Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones

I have arrived back in NYC! It's so wonderful to be back in the city I love!

A couple of my friends said they kept my eye on me in CO by following this blog and were upset I didn't post more. Sorry! I was busy!

And now I'm busy as well. (What's NYC without a busy life?) For instance, I've had these photos ready for days but had no time to write the blog!

I made these scones for opening night of Magic Flute in CO. The conductor was British and I was very anxious about him approving them. Of course, they're not your mother's scones... He loved them and so did the tenor who was craving scones for weeks while being out in CO. Ha!
I was happy these were a hit. They sound impressive and were!

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones (adapted from and now for something completely delicious)

Makes 4 large, 8 regular scones, and 16+ mini
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk, cold
1 egg
4 strips of maple bacon
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat. Let cool on paper towels to absorb the grease, then cut into small pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers until butter is the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk and stir until the mixture just starts to come together. Add the bacon pieces and chocolate chips and use yours hands to incorporate them into the dough and bring it together into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a rough square shape about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into 4 large scones, or 8 smaller scones. For mini scones you will need to cut and fold many times. Place the scones about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan and brush tops with egg wash.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and milk and stir until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to achieve the right consistency. Drizzle onto the cooled scones and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Sporadic Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I went for a hike with some lovely people last week. It was about a 2 hour hike on easy trails. (Of course, for me with my weak ankles, any trail with rocks is hard!)

I worked up such an appetite and rewarded myself with a hearty and rather healthy lunch. My lunch was great, but it was missing something. Dessert!

So, I checked to see what ingredients I had around and created this sporadic cookies. They were so good that I didn't share many. Really. They were amazing. Now I have to try to remember the recipe!

Sporadic Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from my own creativeness

1 stick of melted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup  brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oatmeal

Turn the oven to 375. Melt the butter and then add the sugars and egg. Add the flour and powder. Add the vanilla. Stir in the oatmeal. Once mixed together by hand, space cookie dough evenly on a cookie sheet and back for 10 minutes or until slightly crispy on top.

Bake well and prosper!

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

I made these delicious treats almost two months ago for a picnic I had in Central Park. It was a "going away for the summer" gathering I had. I brought my fancy camera and started snapping photos before people ate them all and then realized I forgot to put my camera card back in my camera! So, I tried to grab some photos via my iPhone, but I started eating these instead of concentrating on the pictures.

(iPhone Photo from Picnic)

Thankfully, I saved a couple at my house and took more photos later.

Fun thing about the picnic is that one of my friends is the sister of the gal who writes the blog I got this recipe from. How fun is that?

And a fun thing about this recipe is that it was my first time using a candy thermometer. Super fun!

(Hmmmm...how many times can I use the word fun in this post? Fun fun fun!)

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines (from Framed Cooks)

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon orange zest (Erika's Extras: I used a little more orange zest and it was strong, but yummy!)

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions

1. In a heavy deep saucepan, combine the sugars, the buttermilk, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Cook slowly over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the mixture reaches 235 on a candy thermometer.2. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, pecans, orange zest and bacon and beat with a wooden spoon until creamy. Be very careful - this stuff is HOT.3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a silicone mat or buttered parchment paper. Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool and firm.

Bake well and prosper!

Black Forest Trifle (made with Gluten Free Brownies!)

One of the gals here at my summer opera program doesn't eat gluten products, so of course I jumped at the chance to make her a gluten free dessert.

I researched gluten free brownie recipes and tried two recipes. The first one did not bake well in altitude and although it was very good, it was very fudgey and messy. The second one was amazing and uses almond butter.

So, for July 4th I made a couple of trifles with the brownies and then also had the brownies by themselves on the side. All the opera singers LOVED it. (As did I.) And I even gave an extra trifle to the gluten-free gal to take home and enjoy.

Gluten Free Brownies (from Elana's Pantry)

1 (16 ounce) jar creamy roasted almond butter

2 eggs

1 ¼ cups agave nectar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ cup cacao powder

½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt (Erika's Extras: I just used normal salt and it was fine)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand mixer.

Mix in eggs, then mix in agave and vanilla.

Blend in cacao, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish (glass is better).

Pour batter into dish.

Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes.

(Erika's Extras: For high altitude baking I used 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and set the oven to 335.)

Almond Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 cups heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and almond extract with an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Add in heavy cream, incorporating a little at a time to prevent splattering. When all the cream has been added, turn the mixer to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

 

For the trifle, layer cream, brownies, and sliced cherries.

Bake well and prosper!

Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies and Special News!

I have been MIA from my blog and I'm sorry for this. The first half of June was filled with rehearsals and performances of an opera in NYC. Then, I left my office for a 7 week leave of absence and went to Lubbock,TX for the weekend after which I had a road trip to Colorado.

Because (drum roll please)...I am singing at a music festival for 6 weeks in Colorado! It's quite a change from NYC. (Understatement of the year.)

So, I've been busy getting ready for the festival and then acclimating to the new schedule AND new altitude.

While I haven't felt too out of breath singing, I HAVE while running. Whew! Hills are hard enough, but when at 9,000 feet elevation, they are just plain mean. At least the view is amazing. Here's a pic I snapped while running the second day in CO.

I haven't baked yet, but plan to this week. I need to read up on the differences for baking in altitude. I'm rather excited!

In the meantime, here are some cookies I made for the opera cast in NYC in the middle of June. (And I hope to blog again soon!)

Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

(I made this up. It's quite easy. Take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and add sea salt to the top of the cookies after they've been in the oven for half the bake time.)

1 stick of margarine/butter (I find that margarine will make them softer. Yum!)
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 egg well beaten
1 cup and 2 Tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla (use the real thing....imitation vanilla is a poser!)
1/4 teaspoon of warm water (DO IT! TRUST ME!)
6 oz of semi sweet chocolate chip morsels (Personally, I'm a Nestle girl.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix margarine, sugars, and egg together until margarine chunks are quite small and well beaten. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and then stir until well mixed. Add vanilla and then mix. Water and then mix. And then add in the chocolate chips last. Place dollops of dough on cookie sheet with plenty of room between each dollop. Bake 8-10 minutes. At the 5 minute point, pull them out and sprinkle sea salt on top.
Erika's Extra Notes: To get very lovely and soft cookies, take out of oven when they are still fluffy/slightly uncooked looking. They will cook more while cooling. If baking two sheets at once, make sure to switch the top to the bottom and vice-versa half way through baking.

 Bake well and prosper!