Apple Nut Pull-Apart Loaf

Kristin here. That's right. I'm taking over. Now take a seat, say good-bye to your extra calories, and get ready for one of the tastiest (and easiest) breakfasts in existence.

When I was very little, I wanted to help out in the kitchen. Unfortunately I was terrified of the oven, the stove, and knives. This was one of the first meals that my mom ever taught me that I was able to help with. Eventually I grew out of my fear and realized that this breakfast is so easy that I could sneak downstairs and make it for holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day. This morning, I made it for the holiday commonly known as Saturday. Note: This is not the exact recipe my mom sent me. There was a pan that we had that was specifically for this recipe that Alex and I don't own. That, and I have a really hard time baking without brown sugar, so I just had to throw that in.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and grease your bundt pan.

Here are your ingredients.

You see those apples? You see that I have three- count them - three apples? You do NOT need three apples. Even if they're kind of on the smallish side. You might be in the produce section, looking at the apples, thinking to yourself, "I could totally fit three apples into this." You can't. You won't. You will end up eating at least one, perhaps one and a half of the apples. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you definitely don't need three for this recipe.

What you do need is a can of biscuits, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter or margarine, apples, raisins, and nuts. And probably a cup of coffee. It's early, and you deserve it. 

Take the biscuits out of their package (this recipe becomes very difficult if you skip this step) and tear them in half. Don't worry about cutting them perfectly, just use your hands and eyeball it. 

Then roll the biscuit halves into balls. 

I started with eight biscuits, so now I have sixteen dough balls. 

Melt two tablespoons on butter or margarine. I used margarine today, but they both work well.  Then mix the sugars and cinnamon. 

The original recipe calls for six tablespoons of white sugar, but I have a really hard time baking something without brown sugar. I only used three tablespoons of white sugar and then I threw in three tablespoons of brown sugar. Because I'm a rebel like that. Also, a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon gets mixed in there.

Roll the dough balls in the melted butter or margarine. 

Then roll them in the sugars and cinnamon. Previously when I made this, I would get a lot of cinnamon and sugar into the butter because it gets all over your hands. Today I realized that if I only buttered with my right hand, and only sugared with my left hand, the butter didn't get sugared. I'm pretty sure it doesn't make a difference, but I felt better about myself. That's what's important, right?  Important note: Save the leftover sugar and cinnamon!!

Put the lovely little dough ball into your greased bundt pan. Oh, but he's lonely. Let's get him some friends.  

What a lovely ring of dough balls! Now they are all friends, nice and cozy in your pan.

Glamor shot. They look like you could just eat them now, but don't. Raw biscuit dough is gross. 

After peeling and coring my apples, I pulled out my faux-mandoline. Apparently it isn't a real mandoline because it doesn't juilienne, but I still love it. 

My knife skills are very weak, so it's really nice to have a gadget that helps me get such nice, consistent slices. The slices should be a little on the thin side so that they can get nice and tender while they bake, but not so thin that they just disintegrate. 

In the original recipe, it calls for apples between each biscuit and along the outside of the pan. What you see here is a result of me having too many apples. Honestly though, if you have a space where an apple slice can go, put an apple slice there. You won't regret it later.

 Remember that cinnamon and sugar that you saved earlier? Now you get to mix it up with the two tablespoons of raisins and three tablespoons of chopped nuts. I used to be able to find mixed chopped nuts and that was delicious, but we couldn't find that at the store. I went with chopped walnuts and it worked well. Pick your favorite, be adventurous, it will probably work out. Attempt to resist just sitting down and eating this with a spoon. Please believe me when I say that it will be worth it.

Sprinkle the nuts and raisin mixture over the dough and apples. 

 It's just. So. Beautiful. Now pop that beauty in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Remember that cup of coffee? If you have a chance to photograph it artfully in front of the gently falling snow, it will really add a richness to the flavor. If you can't, well, you'll just have to make do. 

After only fifteen minutes your kitchen will smell amazing, but it won't even be close to done! Now close your oven and let it get back to baking.

The final result! I called it done after about 28 minutes. The apples on the outside looked a little overdone, but they were beautifully caramelized and very tasty. The most important thing was that the dough was cooked through.

I will admit it, it's not the prettiest looking thing. 

It's probably not going to win any beauty awards. 

But I still maintain that it's one of the tastiest breakfasts that you could make. And besides, if it's easy enough for a ten year old with, essentially, a fear of kitchen, then it's easy enough for anyone. 

Fun fact: When you don't blog in almost a year, the light box gets very wrinkly. Also, kitties think that it's a box for them to play in.

Posey was pretty sure the wrinkles were there to attack. 

Kitties be crazy. 

So anyway. back to breakfast. This is what Alex's plate looked like about thirty seconds after I asked him to taste test it for me.

Easy to make, wonderful to eat, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Recipe: Apple Nut Pull-Apart Loaf
Prep Time: 45-60 Minutes | Cook Time: 25-30 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 can Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Butter or Margarine, melted
• 2 small Apples or 1 medium Apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp Chopped Nuts
• 2 tbsp Raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Separate biscuits in half and roll into balls.
2. Mix sugars and cinnamon.
3. Dip dough balls into butter, then roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.
4. Arrange sugared biscuit balls into bundt pan.
5. Place an apple slice between each biscuit ball, and around the outer and inner edges of the pan.
6. Mix nuts, raisins, and leftover sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the biscuits and apples.
7. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Raisin-Bran Muffins

Kristin and I were talking about family recipes yesterday.  I mentioned that I was glad her family recipes were good ones - and they are!  When somebody has a long-standing family recipe that's not all that good, it's a tough situation.  This seems to happen especially with baking.  There have been times where I've tried banana bread or cookies from someone's long-standing family recipe, but the finished product is just mediocre.  Thankfully, Kristin's family doesn't have this issue (nor, I daresay, does mine!).

These muffins are a family recipe from Kristin's grandmother, and they're mighty tasty.  They're a little lighter and sweeter than a typical bran muffin, but still far from the overbearing sweetness of some muffins that seem to just be cupcakes in disguise (Cupcakes in Disguise, by the way, is a major motion picture collaboration between Michael Bay and Paula Dean coming out next summer).  They're easy, they're tasty, and that's all one can ask when it comes to muffins.

The ingredients are more or less what you would expect, when it comes to muffins.  Flour, sugar, eggs, oil, baking soda, and salt form the basics.  Raisin bran gives the muffins their name.  Finally, that large bowl is filled with buttermilk of my own creation - you can buy it from the store, but it's so easy to make your own.

For each cup of buttermilk you need, use just shy of a cup of milk, and add one tablespoon of lemon juice.  Give it a stir and wait 15 or 20 minutes and you've got buttermilk in exactly the quantity you need.

First, combine the buttermilk, cereal, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Use the largest bowl you've got - this recipe makes a lot of muffins.  My biggest bowl was near to overflowing by the end.

Next, create an exciting bowl full of nondescript white powder - combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in another mixing bowl.

Slowly and carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet.  I did this in three or four portions, mixing well between each addition of the dry stuff.  This more or less minimized the mess and ensured that the batter is actually mixed.

Important: Cover the mixed batter and rest in the refrigerator at least 6 hours before baking.  The raisin bran and other starches need some time to absorb all of the liquid.  An overnight rest works great, too, and will leave you ready to bake your breakfast first thing in the morning.

When the batter has rested at least 6 hours, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Apportion the batter into lined muffin tins about two-thirds of the way full.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, making sure to check after 15.  Ours are generally just about there after 15 minutes, and after 16 or 17 have the perfect amount of color.  Take care not to overbake, or you'll have dry, sad muffins.  Sad muffins are a crime.

These are fantastic while still warm from the oven, so if you can, try one right away.  You know, for science.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Raisin-Bran Muffins

Prep Time: 6 hours 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 4 dozen muffins

Ingredients

• 1 box (15 oz) Raisin Bran cereal
• 1 quart Buttermilk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 1/2 cups White Sugar
• 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 4 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Salt

Instructions

1. If needed, make buttermilk from 3 3/4 cups milk and 1/4 cup lemon juice, stirring and resting 20 minutes.
2. Combine cereal, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a second mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients slowly, in 3-4 portions, mixing well after each addition.
5. Cover and rest batter at least 6 hours in the refrigerator.
6. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.
7. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees, checking after 15 minutes.
8. Serve warm.