioned in a not-at-all-annoying way (I may be flattering myself here, but bear with me) that maybe other people wanted to drink from those bottles, and maybe he should use a glass. He decided to play along and start pouring his mineral water into glasses.

Where am I going with this whole story? Well, if you’re still awake, here’s the gist: I saw a post on pinterest about cutting glass bottles using nothing but acetone, string, and a little fire. I decided to make a glass for my dad to drink his water from, but make it out of an old Pellegrino bottle. Cute, right?!

Long story short (or not so short by this point), it ended in a frustrated me in the kitchen at midnight the night before father’s day, holding a still-firmly-intact seltzer bottle and staring at a pile of singed string. Scrambling to come up with a last-minute gift, French toast it was.

Father’s day happened to fall a couple of days before my sweet 16, so there were quite a few people staying over at our house that night. Instead of spending the entire morning dipping and flipping bread slices, I decided to make a French toast casserole. This is my new favorite breakfast! It’s super easy to assemble, tastes exactly like regular French toast, and can be thrown together the night before and simply popped in the oven in the morning.

This particular recipe was perfect for my dad, because he loves strawberries and doesn’t love too much sugar. This has quite a few strawberries tucked between the bread slices, and the custard mixture poured over the top is mildly sweet, but not cloying. Perfect for topping with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, some more fresh berries, and plenty of maple syrup!

So maybe it was the thought that counted with the whole Pellegrino bottle thing, or maybe I should try a different way... but then again, I don't really trust myself with a glass cutter.

Enjoy!

Strawberry-Stuffed French Toast Casserole

(slightly adapted from Brooklyn Supper)

1 loaf day old challah, sliced into 3/4” thick slices (the store was out of challah, so I just used white sandwich bread)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced, plus more for garnish
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups milk
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh grated nutmeg
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

confectioner's sugar and maple syrup, for serving

Butter a 9 x 13” baking pan. Arrange the challah slices so that they are overlapping, tearing a few pieces in half if needed. Tuck the strawberries between the slices.
In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in the milk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, zest, and vanilla. Pour over the challah. Make sure that all of the slices are just about covered by the egg mixture–add more milk or rearrange the slices until they are. If refrigerating overnight, cover and chill. Otherwise, cover and refrigerate for a half hour, or longer if you have time.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and take the baking dish out of the fridge. Once the oven is up to temperature, bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until the french toast is a light golden brown and has puffed up nicely.
Slice and serve immediately with a dusting of confectioner's sugar, maple syrup and sliced strawberries.

Whole Wheat Waffles

     I almost didn't post these waffles, simply because I didn't like the pictures very much. When I'm photographing hot waffles straight off the iron, I don't want to spend time creating picture-perfect stacks with syrup dripping down the sides and unreasonably large pats of butter - all I want is to taste it!

 

     So, maybe these pictures are what you would call "rustic." But then again, so are these waffles. The batter can be thrown together in five minutes, and is made with all whole wheat flour and very little fat and sugar. I made a big batch and froze them, and have been reheating them in the toaster oven for a quick breakfast that feels indulgent but is really just about as healthy as a couple of slices of whole wheat toast. Until you add the syrup. Or Nutella. But that's beside the point.
     Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Waffles 

(slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour)

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups lukewarm skim milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

Preheat your iron while you make the waffle batter.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter or oil.

Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. The batter will be a bit lumpy; that's okay.

Cook the waffles as directed in your waffle iron's instructions.

-makes about 3 standard 4-section waffles (I use the Cuisinart grill waffle iron insert).

Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby

    Breakfast. It's recently become my favorite time of day to indulge in something special - taking time out of your weekend or day off to make a morning treat is always a great idea. Back in October, during Hurricane Sandy when I was trapped at home, I made a delicious Pumpkin Dutch Baby. Last weekend we had a big snowstorm here in New York City, and I decided to make another storm Dutch baby. And with my new favorite cookbook staring at me with a delicious-looking recipe, it was perfect timing.

   A Dutch baby is essentially a large, oven-baked pancake. This one is flavored with gingerbread spices, making it perfect for a freezing cold morning (alongside a big cup of tea, of course). The batter is poured into a skillet with some melted butter and then baked until it puffs up and the edges get all crispy and amazing. Pour on the maple syrup or dust it with powdered sugar, and your weekend treat just got ten times simpler (and yummier).
   Enjoy!

Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby

(from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

2 large eggs
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon molasses (I ran out, so I used maple syrup)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Powdered sugar or maple syrup, for topping

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the eggs in a blender and blend until smooth and pale in color. Add the brown sugar, molasses, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and milk and blend until smooth.
Melt the butter in a 9-inch ovenproof skillet over high heat, swirling it up the sides to evenly coat the pan. Pour the batter into the skillet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed up. Remove from the oven and  dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with maple syrup.
  -serves 1-2

Cinnamon-Topped Breakfast Cake

 Happy 2013!! I hope you all had a great night celebrating the new year - I know I had tons of fun drinking sparkling apple cider at midnight with visitors from out of town. This morning, I woke up a little earlier than everyone else, and wanted to make something quick to have as a treat for breakfast. This cake was perfect - it came together in about 5 minutes, was easily made gluten-free so that my mom could eat it, and was enjoyed by all of us.

This is a really simple cake - the bottom is slightly sweet and buttery (despite having very little fat in it), and the topping pulls adds a layer of great flavor with cinnamon and some chopped nuts (use your favorite kind). The recipe actually comes from a cookbook for little kids that I got about 10 years ago, but all that means is that it's super simple to make, and has a taste that will be loved by all ages! It was the perfect, sweet start to the year.
  Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Topped Breakfast Cake

(slightly adapted from The Everything Kids' Cookbook)

for the cake batter:

2 cups flour (see note)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

for the cinnamon topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts of your choice, roughly chopped (I used walnuts)

1 teaspoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8" square cake pan.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk in the tablespoon of butter, egg and milk, mixing just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix. Pour into the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts and teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle evenly over the cake batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly. Enjoy, preferably warm!

Note: This can be made gluten-free by substituting the flour with an equal amount of gluten-free all-purpose flour and adding two teaspoons of xanthan gum.

Pumpkin Dutch Baby

Waiting for Hurricane Sandy means that school is canceled for today, and most likely tomorrow. Living in New York City, nobody is quite used to being stuck at home, possibly soon without any power. I slept in this morning, and then, after browsing some of my favorite food blogs, could think of nothing but pumpkin pancakes.
Pancakes seemed like a lot of work for a stormy morning of watching movies and procrastinating on homework (I mean, I probably have until Wednesday to do it!). I have been seeing these "Dutch Babies" on food blogs for years, and they seem to be a giant, oven-baked pancake. I found a pumpkin version and got to work!

This pancake is moist, dense, and tastes exactly like pumpkin pie- probably helped by the fact that I used lots of pumpkin pie spice. It isn't very sweet on its own, and is actually pretty healthy, which makes it perfect for being topped with about a gallon of maple syrup! The spicy, pumpkin-y flavor is perfect for a chilly fall morning. If you anywhere but the East Coast, save this recipe for this weekend - although it's quick enough to easily be made on a weekday morning, too - and if you are on the East Coast, make this while we still have plenty of power, stay safe, and enjoy the day off!

Soak up that maple syrup!

Pumpkin Dutch Baby

(from Baking Bites)

2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/3 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Place ovenproof 6 or 8-inch frying pan (stainless steel or cast iron) in the oven to heat for about 5 minutes.
Whisk together all ingredients until smooth.
Remove pan from oven and spray with nonstick cooking spray or quickly brush with butter, then pour the batter into the hot pan and put it back in the oven.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the Dutch baby is golden brown.
Slide from the pan onto a large plate and serve immediately with lots of maple syrup.
     -Serves 1-2

Notes: For a Dutch baby in a 10-inch skillet, double the recipe and cook for 20-25 minutes. Feel free to substitute pumpkin pie spice for the spice combination called for above.

Gluten-Free Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I woke up yesterday morning wanting something besides my usual yogurt or toast for breakfast. I hadn't made pancakes for a long time - since my mom was diagnosed with Celiac disease, we mostly make pancakes from a gluten-free mix. I was tired of the same mix over and over, so I suggested finding a recipe from scratch. I found one online that had greek yogurt in it and was pretty healthy, which is always a plus around here, especially with so many sweets around all the time. My dad and I got to work!
These were very good pancakes. They weren't perfect - my mom said she prefers the mix. That is not okay with me ;) I'll keep working on the perfect gluten-free pancake recipe for her. My dad and I really liked them though: they were thick, tasty, and not too sweet. These definitely need a nice topping to add some flavor, as the pancakes on their own are a bit bland - I love maple syrup or nutella with berries.
Enjoy! <3

Gluten-Free Greek Yogurt Pancakes
(adapted from Fest)

1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, egg and vanilla with a whisk. The mixture should be a pale yellow with a few lumps here and there.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The batter will be very thick.
Using a griddle or skillet on medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray and spoon batter to form a pancake of your desired size. Wait about 3 minutes or until bubbles start to form. Flip and cook for about 2 more minutes. Serve with your favorite sweet topping.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

These are the perfect brunch food. Don't be discouraged by the unreasonably long name - these can be whipped up in under half an hour. They really do seem like little bites of fluffy pancake, but don't require all the fuss with pouring and flipping. That fuss can be fun (and delicious) sometimes, but other times it just takes too much energy for a weekend morning!
I made these to bring over to a friend's house for brunch. They are so easy to make and are perfect alongside some sort of savory dish (we had them with a frittata and a salad). Since they aren't the texture of most muffins, but instead are a bit chewy, they aren't so great on their own. Serve them dunked in maple syrup!

Or just pour it on! You can really taste the syrup in these, so please use the real stuff, not the "breakfast syrup" made from corn syrup. You can thank me later ;) My other word of advice is not to use liners in the mini muffins tins - the muffins will stick and make eating them a little trickier.
Enjoy! <3

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins
(from Bakerella)

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.
Bake for 8-9 minutes.
Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.
Serve with maple syrup for dipping (or pouring!)
-Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Yogurt Pancakes

This morning we woke up wanting pancakes. However, I refuse to make the mixes that we have lying around, because I think that's cheating. I immediately went to the book Honest Pretzels, which, although it's for kids, has some fast, easy, and yummy recipes. The first recipe I saw was "Your Favorite Yogurt Pancakes". I looked at the instructions, and everything seemed simple and fast, exactly what you might want for a Sunday morning. They are actually pretty healthy, because they use a small amount of butter and no sugar. I subbed 1/2 cup whole-wheat and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for the 1 cup ap to make them even healthier, and you couldn't taste the difference. These are not too sweet on their own, but great with syrup. Enjoy!

Your Favorite Yogurt Pancakes 

1 cup unbleached white flour (I used 1/2 cup ap and 1/2 cup white whole-wheat)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp butter for the batter, plus a little more for the pan

1 cup flavored yogurt (I used vanilla)

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

desired toppings

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder. Make a dent in the mixture using a soup spoon.

Melt the butter.

Combine the yogurt, milk, egg, and melted butter. 

Pour the wet mixture into the dent in the dry mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until you don't see any more flour.

Put a frying pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium. 

Coat the bottom of the pan in butter.

Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to measure out the batter.

Cook for 5-8 minutes, flip, cook until done. (my cooking times got shorter as more were made).

Serve immediately with desired toppings (I used maple syrup).

note: these are not the exact instructions in the book, because the book is written for kids and says things like "use a dinner knife to cut a slice of butter". :D