-
Raspberry Scones
It’s a low-key weekend in the Stembridge household, which means getting caught up on housework… and baking! And since telling you all about the yummy raspberry scones I just made is much for fun than housework, alas, here I am, and the housework can wait! I first made these scones for my daughter Berkley’s tea party birthday back in December. I was a scone newbie, and so I scoured Pinterest for what appeared to be a delicious – and beginner-appropriate – scone recipe. I lucked upon this recipe and it delivered on its promise to be easy and so good. I made these again for a brunch baby shower, and…
-
Gluten Free Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins
Baking – ohh, how I have missed you. Ever since earlier this year when we learned my youngest son Beckett had food allergies (the most serious being gluten), I’ve put my baking on hold. Weekends used to mean homemade muffins and pancakes and biscuits, but trying these things without regular flour was more hassle than I felt like dealing with. It was unknown territory, and frankly with the baby, I didn’t have much time for experimenting. But a few weeks ago I wanted real pancakes and so I googled “how to substitute gluten free flour for regular flour” and was amazed by what I found – it’s actually pretty simple. Add…
-
Brownie Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
My husband is a chocoholic. The guy loves anything chocolate. So for Father’s Day, I made him the ultimate chocolate dessert – a brownie bundt cake with chocolate ganache. The idea began last night when he was searching for chocolate (to which we only had chocolate ice cream), and he started throwing out chocolate wish-list ideas. “I want chocolate cake… no brownies… no a brownie cake. But not with icing, with ganache!” Viola. A quick Pinterest search and I had a plan for the next day. Brogan decided to help me make the Father’s Day cake – he’s getting good at measuring and stirring, so his assistance is more of a…
-
Chocolate Cobbler
I can’t believe I’ve been blogging about food (and my recipes) for 9 months and have not shared chocolate cobbler with everyone. Shame on me. I was inspired to make this dessert 4 or 5 years ago after having something very similar at a restaurant… it was so good that I had to figure out how to make it. Well I found this recipe online (been too long, can’t recall the source) and it is a really good copycat. For a while there, this was my go-to… need a dessert? I’ll bring chocolate cobbler! So nudged by my husband having a chocolate sweet tooth lately and having company over for dinner on Sunday,…
-
Mini Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
I felt like baking today and the two brown bananas sitting on my counter prompted me to create these little gems. These cupcakes were another ode to the good ole peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich of my childhood. I opted for mini cupcakes, mainly because I saw some cute little mini cupcake cups at Publix (and bought them, of course). To be honest, I’ve never made mini cupcakes, and thought it would be fun to do something different. Turns out, these cupcakes work perfectly in the mini variety. I know this because I had extra batter (after making 48 little guys) and made 6 standard sized cupcakes. I tried them…
-
Blueberry Muffins!
This morning I decided on a little impromptu muffin making because I was seriously craving some blueberry muffins. I wanted a little tartness to go along with the blueberry, so I added sour cream, buttermilk and lemon zest (a little trick I learned from Ina Garten). Aside from the fact that I couldn’t manage to get equal amounts of batter in my muffin liners (despite using a scoop!), they turned out really, really good. Beckett and I ate 4 of them right out of the oven in about 10 minutes. And I’d like to blame it all on Becks, but this girl ate some muffins. They turned out light and…
-
Good ‘ole Chocolate Chip Cookies!
I get so excited when Brogan wants to cook with me, so the other evening when Brogan asked if we could make chocolate chip cookies, I said sure! So I changed dinner plans and made beanie weenies so that we’d have time to bake… it’s just fun to mix it up every once in a while! I got brave with this recipe and decided to make it up on the fly. You see, I started really baking about a year ago, and I had always been curious about the science of baking and unconfident in my abilities to wing it like I can when I’m cooking. But a year’s worth…
-
Cinnamon Bread
Anyone eat cinnamon toast growing up? White bread, slathered with butter, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar?? I loved that stuff! It was such a treat when my mom would let me make it… oh, and at grandma’s house… I always had it there (because you get whatever you want at your grandparents’, right??). But I did not go in search of cinnamon toast when looking for this recipe. Actually, it was more of a practical search. I had buttermilk. A lot of it. The best by date says tomorrow. So I searched Pinterest for buttermilk bread… scrolled through dozens of pictures until I found this one. Looked interesting. Had a…
-
Super Easy Pie Crust (and Pumpkin Pie)
When I found this recipe for pie crust on Pinterest, it seemed too good to be true. You mean to tell me that I can make a pie crust with four ingredients, without rolling it out, in the pie plate?? Why yes. Yes you can. When I first read that this crust was made with oil instead of butter, I was slightly put off. I put butter in everything! But I figured I’d give it a shot. To my pleasant surprise, this crust was good and flakey. To say I’m thrilled about this pie crust would be the understatement of the year. I stopped buying store-bought pie crusts a while…
-
Brownie Cookies
When I got home from work today, Brogan asked me if we could make cookies. Now baking is not typically a weekday affair, but I’ve found that sometimes it’s fun to throw the routine out the window and just go with it. So instead of making dinner, we made cookies (and ate leftovers). Brogan helped, Beckett stayed entertained with chips and hummus and it was a fun night in this house. When I asked Brogan what kind of cookies he wanted to make he replied, “Chocolate. But not with chips.” Hmm. Ok then. Off to Pinterest I went and found this recipe. I cut it in half, but followed it…
