Strawberry Shortcakes

I think that I say this every year but it really is true. Strawberries are a definite sign of summer. Over Memorial Day Angela and I whipped up this strawberry shortcake. We thought we had perhaps done something wrong because the dough was not coming out correctly, and sure enough...we did. I misread the directions (i.e. didn't really read them before hand) and got a really sticky goey mess. I tried to fix it, which worked for the most part but because of the good, didn't take pictures because I didn't think it would turn out.

Boy was I wrong. They still did despite our mess up...okay, okay, my mess up. Of course, then I was slightly bummed that I didn't take the time to take pictures before they were gobbled up.

 

Soon enough though, Brad's clinic held a potluck and he asked if I could make the shortcakes again. I quickly jumped at the chance because 1) they were oh so tasty the first time and 2) we had an over abundance of strawberries from our garden; two and a half colanders to be exact.

So I went to work on night making the cakes, and then together Brad and I hulled, cut, and crushed the berries. This time, the dough came together much better and everyone at his work enjoyed them. Another "ace" for America's Test Kitchen.

Strawberry Shortcakes
by America's Test Kitchen

Preparing the fruit first gives it a chance to become truly juicy-just what you want on fresh-made biscuits. The recipe will yield six biscuits and the scraps can be gathered and patted out to yield another biscuit or to; these, though, will not be as tender as the first.

Fruit
2 qts strawberries, hulled
6 Tablespoons sugar

Shortcakes 
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
2/3 cup half-and-half
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

• For the fruit: Crush 3 cups of the strawberries with a potato masher. Slice the remaining 5 cups of berries and stir into the crushed berries along with the sugar. Let sit at room temperature until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are juicy, about 30 minutes.
• For the shortcakes: While the berries macerate, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Pulse together the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined.  Scatter the butter pieces over the top and process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 15 pulses. Transfer to a bowl.
• Blend the half-and-half with the beaten egg and pour into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula until large clumps form. Turn the mixture onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly until the dough comes together.
• Use your fingertips to pat the dough into a 9-by-6-inch rectangle about 1-inch thick. Cut out 6 dough rounds using a floured 2 3/4-inch biscuit cutter. Reform the remaining dough and cut 2 more rounds. Place the rounds 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the tops with the beaten egg white, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
• Bake the shortcakes until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let the shortcakes cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
• To assemble, split each biscuit in half, laying the biscuit bottoms on individual plates.  Spoon a portion of the fruit over each bottom, then top with a dollop of the whipped cream. Cap with the biscuit tops.

S'more cookies-revisited

Brad's clinic loves hosting potlucks. The great thing about these potlucks is that everyone is invited, from not only the PTs, PTAs, other clinicians/office staff but the patients as well. Earlier this week, Brad's Clinic Director approached him about throwing us a "baby shower" of sorts which includes the ever popular potluck :o)

Brad asked me if I would be able to make some cookies and after considering what sounded good to me, I decided on s'more cookies. I have made s'more cookies before but I didn't have any Hershey bars here so I started to think about how else I could possibly put these together.

And then I came across a variation of cookie that looked perfect. The base was a chocolate chip cookie, then topped with marshmallow and melted chocolate. Now that I could do based on my pantry. However, what about the graham cracker component? So I opted to make the Chocolate Chip Cookie portion of the previous recipe I had tried since it contained Graham Crackers. However, I also noticed that this made a much softer dough...so I added an extra 1/4 cup of both flour and graham in hopes of thickening it up a bit. It worked somewhat but the cookies, even after baked were pretty soft. I think I'll still tweak it a bit in the future but for now, I'll share what I did.

The consensus was a rich yet delicious gooey treat that everyone loved. The few that I didn't take to the clinic, I have been attempting to restrain myself from eating them all in one sitting. That wouldn't really help with this pregnancy weight gain :op. So yes, a "must do". Just a word of warning...marshmallows are a sticky mess. So be sure to try to keep the marshmallow on the cookie and not overflow onto the sheet. Though my pizza stones were easy to clean (I made sure to wash them right away), it was a mess trying to get the cookies off the stone that had the marshmallow overflow and to try to get those off of the wax paper I put them on (thinking that would help..) was even worse. But still, oh. so. good.

sorry, it's the only picture I have!

S'more Cookies, revisited
adapted and mashed recipe from Baked Perfection and Dear Lillie

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used an additional 1/4 cup)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used an additional 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups miniature chocolate chips

Marshmallows

Chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
• Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. 
• Cut marshmallows in half while cookies are in oven. When the cookies are done, place marshmallow halves on top, sticky side down, and return to oven for 2 minutes.
• While cookies are back in, pour chocolate bits into a microwave-safe container and melt for thirty seconds and stir, then melt for 15 and stir and repeat until they are completely melted.
• Remove cookies from oven, press the now-puffy marshmallows down with a finger or fork, and spoon or drizzle melted chocolate onto the tops.
• Let cool, then remove to a cookie rack until completely cooled

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

So what do you do when you have some bananas that are overly ripe and strawberries that are on their way out? Make Strawberry Chocolate Chip Banana muffins of course!

I don't even remember when and where I first saw this recipe, but I must have bookmarked it thinking that it looked intriguing. And then it was forgotten about in the depths of my internet bookmarks...until Jacob came over one day asking if I could take some black bananas off his hands. So I dove into the archives and rediscovered this recipe.  

I have to admit, I was slightly apprehensive about this concoction the more I thought about it. Strawberries and Chocolate? heavenly. Chocolate and Bananas? Excellent. Strawberry Banana? Perfect. But all three? together? at once? But I decided to take the plunge anyway, and I am oh so glad that I did.

 

Perhaps it is just a phase, but these are probably one of my favorite muffins right now. I've made them a couple of times since first trying out the recipe and they have never lasted more than a few days, even with just Brad and I! And the great thing is, is that others enjoy them as well, so I know it's not just me and my funky pregnancy hormones. :op Plus, it only makes 12 muffins, which is a perfect amount I would think.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
by For the Love of Cooking

• ½ cup of butter, softened
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 overripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 10-12 fresh strawberries diced
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then coat a muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy.

Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla then continue beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together, mix well. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just combined.

Add most of the diced strawberries and most of the chocolate chips then gently mix them into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into each muffin tin. Place the remaining strawberries and chocolate chips on top of each muffin. 

 

Place into the oven and bake 18-20 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

 Let the muffins cool on a rack. Slather with butter and enjoy!