Pages

Monday, July 27, 2020

Scotch Bonnet Cornbread Muffins - #MuffinMonday



One of two things happens to me each month. I either bake really early for Muffin Monday, think I have all the time in the world and then suddenly it's hours before the post is due and I have not written it yet. Or I think I have all the time in the world and suddenly it's Sunday and my muffin needs to be tested ASAP. Either way, the end of the month comes too quickly. 

This month I baked early and now I'm up late writing. I have work this week. 4 days of teaching face to face and I don't know if my anxiety is ready for this. Jamaica's numbers are relatively low and all our recent cases have been from tourists and returning residents. But that does not make me feel safe. Most of our cases are asymptomatic so one can never tell if the person next to you is ill. Oh, and there's the tiny matter of a huge backlog in testing. Tiny matter. 

Anyhoo, muffins.  This is another batch made for family that I did not taste. I tried psyching myself up - "Just a tiny taste! Cornmeal will not kill you!" But I couldn't get over the mental hurdle. 

My reviewers said this is best eaten with something. You might end up with extra spicy bite and having something else on your plate can soothe that a bit. I'll have to make myself some scotch bonnet muffins without the cornmeal soon because I felt left out. 

As always, scroll down to see what the other Muffin Monday bakers made for you today..


Scotch Bonnet Cornbread Muffins
Yield 12


Ingredients

1 1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 scotch bonnet, minced
2 cups Martha White Buttermilk White Cornmeal Mix

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a muffin tin with muffin wrappers.

Whisk egg, oil and milk. Stir in the scotch bonnet and the cornbread mix until smooth. 

Divide among muffin wells. Bake 10- 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. 

Notes
I used the entire pepper - seeds and all. You could leave the seeds out or use half the pepper but I think this is a go spicy or go home kinda muffin. Plus, the pepper does mellow a bit during baking.

Muffin Monday

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. post signature

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Chocolate Scones - #BreadBakers




I am back in the land of the living! No I wasn't sick. I mentioned in my last post that I didn't have internet. It took a few weeks and signing up for new service but I have internet again. But the struggle is not over because they have sent a bill that makes no sense. How is it higher, dear Internet Service Provider? How?! I am also in a fight with my electricity company. Good times.

Anyway, I have chocolate scones to soothe me for now. This month the Bread Bakers are making scones or biscuits. I originally tried an angel biscuits recipe but it had too much liquid for my humid environment. I decided to switch to a sweet recipe but I will try the angel biscuits again soon. I've successfully made a sourdough version but have not found the perfect commercial yeast recipe yet. This chocolate scones recipe is a bit wet too but King Arthur's process of freezing the scones beforehand really helped with that.

Scroll down to see what the other bakers did. Thanks for hosting Sue!

Chocolate Scones
adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients 

 2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons of cold butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions 

Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Cut the cubed butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly.
Whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture until moistened. If it seems really wet, fret not.
Sprinkle a parchment sheet lined baking sheet with flour. Scoop out half the dough onto the floured parchment and shape into a 5" circle. Do the same with the other half. They should be about 3/4" thick.
Cut each circle into 4 or 6 wedges. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. If the mixture seems too wet, freezer first and then cut into wedges.

Heat oven to 425 F.

Pull the wedges at least 1/2 inch apart.

Bake 18 minutes. They shouldn't look wet.

Serve warm.
1 tablespoon

BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
post signature