Onion Scones

Ingredients
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1/3 cup green onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup light cream
1 egg (beaten)
butter

Directions

1. Gather the ingredients together.
2. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
3. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the yellow onion, green onions, garlic, and butter. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then stir this mixture.
4. Microwave for another 1 to 2 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bowl from the microwave and let the vegetables cool for 10 minutes.
5. Combine the flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, pepper, and salt in a large bowl and stir to mix.
6. Add the sautéed onion mixture to the flour mixture along with all of the melted butter, light cream, and egg. Stir just until combined with a spoon.
7. Gently press the dough together with your hands to form a ball.
8. On an ungreased cookie sheet, press the dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut the circle into 8 wedges, like you were cutting a pie. Separate the wedges slightly.
9. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the scones are lightly browned.
10. Brush with more melted butter and serve immediately. 

Notes: It is nice to have a few savory options when making scones. I really enjoyed these but the kids weren't super big fans.

Source: The Spruce Eats

Butterscotch Pecan Scones

Ingredients
2/3 cup pecans
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more if necessary
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off (substitute: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2/3 cup butterscotch chips, best quality such as Guittard
Demerara sugar (also called raw sugar or turbinado), for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Arrange the pecans in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Slide the parchment off of the hot baking sheet and let the pecans cool on the countertop. When the pecans are cool enough to handle, coarsely chop them and set aside. Place the parchment back on the baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg and vanilla. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and brown sugar (use your fingers to rub the brown sugar into the mixture until no lumps remain). Add the pieces of butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized clumps of butter within. Stir in the butterscotch chips and pecans. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then add the cream mixture. Use a rubber spatula to mix until the dough comes together. It should be a bit sticky, almost like chocolate chip cookie dough. If it seems dry, add more cream little by little (no more than 2 tablespoons should be necessary).
5. Dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Place the sticky dough on top and dust the top of the dough with a little flour as well. Knead gently a few times until the dough comes together into a ball. (Sprinkle lightly with more flour as needed so that the dough doesn't stick.)
6. Press the dough into a circle about 1-inch high, then cut into 8 wedges. Arrange the wedges on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart, and then sprinkle each one with about 1/2 teaspoon of Demerara sugar. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and firm to the touch. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The scones are best enjoyed fresh on the day they are made but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Notes: Another tasty scone recipe. As with most other scone recipes, the dough can be frozen before baking. (We often makes our scones the night before and freeze overnight before baking in the morning.) Put the dough wedges on a baking sheet, let set in the freezer, then place in a sealable freezer bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer, allowing 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven. 

Source: Once Upon a Chef

Breakfast Empanada

Ingredients

1/2 recipe empanada dough (dough recipe from source available here)
2 tablespoons butter
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
8 pieces of bacon
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
3 scallions (finely chopped)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1 egg (for egg wash)

Directions

1. Prepare the empanada dough and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour (overnight is best).
2. Cook the bacon until crispy and drain on paper towels. Crumble the bacon roughly.
3. Whisk the eggs with the milk and season with salt and pepper.
4. Melt the butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Add the chopped scallions and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft.
5. Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring, until well scrambled and just cooked. Stir in the cream cheese just before removing eggs from heat. The cheese does not have to be mixed in well.
6. Preheat oven to 375° F.
7. Roll out the empanada dough and cut into 8 6-inch circles of dough. Let circles rest for 5 minutes.
8. Place spoonfuls of the egg mixture in the middle of each dough circle, dividing the mixture evenly between the empanadas. Sprinkle some crumbled bacon and grated pepper jack cheese on top of the egg mixture, dividing the cheese and bacon evenly between the 8 empanadas.
9. Fold and seal the empanadas (step-by-step instructions on shaping empanadas from source available here).
10. Place empanadas on a baking sheet. Whisk an egg with a tablespoon of water, and brush empanadas carefully with the egg wash.
11. Bake empanadas for 25 to 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.
12. Remove from oven and let cool. Empanadas can be wrapped well and frozen. Thaw empanadas and reheat in the oven or microwave.

Notes: We used store-bought empanada shells. I wouldn't mind trying the empanada dough recipe from the Spruce Eats, though, as in my opinion the store-bought shells weren't quite what I was looking for in an empanada (nothing comes close to what I experienced during the 2 years I lived in Paraguay). Regardless, the filling was delicious and I really enjoyed this empanadas.

Source: The Spruce Eats

Blackberry Biscuit Bread

Ingredients

1 cup of seedless blackberry jam 
8 oz. of cream cheese
2 container of Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
4 eggs
2 cups of half & half
2 teaspoons of cinnamon sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

Directions

1. Put 1 cup of seedless blackberry jam in a pot and melt it on low (stirring occasionally).
2. Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Take 1 container of biscuits and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces (quarters).
4. Place the biscuit pieces on the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Using your hands, separate the cream cheese into pieces and scatter it around with the biscuit quarters.
6. Slowly pour the melted blackberry jam over the biscuit pieces and cream cheese.
7. In the mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, cinnamon sugar, and vanilla.
8. Pour that mixture over the blackberry jam in the baking dish.
9. Take your second container of Pillsbury biscuits and cut those biscuits into quarters as well.
10. Scatter those biscuit pieces over the egg mixture.
11. Finally, top it all off by dusting everything with the brown sugar.
12. Bake covered at 350° for 30 minutes.
13. Uncover and bake at 350° for another 30 minutes.
14. Serve warm. Makes about 8 servings.

Notes: This was another delicious (and sweet) breakfast. We enjoyed the blackberry and cream cheese flavors, but given the choice we'd probably go with regular bread or French bread over Pillsbury biscuits when it comes to these types of breakfast casseroles.

Source: Smart School House

Fruit Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 cups sliced, peeled apricots or peaches; chopped, peeled apples; or blueberries or raspberries (we used blueberries)

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 c. butter

1 beaten egg

1/2 c. buttermilk or sour milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. For filling, in a medium saucepan, combine fruit and water. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer (do not simmer raspberries), covered, about 5 minutes or until fruit is tender. Combine the 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir into fruit. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more; set filling aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine the 1 1/2 cups flour, the 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spread half of the batter into an ungreased 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Spread filling over batter. Drop remaining batter in small mounds onto filling.
4. In a small bowl stir together the 1/4 cup flour and the 1/4 cup sugar. Cut in the 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over coffee cake. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Notes: Delicious! Need to have this again soon.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 12th Edition

Blueberry Muffins (America's Test Kitchen)

Ingredients

Vegetable oil spray

3 cups plus 1 Tbsp flour, measured separately

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

2 large eggs

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw if frozen)

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.
2. In large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In medium bowl, whisk yogurt and eggs until smooth.
3. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture and use rubber spatula to stir gently until just combined and no dry flour is visible. Gently stir in melted butter.
4. In small bowl, toss blueberries with remaining 1 Tbsp flour. Gently stir blueberries into batter. Do not overmix.
5. Use 1/3-cup dry measuring cup to divide batter evenly among muffin cups (use rubber spatula to scrape batter from cups if needed).
6. Place muffin tin in oven and bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Use oven mitts to remove muffin tin from oven. Place muffin tin on cooling rack and let muffins cool in tin for 15 minutes.
8. Using your fingertips, gently wiggle muffins to loosen from muffin tin and transfer to cooling rack. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: This comes from a recipe book Brittany got for the kids when we were in lockdown during the pandemic. My kids have made these muffins a couple of times, and they are certainly tasty. We have found, however, that although the recipe indicates this yields 12 muffins, it makes more batter than we can fit in 12 muffin cups. The muffins overflow quite a bit when directions are followed exactly.

Source: The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs (from America's Test Kitchen)