Bisquets

One of my favorite things about Mexico is the presence of Mexican bakeries, Panaderias, on every street corner. Panaderias are not just bakeries, they are filled to bursting with every type of pan dulce (sweet bread) you could ever imagine. For about 25 cents (U.S.), you can walk out with a delicious warm treat. The selection is astounding, go here to see a few of the options. I love trying to recreate the recipes, but finding authentic recipes is not as easy as you would think! I have been searching and searching for a recipe for Mexican bisquets, my favorite Mexican bread, by far. I have tried to replicate the recipe, but to no avail. The Mexican bisquet is giant (in both height and width), flaky, and buttery. The panederias make the bisquets in the normal circular shape but they always top them with a rounded piece of dough. They are quite different from your common buttermilk or baking powder biscuit (although I enjoy those as well). They have a deep yellow hue and are a bit sweeter than American style biscuits. The finishing touch is an egg wash which gives them a pretty varnish. I finally came upon this recipe, and while not an exact replica, I am getting closer. The bisquets did turn out amazingly buttery and flaky, but they didn't rise as high as I was hoping. Maybe more baking powder next time. I will keep searching for the perfect recipe, but until then these biscuits are really very good! So I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if any of you have any good Panaderia recipes I would love to give them a try!

Bisquets

Recipe adapted from Reposteriaypanederia.com

70 grams or a scant 5 tablespoons butter

70 grams or a scant 5 tablespoons butter flavor Crisco (I know, I'm not a huge fan, but it's what most of the Mexican Bread recipes call for, actually they call for pork fat but I couldn't make myself do that...)

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

¾ cup cold milk

3 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.

Cut in (or grate in) butter and Crisco and mix together using your hands, adding milk little by little to ensure everything is mixed together.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 2 centimeters. Cut bisquets using a rounded glass.

To make the indent on top I used a little pill bottle and lightly pressed it into the dough making sure it doesn't go all the way through (doesn't affect taste at all, just makes them look pretty). When all dough has been rolled and cut, put biscuits onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush with a bit of milk. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

Now for a quick Spanish lesson...

Pan = Bread

Bisquet=Biscuit

Delicioso = delicious

yummmm = yummmmm

Happy Weekending!

Linking to Weekend Wrap Up, Sunday Spotlight, and Sunday Showcase.

Irish Potato Farl

Oh. my. gosh.First of all, Happy St. Patricks day! I wanted to try a traditional Irish Recipe for my St. Pattys day breakfast this year, little did I know it would be the easiest recipe I have ever attempted, .and seriously one of the best things I have ever tried. Behold, Irish Potato Bread Farl. Apparently it's a breakfast staple in Northern Ireland a part of something called an Ulster Fry. An Ulster Fry, according to Wikipedia, is a full Irish breakfast, usually fried (go figure), consisting of bacon, eggs, sausage, soda bread, and potato farl. Now, I have never been to Ireland, but apparently they eat quite well! The Potato Farl is delightfully crisp on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. It reminded me a bit of a less oily hashbrown, but a million times better. I messed with the recipe proportions because I only had three little potatoes left over, which yielded 1 1/3 cups mashed potatoes. The recipe source I used said that the amount of flour can vary, just add bit by bit until a soft dough forms. A good rule of thumb is use half as much flour as potato. So, for example, I had 1 1/3 cups mashed potatoes, so I used a scant 2/3 cup flour. The finished product is supposed to be savory and is often served with onions and mushrooms. But I like my breakfast on the sweet side so I topped it with butter and syrup.

It was delightful, and, dare I say it, I liked it better than pancakes! And that is something because I LOVE pancakes! Next time you have mashed potatoes, definitely set a few aside for a hearty potato farl, and Happy St. Patricks day!

Irish Potato Farl

from foodista.com

Ingredients

2 cups hot boiled potatoes

Scant 1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter + more for griddle

While hot, mash potatoes well with salt and butter. Gradually work in flour in smaller increments until a soft dough forms. Dough should be a little tacky but workable.

Divide and roll/press into a circular shape about 9″ and 1/4″ thick.

Cut into 6 or 8 ‘farls’ (wedges). Grill in a hot, greased griddle or pan until well browned on both sides.

So. So. Good.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Linking up at Prairie Story Recipe Swap, Full Plate Thursday with Ms. Helen, Designs By Gollum, Family Friendly Friday's, I'm Lovin It, Everything But the Kichen Sink, and It's A Keeper Thursdays.

Pie Crust Cinnamon Roll

I love pie crust as evidenced here and here. I also love cinnamon rolls. So, naturally, I wanted to try and combine the two into a giant pie crust cinnamon roll. Flaky, buttery, cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, no kneading, easy peasy. I love when experiments work out so well! You could cut this up and split it with a few lucky friends, or you could do what I did and tear off a piece, slowly unrolling it over a period of a few days and enjoy all that cinnamony buttery goodness yourself! I guess when it comes to pie crust cinnamon rolls I'm a bit stingy... sorry friends!

Pie Crust Cinnamon Roll

Inspired by this recipe

Ingredients

1 recipe your favorite pie crust (enough for a single crust, nine-inch pie)

Filling:

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

More brown sugar for sprinkling (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pie pan, mix three tablespoons melted butter and four tablespoons brown sugar. Set aside.

Roll out pie crust. Spread with 3/4 cup butter, sprinkle on sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Cut into even strips.

Now, take one strip and start rolling it up, set roll on the next strip, pinch dough together at seam, and keep rolling, continue with the other strips of dough until the roll gets too big to roll.

Transfer roll to pie pan, continue adding on strips of dough by rolling them around the already formed roll. Finally, you will have one big cinnamon roll.

Sprinkle with more brown sugar (optional, depends how sugary you want it!) Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown (very light brown).

Remove from oven, let sit for about five minutes.

Flip over onto a plate or serving tray. Yum.

Afreakingmazing

I will be linking up at these parties.. Tasty Tuesdays, Rook #17, Trendy Treehouse and Sugar and Dots, this week, check them out!

Perfect Drop Sugar Cookies

This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe. I don't enjoy rolling and such ,so I love that this recipe produces beautiful delicious sugar cookies with less work. Yes, I'm lazy, let us move on... The cookies come out of the oven with lovely cracked tops and you can easily make them holiday ready by rolling them in colored sugar or sprinkles before baking (as I did with these). I wanted to make the cookies with a valentines theme so I rolled them in red sugar and topped them with caramel filled chocolate heart candy. Chocolate and caramel and sugar cookie. Yes please.

Cracked Sugar Cookies

From allrecipes.com

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1 cup butter

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

24 Caramel Filled Chocolate Heart Candies (I used Palmers)

1/3 cup red sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper .

Cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

Stir, use hands if necessary to get dough to hold together.

Form dough into walnut size balls, roll in colored sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Don't flatten. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, until tops are cracked and just turning color.

Remove from oven and gently press a candy into each cookie.

These cookies make me happy!

Happy Weekending!

Butterflake Rolls

Today I am sharing one of my absolute favorite recipes. Butterflake Rolls. I first made these for Christmas dinner this year, and although a bit labor intensive, they are some of the best rolls I have ever had, heck they are one of the best foods I have ever had. Flaky, yeasty bread, layers of butter and a melt in your mouth texture. This recipe makes a large batch but they are easy to freeze and defrost later. The amount of flour that goes into these will really depend on the climate you're in. If it is a humid day you will need to add more, if it is a dry day, less. The trick is to add enough so that the dough doesn't stick to everything. I do it little by little and when I can poke the dough and it doesn't stick to my fingers, I figure that it's enough (a little trick my older sis taught me). I also vary the number of layers depending on how buttery I want them, so feel free to play around with the recipe and find what works for you. That's part of the fun of cooking, right? Taking a recipe and making it your own. I hope you all love these as much as me and my family do, and have a beautiful day!

Butterflake Rolls

From Jean Groberg, the Family Cookbook Project

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons instant/fast acting yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm water

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups hot water (NOT boiling)

6 to 8 cups flour

1 can evaporated milk (1 1/2 cups)

1 stick soft butter (more or less depending on how much butter you like)

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, set aside.

Beat eggs with a mixer until fluffy, add sugar, salt, milk and hot water.

Add yeast mixture. Slowly add up to 5 cups of the flour (if it is too goopy to form a dough, add more flour until it is wet, but workable).

Turn out on floured board (or oiled counter top) and knead in the remaining flour (be sure to flour your hands first!). Knead gently, keeping dough light, add more flour as needed to create a wet but not sticky dough.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Using your hands, spread dough with soft butter (like I said, however much you would like, for me more butter is always better so I use about two tablespoons). Cut dough in half and stack together. Roll again, adding more soft butter as needed on each layer.

Do this several times (I do this four times, cause I like butter).

On final time roll out until 3/4 inch thick.

Cut in circles, using a small glass about 2 inches across. The dough should be quite light.

Place each circle of cut layered dough on its side in a muffin tin cup. Cover dough with a damp towel and set aside to rise for two or three hours, until nicely puffed up. When ready to bake, brush tops of rolls with more butter, a pastry brush works well here. Bake at 375º for 8 to 10 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen rolls.

I would love to know some of your favorite recipes! If you have a link to one of em feel free to leave it in the comment section and I will check it out.