St. Patrick’s Day Round-up 2023

Oh my goodness ya’ll…St. Patrick’s Day is only 7 days away. Tomorrow I will be starting my annual St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon. Yup, I’ll be sharing one lovely Irish-y recipe everyday with you, right up to the big day Thursday March 17th! And this year it’s going to be just a wee bit extra. I was fortunate enough to visit Ireland between last St. Patrick’s and this. Hadn’t been there in ten years, so a visit was well past due! So not only will I be sharing a bunch of delicious recipes, but I will also share a travel pic or two as well as some travel recommendations just to inspire you all the more. So make sure you tune in daily!

My First View of Ireland in 10 years!

Now I think managing to publish one recipe daily for six days straight is a pretty impressive feat. But, a few years ago I was completely mad and used to start on March 1st and do a new recipe each day until March 17th. That is why you can find over 100 delicious St. Patrick’s Day recipes on my blog. If you’d like to take a peek at my past St. Patrick’s Day posts, you can click Runcible Eat/Recipes up at the top navigation bar and scroll down to the St. Patrick’s Day category. That’s where you’ll find them! And stay tuned here for my latest additions this year. Today I thought I might inspire you with some of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day dishes from years past. I’d like to first remind you of the dishes on deck last year in case you missed them:

Vegetarian Cottage Pie and Brown Bread

Irish Whiskey Cake

Guinness Punch

Whiskey Butter Tarts

Baileys Tres Leches Cupcakes

And I’ll follow up with some bread:

Classic Irish Soda Bread

Theresa’s Prize-Winning Scones w/Strawberry Jam & Clotted Cream

Struan

Classic Irish Soda Bread, Theresa’s Scones & Struan

And here are some drool worthy mains:

Chicken Skink

Guinness Braised Beef Sandwiches on Waterford Blaa

Irish Ale Potato Cheddar Soup w/Beer Battered Leeks

Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

Dublin Coddle

Guinness Beef Stew

Irish Stew

Smithwick’s Beef & Cheddar Pies

Chicken Skink, Guinness Beef Sandwiches, Potato Cheddar Soup, Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup, Dublin Coddle, Guinness Beef Stew, Irish Stew, Smithwicks Beef & Cheddar Pies

I wouldn’t want to forget the sides:

Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests

Champ

Corned Beef Potato Nests & Champ

And now for the decadent desserts:

Baileys Bite sized Cheesecakes

Chocolate dipped Baileys Pistachio Shortbread

Guinness Pretzel Truffles

Guinness Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baileys Salted Caramel Pots de Crème w/Baileys Whipped Cream

Baileys Cheesecakes, Baileys Shortbread, Guinness Truffles, Guinness Chocolate Chips, Baileys Pots de Crème

And last but not least….something to wash it all down with:

Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail

Guinness Hot Chocolate topped w/ Homemade Guinness Marshmallows

Whiskey & Orange Oat Cream Toddy

Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail, Guinness Hot Chocolate, Whiskey Toddy

Is your mouth watering yet? Quite the galleries of goodies if I do say so myself. And there are many more recipes to be found on my blog as well as seven new ones starting tomorrow! Along with some lovely pictures of the Emerald Isle and my travel recommendations. Don’t miss out!

Orange Cranberry Filled Wool Roll Bread

Oh my goodness! Just look at this gorgeous Orange Cranberry Filled Wool Roll Bread! You’ve likely seen a loaf of this impressive bread before. It took the internet by storm earlier this year and folks were instagramming it not stop. I gotta tell you, there is a good reason for its popularity among bakers. Not only does this bread look amazing, like a wool roll in fact, but it also delivers on taste. Beneath the crispy light crust, your teeth are going to sink into the most pillowy soft, cloud like bread you have ever had the pleasure of tasting. And is completely customizable. I made this one with a delicate swirl of cream cheese and left over Boozy Orange Cranberry Sauce.

But this bread works fantastically with any filling you can dream up, whether sweet or savory. Yup…you could do chocolate, Nutella, cinnamon and sugar or any flavor of jam. You might want try mozzarella and basil pesto, maybe some gruyere and herbs. Seriously – you can’t go wrong!

Today is February 1st. This particular day lies half way between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is St. Brigid’s Day. Brigid is one of Ireland’s three patron saints along with St. Colmcille and St. Patrick. Starting this year, Ireland will be marking her Feast Day with a new permanent Bank Holiday on the first Monday in February, which is February 6th this year. Hooray! Who doesn’t like more holidays?!! According to Irish hagiography, Brigid was an early Christian nun & abbess who preformed many miracles. She also shares the name with an important Celtic goddess who is associated with the festival of Imbolc which was celebrated at this time as well, which suggests that the early church might have adopted the legends of the goddess and transformed them into the Christian persona. Interesting huh? I don’t know how many of you folks out there remembered to put a scarf out last night. You see on St. Brigid’s Eve you should always place a scarf or other piece of fabric outside.

When Brigid passes over the land that night she will bless it. You then can fetch it back inside the next day and thanks to Brigid, it has the power to protect and heal headaches, sore throats and fevers throughout the coming year! What with all the Covid still lurking around, I wasn’t going to take any chances. My little scarf was frozen solid this morning, but is happily thawing away now, freshly imbued with healing powers. As I mentioned, today marks the festival of Imbolc as well as Candlemas, both of which are associated with fertility, fire, purification and weather divination. And speaking of weather divination, tomorrow my favourite varmint, Punxsutawney Phil, will be stepping out of his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob and letting everyone know if there will be 6 more weeks of winter or if instead Spring is on the way.

One extraordinary rodent!

I don’t know if good ole Phil will see his shadow tomorrow or not. I must admit, I’m kind of hoping he predicts more winter. We haven’t really seen a winter at all this year. We had a few days of really cold weather, but only a few. And barely a flurry at all. Certainly no snow accumulation. I love winter, so I am feeling a bit cheated. But no worries, I might have some plans to head out to a really cold destination in the future, so even if Spring is on its way here, I’ll get my snow fix regardless! So this is quite an auspicious time of year! I’m very happy to be marking another event today as well. February 1st just happens to be the 11th year anniversary of  the my cooking blog! Yup… Eleven years ago today I posted my first recipe. It was for Cream Tea Scones with Currants.

I’ve managed to do an anniversary post nearly every year since. Pretty impressive considering how slack I can be! Last year I shared another Cranberry focused dish – this exquisite Cranberry Chiffon Pie!

And a couple of years ago I was all about this rich & creamy Ground Beef Chili with Chocolate & Peanut Butter. Get. out!

And the year before, I posted about these scrumptious Morning Buns!

One of my favorite recipes that I shared with you on an anniversary was: Model Bakery’s English Muffins:

Then there were those decadent  Banana Rum Muffins:

That jaw-dropping, over the top Crack Pie:

And who can forget that magical “caviar of the South” – Pasture’s Pimento Cheese. Keep this one in mind for the Super Bowl!

But let me get back to today’s recipe – That magnificent Orange Cranberry Filled Wool Roll Bread.

This bread is made with a tangzhong, which you can actually prepare up to five days ahead of time. Tangzhong is an Asian yeast bread technique in which you cook a small percentage of liquid and flour. Think of it kind of like a roux. Once this mixture has cooled down, you add it to the rest of the ingredients. What will this technique do for your recipe? Well, it pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, meaning they can absorb more water. In fact, the flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it would with the cool/lukewarm water or milk that you’d usually use in yeast dough. And the starch is able to hold onto this extra liquid all through the kneading, baking and cooling process. This not only makes the dough less sticky and easier to work with than usual yeast doughs, but the bread will also rise higher since that retained liquid is turned to internal steam during baking. Furthermore your bread will be softer as well as have a longer shelf life. I can definitely vouch that this dough is easy to work with. In order to get that roll of wool appearance you have to divide the risen dough into 4 pieces, roll them out and then cut the bottom half of each piece into little strips or fringe. I was thinking “Good Lord. This is going to be one of those fiddly endeavors that I hate.” But nope! Super easy. Wow, right?!!! But don’t take my word for it (actually you kind of should…) give this recipe a whirl!

• Servings: one 9 inch round loaf
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe from: customized from King Arthur Baking

Ingredients:

For the Tangzhong (starter)

• 3 tablespoons (43 grams) water
• 3 tablespoons (43 grams) milk, whole preferred
• 2 tablespoons (14 grams) bread flour

For the Dough

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) milk, whole preferred
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon (9 grams) instant yeast
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
• 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) bread flour

For the Filling

• half an 8-ounce package (113 grams) cream cheese, softened*
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
• zest (grated rind) of 2 medium lemons
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons (4 grams) freeze-dried raspberries, lightly crushed
• 2 tablespoons (15 grams) bread flour

*The cream cheese should be at warm room temperature, at least 68°F.

*For the bread pictured above I simply mixed 113 grams of softened cream cheese with a pinch of salt and 3 Tablespoons of Boozy Orange Cranberry sauce and 2 tablespoons of bread flour.

Topping

• 2 tablespoons (28 grams) milk, whole preferred

Instructions:

To make the tangzhong: Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.

Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly, until thickened, paste-like, and the spoon or spatula leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This should take 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the strength of your burner.

Remove the tangzhong from the heat and transfer it to a large mixing bowl, the bowl of a stand mixer, or the bucket of a bread machine (whatever you plan to knead the dough in).

To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Place the flour into the bowl with the tangzhong and add the remaining dough ingredients. Mix to combine, then knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until a soft, smooth dough forms, about 8 to 10 minutes on medium-low speed of a mixer. (The dough may be tacky and stick to the sides of the bowl slightly; that’s OK.)

Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl or dough rising bucket, covered, for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

To make the filling: Combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, and salt, mixing until smooth.

Add the freeze-dried raspberries and flour, mixing until the berries are completely crushed and evenly distributed.

To assemble: On a lightly floured surface, gently deflate the dough, divide it into four pieces (about 170 grams each), and shape each piece into a ball.

Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes.

Line a 9″ springform or a 9” round cake pan (at least 2” deep) with parchment and lightly grease the parchment.

Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a 6” x 12” rectangle. If the dough begins to snap back during rolling, set it aside and begin rolling out the second piece. Return to the first piece to continue rolling it to the full size after a couple of minutes, giving the gluten a chance to relax.

Portion 2 heaping tablespoons of filling (about 50grams) onto the top half of the rectangle. A tablespoon cookie dough scoop works well here; use two rounded scoops per piece of dough.

Position the rectangle so its 12” sides are vertical. Starting at the top, spread the filling across the entire width of the rectangle (leaving about 1/4” bare on each side) and down about 6” or 7”, leaving the bottom 5” to 6” bare. If the filling is difficult to spread, warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir; check the consistency. Repeat, if necessary, until it’s an easily spreadable consistency.

Using a bench or chef’s knife or a pastry wheel, cut the uncovered dough at the bottom into very thin strips (anywhere from 1/8” to 1/4″ wide).

Fold the long edges of the rectangle in to prevent any filling from seeping out.

Starting from the filling-covered top and rolling toward the uncovered strips, roll the dough into a log about 6” long.

Lightly press the strips into the rolled log to secure. Place the log, seam-side down, into the bottom of the pan so it’s snuggled up against the pan’s outside edge.

Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, placing them into the pan to form a complete circle around the pan’s outside edge.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cover the wool roll and let it rise for 60 to 75 minutes, until puffy.

To finish and bake the roll: Brush the roll with milk, being careful not to deflate the delicate dough.

Bake it for 28 to 32 minutes, until it’s golden brown on top; a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf should read at least 190°F.

Remove the roll from the oven and cool it in the pan until you can transfer it safely to a rack to cool completely.

Storage information: Store leftover wool roll bread, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days.

Enjoy!

Useful links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Orange Cranberry Filled Wool Roll Bread:

Oxo Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Lavatools Javelin Pro Instant Read Thermometer

6 Quart Dough Rising Bucket

OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Norpro Ravioli/Pastry Wheel

Hornazo de Salamanca

Woah! Here it is nearly Easter already! Yesterday was Good Friday to be specific. So anyone who knows me, knows that yesterday I was busy baking my Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns.

They are so tasty and if you bake them on Good Friday, they actually have some magical properties. With the past few years we’ve had, I need all the magic I can get! For my featured Easter delicacy this year I am sharing a recipe from Spain. Hornazo de Salamanca is a yeast bread which has been stuffed with spicy chorizo, hard boiled eggs and serrano ham.

Yummy right?! Think of it as a large empanada or a Spanish meat pie.

And this bread is not only delicious, it has a fascinating, rather bawdy story to tell as well. Bawdy and Easter? Yup. But before I get into all the salacious details, let me give you a roundup of all the Easter Breads from years past. You see, I have been on a roll (ha ha – you’ll get it with the next few words) making Easter Breads (get it? roll…bread…) from around the world. I was tempted to stray from my Easter Bread path last year by this stunning Malted Chocolate Easter Cake.

But a couple years ago I gave you Polish Babka.

And the year before that was Cozonac – Romanian Easter Bread.

Don’t forget my  Italian Easter Bread:

Or that amazing Tsoureki from Greece:

There was the Slovak Paska:

And then quite a few years ago, I tried my hand at this impressive Russian Kulich:

But let me get back to that Hornazo de Salamanca. This bread is pretty easy to make. I have included a link at the bottom of the recipe for a handy video that shows you how it is done. The video is in Spanish, but you’ll definitely benefit rom seeing all of the steps. And for me, the video was essential for figuring out how to do the top lattice decoration.

The filling used in the video is slightly different than what I used in that I did hard boiled eggs rather than marinated pork loin fillets. But as is usually the case with traditional recipes, each and every household likely has its own version, which is great. You can customize it to your particular taste. Don’t like spicy chorizo? Use a milder sausage. Do be aware, this bread does need to rest for a few hours before serving, so it would actually be best if you bake it the day before you want to serve it.

Truth be told this bread is not actually eaten on Easter, but rather it is enjoyed on the Monday after Easter in the provinces of Salamanca and Ávila. Folks there take a loaf or two of freshly baked hornazo and maybe a bottle or two of good wine out to the countryside where it is enjoyed with family and friends. The reason why they do this on the Monday after Easter is where that bawdiness I mentioned previously comes in.

Alrighty, so here we go. Apparently was back in the mid 16th century, Salamanca was a university town and had quite the flourishing red light district. When King Felipe II visited, he became concerned that all of this illicit activity this would distract the men of the town away from their religious observations during the Lent season. So, he decreed that the Padre Putas (father of whores), a cleric who had been appointed to look after the welfare of the working girls (I swear, I am not joshing you at all! This was an actual coveted appointment back in the day.), would accompany these ladies across the Tormes River outside of town, where they would remain until Easter was over. On the Monday after Easter, the students of the town, who had no doubt been very lonely this whole time, decorated boats which the Padre Putas and his lovely charges would board for their welcomed journey back across the river to the town. Many folks would be waiting on the river bank for their return and made a bit of a picnic out of it bringing this Hornazo with them to share. This festival is called Lunes de Aguas (Monday of the Waters), but it actually a bit of a play on the word aqua. Enagua in the word for petticoat. So really it was a celebration of Monday of the Petticoats!

So there you have it! A risqué Easter story and a delicious bread filled with eggs and sausages. Seems about right huh? I hope you were as amused with this bit of history as I was and that you will bake up some tasty Hornazo de Salamanca for Lunes de Aguas. Happy Easter ya’ll!

• Servings: 8-10
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: Cocinando a mi manera

Ingredients:

For the bread:

• 750 grams of all purpose flour
• 150 ml of olive oil
• 1/4 cup +1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 125 ml white wine, room temperature
• 125 ml warm water (around 95°F)
• 8.25 grams instant yeast
• 10 grams salt
• generous pinch of sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature and beaten

For the filling:

• 300 grams serrano ham
• 300 grams chorizo
• 6 hard boiled eggs, sliced or chopped as you prefer

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place warm water, olive oil, butter and white wine in a bowl and stir together. Then add the sugar, salt and 2/3rds of the beaten eggs. Mix well.

In another large bowl, place flour and yeast. Stir to combine. Make a depression in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour the liquids into the well and start to mix, incorporating flour from the sides until a dough begins to form. Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and continue kneading until a soft pliable ball forms.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Let rise until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.

Turn the risen dough out onto a floured surface and pat into an approximate 12″ circle. Cut a bit of the dough off and set aside to use for the top decoration. Divide the remaining dough in half.

Roll one of the dough halves into a roughly 15×13″ rectangle. Transfer the rolled dough to the prepared baking sheet. Trim any excess dough from the edges so that it fits on the tray.

Arrange the ham, chorizo and hard boiled eggs over the dough, leaving a 1″ border.

Roll the other bit of dough out to a slightly smaller rectangle to fit on top. Place it over top of the filling and then press the edges to seal completely, either folding or crimping with a fork.

Roll out the dough you have reserved for decorating the top of the Hornazo. Cut little slashes in rows, offsetting one row slightly from the row above it to form a lattice pattern. Take a look at the video link at the bottom of the recipe to see how this is done. Or you can simply criss cross strips of dough or come up with another decoration that you prefer.

Paint the top of the Hornazo with the reserved egg wash. Prick the dough evenly with a fork to allow steam to escape.

Place the Hornazo in the preheated oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until it is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool. It is best to let it rest for a couple of hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Links for Helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Hornazo de Salamanca:

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Thermapen Instant Read Thermometer by Thermoworks

6 Quart Dough Rising Bucket

SAF Instant Yeast

Dough Scraper

Banana & Nutella Fancy French Toast

Would you just look at this decadent breakfast dish! Sakes alive that looks yummy huh? What you got here is a smear of cream cheese and a dollop of Nutella along with a handful of bananas sandwiched between two slices of French Toast! Now you might be thinking “that had to be for a fancy occasion”, but nope not really. Well I might have had today in mind when I made this, but the day was any old Sunday and I just happened to have the ingredients on hand.

So I gotta ask….are there any Nutella fans out there? Cause let me tell you I love me some Nutella! I actually didn’t even know it existed until I was living in Ireland and my friend Theresa had a jar. I watched with amazement as she spread it over her toast. I was like “What! You can eat chocolate on toast!” I had no idea it was a thing. Yup, love at first bite. And putting two great tastes like Banana & Nutella together is a no brainer for sure.

It is not by chance that I’m blogging a recipe which features Nutella today. Today February 5th is World Nutella Day. This celebration of all things Nutella was started in 2007 by Sara at Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle at Bleeding Espresso as a day to celebrate, get creative with and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.

A couple of years ago, the founders have transferred Nutella Day to Ferrero the company who owns that most beloved spread. Take a peek at their Facebook page and see how folks are celebrating the day! I love Nutella so I usually try to participate with a Nutella laden recipe every year. One of my favorite Nutella creations was this Nutella, Double Chocolate & Banana Tart which was quite stunning if I do say so myself.

And since we’re talking about that winning Nutella and banana combination, just looks at these delicious Homemade Banana Toaster Tarts drizzled with Nutella

And how do you like this big ole Malted Nutella & Biscoff Brownie Torte 

Then there was this gorgeous Nutella Star Bread:

And some amazing Nutella Chocolate Chip Babka:

And I don’t want to forget these irresistible Salted Peanut Butter & Nutella Sandwich Cookies – sweet salty bliss I tell you!

But back to todays Banana & Nutella Fancy French Toast. Easy to make, it is remarkable how it transforms an average day into something fancy. So I say treat yourself to a fancy breakfast feast today. Make sure you pour some bubbles as well. Life is short and you’re worth it!

• Servings: 4 French Toast Sandwiches
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 8 slices French bread (1/2 inch thick)
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 1 medium banana, sliced
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Optional toppings: Confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup, fresh mint leaves, additional banana slices additional Nutella, whipped cream

Directions:

Begin by making sandwiches. On each of 4 of the bread slices, spread cream cheese and Nutella to within 1/2 in. of edges. Top with banana slices and remaining bread.

In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat butter over medium-low heat. Dip both sides of sandwiches in egg mixture, allowing each side to soak 30 seconds. Place soaked sandwiches in skillet; toast until golden brown, 4-5 minutes on each side. If desired, serve with toppings.

Enjoy!

Apple Pie-Cake

Oh ya’ll…it’s almost the day. This is my penultimate (love to use that word) recipe for St. Patrick’s Day 2021 and boy is it a goodie. I give you (drum roll please) Apple-Pie Cake! Completely irresistible, it is chock-full of apples and warm comfy spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Now you might ask “Is it a Pie or a Cake”. Let me tell you – it is the best of both worlds. A perfect marriage of pie and cake. And I, for one, am just thrilled they got together!

I got the recipe for this Apple-Pie Cake from one of my best friends, Theresa Storey, who just happens to also be a best selling, award winning author! A couple of years ago, Theresa published her first cookbook where you can find the recipe for this scrumptious treat along with over 100 other delicious seasonal fruit recipes. It is called Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen.

Theresa runs a business, The Green Apron, which is an artisan preserve company. She grows much of the fruit and vegetables she uses in her preserves at her family’s orchards at Derryclough and in the walled vegetable garden at her parents 18th Century castle, Glenwilliam.

Her award-winning preserves are made in small batches by traditional methods using locally sourced, organic produce where possible and without artificial preservatives, colours or setting agents. The Green Apron has won 15 Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards, 7 International Great Taste awards and is listed not only in McKenna’s Guide, but also in Georgina Campbell’s Guide. The Green Apron is also now offering workshops on sustainable living, preserving and bee keeping.

Theresa’s book, Fruit on the Table is a top 10 best-selling cookbook in Ireland , has won a Gourmond award there and has been selected to compete for an International Gourmond award. In her book, Theresa follows the seasons and tells you how best to keep fruit on your table all year round. It is an absolute treasure trove, filled not only with her family recipes for jams, jellies and chutneys but it also runs the full gambit of meals, including recipes for cocktails, snacks , mains and going all the way through to desserts. And it doesn’t stop with the mouthwateringly delicious recipes, Fruit on the Table also gives you the low down on growing your own fruit, the ins and outs of preserving, tips on foraging as well as drying fruit. I’m proud to be sharing this recipe from her book. I have shared quite a few over the years, but I’m telling you, they’re only the tip of the iceberg. You’ve just gotta get ahold of this essential cookbook. And if you find yourself in Limerick, you simply must stop by the Limerick Milk Market and pay the Green Apron shop a visit!

And speaking of those Green Apron recipes that I’ve shared before, let me just remind you of a few. A couple of years ago, I kicked off my St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon with her Prize-Winning Scones with Strawberry Jam & Clotted Cream.

I told you about her Batley Cake

which I filled with her deletable boozy Irish Whiskey Marmalade (also used to fill these tarts.

And this year, I’m sharing her wonderful, Irish country kitchen style Apple-Pie Cake.

It was so quick and easy to make. I’d wager you already have the ingredients in your kitchen and could just whip this up in a flash.

As far as serving, it is so versatile. Warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream does nicely. Room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream. Or just as it is with a wee dusting of confectioners sugar. For dessert, for breakfast, for a snack (afternoon or midnight). I think you get it. So what are ya’ll waiting for? Get to baking this amazing Apple Pie-Cake today!

• Servings: 4-6
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe from: Fruit on the Table: Seasonal recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen by Theresa Storey

Ingredients:

• 60 grams (2 oz.) butter
• 140 grams (5 oz.) sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 110 grams (4 oz.) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 60 grams (2 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 2 medium eating apples (cored and diced) about 2 cups

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas 4) and grease a 9″ (23 cm) pie dish.

Melt the butter and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and egg and mix with a spoon until well combined.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients. (It will look like there is way too much apple, but that’s fine.)

Spoon the batter into the pie dish and carefully flatten it out – it’s very lumpy and sticky.

Bake for 40 -45 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool and serve straight from the pie dish.

Enjoy!

Links for helpful kitchen tools & ingredients for Apple Pie-Cake:

Fruit on the Table: Seasonal recipes from the Green Apron kitchen by Theresa Storey

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Roundup!

Oh my goodness ya’ll…St. Patrick’s Day is only 7 days away. Tomorrow I will be starting my annual St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon. Yup, I’ll be sharing one lovely Irish-y recipe everyday with you, right up to the big day Wednesday March 17th! Now I think managing to publish one recipe daily for seven days straight is a pretty impressive feat. But, a few years ago I was completely mad and used to start on March 1st and do a new recipe each day until March 17th. That is why you can find over 100 delicious St. Patrick’s Day recipes on my blog. If you’d like to take a peek at my past St. Patrick’s Day posts, you can click Runcible Eat/Recipes up at the top navigation bar and scroll down to the St. Patrick’s Day category. That’s where you’ll find them! And stay tuned here for my latest additions this year. Today I thought I might inspire you with some of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day dishes from years past. We’ll start it off with some bread:

• 

  Classic Irish Soda Bread

• 

  Theresa’s Prize-Winning Scones w/Strawberry Jam & Clotted Cream

Classic Irish Soda Bread & Theresa’s Scones

And here are some drool worthy mains:

• 

  Chicken Skink

• 

  Guinness Braised Beef Sandwiches on Waterford Blaa

• 

  Irish Ale Potato Cheddar Soup w/Beer Battered Leeks

• 

  Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

• 

  Dublin Coddle

• 

  Guinness Beef Stew

• 

  Irish Stew

• 

  Smithwick’s Beef & Cheddar Pies

Chicken Skink, Guinness Beef Sandwiches, Potato Cheddar Soup, Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup, Dublin Coddle, Guinness Beef Stew, Irish Stew, Smithwicks Beef & Cheddar Pies

I wouldn’t want to forget the sides:

• 

  Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests

• 

  Champ

Corned Beef Potato Nests & Champ

And take a peek at these decadent desserts:

• 

  Baileys Bite sized Cheesecakes

• 

  Chocolate dipped Baileys Pistachio Shortbread

• 

  Guinness Pretzel Truffles

• 

  Guinness Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 

  Baileys Salted Caramel Pots de Crème w/Baileys Whipped Cream

Baileys Cheesecakes, Baileys Shortbread, Guinness Truffles, Guinness Chocolate Chips, Baileys Pots de Crème

And last but not least…something to wash it all down with:

• 

  Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail

• 

  Guinness Hot Chocolate topped w/ Homemade Guinness Marshmallows

• 

  Whiskey & Orange Oat Cream Toddy

Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail, Guinness Hot Chocolate, Whiskey Toddy

Is your mouth watering yet? Quite the galleries of goodies if I do say so myself. And there are many more recipes to be found on my blog as well as seven new ones starting tomorrow! Don’t miss out!

P.S. I tried to get links to the recipe added to the pictures, but with my limited skills, was unable to make it work. You can find links to the pictured recipes in the gallery captions. Sorry ’bout that!

Homemade Banana Filled Toaster Tarts with Nutella Frosting

Whoa! Homemade Banana Toaster Tarts with Nutella Frosting? Get out! Yet here they are. Fresh from the oven. And although I look back fondly on those legendary store-bought breakfast pastries of my youth – this has got them beaten hands down! The crust is buttery and flaky perfection. Not anything like I remember from childhood. And I stuffed all of that gorgeous crust full of this amazing Banana Jam. That’s right…Banana. Jam. I had no idea Banana Jam even existed! But it does and I am so delighted with it.

And as if that wasn’t enough, these little darlings are heavily drizzled with a luscious Nutella frosting. O.M.G. So I gotta ask….are there any Nutella fans out there? Cause let me tell you I love me some Nutella! I actually didn’t even know it existed until I was living in Ireland and my friend Theresa had a jar. I watched with amazement as she spread it over her toast. I was like “What! You can eat chocolate on toast!” I had no idea it was a thing. Yup, love at first bite. And putting two great tastes like Banana & Nutella together is a no brainer for sure.

It is not by chance that I’m blogging a recipe which features Nutella today. Today February 5th is World Nutella Day. This celebration of all things Nutella was started in 2007 by Sara at Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle at Bleeding Espresso as a day to celebrate, get creative with and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.

A couple of years ago, the founders have transferred Nutella Day to Ferrero the companywho owns that most beloved spread. Take a peek at their Facebook page and see how folks are celebrating the day! I love Nutella so I usually try to participate with a Nutella laden recipe every year. One of my favorite Nutella creations was this Nutella, Double Chocolate & Banana Tart which was quite stunning if I do say so myself.

Last year I baked this big ole Malted Nutella & Biscoff Brownie Torte 

Then there was this gorgeous Nutella Star Bread:

And some amazing Nutella Chocolate Chip Babka:

And I don’t want to forget these irresistible Salted Peanut Butter & Nutella Sandwich Cookies – sweet salty bliss I tell you!

But let me get back to my featured recipe today: Banana Filled Toaster Tarts with Nutella Frosting. The Husband and I were pretty much rendered speechless at first bite.OMG! Seriously – you will be in Pop Tart heaven! The pastry is to die for. It just melts in your mouth. The ooey-gooey Banana Jam is completely out of this world and that Nutella Drizzle is just sheer perfection! I especially love that this Nutella frosting is a bit like royal frosting, in that it sets up after a few hours. So you can actually stack these Toaster Tarts for storage – as if you will have any left to store after your first bite!

This recipe is pretty easy to make. It does have a lot of steps, but they are worth it. I have included a link at the end of the recipe for an informative video by King Arthur Flour featuring Chef Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery. I highly recommend that you watch it before making the pastry crust. She demonstrates the frissage technique which will prevent you from overworking the dough and will result in those lovely flaky layers of pastry.

I also love this recipe because it is very customizable. Switch up the filling to cinnamon sugar or use any of your favorite jams if banana isn’t your thing. Let your imagination run wild! Whatever you choose, it will undoubtedly elevate the meager Pop Tart. Now don’t get me wrong, I certainly ate my fair share of Pop Tarts when I was a kid. I loved the cinnamon sugar variety and of course the Chocolate Fudge Frosted ones. The Husband and I even currently have a box of Pop Tarts on the top shelf in one of the kitchen cabinets. Though truth be told, they’ve been there untouched for about 12 years now. We call them the Apocalypse Tarts or Pop Tarts of Doom, because it would take that sort of a situation for us to be at all interested in eating them. I guess it is somewhat comforting to know that they are there. But believe me, I predict my Home-made version will not last through the day!

Come to think about it, those tarts from our childhood were not actually very tasty at all, by our grown self’s standards. The crust was kind of cardboard-y and the frosting a tad on the plastic side. Yet you can’t help but look back on them fondly. So these homemade Toaster Tarts will with their tender buttery crust, decadent banana filling and indulgent Nutella topping will put you completely over the moon. Time to enjoy some absolutely deliciously elevated childhood nostalgia. Happy Nutella Day everyone!

Homemade Banana Toaster Tarts with Nutella Frosting

• Servings: 9
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: King Arthur Flour Nutella Frosting from: Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

• 2 cups (241 grams) All purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon (11 grams) sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 16 tablespoons (227 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pats
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons (28 grams) milk

For the Filling:

• 8 ounces of Banana Jam (info on where to buy it in links below or substitute in the jam of your choosing)
• 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
• 1 Tablespoon Cold Water

Alternative Filling:

• 1/2 cup (106g) brown sugar, packed
• 4 teaspoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 egg, beaten – to brush over pastry before filling

For the Frosting:

• 1 cups (120 grams) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (50 grams) Nutella
• 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream or milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Directions:

For the dough:

Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with pecan-sized lumps of butter still visible. Mix the egg and milk, and add it to the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a rough 3″ x 5″ rectangle, smoothing the edges. Wrap in plastic or waxed paper, and refrigerate for 30 minutes; this will relax the gluten and firm up the dough a bit, making it easier to roll. You can also refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days; let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature before you roll it out.

For the Filling:

Combine 3/4 cup (8 ounces) Banana jam (or jam of your choice) with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

For the cinnamon sugar filling:

Whisk together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Assembling the pastries:

Place one piece of the dough on a generously floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8″ thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9″ x 12″. Trim off the edges and set aside to use later. Place the 9″ x 12″ rectangle of dough aside as well on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Press the edge of a ruler into the dough you’ve just rolled, to gently score it in thirds lengthwise and width-wise; you’ll see nine 3″ x 4″ rectangles.

Beat the egg, and brush it over the entire surface of the dough. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each marked rectangle. I used a cookie scoop to do this.

Roll the second piece of dough and trim, just as you did the first. Score it as yo did the first peice. Place it evenly over the first piece of dough and filling. Then, using your fingertips or a chopstick to press firmly around each pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides.

Cut the dough evenly as you scored it, between the filling mounds to make nine tarts. Press the cut edges with your fingers to seal, then press with a fork or chopstick to seal again.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate them, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (if you are making the cinnamon sugar tarts you can sprinkle the tops lightly with the cinnamon sugar filling prior to refrigerating).

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Remove the tarts from the fridge. Brush remaining egg wash over the tops of the tarts. Bake them for 30 to 35 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan.

While the tarts are cooling, make the Nutella Frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat all of the ingredients together on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Place frosting in piping bag.

Once toaster tarts are completely cool, pipe drizzles of frosting over the top. The Nutella frosting will set at room temperature after 3 -4 hours. If you would like it to set sooner, just pop them into the fridge.

Enjoy!

Fun tip: Don’t throw the dough trimmings away! Instead, sprinkle them with cinnamon-sugar. While the tarts are chilling in the fridge, bake these trimmings for 13 -15 minutes, until they are golden brown. They make a delicious snack!

Here is that great video of Chef Joanne Chang making Toaster Tarts.

Links for helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Homemade Banana Filled Toaster Tarts with Nutella Frosting:

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Oxo Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Cuisinart Pro-Classic Food Processor

Oxo Multipurpose Scraper

Dough Rolling Mat

Pastry Wheel

OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Nutella Spread

Eat This Yum – Banana Jam – This jam is so delicious! The family owned & operated company in Pennsylvania makes natural small batch jams and marmalades. Don’t miss out on their Bacon Jam as well. And with each jar sold they contribute 5% to local volunteer fire fighters!

Bon Appétit’s Best Buttermilk Biscuits

I have been all about bread recently…Skillet Cornbread and then, most recently, Buttery Potato Burger Buns. And guess what? I must be on a roll (ha! pun intended), but I’m going to stay the course today and share a recipe with you for Buttermilk Biscuits. And not any ole buttermilk biscuits, but these golden delicious darlings happen to be Bon Appétit’s Best Buttermilk Biscuits!

Now I must admit the Husband and I do love our buttermilk biscuits and have always been on the lookout for the “best” recipe. I took a look back at my catalog of past recipes and found four different ones for the elusive best buttermilk biscuit. There were the Buttermilk Biscuits that I baked for my Spicy Pork & Chorizo Breakfast Biscuits

The Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

The Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

And finally those Buttermilk Biscuits that I baked to go with my Nashville Hot Chicken

That is a lot of Buttermilk Biscuits, no? So what makes these biscuits Bon Appétit’s best?  And perhaps more importantly are they our best? Well, there does not  seem to be any secret ingredient to be found in this recipe – it’s flour, butter, buttermilk, baking powder and soda, a little salt and sugar. Nope, it isn’t the ingredients. It is all about the technique. You need to use cold butter. You need to work quickly and have a very light touch. Overworking the dough will result in tough biscuits. Nobody wants that. Tender, fluffy & flaky are what we are going for!

As you are mixing these biscuits up, you are probably going to think that the recipe is too dry. Resist the urge to add any more buttermilk. Just continue to lightly work that shaggy, craggy, crumbly dough as best you can into a square that is 1″ tall. As the dough sits it will continue to hydrate. Believe me. I was skeptical as I was doing it, but it really does work! Another trick that makes these biscuits so irresistible is the stacking of the dough. This ends up creating layers of thin sheets of butter. Kind of like that laminated dough I told you about when I made these Spinach Croissants

It is these little butter rivers running through the dough that expand upon baking to create this lovely tall layers.

Final tip – when you cut the dough into biscuits, use a sharp blade and push your blade straight down to cut. Do not saw back and forth. This will help to give you biscuits the tallest rise possible.

And perhaps the best thing about this recipe for me is that you can make up a big batch of biscuits ahead of time and freeze them. Then when you get a hankering for a biscuit, be it for breakfast with some egg and sausage or even country ham, or slathered with butter and drizzled with honey or maybe to go along with your Sunday dinner, just grab however many you want out of the freezer and pop them right into a hot oven. A mere 20 -25 minutes later these exquisite golden tall flaky biscuits will be ready. Now you can’t beat that! But back to that question “Are these Buttermilk Biscuits our best?” Hmmm…these are definitely up there! They were so buttery & golden and rose so high with lots of flaky layers, but I’m not sure the quest is over. Certainly the continued pursuit will lead to even more biscuit sampling, which is always a good thing in my book!

• Servings: 9-12 depending on how big you cut them
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe from: Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces, plus more melted for brushing over the tops
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Pulse baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, and 3½ cups flour in a food processor to combine. Add chilled butter and pulse until largest pieces of butter are the size of a pea. Transfer to a large bowl and gradually drizzle buttermilk over top, tossing with a fork as you go to incorporate. Knead mixture a few times in bowl until a shaggy dough forms (mixture will look a little dry), then turn out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1″-thick square.

Using a knife or bench scraper, cut dough into 4 pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another, sandwiching any loose dry bits of dough between layers, and press down to flatten. Lift up dough with bench scraper and dust surface with flour. Roll dough into a 1″-thick rectangle and trim a thin border around sides of dough to create clean edges. Cut into a 4×3 grid to make 12 biscuits (don’t reroll scraps). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2″ apart; freeze 10 minutes.

Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if you desire and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400° and bake biscuits until deep golden brown on bottom and golden on top, 20–25 minutes.

Do Ahead: Biscuits (unbaked) can be made 1 month ahead. Freeze, uncovered, on baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Do not thaw before baking, but add a few minutes to baking time.

Enjoy!

Links for Helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Bon Appétit’s Best Buttermilk Biscuits:

Cuisinart Pro-Classic Food Processor

Oxo Multipurpose Scraper

Dough Rolling Mat

Spicy Taco Egg Cups

Woohoo! It’s Cinco de Mayo! And we’re still on lockdown! No drinking margaritas in the cantina for the Husband and I. Nope – looks like it might have to be shots of tequila on the couch. I guess we better get some food on the stomach if that’s the way it’s gonna go today. And I have just the thing: Spicy Taco Egg Cups!

These little firecrackers pack quite a punch! At least they do when I make ’em, ’cause we do love our spicy food. But don’t despair if you don’t – you can tame them down accordingly. Just don’t use any cayenne and use a very mild salsa. They will still have tons of flavor, just not as much of the “burns so good-ness” that we love.

While I’ve got you here I’d like to take the opportunity to remind you of some other great recipes that would be perfect for today such as my favorite Guacamole (there is a secret ingredient in it!)

Or how about this Tres Leches Cake with Dulce de Leche Glaze

And who could forget the Double Decker Taco Cupcakes

But let me get back to these little Taco Egg Cups. Here is another fantastic piece of information – they can actually be pretty low in calories if you concerned with the Covid 19 pounds that I’ve mentioned gaining while in quarantine. Just use lean ground beef and reduced fat cheese. There you have it, low calorie (around 100 -ish per cup) and tasty! They come together pretty quickly as well. So while you’re making a batch of these, have your quarantine buddy fire up the blender for some frozen Margaritas. Nine in the a.m. isn’t too early to start with the festivities is it? Cinco de Mayo will turn out just fine at home after all!

• Servings: 12 Egg Cups
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: Food Faith Fitness

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 Tablespoon Taco Seasoning
• 3/4 Cup Salsa (your choice, but I love Green Mountain Gringo)
• 6 Eggs
• 4 Egg whites (or 3/4 cup store bought prepackaged egg whites)
• Pinch of salt, pepper and cayenne if you like it spicy!
• 1 Cup Mexican Cheese Blend or Pepper Jack Cheese

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375°F and GENEROUSLY spray the wells of muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add in the ground beef and cook, breaking up, until no longer pink. Add in the taco seasoning and stir until well mixed.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salsa. Set aside.

In a large pyrex measuring cup, whisk together the eggs and egg whites with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture in the wells of the muffin tin, trying to distribute equally among the wells.

Spoon about 2 Tablespoons of the beef mixture into the muffin wells.

Finally, top each muffin cavity with 1 slightly heaping Tablespoon of the cheese.

Bake until the eggs are set and lightly golden brown, about 20-23 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and them carefully remove them from the muffin pan to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Spicy Taco Egg Cups brought to you today by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for Helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Spicy Taco Egg Cups:

OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup

Cupcake & Muffin Tin

Green Mountain Gringo Salsa – here is an Amazon link, though you can likely get this at your local grocery store.

Fruit Filled Morning Buns

Here it is…February already. And tomorrow, my favourite varmint, Punxsutawney Phil, will be stepping out of his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob and letting everyone know if there will be 6 more weeks of winter or if instead Spring is on the way. Now I think I can say with a fair amount of confidence, and much to my dismay, Spring is already here. There has really been no Winter to speak of this year. Total snow free zone! Given that, I must say I’m hoping that the little Punxsutawney critter sees his shadow!

One extraordinary rodent!

Phil & all the folks up in Punxsutawney aren’t the only ones celebrating now. February 1st, which falls half way between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, also marks the festivals of Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day and Candlemas, all of which are associated with fertility, fire, purification and weather divination. Quite an auspicious time of year! I’m very happy to be marking an event today as well. February 1st just happens to be the 9th year anniversary of  the my cooking blog! Yup… Nine years ago today I posted my first recipe. It was for Cream Tea Scones with Currants.

I’ve done an anniversary post nearly every year since.  One of my favorite recipes that I shared was: Model Bakery’s English Muffins:

Some of my other anniversary edition recipes are the completely decadent  Banana Rum Muffins:

That jaw-dropping, over the top Crack Pie:

And who can forget that magical “caviar of the South” –  Pasture’s Pimento Cheese:

Last year, I shared a recipe for English Muffin Toasting Bread, which is ridiculously easy to make and superb for toasting – just like a craggy English Muffin – but without all the work.

This year’s recipe, Fruit Filled Morning Buns, wasn’t as easy a recipe to pull off, but oh my stars was it worth it!

These delightful little devils are made with a yeasty dough, layered with butter, caramelized sugar, cinnamon and gooey chocolatey raspberry jam! And as if that weren’t enough, as soon as you pop them out of the oven you roll them in a bit more sugar. Breakfast bliss I tell you!

I should say here that you can use whatever your favorite preserves happen to be or even leave the jam part out all together. I had just made up a batch of scrumptious chocolate raspberry jam for Christmas, so I decided to go with that. I chose to spread a thin layer of jam over the dough before rolling it up, however you can also just spread the butter/sugar mixture over the dough and add a dollop of jam on top of the bun prior to baking.

These treats were definitely worth the effort, but there was without a doubt, effort going on. You see, these buns are made with Baker’s Croissant Dough. This type of dough is a yeasted laminated dough. Basically you mix up a yeasted dough, roll it out and place a layer of butter on top of it. You then enclose the butter within the dough and proceed to roll it out and fold it over and over again. This creates a dough which has multiple alternating layers of dough and butter. The butter evaporates when baked and that is what forms all those lovely flaky layers in a croissant or in this case – a morning bun.

I guess this doesn’t sound terribly difficult, but there are quite a few steps involved, a lot of rolling out dough and an overnight refrigeration to complete before you can even begin to assemble the morning buns.

Again – totally worth it. Labor of love and all that stuff. No regrets. But I do want you to know what you’re getting into and allow enough time.

 

And some great news is that the recipe for the Baker’s Croissant Dough is double what you need for the Morning Buns. So you can freeze the other half and be ahead of the game next time whether you’re making more Morning Buns or trying your hand at homemade croissants! That time saver for next time is most definitely a “win”!

 

But not to get ahead of myself talking about the next thing you are going to bake. Stay in the moment – which will be oh so memorable once these little gems come out of the oven and you’ve had your first nibble. Crispy on the outside, soft, tender and flaky on the inside with an enchanting caramelized chewy bottom. Just Brilliant! Happy Blog-a-versary to me!

• Servings: 2 Dozen Buns
• Difficulty: moderate - need to make laminated yeast dough, which requires overnight rest before you can begin to assemble morning buns which require 1 - 1 1/2 hr. rise
• Print

recipe from: King Arthur Flour – Morning Buns & Bakers Croissant Dough

Ingredients:

For the Pastry:

• 1/2 recipe Baker’s Croissant Dough (recipe detailed below)

For the Filling:

• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar plus more for coating the pan
• 1 tablespoon viennese cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind (zest)
• 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup (53g) packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (170g) fruit preserves, of your choice, optional

Directions:

Generously butter the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan. Spoon a teaspoon of granulated sugar into each of the wells, then tap the pan in all directions to coat the insides. Turn the pan over and lightly tap out any excess.

To make the filling: Combine the sugars, cinnamon, and orange zest, stirring well with a fork to distribute the zest.

To assemble: Roll the dough to an 18″ x 8″ rectangle.

Brush the rectangle with melted butter. Spread a thin layer of jam over the dough if you are using. Sprinkle the dough generously with the sugar mixture and go over it lightly with a rolling pin to press it into the butter/jam. Roll the dough up from the long edge into a tight cylinder. Cut into 1 1/2″ slices. Place the slices, cut side up, in the wells of the prepared pan.

Let the buns rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a room no warmer than 75°F (any warmer and the butter may begin to leak out). The buns should increase to one and a half to two times their original size. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.

If desired, just before baking, butter the back of a spoon and press down on the center of the buns. Place 2 teaspoons of the preserves in the indentation.

Place the pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the buns are deep golden brown.

Place a cooling rack over a piece of parchment. Remove the buns from the oven and immediately (and carefully) transfer them out of the pan onto the rack. If desired, roll the warm buns in granulated sugar and sprinkle the tops once more. Let cool slightly and eat warm or at room temperature.

Store, lightly covered, at room temperature for up to two days; freeze for longer storage.

Baker’s Croissants Dough

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 large eggs + enough warm water to make 2 cups (454g) of liquid
• 1/4 cup (50g) sugar, divided
• 5 1/2 to 6 cups (659g to 723g) All purpose Flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons (28g) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (71g) Bakers Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk, optional
• 1 scant tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional; for sweet pastry)

For the Butter:

• 1 7/8 cups (425g) unsalted butter, cool to the touch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (60g) All purpose flour

Directions:

For the dough: Put the eggs and water in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar, 3 cups (362g) of the flour, and the yeast. Mix until well blended; set aside to let the sponge work.

For the butter: Cut the butter into 1˝ chunks and combine with the salt and flour at low speed in a stand mixer just until smooth, with no lumps. Be careful not to beat too much; you don’t want to incorporate any air.

Spread the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and shape into an 8˝ square. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Finish the dough: Add the melted butter to the sponge. Whisk together the remaining sugar, 2 1/2 cups (298g) of the flour, the dry milk, and salt and add to the sponge. Mix until the dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes; touch the dough lightly with your finger. If it’s still sticky, add the remaining flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough is the desired consistency. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, pat it into a 9˝ square, then wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Laminate the dough: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and gently roll it to a 12″ square.

Unwrap the butter square and place it in the center of the dough at a 45° angle, so it looks like a diamond in a square. Pull the corners of the dough into the center of the butter diamond. Moisten the edges with a little water and pinch the seams together well to enclose the butter. Dust the top with flour and turn the packet over.

Tap the dough all over with a rolling pin, encouraging it into a rectangular shape. Once it’s pliable, roll it to a 20˝ x 10˝ rectangle, picking it up and dusting lightly with flour as needed.

When you’ve reached the proper size, use a dry brush to sweep off any excess flour and fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter. Take care to keep the edges straight and line them up directly over each other. If the dough slides around, use a little water at the corners to tack them in place. This is your first turn.

Rotate the dough out so it looks like a book about to be opened. Roll the dough out once more to 20˝ x 10˝ and fold it as before. This is the second turn. Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to allow the gluten in the dough to relax.

Give the dough two more turns after its rest, then wrap the dough well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight before using. You can also freeze the dough at this point.

Enjoy!

Fruit Filled Morning Buns brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Useful links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Fruit Filled Morning Buns:

Oxo Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Kitchen Aid Artisan Series 5 Qt. Stand Mixer

SAF Instant Yeast

Thermapen Instant Read Thermometer by Thermoworks

Whole Milk Powder or here from King Arthur

Dough Rolling Mat

Wilton 12 – well Cupcake/Muffin Pan