Middle of the week is here!  Whoooo Hooooo!! The time is going by so fast - Valentine’s day is almost here!  Today is the cut off day for the Grill Charm giveaway - be sure to get your name in.

I have been dying to make these Butterscotch Blondies for a while now.  I have had a few requests and have seen them around the food blogs everywhere so I decided to take the plunge.

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Good morning!  The Christmas rush is slowing down and the New Year’s rush is picking up.  I hope you had a great weekend.  I had a great Christmas break and I cannot wait to share some new and exciting recipes with you.

When it comes to homemade biscuits…. I love them! I grew up around biscuits and I certainly can pack a lot of them away.  Warm or cold, butter or Jam… you name it Zesty loves them.

I thought I would share this very simple recipe biscuit recipe.  This is one of the first things I learned to bake when I was a youngster.  The biscuit is very easy to make yet very rewarding to taste.  These take no time to make and go great with almost everything.

Mixing of the ingredients is crucial in producing an excellent biscuit.  I prefer to mix the dough by hand using either a pastry blender, two knives or just your fingertips.  Mixing by hand helps to prevent over mixing of the dough.  My mother-in-law adds the cream of tartar to keep the biscuit very white during the baking process however the topping will encourage the outside to become golden brown and delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 Cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 Cup milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/8 Tsp. Cream of Tartar

Topping:

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C) and place rack in center of oven.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar.
4. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips).
5. Add the milk, slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined.  (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)
6. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.
7. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thickness.
8. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured cutter of your choice ( I use a small glass ).
9. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown
10. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
11. Serve warm with butter.



12. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I cannot stress enough that this dough should not be overworked and that a light hand is needed.  The test will be in the results.  If you end up with a hard and doughy biscuit, you will know to mix the dough less the next time.

So I have to ask… What is your favorite biscuit topping? I get so excited when I ask this question because I am so in love with biscuits that I am dying to hear what you have to add.  Has anyone tried whole wheat biscuits?  I’ve tried them in the past but I found them a little too heavy.

Have a great Monday and by all means I am open for suggestions… Anything you want Zesty to bake, cook or prepare?  Let me know and I will try my best to make it happen.

Take care

zesty

Happy Friday!!

You’re bound to do some baking this holiday season.  So for that I give to you:  “Zesty’s Top 8 Essential Baking Ingredients”

Here is a list of necessities I put together after trying to bake the other night and realizing I had expired baking powder and no brown sugar.  Oh dear I said… off to the store I go - or better yet lets lie down on the couch and have some chips!

1. Flour

Instead of relying on just one kind of flour, lately I have been buying two small bags, both all purpose flour and cake & pastry flour.  Pastry flour has a finer texture and a high starch content.

I never buy the large bags of flour even when they are on sale as I find we don’t use them enough around here and after the bag has been unsealed, flour only keeps for six to eight months.

2. Sugar

For me, I like to have all the necessary ammo for sugars… White, brown and icing sugar should be on hand at all times.  Pretty much every baked good calls for good old sugar of some sort.

3. Spices

There’s a reason why holiday baking has a distinct aroma and that’s because of holiday spices. I find that ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg are essential spices for this time of year. be sure your spices are fresh before you start baking… nothing worse than a flat package of cinnamon.

4. Chocolate

Stock up on chocolate — if you can resist eating up your inventory. I suggest buying bittersweet, semi-sweet and unsweetened baking squares in advance, but to hold off on the more tempting varieties.

I recommend buying milk and white chocolate as required — otherwise they might get eaten before you need them. I am also a fan of chocolate chips. High quality semi-sweet chocolate chips are always good to have on hand for last-minute cookies.

5. Baking powder and Baking soda

Baking powder and baking soda help make dough rise and are essential components in the science of baking. Make sure to check the expiration on these babies or you will have a flat biscuit like I did one time when my baking powder had expired.

6. Nuts and dried fruits

A variety of tasty extras elevate humdrum holiday recipes to family favourites. Dried fruit such as raisins, apricots, currants and cranberries to keep things interesting.

And don’t forget the nuts. Almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts are mainstays in many a festive dish, but feel free to substitute your favorites. You can buy nuts early and store them in the freezer until needed.

7. Vanilla

Pure vanilla extract is far superior in flavor, There really is no comparison to artificial, which is synthetically produced and one-dimensional.

8. Butter

Like it or not - there is nothing like the real thing.  Always have butter on hand as it freezes really well.  Don’t skimp and try to cut calories.  You are baking.  Use the real deal.  you will be rewarded in the end. Take a page from Megan over at Megan’s Munchies - everything in moderation.  Enjoy the butter!

Now that you are stocked and ready to go, it’s time to break out your favourite recipes, pre-heat the oven and kick off the holiday season with a day of baking. Your task today is to tell me what you are going to bake or if you already started and finished. Everybody who reads this post… come out of the wood work and tell me what you will bake or at least eat in the coming weeks.

I can’t wait to hear them all.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget today is the last day for the giveaway.  You have until 5:00 EST to get you name in for a chance to win $100, compliments of yours truly.

Take care

zesty

Welcome everyone and happy Tuesday! I am very excited to share a guest post with you by Tina from Carrots and Cake. If you have not done so already, I suggest you drop over and pay Tina a visit. Her blog is really informative and very upbeat. It really is a great find and definitely one to bookmark.

Follow along below and make your own Pumpkin Coconut Bars.
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Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada and we had our turkey dinners both on Saturday and Sunday - which left today for baking and cooking. This is my kind of holiday!

The morning started off with some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Can you really beat the plain chocolate chip cookie? I am a huge cookie fan in general… but there are times where you just want a plain old fashion chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Follow along below and you can whip these yummy morsels up in no time.

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup Melted Butter
• 2 Cups Lightly Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp Hot Water
• 2 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 Package (270g) Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and hot water and mix well.



3. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients.



4. Add the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly.







5. Drop from spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet



6. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

As always, I like to ask all my readers a question so I can learn more about the world of food. So tell me, what is your favorite cookie?
Hope you have a great Monday…

Zesty