Apple Week – Dutch Babies with warm apples

So you all know how much we looooove our pancakes around here.

We have them pretty much…

Every.

Single.

Weekend.

But sometimes you want to switch up your pancake just a bit.

Enter the Dutch Babies!

baking with kids   Apple Week   Dutch Babies with warm apples

Want to know the boys favorite part?

They each get their own little ramekin made special just for them!

WHAT YOU NEED:

4 T butter

4 eggs

1 c. milk

1 c. flour

¼ sugar

1 t. vanilla

for the apple topping:

2 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 t butter

1/4 t salt

1/4 t cinammon

1 T sugar

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine eggs, milk, flour, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk well.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

When butter has melted pour equally into small ramekins and swish butter around in the bottom of each to coat.  (If you don’t have ramekins just batter into skillet then transfer into oven.)  Place ramekins on a baking sheet and put into the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Sides will be golden brown and puffy.

baking with kids   Apple Week   Dutch Babies with warm apples

Meanwhile melt remaining butter over medium high heat.  Toss in apples, sugar, salt and cinammon.  Allow to cook until apples are nice and soft and caramelized.

baking with kids   Apple Week   Dutch Babies with warm apples

Remove dutch babies from oven and serve immediately.  Top with powdered sugar and apples.

 

 

Apple Week – best apple pie ever

There is nothing that says home to me…

Like the smell of apple pie baking in the oven.

baking with kids   Apple Week   best apple pie ever

It’s just everything good about fall…

Moms…

Holidays…

And yummy goodness.

I’ve made plenty of apple pies in my day.

But this the the best of the bunch.

Trust me!

The Best Ever Apple Pie

WHAT YOU NEED:

For the pie crust:

1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

8 to 10 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

8 -10 peeled, cored and sliced apples (I like a mix of granny smith and empire apples)

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/2 t vanilla extract

3 T butter, cut into cubes

1 egg beaten

1 T sugar in the raw

WHAT TO DO:

For the crust:

Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water.

Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps.

Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk.

Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the pie ingredients.  Roll the other disk into a 9 inch round to top the pie with.

For the filling:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine apples, both sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract.  Toss well to combine.

Pour the apple mixture into the dough lined pie dish.  Dot the top to the apple mixture with butter chunks.

Top with second pie crust and crimp edges to close.

Cut a few slits in the top of the crust to vent.

Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar in the raw.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Let cool before slicing.

 

 

 

Blueberry scones with blueberry butter

I love fresh scones.

But I’m not a baker…

So I rarely make them.

But this is a relatively easy recipe to get yummy scones on the table on a weekend morning.

baking with kids   Blueberry scones with blueberry butter

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into chunks

3/4 cup cream

1 egg

1 pint blueberries (locally grown)

2 T sugar in the raw

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In your food processor bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Pulse quickly to combine.  Add cold butter and pulse quickly to cut butter in until it looks like coarse sand.

In a separate large bowl combine cream and egg.  Mix well.  Pour off just a bit into a small bowl then pour the flour mixture in.  Stir a bit just to combine.  Fold in your blueberries very gently being careful not to burst them.

Now comes the creative part…

You can turn out your dough and form into a large square or circle and cut them into traditional triangles or you can do what I do and just drop them into circles on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the reserved cream/egg mixture and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with Blueberry Butter.

 

Boozy Bluesy Blueberry Cobbler

Happy Blueberry Month!

We love us some blueberry desserts!

baking with kids   Boozy Bluesy Blueberry Cobbler

And cobbler is one of our faves.

Have you tried this new Jack Daniels honey liquor?

baking with kids   Boozy Bluesy Blueberry Cobbler

It’s amazing!

Spice up your cobbler with it and you’ll be tickled!

Boozy Bluesy Blueberry Cobbler

WHAT YOU NEED:

6 cups fresh local blueberries

2 sticks  unsalted butter, divided

1 c sugar, divided

2 T corn starch

1 T lemon juice

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 cup Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey (honey liquor)

¾ t salt, divided

1 ½ c all purpose flour

2 T baking powder

¾ c heavy cream

1 whole egg

1 T water

2 T sugar in the raw

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large pot melt 4 T butter.  Cut remaining butter into cubes and place in freezer.

Add blueberries and ½ cup sugar to the melted butter.  Stir in corn starch, lemon juice, cinnamon, ¼ t salt, and Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey.  Mix well.  Cook for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to burn off then turn off heat.

In your food processor sift in flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and remaining salt.  Pulse quickly to combine.

Add in butter from the freezer and pulse until the flour mixture looks like sand.

Pour in cream and pulse again quickly just until the dough comes together and is slightly sticky.

Beat your egg in a small bowl and add water.  Set aside.

Pour your fruit mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. (You can also make this in a cast iron skillet or in individual gratin dishes for individual cobblers.)

Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto the fruit mixture, spread it out as it will all cook together in the oven.  Brush the top of the batter with egg wash then sprinkle on sugar.

baking with kids   Boozy Bluesy Blueberry Cobbler

Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch “bubble over” and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with ice cream or whip cream.

 

Kids Fun Food Week – Chicken Surprise Bundles

I say it all the time…

The easiest way to get a kid to eat,

Is to involve them in the process.

These little bad boys are so much fun to make…

And even better to eat.

Check out our Chicken Surprise Bundles…

baking with kids   Kids Fun Food Week   Chicken Surprise Bundles

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 tube Pillsbury refrigerated dough

1 cup grilled chicken, diced

1 cup shredded swiss, cheddar or mozzarella cheese

8 sliced cooked chopped bacon

1 cup baby spinach

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Spread out your dough on a cutting board.

Cut it into 8 equal squares

Place the rest of your ingredients in an assembly line and call the kids into help.

baking with kids   Kids Fun Food Week   Chicken Surprise Bundles

Let them decide what goes into the center of each of their bundles.

Keegan built his with bacon and cheese and chicken.

Brady and Cooper loaded up on the spinach.

You can get creative and add whatever you think your kids will like!

Next wrap up your bundles.

Take each corner and pull it up towards the center.

Pinch together at the top and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes.

baking with kids   Kids Fun Food Week   Chicken Surprise Bundles

Serve with a side salad or soup or veggie sticks.  Make a bunch, these bundles go fast!

Easter Week – Easter Egg Mini Pies

This is a fun delicious craft to make with kids this easter.

They’re easy to make…

Fun to decorate…

And the bite size portions go down super easy!

baking with kids   Easter Week   Easter Egg Mini Pies

Easter Egg Mini Pies

WHAT YOU NEED:

Pie crust dough (you can use store bought or make your own.

Canned pie filling

4 egg whites

Food coloring

new paintbrushes

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out your pie crust and using an oval cookie cutter cut equal numbers of “eggs.”

baking with kids   Easter Week   Easter Egg Mini Pies

Place half of them onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Top each with a spoonful or two of filling then moisten the edge with egg white.  Top with remaining eggs and seal edges to close.

Add food coloring to your egg white then let the kiddos use the paintbrushes to paint on designs on top of eggs.

baking with kids   Easter Week   Easter Egg Mini Pies

Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

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