Dutch Baby

Makes 2 • Preheat oven to 400°

• 3 Eggs
• 3/4 C. Milk
• 3/4 C. Flour
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1 T. Sugar
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

Put 1 T. butter in each of two 2-Cup oven-proof souffle dishes. Put the dishes into the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until the butter is melted and starting to brown. Meanwhile, drink some coffee and put the eggs and milk into a blender and mix thoroghly. With the blender running, add all of the other ingredients and blend well. Open the oven and slide out the rack with the hot dishes on it and divide the batter evenly between each dish. Slide the rack back in and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and golden. While you are waiting get your serving plates ready and drink more coffee. I tie a cloth napkin around the souffle dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. This is really good with maple or fruit syrup or cooked apples.

Perfect Toffee Scones

8 big scones or 16 little scones • Preheat oven to 400°

• 3 C. Flour
• 1/3 C. Sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 C. Chilled Butter in tablespoon-sized chunks
• 1 C. Chilled Sour Cream
• 1/2 C. Toffee Chips
• Small amount of milk and sugar for glaze

If you have a food processor, this will be really easy. If not, skip to the second paragraph, or skip to the store and get one - you will never regret it. Put all of the dry ingredients in the work bowl with your steel blade and process until mixed. With the machine running, add your chunks of butter through the feed tube until it is mealy. Take off the lid and add all of the sour cream. Pulse until incorporated, but do not over mix*, or you will have hard tack and no one will ever come to your house again. Add the toffee chips and pulse a few more times. **Dump out onto a floured counter top and knead until you have one smooth ball of dough. Divide it in two and make discs of each about 1 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 8 small wedges each for a total of 16 (or one big disc cut into 8 big pieces). Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar - use plenty of sugar, it makes a wonderful crust on top. If you forget that step, these will only be Pretty Good Toffee Scones. Put foil on a cookie sheet and spray coat it, spread out the wedges (about 8 small ones to a cookie sheet). Bake until lightly golden on top about 12-15 minutes. Stop everything else you are doing and eat one while it is hot.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PEOPLE THAT DO NOT OWN A FOOD PROCESSOR: Sift dry ingredients (Do you have a sifter? Neither do I, so stir with wire wisk). Use a pastry blender or what ever your method is for incorporating butter into flour and work in the butter until the mixture is mealy. Add all of the sour cream, work it in and then the toffee chips, repeat. Do not over mix* - see above for the remaining instructions**. You may need to rest if your hands are cramping.

TIP: These freeze really well. Follow the recipe up to the point where you would bake them and pop them in the freezer instead. Skip the part about eating one right away. After they are frozen put them in a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake them, put them in the oven frozen - increase the cooking time by a few minutes.

Banana Pecan Muffins

12 muffins • Preheat oven to 350°

• 3 smashed bananas (Save your overripe bananas in the freezer until you have a chance to use them. They will be black on the outside and mushy when you thaw them, but they will work perfectly.)
• 1 C. Sugar
• 1/2 C. Butter
• 1 Egg
• 2 C. Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/3 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 C. Pecans

Cream butter and sugar, add bananas and egg and beat well. Sift dry ingredients (or if you are like me and you can't find your sifter, stir with wire wisk). Add slowly to the banana mixture until just incorporated. Fold in vanilla and pecans. Spray coat your muffin tins and these should pop right out. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Remember what your home economics teacher taught you about not over mixing muffins - oh the shame of tunneled baked goods!