Bacon & Cheddar Muffins

I love long weekends.

There's just something about waking up on the Monday morning of a holiday weekend with a smile on your face, feeling like you've cheated the system with that extra morning to sleep in.

In true summer fashion our Memorial Day weekend was jam packed with sun filled adventures including the Austin Music and Wine Festival, lounging by the pool and a Sunday night BBQ with some of our favorites.

And everyone knows when you have plans all weekend long breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day because with so many plans you never know when your next meal will be.

I woke up Saturday morning craving a baked good, but wanting something savory at the same time.

Luckily,  I came upon this recipe for Bacon & Cheddar Muffins in an online Bisquick magazine and couldn't have been happier about the ease of preparation (and taste of course).

Bacon & Cheddar Muffins
recipe by Bisquick
Oven: 400 Bake time: 16-19 minutes
Makes 10 muffins or 5 large muffins

4 strips of bacon
1 egg
2 cups of Bisquick
3/4 cup of cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of milk
2 TBS butter, melted
1/4 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 400 and line muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large skillet, cook bacon until nice and crispy.
Remove from skillet, allowing bacon to cool, crumble and set aside.
In a large bowl lightly whisk egg.
Add Bisquick, milk, butter, and chili powder and mix until combined.
Fold in cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin- filling each about 3/4 full.
Transfer to oven and bake 16-19 minutes or until muffins have lightly browned.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.
Serve with eggs.

Do anything fun this weekend?

Happy Baking!

Asiago and Rosemary Scones

While Mountain Man is still out doing adventurous things in the woods of Maine and New Hampshire, I decided to have some of our friends over for brunch before heading to a local art festival.

I always have a hard time deciding what to make.. there are just so many choices for a brunch menu! I knew I was going to be making a frittata (sausage, peppers and goat cheese) but I wanted something to go along with it.. something baked of course. I thought about muffins, scones, finally trying out a pastry, maybe a banana bread? But nothing popped..

Then, as I was browsing the grocery isles, I saw it.. Asiago cheese with Rosemary and Olive Oil.. what a perfect ingredient for a savory scone! This is when I love the fact we had to move MM's entire herb garden with us across country in the back of a U-Haul...

In addition to these savory scones I also made something sweet, but I'll save that for a later post mostly because they're still in the oven as I write this.

Asiago and Rosemary Scones
adapted from The Craft of Baking
Oven: 375 Bake time: 20 min
Makes 8 large scones or 12 mini

1 3/4 cup AP flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 TBS and 1/2 tsp baking powder
6 TBS chilled butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 TBS fresh rosemary, finely chopped or 1/2 TBS dried rosemary
1 cup buttermilk

2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.

Add chopped butter and place bowl in freezer for 5 minutes.

Using paddle attachment (or two knives if you don't have a mixer) beat until butter gets incorporated into dry ingredients and crumbly consistency is reached.
Add cheese and rosemary, mix until combined.

I was going to add basil, but decided against after I took this pic.

Slowly add buttermilk and continue to mix until dough starts to come together.

Turn dough out on floured surface and knead for a few more minutes.

Shape dough into a large circle (about 7 inches) and using a knife cut 8 or 12 slices like a pie.
Place slices on baking sheet or baking stone if you have one.
Cover with saran wrap and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
While the scones are chilling, preheat oven to 375.
Brush chilled scones with olive oil and sprinkle rosemary on top of each.

Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes.
After baking, transfer to cooling rack.

I can't wait to see what everyone thinks

 I've got to get the rest of the food ready for brunch!

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Baking!

Chili, Cheese and Tomato-Pesto Biscuits

Friday morning before I left for work I asked MM to go through A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman and find something scrumptious to make for breakfast Saturday morning. When I returned home from work he had page 98 marked and what a good choice it turned out to be.

"I chose something a little different for us to make tomorrow morning," he said to me Friday afternoon, and different it was indeed. When it comes to breakfast baked goods I almost always go for something sweet, so these were a little out of my comfort zone... I mean, this is swEEts by e!? I'm not going to lie, I was a little hesitant when I started reading through the ingredients. I couldn't help but think there was just too much going on, but I was absolutely proved wrong.

Mountain Mans choice of Chili, Cheese and Tomato-Pesto Biscuits? Delicious, yes. Sweet, no.

A perfect companion for some scrambled eggs and bacon, these biscuits are sure to please on a warm spring morning when you're in the mood for something savory and a little different than your average pancake or muffin. A word of warning though, the prep for these bad boys is a little time consuming.  There are a lot of veggies and herbs that go into the dough which require a lot of chopping and measuring... a perfect opportunity to make use a sous chef ;)

Chili, Cheese and Tomato-Pesto Biscuits
Adapted from A Passion for Baking
Oven temp: 425 Bake Time: 18-20 minutes
Makes about 12 biscuits

2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TBS dry mustard
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp black pepper (basically a sprinkle)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
about 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
3 TBS finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup canned corn (drained)
2 cups shredded cheddar and jack cheese combo
2 TBS minced canned green chilis
3 TBS sun-dried tomato pesto*

Preheat oven to 425.
Stack 2 baking sheets together and line top with parchment paper.
In food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, mustard, baking powder, soda and pepper. Pulse a few times to mix.

Add butter cubes and pulse until grainy consistency is made. Transfer mixture into a large bowl.

Pour a little more than half the buttermilk to mixture, add egg and mix lightly with a fork.
Add all your veggies and drop in bits of pesto. *We couldn't find tomato-pesto so we made our own by mixing 6 sun-dried tomato halves and 2 spoonfuls of pesto in the food processor.

Use your hands to mix together into a soft dough. Add more buttermilk if necessary.

Turn out dough on lightly floured surface and roll out until it is about 1 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter, cut into circles and transfer to prepared baking sheets.

Place in oven and reduce temp to 400. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Happy Baking!