TWD: Honey Nut Brownies & Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins

Ruh roh! Somehow two Tuesdays have gone by without me posting my Tuesdays with Dorie treats. I baked them... just didn't post them!

Anyway, this week, Suzy of Suzy Homemaker chose Honey Nut Brownies and last week, Lauryn of Bella Baker chose Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins.


First up, the brownies... from the discussion forum I heard that these "brownies" tasted more of honey than chocolate. Those that baked early advised using a honey you really like because the honey flavor was front and center. Sadly, I'm not in love with the honey I have on hand, so I used Lyle's Golden Syrup instead. Lyle's is, I believe, a British product and tastes of caramel and has a consistency much like honey. I figured it would be a perfect match. I also increased the chocolate by half again, and used cashews to add another level of tastiness.


I must say... boy, were these ever good! Wow! I couldn't stop myself from cutting off a hunk every time I walked by. I'm glad I only made 1/2 batch! Now I need to find a good honey and try them as intended.

Moving on to the Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins, they were aptly named because the day I made them the sun came out after what has seemed like forever! I get so tired of these grey, gloomy, Ohio winter skies, I just crave sunshine so badly this time of year.

Enter the muffins...


I even took them outside, risking a too-bright picture because it was so nice to see some sun.

These tasted lightly of orange and lemon and were nice and soft.


Next time I let the clouds get to me, I'm going to bake another batch of these and see if they will work their magic again on those nasty clouds.

OK, that's all folks. If you'd like to see the recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, from My Home to Yours", or click on the links in the second paragraph for Suzy and Lauryn's web sites.

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

Jill of My Next Life chose Corniest Corn Muffins for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

I was thinking about an old co-worker as I made these. (I'll call him Joe, to protect the innocent.) Joe was Irish, like, from-Ireland Irish, complete with an adorable Irish accent.

Joe had this thing about corn.


And it wasn't "A Good Thing", as Martha would say. It was a bad thing.

Joe despised corn. The mere mention of corn would send him off on a tirade (and this from a normally mild-mannered fellow). According to Joe, during the potato famine period in Irish history, a lot of people were starving, but somehow they got ahold of some corn. According to Joe, corn has no nutritional value, and so it didn't solve the famine problem and people were still starving.

My husband also worked with me at the time and he was witness to at least one lecture on the evils of corn. Nowadays, every so often, one of us will say to the other "remember how Joe used to get so upset when someone mentioned corn?".

I think Joe just might have approved of these muffins, though. They were just barely sweet, hearty muffins, chock full of corn. I haven't made cornbread many times, but when I have it usually turns out crumbly. These muffins weren't crumbly at all. I think these will be the "corn muffins" I turn to if I'm ever in need of a good recipe.

Thanks, Jill, for a great pick. Please check out Jill's site (at the link above) if you'd like to see the recipe, or see Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Chocolate Pots de Creme

Christine of BlackCatCooking chose Chocolate Pots de Creme for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

This dish is much like pudding in taste and texture, but unlike pudding, it is baked in the oven rather than on the stove top. That's OK with me, I'm not a big fan of standing by the stove and stirring, stirring, stirring...


Something strange happened to my pots de creme. For some reason they separated into three layers after setting up in the fridge. The bottom layer was smooth and silky, the darker, thin, middle layer was almost fudgey, and the top layer was... just weird. It was thick and greasy. It almost seemed like the fat from the cream and milk separated out in this layer.

I'm sure it's my fault. When I added all of the ingredients together before putting them in pots and baking, I whisked the mixture really well because the chocolate was not mixed in well. I guess I whisked too much, like when you over-whip whipping cream, you know, it starts to get clumpy.

Oh well, live and learn. The bottom two layers were tasty. And I kind of figure I made this into a low fat dessert by not eating the top layer, LOL.

If you'd like to check out the recipe, visit Christine's blog (see link in first paragraph), or Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, "From my Home to Yours.

TWD: Toasted Almond Scones

Mike of Living Out West chose Toasted Almond Scones for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.


Wow, I really can't say enough about these scones. They were easy to make, they were soooo light and fluffy and they rose nicely. The taste was delicious(although I did add another couple tablespoons of sugar) and the toasted almonds added a nice crunch.

I will definitely make these again. Next time I'd love to try some dried cherries.

Thanks so much to Mike for a great pick and Dorie for a great recipe. If you'd like to see the recipe you can visit Mike's blog (link above) or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us chose Chocolate Oatmeal Drops for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

As you can see, I decided against making these in their intended form... drops, or cookies. After hearing about spreading, thin, greasy cookies, I thought "uh, no, not on my watch".


Since I've cut way back on sweets, I definitely don't want to waste my sweet tooth on thin cookies. Ewww!

Anyway, this is what I did: I made 1/2 batch and baked them as you would with bars or brownies, in a round 8″ pan (ungreased). I added about 2 tablespoons extra flour. I also used a hand mixer to mix in the eggs and the flour somewhat. And as usual, I left out the cinnamon since I'm not a fan of the cinnamon-chocolate combo.

And were they as good as they look? Oh yea, even better. They were AWESOME! I could have easily eaten the whole pan (had to quickly push them on the kids and their friends instead). I didn't know what to expect from the oatmeal, but it wasn't really noticeable. It made for just a slight crunch, though.

Thanks so much, Caroline and Claire! Great pick! If you'd like to see the recipe, visit Caroline and Claire's blog (link above) or check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Bourbon Bread Pudding

Sharon from Simply Southern chose Bourbon Bread Pudding for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

I love bread pudding, but I've never been able to get it quite right when I try to make it myself. This recipe was probably the closest I've gotten to a good bread pudding. I did underbake it a little so the bottom was a tad "squishy".

If I make this again, I will make sure to bake it long enough and maybe use a shallower pan, which I think would help.

I thought the little bottle of bourbon was cute. I guess I can make all the bourbon bread pudding I want now, seeing how we don't actually drink the stuff. (Maybe there are other bourbon recipes? Hmmm.... )


OK, I guess that's it... short and sweet, like this dessert. If you'd like to see the recipe, please stop by Sharon's blog (link can be found above), or find a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Great Grains Muffins

Christine of Happy Tummy chose Great Grains Muffins for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

These are supposed to be half-way healthy, what with the whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, and cornmeal in the mix. Healthy... unless you go renegade and add chocolate chips instead of dried fruit.


D'oh!

Yea, about that. I knew my kids would NO WAY eat these with raisins or other dried fruit. And I thought they might be a tad, well, dull without any chewies in there.

Besides, I'm on my annual health and fitness kick and I've been doing really well in the exercise and kicking-the-bad-eating-habit, so I figured, what they hay. (I've decided to try to kick, and I mean, for good, some of the worst offenders from my bad eating habits, tackling one per month. This month, I started with the worst of my worst, which is my SUGAR habit. I decided to go cold turkey and stop eating processed sugar all but one day a week. On that day, I let myself have a few of whatever I've baked for the week and maybe some M&M's at the movies. And shock of shockers, I've actually stuck with it! And even more shocking, it wasn't that BAD!! AND delightfully shocking, along with exercising regularly, I've lost about 7 pounds so far! (Who knew that not eating sugar would actually help you lose weight?! (she says sarcastically). I'm going to call the newspapers and alert everyone! (even more sarcasm)). Funny thing, putting my mind to something... somehow it worked. )

Anyway, where was I? The muffins. The muffins were decent. The taste was nice and they were moist, but there was something about the cornmeal... you either need to go all out with cornmeal, like with cornbread, or leave it out, in my opinion. Adding just a small amount to otherwise soft treats makes it kinda gritty. But I'm glad I tried them. I'm sure there were plenty of folks who liked them. I'm probably the oddball.

OK, that's that. I'll let you know how I'm doing with my February Bad Habit... cutting back on Diet Mountain Dew.

If you'd like to check out the muffins, visit Christine's blog, or Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, "From my Home to Yours".