breakfast

Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches

Maple Oatmeal Biscuits

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits Sandwiches

★★★★★

4.5 from 10 reviews

These cream cheese chocolate chip biscuits are fluffy, tangy morning treats full of chocolate morsels and topped with a cream cheese glaze. Read more about making layered biscuits here!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 20
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 12
Category: Breakfast

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

2 cups (280 gm) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup (55 gm) unsalted butter, cold, plus 2 tablespoons melted
½ cup (85 gm) mini chocolate chips
¾ cup (180 gm) cold buttermilk

For the topping:

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup (115 gm) powdered sugar
1–2 tablespoons milk

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Instructions

To make the biscuits:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use the back of a fork or a pastry cutter to cut in the cream cheese and butter until large, pea-sized clumps exist throughout. Stir in the chocolate chips and then add the buttermilk, stirring to combine. Dump the shaggy dough out onto a floured surface and used floured hands to gently pat the dough out into a 1” rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter and then pat it out again into 1” thickness. Use a 2” biscuit cutter to cut out rounds of dough. Gently combine the scraps and then pat out that mixture to 1” thick again. Cut out additional rounds. Place the dough rounds 2″ apart onto a baking sheet and brush the tops with the melted butter. Place the pan in the oven, reduce the heat to 400, and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops are puffed and golden. You may need to rotate the pan towards the end of baking if one size is darkening faster than the other. Allow the biscuits to cool briefly while you prepare the topping.
To prepare the topping:
Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in large bowl just until smooth. Add a tablespoon or more or milk to get the icing a smooth, spreadable consistency. Smooth a dollop on each biscuit and serve immediately!

Buttermilk Pancakes

14 Comments / Breakfast

What has happened to the weekends? Is it just me, or are we all losing our minds? With two kids and a stacked schedule, the weekends have begun to fill up with the chaos and rush that is normally reserved for Monday through Friday. I ask you- WHERE IS THE RELAXATION?! With so much to accomplish on the weekends, I say we take back our mornings and make them extra special with a stack of buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. Who’s in?!

I can remember preparing breakfast in bed as a kid. I’d fill a tray with one of everything from our pantry: toast with jam, toast with peanut butter, a bowl of cereal, a bowl of fruit, a half of a Pop-Tart, a glass of juice, a cup of milk, and maybe even a granola bar (if the tray could hold it). The spread was more akin to a two-star breakfast buffet, and although I’m sure my Mother nearly threw up when she saw the amount of food I’d prepared for her, she would nibble away and act totally impressed with my work. Bless you, Mom.

Now as an adult, I find myself wanting to capture the glory of those lazy Saturdays once more. Aimee and George are hardly old enough to treat me to a carb-fest in bed, but I think there is still room to fill bellies (and hearts, right?) with a bit of weekend magic. Buttermilk pancakes is 100% the way to do it.

I’m proud to call this recipe for buttermilk pancakes my own. Buttery and fluffy with just the right amount of tang, these buttermilk pancakes are a simple dish that you’d be thrilled to serve too. The batter takes just a few minutes to whip up, but the reward is nothing short of glorious.

To make them, we start with the batter. Melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla are stirred together with a bit of sugar. Next, the dry ingredients are folded in and combined just until a few lumps remain. Be careful not to overmix the batter and allow it to rest while you heat your pan.

Here’s where you can freestyle a bit. If you’re into pancakes with buttery, crispy edges, load your pan up with butter and keep the heat just under medium-high. If you prefer an evenly cooked pancake, golden brown throughout, give your pan just a sweep of butter before adding the batter to a moderately heated pan. I like to wrap a pat of butter in a thin paper towel and rub it against the hot pan. That way, you get an even coat of butter without all the extra bubble and spatter. Use a measuring cup to ladle out large rounds of batter, and gently smooth it out to form uniform cakes. Cook until the batter is bubbling throughout and then flip to finish off the other side.

I prefer these buttermilk pancakes served classically with a huge schmear of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, but there are a million ways to get creative here! Add fresh berries or a cooked compote for a special breakfast. Include sprinkles, chocolate chips, or pecans in the batter for a unique spin. Make your own syrup or go crazy with the whipped cream, because these buttermilk pancakes are the perfect vehicle for a healthy dose of morning joy. Enjoy them however you’d prefer.

Make these pancakes this weekend and take time to share them with some people you love. Happy hump day to you all and catch you next week!

If you like these buttermilk pancakes you should try:

Chocolate Sweet Rolls

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Pancakes

Chocolate Coffee Almond Scones

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

These buttermilk pancakes are light, fluffy, and barely tangy, the perfect vehicle for butter and maple syrup. This recipe makes enough breakfast for a family of four!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12

Ingredients

¼ cup (55 gm) unsalted butter, melted
1–3/4 cups (390 gm) full-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar
1–1/2 cups (195 gm) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Extra butter for greasing skillet

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Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg, vanilla extract, and sugar until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir together with a spoon or spatula until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Do not overmix. Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
When ready to start preparing pancakes, heat a griddle to medium (325 degrees) and stir the batter once more. Wrap 1 tablespoon butter in a napkin or paper towel and use it to lightly grease your griddle. Spoon 1/3 cup of batter rounds onto the griddle and gently smooth each out into a 5” circle. Cook until bubbles appear in the center of the pancake and the edges no longer look glossy. Flip the pancakes and cook and additional 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Serve with extra butter and syrup.

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Maple Bacon Scones

16 Comments / Breakfast

This is it, the eye of the proverbial hurricane. We are in the midst of those few short days sandwiched in between turkey feasts and Christmas morning- that time of year when the to-do lists are lengthy and daylight is fleeting. To help us survive, I’m sharing these maple bacon scones, a simple and comforting dish that we all can rally behind.

An Update on Thanksgiving

Last week was basically a grotesque parade of meals and cocktails and leftover turkey sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong- I like to eat just as much as the next person, but at some point, my gullet (and the button on my blue jeans) just scream, “NO MORE!” We started the week with a few dinners out with friends, and on Thursday morning, we fulfilled our American duty by demolishing the annual Thanksgiving feast. We ate an array of biscuits and green beans and casseroles, and because Thanksgiving lunch is the meal that keeps on giving, we later enjoyed turkey and bacon sandwiches.

By Friday, I felt like I had eaten a baby or an entire bucket of KFC chicken. I felt like I had devoured three meals back to back at a Walt Disney World buffet and at any moment could burst in a disgusting explosion of gravy and cream of mushroom soup. My mother tells me this is a normal post-Thanksgiving feeling, but my Spanx would say otherwise.

After Feasting, We Football

Following our two-day binge fest, we traveled to Auburn, AL on Saturday to watch the Iron Bowl. For anyone who doesn’t live in Alabama or who couldn’t give two craps about college football (raises hand), the Iron Bowl is an annual football game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Being married to a rabid Auburn fan means that I participate in the festivities by eating chicken wings in my tailgate chair, drinking Crown Royale and Sprite from a gas station cup, and cheering at the game.

While I am no more interested in football than I am, say, Nascar or an international chess match, I do enjoy attending with Brett because he loves it so much. Sometimes it’s fun to scream and clap and cheer like I know what I’m doing. Plus, someone has to be there to resuscitate Brett if he loses his mind on a poor call from the referee.

Maple Bacon Scones

So that brings us to today. Bloated, tired, and scratchy-throated, this girl is wiped out. I’m sticking with soup and salad for the foreseeable future, unless of course someone wants to bring me another turkey and bacon sandwich on some pumpkin bread, because that mess is delicious. But I digress. Before we dive head first into a powdered sugar cloud of cookies and cocoa and carols, let’s celebrate the last of this fall season with some warm and cozy maple bacon scones.

With a tender crumb, crisp edges, and a delightfully sweet and salty flavor, these maple bacon scones are a dream. My husband always says that everything is made better with bacon, and when it comes to these scones, I couldn’t agree more. The recipe was adapted from a new favorite, these chocolate coffee almond scones, and I was delighted that the butter-based treat transitioned from sweet to savory so seamlessly. I made and froze several batches throughout the testing process, and for weeks these maple bacon scones were toasted for a delightful breakfast that tasted fresh from the oven.

Making the Scones

To make these maple bacon scones, we start with the meats. Fry up some thick bacon of your choice (I prefer applewood smoked bacon) until crisp. Save the grease for another day and chop up the rest for the scones. Combine the dry ingredients, flour, seasoning, and baking powder, in a large bowl. Next, cut in cold chunks of unsalted butter. Stir in the diced bacon before pouring in the heavy cream and maple syrup. Work quickly to combine the dough, but be sure to not overwork it. Pat it all out into a 1″ thick round and slice it into 8 wedges. Brush the whole thing with a little more heavy cream before baking in a hot preheated oven.

Fresh from the oven, these maple bacon scones are fragrant. Imagine the glorious smoke of bacon combined with the smell of homemade bread and maple syrup; it’s almost too good to describe. These maple bacon scones are crowd-pleasing, the kind of thing you’ll want to serve at breakfasts in the coming months. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think! They’re certainly worth making room in your belly for.

If you like these maple bacon scones, you should check out:

Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches with Pepper Bacon and Cheddar

Maple Oatmeal Biscuits

Maple Apple Cake

Maple Bacon Scones

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These maple bacon scones are a sweet and salty favorite to serve at breakfast and brunch!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 20
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8

Ingredients

2 cups (260 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, cold and chopped
1 cup cooked, finely chopped crispy bacon
¼ cup (60 mL) maple syrup
¾ cup (180 mL) whipping cream, plus additional for brushing

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Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, pepper, and onion powder. Use a pastry cutter or the back of two forks to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until pea-sized clumps are throughout. Stir in the bacon. Combine the maple syrup and the whipping cream in a separate bowl and then stir into the dry ingredients, just until evenly incorporated. If a lot of dry ingredients remain in the bottom of the bowl you can add an additional tablespoon of cream, but be sure to not add too much liquid.
Pat the dough out in a ¾” thick circle and place the dough round on a parchment lined baking pan in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Once the dough is chilled, cut the dough into 8 wedges but leave the circle of pieces together. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of whipping cream over the scones. Bake in the oven until golden brown around the edges of each scone, about 35 minutes.

Notes

Chilling the dough ensures the scones will rise well. You can skip this step but it isn’t recommended for best outcomes.

Loosely adapted from King Arthur Flour

Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls

23 Comments / Breakfast

Good morning and Happy Sunday, blog family! I hope you find yourself filled with loads of joy and coffee this morning, maybe even with a bit of spare time to whip up these bananas foster cinnamon rolls that I’m about to share with you. I’ve got the lineup of fun things to watch, read, and eat this week, so get comfy in your favorite chair and let’s chat!

2017 Restaurant City of the Year

Brett and I are planning a trip to Chicago for my birthday this year! Luckily, the city was just named restaurant city of the year by Bon Appetit Magazine. Read this article’s rundown on why Chicago is THE place to catch a meal and be sure to tell me all of your favorite spots there to check out!

Carpool Karaoke

It’s no secret that I love carpool karaoke. James Corden is a wizard of musical comedy and I constantly find myself chuckling at his sketches. The folks at Apple must agree, because they have just launched an original series of carpool rides that you can watch exclusively on Apple Music. I fell in love with Will Smith’s episode and plan to catch up on the rest. Perhaps you should too?

Roasted Sugar

Did you know you could roast sugar? Apparently it’s totally a thing, so excuse me while I put roasted sugar in everything from here on out. Stella Parks is a dessert genius and I cannot wait to try her method that she shares in this article. Roasted sugar cookies? Yep. Roasted sugar ice cream? You betcha. Roasted sugar everything from now until forever.

Taylor Swift

Are we all still reeling from the new Taylor Swift single that was released last week? I’ve been a loyal fan of Tay for many years now, but I find myself puzzled, if not mildly disappointed, in the direction the album appears to be going. I’ll keep listening to 1989 and Red on repeat while I wait for the full album to be released, but I really do hope she surprises us with this one. I ran across this article that dishes on who Taylor’s past songs were written about. Nothing warms my heart like reminiscing on her former flames, and if that’s weird for an almost 30 year old to admit then I’m sorry, I’m not sorry.

Aimee’s 3rd Birthday

My Aimee girl’s 3rd birthday is next week (How? Why? Stop Growing!!). We aren’t having a major blowout this year, but I am looking forward celebrating with cake, ice cream, and a few other birthday surprises. If you’ve got any special days coming up soon, be sure to check out my blog archives for cake recipe inspiration. Also, this is my fave spot for candles and cake toppers. Ya welcome.

Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls

These bananas foster cinnamon rolls were inspired by the classic New Orleans dessert. Last summer, Brett and I took a cooking class where I learned to make bananas foster for the first time, and I fell in love with the idea of including caramelized syrup and rum-soaked bananas in other baked goods. These bananas foster cinnamon rolls are the result of that dream.

If you’re unfamiliar with the process of making cinnamon rolls, you can check out my other two recipes here and here, or read up on Ree’s tidbits about making cinnamon rolls. She is The Godfather of cinnamon rolls so I highly recommend starting there. Once you have your dough made, the next steps are fairly straightforward.

Making the Cinnamon Rolls

First, roll out your dough into a long, slender rectangle. Lather up the dough with melted butter and then sprinkle on some brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Next comes the bananas which should be sliced into thin, slivered coins; we want the bananas to roll easily with the dough so be sure not to leave any large chunks. Starting with one of the long ends, roll your dough tightly from end to end, like you’re working on a typewriter, and pinch the ends to seal in the filling. Slice equal-sized rolls and leave them to rise while the oven preheats. Bake the bananas foster cinnamon rolls until golden brown, and refrain from eating them all before you make the sauce. Trust me- you’re going to want to something to soak up that goodness with.

Making the Foster Glaze

To make the glaze, cook butter and sugar in a cast-iron skillet until the sugar has melted. Add the bananas and some spice, allowing the mixture to bubble and caramelize. Next comes the entirely optional (but oh-so-delicous) boozy part where we add in some rum. Add the liquor and remove the pan from the heat, tilting the skillet just slightly away from you. Using a long-handled lighter, carefully ignite the mixture and allow the alcohol to flame and burn off. (Sidenote: This step, if executed well, will make you look like a flambe guru, but no one wants to eat breakfast rolls that smell like burnt hair. Keep your bangs close and your eyebrows closer.) Allow your foster sauce to cool slightly before drizzling over top of the bananas foster cinnamon rolls.

If you’re into breakfast, brunch, and booze, these bananas foster cinnamon rolls are for you. Include them in your breakfast lineup these coming weeks and let me know what you think.

Don’t forget to be voting regularly for the Saveur Blog Awards! You can check out the link here or in the sidebar of my blog homepage. You’ll find me and a few other friends in the “Best Baking and Sweets” category. As always, thank you for your love and support. Have a great week!

If you like these bananas foster cinnamon rolls, you should check out:

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls

Orange Cardamom Rolls

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

BBC Popsicles (Bananas, Bailey’s and Coconut)

Banana Cream Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Banana, Chocolate, and Coconut Cream Pie

Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls

Raspberry Rhubarb Crumb Cake

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

These bananas foster cinnamon rolls are a breakfast take on the classic boozy dessert. Filled with cinnamon sugar, pecans, and bananas, these rolls are topped with a foster sauce that is to die for!

Author: Kate Wood
Yield: 16

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 cups (480 mL) milk (whole or 2%)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick, 85 gm)) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 gm) granulated sugar
2–1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
4–1/2 cups (540 gm) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon

For the filling:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 55 gm) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (70 gm) brown sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup (60 gm) pecans, finely chopped
2 bananas, sliced into very thin coins.

For the bananas foster glaze:

½ cup (1 stick, 113 gm) unsalted butter, diced into tablespoon sized pieces
1 cup (200 gm) brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 large banana, chopped into ½” chunks
¼ (60 mL) cup gold rum
Chopped toasted pecans (if desired for sprinkling)

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Instructions

To prepare the rolls

In a large pot, combine the milk, butter, and sugar over medium heat and allow to warm just before the milk is scalding. Remove from burner and allow to cool until luke warm. Add the yeast and allow to dissolve, about 2 minutes.
Add 3-1/2 cups of the flour to the milk mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow to rest and rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If your dough hasn’t doubled in size within that hour, place the dough in a slightly warmer spot of the kitchen.
Combine the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and add to the risen dough. Stir to combine. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough overnight or roll out to use immediately. If you decide to save it, punch dough down into bowl if it over-rises.
Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a 10”x30″ rectangle. Spread the melted butter out evenly on the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the sides. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans in a small bowl and sprinkle this out evenly on the dough. Cover the entire sheet of dough evenly with little banana slices.
With one of the long ends closest to you, begin to roll the dough away from you, pinching the dough together at the end to seal your roll. Trim off any shaggy ends (no more than 1 inch) Using a sharp knife, cut 1-1/2” slices of buns from your log of dough.
Arrange the buns in two 9” round pans or in casserole dishes with about ¾” separation between the buns. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and allow the buns to rise for 25-30 minutes, or until they are puffed and rounded. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the rolls are ready for the oven, bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for 10-15 minutes and then top with glaze.

To prepare the glaze:

Add the butter and brown sugar to a large cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the pan until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the cinnamon and salt, stirring to combine. Add the diced bananas and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and flipping the banana pieces as needed. Add the rum, stirring briefly to combine. Remove the pan from heat, tilt it slightly away from you, and using a long handle ignite the rum for the alcohol to burn off. If you’re not comfortable doing this safely, you can omit this step. When the flames have burned out, remove the banana pieces and pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cinnamon buns. Sprinkle with toasted pecans, if desired. Serve warm.

Notes

If desired, strain the banana pieces out of the glaze with a strainer. I prefer to keep them in!

Recipe for the dough adapted from Ree Drummond

Peach Crumb Muffins

12 Comments / Breakfast

Sometimes I need an easy button. I need some magic dust, a genie in a lamp, or a fairy godmother to make life easier. There’s not enough hours in the day to constantly complicate it with dead-end tasks and lengthy processes. Sometimes I need something quick, entirely satisfying, no-fail, and EASY. Introducing: peach crumb muffins.

Peach Crumb Muffins

These peach crumb muffins are a cinch- a 2 step recipe, requiring less than 15 minutes of prep work that provides days worth of summery sweet goodness to enjoy. These peach crumb muffins are the answer to “What’s for breakfast? What can I bring for the beach weekend? “What treat can I bake with my kids?” and just about every other question that is coming to my mind right now. They’re simple and good. End of story.

Creating the Perfect Muffin

My goal with these peach crumb muffin was to make a soft, buttery, and moist muffin that was golden on the outside and full of chunky bits of ripe peaches. I also wanted to make sure it had a beautiful round dome to rest all that delicious crumble on top of.

So like any self-respecting blogger, I enlisted the help of my two best friends: other bloggers and the internet. My friend Laura pointed me to a brilliant recipe that enlisted a sweet and salty brown sugar crumble to add some color and dimension to the muffins. I also learned from a hefty amount of research (high fives to my fellow food nerds!) that if you fill the muffin tins up to the tippy top and bake at a high temperature for the first portion of the bake, you can achieve that rounded muffin dome that I was looking for. I kept the batter for these peach crumb muffins pretty thick and sure enough, after a few test batches, we had a moist, domed muffin with bits of sweet summer fruit throughout. I was in heaven.

The muffins are still not as golden brown as I had hoped they would be. I think that with some modifications in the type of sugar and length of baking, I could have achieved more of what I wanted, but my primary concern was to keep the peach crumb muffins ultra moist. So I gave up on that hope. Still, the muffins turned out beautiful with bits of crumble sprinkled on top and the drippy glaze cascading down the sides. I mean, DROOL.

Making the Muffins

To get started, move an oven rack to the upper third of the oven and preheat to a sweltering 400 degrees. Baking our muffins on the top rack will keep the bottoms from burning before we get a little tan up top first. Next, we make our crumble. This is is nothing more than stirring a few tablespoons of melted butter with some dry ingredients. SO EASY. Set aside the crumble while you stir up the muffins.

Add some sugar to the melted butter and then toss in a few eggs and some vanilla. We also add lemon zest because even though we’re making basic muffins we’re also kinda fancy, ok? Toss in the dry ingredients alternating with some room temperature milk, and finish it all off by folding in some itty bitty peach bits. You can even use frozen fruits if you want, but local friends, I’m sure you’ve already stocked up on the good stuff from Chilton County and The Peach Truck, AMIRITE? Line your muffin pan with paper liners and fill it up just below the rim of the liner. Yes, I know everything in you is saying “DON’T FILL IT UP MORE THAN 2/3 FULL!! IT WILL OVERFLOW!” I hear you, I get it, but let’s just try it, okay? If that oven is hot enough, this trick will work. Scouts honor.

Tips for Baking

Divide all that delicious crumble between the 12 muffins and then send the whole pan to the sauna. Once they’re in the oven, close the door and decrease the heat to 375. We’ll bake at this temp for a few minutes, before letting them finish at a slightly lower degree. That initial hot bake is just long enough to set the edges of the muffin so that the insides and center can keep baking up, up, UP! If you know that you oven bakes a little cold, you can bump up the heat by 5 or 10 degrees.

Once the muffins are finished, they are moist, incredibly fragrant, and altogether perfect. That salty crumble tastes oh so good with the super sweet muffin, and each bite is speckled with a juicy burst of fruit. Another bonus is that these peach crumb muffins are super adaptable! Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, substitute fresh berries or nectarines, or top the whole thing with sweet sugared nuts. Just do how you do and enjoy the outcome.

I’m sharing today’s recipe for peach crumb muffins with a load of other bloggers who had a few too many peaches on hand. If you’re really into peach recipes, please check out #summerlovespeaches for some more inspiration. Many thanks to Annie, Ruth and Rebecca for hosting this gathering! Have a terrific weekend and tune in next week for more summer knockouts. Cheers!

If you like these peach crumb muffins, you should try:

Hummingbird Muffins

Peach Berry Pie

Peach Crumb Muffins

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

These peach crumb muffins are fluffy, moist, and domed muffins with a streusel crumb topping, a drizzled glaze, and juicy bits of fresh peaches!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 40
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12
Category: Muffins

Ingredients

For the streusel:

2/3 cup (85 gm) flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1–1/2 tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup (55 gm) unsalted butter, melted

For the muffin:

1/2 cup (110 gm) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1–1/4 cup (250 gm) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups (260 gm) flour
2–1/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (120 mL) milk, room temperature
2 cups (280 gm) small diced peaches

For the glaze (optional):

1/2 cup (60 gm) confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1–1/2 teaspoons of milk

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Instructions

To make the streusel:

Combine the flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the butter until clumps form. Set aside while you make your muffins.

To make the muffins:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and move one rack to the upper third of the oven, leaving enough room for the muffin pan up top. Line a 12 compartment muffin tin with liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, stirring until combined.
In a separate, smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture, stirring until combined. Add the milk, stir, and then add the remaining dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Fold in the peaches, being careful to not overwork the batter.
Divide the muffin batter amongst the 12 muffin liners. Depending on your liners, you may have a hair too much batter. Just fill as much as you feel comfortable- they will be FULL. Don’t worry! Divide the streusel among the 12 muffins, sprinkling on top.
Put the muffin pan on the top rack and immediately decrease the heat to 375. Bake at this temperature for 10 minutes, then decrease the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 22-25 minutes, or until the muffins are set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The muffins should be starting to bronze around the edges. Allow to cool slightly before topping with the glaze.

To make the glaze:

Whisk together all three ingredients. Drizzle over top of slightly cooled muffins.

Notes

If you know your oven cooks a bit cool, increase the heat by 5-10 degrees for the initial bake. You want to keep the pan from overflowing.

Buttermilk Biscuits and Pepper Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Sandwiches for Father’s Day

9 Comments / Breakfast, Food and Drink

Buttermilk Biscuits and Pepper Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches. Flaky, all butter, Southern style biscuits with tons of layers topped with peppery bacon, cheddar cheese and a fried or scrambled egg. These breakfast sandwiches are perfect for the morning or brunch hour and makes a simple breakfast for the man / men in your life this Father's Day. Take these sandwiches on the go! Recipe by thewoodandspoon.com

I figured it was time for man food- something hearty enough to celebrate all the baby daddies out there on this upcoming Father’s Day. What I came up with are some no-fuss, pepper bacon, cheddar, and egg breakfast sandwiches prepared on flaky, layered buttermilk biscuits. The perfect nod to my meat-loving, Southern husband.

Marrying a “Man’s Man”

Brett is really good at man things. He can ride a tractor and change any tire. He’s excellent at killing spiders and unclogging toilets, and I’ve literally watched him run across a 4 lane highway to pull a man out of an overturned vehicle. He’s annoyingly terrific with one-liners, can grill a steak with the best of them, and could probably carry our entire family in his two arms if he had to. This man, even at 37 years old, looks great with his shirt off, and the average housewife could probably make an afternoon out of watching him chop a pile of firewood. (Read: Do not watch my husband chopping firewood with his shirt off. I will cut you.)

Yes, he chews with his mouth open. He’s a little colorblind, particularly when he’s getting dressed for a nice dinner. He farts under the covers, has the attention span of a gnat, and has the absolute worst taste in music. But he works hard for our family. He keeps trying when we fight and makes me laugh when I’m too prideful to do it myself. I catch him rolling in the grass with our kiddos from time to time and he always insists on kissing both of them before they go to sleep at night. He’s a good husband and a really, really good daddy.

Good Husband, Good Dad

I imagine in the future he will coach t-ball teams and bait fishing lines. He’ll teach our kids to drive and will wake them early on Saturdays for donuts and yard work. I can already see him filming the kids before their proms and after graduations, always with a stupid grin and the hint of pride all over his face.

But the thing I admire most about my husband and the way that he parents is that even now, when our babies are still so small and fresh in the world, he’s already concerned about the legacy that he will leave them someday. He has the foresight to know that our children will be affected by the way we exist today, and he is set on building a life that our children can aspire to.

Brett talks a lot about integrity and hardwork. He talks about cultivating a home that our family and friends will want to be apart of. We pray for our children, and we talk about the lessons they need to learn early and the ones we want to protect them from ever experiencing. He talks about having a strong marriage and what he wants to teach our children about being a husband, about being a man.

My husband, although not without his fair share of annoying quirks and morning breath, is a really great father. If there’s anything sexier than a man who reads to his kids before they go to bed, I don’t want to know. And if you tell me there’s anything better than getting old and crochety with the person who is set on growing old and crochety with you, I won’t believe you. I just won’t.

Buttermilk Biscuits

So let’s make some buttermilk biscuits, okay? We start by combining the dry ingredients- flour, salt, baking powder, and soda. Using a pastry cutter, we work in some ice cold unsalted butter, which will ensure that our biscuits are flaky and rich in flavor. Then, we pour in the buttermilk, stirring just enough to work it all into a shaggy dough. With quick hands, the dough pats down and folds several times to produce a dough that will rise and expand into fluffy, pillowy layers once baked. And with that, the dough is finished and reading for cutting!

You can use a knife or biscuit cutter to cut out your biscuits, just be sure that it is well floured. Push straight down while cutting the dough so that those biscuits will rise sky high in the hot oven. A final brush of butter and the buttermilk biscuits are ready for the oven.

Serving the Biscuits

Once baked, the buttermilk biscuits are golden brown, fluffy, and layered- the perfect vehicle for pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, and eggs. Although they are best eaten straight from the oven, you can pre-make and re-warm the biscuits in the oven to save on breakfast prep time. The bacon is rather simple, requiring only a hot oven and fresh ground black pepper, and the eggs can be prepared however your Dad prefers them.

Serve the biscuits warm with melty cheddar cheese on top and any other toppings your Papa or Man friend likes. Maybe some mayo and tomato? Crunchy lettuce and creamy avocado? Maybe some leftover pico de gallo or hot sauce from last night’s dinner? Whatever you choose, just make sure that Dad uses the buttermilk biscuits to sop every last bit of it up. Got it?

Happy Father’s Day to all you daddies out there. And women, take time to love on all the great men in your life. This world desperately needs more good men and fathers. So love your man, your friends, your sons, and nephews well; encourage them to be someone worth looking up to. Chances are, someone already is. Happy Tuesday and cheers!

If you like these buttermilk biscuits, be sure to check out:

Cheddar Cornmeal Chicken Pot Pie

Texas Hot Sauce

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Flaxseed Bread

Honey Oat Bread

Buttermilk Biscuits

Flaky, all butter, buttermilk biscuits are a rich and layered treat to use for all of your breakfast sandwiches.

Author: Kate Wood
Yield: 7

Ingredients

2 cups (260 gm) all-purpose flour
2–1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, very cold and diced into tablespoon sized pieces
1 cup (240 mL) buttermilk, very cold
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Using a pastry cutter or the back of two forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles a coarse meal with some pea-sized pieces of butter throughout. Pour in the buttermilk and mix only until barely combined. Do not overmix.
Dump the dough out onto a floured counter and gently pat out into a ¾ inch thick rectangle of dough. Fold the dough in half, rotate the dough 90 degrees, and repeat the folding. Rotate and fold a total of three times total and then pat the dough out until 1” thick. Using a generously floured 2-1/2” biscuit butter, cut out rounds of dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Gently collect the remaining dough and pat together so that you can cut out additional biscuits. Lightly brush biscuits with the melted butter and place in the preheated oven, baking for about 13-15 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.

Notes

Biscuits are best eaten fresh from the oven but can be made in advance and warmed in a toaster oven.
Be sure not to overwork your biscuit dough. This can cause your biscuits to be tough and chewy.
Folding the biscuit dough allows for layered biscuits. Using ice cold butter and buttermilk ensures that they will be flaky.

Pepper Bacon

Thick, applewood bacon is transformed into a fragrant and peppery dish with the addition of just a sprinkle of pepper!

Author: Kate Wood
Yield: 8

Ingredients

¾ pound (about 8 slices) thick cut Applewood bacon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of each slice of bacon evenly with the pepper. Lay flat on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the bacon is crisped to your liking. Allow to cool briefly on a paper towel lined plate prior to assembling sandwiches.

Pepper Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches

Eggs Baked in Herbs and Cream

Pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg top some flaky buttermilk biscuits to create a simple and mouthwatering breakfast or brunch dish.

Author: Kate Wood

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
6 fried or scrambled eggs
6 slices of cheddar cheese or ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Additional toppings as desired like tomato, avocado, grilled onions, pico de gallo, etc.

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Instructions

Cut each biscuit in half. Spread a bit of butter on the insides of both halves. Place egg on the bottom half of each biscuit and top with cheese, a slice of bacon, and desired toppings. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve warm!

Recipe Adapted From: The Kitchn

Honey Nut Biscuits and Breakfast Ideas for Mother’s Day

20 Comments / Breakfast

Honey Nut Biscuits Recipe by The Wood and Spoon Blog. Flaky butter biscuits sweetened naturally with honey and filled with nuts like pecans or walnuts. This simple recipe makes biscuits with lots of layers and doesn't require laminating. Recipe and other Mother's Day breakfast in bed menu inspiration on thewoodandspoon.com // woodandspoon.com

Happy almost Mother’s Day to all those baby mamas out there who are crushing it. To the ones who are working hard to raise babies, punch time clocks, manage baseball practice schedules, and so on and so forth. You work it 365 days a year, usually without any thank yous, awards, or so much as time to enjoy an extra generous pour of wine during the witching hour. Mother’s Day is a day where, in an ideal world, you would get to do you. You could wake up, leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee, and maybe even nibble on one of these honey nut biscuits. There’d be flowers waiting at your bedside, and well behaved children would have already fed, groomed, and entertained themselves while you adjusted to the morning light.

But let’s be real- the chances of that happening are slim. More than likely, there’s a dirty diaper or a Cheerios explosion waiting for you. There’s a dishwasher to unload, laundry to fold, and a few knees that will require Band-Aids.

Motherhood is work. It’s exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time, and no matter how many books you read, mommy bloggers you follow, or packs of diaper wipes you buy at the store, it’s nearly impossible to be prepared for everything this life will hand you. Motherhood is the job you can’t clock out of, but it’s also the one with the most benefits. It’s a beautiful role we play, and despite how much I often disdain wiping one more nose, making one more bottle, or hearing “NO!” for the millionth time, I’ll always be honored to walk in these mama shoes. Even if they’re covered in baby food and spit up.

I’ve got just the thing to help you celebrate all the Moms you know- breakfast! Why buy Mom a gift when you can make her something entirely satisfying and delicious from the comfort of your own kitchen? Below you’ll see a few menus that I’ve put together based on a few different dietary needs and preferences. (Sidenote: Brett, if you’re reading this, I want the “Sweet Tooth” menu, ok?) These are tasty recipes from some of my favorite blog friends, some of which I’ve tried, and others that I’m just dying to get to. Skim over the links and see if any suit you! And if you’re a Mama reading this thinking, “There’s no way my kids//husband//crazy landlord will be able to pull off one of these breakfasts for me on their own,” then I would charge you to make something delicious for yourself. You’ve earned it.

Protein Packed

For the lean, mean, protein-requiring machine moms who need a little muscle to make it through the day.

Double Chocolate and Banana Superfood Granola

Coffee Protein Smoothie

Sweet Tooth

For the moms who like their breakfasts like they like their children- SWEET.

Baked French Toast

Fruit Salad with Honey Vanilla Yogurt

Brioche Cinnamon Rolls

Vanilla Iced Coffee

Health Nut

For the moms who don’t need to be told to eat their veggies.

Kale Fritatta

Flaxseed Bread

Raspberry Beet Smoothie

Southern Fixin’s

This category is basically for all of my Alabama friends who wouldn’t know a green smoothie if it sat on their face. Gals, if you make any of these, please invite me over.

Hummingbird Muffins

Banana Bread with Olive Oil Glaze

Sausage Pinwheels

Baked Eggs with Cheese Grits

In addition, I’m sharing with you this most delicious recipe for honey nut biscuits. These are all butter, Southern-style biscuits, naturally sweetened with local honey and flecked with little bits of toasted pecans. Serve these with bacon and sausage, eggs, or maybe even just a pad of butter and a drizzle of honey. I promise that your Mama will thank you for it. These biscuits are sweet, buttery, incredibly flaky, and almost too good to be true. Perfect for the mom in your life who needs all the thanks in the world.

Give these honey nut biscuits a try on Mother’s Day, whether for yourself or for the special lady in your life. It’s good to share gratitude, and I can almost guarantee that the effort will mean the world to her. Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful friends and readers who make this Mama’s life and world a little bit nuttier and sweeter. You guys are the best. Cheers!

If you like these honey nut biscuits, you may also like:

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Orange Cardamom Rolls

Breakfast Danish

Honey Oat Bread

Honey Nut Biscuits

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Sweetened with honey and flecked with toasted nuts, these honey nut biscuits are all-butter, flaky, Southern-style biscuits that are perfect for breakfast or brunch. Serve with additional butter and honey.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 20
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 12
Category: Breakfast

Ingredients

3 cups (390 gm) all-purpose flour
2–1/2 teaspoons (11 gm) baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (140 gm) cold, unsalted butter, chopped into large chunks
1 cup (95 gm) pecans, finely chopped
1 cup (240 mL) cold milk (I use whole or 2%)
1/4 cup (60 mL) honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
Additional pecans for sprinkling on the biscuits, if desired.

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 415 degrees. Prepare a baking pan by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Using a pastry cutter or the backs of two forks, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until there are pea-sized clumps throughout. Toss in the pecans.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the milk and honey, stirring until well mixed. Add this to the flour and butter mixture and fold gently just until all of the flour has been moistened. Do not overwork the dough.
Dump the dough out on to a floured surface and pat the dough out until it’s about 1″ thick rectangle. Working quickly, fold the dough in thirds, as you would a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the folding process. Rotate the dough 90 degrees once more and repeat the folding process. Gently pat out the dough to 1” thick. Use a 2″ round biscuit cutter to cut out biscuit rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Gather dough scraps and gently pat them together to form another 1″ thick flat of dough and continue cutting out biscuits. Take care to not overwork your dough, as this can yield tough biscuits.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and sprinkle with additional chopped pecans, if desired.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes or until the edges and tops of the biscuits are adequately golden. Serve buttered with additional honey, if desired.

Notes

Be sure to use very cold butter and milk. Butter and milk that is not cold enough can prevent your biscuits from rising well.
Do not overwork your dough at any phase of the preparation.
The folding of the dough helps to create flaky layers within the biscuit, but is not necessary if you don’t care about this.
For flakiest layers, use a sharp biscuit cutters and push straight down into the dough. Refrain from twisting the cutter as you insert it into the dough as this can cause the edges to seal off and keep from rising well.
You can substitute walnuts, almonds, or another preferred variety of nut for this recipe, if desired.
You can substitute additional melted butter with heavy cream or milk.
To reheat biscuits, toast in a toaster oven until fragrant.

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

9 Comments / Breakfast

When it comes to leftovers, my belief is that every person belongs to one of two camps. You either like them, or you don’t.

I personally have always been a fan of leftovers. My brain is filled with fond memories of cold pizza, leftover birthday cake for breakfast, and carry-out Chinese from the night before. Pasta, soup, and casseroles- all better on day two. I’ve even been known to eat giant spoonfuls of mac and cheese straight from dish in the fridge, and I promise you it’s delicious.

Ok, ok, I can hear you gagging.

I may have an absurd level of tolerance for leftovers, but I’m pretty sure there’s at least one day per year that we can all get behind leftovers.

THANKSGIVING! The day of giving thanks and putting down some grub. The day to fill your heart with gratitude and your plate with tan colored food. When else can you justify cooking 18 pounds of food (32 pounds if you count the turkey) and binge snacking for 72 hours straight? When else can you dirty every Pyrex dish in your house and justify running the dishwasher 4 times in one day?

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving! That’s when!

I am pro Thanksgiving leftovers. I vote yes to breakfasts made of cranberry sauce oatmeal and veggie plate dinners. I am all for lunches of open-faced turkey sandwiches on thick slices of cornbread and eating pumpkin pie as a breakfast food. And this year, I’m preparing Thanksgiving dinner with leftovers in mind because I have officially perfected the sweet potato cinnamon roll.

Yes, you heard me right. You can call your mother and tell her you’re finally eating more vegetables, because sweet potatoes. In a cinnamon roll. With pecans. And frosting.

These sweet potato cinnamon rolls are made by combining a typical dough with some sweet potato puree. The puree, which is made simply by pureeing cooked and peeled sweet potatoes, keeps the dough fluffy and moist for days. Filled with a cinnamon sugar spread and toasty chopped pecans, these sweet potato cinnamon rolls are topped with a cream cheese frosting and will make your house smell like a fall-flavored dream.

This dough starts decadently by melting the butter into the milk and sugar. After some yeast proofs in the warm milk, the sweet potato puree and some dry ingredients are added. We let the dough rise before the remaining dry ingredients are tossed in. After a quick once over with the rolling pin, a schmear of butter, sugar, and spices, and a sprinkle of pecans, these sweet potato cinnamon rolls are ready for baking.

Hot from the oven, these cinnamon rolls get frosted with a glossy cream cheese frosting. I prefer sweet frosting, but you can certainly decrease the amount of butter and sugar here to have a more dominantly cream cheese flavored frosting. Once they’re frosted, the sweet potato cinnamon rolls are ready for action. And by action, I mean devouring.

If you’re in charge of any dish this Thanksgiving, make sure it’s the sweet potatoes… And while you’re whipping up that dish you should casually throw in an extra potato or two… And when there’s leftovers, well, you know what to do. This sweet potato cinnamon roll recipe will be waiting for you.

Cheers to you and happy Tuesday!

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

These sweet potato cinnamon rolls are fall scented buns stuffed with a cinnamon sugar filling, toasted pecans, and topped with a cream cheese frosting.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 90
Cook Time: 45
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough

1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2–1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
3/4 cup sweet potato puree (see notes below)
3–1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened slightly in the microwave but not completely melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

For the glaze

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of cream or milk, plus more as desired

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Instructions

To prepare the cinnamon rolls

In a large pot, combine the milk, butter, and sugar over medium heat and allow to warm just before the milk is scalding. Remove from burner and allow to cool until luke warm. Add the yeast and allow to dissolve, about 2 minutes.
Add the sweet potato puree to the milk mixture, stirring gently to combine. Add 3 cups of the flour and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow to rest and rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If your dough hasn’t doubled in size within that hour, place the dough in a slightly warmer spot of the kitchen.
Combine the remaining flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the risen dough. Stir to combine. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough overnight or roll out to use immediately. If you decide to save it, punch dough down into bowl if it over-rises.
Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a 12″x18″ rectangle. Combine the butter, brown sugar, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in a bowl to create a paste. Spread softened butter mixture out across the dough , leaving a 1/2 inch border around the sides. Evenly sprinkle the pecans over the dough.
With one of the long ends closest to you, begin to roll the dough away from you, pinching the dough together at the end to seal your roll. Trim off any shaggy ends (no more than 1 inch) Using a sharp knife, cut 1″ slices from your log of dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place buns 1″ apart in a baking dish (I use 3- 8″x8″ baking dishes) and cover again with a sheet of plastic wrap or a tea towel. Allow to rise for 25-30 minutes, or until buns are puffed and rounded. Bake in the oven until buns are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for 10-15 minutes and then top with glaze.

To prepare the filling

In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar slowly and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and cream, beating until smooth. Add additional cream if you wish to have a more loose glaze.

Notes

To make sweet potato puree, peel 1 large sweet potato and cube it into 1″ pieces. Place cubes in a pot of water boiling over medium high heat and cook until tender to a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain water and set aside to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, place potatoes in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Be sure no large clumps remain, or your rolls will also have clumps in them. Allow to cool in the fridge slightly prior to adding to the cinnamon roll dough. The puree can be made and saved in the fridge several days in advance.

Recipe Adapted From: Ree Drummond

Breakfast Danish

1 Comment / Breakfast

Brett made a scrunchy face at me and meticulously picked through the remains of his breakfast danish. “There’s a lot of fruit in here”, he said.

“Get out of the kitchen”, I replied.

I usually encourage constructive criticism when it comes to recipes and baking, but this danish had taken so much research, preparation, and use of my spare time that I wanted nothing short of glowing reviews. My husband, though, sometimes a bit more honest than my pride can bear, had already given away how he really felt about the pastry that contained hours of my love, sweat, and flour. He went on the lament of all of the “raisins” in the danish, even as I repeatedly confirmed to him that they were dried cherries.

“CHERRIES. They are dried cherries. It’s legitimately dried fruit soaked in bourbon and then baked into a delicious, flakey crust. How is that ever a bad thing? Explain. Now.”

I usually try to heed most of my husband’s likes and desires but this was one instance where the degree to which he was wrong was no match for how oh-so right the pastry was.

At the start of this year, we visited Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN. I high recommend it. Anyone who would kind of consider themselves a foodie, or even anyone that just really likes to eat, would find themselves at home among the never-ending parade of seemingly perfect meals that we were served the entirety of our stay. The resort is small, intimate, and classically Southern, and they are known for their culinary and wine program.

On the last morning of our trip, we sat down for brunch and my attention was immediately directed to my left where BJ Novak (you probably know him as Ryan, the temporary hire on “The Office”) was dining with three other people. I was literally seconds away from approaching him to ask if we could FaceTime Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapour) so I could fangirl her and talk about her new book that had me near-pants-wetting the entire time I read it. Right about that time, our waitress brought to our table a complimentary treat: breakfast danish. Let’s talk about that danish.

Actually, I may need a minute to just cherish the memory of that pastry.

Blackberry Farm- you know how to do it. You see all the other restaurants and resorts serving club crackers and cold biscuits as their complimentary bread basket and you decide to Michael-Jordan-slam-dunk-from-the-free-throw-line all over their faces. No, this was not your run of the mill bread basket.

That danish was of another world. That danish tasted as though it was made entirely of butter and fairy dust. That danish was melt in your mouth, rich, buttery, flaky, tender pastry wrapped around a tart and spicy fruit filling.

It was beyond. And I knew I had to have it. After scouring the internet for a recipe that seemed worthwhile, I ran across a recipe by Samantha Seneviratne that had been published in the New York Times. A quick review of the recipe reassured me that this was the one. But quickly, before I tell you the recipe, a few thoughts that I will share in rhetoric:

Is this a ridiculously simple recipe? No. This recipe can look a bit overwhelming from the front end and it is not a mere one or two steps.
Is this a recipe that I can prepare in an hour start to finish? Absolutely not. This will take you a chunk of time and is best worked through in short phases throughout the day.
Is this a recipe that will melt my face off? Yes. Prepare your face for its day of melting. This is a recipe that is worth every second of meltage and more.

I recommend reading the recipe start to finish a few times so you’re kind of prepared for what’s ahead. For additional notes, be sure to check out the original recipe for the pastry as well.

And by the way, BJ Novak, if you ever read this by some random strike of luck or coincidence, tell Mindy Kaling I say what’s up and that we should be best friends. That is all.

Breakfast Danish