My Favorite Pie Crust Recipe

Since Thanksgiving is around the corner and I know everyone loves baking pies (Come on, you know you do! ;), I thought it fitting to share the crust recipe I've been using for years now.  I went through many recipes that I thought were the best until I found this one, and I've never looked back.  It rolls out like elastic every time. (Make sure you do the "chilling" step.  It make a big difference in the roll-out ease.)

It's from the The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook.  It makes four crusts, for two pies.

Everything I have made out of this cookbook has turned out really scrumptious.

"Grandma's Pie Dough"

4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 3/4 c cold unsalted butter (3 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 large egg

Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Whisk the vinegar, egg, and 1/2 cup of ice water together and mix into the flour mixture with your hands until just combined.  Transfer to a clean work surface, and gently press to form a dough.  Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.  Shape each into a ball, flatten slightly to form a disk, and wrap into plastic.  Chill for at least an hour.  Roll out as indicated in your recipe.

You could make the dough in a food processor, using the pulse feature, or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or the good old fashioned method, with a pastry cutter, or two knives.  I've done all four methods.  They all work, just some are more work than others.

It's always nice to have "helpers" with the apples too -

Enjoy!

Good Old Fashioned Banana Bread

If you're looking for a healthy banana bread recipe...  this is NOT it.
This has got enough oil and sugar to make it just like the loaves your grandmother used to (probably :) make: moist, dense-yet-fluffy, and simply banantastic. Thanks to my sister-in-law Susie, who shared this recipe with me almost two decades ago, our family has been enjoying this bread pretty much every time we don't eat our bananas fast enough.

Banana Bread

2-3 ripe bananas (the more black dots the better)

1 1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C oil

1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 C plus 1 TBS buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 C nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

1. In a mixing bowl mash the (peeled ;) bananas.

2. Beat in sugar, eggs, and oil.

3. Add in combined dry ingredients.  Mix (But don't overmix!).

4. Add in remaining ingredients.  Mix until just combined.

5. Pour into greased bread pan.

6. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

In the loaf shown above I changed it up a tiny bit.  I made an almond milk version of buttermilk by combining a teaspoon of white vinegar with enough almond milk to equal the quarter cup + 2 TBS.

 I also replaced one cup of the the white flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup oat flour and I reduced the sugar to one cup. My children still said it was the best banana bread I'd ever made.  So there you have it.

Lemon Vinaigrette

 I've been experimenting with fresh salad dressings for a few years now. 

 This is one of my favorites.

Mix together in a bowl:

1/4 tsp Fresh Lemon Peel
1 TBS Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp Minced Shallots (I've also substituted garlic)
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Honey
1-2 tsp Dijon Mustard (optional, for more flavor and a thicker consistency)
Salt and Pepper to Taste

While whisking these ingredients in a bowl, slowly pour in:

2-3 TBS Walnut Oil or Olive Oil
(The walnut oil gives it a lighter and nuttier flavor)

And my favorite salad to put it on:

Mixed Greens
A thinly sliced Granny Smith Apple
Gorgonzola or Blue Cheese
Roasted Walnuts

You can dress it right before serving or serve the dressing on the side.

Fruit Cobbler

This is our favorite cobbler recipe.  We snagged it from my sister-in-law Susie many years ago.  It's originally made for blackberries, but we've used it for peaches and raspberries.  I think this topping/crust would work over anything.
 (Just check the ingredients and you'll know why. :)

We've used canned peaches in the winter, but in July we love to use fresh peaches.  You simply blanch the peaches, peel them, dice them into bite size pieces and they're ready to be baked.

                Fresh peach cobbler:

Fruit Cobbler

1. Set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Layer about 5 cups berries (or peeled diced peaches) evenly in a 9 x 13" pan.
3. Mix together these ingredients to make topping:

  1 cup butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

4. Spread topping evenly over berries.

5. Bake for 40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.

Experiment with different berries and fruits or different flours.  Here's a version I made with two and a half cups each of fresh blackberries and fresh blueberries, and I replaced half the butter with a half cup almond butter. See photo below. It was a success!)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I made these muffins last week and the boys said they were the best muffins they had ever had.
I plan on making them often for snacks.  (Hey! Something healthy they actually like for a snack! Yes!)

I found the recipe online here.


Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I added an extra 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used almond milk with a TBS white vinegar per cup)

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease the cups of a standard muffin pan; or line with paper baking cups, and grease the paper cups.

2) Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, including the blueberries.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, vegetable oil, and buttermilk or whey.

4) Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine.

5) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them nearly full. A slightly heaped muffin scoop of batter is the right amount.

6) Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse sparkling sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired.

7) Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean. 

See, the boys were grabbing them before I could even get a picture! 

Baby brother eyes the action from his Bumbo throne.  Soon son, soon.  You'll be a grabber too. :)

Fresh Basil Vinaigrette

This is a recipe I found years ago off the food show Everyday Italian.

I've made it many many times.  It's great on any summer salad.

 How could anyone not like fresh basil?  The smell, the taste, the Italian restaurantish-ness.

Fresh Basil Vinaigrette

In a blender, blend together:

1 bunch fresh basil (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

With blender running, add:

3/4 c olive oil 

 

Enjoy!

Maple Walnut Scones

This recipe is from the Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook.

They taste like maple bars.  My kids love 'em.

 

(p.s. Come on up for breakfast Paula and I'll make these for us. ;)