Carmel Biscuit Pull-Apart

Revised recipe. If you printed this out, please discard and reprint. Cooking times were not accurate.

A quick and easy morning sweet.

Before going into oven

Finished - yum!

Preheat oven to 350° degrees

Ingredients

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon water

1 8-ounce can plain Pop-N-Fresh biscuits

1/3 cup chopped nuts

1 tablespoon butter cut into quarters

Directions

In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar, water, and butter and cook on medium low heat for one minute (do not boil). Remove from heat and set aside. Add nuts.

In a large bowl, cut biscuits into 1/2 inch pieces. Add to sugar mixture. Toss to cover biscuits.

In a round oven proof dish place a small round ramekin in the middle and pour biscuit mixture evenly around the baking dish. Place butter quarters on top of biscuit mixture.

Bake biscuits for 10 minutes, then turn. Bake 17-20 minutes more. You really want to make sure the biscuits in the middle are cooked. I tap on bread and if it sounds hallow, it's done. Let cool on a wire rack for 5-7 minutes and then overturn onto a plate and remove ramekin. Serve.

Buffalo Chicken Casserole

This is a creamy and slightly spicy casserole. Serve with tortilla chips, celery stocks and a good beer.

Ingredients

2 or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

8 corn tortillas, cut into triangles

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened in the microwave approximately 1 minute

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 12-ounce bottle Franks Red Hot wing sauce

1 cup blue cheese

2 cups Jack cheese, grated

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 or 3 celery sticks, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

Directions

Cook chicken breasts. I usually boil them for about 1.5 hours in water seasoned with garlic salt and pepper. Shred warm chicken using two forks.

Sauté garlic, celery and onion in 1 tablespoon oil until onion is almost translucent and celery is almost cooked.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the warm cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, and  hot sauce. Stir garlic/onion mixture into the cream cheese mixture.

In a casserole dish, spread a small amount of cream cheese mixture in the bottom of the dish (about 1/3 of a cup.) Place a layer of tortillas, a layer of chicken, a layer of jack cheese, a sprinkle of blue cheese, and a layer of cream cheese mixture. Continue the layers ending with a layer of the cream cheese mixture topped with the remaining jack cheese and blue cheese on top. Depending on the size of your dish, this should be about 3 layers.

Bake at 350° for about 35-45 minutes or until edges are bubbly. Let cool 5 minutes and serve.

Granola

Ingredients

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup canola oil

4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup sun flower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped almonds

1/3 cup shredded coconut

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, mix together syrup, honey and oil, set aside. In a very large mixing bowl combine oats, wheat germ, sun flower seeds, cranberries, and almonds. Pour syrup mixture into oats and toss to coat.

Spread onto a large baking sheet and bake at 325°oven for 50 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Stir in coconut and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of honey on top of mixture during the last 7 minutes of baking. The oat mixture should be well browned when done. Store in an airtight container. Stores for about 2 weeks.

Easy Filled Pastry

"Pop Tart"

Crust Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg (slightly beaten)

2 tablespoons whole milk

2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter (unsalted)

Raw Sugar

Crust Directions

In a food processor pulse together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the beaten egg and pulse about 5 times (if you do not have a food processor, use a fork.) Add the milk and pulse about 5-7 times (make sure the flour is not clumpy at this point.) Pour flour mixture into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or large fork, squish the butter into the flour just until blended (the butter should be about pea size or slightly larger.) You want big chunks of butter to show (the batter will not look like bread dough, it will appear as though it is not holding together). Pour out on to a slightly floured surface. Squeeze it together into a ball (do not knead.) Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place dough in the refrigerator for about an hour.

When ready to use, place the dough ball on the counter for approximately 5-7 minutes. Roll dough out on a slightly floured surface to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut into even rectangles. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of every other rectangle. Using your finger, rub water on the edges of the filled rectangle. Place another rectangle on top of the filled rectangle, press lightly around the edges. Using a fork, press the tines into the edges to create a bound and pretty edge. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Using the fork, make a few holes in the top of the rectangle. Bake at 325° for about 15-17 minutes or until edges are a very light brown. Let cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack or parchment paper.

Filling Ingredients

Any jam or jelly will work for the filling. Or make the brown sugar filling below.

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

Filling Direction

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. Place about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of ingredients per rectangle.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups grated zucchini

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

Combine sugar, eggs, oil and zucchini and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine flour, soda, salt baking powder and cinnamon.

Pour flour mixture into zucchini.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour.

Note:  Zucchini freezes very well. Peal and shred zucchini in the summer when it is abundant and freeze in two cup packages. When ready to use, allow to thaw and dump entire contents into bread recipe.

Not so magic ....

Just so you know, not all cooking experiences will be brilliant or fantastic. Take tonight for example; I made soup that tasted terrible. I wasn't paying attention and it burned. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to cook. So if something fails or doesn't turn out quite like you think it should, don't fret. Just chalk it up to a learning experience and try again another day.

Overnight Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Cake Mixture

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup shortening

1 egg

Topping

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped nuts

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Grease and flour a 9" round baking pan

Combine all ingredients under cake mixture. Mix on low speed with an electric mixer until moistened. Mix for 3 minutes. Spread in prepared pan.

Blend topping ingredients together and sprinkle over batter.

Cover and refrigerate over night.

Bake in 350° degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in middle comes out clean. Drizzle with glaze before serving.

Wheat Bread

Partly whole-wheat slightly sweet

Ingredients

1 cup warm water (110-115°)

1 tablespoon milk (warmed)

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1½  cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1½  cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Directions

Stir first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bow. Add both flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic - about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth.

Eat it while still warm! Bread may be frozen until needed. Refrigeration is recommended as homemade bread molds quickly.

Yield 1 loaf