From Scratch Biscuits and Sweet Milk Gravy .... ~ N ~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

Good Saturday Morning to you all !

 

Well .. I don't think I have ever shared ...

 

That My favorite Breakfast is none other than Biscuits and Gravy ..

 

Homemade that is .. !

 

Now in a pinch I'll have some canned biscuits but it's gotta be dire straits ... Or instead of biscuits we'd be making donuts...

 

I've loved biscuits and gravy since I was a little girl...

 

Mom has always been a from scratch cook .. She's one of those people that just has the gift for cooking ..and makes the best down home comfort food ever !  I grew up eating her biscuits and gravy .. and to me they are the best !

 

I do my fair share of cooking .. she's taught me over the years .. but it never comes out tasting quite as good as hers .. there's just something about her touch that makes the food taste amazing and gives you the comfort that comes with homemade by mom.

 

Over the years because of my adoration for Biscuits and Gravy .. we've tried a number of different Biscuit recipes and even in the last 6 months with the popularity of  Pinterest and all those recipes that get pinned we've tried a few more .. and after much consideration of seeing if we could top the biscuits she makes .. well we just didn't have a winner .. but that's just purely personal.

 

We prefer a tried and true biscuit that is light, airy and layered .. We found that the other biscuit recipes we tried .. were super dense, dry, and thick like bread.  I've had this style biscuit at restaurants and although it was good for restaurant eating .. I'll stick with our light and airy homemade biscuits any day.

 

Mom's biscuit recipe comes from her original 1960's Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.
 

 

These are pretty simple and quick to bake .. takes about 15 minutes to prepare the dough and 10 minutes to bake them.

 

We usually just bake a batch in our toaster oven in the morning so we don't have to turn on the big oven .. They bake up beautifully and it saves on the all that Gas for a little pan of biscuits and all that heat especially when we are baking in the summer which lasts a long time here ..Now when winter rolls around we just crank the big oven on and let the heat warm the house ..

 

 

 

So If you're a homemade Biscuits and Gravy Lover like me ...

 

Here's Some picts of our Saturday Morning Breakfast and our recipe which we hope you love as much as we do !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom's cookbook .. it's worn out and just about falling apart ..Pages are loose .. and some frayed at the edges .. it's been well loved and the food from it.. made with love and enjoyed thoroughly !

 

 

 

 

 

RECIPE:

 

If you don't have this cookbook ... Here's a scan of the page .. simply right click and save to your "My Pictures" ...and then Print it out ..

 

Original recipe off of scan above Reads:

 

 

2 Cups sifted all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

 

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar, and sugar. Cut in shortening until texture resembles course crumbs. Add milk all at once; stir only till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead gently 1/2 minute.

Pat or roll 1/2 inch thick; cut with biscuit cutter.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in very hot oven (450) degrees 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 16 medium biscuits

 

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TIPs :

Sometime we use our non-fat milk to make these .. they do turn out they are just not quite as rich.

 

 

We always use shortening .. this is one reason the biscuits are light and airy ( we use Crisco just plain NOT butter flavored)

 

Sometimes we will add some extra milk .. if the dough seems a little dry in the bowl after stirring .. but just a little...

 

We  use our wood bread board to flour and pat the dough out .. it makes for easy clean up just carry the bread board to the trash or sink to clean off and leaves the counter fairly clean this way.

 

We hand pat the dough out .. and then we use a small juice glass for out cutter .. we dip the edge of the glass in the flour and then cut the biscuits .. you will need to re-dip the edge of the glass in flour for each cut so your biscuits don't stick to the rim and come out easy ..same thing if you use a cutter !

 

As I mentioned when we bake ours in our Oster toaster oven .. We put them in and set the timer for 2 minutes .. once they have baked for 2 minutes we put a piece of foil just lightly laid over the top of them and set the timer for 5 minutes .. this keeps the tops from burning in the toaster oven then after the 5 minutes we take the foil off and re-set the timer for 2 more minutes so they can brown on top .. every oven will vary in how it bakes so you will just need to experiment with your oven the first time to get it right for you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick and Easy Homemade Sweet Milk Gravy:

 

We make a pretty quick and easy homemade gravy there's not really any set recipe we just put a little of this and that until it comes out ..so here's an approx. recipe for you all ...

 

All you need is:

 

Flour  approx 1/4 to 1/3 Cup

 

Sausage or Bacon Grease ( corn oil can be used in a pinch)  approx.1/4 Cup

 

Milk (we use lactaid free non-fat) any milk will work 2 to 3 cups

 

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

 

First you want to get your oil hot .. then add in the flour a little at a time stirring constantly while allowing the flour to brown... Once the flour has a nice browned look ( not burned) ... then add in your milk a little at a time stirring constantly... you will start off with a thick paste and as you add your milk and stir it will turn into a nice thick or thin gravy all depending on how much milk you add .. Add salt and pepper while stirring we just add a little of each to taste.

 

The gravy will set up thicker as it cools .. and can be reheated the next day just simply turn on the fire, add some milk, stirring constantly and it will re liquefy. That is if you have left overs.

 

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P.S. we Love Bacon or Sausage with our B&G .. this morning we had or favorite sausage .. Jimmy Deans Maple Sausage ... Love the maple flavor !  Our Favorite bacon is Coleman ..which is a natural bacon which we buy at the local Sprouts Market.  If we could find a natural maple sausage we'd be super happy ! and a year ago .. you would have found a scrambled egg on my plate too... but for some reason about 8 - 9 months ago eggs started making me sick .. Never had that problem before so I just stopped eating them but how I do miss my scrambled eggs piled high on my B&G !

And if you're just not a gravy kind of person ...

 

 

Well they are amazingly good biscuits with just a bit of melted butter .. in fact sometimes I will admit to eating them without gravy .. because these biscuits have such great flavor without the gravy ! 

 

Yes this Farm Girl will work for Biscuits .. I've been known to trade a little work for some homemade biscuits..

 

 

ENJOY ♥

 

 

 

~ N ~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm ... Pumpkin Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies ...

Hey Gals well we tried a new cookie recipe this week ..

 

Of course we saw the yummy picture of these on Pinterest and just had to try them out ..

 

So we thought we would share our bake day with you all .

 

It's been well over a year since we last had a

 

~ N ~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm Post .. and we hope to have them more often once again ..

*** Pumpkin Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies ***

 

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Well gals We followed the recipe as it is written which you will find below ..

After digging through the spice cupboard we found that we did not have the Ginger or Nutmeg that we seemed to think we had or else it would have been on the grocery list .. but  since we had already planned the bake day we decided that we would make them anyhow .. just without the 2 spices.

Even without the two spices they Baked Beautifully and tasted good right out of the oven warm...

I'm not sure about you all but when we think of a cookie we think of a somewhat thin cookie like choc chip. snickerdoodles or typical oatmeal etc .. that are soft yet fairly firm .. We would say these though referred to as cookies really are like little mini "Cakuffins" (yes that was my best made up word to describe them ) .. the texture is a real cross to us between being cakey and like a muffin but definitely not a cookie. A girlfriend of ours many years ago made us some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins and these very much reminded me of those in taste and texture with a little bit of a cross of the cakiness and moisture of pumpkin bars. ..  I ate 2 of them right out of the oven and that was more than enough to fill my tummy ( the pumpkin and oats really fill you up quick on these)... yet usually I'm the one going back for number 3 and 4 maybe 5 and 6 ...LOL !

The other thing we would like to note about these  is ... when we eat regular everyday oatmeal cookies "we love the recipe right on the oats canister" .. the oats are definitely noticeable when chewing and tasting your cookie . These cookies don't have that same texture at all .. in fact we could taste the oat flavor but didn't get the oat texture ... so we added more oats to the remainder of our batch to  firm up the cookies and to see if we could get a little oat texture .. We did achieve a small amount of texture and the cookies did firm up which we preferred simply a matter of  personal taste... .. we put approx. ... 1 cup of extra oats ...


The cookies as I said tasted good right out of the oven. That evening after they had time to sit and cool we put them in one of our containers to keep them fresh and from drying out as we live in an extremely dry climate. Fast Forward to the next day and about mid morning I thought I would try another one of these .. and I was shocked to find they were super moist. So much so that the nice semi crusty out layer that was on them out of the oven ..was completely gone and they were just super soft and super moist ( even after adding an extra cup of oats) .. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing but most definitely not how any cookies we have ever baked turn out .. usually we are fighting to keep them moist in our dry climate. So as a cookie they were not our personal favorite .. .. However there are always two sides to a story ...


This Recipe does yield a good amount of cookies .. there was no way we were going to eat them all so the family that lives next door to us got a nice large plate full ...  I talked to our neighbor today ..in fear we may have sent a confusing plate of cookies to them and gosh what did they think about them the next day being so moist .. Well .. They loved them .. however the first thing they mentioned without me saying a word was how good they were and they would love to have more but they tasted more like a muffin .. So my "Cakuffins" .. was a correct assessment on our part ..


As far as being over the moon about them... we weren't but the neighbors were .. so this is one of those recipes like many that just boils down to personal taste ..



Have any of you made these before ? and If you make these let us know what you think ...


TIP : ****** We recommend waiting to pre-heat your oven... As this recipe calls for your dough to rest 5- 10 minutes before scooping onto your baking sheets ...we found this was the perfect time to pre-heat the oven ************


RECIPE

 

 

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes

Yield: Nearly 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process). Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans (if you want some chocolate to show through set some aside to press into tops before baking). Let batter rest 5 - 10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn't so sticky and cookies don't spread so much).
• Scoop dough out 2 Tbsp at a time (I used a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, which I recommend using for evenly shaped cookies and fill it heaping), and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

 

 

 

 

 ENJOY....♥

 

 

 

 

~ N ~ the kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm "Chocococonut No-Bake Refrigerator Cookies"

 

Hi there Y'all...

 

Well it's been a few weeks since we spent a little time in the Kitchen ..and this week I was craving some of our Sweet Magnolias Farm "Chococonut No-Bake Refrigerator Cookies" ..

 

So I whipped up a double batch and thought I would share how to make these divine little snack cookies ..

 

So so Simple, So so Healthy and So so Good ! 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

 

 2 tbsp. Cocoa Powder

 

3/4 Cup Whole Oats (quick oats can be substituted)

 

1/4 Cup plus a few tblsp of Oat Flour (make your own by blending into a fine powder in your blender or in your food processor just use your oats)

 

1/4 cup Sugar (I use a little less)

 

1/4 cup chocolate chips

 

1/4 cup Coconut Oil

 

2 tbsp. water

 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

1/4 Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut

 

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So first Off I want to let you know that you can substitute vegetable oil in place of the coconut oil which is how I first began making these. No doubt they were very good but I found that our Local Costco is now carrying Coconut oil and I wanted to try it as I have been reading about all it's health benefits. I used it in these cookies and I am more in love with these cookies now than ever. They not only taste even better but they set up a lot better with the coconut oil.

 

 

 

 

I also opted to use the "Special Dark" Cocoa .. but they can be made with regular cocoa which is what I started making them with ..they are really good both ways.

 

And I'm a fan of Ghiradelli Semi Sweet Chips ...  I just put the 1/4 cup of these in my blender and let the blender chop them up a little bit to make smaller chips out of them. there was some fine powder that came out too and I just poured it all in to the cookie dough.

 

So here's how ya make em !

 

 

In a mixing bowl, combine all your dry ingredients...

 

Stir all your dry ingredients together until well mixed.

 



 

 

Then add your Oil. If you opt to use the coconut oil like I do ..and it's your first time using it. You'll find when you open the container that it's hard somewhat like shortening.  You will need to scoop out a 1/4 cup and melt it either in the microwave or on the stove on low. A 1/4 cup of the solid coconut oil will equal a 1/4 cup of  it melted.

Once it's melted you can pour it over the dry ingredients.

In a measuring cup add your water and vanilla and mix ..then pour that over the dry ingredients.

 

Next Add your 1/4 cup of Sweetened Shredded Coconut.

Then Mix everything together.

 

Once all your ingredients are well combined .. use a spoon to scoop out the dough and roll into about 1 inch balls .. or thereabouts. I just roll em and they all end up different sizes since we're not baking them it really doesn't matter.

 

Then Place them in a pan and either refrigerate them or My Favorite .. put them in the Freezer ! I love that they harden up and get really cold ! 

 

I love to have a few of these after my lunch each day or dinner.. They are seriously Soooo Good ! ..

You could even add some of your favorite crushed nuts in for another flavor if you like !

 

 



 

 

From our Kitchen to Yours ..

Enjoy !

 

 

 

 

Deep Dark Chocolate "Flourless" Cookies ..and Homemade Powdered Sugar ... ~N~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

~ N ~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

 

Well this week's, ~N~ the Kitchen, I must admit was a last minute thing .. as we've been rather busy here at the farmhouse this week, between work and everyday errands time just got away from us...

 

Well, I was having a chocolate craving, as I often do, and mentioned to Abbey that I sure could use something rich and chocolatety and  Abbey surprised me with these fabulous and most Divine Chocolate Cookies .. and if you are a serious chocolate lover like I am ..then you are going to absolutely melt in your shoes like I did.

 

I'm a self admitted chocolate lover .. When it comes to dessert I will always opt for something dark and chocolatey over anything else.

 

 So I have to say I was a bit skeptical when Abbey told me these were deep dark chocolate cookies and had gone on record by another blogger as divine... Chocolate desserts, whether bought or home baked don't always live up to the photos or recipes.  So many times I am very disappointed .... well not this time.  These were decadently chocolate from the first bite and I knew that minute  that these were truly divine and So Chocolatey Rich and Gooey delish!.... 

 

I became hooked at the first bite if you will .. LOL !

 

And these are "Flourless" .. gotta Love that ..

 

So for all you Chocolate Lovers out there .. this one's for you girls !

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

 

Ingredients:

 

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Should Make: Approx. 18 cookies

 

 

 

Prepare large cookie sheets with non stick spray or lightly grease. 

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes.  Let Cool slightly.

 

 

 While your Chocolate is Melting in the Microwave this a great time to multi-task ( or do it before hand) mix all your dry ingredients together - Powdered Sugar  ( Be sure to only add 1 cup of the Powdered Sugar) into your dry ingredients mix. The other half will be used later.) Cocoa Powder, Corn Starch and Salt

 

 

 

 We used .. Hershey's Special Dark  A blend of Natural and Dutched Cocoas for our cocoa powder. We also used as always our Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Choc. Chips instead of bittersweet since it's what we had on hand.

Now Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl to soft peaks.

 

 

Gradually beat in that 1 additional  cup of sugar we kept separate from the dry ingredients mix.  Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow crème.

 Next ... beat in the Dry Ingredients Mix...

 Stir in the Lukewarm Melted Chocolate and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips... And your Batter is ready...

 Next you will want to fill a small bowl with about 1/2 a cup of powered sugar. Then Roll your dough into rounded tablespoons and then roll in the powdered sugar until well coated

 

TIP: we ran out of Powdered Sugar and what do you know.. you can make your own. Simply add 1 cup of granulate sugar to your blender. Blend ( Pulse) until it turns to powder. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup of sugar.  We first turned the sugar to powder then added the cornstarch and pulsed a few times to mix. The homemade P.S. actually came out better than our store bought it sticks better .(The sugar crystals can scratch plastic, so consider carefully before making in a plastic blender or processor.) we used our plastic cup on our blender and didn't have this problem at all. ? But I saw others who warned of it so I just wanted to share in case.

The Place each cookie onto a prepared baking sheet approx. 2 inches apart .. just enough room to let them spread out while baking..

 Bake them approx. 10 minutes until they are puffed and cracked .. 

And here they are piping hot right out of the oven ....

This week we decided it was time to pair these with some of that Dulce de Leche Ice Cream I've been talking about in previous recipes .. so we hopped on down to the market ..O.k. we didn't hop .. but you know what I'm saying... and grabbed a pint...

These Cookies are seriously Gooey and Oh my Goodness Yummy !!!

So Here's to Chocolate .. and how it Makes a Girl just happy from the top of her head to the tips of her toes ... It can really turn a frown upside down in this old farmhouse...

 

I know some of you may not be chocolate lovers so be sure if you haven't already, to checkout our Lemon Whoopie Pies recipe HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Divine Baking for sharing this recipe

 

 

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cake ..Yumm Yumm !!! It's time again for ... ~N~ the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm ~

 

Well we're back into the swing of things here at the farmhouse and it's Sunday evening and it's time for some more great recipes here at the farmhouse.

 

This week Abbey read  a list of recipes off to me and I picked ..

 

~ Chocolate Graham Cracker Cake ~

 

My Instant thought was that of the "Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory" and the Dark Chocolate dipped Graham Crackers I used to get on occasion when we went there on a special occasion growing up. And my mind interpreted that into a cake and I thought now that's something I most definitely want to try ...

 

So Abbey whipped together the recipe today while I helped and took pictures and of course taste tested which I'll share more about at the end of this post .. but first and foremost lets get the recipe going ...

 

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Ingredients:

 

Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated ( you will use the whites and yolks)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 TBSP baking powder
3 TBSP cocoa

1 -1/2 Tbsp Instant Coffee
 1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 Cup Semi Sweet Choc Chips ( ghiradelli)

1/2 Cup Sweetened Coconut

 

(Abbey and I added the Semi Sweet Choc Chips and the Coconut to this recipe it was not original to it. We also omitted the nuts since I am allergic ..but Abb said it would have been wonderful with nuts ..)

 

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So first off  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

 

Then Cream the Butter, Sugar and Egg Yolks until they are well combined

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next add in : Graham Cracker Crumbs ~ Baking Powder ~ Cocoa ~ Salt ~ Milk ~ Vanilla ~ Nuts ~ Coconut ~ Semi Sweet Choc Chips.

 

TIP: Original recipe called for Coffee Powder .. We had Instant only since we don't drink coffee so we put a few Tblsps in our blender and blended until it was powder. We added the powder to the cocoa and mixed it together before adding it into the batter. Also Cocunut, Semi Sweet Choc. Chips and Nuts are all optional.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Beat the Egg Whites till Stiff ....

 

 

 

 

 

And Then Fold them into your Batter ...

 

Next Grease and Flour 2 - 9" round baking pans .. Or a 9 x 11 pan I'm sure would work just fine too.

 

 

Divide the batter in 1/2 into each pan.

 

 

 

Bake for 25- 30 minutes, Let Cool slightly and then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely

 

Once Cool you can Put a plate over the cake on the wire rack and then holding the plate and wire rack Flip together to allow cake to easily be placed on plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Chocolate Sauce ~

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup Whipping cream

2 tablespoons Sugar
4 ounces Bittersweet chocolate, chopped

 ( we used the Ghiradelli bittersweet bar found at our local grocery store)

1 tablespoon Unsalted butter

 

 

Now combine the cream and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil .. you may want to stir this so that it doesn't scorch on the bottom. Then Pour this hot mixture over the butter and the chocolate in a separate bowl and stir until melted and smooth.

 

 

 

 

Then Cut yourself a slice of the cake and pour some of the chocolate sauce over it ..Or pour the sauce evenly over the 2 cakes and then cut whatever your pleasure !

 

We also made some homemade Whip Cream to serve with it ..which was absolutely delicious ..and I would have loved a small scoop of Haagen dazs Dulce De Leche Ice Cream if we would have had it !!!

 

And here she is gals ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was yummy and ever so scrumptious ... and well for 3 of us ..this amount of cake was just a little too much so we kept one cake and delivered the other to some very sweet neighbors of ours and did so unplanned but with just perfect timing as they were just finishing dinner and were ready for dessert .. Everyone loved it .. !

 

Here at the farmhouse .. Well this Cake got a Big Fat Blue Ribbon with 1st prize marked on it !

 

It had a wonderful texture with just the perfect mix of flavors from the chocolate and graham crackers to the coconut and that chocolate sauce was simply divine .. ! 

 

If you are looking for a recipe that a lot of folks haven't had ...be it for a family get together , Pot luck or dinner party give this one a try ... Everyone will love it and really enjoy a new dessert.

 

Total time for making and baking was about 1 hour start to finish ..all ingredients are either in your cupboard or can be found at the average market.

 

O.k. Gals get baking ...

 

 

 

 

Until next time .. Enjoy !