Tuesday, April 28, 2015

tart cherry pie

i wanted pie...






*use this for the pie filling & for baking instructions.

the most amazing pie crust you'll ever make [yield; 1 crust]*
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 stick of cold butter, reallyyyy cold & cut into small pieces.
2 tablespoons of cold sour cream
2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water

*I doubled this recipe to make a lattice on top

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
Add the cut up butter.
Using a pastry blender (or fingers), mix until it resembles coarse meal.
Add the sour cream & make a well in the center.
Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and mix with pastry blender.
Be ever so gently. Do not over mix.
You want the dough to come together but still be crumbly.
If needed, add another tablespoon of the ice water.
Turn the dough out onto the counter and form into a ball.
Flatten like a disc, cover with plastic wrap, and chill 2-3 hours.


yellow butt(::)n







Monday, April 27, 2015

Chocolatey banana bread

Mmm, what to do with brown, almost black, bananas....
BANANA BREAD!
And what better to add then cocoa powder and chocolate chunks!
[currently drooling over the aroma in my kitchen as I write]
This is smitten kitchens double chocolate banana bread.
It's a must add recipe to your recipe box! I promise you.




3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup of butter, melted
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, dutch process*
1 cup of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 9x5 loaf pan & set aside.
Mash the bananas (I like to leave some small chunks)
Add in the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, & vanilla.
Mix mix mix until combined.
Sift the dry ingredients [flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon]
Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture.
Stir just until combined.
Sprinkle in the chocolate chunks and stir.
Pour into prepared pan, bake for 55-65 minutes,
& let cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack.
Slice, serve, enjoy.

*I added less cocoa then mentioned in the recipe (mainly because I ran out!) which ended up in my favor! Any more and it would have been too sweet. 

**I used both semisweet & bittersweet chocolate, 1/2 cup of each.


Yellow butt(::)n




Thursday, April 9, 2015

Lemon Shortbreads.



2-1/4 cups AP flour, spooned & leveled
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest + 2 teaspoons lemon juice
--coarse sanding or turbinado sugar for sprinkling--

Combine flour & salt.
Beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest & juice until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the flour on low until combined.
Turn out the dough onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper.
Shape the dough into a rectangle log measuring about 12x2x1 (yes, I used a ruler)
Wrap the dough completely in the wax or parchment paper.
Refrigerate 3-4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350degrees.
Slice the dough into 1/3" slices, lay on sheet pan & sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake 12-15 minutes, rotating trays half way through.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.



yellow butt(::)n