Petit Pains au Chocolat

I love these. They're so quick and easy but people will always think you spent way more time making them than you actually did. Your guests feel extra special and you get to enjoy flaky french pastries without spending hours preparing the dough - everybody wins!

Petit Pains au Chocolat

makes 24 mini pastries

from Epicurious

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (one 17.3-ounce package), thawed

1 large egg beaten to blend with 1 tbsp water (egg wash)

4 (3.5-ounce) bars bittersweet or milk chocolate, each cut into six 2 x 3/4-inch pieces (I use 1.5 bars of Ghirardelli chocolate and just cut each square in half - there are 8 squares per bar)

A sprinkle of fine sea salt or sanding sugar

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut each sheet of pastry into 12 squares and brush the top of each with egg wash. Place 1 piece of chocolate on the edge of a pastry square and roll up tightly to enclose the chocolate. Place the pastry roll on the baking sheet, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining pastry squares and chocolate. (These can be made 1 day ahead. Cover pastries and remaining egg wash with plastic wrap and refrigerate both.)
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the tops of the pastry rolls with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt or sugar. Bake until the pastries are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you'd prefer little croissants, cut each pastry sheet into 12 triangles instead of squares and roll the chocolate from the base of the triangle up to the point.

Mini Banana-Maple Pancake Muffins

This is such a perfect breakfast for those mornings when you don't have time for a big production but you still want something special. This is essentially just (super delicious) banana bread in bite-sized, mini muffin form (and who doesn't love mini muffins??).

These are especially good if you're in a hurry - you can just grab a handful and be out the door. If you also want to grab a ziploc baggie of maple syrup on your way out I won't judge, promise.

Mini Banana-Maple Pancake Muffins

slightly adapted from Bakerella via Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw

makes 24 mini muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

2 tbsp pure maple syrup (plus more for serving)

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 very ripe, large banana, mashed

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350-degrees F. Generously grease 24 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if using). In another bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, 2 tbsp maple syrup, butter and vanilla (if using) until just combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the mashed banana.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until muffins are puffed and golden, 10-20 minutes. Let the muffins cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm with maple syrup for dipping.

These muffins lend themselves extremely well to variation - I made a blueberry version a while back that was equally delicious. Just saying.

(p.s. - sorry for the lack of posts lately, I took a last minute trip home for a while to sort some stuff out so I've been spacing my stored up posts out to try and bridge the gaps. I only have one more post scheduled, so sorry if you don't hear from me for a while after that :/ I'll definitely be back soon though!)

Baked Cheese Grits (with Muscovado-Glazed Bacon) [club:BAKED]

This week's club:BAKED recipe was Baked Cheese Grits. I skipped the last step where you top the grits with more cheese and broil it until it browns, so I guess my grits would just be called Cheese Grits since they didn't actually see the oven... but what they lack in Baked-ness (?) they make up for with BACON.

I made the bacon thinking it would compliment the cheese in the grits, but it ended up totally stealing the show! I enjoyed the grits, but I prefer them with just salt, pepper and butter. It was a little too cheesy in my opinion. I know a lot of people won't eat grits without the cheese, so to each his own I guess. Serve this with eggs over easy and toast for the perfect weekend breakfast.

Muscovado-Glazed Bacon

adapted from 80 Breakfasts

4 strips of bacon

2 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar

Freshly cracked black pepper

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
2. Lay the bacon strips flat on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the muscovado sugar evenly over the strips and crack some black pepper over them.
3. Bake for 12-16 minutes, until the sugar has caramelized and the bacon has browned. Keep an eye on the bacon after 12 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.

The recipe for the Cheese Grits can be found on this week's host's blog, as well as in the Baked Explorations book.

*note - if you're having trouble finding stone ground grits in your area (they're extremely expensive online) try looking at Trader Joe's. I found a big bag there for only $4!

Lemon Loaf Cake (w/Lemony Glaze & Candied Lemons) [TWD]

This week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe was Lemon Loaf Cake. It's your basic dense lemon loaf, perfect for serving with coffee or tea. You can't really tell in the photos but I made my loaves mini.

I decided to upgrade this basic loaf with a lemony glaze and some candied lemon slices. I've never had candied lemon before and I found it to be a little too sweet for my taste. It sure did look nice though ;)

The lemon glaze worked extremely well with this loaf. I only put the glaze on one of my loaves, just in case it didn't turn out well, and I much preferred the glazed loaf over the plain. I ate mine toasted with blueberry preserves, YUM!

To make the lemon glaze, all you need is 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, sifted, and 1 lemon. Squeeze lemon juice into the sugar until the icing is thin enough to drizzle over the loaf. (You might need a second lemon depending on the size of your lemons.)

The recipe for the loaf can be found on this week's hosts' blogs, here and here, as well as in the Baking With Julia book.

Grasshopper Bars [club: BAKED]

This week's club:Baked recipe was Grasshopper Bars. These were so amazing, like an Andes Mint Chocolate in brownie form. I couldn't stop eating them. The rich, chewy chocolate brownie, light-as-air mint buttercream and crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth ganache worked in perfect synergy to create a delicious dessert that's both decadent and comforting at the same time. These are a take on the classic Grasshopper Pie, which is typically associated with vintage cooking. Make no mistake though, these are for a completely new generation and I, for one, will be making these often from now on.

This recipe can be found on this week's host's blog, as well as in the Baked Explorations book.

Liebster Blog Award!

I have exciting news! Mireia from Baking in Spain has presented me with the prestigious and coveted Leibster Award for bloggers! This is my first blog award and, Mireia, I can't thank you enough. I'm truly honored and humbled that you thought of me. When I started this blog I didn't even think anyone would ever read it, let alone give me an award!

The conditions for the acceptance of this award are as follows:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them.
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you appreciate and value. (It's a great way to get the word out there about other blogs!)
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have received this award.

It was tough choosing just 5 blogs to pass this award on to - there are so many amazing bloggers out there and the number is multiplying daily! The blogs I've narrowed it down to are:

1. The Ginger Snap Girl
2. Pink Stripes
3. Cookin' with Moxie
4. Berry Lovely
5. The Toasted Sprinkle

I'm not totally sure they each have less than 200 followers, but either way they deserve more! Hopefully it works out and my nominations don't go to waste ;)

Pizza Rustica [TWD]

This week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe is an Italian classic. Pizza Rustica, typically served on Easter, is a sort of deep dish cheese pie similar to quiche. This particular recipe had a sweet crust filled with ricotta, mozzarella, pecorino romano and prosciutto.

This seems like a good time to mention that I wasn't too crazy about this dish. I thought it was too cheesy and the sweet crust didn't compliment the filling well in my opinion. I'm not that into cheese though, so that could be the reason. However, I will say that the crust baked up beautifully - it was the most attractive pie I've ever made!

While I wasn't crazy about the dish itself, shopping for the ingredients helped me discover my love for Trader Joe's! I always buy my flour there so I stopped there on my way to Whole Foods where I was planning to buy the cheese and prosciutto (which I was expecting to cost me a small fortune). On a whim I decided to check out their cheese isle... Holy crap! Have you ever seen it? It's huge! They had everything I needed (including the prosciutto) and it was way cheaper than any other place I'd seen. I was planning on making 4 or 5 stops that day just to get everything I needed for the week, but in the end I only made that one stop. TJ's had every last thing on my list for a ridiculously low price. I think this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship.

The recipe for the Pizza Rustica can be found on this weeks hosts' blogs, here and here, as well as in the Baking With Julia book.