Quick & Easy Sticky Buns

I made these this morning and they were a hit.  We devoured them warm out of the oven and it was a perfect Saturday morning breakfast.  The best part was it took me about five minutes to whip 'em up and then while they baked I was able to peruse Pinterest and enjoy my lazy Saturday morning as well.  Sure beats having to make a big breakfast first thing in the morning.  Pair these sticky buns with fresh fruit and some sausage and you'll be a Saturday morning hero while still getting to relax.  Here's the DL..
Ingredients

I bought the "Honey Butter"variety of Grands biscuits.  They tasted awesome, & were on mega sale.  But if you can't find the "Honey Butter" kind good 'ol buttermilk biscuits will work great.

2 cans Grands Flaky Layers biscuits
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray bunt pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix together butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon until mixture is syrupy and sugar is dissolved.

Pour about one third of the sugar mixture into the bottom of the bunt pan.  Sprinkle in half of the pecans.  Arrange biscuits in overlapping domino fashion in the pan.  Pour the remaining sugar mixture evenly on top of the biscuits.  Sprinkle remaining pecans and 1 tablespoon brown sugar on top.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until tops are good and brown & biscuits are cooked through.  Remove from oven & let sit for one minute.  Invert onto serving platter, set on the table & let the crew pull apart your beautiful creation and devour it.  Enjoy!

Burnt Butter Bread

I dig this bread.  I serve it with a variety of dishes & there are never any left overs.  It's a knock off of Pioneer Woman's "The Bread".  It's cheap, quick to make, & scrumptious.  Plus this bread goes great with a variety of dishes: anything Italian, BBQ, steak, chicken, and fettuccine alfredo (look for that recipe coming soon).  Here's how...
Ingredients
1 loaf of french bread
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
garlic powder
kosher salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut french bread loaf in half length ways.  Spread half the butter on one side & the remaining butter on the other side.  Make sure every inch is covered.  It will seem like there is too much butter... there is... it's wonderful!  Now sprinkle garlic powder & kosher salt on top to your desired taste.  Spread butter around again to mildly incorporate the garlic powder & salt.  Put bread on a baking sheet & stick in the oven until butter is totally melted, about 3-4 minutes.

 Now crack the oven door & set oven to low broil.  Let the bread broil until the edges turn black & the top is well browned.  Don't get nervous & pull it our too soon, you want the butter to kind of burn & caramelize.  Gives the bread a great taste & texture.

Slice it up in skinny pieces (it's rich, so a little goes a long way) & serve immediately.

Get Ya'll Some Biscuits

One thing I'm passionate about in cooking is flaky pie crust & flaky biscuits.  I have tried many recipes & methods and have watch a lot of Food Network show on the matter.  After meshing a few ideas & recipes together I have come up with a method to make flaky, buttery biscuits that work every time.  Here goes...

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 tbls cold butter cubed
4 tbls butter
3/4 cup milk or butter milk

First things first, make sure your butter is cold.  Cold butter is the key to being flaky (in biscuits, not life).  I cube my butter & then stick it back in the fridge.  Preset your oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Then cut in your COLD butter.  It should get kind of corn mealy (is that a word?), but you don't need to get the butter mixed in too well.  Some bigger chunks of butter should be visible- makes it flaky.

Next pour in the milk.

Stir lightly.  You don't want to over do it her or else you'll get tough biscuits.  Just stir until milk is incorporated.

Now using your hands make the dough into a ball, but don't over work it!  You don't want to warm up that butter, so make this a quick process.  Then pop it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to cool the butter down
again.

Stick your cast iron skillet or baking sheet in the oven with the 4 tbls butter on it.  Let the butter melt & then swirl the pan to coat.

On floured surface make the dough into a thick disc (like so).  Then roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Make sure to keep things lightly floured so they don't stick.  But don't over do on the flour- you still want flaky, non flour tasting biscuits.

Using a biscuit cutter of your choice (I like to use a small one for everyone else & a big one for me) cut you some biscuits.

Stick them into your buttered skillet/baking sheet & pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are a light brown.  (look at that cute little "left over dough" biscuit, the baby will get that one)

When they come out they should look like this.  Almost like little layers.  Flaky, buttery, & yummy.  Enjoy!

Try This... You Won't Regret It

The other night I decided to make banana bread.  I was feeling risky so I wavered from my ol' standby recipe & looked for a new one.  I officially have found my new fav way of making banana bread.  You need to try it!  Its so yummy, and light, and has good texture, and a great crust, and, the best part, it makes a ton of bread.  My family has been eating it for a couple of days now at breakfast, second breakfasties, snack, bedtime snack... you get the idea.  Make sure to have a warm piece right out of the oven and slather it in butter.  So, do yourself a favor and whip up some of this banana bread... you won't regret it.

Get the Recipe Here

*I added 2 teaspoons of Vanilla, because that's just the way I do it.
**My bunt pan is currently in storage so I used 2 bread pans instead, worked great.
***This would make a ton of mini loaves, which make great gifts, especially for me ;)