Best Ever Maple Oat Nut Scones

I was looking for a way to duplicate the Starbuck's Maple Nut Scone at home, since it's long been one of my favorite breakfast treats, ever. The thick, sweet glaze and tasty, maple-y moist bread has always been a winner to me. We're also the kind of family that likes to laze about on Sunday, with our tea or hot chocolate or piping hot mochas, and this scone is always the perfect complement. Have I found a way to duplicate the recipe? I think so, for the most part, but with a few important modifications (see recipe below). The scones themselves are not as thick as I'm used to, but I don't care about that -- for me it's all about the deliciousness. And are they delicious? Why yes, yes they are. My grade: A

Best Ever Maple Oat Nut Scones

Ingredients

For The Scones

• 1 cup oats (quick or old-fashioned)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 5 tablespoons good maple syrup
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cold butter (small pieces)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Maple Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 4 tablespoons good maple syrup
  
• 5 teaspoons half and half
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Using a food processor or blender, finely grind oats.
3. In a mixer, mix flour, oats, sugar (white and brown), salt and baking powder.
4. Add maple syrup and butter and mix well.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the cream and maple extract.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
7. Add pecans and mix just to incorporate.
8. Place dough on a floured surface. Knead and pat dough into a 8 to 10 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.
9. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place wedges on top and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until light brown.
10. Remove scones from oven to wire rack. Let cool about 3 to 5 minutes.
11. Mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Adjust the amount of water to get to the desired consistency. I like the glaze to be rather thick. Spread lots of glaze over each scone and dry about 15 minutes before serving.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 8

Paula Deen's Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia

I love cake --- any kind of cake. Lemon, white, chocolate, and especially apple. Oh I've searched the internet round for the perfect apple cake recipe, and although I think I'll continue to try new things, I will say that Paula Deen's Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia (omg mouthful) comes quite close to fitting the bill. The only thing I'll say is that the original recipe's 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil is just too much, producing great moisture, sure, but also too much synthetic oil taste which I don't happen to love. Instead I replace the oil with two sticks of melted unsalted butter and a half cup of pure vegetable oil. Sometimes I don't even add the oil and just use apple sauce instead (a half cup with the two sticks of melted butter). The taste is always more dimensional and pleasing, which is why I recommend you make the same replacement when trying the recipe, too. My grade: B+

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia

Ingredients:

Cake:
Butter, for greasing pan
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup pure vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a tube pan.

For the cake: in a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, melted butter, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract; and mix well. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours.

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook time: 1 hr 30 minutes
Yield: 16 - 20 servings

Bobby Flay's Throw-down Winning Black Pepper Biscuits

Being a complete Food Network junkie, I just love the Bobby Flay throw-downs. Sometimes he gets a little wild and crazy for my tastes, transforming something simple and easy into something complicated and overly gourmand, but on average, I love what Flay creates. Every time I watch his throw down show I get hungry too, usually setting out within hours to duplicate the winning recipe and almost always being more than pleased. Next on my list are his chocolate chip cookies and meatloaf, but this weekend? This weekend it was biscuits, and boy were they good.

Is there anything more simple and delicious than a biscuit made right, slathered in butter or jam? I can't think of anything. Light and buttery with the perfect airiness, these biscuits won over the entire family. I prepared some regular style and others with Monterey Jack cheese (added at the last moment, with the buttermilk), and all of them were brilliant. My grade: A

Bobby Flay's Black Pepper Biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus 4 tablespoons, melted
1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, not super fine and not coarse, somewhere in between

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a dough cutter, combine until ingredients are incorporated. Scatter the cold butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and continue to combine until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the mixture just begins to come together.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly flour counter. Pat the dough into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out biscuits. Press together the scraps of dough, and repeat process. Place the biscuits on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter.

Difficulty: Super Easy
Prep/Cook Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 16 biscuits

Ina Garten's Croissant Bread Pudding

I can't help it, I love Ina Garten. She makes everything look so easy and do-able and plus her kitchen is perfect. Are those sun lamps beneath her cabinets, feeding those pots of rosemary and thyme? Knowing Ina, they probably are. Fabulous.

One thing I've never loved, however, is bread pudding. Oh I'm not sure why, I guess I figure if I'm going to eat pudding it ought to be something smooth and sinful like dark chocolate pudding or homemade butterscotch; that's the kind of pudding person I am. Plus bread pudding isn't really pudding, at least according to how I know it. It's usually been more akin to soggy custard bread in a bowl, and who wants to eat that? I mean really.

But then Ina made her Croissant Bread Pudding one fateful Barefoot Contessa episode, and I was sold. I knew I had to try it. It seemed easy enough and as it turns out, it was. My daughter helped me the whole time, gleefully stacking the croissants and then adding the raisins and pouring the custard. We waited anxiously as it cooked, and when the timer rang we couldn't wait to pull it out of the oven.

And it looked wonderful! And the smell? The smell was even better. The pudding was golden brown and a little crispy on top, and we couldn't wait to dive into it. The verdict? Well, my daughter loved it, but me? Alas, and I hate to say this, but I'm still not a bread pudding fan. BUT THAT'S ME. If someone loves bread pudding, then by all means, try this recipe as I'm sure you'll love it. I might sweeten it a bit more if I were to make it again (which I won't), but all in all, I think it came out just as Ina intended it. My grade: B

Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients:

3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 croissants, preferably stale, sliced horizontally
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.

Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8 to 10

Monterey Jack Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Quick Bread

A wonderfully tasty quick bread, with preparation taking less than fifteen minutes. Cooking time 45 minutes plus, given the reliability of your oven temperature. Bread is done when inserted toothpick is removed clean.

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/2cups Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, not in oil, chopped as desired
• 1 4 1/4th oz can black olives, drained, chopped
• 4.5 oz can green chilies, drained, chopped
• 1/2 cup white onions, sauteed in olive oil until tender
  
• 1/4th cup sugar
  
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4th cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 1 4.5 oz can green chilies, drained, chopped
• 1/4th cup olive oil
• 1 large egg, beaten
• butter for greasing pan
  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325. Generously grease 9X5 inch loaf pan with butter.

In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid), blend all ingredients except for flour. Do not over mix. When done, add flour and combine only until mixed.

Pour into prepared loaf pan, bake for 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick is removed clean. Cool for fifteen minutes then transfer to rack.

Great with Southwestern Chicken Chowder with Roasted Poblano Peppers and Corn.

My grade: A

* adapted from this recipe.