Apple Walnut Pull-Apart Bread Muffins with Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Butter

There is a bakery in the San Diego area that sells the tastiest breakfast breads ever! They're filled with yummy goodness like lots of cinnamon sugar doused with butter, nuts and fruits.. and the dressing on top just drips with a sticky rich sugary glaze that is definitely finger licking good. But getting to San Diego on a weekly basis is pretty much out of the question for me with a busy family and schedule to keep so I knew I had to do the next best thing and replicate these breads in my own kitchen.

Success!!  (This was my first attempt, Cherry Almond Bread) It really just came down to finding the right sweet yeast dough recipe and making the recipe my own from then on out with fillings, extracts, nuts and spices. I don't glaze them as much as the bakery does.. though my kids wish I would, but I make extra sugar glaze with the addition of cream cheese and have it in a separate bowl for dipping.

Here I made the bread loaf into muffins. It was really easy and the steps were all the same except that I used the lined muffin tins. I love the look of the extra paper as a liner, so I cut 5 inch squares of Parchment and filled the pans with that. I used the bottom of a juice glass to shape the papers until I was ready to fill them with the dough pieces and apple filling.

Enjoy!

Apple Walnut Filling

1 Can Apple Pie Filling

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Cup chopped Walnuts

2 Tsp. Bourbon or Bourbon Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Butter

1 Stick Regular Butter (room temp.)

1 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar or Maple Syrup

Blend all ingredients in a mini prep.

Refrigerate or use immediately.

Dough for Sweet Rolls and Breads

Dough Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)

1 teaspoon salt

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Dough Preparation

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 21/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375˙

Line a muffin pan with papers. Spray lightly with non stick spray. Tear small chunks of dough and start layering them in the muffin liners interchanging with cinnamon sugar, nuts of your choice and fruit filling. After pan is filled 3/4 of the way up, let rise covered in a draft free location for an additional 30 to 40 minutes.Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes depending on your ovens heat. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't over brown. Take out and let rest. Enjoy for breakfast or brunch!

Buon Appetitio..

Laurie

A Roasted Vegetable and Fontina Cheese Terrine in a Savory Basil Pastry

This is one of those recipes that rarely leaves my mind but hardly ever makes an appearance to the table. It is so delicious, not to difficult to make, a family favorite and can be made ahead and served for a weekend brunch or a light dinner with a salad. I brought it out of my memory banks because of the esthetic beauty of this dish and how lovely I think it will be, placed on a holiday table with all the other wonderful side dishes, whether your making a home style turkey or an elegant prime rib.

I have been making pastry dough's for years. I've tried every recipe possible and have never had just one that I could say was my absolutely favorite.. until now. The combination of ice water and cold cream blended with very cold butter that is rubbed into a savory basil laced flour made for one of the most flaky aromatic dough's I have ever had. The trick always with pastry dough is keeping it cold. For this, I have two sets of flour at home. I have my cold flour for pastries kept in it's original bag and then placed in a tightly sealed freezer bag in my freezer and then I have my bread flour kept at room temperature in my pantry. When making pastry you will hear time and time again how important it is to use cold ingredients.. THIS IS KEY!

While preparing this recipe, after I rolled out my terrine layers I put them back into the freezer and covered them for 15 minutes while I did some clean up.

The other element to this dough that made it so flavorful was the incorporation of the julienne slices of basil mixed with the flour before the rest of the ingredients were combined.

This dough was a winner and it will find a comfy home in my tried and true recipe spot that will be handed down to the next generation of happy homemakers! :)





Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables & Fontina Cheese

2 Zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1/4 -inch slices
2 red bell peppers cored, seeded & sliced
5 Roma Tomatoes Sliced ¼ inch thickness
1 Sweet Onion, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
1 Cipolini Onion
5 carrots sliced
1 garlic, top cut off for roasting
3 Fresh Rosemary Sprigs finely chopped
3 Fresh Thyme Sprigs finely chopped
10 – 12 large basil leaves cleaned and dried left whole
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

*Fontina Cheese 8 – 10 ¼ inch slices

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lay all sliced vegetables except herbs on baking sheets. You will probably need 4 large baking/cookie sheets. Sprinkle half of the vegetables with chopped rosemary and the other half with chopped thyme. Reserve some chopped thyme for roasting garlic. Place garlic with top cut off in a foil pouch. Sprinkle with kosher salt, fresh thyme and a drizzle of olive oil. Close and seal pouch and place on one of the cookie sheets with vegetables surrounding. Drizzle all vegetables with olive oil, season with cracked black pepper and kosher salt.
Bake for 35- 45 minutes. Vegetables should be browned and caramelized. The tomatoes at this point will be beautifully sweet and almost dry.




BASIL LACED PASTRY DOUGH
(Makes Enough For 1 (9-INCH) Double Crust Pie)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 basil leaves clean and dried julienned
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2-teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons ice water
5 tablespoons cream or half and half

Preparation
Add julienned basil to flour. Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Stir together cold water and cream.
Drizzle 5 to 6 Tbsp ice cold liquids evenly over mixture. Gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful of dough: if it doesn't hold together, add more liquid, 1/2 Tbsp at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough. Turn out onto a work surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one. Press into a ball, then flatten into 2 (5-inch) disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, as least 1 hour.




I used my ravioli cutter to slice up the dough to fit perfectly in the terrine. Then I layered the vegetable ingredients and applied a good amount of weight to form good compression. The layering of this dish is really to your own liking. All you need to do is repeat your layering pattern with the vegetables and cheese. When all ingredients are used up, lay the last piece of dough on top and fold over edges and pinch to seal. Prick all over with fork. Brush an egg/milk wash on top and bake in a 400 degree oven till pastry is cooked through, 40 - 45 minutes.
(If pastry is browning to quickly cover with a foil tent)
When cool remove from terrine. Slice in 1/2 inch thicknesses.
Buon Appetito!
Laurie

A “Gluten Free” Fig and Frangipane Tart with a Peach Amaretto Glaze on an Almond Shortbread Crust

A “Gluten Free” Fig and Frangipane Tart with a Peach Amaretto Glaze on an Almond Shortbread Crust

Does anyone else long for the time of year that figs are in season? I adore this fruit! I have a special affinity with figs.. growing up we had plenty of them, a fig tree right outside my bedroom window in our backyard. When ripe, this fruit would produce the most plump, gorgeous, raspberry colored, juicy fruit EVER!!!!

Unfortunately, I haven't had as much luck with fruit trees as my parents did.. 'I'm still waiting for my apple tree, after having it now for three years, to bear fruit'. So when at the market recently eyeing these luscious gems I quickly snapped up a dozen.. only to be disappointed with the lack of flavor and sweetness. I needed some idea to make this tart more fragrant so that's when I decided to glaze the fruits with the peach amaretto jelly. It was a beautiful save!

I also have been using an almond shortbread crust for tarts, pecan pies and cheesecakes now for quite a few years. Adapting this recipe to Gluten Free didn't change the taste or texture one bit. The almond shortbread crust is actually a cookie.. but one time I had a pecan torte with a regular shortbread cookie crust and have been hooked on "shortbread" as pie bases ever since.

What You’ll Need..
6-9 Figs cleaned, tips removed and sliced four ways lengthwise
Gluten Free Almond Shortbread Crust
Gluten Free Frangipane
Peach Amaretto Jelly
Recipes Follow;

Almond Shortbread Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp. bourbon vanilla extract
2/3 cup “gluten free” *all purpose flour
1/3 cup blanched almonds or almond flour (meal)
2 tablespoons brown rice flour or cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt

Pre-Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Pulse almonds with sugar in a food processor till finely ground, add rice flour, gluten free flour and salt. Pulse till well combined. Add butter and vanilla, mix just enough for the dough to start gathering together. Lightly butter the bottom of a tart pan or a cheesecake pan and up the sides a quarter of an inch. Press the shortbread mixture on the bottom. Pierce with a fork. Bake the crust in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. (It will cook again once the frangipane and figs are on top)

Frangipane
Adapted from the Foodie Handbook by Pim Techamuanvivit
½ cup blanched almonds
1/8 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup confectioner’s
7 tbsp. butter at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp. Amaretto

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. Roast them for about 7-10 minutes,(kepp an eye on them) or until slightly toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.

Put the cooled almonds and the sugar’s into a food processor and process until fine. Add the butter, egg and amaretto, pulse until well combined. Leftovers can be wrapped with plastic and left in the refrigerator for a few days and in the freezer for up to one month.

Peach Amaretto Jelly
½ cup peach jam or homemade peach preserves
2-3 Tbsp. Amaretto
1 rounded tsp. honey


Mix the honey and amaretto in a small bowl, add the peach preserves and blend well. The mixture should be thin enough to brush on the figs, if it is still to thick, add a bit of water till the consistency is just right.


Putting It All Together

Pre-heat oven to 350°
Lay the fig slices on a tray. Lightly glaze the figs with the peach amaretto jelly.
Spread the frangipane over the top of the prepared par-baked Almond Shortbread Crust.
Layer the figs on top of each other starting on the outside going in so that the last figs will sit higher and create a flower type look. Drizzle the top lightly with more of the peach amaretto jelly so the crust and the frangipane have some of it as well.
Bake the tart in the pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes.


*The recipe below is a blend to make your own gluten free all-purpose flour at home.

I buy mine pre packaged by Bob’s Red Mill.. only because it’s convenient at my local grocers.. but check out the link I provided for you below.. Living Without Magazine has a variety of flour blend recipes you can make at home.. Including a Gluten Free Pastry Flour blend!

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
source Living Without Magazine

1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Two Toned Cocoa and Amaretto Pizzelles

Pizzelles.. they are the quintessential Italian treat that look wonderful plated at an elegant dessert table with it's beautiful floral lace pattern and it's crisp texture. It is a quick an easy cookie to prepare that is the talk of the room at many school parties or family get-together's.

The traditional recipe calls for anise and anise seeds..yes, like my Spungna Di Biscotti Cake.. but also like the Biscotti, it works well with many flavorings. During the holidays I'll give Pizzelle cookies as gift's, side-dipped in a chocolate coating and for more of a festive look sometimes sprinkled with fine glittery candies.

Here I made a two toned pizzelle with cocoa on one side and a dousing of Amaretto in the lighter version. Oh so yummy and flavorful,
and according to my husband, addictive.

Amaretto Pizzelles
(Makes about 2-3 dozen)

3 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon amaretto liqueur
1-3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar.
Add the butter, vanilla, and amaretto.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix well.
The batter should be stiff enough to be dropped by spoon.
The batter can also be refrigerated for later use.

Cocoa Pizzelles
(Makes about 30)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift the flour, baking powder, and cocoa together in a bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until combined.
Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

*Heat the pizzelle baker and follow the directions for How to Make a Pizzelle.
Put half a teaspoon of each, cocoa and amaretto, side by side onto the iron to achieve the two toned affect. It takes practice.. but the result is beautiful and delicious!