Buttermilk Biscuits

These are just like Bojangles biscuits* (see fine print).  Need I say more?

Last week I made the rustic blueberry tart/gallette (featured twice already on this blog so no need for a repeat) and here I am again with buckets of buttermilk. If I haven't ranted about this already I find it ridiculous that they sell buttermilk in such large quantities. Almost every recipe I have ever seen calls for 1 cup, at most, but usually even less. I still have some three cups to use. So, buttermilk biscuits -- why not?

Okay, I'll get off my soap box. Aside from being sold in (unnecessarily) large quantities, buttermilk gives a unique flavor to the finish product so its worth the couple of bucks (even if you have leftovers).  Something tells me buttermilk biscuits wouldn't be the same if you used regular milk + vinegar -- a common substitute for buttermilk when baking. Vinegar milk biscuits = not appetizing.

Cook's Illustrated Buttermilk Biscuits

(recipe from CI, biscuit method from AB (aka Alton Brown)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (do not omit)
2 tablespoons shortening 
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted melted butter (optional)
1 cup cold buttermilk

1. Cut butter into 1 inch chunks and place with shortening into freezer for about 10 minutes.

2.  Preheat oven to 450F  and lightly grease a cookie sheet

2. Dump flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a food processor. Pulsate once or twice just to combine.

3. Add cold butter and shortening. Pulse about 4 times for just a few seconds each iteration. This should leave you with some pea sized chunks of butter. Do not grind until you get the "wet sand" look. The larger butter pieces is what makes the biscuit fluffy.

4. Transfer to a bowl, preferably some type of metal and (using a fork) stir in all but 2 tbs buttermilk.  Be gentle but make sure you've incorporated all of the flour. Add the remaining 2tbs buttermilk if needed. The dough should be moist but not (too) gooey. Move the bowl to the freezer for 10 minutes  -- no need to cover.  (metal = conductor which means the butter will chill faster)

5. After dough has chilled, use your fingers to mash the butter bits into nickle sized disks.  (You don't need to be very precise and don't worry about getting every single one. Just have fun with it. .. and make sure that the butter stays cold!)

6. Flour your work surface and roll the dough into a ~10 inch circle, about 1/2 inch thick. 

7. Cut the biscuits using a 3 inch biscuit cutter (or thin glass :) making sure not to twist when you push down. This will effect how the dough rises. 

8. You can brush the biscuits with the melted butter -- but I skipped this since I thought 1 stick of butter and 2 tbs of shortening was plenty already.

9. Bake for ~15 minutes or until golden.

ENJOY!

*I'm no expert on fast food biscuits. I can only make the Bojangles comparison because just a few weeks ago I rode with my Dad to get coffee -- he ordered a couple of biscuits and I had a bite. Or maybe they're more like KFC...?  If you're a true biscuit lover please try this recipe and let me know how it compares.

Nutritional Facts per biscuit -- these are not diet friendly (serves 12):

Calories: 194, Fat: 10g, Sat Fat 5.8g, Carbs 27.5g,  Protein 3.4g

There are some vitamins in these but they get canceled out by the outrageous amount of fat. ;) 

Brown's Buns (and a painting party!)

After finally deciding to paint my new kitchen yellow I thought it would never get done. It took three trips to Lowe's and a couple to Home Depot until I eventually got the color I wanted. Its called "Caribbean Sunset".   True I'd rather be on the beach of some island but for now, I am enjoying my own little oasis.

Two of my good girl friends, Ashley and Brittany, came over to help and were highly compensated.....in the form of food of course  Since they were both kind enough to sacrifice their Sunday morning I made cinnamon buns (rolls, whatever). This time I tried Alton Brown's recipe. Fabulous! Fluffy and just beautiful...very similar to the other cinnamon bun recipe that I tried last time.  My only suggestion would be to increase the cinnamon and sugar by at least half if not more; possibly even double the amount. There just was not enough flavor. Otherwise, these are a keeper! And so convenient. Just leave them in the fridge overnight and they're ready to go in the morning. 

Alton Brown's Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

Dough:

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

• 2 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Directions

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls - Made as a surprise morning treat for a close friend (and to celebrate of a (nearly) perfect exam grade 98 on supply chain - yay! :)

A good friend of mine (and roommate) Brittany was having a bit of an off day - if you're a baker you already know what I'm thinking.. yep, she needs something sweet - that will make everything better! (and will give me a chance to dig through the recipe box to find something fun I've been needing an excuse to try ;)  

Recently I celebrated my 23rd birthday and in honor of the holiday I bought myself an Alton Brown DVD set. Okay, maybe thats not really a splurge. But its not a commodity good either (although, now I might argue otherwise :). All the same it was a valid purchase, after all it was my by birthday. Anyhow, one of the episodes is all about making cinnamon buns. I usually make a quick version (from Fine Cooking) that uses cottage cheese and is done in about an hour, including baking time. The Fastest Cinnamon Buns is undoubtedly a fantastic go-to recipe!! I love it and would highly recommend it but I have since befriended recipes that use yeast and Alton Brown's cinnabuns looked delicious. Alton Brown usually never fails - I mean its almost a 99% guarantee that his recipes are going to be outstanding so I was shocked when I read the reviews on Food Network's website. People were complaining about the dough being too stiff. Ah! okay, maybe I'll try his buns some other time - for now I need to find something that works.  And so I did. 

I give you: Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

 from Pink of Perfection

After a few trial and error runs she crafted this recipe - which is truly delicious! The dough is soft, fluffy, a little chewy and just melts in your mouth.  She prefers an icing made with powdered sugar, milk, butter and maple syrup. I loved it but I think next time I'll add a little cream cheese to make it a bit thicker. Everyone said they wanted more icing. Also, I'm a huge fan of nuts so I think they'd be a superb edition but, since my roomies aren't nutsy kind of people, I omitted them. Per usual I've posted the recipe along with some of my changes and remarks. I'll definitely be making these again - so I'll keep you posted!

Makes 12-15 rolls

dough
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour** see my notes
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs

filling
1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

glaze (its a bit different than the original recipe)
1 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp maple syrup
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoons (or more) milk
1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt *i omitted this

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Let cool until lukewarm. (about 90-100F degrees)

In the bowl of a standing mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add eggs and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. (I only used about 4 1/4 cups).  When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour as needed - but be careful not to add too much flour because you'll get cinnamon rocky rolls instead of soft fluffy ones!

Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together filling ingredients. (I think this method would have been better- what you see below is where I melted the butter, spread it and then sprinkled on the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture but it seemed like so much so I left about 1/4 of it out - The end result was good but would have been even better with the remaining sugar so next time I'll do it her way)

Roll out dough into approximately a 9×12 inch rectangle. Spread dough evenly with filling mixture. Roll up dough from the long end and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls (I made about 15) and place cut side up in a 9×12″ baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Cling wrap is Glad's best invention yet- I despise saran wrap and avoid it when possible!)

The next morning, remove cinnamon rolls from refrigerator and let sit on the counter for about 30 minutes to take the chill off. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  ** One thing I did differently than the original recipe called for was an idea from Alton: I proofed my rolls. Place a pan full of boiling water on the lower rack of your oven and place the rolls on the upper rack. Set oven to lowest possible temperature and leave the rolls to proof for about 10 minutes. Then, remove the tray of water, crank up the heat to 375F and bake for about 20 minutes. (it only took around 17 in my oven)

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together glaze ingredients, adding more milk to thin glaze, if necessary. Remove rolls from oven, and pour glaze over hot cinnamon rolls. Serve warm. Store in air tight container and reheat in microwave as needed.

Notes & Comments

• Careful not to overwork the dough! or add too much flour.
• I think nuts - maybe chopped pecans would be fantastic rolled up in these gooey buns!
• Experiment with different icings: try adding some cream cheese, orange zest or other flavorings
• These reheat great in the microwave for about 20 sec and they're soft and chewy again! (I'm not so sure how they would freeze though- maybe not the best)
• You can try dark brown sugar for the filling instead - although I just like the milder flavor of light brown sugar

And just for the record - I have never understood why Pilsbury calls spiral-like cinnamon goods "cinnamon buns" and the ball-like cinnamon goodies "cinnamon rolls" - I guess like a dinner roll? Go figure, but as far as I'm concerned what you see here is a cinnamon roll : )  ENJOY!!  

Nutritional Facts: (makes 15 rolls- including my version of the icing)

Calories 373, Fat 12.6g, Carbs 59g, Fiber 1.6g, Sugars 28g,  Protein 5.9g

Mega Fortified Low Fat Granola

Mmmm.. yogurt topped with granola-addicting stuff that is packed with sugar and calories; an average of around 200 for 1/3 cup to be exact, which heavily outweighs the health benefits, in my opinion. And if you plan on munching right out of the box you've long surpassed the 1/3 cup serving size and could have splurged those calories on something way more worthy - like chocolate cake ;)  So, I was on the search for something that won't cause a sudden spike in blood sugar levels and was waist line friendly-ish. 

I quickly caught on to the alternative ingredient used to give granola its signature crunch: Applesauce. Go figure. That stuff is great! It substitutes for oils in cakes and on granola? Works for me! I even found unsweetened applesauce at Trader Joe's that was Calcium and Vitamin C fortified!! What a bonus!!!

Next awesome ingredient find was this Super Cranberry and Pomegranate Blend (again - Trader Joe's). Why? Well, if you haven't heard already pomegranates are super healthy. And it has been known that cranberries are pretty powerful little fruit too. In addition to all the natural benefits from these two berries this mix is Omega 3 fortified!!  Yay for nutrition! Not to mention they're both DeLiciouS! :D

This is already a great granola in the making!!

So, go to your local health food store - pick up a bunch of yummy, healthy ingredients, mix and wait - a lonnnnnnnnng time because granola has to be baked at a low temperature for an extended period to get crispy without burning. I got a bit impatient after about 1.5 hours and cranked the oven up about 50 degrees higher and ended up with a highly satisfying crunch (okay, more like a tad bit burned).  So be patient!!


This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown and Baking Bites

Mega Fortified Low Fat Granola
makes 15 half cup servings

3 1/2 cups regular cooking oats (not instant or quick - why not? because then you'll end up with granola-like powder rather than chunks)

2 cups puffed rice cereal

1/3 cup brown sugar (or more to taste - mine was not very sweet but I sprinkled some sugar sub. at the end)

1/3 cup maple syrup (or more to taste)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup mixed, dried berries

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

((you can add what ever nuts, berries, coconut or any other mix-in you would like!))

Preheat oven to 250F.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine oats, rice cereal, and spices. In another bowl combine apple sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add mix-ins such as nuts and berries or shredded coconut.

Bake for 1 hour then toss the granola. Bake an additional 45 minutes (or longer) until desired crispiness is achieved. (Alton's recipe yielded only 1 hour and 15 minutes but that was way too short in my oven.)

Nutritional Facts: (per half cup serving)

Calories 156, Fat 3.4g, Carbs 28.8g, Fiber 2.8g, Protein 3.8g

Okay, so its not the mega low calorie granola I was hoping for but its not a bad start. :) Ps. your nutritional facts might vary depending on what kind of nuts, berries and mix-ins you use.