DIY Strawberry Scones

One of the interesting things about living in this part of southern China, is that our strawberry season is in the winter. In the summer it rains a lot, but in the winter it is usually quite dry and sunny. So now is the time to make all things strawberry here.

These strawberry scones turned really good. I had to quick freeze a few for Valentine's Day or they would have all disappeared the first day. The strawberry icing really brings out the strawberry flavor.

To make the rest of the recipe really easy first wash and hull strawberries and puree enough in a blender to equal 1 cup of strawberry puree to divide for the recipe. If you puree too much you can always make smoothies. :)

Homemade Strawberry Scones

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup strawberry puree
• 1/2 cup oil or melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
2. Divide dough in two, and press or roll out into circles (or a giant rectangle on a 9x13 pan) on greased pans until about 1/2 inch thick. (Here are more pictures of making scones.)
3. Score into about 16-18 total triangle-shaped scones.
4. Bake at 400 F for about 15 minutes until just lightly brown.
5. Remove from oven, and let cool.
6. Make strawberry powdered sugar glaze.

Homemade Strawberry Powdered Sugar Glaze

• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar (approximately)
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree (approximately)

1. Mix together strawberry puree and powdered sugar. To get desired consistency it may be necessary to adjust the amounts of wet or dry ingredients. If the icing is too dry and you don't have any more strawberry puree, you can add a little milk a teaspoon at a time also.
2. Drizzle on top of scones.

Makes 16-18 scones. 

DIY Strawberry Jam Coffee Cake

"Why is it a coffee cake, when there is no coffee in it?" wondered my then three-year-old ever inquisitive eldest son when I first made this coffee cake.

Well, this cake goes great with coffee, but even if you don't like coffee (and my husband hates it) you'll love this cake. It goes great with tea, cocoa, or just by itself.

Homemade Strawberry Jam Coffee Cake Recipe

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional but very good)

Strawberry Layer

• 1 cup strawberry jam (homemade or store bought)

Streusel Topping

• 3 Tbsp cold butter (cubed)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar

Optional Icing

• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional but very good)

1. In a mixing bowl combine all cake ingredients and mix until well combined.
2. Spread cake batter in a greased 9x13 pan.
3. Dot the top of the cake batter with spoonfuls of strawberry jam.
4. For the streusel topping cut together ingredients with a pastry blender and then sprinkle on top of the cake.
5. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Mix together icing ingredients and drizzle on top of baked cake if desired.

Makes one 9x13 coffee cake.

DIY Strawberry Heart Muffins (great for Valentine's Day breakfast)

I made these muffins last year for Valentine's day and they turned out really delicious. I lightly adapted this recipe using my homemade strawberry sauce. Simple pureed strawberries would work as well or just use the original strawberry jam and milk. Anyway you make these they are sure to please your sweethearts.

Homemade Strawberry Sweetheart Muffins Recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup homemade strawberry sauce or pureed strawberries (or substitute 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 cup homemade or store bought strawberry jam)
• Extra strawberry sauce or jam for decoration if desired

1. In a mixing bowl first combine the dry ingredients.
2. Next mix in the wet ingredients until just combined.
3. Fill greased muffin cups. Spoon a small amount of strawberry sauce or jam on top or each muffin and drag a butter knife through to create a heart on top if desired. Here are pictures of this technique.
4. Bake at 375 F for 18-22 minutes.

Makes approximately 18 regular sized muffins.

DIY Stuffed French Toast

I made this for our family brunch a couple of Sundays ago, but it would be great anytime. You can even prepare it the night ahead, cover, and store in the fridge, and then just bake the next day. I used homemade strawberry jam and homemade yogurt cream cheese, but you could use any kind you like to vary the flavors.

Homemade Stuffed French Toast Recipe

• Bread to cover 9x13 pan in two layers
• 8 eggs beaten
• ¼ cup milk
• Jam
• Cream cheese or yogurt cheese

1. Grease a 9x13 pan and preheat 350F.
2. Layer bread to cover the bottom of the pan.
3. Spread strawberry jam and then cream cheese over bread.
4. Cover with another layer of bread.
5. Beat eggs and milk until well combined and then slowly pour over bread to saturate.
6. Bake at 350F until the top is golden brown, about 35–45 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

DIY Light and Fluffy Pancakes

This a a more traditional pancake recipe than the hearty pancake recipe. While not quite as nutritious, these taste great and are fun to make for special occasions or company. I made them in heart shapes with strawberry sauce for Valentine's Day.

Homemade Fluffy Pancake Recipe

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and stir until smooth.
2. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto a hot greased griddle.
3. Cook until underside is brown. Flip over, and cook until the other side is brown. 
4. To make heart shapes I first tried making heart shapes right on the griddle, but found it easier to cut a heart out of the middle of a large pancake. I really like how the pancake with the heart cut out of the middle looks with the hole filled in with strawberry syrup, very festive.

This recipe makes enough for 1–2 adults, but this basic ratio is easily doubled, quadrupled, or more. Serve warm with homemade butter, pancake syrup, spiced syrup, strawberry syrup, orange marmalade, lemon marmalade, or pumpkin butter for a really special treat.

DIY Hash Browns

Since learning some secrets to making great homemade hash browns for father's day, we've been enjoying these crispy potatoes almost every weekend. This method makes it really easy to get delicious, crispy hash browns really inexpensivley.

Homemade Hash Brown Recipe

• Potatoes
• Oil (I use sunflower seed oil)

1. First, wash the potatoes really well, and poke some holes with a fork into them. This helps keep them from exploding and making a big mess in the oven.
2. Bake as you would regularly bake any baked potatoes. About half an hour to 1 hour at 350 F is usually long enough, but the time can vary a lot depending on the size of the potatoes.
3. Let the potatoes cool completely, you can even refrigerate them overnight.
4. Now you can peel them if you like, but you know I don't go through the extra work of peeling things if I don't have to.
5. Grate the potatoes with a course cheese grater. I find that most of the peel comes off naturally when grating the potatoes. I usually just give the peel to one of the boys. They actually love potatoes skins so much they have been known to fight over them. What little doesn't come off isn't even really noticeable once the potatoes are fried.
6. Now you want to pour enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan and fry the potatoes over medium high heat. One secret to getting great hash browns is to let them fry until the whole bottom layer is browned and then flip them over fry the other side (just once). If you think about it like frying pancakes instead of eggs, they will turn out nice and crispy, instead of mushy and scrambled.
7. Top with salt, ketchup, or ranch! (Or maybe that is just at our house.)

How do you like your hash browns?

DIY Easy Lemon Marmalade

Making your own marmalade is surprisingly easy and requires very few ingredients. Lemon marmalade is a refreshing and unique twist on the classic orange marmalade. You could even use a combination of orange and lemon together for a really unusual marmalade.

Homemade Lemon Refrigerator Marmalade Recipe

• 1 extra large or 2 regular lemons
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

1. Wash the lemon(s) well, and cut off the top and bottom, but do not peel. This time this has nothing to do with my disdain for peeling things unnecessarily, you need the peel for the recipe to work right. The peel has natural pectin in it that will help the marmalade thicken. Without it you will have runny marmalade.
2. Cut the lemon(s) into eight or more pieces and place in the blender with the sugar and the water. Blend well.*
3. Transfer to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Boil for 15–20 minutes, until well thickened.
5. Remove from heat, and allow to cool. If you have any undesired chunks of lemon in the marmalade, you can scoop them out at this point.
6. Transfer to a glass jar, and refrigerate for storage. I have read that this type of marmalade can be kept in a cold refrigerator for up to 6 months, but I have never had it last long enough to test that myself.

*You may have noticed by now that I love my blender, as it makes so many things easier. You can make marmalade without a blender by cutting the unpeeled lemon(s) into very small pieces, boiling, and then mashing with a potato masher. This is a little more work and makes it a little chunkier, but it will still very good. I have made lots of marmalade successfully using this method, and some people even prefer chunkier marmalade.

DIY Easy Orange Marmalade

Making your own marmalade is surprisingly easy and requires very few ingredients. I used 1 large navel orange for this batch but look forward to making it again when the small sweet mandarin oranges comeback in season as well. Do you think it is funny that Walmart has Sunkist navel oranges here? I sure do.

Homemade Orange Refrigerator Marmalade

• 1 large or 2 small oranges
• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup water

1. Wash the orange(s) well, and cut off the top and bottom, but do not peel. This actually has nothing to do with my disdain for peeling things unnecessarily, you need the peel for the recipe to work right. The peel has natural pectin in it that will help the marmalade thicken. Without it you will have runny marmalade.
2. Cut orange into eight or more pieces, and place in the blender with the sugar and the water. Blend well.*
3. Transfer to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Boil for 15–20 minutes until well thickened.
5. Remove from heat, and allow to cool. If you have any undesired chunks of orange in the marmalade, you can scoop them out at this point.
6. Transfer to a glass jar, and refrigerate for storage. I have read that this type of marmalade can be kept in a cold refrigerator for up to 6 months, but I have never had it last long enough to test that myself.

*You may have noticed by now that I love my blender, as it makes so many things easier. You can make marmalade without a blender by cutting the unpeeled orange into very small pieces, boiling, and then mashing with a potato masher. This is a little more work and makes it a little chunkier, but it will still very good. I have made lots of marmalade successfully using this method, and some people even prefer chunkier marmalade.

DIY Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola

Chocolatey Granola Chunks

The cocoa doesn't add nutrition to this otherwise completely healthy recipe, but it does add a lot of fun. If you are trying to transition from high sugar, store bought cereal or are having a hard time convincing kids to eat granola, this is a great this is a great way to start. I just make it once in a while for variety or an extra special breakfast.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Granola

• ½ cup honey (maple syrup, or pancake syrup can be substituted)
• 1 cup peanut butter (or regular butter)
• ¼ to ½ cup cocoa powder
• 6 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup or more of additions (such as raisins, dried fruit, nuts, or seeds) (optional)

In a large non-stick or cast iron pot, melt the peanut butter, stirring frequently. Turn off heat, and stir in honey. If you want the entire mixture to be chocolatey, add ½ cup cocoa powder now. If you want a half peanut buttery and half chocolatey mixture, mix half of the peanut butter mixture with 3 cups of oatmeal. Then add ¼ cup cocoa powder to the other half of the peanut butter mixture, and mix in remaining oatmeal. Spread on cookie sheets and bake at 350F for 10–15 minutes. Check granola at this point to see if it has browned lightly. Stir and bake for another 10–15 minutes if necessary.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Granola

Allow the granola to cool before mixing in other additions and transferring to an airtight container for storage. I usually  make the half peanut butter and half chocolate version and don't bother adding extra additions to this tasty recipe.

DIY Easy Peanut Butter Granola

This recipe is super easy to make. It saves a lot of money even in the States. Here, where cereal is so expensive that I have heard of cereal being requested as a Christmas gift, it really cuts breakfast costs. Especially, when I buy the ingredients in bulk.

Peanut Butter Honey Granola

½ cup honey (maple syrup, or pancake syrup can be substituted)
1 cup peanut butter (or regular butter)
6 cups oatmeal
1 cup or more of additions (such as raisins, dried fruit, nuts, or seeds) (optional)

Truth be told, I usually don't bother to measure this recipe anymore, but this is the basic ratio.

In a large non-stick or cast iron pot, melt the peanut butter, stirring frequently. Turn off heat, and stir in honey. Add oatmeal, and stir to coat evenly with the peanut butter and honey mixture. If you wish to add unroasted nuts or seeds to the granola, do so now. Spread on cookie sheets and bake at 350F for 10–15 minutes. Check granola at this point to see if it has browned lightly. Stir and bake for another 10–15 minutes if necessary.

Allow the granola to cool before mixing in other additions and transferring to an airtight container for storage.