Category Archives: Doughs

Pie Dough, Bread Dough

Apr 10

National Baking Week

Hi everyone! A bit late on this but last week was National Baking Week. At least according to Better Homes & Gardens Magazine (which I have a NEW addiction to!). Along with the “baking” of this little bundle that’s been happening, (Month 4 already!) I’ve been hanging with my favorite (i.e, only) sister a lot lately since being stuck in an ovenless apartment with just Mavs, is not my idea of fun. On the first day of “Baking Week”, I headed into the next county and spent some time with my youngest nephew. Most don’t know, I’ve been on a new “kick”. There are a lot of edible flowers and plants in your backyard you probably aren’t aware of! Included are dandelions, violets, pansies, marigolds and even some plants usually classified as weeds. P decided he wanted to take a walk and since it was gorgeous out, we couldn’t really deny him. On the walk, P kept asking if he could pick flowers. We instead let him start his “rock collection”. We got on subject about the edible plants and making different cookies. I asked Tiff if she had a few ingredients and she said she did. P was pretty excited you could eat some flowers and since I already said dandelions were, he was even more thrilled to pick them when we hit their yard. The front yard was a bit bare, but the back was plentiful. After gathering a decent amount, P saw a bee and decided he had enough for “Mom’s bouquet” so I just followed. I got the ingredients mise en placed after I washed the flower heads and then started “plucking” the flowers. You want to make sure you don’t get any of the bitter green parts when you do this. Hold all of the green back, grasp the petals and twist as you pull. I only needed 1/2 C. but it was enough plucking to stain my hands for a while afterward. You want to lightly oil the baking sheet as well since the oil in the dough gets absorbed. I found they were really simple and even the boys LOVED them! I was very surprised since they hate just about everything you put in front of them (or at least find something to “dislike”). I think P was a bit more excited since he helped make them and gather the flowers for it. B took a cookie, set it down, then went back for more. When Archie came to the house, he ate quite a few! She packed some up for us to take home and they were gone later that night…If you don’t let the idea of eating a “flower” or “weed” get to you, you will really enjoy them. The honey adds a touch of sweetness and they a “bit dry” according to Art, but adding more honey would easily remedy that. The cookies don’t spread out too much so I easily fit 20 on a sheet and got 40 2-bite cookies out of it. All in all, I think they’re a hit!

Also, be wary of the flowers you use for any sort of cooking! If you have animals that “wander” through the yard, the only flowers you have are close to the road, or have close neighbors that use pesticides (that may have traveled to your yard), do NOT use them!

Dandelion Flower Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup dry oatmeal (I used a mix of both old-fashioned and quick, use what you’d like)
1/2 cup dandelion flowers

Preheat oven to 375°F. Blend oil and honey and beat in the two eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, oatmeal and dandelion florets. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and eat.

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Feb 22

A day late for donuts

Hey ya’ll! How is everyone faring out? At this household, everyone is sick in some way. Stomach bug, run away noses and more common cold galore! So as you can figure, not too much baking has been done this week.

Yesterday as we all know was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, whatever you may call it. In this area its known as Fasnacht Day or “Donut Day” to those not PA Dutch. When I was younger, we’d lock our teachers out of the room in the morning. Don’t know if that’s still a tradition or not, it was comical though and kept them on their toes!

Anyway, also for tradition, we bought a “King Cake”. King Cake Article It’s almost like a danish ring covered in icing and sprinkles, along with it comes a “baby Jesus” or some other trinket that you hide inside. Whoever gets the lucky trinket brings the cake next year! When I first asked my husband to get one, he said “What? What about Luke and Jesus?”…So I had to explain it to him. Sigh. After I sent him a picture and description, he successfully brought one home. Along with the baby Jesus trinket.

Just a quick poll here, how many celebrate “Pancake Day”? I have never heard it referred to as that until yesterday!

For dessert last night, we didn’t have the King Cake because I also made some delicious donuts. You’ll be surprised at how simple they really are, but they’re truly pretty good! All you do is take a can of buttermilk biscuits (no butter please!) Cut a hole out of the center (fry up some donut holes!) and wait for the oil to hit 350*. When they puff up and turn golden on one side, flip them. Drain them on a paper towel for a minute or two, then cover them in your preferred sugar. I just used granulated sugar in a ziploc bag, but use what you prefer! I read in the news that a local fire company made 800 dozen donuts (that’s 9,600 if you wanted the tally)! That’s one fried dough and sugar overload there!!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their donuts, pancakes, and other “terrible for you” foods yesterday! And also Mardi Gras, even if you didn’t make it to the Big Easy… =] Have a safe and happy humpday everyone!!!

Again for the “Fast and Easy Donuts”:
1 Can Buttermilk Biscuits
Granulated Sugar
Cinnamon Sugar
Powdered Sugar
Cocoa Powder
Glaze of 10x/Milk

Remove biscuits from tube and lay them on a flat surface. Punch small hole out of the center, reserving dough. Heat oil to 350*. Gently put dough rings (or centers) in oil and fry until golden brown. If they need flipped, do so, (some are pesky and need encouraged to “stay put”). Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Let cool about a minute or so, place in bowl or bag with desired sugar or toppings and serve!

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Feb 9

Sweet, Savory and Winter!

Hi everyone, Again, its been a while…Its only been about 3 weeks but a lot has happened. Can’t disclose much but most of you will find out in the coming weeks and its pretty exciting! I’ve been stocking up on more fun baking tools to play with in the kitchen so that’s pretty exciting too. Winter has been nice to us in PA this year. Only a small amount of snowfall so far. At the end is a yummy wintery recipe I hope you’ll enjoy!

In my last posts, I stated about pricing a wedding cake for someone. Her flowers are carnations, colors are red and black. Looking back, I realized I never used gumpaste to form carnations. Roses, lilies and a few others, yes, carnations, no. So I got to work. As of now, I’ve made about a dozen carnations and they’re so pretty. They don’t take very long to do and they’re super easy. I’m working on coloring them. I don’t have an airbrush to use and I wanted to keep the base color white, in case someone had asked for them in the coming weeks. Since I have the white ones finished, I’ll work on coloring. Black carnations? Who knew…haha. I’ll attempt to do a tutorial soon for those interested.

My mom and I visited a bakery in the area just last week and I normally find “something” good about every place, this time however, I couldn’t. My mom got a “Vanilla Bean” Cupcake and I tried the “Boston Cream”. We split them and thank goodness I had a drink, the cake in each were both so dry and the filling and icing were practically non-existent. When I got home, I was on a mission. I had some leftover butter-cream so I made a lemon curd butter-cream, peanut butter butter-cream and a blueberry butter-cream. I started on my cupcakes, just stuck to plain chocolate and vanilla then waited for them to cool. My momma got me a neat tool that “hollows” out cupcakes (regular sized and jumbo). I hollowed out a dozen of each and kept the little “tops” to the side. I filled my vanilla with the blueberry butter-cream, replaced the top and slathered on the lemon. I just stuck to chocolate and peanut butter since well, classic! My dad wasn’t too impressed with either as he doesn’t like sweets. My mom LOVED the lemon blueberry, and Art, he had no preference. I gave some away and then we had none so…Guess I have to get working in the kitchen soon! =]

If you’re from Pennsyltucky like me, you’ll probably know when I say Pot Pie, I don’t mean those little meat pies filled with veggies, gravy and meat. I’m talking a large pot full of meat, potatoes, brothy gravy and dough squares. Most others know that as Chicken and Dumplings but then where do real chicken and dumplings go? A dumpling to me is a little dough ball simmered and “baked” on top of a broth. Back to pot pie…I know its not very sweet and dessert like to be a normal post but we had some last night and its perfect for chilly winter nights, which, we’re still in for another month! Since we don’t have a real recipe for it, its just been handed down, I’ll post how its been made in our family for the past (at least) 6 generations. NOTE: This is NOT an exact cut recipe, double dough if needed, or use amounts better suited to your family so you aren’t feeding armies! We use our leftovers for lunch or dinner again so we always make extra.

Dough:
2 C. Flour (I use a mix of AP and Whole Wheat)
2 T. Butter
1 Egg
Milk

Cut butter into flour until crumbly. Add egg to a 1 C. measuring cup and beat. Fill remainder of cup up to 3/4 line with milk. Mix into flour and butter. Roll out to 1/8″ on a floured surface, cut into 2×2″ squares.

Take a bag of bone in chicken, whole chicken or a ham shank/butt and place in a large stockpot. Cover 3/4 with water or broth or a mix of both. Boil until meat is fully cooked or falling off the bone. Take out and cool. Turn off broth and strain.
Pull meat off the bone and set both aside. Place broth back on heat, bring to a boil. Add about 3 medium potatoes, diced up.
Make dough, roll out and cut. When broth boils, add a few squares at a time, using a spoon to submerge them (they will float back up). Do this with remaining dough. Add as much ham or chicken as desired and let simmer for a while, stirring often to prevent sticking. Pot pie is ready when potatoes and dough squares are tender and broth is thickened like a gravy.

When plated, sprinkle vinegar on top, along with diced onion, salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Hope my PA Dutch didn’t show through too much! Feel free to ask questions if I got confusing or post your own variations! =] Happy Eating!

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