Easy Food Processor Buttermilk Biscuits

All I wanted was an easy recipe to whip up in the food processor for Buttermilk Biscuits. I know that they are super easy to make by hand, but I have to justify to myself the cost of the new food processor I got for myself. I took a basic recipe I found online and made some changes and it worked out pretty good.

Easy Food Processor Buttermilk Biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 tablespoon sugar
1.5 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 - 1 1/4 cup buttermilk, give or take
1 - 2 tablespoons butter melted

Preheat oven to 400°.

In food processor, combine dry ingredients - pulse 2-3 times. Place butter in bowl and pulse another 2-3 times or until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You should see some larger than pea-sized bits of butter but thats ok- its better not to over-process at this point.  Turn processor on and stream in buttermilk. Stream slowly and watch until a sticky dough forms and starts to pull away from the bowl. You don't want to overmix and totally incorporate the butter- you should still have little tiny chunks floating around in there. I think I had the processor on at this point for maybe 6-8 seconds.

Turn dough out onto well-floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 5 times to create layers. Roll dough out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Transfer dough rounds to a sheet pan. Gather scraps and repeat. You can make a dimple in the center to help the top rise evenly. Brush with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven until golden brown. Makes 10-12 or so depending on how big you cut them.

Note: I don't use a cutter. I simply roll out to a square shape and cut into squares. Thats just how lazy I am.

Frog Eye Salad

When I used to spend Christmas Day feasting with my husband Steve's family, one of the extended family members always made Frog Eye Salad. Its fruity, sweet, fluffy, and just like dessert. Kids generally love it too. I've been making it the last few years for pot-lucks, etc, and finally decided to get the recipe up here as I'm making it for the family Thanksgiving get-together.

FROG EYE SALAD

1 (4-serving size) pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 of a 16 oz box acini de pepe
1 cup thawed Cool Whip
1 (15 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 (16 oz) can fruit cocktail, drained
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 jar Maraschino cherries without stems, drained


Mix pudding with 1 3/4 cups milk. Set aside. 
Cook acini de pepe. Drain and cool. 
Mix pudding and 1 cup Cool Whip together. 
Mix in the fruit and cherries, then the acini de pepe. 
Refrigerate; serve chilled. Refrigerate leftovers, if there are any.


NOTE: This makes a good sized bowl.

Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread

Had some left over buttermilk and a zucchini that I needed to use up soon, so what to do? Search for a recipe that uses them both. I didn't find exactly what I wanted so I took the best parts of other recipes and made my own Franken-zucchini bread. Actually came out very good and everyone I gave a piece to said it was moist and tasty- but maybe they were lying to protect my delicate feelings?


This recipe only makes one loaf (unlike most zucchini bread recipes), which is ideal for us.


Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread


Preheat oven to 350°. GENEROUSLY grease 9x5 loaf pan.


1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1 8.25oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2+ cup walnuts
1/2+ cup raisins


In large bowl beat butter and sugars together until combined. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. With spoon mix in zucchini, pineapple,  buttermilk, and vanilla until combined.


Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to batter, stirring until just combined, then stir in nuts and raisins.


Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until done.


My notes:

• Really fills the loaf pan up, but doesn't rise too much so it stayed in the pan.
• I put a plus sign next to the walnuts and raisins as I didn't really measure- just dumped them in until I felt like there was enough.
• Even though I thought I had greased the pan thoroughly, it still stuck in the middle a little. Maybe I didn't grease it up enough there, or maybe I waited too long to remove it from the pan. I'll pay more attention next time.

Peach Tart

This is so easy. Cutting the peaches turned out to be the hardest part, and even THAT was easy. I had picked up a box of peaches from Trader Joe's and let them sit out until they were perfectly ripe. There are only two of us, so we ate as many as we could so I had to find a way to use them. Cobblers and Crisps came to mind, but everybody makes those. And I had a frozen sheet of Dufour Puff Pastry in the freezer I had been wanting to use, so the right answer turned out to be a Peach Tart!

RUSTIC PEACH TART

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (I prefer Dufour's)

7 to 8 ripe peaches

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

3 tablespoons brown sugar

dash of cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)


Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 15x10 pan with non-stick spray.

Sprinkle rolling surface with some flour. Unfold puff pastry and lightly sprinkle top with flour. Roll out to approximate size of pan then place in pan. Using a sharp knife, cut off about 1/2 inch on all sides making straight sides. Fold cut-off pieces back over edges making them double height. Score halfway through bottom layer inside of this second layer being sure to NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. This helps make an edge to keep the peach stuff in.

Slice peaches into about 8 pieces and place in bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

Combine the flour, corn starch and brown sugar (and cinnamon, if desired.) Sprinkle over the bottom of the crust (this will thicken and sweeten the fruit and its juices). Arrange the peaches on top using a slotted spoon into a slightly heaped but even single layer but DO NOT pour any of the juices from the bowl on the tart. Trust me, it will be juicy enough. DO NOT heap the peaches up in the center or the tart won't cook correctly.

Heat preserves and honey (either on the stove or a microwave) enough to melt. Brush over the peaches. (I also brush some on the crust around the edge, too.)

Bake 350° for about 40 minutes on a low oven rack, until fruit looks cooked and the crust is golden brown. If desired, sprinkle a teaspoon-ish of sugar over the tart for the last 10-15 minutes. It will give the tart added sparkle. This is completely optional.

DO NOT cut immediately! It needs to sit a bit and let the juices thicken up. If you cut it right away, all that delicious juice will run out before they can thicken as they cool. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

My notes:

• I have found I prefer Dufour's puff pastry (which I get at my local Whole Foods). Its the right size, though a little expensive. But it also tastes the best.
• I have used Stevia for the sugar and a Splenda/brown sugar blend for the sweeteners. It worked fine.
• As usual, I added cinnamon- I add it to everything, it seems.
• I used raw honey for the honey but regular will work.
• I like the "rustic" look, so I didn't bother lining all the peach slices up like some folks do. Tastes the same either way.
• I used a packet of raw turbinado sugar for the "sparkle".
• I was uncomfortable with what looked like a lot of extra liquid but it thickened up upon cooling.
• Depending on the size of the peaches, you may need more or less. When I thought I needed more, I would cut up another one and stir it into the left-over juices in the bowl, then use the slotted spoon and apply them to the tart. Repeat as necessary.
• Forgot to make the glaze last time I made it, and it was still delicious!

ATK Banana Bread

I must say, I was intrigued by a recipe for banana bread that called for pre-cooking the bananas and then cooking the resulting liquids even more. Turns out, it was a fairly tasty banana bread. Although, once I get done tarting it up, I'm not sure the mess and extra time make it THAT much better than the old Joy of Cooking base recipe I used to use. But I'm too lazy to do a side-by-side test and the extra steps give me something to boast about.

Banana Bread from America's Test Kitchen (transcribed from tv episode)

Put 5 bananas in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap and microwaved for 5 minutes. Put bananas in mesh sieve over bowl and allow to drain until needed after next step. You will need both the bananas and the liquid.

1 3/4 cp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Whisk together in large bowl. Set aside.

Put banana liquid in saucepan and cook over medium high until only 1/4 cup left. About 5 minutes (mine took a little longer.) Mash into bananas. Add in:

1 stick melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Whisk together. Add in:

3/4 cup brown sugar, mixing until dissolved.

Stir wet into dry ingredients until just mixed. 

Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts if desired. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter in. Decorate with 2 rows sliced banana (from one banana) if desired, then sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar evenly to make crust.

Bake at 350 for about an hour, turning once while cooking. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan.

My notes:

• Use REALLY ripe bananas for that sweet banana flavor. I take really ripe bananas and peel them, then throw in a bag in the freezer till I need them. I usually end up using some frozen, some not- just add a little more time to the initial microwaving.
• I added cinnamon (I add a dash of cinnamon to most things it seems.)
• I added about 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped dried apricots
• I didn't bother with the banana decoration, but I did sprinkle the top with raw, turbinado sugar
• I also discovered that if your brown sugar was as hard as mine, you can just microwave it until it becomes soft enough to use. I don't remember how long that takes, however.
• Be careful not to overcook. I think I did and it was drier than I like. Since I never make the same thing the same way twice, even with a recipe, there could have been other factors at work here.

Emeril's Nutty Granola Bars

This recipe comes from the March 2011 Everyday Food magazine. I love the show and I love the magazine. The recipes I've tried are both super easy, and usually super-delicious! Unfortunately, they failed to have this recipe on their website, so I am forced to transcribe it by hand to the blog. Oh! The tedium!! But its a great recipe- easy to make, infinitely configurable, and DELICIOUS. Warning: this recipe contains nuts. This is the printed recipe and naturally, I altered it slightly. I'll add my changes at the end. They worked hard on this recipe and I owe it to them to show their work, un-adulterated. Or they stole it. Who knows. Now that Martha OWNS Emeril, anything is possible!

Emeril's Nutty Granola Bars
Serves 16. Active time: 10 min. Total Time: 40 min + cooling

¾ cup honey, divided
2 tbl unsalted butter
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1⅓ cups (6oz) slivered almonds
pinch of coarse salt
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
⅓ cup creamy almond butter or other nut butter
¼ light-brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a small saucepan, heat ¼ cup honey and butter over low. Cook, stirring, until butter melts, about 2 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, and pinch of salt. Drizzle honey mixture over oat mixture and stir to combine; wipe saucepan clean. Spread mixture evenly on large baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely on sheet, about 10 minutes. Return to large bowl and add raisins; stir to combine.
3. Spray 8-inch square baking dish. In saucepan, combine ½ cup honey, almond butter, and brown sugar over medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil and sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes. Drizzle over oat mixture and stir until combined; transfer to baking dish. With a spatula, press firmly into dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, then cut into 16 bars or squares. (Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 5 days.)

per bar: 258 cal; 11 g fat (2 g sat fat); 6 g protein; 38 g carb; 3 g fiber

My Notes:

• I used the butter I had on hand, which has salt
• I used almost a cup of raisins, and I also added about a cup of chopped dried apricots
• I had some organic, chunky peanut butter, so I used that for the "nut butter"
• I put a generous dash of cinnamon in the second saucepan mixture of honey, nut butter, and brown sugar. I think it gave the bars a little more depth.
• I found that the spatula wasn't pressing hard enough into the pan, and I was afraid that they'd just fall apart when I ate them, so I put a sandwich bag on my hand and pressed down pretty hard on the bars in the pan before cooling. I think I made the right decision.
• These are pretty generously sized bars. Next time, I will cut them into smaller bars. You can always eat as many as you like.