Posts Tagged ‘Easter’

Easter Morning Biscuits

Posted: 9th April 2013 by doomthings in Breakfast, The Foodening
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In preparation for gorging myself during Easter weekend, I really wanted to make something “Eastery”.  I came upon this recipe but wasn’t able to make them in time.  I made them up for the next weekend and almost ate them all.  Miraculously, I have a few left that are sitting at my desk, waiting to be devoured.

Easter Morning Biscuits | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from Country Living):

  • 3 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar (can use light brown)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp mango-orange juice (or your favorite variety of orange juice!)

Directions:

  1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  2. In an electric mixer, combine butter, the 1/3 cup honey, and sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs, mix well.
  4. Add milk, vanilla, and the 2 tbsp orange juice until combined.
  5. Gradually add flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
  6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
  7. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces and roll into 8-inch-long ropes.
  8. Mold into desired shapes (I made the s-shape by coiling the ends until I liked how it looked).
  9. Place biscuits onto baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F.
  10. While biscuits are baking, combine 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp orange juice in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
  11. Remove biscuits from oven, brush with glaze.
  12. Continue baking until golden, about 15 minutes.
  13. Serve warm with hot breakfast beverages!

These turned out a lot sweeter than I expected (which is dumb on my part, because there is honey, sugar, and orange juice in it, duh) and had almost a shortbread cookie texture, if a shortbread cookie were made into bread.  They are perfect for dipping in hot chocolate, coffee, or hot tea, warm from the oven.  They are also good re-heated.  Make them and see!  I’m going to finish up my last one right now.

 

Mini-Egg Chocolate Cookies

Posted: 20th March 2013 by doomthings in Dessert, The Foodening
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Easter is coming and in terms of food, for me that means one thing:  Cadbury Mini-Eggs.

Mini-eggs are my absolute favorite candy, and I never get sick of them because they only show up twice a year (Christmas).  I’m not a fan of the dark-chocolate variety, so I’m glad I could only find the milk chocolate variety.  [Side note: I love dark chocolate, but not in coated candy form of any kind… weird.]  I really wanted to use these in a way that wasn’t stuffing my face with them and regretting it later, so I turned to my mom’s trusty box of cookie recipes.

One of my very favorite holiday cookies from my mom is her Chewy Chocolate Cookies.  They are a delicious pecan-meal chocolate cookie that she only makes at Christmastime (another food I haven’t gotten sick of yet), and I found myself craving them.  Suddenly a “new” cookie was born.  Behold:

Mini-Egg Chocolate Cookies | doomthings

Ingredients (*adapted from my mom’s original recipe):

  •  1 ¼ cups butter*
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups bread flour*
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt*
  • 1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)  (i.e. pecan meal)
  • handfuls of mini-egg candy

Directions:

  1. Cream butter/margarine and sugar in a large mixer bowl.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.
  3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; blend into creamed mixture.
  4. Stir in nuts, if desired.
  5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 9 minutes.  (do not overbake, cookies will be soft.  They will puff during baking, flatten upon cooling.)
  7. Cool on cookie sheet until set, about 1 minute; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

 

I love these nostalgic cookies already, so I was really excited to try them with chocolate candy tucked inside.  At first, I didn’t know how they might do because mini-eggs are so much bigger than most in-cookie candies (i.e. M&M’s or chocolate chips).  When I mixed in the candies, I ended up using the mixer and not a spoon, which actually broke up most of the pieces.  This worked out well and created a fun effect in the cookies.

I was right to be excited.  Warm from the oven, the chocolate from the mini-eggs was a perfect amount of melty and went perfectly with the cookie.  The colors from the candy make them look like they’re ready for spring (and to be devoured).  I really want my mom to try this take on her delicious Christmas cookie turned Easter cookie.  Fortunately, I’ll get to see her this weekend.  Let’s hope they last until then!