Snickerdoodle Scones with Blueberry-Lemon Jam

I have a 2-fer recipe for you! Wait, where are you going? It's not difficult, I promise! And the jam should totally be made ahead of time to make your life easy.... And then you will look like a superhero when you make, not only fresh warm scones, but delicious homemade jam to top it with!

This recipe is SO easy! There's no boiling water for the jars or fancy machinery involed!

So lets get right too it... Yum!

For the Jam:
(makes about 1 1/2 pints)
4 cups blueberries
2 cups sugar
1 (small box) lemon flavored Jell-O
2 teaspoons fruit pectin

For the Scones:
(recipe adapted from Sweet Peas Kitchen)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled

Cinnamon-sugar topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Lets start with the jam!
In a large bowl, mash your 4 cups of blueberries until they are almost broken down.
In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries and sugar and cook over medium until boiling. Once bubbles form, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened. Add the box of Jell-O and 2 teaspoons of pectin and stir just until incorporated. Pour immediately into your jars and cover, let cool slightly on your countertop then place in the fridge to thicken (I did this overnight).

Now for the Scones...
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the cinnamon-sugar topping and set aside.
In another small bowl, mix together the 1 egg and sour cream. Place this in the fridge until ready for use.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add in your chilled butter and either, using clean hands or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until crumbly and around the size of a pea.
Fold in the sour cream and egg mixture just until the flour mixture is moistened. Gently pour mixture out onto flour lined surface. Gently fold until the scone dough comes together.
Shape into an 8-inch circle, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping, and cut into 8 triangles.

 

Place scones on to your parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 16-18 minutes or until they are golden brown on the bottom and firm to the touch.
Let them cool slightly on a wire rack.
These babies are best enjoyed warm!!
Don't forget to slather with your delicious blueberry-lemon jam! The tart sweetness of the blueberries is fabulous and you get just a hint of tangy lemon on the back of your tongue. Enjoy!

 

 

Pizza Monkey Bread

I know, dinner blog say what? But it IS baking, I promise.. :)

I just had to post this picture of my little man Davin! He is truly my miracle, here's a little background. If you dont mind listening:

Today kicks of the start of CHD Awareness week (it's February 7th-14th). It ends on the day filled with love and hearts... How appropriate!

Anyways, Davin is my 3 year old son who truly blesses my life every day. He's smart, funny, and so very outgoing... Everything we prayed for. When Davin was born we were blind-sided when we found out he had a heart defect. My pregnancy had gone perfect, I had no complaints (besides the uncomfort of sleep) and loved absolutely every second of it.

It wasnt until Davin was born, weighing in at a tiny 4 lbs 3 ounces, that we knew something was wrong. No matter how hard the nurses tried, he wouldn't "pink up". We were so lucky the nurses and pediatric cardiologist caught his defect that day, our son had Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR). In short, his oxygenated blood didn't flow correctly from his heart to the rest of his body. He was medivaced that night and had open heart surgery a short 12 hours after he was born. I haven't cried as hard as a did that night, in my entire life.

Following, our son has had 2 more open heart surgeries to correct the Pulmonary Stenosis that devloped after his initial surgery.

I'm so happy to say that since 2010, and the birth of our second child Julian (who I truly believe was our angel), our little Davin has been stable and required no further surgeries. We go day by day but we are honestly so lucky to have a healthy and active little boy. We don't know what the future holds but plan to cherish every day with him.

I know, serious stuff for a dessert blog right? But if I can touch one person, one heart, and make them feel that someone is out there that KNOWS what they are going through, I feel complete.

So, if you could please take some time this week, go and visit: www.littlehearts.net and donate, and take the time to read other parents and childrens stories. They have truly provided HOPE for my family.

Ok, now on to the recipe. Thank you for bearing with me.

We had this pizza monkey bread for Super Bowl and served it with a side of pizza sauce... So yummy!

For the Dough:
3 1/2-4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water, 110-115 degrees
2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

*If you have a time crunch, store bought pizza dough works well here also!

Combine the 3 1/2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer and combine. While the mixer is running, add in the water and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Beat on medium until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is still sticky, add additional flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball.
Scrape the dough on to a lightly floured surface and gently knead until it becomes smooth.
Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil and place the dough ball inside. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot until double in size, around 1 hour.
Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, roll into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover again and let sit for 30-45 minutes.

For assembly:
The Pizza Dough
30-40 chunks (about a 1 inch square) of Mozarella Cheese
30-40 pepperoni pieces
4 Tablespoons of butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Your Favorite Pizza Sauce

Thoroughly grease a bundt pan.

Melt butter and garlic over medium-low and sautee until the garlic is golden in color and butter is completely melted. Remove from heat and add in the garlic salt and oregano. Stir and set aside.

Pull off a "bouncey ball" size of dough and flatten into a disk in your hands. Place a chunk of cheese and a piece of pepperoni into the center and fold into a ball. Roll in your hands slightly to seal. Like this:

Roll the dough ball, into your melted butter and place into your prepared bundt pan. Continue this pattern until you have used up all of your dough. Don't worry, some balls may be smaller and some bigger.
Once you have used up all of the dough, pour any remaining butter over the top of your pizza balls that are sitting in your bundt pan. It will look like this:

Cover this with a towel and let it rice in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour. It will now look like this:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is very brown.
Let cool slightly and heat up your pizza sauce in the meantime.
Invert monkey bread on to a platter and serve warm with the sauce for dipping.

This monkey bread is a great recipe for parties. The gooey cheese center is so darn delicious! And how romantic would this be for Valentines dinner to dip and feed eachother? (If you're into that kind of stuff) Or as a twist if your first date was to a pizza place!

Enjoy everyone and Happy CHD Awareness week (so much cooler than Valentines Day!)

(Please ignore my non-manicured nails)

Boston Cream Pie

Did everyone watch the Super Bowl yesterday? What did you think? I didn't really care which team won or lost because they weren't MY team (the Packers!). But I thought overall it was a good game! And who am I kidding, all I really care about is the drinks, food, and the funny commercials! Were there any favorites? I thought the Doritos and Oreo ones were the best!

And now that we are passed the Super Bowl, it's on to Birthdays, Valentines Day and most importantly: CHD (Congenital Heart Defect) Awareness Week! For everyone who doesn't know, it is February 7th-14th and shines awareness on the number 1 defect in children; 1 in a 100! I plan on devoting a whole blog as to why that week is special for me so expect a week full of hearts and me oogling over my miracle child!

Anyways, on to this cake! I made it to celebrate my moms birthday and I think it was a HIT! It's impressive to look at, delicious, and can I just TELL you how easy it is? I can? Perfect, lets get to it!

For the Cake:
1 box of yellow butter cake mix

For the Filling:
1 box vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz)
1 cup cold milk
1 1/5 cups cool whip

For the Ganache:
1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk

Make the cake according to the instrcutions on the box. It's best to place a piece of parchment on the bottom of the cake pans to insure they do not stick. Let the cakes cool slightly, then invert on to cooling racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk together the pudding mix and milk, whisking for 2 minutes until it is starting to thicken. Fold in the cool whip and place in your fridge for 5 minutes to set.

Place bottom cake layer, upisde down, on your serving platter. Smear filling completely over the top. It will look like a lot of filling but trust me, you want it ALL!

Press second cake layer over the top and press down gently.

Make the ganache by placing the 1 cup of chocolate chips and 2 Tablespoons of butter into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir the mixture until the chocolate is completely melted. Add in the powdered sugar and milk and stir until smooth and shiny. Quickly pour and spread over the top layer of cake.

Place in the fridge for at least an hour before slicing!

Enjoy! :)

Sopapilla Cheesecake

My computer is dead y'all... DEAD! I'm totally at work blogging, on my break, because I made all of these amazing recipes and don't have a computer (and I should get paid to blog, right? JK)!  I think its the fan on the computer, but then again I know nothing about computers...

So as to not keep my blog in the dark, I thought I would post a quick one! I hope to be back up and running with a computer soon but please... Make this recipe!

Sopapillas are my FAVORITE dessert!!

And this cheesecake is really nothing like a sopapilla (besides being cinnamon sugar) but it IS delicious!! So it's a sopapilla, churro, cinnamon-sugar, cheesecake :)

You Will Need:
2 cans of Crescent Rolls
2 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar plus 3 Tablespoons
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray and pop open one can of crescent roll dough. Press into the bottom of your prepared baking dish.

In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and teaspoon of vanilla over medium speed until combined. Spread over the layer of crescent dough.

Using a piece of parchment paper, press together the second container of crescent roll dough into a rectangle, the size of your baking dish. Place on the top of the cream cheese layer.

 

Pour and spread your melted butter of the top layer.

Combine the remaining 3 Tablespoons of sugar and the 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl, sprinkle over the top of the melted butter and MASSAGE into the dough.

Place the cheesecake into your preheated oven, on the center rack, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and firm in the middle.

Remove and let cool slightly before slicing! Enjoy with a nice big scoop of dulce de leche ice cream, any way is amazing but its definitely awesome warm!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Carrot Cake Jam

I am obsessing....My new found addictions are scones and jam...

I'm really trying to refrain myself, otherwise my blog would be COVERED in anything scone and jam related. But, do you know what's perfect? They go together! Scones+jam is like Britney Spears and Pop music, or Mark Wahlberg and literally ANY movie he makes in appearance in...it's just meant to be!

I'm devoting one post a month to a jam and scone recipe, at least until I move passed that obsession...

So please share any amazing recipes you might have for either on my blog and I will definitely pin it! I'm ADDICTED I tell you...

Now on to this delicious jam! The recipe is from the blog One Hundred Dollars a Month and I'm beginning to think she shares my jam addiction... I might be adding a few more of her recipes to my repertoire (Hello, Meyer Lemon marmalade!)

Carrot Cake Jam:
(this recipe makes 7-"1/2 pint" or 3.5-"1 pint jars")

1 can (20-ounces) crushed pineapple, with liquid
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped pears, I used Bartlett
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
a pinch of cloves
1 package ( 1 3/4 ounce) powdered fruit pectin
6 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil, remove from heat and place your jars and lids in the water. Let them soak in the boiling water until ready to use.

In a 6-quart sauce pot, combine the first 7 ingredients (up until the cloves). Cook over medium heat until the mixture is to a boil, cover and drop the temperature to low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the pears are tender. Make sure to stir the mixture occasionally so no sticking occurs. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the pectin.

Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in the sugar and return to a boil for 1 minute. Stir as to not allow any boil over. While this is boiling remove your jars and lids, using tongs to help you, and turn upside down on a dish towel to dry. Dry them off more by hand if necessary.

When the minute is up, skim off any foam that has formed at the top with a metal spoon. Immediately ladle the jam into the prepared jars and cover and lid them.

Let the jars cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge. If you have a canner, you can drop them in and boil for 10 minutes to seal them. By leaving my jars to cool at room temperature they sealed on their own (to check this, press the middle, if it springs back the jars are not sealed and need to be permanently kept in the fridge, if they are sealed you can store them in a cool place in your cupboard).

The jam is amazing on a toasted English muffin with a light coat of cream cheese! Enjoy!

Cheddar and Apple Scones

I'm sure I've told you this before, but since my family is from Wisconsin, I love anything cheesy...especially a sense of humor

(I'm not even certain that's why I love cheese, but I need something to blame my addiction on).

Seriously though... Throw cheese on anything and I'll love it. My favorite snack though, as far back as I can remember, was cheese, crackers, and a slice of apple. Something about the crisp-tart apple pairs so well with the sharp cheese.

When I found these scones over at Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to make them... and then Fall came and went and before I knew it Christmas was over and these STILL hadn't made a guest appearance in my kitchen... Until this weekend!

These are really the ideal Fall treat, but I'm 100% sure these scones will be reappearing throughout the year. The scones have a crunchy sugar top which is an amazing addition to the mild cheese flavor and has just a hint of sweetly baked apple coming through. Plus this scone recipe is perfect... flaky, buttery, heaven!

They are truly addicting... I may or may not have eaten 2 in 10 minutes (please go with me here and assume I may not have...)

Cheddar-Apple Scones:
(makes 8 generous scones)

2 firm apples (I used Gala but a green apple would do well)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar plus 1 1/2 Tablespoons for sprinkling
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt plus a pinch for your egg wash
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded (I opted for yellow for a pop of color)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs

Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and core your apples and cut into large chunks, about one-sixteenth in size. Place the cut apples in a single layer on your lined baking sheet and bake until they take on a little color and feel try to the touch, around 20 minutes. Let them cool completely by placing in the fridge while you continue.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking power and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, place the chilled butter, cooled apple chunks, cheese, cream and one egg. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the top and mix on medium-low speed just until the dough comes together. Do not over-mix.

Generously flour your work surface and place the scone dough on top of it. Sprinkle the top with flour and form into a 6-inch circle that is about 1 inch thick.

Cut the circle into 8 even wedges. Cover your baking sheet with a fresh piece of parchment and transfer the wedges to the baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each scone.

Beat the remaining egg and pinch of salt in a small bowl and brush the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle them with the remaining Tablespoon and a half of sugar.

Bake the scones in your preheated 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until firm and golden. Transfer the scones to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before devouring!

Enjoy the scones warm with cinnamon-butter or apple butter! Delicious!

Iced Oatmeal Cookies (like Mothers)

Well the New Year is upon us and I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday.

I have to say, I'm really looking forward to 2013. I'm not sure if it's the promise of new things, or a chance to change what I didn't like about last year, but I'm really hopeful that this year is going to be great!

On top of all of that, I really want to devote time this year to making my blog amazing. Since 2012 was really my first full year blogging, it was kind of a trial run. And I have to say thank you so much to everyone who started following and commenting on my blog, I wouldn't be half the blogger I am today without all of you!

And yes, I know I've made some mistakes and have shotty photography, but I'm still learning.

Another new thing, is that I FINALLY have a Facebook page for my blog. I'm really going to try and stay on top of it by linking my posts as well as a few others I find amazing! If you could take a second and go and "like" my page, I would be truly grateful:

MorningNooNight Facebook

Now on to this delicious recipe. I found it over at the Novice Chef blog  (I'm kind of obsessed with her). These taste really similar to the Mothers cookies we all know and love and I think nutmeg and oatmeal pair so well together!

Enjoy!

Cookie Dough:
(This recipe made about 22 fairly large cookies)

2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs

Frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously grease your cookie sheet (use butter or a good amount of cooking spray to help the cookies spread).

In a chopper, food processor or even your coffee grinder (cleaned of course) pulse the 2 cups of oats to a coarse meal, you do not want to go as far as a fine powder. Dump into a large bowl and add the flour, baking powder/soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix and set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the melted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat on medium until the sugars are combined and the mixture is creamy. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Next, drop your oat/flour mix into the butter mixture and beat until thoroughly combined.

Place heaping Tablespoon fulls onto your prepared cookie sheets and bake, for 14 minutes or until golden, turning the pan half way through baking.

Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

Mix your frosting ingredients together in a small bowl. Take the cooled cookies and dunk the tops into the frosting. Continue until all of the cookies are frosted and set aside to harden.

Enjoy this crisp oatmeal cookies with coffee... mmmm!