Maple Date Scones

Maple and dates. A winning combination. You've seen me use this combination before in the form of my maple date bars, which I looooved. And I'm generally just obsessed with dates, and I first admitted my obsession back when I made a batch of tasty layered oatmeal date bars. But I have yet to bake with maple and dates in scone form....until today, that is! I recently bought buttermilk at the store to make some Irish soda bread later this week, but I knew I wouldn't need the whole container of buttermilk so I got to thinking about what else I could make with it. Scones!! Obviously. Buttermilk is such a common ingredient in scone recipes. So, I turned to one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, The Best of Cooking Light, to see which scone recipes I could find that looked good and matched ingredients that I had on hand. And that's how I came to make these delicious maple date scones!

Of note, the recipe calls for 2 cups of all-purpose flour, but I decided to add 1 cup of AP flour and 1 cup of white whole wheat flour. The scones feel a bit healthier that way, ya know? ;) The recipe below is what I followed when I made these. It really doesn't differ much from the original, but you can read the original recipe here if you'd like. The original actually calls for 1% milk, but as you already know, I chose to use buttermilk.

Ingredients:

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup white whole wheat flour

-1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

-1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1/3 cup (5 and 1/3 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

-1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates

-1/2 cup buttermilk

-3 Tbsp. maple syrup (I used the good stuff! the real thing from VT ;))

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients (flours through salt) in a large bowl; cut in the pieces of butter with a pastry cutter, fork, or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Randomly, I decided to use a whisk and it worked great to cut the butter into the flour mixture! Add the dates; toss well. Combine the buttermilk and syrup. Add to the flour mixture and stir well, until the entire mixture is moistened.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead 4 or 5 times. Pat dough into an 8-inch circle and place on a cooking sheet that's sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Score the dough with a knife, "cutting" it into 8 wedges. Do not cut all the way through the dough. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with butter/margarine, jam/jelly, or plain! :)

I think I've mentioned this on the blog before, but a great tip for cutting up dates is to spray your knife with cooking spray first. Since dates are so sticky, this will prevent them from sticking to the knife! It works great.

The maple and date combination was yet again, not a disappointment! It was quite yummy.

These scones were incredibly easy to put together too, which was nice. I love when all ingredients can be mixed in one bowl.

I just had to taste test one, of course! I was able to hold off until after I took all my pictures, but then I dug right in. I enjoyed mine warm with a little bit of butter. Sooo good. Scones are such a comfort food for me. And this particular recipe came out with just the right amount of "flaky-ness" that scones should have, in my opinion. But they weren't dry in any way, and that's really important to me when it comes to scones.

If you haven't yet baked with the combo of maple and dates, I highly recommend that you do. Soon!

Maple Date Bars

There are certain recipes that I look at and immediately know that I have to make them. This recipe for maple date bars was one of those. I first saw this recipe about a month ago in an e-newsletter I receive from My Recipes. I saved it on one of my Pinterest boards so I could easily locate it whenever I decided to make it. This past weekend was that time...and it was a happy time. :) Boy are these bars tasty! I love dates (I talked about my love of dates back when I made these layered oatmeal date bars. That was this past January and I hadn't baked with dates since then! Not good. It was about time they were incorporated into a delicious creation again...welcome, maple date bars! These are a Cooking Light recipe too (so less guilt!!).

Ingredients:

-1 and 3/4 cup finely chopped pitted dates

-3/4 cup water

-1/3 cup pure maple syrup

-1 tsp. grated lemon rind (I actually omitted this because I didn't realize I didn't have lemon on hand)

-2/3 cup sugar

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup regular oats

-1/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dates, water, and maple syrup in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; cook for 12 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed, stirring frequently. Stir in rind; cool completely.

Beat butter and sugar together in mixing bowl on medium speed. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture (mixture will be crumbly). Firmly press two cups of the flour mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Spread the cooled date mixture evenly over the bottom layer, and then sprinkle the remaining flour mixture on top. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown. Cool completely in pan before cutting. Store bars wrapped individually in an airtight container or place between layers of wax or parchment paper in an airtight container.

Overall these bars were suuuper simple to make. The most time consuming part was cooking the dates on the stove, but that definitely wasn't difficult. Truly, these were very easy to make, and they got rave reviews! I made them for a beer tasting event Mike was hosting. Friends who come to his beer tastings have quite the refined palates, so if they liked them, they've got to be good, right?! ;)

Baked Apricot Maple Chicken with Sauteed Apples and Roasted Butternut Squash

Is it just me or does the name of this recipe scream fall? Yay for autumn! It's officially just two days away. Come Friday, we'll be into my favorite season... Woohoo!

I made this dish last night to bring to a small dinner party with six people. It was the perfect amount for everyone! A few people had second helpings, and by the end, the entire dish was gone.... So, I guess it was yummy?! :)

I receive several cooking magazines and I love reading them. However, I will admit that I'm guilty of not making recipes from my magazines very often. :( I am making an effort to use recipes from my magazines more often, and this dish is an example of that effort! Of course, though, I did change the recipe... It's actually originally a recipe for pork, but I chose to use chicken instead because it was on sale at the grocery store! Pork was not on sale this week. I like to save money whenever I can; what can I say?

The dish is from the September 2011 issue of Cooking Light, and in there it's the recipe for "roasted pork tenderloin and maple-glazed apples" (for any of you Cooking Light subscribers!). I'll share the recipe as I made it though. Most of the measurements are approximate...I didn't really measure. Sorry! This is so not how I bake. I'm much more precise in that area. ;-) Oh, and I chose to just add the squash as a little extra since it went so well with all the other flavors.

Ingredients:

For chicken:

-approximately 2.5 - 3 lbs. chicken breasts

-approx. 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

-approx. 1 - 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

-approx. 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

-approx. 3 Tbsp. apricot jam (or another jam of your choice!)

-salt and pepper

-fresh rosemary, thyme, and/or other herbs

For apples:
-3 or 4 medium apples (I used macintosh)

-1 small yellow onion

-1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

-3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

-1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

-salt and pepper

-cinnamon

For squash:

-1 lb. butternut or winter squash (I used a combination of these two types), peeled and chopped into 1/2 - 1" cubes

-extra virgin olive oil

-salt and pepper

-fresh rosemary

Instructions:

Prepare your chicken and squash first so they can be roasting while you're cooking the apples on the stovetop. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For the chicken, I cut the breasts into 1/3 - 1/2 lb. pieces and put them in a 13 x 9 glass baking dish (I had sprayed it with cooking spray first). In a small dish, combine the olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, jam, salt, and pepper (use your judgment with how much). Once the liquid mixture is combined thoroughly, spread it evenly with a spoon over top the chicken breasts. Sprinkle fresh rosemary and thyme (or other herbs!) on top of that. I probably used a couple teaspoons of each of those two herbs. Bake the chicken for about 20 - 25 minutes or until cooked thoroughly and not pink in the middle. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the breasts you prepare. Just be careful not to overcook so the chicken doesn't become dry! 

For the squash, place it in a baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and your chosen spices. Bake for at least 30 minutes - maybe up to 45 minutes. The cooking time will vary here depending on the size of the squash pieces you cut. Check the squash's doneness by sticking a fork in it; if it goes through easily, it's done! Oh, and by the way, quick tip on peeling a squash such as this one pictured below... These things are so darn annoying and difficult to peel! It can be made easier if you microwave the squash first. Pierce it with a knife in a few places, and for a smaller squash like this one, just microwave it for 2 or 3 minutes, let it cool for a bit, and then use your knife to carefully cut off the outside peel. It will be soooo much easier if you microwave it than not. I promise!

While those two items are baking, prepare your apples. I kept the skins on my apples, but if you'd like, you can remove the skins. Cut each apple into 8 or 10 slices. Chop your onion into small pieces. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter or margarine and saute the onion for 7 or 8 minutes until it starts to soften. Once the onion is getting lightly browned, add the apples to the pan. After a minute or so, drizzle the maple syrup over top, along with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Continue to cook the apples over low to medium heat for 6 - 8 more minutes, or until they're softened to your liking.

When everything has cooked, serve it however you'd like! I ended up combining the squash and apples into one dish when we actually sat down to eat. We enjoyed this meal with some When Pigs Fly harvest bread and a delicious side dish of quinoa, sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries made by the lovely Jenn. What a perfect fall meal!!

Zucchini Cake Whoopie Pies with Maple Buttercream Filling

Zucchini cake whoopie pies? Who thinks up such a thing? I do! What made me think of this? Well, you see, I recently received this fun whoopie pies cookbook for my birthday, and I wanted to try one of the recipes in it.

In the book, I saw a recipe for carrot cake whoopie pies that sounded awesome. However, I was in possession of this huge zucchini:

And I felt the need to bake with it! So, I decided to try substituting shredded zucchini for the carrots. Success! The zucchini cake cookies were awesome. 

Then I had to decide which type of filling to use for the whoopie pies. Some kind of cream cheese filling? Chocolate? Actually, thinking back, chocolate probably would have worked quite well with zucchini. What I settled on though was a very tasty maple buttercream filling recipe that was also from the whoopie pies cookbook. Score! A great, unique combo was born.

Ingredients:

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. ground cinnamon

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-2 large eggs

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. 

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined, then add the zucchini. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (I chilled mine overnight because I wasn't making the cookies until the next day).

Drop about 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter at a time onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

For the maple buttercream filling:

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

-2 cups confectioners' sugar

-1 Tbsp. milk

-2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

In a stand mixer, beat the butter on low speed until creamy. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, with the mixer on low until incorporated. Add the milk and maple syrup, and beat on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically.

Match up cookies of roughly the same size, top one with a generous amount of maple filling, and put the two cookies together. Bam! You've got yourself a delicious (and somewhat healthy, perhaps?? ;-)) whoopie pie. This recipe made about 36 cookies for me...so about 18 whoopie pies.

You'll want to store these cookies in the fridge, and be sure not to stack them on top of one another because they'll stick together. I put mine in tupperware containers, and each layer of whoopie pies was separated by wax paper.

The cookies were a tad flatter than I would have liked, but the flavor was great and they were very cake-like so I was still happy with them.

Hi there little green specks of zucchini! Love that you can see those.

Mmmmm, time for filling. :)

I also made zucchini chocolate chip muffins with that beautiful, huge zucchini, so hopefully that recipe will appear here on the blog soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Maple Snickerdoodles

Cinnamon. Sugar. Soft. Chewy. Those are four words that help explain why I enjoy snickerdoodles. I have to admit that I haven't always loved snickerdoodles though. Gasp! I don't ever remember my mom making snickerdoodles; if she had, I know I would have fonder memories of them because she's an amazing baker. :) The only times I remember having snickerdoodles they were hard, not soft and chewy, and they weren't too flavorful. I don't know whose snickerdoodles I was eating, but I didn't really love them. :(

This all changed a few years back when I discovered a great recipe for snickerdoodles that uses cake mix to make them. Yep, cake mix. Those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a while know that I have used cake mix to make cookies many times. When you're short on time, cake mix cookies are perfect to whip up a batch of yummy treats really quickly. Don't worry so much that they're not from scratch. Every good cook and baker needs shortcuts from time to time. :)

Back to my snickerdoodles story... So since I have been using the great cake mix snickerdoodle recipe, it's been nice to know that they can be soft, chewy, delicious, and cinnamon-sugary. Score!

Last week I was trying to decide on a new cookie recipe to make to bring to my sister, Melissa, for her birthday. I considered whipping up a quick batch of cake mix cookies (I always keep cake mix on hand for this purpose!), but I wanted to make something from scratch instead. Melissa looooves maple (you already know this if you read my May 6th edition of Friday Favorites), so my focus was on a cookie made with real maple syrup. I was short on time though, so it had to be something simple. Thankfully, I stumbled upon a great recipe for maple snickerdoodles. The recipe called for only a few ingredients, was easy, and took almost no time to make. And the other obvious great quality of this recipe? It made cookies that tasted deeelicious! They were not heavy on the maple flavor though, so if you're hoping for a strongly maple-flavored cookies, these may not be for you. The maple was subtle, yet still detectable. The cookies themselves were the perfect texture in my opinion; they had just the right level of chewiness. And the cinnamon sugar flavor was wonderful. I'd describe these maple snickerdoodles as a "comfort cookie." :)

(did you notice that you can see my reflection in the mixing bowl in the above picture as I'm taking the picture? too funny)

Here's the recipe for you (I found it on AllRecipes):

-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp. baking soda
-1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 cup margarine, softened
-1 cup white sugar
-3 Tbsp. real maple syrup
-1 egg
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1/4 cup maple sugar (or 2 tsp. cinnamon)

Now, I did not have the maple sugar, so I just used cinnamon instead. The recipe calls for mixing the last two ingredients listed, white sugar and maple sugar, and then rolling the balls of cookie dough in that mixture. So my mixture was simply cinnamon and sugar instead. If you can find maple sugar though, I bet that would enhance the maple flavor of these cookies! I see that King Arthur Flour carries maple sugar. I may have to look into getting that...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the softened margarine and 1 cup of white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and maple syrup. Gradually add the dry ingredients until everything is just mixed in. In a small dish, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup and maple sugar (or about 2 tsp. cinnamon). Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the balls in the sugar mixture until coated. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the cookies are "cracked" on top. They may look slightly wet in the middle still (that's okay!). Cool completely on cooling rack. Makes about 24 - 30 cookies.

The last picture above shows that the cookie, fresh out of the oven, still looks a little wet in the middle. This is okay, as that will go away when the cookie cools, but it will still allow the cookie to be nice and soft.

I enjoyed a few of these on my own but was also able to have enough self restraint to give the rest for Melissa for her birthday. :) She loved them too! Snickerdoodles, either the cake mix version or this maple version, are definitely here to stay in my kitchen. 

Do you have a favorite snickerdoodle recipe?! If so, I'd love to hear about it!