Mixed Up Food Friday - October

Let's face it, as much as we may like making things from scratch, some days just don't allow for that.  The last minute bake sale notice, the friends dropping by unexpectedly, that midnight craving all require fast action.  And that means turning to a mix.  And if you must use a mix, at least make it a good quality one!  King Arthur has some great mixes that give you that homemade taste in less time!  We are adding what will become a regular feature here of "Mixed Up Food Friday" where we will try a variety of the King Arthur Flour mixes.

from Tracey G.

Kris and I were intrigued that King Arthur Flour had come out with a new line of mixes, called Essential Goodness. They are pretty much as close to homemade as you can get from a commercial mix. And being they are from King Arthur Flour, I had no reservations in giving one (or two!) a whirl! To sweeten the deal, King Arthur Flour is donating the cost of one meal to Feeding America per mix bought! There is no end date to their program either, which I find simply wonderful! Here's a link to the page with the information on the mixes and the program: Buy a Mix, Give a Meal  And it's a program I'm happy to help support!

So, my mix offering this week is the Essential Goodness Sour Cream Coffeecake. It was sooooo simple to put together and so very yummy! Minimal ingredients were required - eggs, milk and butter. Half stick of butter went into the topping, and the other half went into the cake, along with the eggs (2) and milk (3/4 cup). It all mixed up so easy and went together easily as well. It was layer half the batter in a square pan (I used a 9x9x2" pan), top that with half the crumb topping and press it in a bit. Top that with the rest of the batter and then finish with the rest of the crumbs. Bake and then enjoy!

Everyone in this household loved it. The cake was moist, and had a really nice flavor. I'd read some reviews online for it and some complained it was a bit too "nutmeggy" for them, well, I thought it was perfect. There's a definite hint of nutmeg, I could really smell it when I was mixing it up, but by the time it was baked and in combination with the cinnamon flavor of the crumb topping, it was just perfect in my opinion! I think between the 3 of us, I only managed to get 2 pieces before it was all gone, the boys seemed to have seconds and possibly thirds each time we had some, lol. But that's a good thing because it's so good it could be a serious detriment to my weight management efforts to be sure!!!

I do hope you give it a try when you get the chance, it's a yummy treat for a lazy morning with a cup of coffee!!! 

Variations and tips for the mix:

Essential Goodness Sour Cream Coffeecake Product Page



from Kris B.

Why are doughnuts so good?  I can resist almost any kind of sweet treat when I put my mind to it...except doughnuts.  Chocolate iced cake doughnuts are my absolute favorite, but unfortunately, I'm not picky and if these aren't an option, I'll take any kind of doughnut  that there is.  The good thing is that acquiring doughnuts usually requires forethought.  You have to plan on getting up early to get them from the local doughnut shop or grocery store bakery early in the morning when they are nice and fresh.  Doughnuts are not something that are easily "whipped up" at home when you have a craving for them...until now!  Enter King Arthur Flour's Pumpkin Spice Doughnut mix!   Doughnuts, pumpkin (another definite favorite flavor of mine), and twenty-four hour availability...life is good!

A single box of King Arthur's Pumpkin Spice doughnuts makes a dozen doughnuts, but they are packaged in two half dozen pouches.  This is good for two reasons: The doughnuts are baked, and a standard "doughnut pan" holds six doughnuts.  And perhaps more importantly, I don't feel obligated to eat a ridiculous number of doughnuts in one sitting!

About the baking of doughnuts...

Most of us recognize doughnuts by their shape, the ring with the hole in the middle, or maybe just the hole itself without the ring, but doughnuts earn their status as such by their fat content and because they are deep fried.  After I made the doughnuts from the King Arthur mix, my daughter "explained" to me that they really weren't doughnuts because they weren't deep fried.  Well, maybe they aren't technically "real" doughnuts, but they taste as good of better than any "real" doughnut that I 'ever had recently!  They have a "cake-y" texture that is absolutely delicious!

The batter mixes quickly and only requires the addition of 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, and 1/4 of water.  Easy!  I used a 1/4 cup measure to scoop the batter into the rings.  This gave me six perfectly sized doughnuts. And there was barely enough batter left to make licking the bowl a treat!

The doughnuts bake for 8-10 minutes.  Once out of the oven and cooled in the pan for a few minutes, they can be dipped in glaze (a simple recipe for maple glaze is included on the package) or a non-melting sugar or powdered sugar.  I tried both.  Suffice it to say that the three adults in my house made short order of the six pumpkin spice doughnuts!

If you cannot find the King Arthur mixes at your local grocery store, they can be ordered directly from King Arthur Flour, as can the doughnut pan.

Give them a try!

I'm off to make a pot of coffee and my other half dozen King Arthur Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts!

Food Friday - Everyday Whole-Grain Bread, October King Arthur Bakealong

from Kris B.

In our effort to explore all that King Arthur Flour has to offer with its products, recipes, and projects, Tracey and I are participating in the King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge.  Each month a new recipe is shared and bakers around the world are invited to try it and share their experiences on IG or the King Arthur website.

As its title implies, this is a basic everyday use for anything and everything bread - sandwiches, toast, or the favorite way at our house...straight off the counter with a little butter.  Any way you slice it, this loaf will not disappoint!

Many people are convinced that making homemeade bread is either too complicated or takes too long.  The process, especially with this only seven ingredient loaf,  is simple.  Waiting for the two rises to take place does take time, but it is time that you can use to do a load of laundry, read a book, or take a few photos.  It's the kind of time that we all used to have and probably took for granted.  I am as guilty of this as anyone else.

I love homemade bread.  When my girls were little and I only worked part-time, I made bread twice a week.  Back then, he only bread I ever bought was an occasional hamburger bun.  I miss those days!  Though I probably make more homemade food than the average person,  it is far less than I used to do.  Like I said, this recipe is quite simple and makes two loaves.  Now that I'm not cooking for a family of four, a single recipe of King Arthur's Everyday Whole-Grain Bread will last the two of us at least a week, maybe two if I don't take sandwiches for lunch everyday and come home to a snack of a slice with butter and jam.

Why is it that we refer to the days where most of food was homemade, our vegetables homegrown, our clothes homemade, and our family incomes much less, as the good old days?  As simpler times?  I for one can say that I would much rather worry about whether my bread is going to rise properly or whether I not I have the perfect color thread for the blouse that I am making than to worry about commute times and whether or not I am meeting all of the state mandated regulstions for educators.  Yet as I write this, I have on my to-do list the creation of documents necessary for an importantvmeeting next week.  My words and my actions are totally out of alignment here.  How about yours?

Most of us cant go back to those "simpler times," but I suspect that every one of us can carve out an hour or two to roll up our sleeves and knead some bread for a few minutes.  It really is a relaxing thing, feeling and smelling the soft dough as it squishes between your fingers.  Ah!  Heavenly!

King Arthur Flour, Tracey, and I challenge you to make bake along with us this month.  Give the King Arthur Flour Everyday Whole-Grain Bread a try.







from Tracey G.

As Kris said, this is the most current King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge recipe, the Everyday Whole-Grain Bread. I must preface by saying though, that I am having fun with the Bakealong Challenge, not only do we get to try new recipes, but I'm sure there'll be new techniques as well coming along in the future. I love a "reason" to branch out just for fun! For example, last month's Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins (click the link to go to the post!) were the first time I've ever made a muffin with a cream cheese filling! So, not only did I try a new recipe - but I learned a new technique/filling recipe I can apply to another muffin one of these days.  

I love to make homemade bread. As I've said before, I used to make it faithfully every week, at least 4 loaves at a crack. My freezer was always filled with homemade loaves. My mom loved to take sandwiches to her dialysis appointment since it was right at about lunch time, and regular store-bought, commercially made loaves of bread were loaded with deadly salt for a person on a salt-restricted diet due to CHF issues (Congestive Heart Failure). So, I'd prop Harry up in his bouncer on one of the kitchen counters (and in his high-chair when he got older!) and get to making the bread for the week. Thanks to King Arthur Flour's wonderful products and support (as demonstrated by their wonderful recipes and blog posts making you feel like you could make anything, lol) I'm rediscovering the fun of making bread again. And it's nice now not hearing the whining anymore on how "you used to make bread all the time" from the peanut gallery that is my Husband, Jeremy, lol.

This month's Bakealong Challenge, the Everyday Whole-Grain Bread, is one of the best bread recipes I've ever run across! Wow, it's so super simple it's not even funny, lol. I made two more loaves just yesterday, after making 2 loaves a couple days before that. That means, that so far this week, I've made four loaves of bread, in no time flat to boot! And as there's only one left as I type this, I guess that means the people in my household heartily approve of this recipe! And I do to, it will now be one I turn to regularly. It's so simple and tasty, it's perfect. And not to mention using King Arthur Flour's White Whole Wheat flour makes it a great way to get more whole-grains in the diet! It's great plain, with butter, toasted - it works with anyway you choose to eat it!

The dough is great to work with. The first time I made it, it was a bit sticky, but it was a rainy day too - I am sure that the extra humidity in the air affected that a wee bit. So, I ended up adding enough  all-purpose flour to get a smooth non-sticky dough. I did, however, do that very gradually as you can cross that fine line of just enough flour stage to the uh-oh-I-created-a-dough-anchor stage. Not a good thing, lol. The second time I made it, I left it slightly sticky - which was kind of humorous. In getting it out of my mixer bowl, into the oiled bowl for the "resting/rising" phase (more on that in a bit), I used my whole hand to get it, and before I knew it, it seemed hopelessly stuck to my hand - and I mean STUCK because I'd meant to oil my hand, but forgot,lol. But, I was patient and waited for it to "let go" of my hand on its own. Had I forced it faster, I am sure I would have had my left hand covered with a coating of bread dough, lol. But, by letting it let go by itself, it all came off like magic. Even if the patience was a little hard to come by, lol.

I exclusively use instant yeast, currently, the SAF brand that I bought at the King Arthur Flour website. I used to use the Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast, also an instant yeast, and it's one of my favorites - and easy to find in the grocery store in the convenient pre-measured packets. However, I am now totally in love with SAF Instant yeast - mostly because it's a good buy (a 16 oz bag that you measure out yourself), and, after reading that it's pretty much all they use at the King Arthur Test Kitchens, I was sold. From what I've read it's very dependable, and so far in my usage, I can attest to that. I also love the method you use for using an instant yeast - you mix it in with the flour of the recipe, and proceed as directed per the recipe. I will admit I went my own way with this recipe as I not only mixed my yeast with the first 3 cups of White Whole Wheat, I also mixed in the sugar and salt. I then added the water and oil and let that mix until blended and like a thin batter. At that point, I added in the remaining all-purpose flour called for - all of it since I knead it in the mixer.

But anyway, using an instant yeast, I choose to use a one-rise method, for the most part. When working with the White Whole Wheat flour, or any of the bread doughs for that matter, after I get the kneading done in my stand mixer, I pop it into an oiled bowl to rest - and it rises a bit too. I usually give it about 20 min or so. Then I divide it, shape it and let it rise for the formal rising, lol. Once it was divided, I chose to make rustic loaves instead of using a traditional loaf pan, just for fun. I lined my baking sheets with parchment paper, placed the loaves on them and let them rise for about 30 minutes. After rising, I then dusted the tops of my loaves with flour and gave them a few slashes with a sharp knife for decorative-purposes just before baking - I did it then so the cuts didn't rise and lose their definition - this way they were pretty after baking, lol. I had to bake mine a bit longer than the 30 minutes suggested - but that's only because I had my rustic loaves on cookie sheet, one on the top rack and one on the bottom, so I had to add about 10 minutes to that time. They were perfect.

I can honestly say that I wish this was the bread recipe I cut my bread making teeth on all those years ago - I would've thought myself a pro! I remember vividly my first attempts at bread making when I was 19 or so, and it was a laborious process let me say for so little reward, lol. This recipe would have kept me going, and I bet I wouldn't have quit trying there for a few years, you can't go wrong with this one. I do hope you try it! 

Here are the helpful links:

Here's the link to the Bakealong Challenge page, introducing this month's recipe (it also has some good tips for the recipe under the links!)

King Arthur Flour October Bakealong Challenge

Just the recipe:

King Arthur Flour Everyday Whole-Grain Bread

The blog post recipe walk through:

Everyday Whole-Grain Bread Walk-Through

Food Friday - Going Bananas!

from Tracey G.

Have you ever picked up an ingredient and then forgotten what you were going to use it for? I did. And that's precisely how I came to have my bag of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour in my cupboard. I have no recollection as to what I bought it for - I know that I bought it for a specific reason and recipe, but what that was, I have no idea. I can only hope that it comes back to me!

So anyway, I have this bag of whole wheat flour and no idea what I bought it for, so that then makes it fair game right? I need to find some recipes to use it in, and who better to ask? King Arthur! Well, King Arthur Flour that is, lol. And since Kris and I decided on bananas this week, I found a recipe for Whole Wheat Banana Bread (click the link to get to the recipe!). I'd never really thought to use whole wheat flour for anything beyond bread, regular whole wheat bread or rolls. So, for me, it was decided - Whole Wheat Banana Bread it was to be!

It came together very easily, a one-bowl thing is always welcome! And I am also finding I do love using my kitchen scale and weighing out ingredients, there's just something fun to me about it, lol. I had everything on hand for it, which is another thing I look for in a recipe - especially one that I might want to make on the spur of the moment, so you can be sure, that now that I've discovered this recipe, I will be keeping whole wheat flour on hand! The other ingredients needed were of course, bananas, and eggs, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, butter, honey and walnuts.

I didn't use nuts because Harry doesn't care for them in things - but I do, so next time I may either make 2 batches or divide the batter, add walnuts to half and then make mini-loaves out of it or muffins. The only thing different from the usual banana bread recipe using regular flour, is, you let the batter rest in the pan 10 minutes before baking as this allows time for the whole wheat to absorb moisture since it takes a bit longer than regular flour.

I did have a problem with one corner sticking and therefore ripping my loaf when I tried to get it out of the pan. I have no idea, why, I lightly greased the pan as called for, and the rest didn't stick at all - just that one corner. And I think my oven is having temperature issues or something because I think it came out a little dark - even after tenting the top with foil for the last 10 minutes as the recipe directed to do. My whole "outside" of the loaf was brown, over-browned I think, but still tasted good. Next time I will maybe try reducing the oven temperature or shorten the bake time. I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer to see just what is going on in there! LOL

The bananas I had to use weren't exactly as ripe as I'd have liked for banana bread, so they didn't really make it too banana-y as I like it - Jeremy said it tasted more like Brown Bread than Banana Bread, but as I said I am guessing that it was the not-so-ripe bananas that are the reason for that. The bread was really good, nice crumb and moist - and tasted pretty darn good! Plus, I discovered it is even better the next day, I forgot that quick breads are always better after they've "cured".  It's one I would gladly make again, and love to try experimenting on! I'd like to cut the fat - using either applesauce or yogurt and add an extra banana or two for moistness, sweetness and flavor. Doing so I could probably cut back on the honey/brown sugar. There is one other variation I am just itching to try - substituting the honey altogether with the Boiled Cider (apple cider boiled down to a syrup) and see what kind of tasty results that produces! I also had an idea to use the recipe I found on the King Arthur site for a glaze using the Boiled Cider and drizzle the banana bread with that... 

So many ideas and thoughts! Makes me want to get working on another batch as soon as I'm done typing this!

Link to the recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour: 

100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Here's also a link to their step-by-step post on their blog, Flourish:

100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread Flourish Post


from Kris B.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is what happens while you are busy making plans?”  I’ve heard it...and I experience it more regularly than I care to admit.

Despite being out of town last weekend and knowing that that would disrupt the rhythm of my life this week, I thought I was on top of things.   Whereas Tracey had whole wheat flour needing a purpose, I had frozen bananas.  We decided way back on this week's banana theme.  I knew what I wanted to make, King Arthur Flour's Banana Cream Cheese Roll.  I had my week scheduled so that everything that needed doing would get done. Though it cut things close, that plan called for baking, photographing and writing on Friday.  That may make me appear to be a procrastinator on the surface, but in my mind, everything was well scheduled.  It would work.  

Then life happened.

My well-calculated plan even allowed me to sleep in a little on Friday morning.  I got up more rested than I have been in days and began gathering the ingredients for the week's recipe.  I knew that had everything that I needed. Grocery shopping had happened right on schedule, earlier in the week.  However, I failed to check the size of the jelly roll pan called for by the recipe.  Despite a cabinet full of baking pans, I did not have the requisite size, a 9 1/4 x 14 jelly roll pan.  Weber graciously volunteered to take me to get one.  Great!  Problem solved.  I could manage a fifteen minute delay in my schedule to run up to Target.  Three stores and an hour later, I got home…with no pan.  Apparently the required pan is not a standard size.  I came as close as I could with a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan.  I figured I could make that work by not using  all of the batter.

Back on track, I got the batter made and put in the oven.  After a few minutes, I realized that I had used all of the batter.  At that point, I just had to go with it and hope for the best.  When the cake was baked, I pulled it from the oven and, following the recipe instructions, I began the process of rolling it to cool.  I bet you know what happens next.  It didn’t roll, it cracked because it was too thick.  This was definitely “user error” and user error was not in my plan.  

I texted Tracey and told her about my failure with the Banana Cream Cheese Roll and assured her that I would go to my Plan B, Banana Chocolate Chip muffins.  My forethought had included having a Plan B, but I really didn't anticipate having to use it!  Tracey and I discussed the situation back and forth and then I had the idea that maybe I could salvage the project by cutting the cracked roll into three layers and making it a layered cake rather than a roll.  We have always been about keeping things real.  Sometimes real is pretty and everything works perfectly and sometimes real means nothing works right and you have to punt.  We decided that I would keep it real and finish my failed attempt at the Banana Cream Cheese Roll.

Fortunately the roll cracked such that I had three equal pieces.  That made going forward not look so bad.  I started making the syrup for the recipe.  While I’m waiting for the brown sugar and water mixture to thicken, a process that required close supervision and frequent stirring, Weber said, “There’s a black lab on our front porch.”  I asked if it was ours and he said, “No.”  Being a sucker for animals, I turned off the stove and went to see if I could catch the dog.  She was a young energetic pup perfectly happy to come to me.  Unfortunately the only collar she had on was one that works with an electric fence.  She had no identifying tags.  We put her safely in our backyard called our local animal shelter to see if anyone had reported a missing dog.  There had been no reports, so the officer came out with his chip reader hoping that the dog had been chipped and we could get her home that way.  Fortunately she did have a chip and we found that she lived five or six houses down from us.  Animal Control called and left a message for the owner.  The owner was out of town and the dog had somehow gotten away from the house sitter, who soon came to retrieve the dog  The situation was resolved, but now I was another forty-five minutes behind.  

I reheated the syrup and finished cooking it.  Made the cream.  And put the ‘Variation on a Banana Cream Cheese Roll” together.  I really wasn’t happy with the fact that the roll didn’t roll.  I set out to do the photos of my “failure,” a process for which I realized I had no interest or energy.  I could not get past the fact that it did not look like it was supposed to.  Because of that, no photo that I took was good.  Again I texted Tracey and said that the photos were ugly and boring.  I could not use them.  I sent one to her just to prove my case.  Her more objective observation was that it was OK.  “I think it looks great because it looks homey and yummy and like total comfort food.”  Homey comfort food…that’s what I enjoy making.   I don’t dress stylishly.  My home is not furnished and decorated elegantly.  I am about practical and real living.  Why should the aesthetics of what I cook be any different?  So, I went with it.

According to Weber, who cares not what food looks like as long as it tastes good, this recipe tastes great!  So, I share with all of you my "Variation on King Arthur Flour’s Banana Cream Cheese Roll."  I used vanilla instead of rum, and I also garnished the top with sifted powdered sugar and sliced banana to give it a somewhat "finished" look.  Really, it worked. Lol!

Here's also a link to their step-by-step post on their blog, Flourish:
http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2013/10/09/banana-cream-cheese-roll/

"Failure is the key to success: each mistake teaches us something." 

                                                                                                                - Morihei Ueshiba

Food Friday - Dinner and Dessert courtesy of the King! (King Arthur Flour that is!)

from Kris B.

Tracey and I are enjoying trying recipes from the King Arthur Flour archives.  After last week’s scones, I decided that I needed to make a savory dish.  I ate way too many of those scones!  Lol!  I had some fresh spinach that needed to be eaten before we went out of town this weekend, so I started my search on the King Arthur website looking for a recipe that called for spinach.  I found recipes for various pizzas and calzones and spinach dip and soups and wraps and many things in between.  I settled on this recipe for Miraculous Spinach Quiche.

As I read the recipe, I was carried back about ten or so years to when my girls were both still at home and Impossible Pie, a Bisquick recipe, was a weekly meal at our house.  Since at that time I had one child that was a vegetarian and one who was a carnivore, the Bisquick recipe was easy to accommodate both.  I could mix the “batter” and pour it over veggies for Offspring No. 1 and over meat for Offspring No. 2.  Basically, it was made to order Impossible Pie at our house.

The King Arthur recipe uses ricotta cheese, as well as a generous amount of a shredded cheese of your choice,  in its batter, making its consistency a bit more dense than the Impossible Pie, but very good!  Despite the fact that I was not making this recipe for my girls and their disparate food preferences, I still found myself faced with the vegetarian and the carnivore dilemma.  The recipe calls for only spinach in the filling..  Weber wanted some meat.  Since I also had some bacon that needed to be eaten, he got his wish.  Because I used the bacon, I sautéed the onions and wilted the spinach in bacon drippings rather than the oil that the recipe calls for.   

This recipe is super easy to prepare.  Basically a little sautéing of veggies and then everything is mixed together in a large bowl and then spread in a pie plate to bake.  The crust forms “miraculously” during the baking.

With our first bites, Weber and I found ourselves trying to describe the texture of the Miraculous Spinach (and bacon) Quiche.  It was familiar, but we couldn’t quite place it.  Then it hit us.  The texture was much like that of tamales.  This is not a criticism, just an observation.  Tamales are a favorite of mine so I am perfectly OK with this masa like consistency.  We enjoyed this meal for dinner and a few lunches thereafter.  Its definitely a keeper for us!

I do have to share a humorous story that  the night I made this recipe for dinner.  My beloved husband posted this on Facebook:

“Kris Elliott Baker just told me that before we could eat dinner, she had to shoot it…This is life with a photographer.”

Um, yeah.  This is the way it is at our house.  Doesn't everyone shoot their dinner before they eat it?


From Tracey G.

Since Kris was doing a pie of sorts, I decided I wanted to do something "pie-like" as well. I knew I had some apples to use up quickly, so, I searched the King Arthur Flour website - for apple recipes. I ran across these Rustic Fruit Tarts, and this is one thing I have always wanted to make. They've always intrigued me in their simplicity and ease of fashioning, but for some reason I've never attempted them. I find that rather crazy on my part!

The dough was simple to prepare - a couple eggs, flour, butter, milk, sugar and salt. I mixed it up in my stand mixer, then divided it into 6 pieces. After I did that, I prepared the filling. After getting the filling on each dough disk, I decided to toss a couple blueberries each on/in each one just for some color, lol, and they worked really well! The filling was simple also - diced apples, sour cream (I used a light version), sugar, lemon zest, flour and cinnamon. It also lists cardamom, but that's optional. I didn't have any, so I didn't use it.

Putting together was fun and easy! You roll out each dough disk to about 8-inches. Now, the recipe calls for rolling out the dough and placing on the baking sheet to fill and fold. Well, I wouldn't be able to get all the disks on the sheet, so I rolled them out on my counter (covered with freezer paper, the waxy side up and dusted with flour), one at a time. Then I filled it, and folded it and used a metal spatula to transfer the tarts to the baking sheet that I had lined with parchment paper. Worked like a charm!!! 

I did brush half with some milk and sprinkled with sugar just to see how they'd turn out and look, and they were pretty!!! I want to try it with the coarse sugar as they've used in their photo - mine should be here this week as I ordered a bunch of goodies from the King Arthur Flour website! This recipe has inspired me to want to experiment with other fruit fillings. Fun stuff! Hooray for baking season!!! I'm looking forward to it this year! 

Here's another link to the recipe - do try them and enjoy! Between Kris and I this week, we've provided an easy meal and an easy dessert to go with! ;-) 

Rustic Fruit Tarts from King Arthur Flour

FOOD FRIDAY - Bake for Good with King Arthur Flour

from Kris B.

And so it is fall...long jeans and sweaters are starting to fill the racks in the department stores, the produce stands around town are dominated by big bins of orange pumpkins, and as I enter the grocery store, I am now being greeted by the overwhelming smell of cinnamon coming from the bags of cinnamon infused pine cones in the floral department.  That is not a complaint; I live the smell of cinnamon!  I think that is why I was drawn to this week's recipe for whole wheat cinnamon scones from King Arthur Flour.  Though everything around me says fall, there is a little part of me that is still missing the afternoon scones that I had for the two weeks that I was in England over the summer.  Perhaps making this recipe was a way for me to bid summer a final farewell and fully embrace the beauty of fall.  That really shouldn't be too difficult since fall is my favorite season.  I love everything about it - the weather, the clothing, and the food!

Throughout the month of October, Tracey and I are going to be sharing recipes from King Arthur Flour.  We are doing this to help support King Arthur's Bake for Good Month.  This initiative asks bakers to pledge to bake and share their creations.  For every pledge received, King Arthur will donate the cost of one meal to Feeding America, an organization that helps local food banks across the United States.  They will also send those of us who pledge  on the King Arthur website a 75 cent coupon good on King Arthur flour.  One of the things that you are asked on the "pledge" form is, who will you feed?  I often take my baked goods to school and share them with my students.  I know that many of them don't take the time or have the resources to eat well.  They are always hungry and most appreciative of a fresh blueberry muffin, peanut butter cookie, coffee cake, or whatever else I happen to come up with.  I have learned that I also need to make enough for my colleagues.  Once word gets around that there are treats in my classroom, everyone stops by for a mid-morning snack.  This scone recipe only makes twelve scones so I'm going to have to make multiple batches to get everyone fed!

After getting excited about making the cinnamon scones, I ran in to a bit of a problem.  The recipe calls for cinnamon chips and I could not find any locally.  I went to four different stores in my area, one of which I have to be very desperate to enter.  No cinnamon chips to be found anywhere.  I looked online and discovered that Hershey's makes them as does King Arthur.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait for them to be delivered.  So, I had to punt.  I used salted caramel chips instead of cinnamon.  Caramel is a fall flavor too, right?  Think caramel apples.  In my defense, the recipe states that you can substitute any chips of your choice.  The caramel chips taste just fine, but I have ordered the cinnamon chips and will makes this recipe again so that I get the full effect of the cinnamon.  I want my scones to have that same aroma of cinnamon that I get from the pine cones at the grocery store.

Here is the recipe for King Arthur Flour's Whole Wheat Cinnamon Scones.

We enjoyed our scones plain.  No butter.  No nothing.  But, I'm sure with a little cinnamon butter, or if you're feeling a bit decadent, brown sugar cinnamon butter, they would be supper delicious!

On a photography note...watch your own shadow when you are photographing, particularly up close.  Lol!  My schedule has been such that I don't have much natural light time for photos.  Artificial light and foam core boards have been my saving grace.  This means I can bake and shoot photos into the wee hours of the night.  I must say that this is not the ideal way to do things, but in a pinch it works! Lol!

Happy baking, eating, and photographing!!!!



from Tracey G

As Kris said, we decided to bake all King Arthur Flour recipes this month in honor of and to help promote their Bake For Good campaign - which we both think is a pretty great idea! I love to bake - and even though I do occasionally like to eat the items as well, I more enjoy sharing! I think it's a fun thing to do, which is why I usually make myself crazy during the holiday season - I love to bake and share so I generally have a "to bake" list that's much too long, and end up scratching off a few items to save my sanity, erm, I should say what's left of my sanity! ;-)

I am always interested in working with modified diets for many reasons. My mom, during the last few years of her life, was on a Kidney/Renal diet AND a Heart Healthy diet - and believe me, lol, balancing the two was not easy! I made bread like it was going out of style, 4 homemade loaves a week that would get frozen because my mom loved taking sandwiches to dialysis since her set time was around lunch time every day. Commercially prepared bread is crazy high in sodium and if I remember correctly was the number one food item listed on the list of foods to stay away from when we were getting information from the doctors on her various dietary restrictions! 

I myself have worked with a restricted diet, I was diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis back in November of 2004, and I immediately learned to use the IC Diet to manage my symptoms along with the medications, but I said it then - and I still say it now, the diet was my one of my biggest tools for managing my symptoms. It was just as important as my medications! Even though, now a days, I've been in remission for the most part, if I have a troublesome day, I immediately revert to the diet - which is a low acid diet. So, as you can see I've had my fair share with special diets, and one that I find I'd like to learn a few things about and how to adapt to is gluten-free. I'm always on the lookout for a gluten-free baking mix to try and now recently, I've been wanting  to try my hand at from-scratch gluten-free baking.

When Kris gifted me with my Spring 2016 issue of Sift magazine, put out by King Arthur Flour, this recipe for gluten-free lemon bars caught my attention. I ordered the King Arthur Almond Flour right away, but then the weather never cooperated for baking! It was always WAY too hot, and I wasn't about to add to the heat by firing up the oven, lol. So, when Kris suggested we bake all King Arthur recipes this month, I knew immediately which one I was going to make first!

The recipe is delicious and easy. Harry and Jeremy have both put their stamp of approval on it, and no one was the wiser that it was made with an almond flour crust. And honestly, what's not to love about almonds anyway, so it can only be good! LOL Unless you don't like almonds, but even then you don't taste "almond" so I say try it anyway I don't think you'll be disappointed! 

This was also the first time I weighed out all my ingredients as they were added. All except the liquids and eggs of course. I recently got a handy kitchen scale, so I decided I was going to give it a shot. I did notice though, that the online version of the recipe doesn't have the weights listed, so I will type out the ingredient list as well as link to the recipe online instead of just linking! I read through some of the first few comments listed on the recipe's webpage, and I didn't have any of the issues the commenter's seemed to have had - so in my opinion and experience it was perfect as it was! And using my handy little ruler I keep for baking/cooking, I got exactly 16 2"x 2" squares out of my pan!

Gluten-Free Lemon Squares with Almond Flour Crust

Courtesy of King Arthur Flour, can be found here: Gluten-Free Lemon Squares with Almond Flour Crust

Makes 16 Squares

Crust

2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Almond Flour

6 tablespoons (2 5/8 ounces) sugar

3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) gluten-free cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold butter, diced

Filling

2 large eggs

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) lemon juice

2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) gluten-free cornstarch

pinch of salt

confectioners' sugar for dusting, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" square pan or 9" round pan.

To make the crust:

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, whisking to blend. Add the cold butter, working it in with your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture is evenly combined and crumbly.

Dump the mixture into the prepared pan, shake to distribute, and press the crust into the bottom and about 1/2" up the sides of the pan.

Bake the crust until it's light golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. While the crust is baking, whisk together the filling ingredients.

Remove the pan from the oven and pour the filling over the hot crust. Return the squares to the oven and bake for 14-18 minutes, until the filling appears set.

Remove the squares from the oven, and cool in the pan before cutting into 2" pieces. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving, if desired.

Nutrition information: (1 square, 48g): 199 calories, 3g protein, 22g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 2g fiber, 4g saturated fat, 35mg cholesterol, 64mg sodium, 18g sugars, 2mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 36mg calcium