Homemade Peanut Butter

As much as I love peanut butter, I had never even thought about making it from scratch until recently. Peanut butter seems like one of those grocery staples you just buy. However after a quick gander at various peanut butter recipes, I quickly realized that there's nothing to making it at all. This recipe requires hardly any ingredients and minimal work, assuming you buy the peanuts sans shell. Trust me, shelling a bag of peanuts to save a couple of dollars is most definitely not worth the time and sore fingers. I usually make more than the recipe below and simply add one tablespoon of oil per cup of shelled peanuts.

Ingredients
1 cup of peanuts, shelled, unsalted and roasted (highly recommend buying in this form)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Sea salt to taste
Honey to taste

Directions
Combine peanuts and peanut oil in food processor. Don't add more oil if you don't see the peanuts break down right away as it will take a couple of minutes for the peanuts to break down and soften with the oil. If you want your peanut butter chunky, don't allow the substance to break down completely.

Once you achieve your desired texture, it's time to perfect the taste. Add salt and honey in small amounts  until you achieve your desired taste. Make sure to taste the mixture prior to adding any salt or honey to avoid over-salting. Remember, you can always add more so stay on the conservative side.

Spread on anything and everything and enjoy! My favorite is on a warm piece of toast as shown in the picture below. I would recommend storing it in the fridge and using within a month, however I have yet to keep it around any longer than that to see how long it really lasts!

Sunday Brunch

Some think of football, I think of brunch. When Sunday rolls around each week, nothing beats a hot cup of coffee, a runny egg yolk and a little something sweet. While I've always enjoyed breakfast, my true love began after experiencing Sunday breakfast at The Cafe, one my all time favorite restaurants. Throughout college, Sunday breakfast at The Cafe became tradition whether it was just Jory and I or whatever family happened to be in town from that weekend's track meet.

In honor of the good old days, we jogged our memory this morning with a little homemade brunch. This menu included eggs benedict on homemade english muffins, blueberry coffee cake with strawberry butter and fresh fruit salad with orange glaze. More recipes from this successful brunch to come!

Homemade English Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

4 cups bread flour

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 egg whites

fine cornmeal

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the water, yeast, baking soda, salt and two cups of the flour. Mix until a wet paste is formed and set aside for about five minutes. In the meantime, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks are formed then fold into the batter mixture. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time. Once the dough becomes too difficult to mix in the bowl, dump onto a floured surface and mix with your hands. Knead for a few minutes or until the mixture forms a smooth ball of dough. Put the dough ball into a clean bowl with a bit of oil, making sure all sides are coated. Cover and let rest for about an hour.

Place dough on floured surface and roll until 1/2 inch thick. Cut out circles with a round cookie cutter or glass, cover with cornmeal and set aside. Let the rounds rest for 30-45 minutes.

About five minutes before you are ready to start cooking your muffins, turn on an electric griddle to 350 or medium heat. Once heated, add a tablespoon of butter and toss in your muffins to fry. Flip the muffins every four minutes for a total of sixteen minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy while warm!

This recipe was found on CookingBread.com.


Strawberry Butter
I stole this idea from Ina Garten. There's really no need for a recipe or instructions, but you MUST try this on these homemade english muffins.

Ingredients
Strawberry fruit preserves, room temperature
Butter, room temperature

Directions
Mix together with an electric mixer, spread and enjoy!

Captain Crunch Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting

I truly love all things baking. It's the smells, tastes and not-so-guilty pleasure derived from freshly prepared goodies that gets me every time. I've always baked sweet treats and shared the recipes (and treats) with family and friends, however today I've decided that my previous methods of sharing through Facebook and email are, well, previous. I've been following various cooking and baking blogs for years, but it took me until now to join the masses and start one myself. Today marks the day I cross an item off my bucket list and introduce to you Z Sweets, a compilation of my favorite baking recipes and adventures.


Now to the good stuff. I bring you Captain Crunch cupcakes topped with peanut butter marshmallow frosting. First off, thank you to the genius that thought to combine my two favorite meals, dessert (of course it's a meal) and breakfast. Rice Krispies treats will always be a classic but it's time for something new. Move over Snap, Crackle and Pop, the Captain's stepping out of the box (pun intended) and into the dessert scene. I encourage you all to try these amazingly simple and delicious cupcakes. They were tested at our Superbowl party and passed with flying colors. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
4 cups Captain Crunch cereal, plus more for garnish


Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with baking cups and set aside.


Using a rolling pin and ziploc bag, crush the cereal to a cornmeal consistency. In a large bowl, combine and mix the five ingredients listed above.


Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool completely on cooling racks.

Frosting:
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar
7 oz. jar marshmallow fluff


In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, milk and vanilla on low to medium speed until completely blended. Slowly add powdered sugar until blended.


Frost cupcakes generously and garnish with crushed cereal. To achieve the look in the picture above, I used a piping bag and an Ateco extra wide pastry tip. I am usually not a huge frosting girl, but this frosting is so light and fluffy you really can't go wrong!


This recipe was found on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.