Maple Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

My friends who know me know I have been trying to find a biscuit recipe.  That and that I have a thing for biscuits.  There is just something about a warm biscuit in the morning.  

All the biscuit recipes I have come across call for a food processor.  If you know me and my husband you know he rolls his eyes at another kitchen gadget ... that according to him I will not use after one use.  

But I think I have figured out the secret to biscuits without a food processor.  FREEZE THE BUTTER and then GRATE THE FROZEN BUTTER.  Sounds a little crazy.  BUT if you don't have a food processor this totally does the trick.  The secret to fluffy light biscuits is cold butter.  If you have warm hands you want to touch the dough as little as possible.  

Maple Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bacon, diced
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter, unsalted frozen (stick 1.5 sticks of butter in the freezer)
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  
2. In a large bowl, combine bacon, flour cheese baking powder, salt and baking soda.  
3. Grate butter using the large holes of a box grater.  Stir into flour mixture.  
4. In a large measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and maple syrup.  Add slowly to flour mixture while folding with a spatula until a soft dough forms.  
5. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 1 1/4 inch thick rectangle.  Cut out using a biscuit or cookie cutter.  Or with a knife.  Place biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  
6. Remove the biscuits from freezer.  Place into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.  

My biscuits probably could have come out the oven a minute earlier.  Next time.  Next time.  These biscuits came out so yummy.  If you have extra bacon laying around throw some butter in the freezer and make these biscuits.  Now I need to figure out how I can freeze the dough so that I can biscuits all the time.  

Keep cooking Friends!

XOXO

Bacon Cheese Beer Bread

Ever since my friend Leslie introduced me to beer bread I have been in love.  There is just something about it that makes you want to keep eating.  Oh and beer bread is always so simple to make.

This bread is savory and great with chili, soup or pasta.  I served this bacon cheese beer bread with meatloaf and it was a big hit with El Hubby.

Bacon Cheese Beer Bread
Adapted from:  The Slow Roasted Italian

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 12 ounce bottle of beer
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray bread pan with cooking spray and set aside
2.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar with a whisk.  Make a well in the center.  Add bacon, about 3/4 of cheese and full beer into the well
3.  Stir mixture with a spoon until combined
4.  Pour mixture into prepared bread pan.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.  Bake for 30 minutes
5.  Remove from oven and drizzle remaining melted butter over the top
6.  Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until browned on top and loaf thumps when you tap the top
7.  Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. 

This bread was super yummy.  The cheese I used was a mixture of colby and cheddar and the beer I used was MGD.  Nothing too fancy but the bread turned out well.  El Hubby and I enjoyed the bread with some meatloaf.  This bread was also very good by itself.  We toasted it for breakfast and it was just as yummy.

I am starting to feel that my fur baby is quite spoiled. 

Maybe even spoiled rotten sometimes. 

Lately she has started this thing where she wakes me up in the middle of the night to pet her.  The pup will jump on the bed and repeatedly stick her head under my hand until I wake up.  Then she turns on her back and wiggles until I start to pet her.  El Hubby says I have spoiled her rotten.  Sad!

Continue to eat good food and play with your fur babies.

XOXO

Bacon & Egg Toast Cups

So my dear friend Leslie sent me the most amazing recipe Friday night and of course I had to try it Saturday morning.

Ingredients:
Bacon
slice bread
cheese
eggs
salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spray muffin pan with Pam and set aside.

Bake 12 slices of bacon for 10 minutes on a cookie sheet. Don't over cook bacon because they will be cooked in the oven again later. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and dab out as much oil as possible (or if your waistline can afford the extra weight leave the oil).

Cut circles out of sliced bread to fit the bottom of muffin pan.

Wrap a slice of bacon around a bread round and place in muffin pan. It should look like a cup. Repeat. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese in the center of each piece of bread. Crack one egg over each piece of bread. Be careful not to break egg yolk. You may not want to use all the egg white. This can be saved to make some scrabble egg (which I feed to my dog. Oops I am that dog owner).

Bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking. I baked mine for about 15 minutes. The bacon egg cups should pop right out of the muffin pan. If not, use a knife around the edges.

I apologize for the bad picture. These bacon cups were just too yummy and where almost eaten before I realized a picture had not been taken. The husband loved them so much that he requested they be made for Christmas brunch.

Enjoy!

XOXO