Although this was my first time making them, I’m beginning to think that these warm and spicy pumpkin doughnuts are going to become a fall tradition around here.  Filled with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and even a hint of cardamom, these doughnuts will warm your soul on a crisp autumn morning.

Have you ever made doughnuts from scratch?  The closest I had ever come to making doughnuts was back in my college days when I learned how to make faux doughnuts (fauxnuts?) by poking holes in refrigerated biscuit dough rounds and frying them up in a skillet.  They were pretty good if you dipped them in sugar and ate them warm, but not quite the real thing.  Ok, not even close.

I have memories of the real thing, though.  You see, my mom made homemade doughnuts for us once.  They were yeast-raised doughnuts, the kind which are lightly glazed or sugar-crusted on the outside, but only slightly sweet and impossibly soft and fluffy on the inside.  Though I was small, and the recollection is a bit fuzzy, I know in my heart that they were the best doughnuts I’ve ever tasted.  While the “hot now” sign at Krispy-Kreme may make your heart flutter, I’m telling you that nothing compares to a doughnut fried up in your own kitchen.  My mom only made doughnuts once that I can recall, but that one memory fills me with so much warmth, I know that I have to make doughnuts from scratch one day for my own children.  Yes, food memories are powerful. Continue reading →

While some muffins are little more than cupcakes without the frosting, these hearty, flavorful, and nutritious whole grain apple muffins will help you power through your morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a fan of cake-like muffins, but I think they generally make a better dessert than breakfast.  Made with whole wheat flour and heart-healthy oat bran, these muffins offer a bit more staying power than something you might pick up at a cafe on your way to work. Continue reading →

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I’m sitting here on this beautiful Sunday morning eating the best scone I’ve ever made in my life.  Days like this are bittersweet.  On one hand, there’s almost nothing better than a lazy Sunday morning spent baking and lounging in my pajamas.  But what’s the fun in eating such a wonderful treat, when there’s no one to share it with? Continue reading →

So this is the second installment of our holiday recipe series, and I couldn’t be happier to share this dinner roll recipe with you!

In my family, the dinner rolls at our holiday meals are never homemade. For years, my grandmother would pick them up at a local bakery, but at some point we switched to the big bag of dinner rolls from Costco.  And I don’t think there’s anything wrong it.  My sister and I still love those rolls from Costco.  And really, even supermarket bakery rolls taste pretty good if you pop them in the oven for a few minutes. Continue reading →

Do you really need a recipe for French Toast?  I’m not sure.  But this is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast and I just want to make sure that everyone knows how simple it is to make french toast at home! Continue reading →

Before last night, I had never even tasted a sweet potato biscuit. But they’ve been on my list of new foods to try for a few months now. I’ve been collecting links to sweet potato biscuit recipes and have noticed that there is a pretty wide range of recipes.

Some people make a very sweet biscuit, using lots of mashed sweet potato and sugar.  My husband, who has a major sweet tooth, would love this version from Pots on the Stove. While others seem to prefer just a slightly sweet, buttery version, like these from Orangette. Continue reading →

It’s official, I’ve finally joined the Daring Bakers! And of all things, my first Daring Baker challenge was…pizza!

Pizza? That’s supposed to be a challenge?? Those were my first thoughts when I started reading about this month’s daring baker challenge.  And then I got to the part about how we would have to toss the dough in the air.  Ah yes, I thought. Therein lies the challenge!

You see, I make pizza all the time, but I refuse to toss the dough.  In fact, I pride myself on not tossing the dough.  I developed a method of pressing out the dough on parchment paper that creates a nice, round, perfectly thin pizza crust.  And once I perfected my method, I never thought I would have a reason to do it any other way.

And then I joined the Daring Bakers. Continue reading →