If I ran my own bed and breakfast, I’d bake these cinnamon rolls every morning. Scratch that — when I have my own bed and breakfast, I will bake these cinnamon rolls every morning. I’ll be just like Sookie on “Gilmore Girls.” (Salmon puffs. Sal-mon puffs.)

Truth be told, I may never have enough time or energy or know-how to have my own bed and breakfast, and that’s OK. But one thing is for sure — these cinnamon rolls will always be in my (near) future.

There’s something about the taste of gingerbread that whisks me away to my childhood. I don’t know if it’s memories of making gingerbread houses with our neighborhood group of kids, or chomping the heads off of gingerbread men around the holidays (such a sweet memory, I know), but one bite of gingerbread and I can’t help but feel all holly jolly inside. Combine that with the coziness of a warm cinnamon roll on a weekend morning and I’m as happy as a kid on Christmas morning.

The flavor of gingerbread in these cinnamon rolls is subtle — it sneaks up on you between bites of soft, buttery roll and sweet cinnamon-vanilla glaze. I find they’re best topped with tart sugared cranberries, but the glaze alone is enough to put these over the moon. It’s the perfect recipe to wake up your kids with on Christmas morning (though growing up, my excitement would wake me up well before then) or make for a holiday brunch gathering. Or, maybe, at your imaginary future bed and breakfast. Whatever works.

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
Courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens

Yields: 12 cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packages)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the glaze —
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 to 5 tablespoons milk

Directions:
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fixed with paddle attachment, whisk yeast with 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 5 minutes.
Stir in milk, molasses, brown sugar, egg, oil and salt. Stir in 1 cup flour, then replace paddle attachment with dough hook. Add enough flour until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl (you may not use all the flour). Increase speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon flour at a time as necessary until you end up with a smooth, elastic dough (you can also knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes until you end up with a smooth, elastic dough). Shape dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch risen dough down and place on a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Roll dough out into a 12-by-8-inch rectangle and brush melted butter on top of dough. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar mixture and roll up tightly from the long end, pinching to seal. Cut log into 12 equal pieces and space evenly in 13-by-9-inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover risen rolls and bake 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown. In the meantime, make your glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and enough milk to make a drippy glaze. Remove rolls from oven and let cool 5 minutes before drizzling with glaze. Top with frozen cranberries rolled in sugar and serve warm.

I know what you’re thinking.

This is a Thanksgiving food. I know. I know. And it’s not even Halloween yet.

Here’s the thing — I get really excited about holidays. And I get even more excited about holiday food. It’s a strange compulsion, one I’m trying to work out with my imaginary therapist, but the fact remains that the minute the leaves fall from the trees, many of my thoughts surround what is going on the menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can literally taste the cranberry sauce that comes out of the can — still looking like the can — on my tongue (I love that stuff. Seriously. Don’t judge.), and I can smell turkey baking as I walk through the crunchy leaves on the sidewalk. Maybe that’s just me continuing to lose my mind, I don’t know, but if I’m going to lose it by smelling and tasting holiday foods, that’s fine by me.

Anyway, enough of that. Another (more sane, legitimate) reason I made these seasonal rolls, here and now, is because I am a big plan-ahead-er. You may not know this, but I generally am not one for spontaneity. Sure, I like to mix things up a bit, as long as I know exactly how they’re going to happen. Confession: I made a day-of-wedding itinerary for my wedding party with down-to-the-minute times of when everything was going to go down. It was a dark time for me.

But I am planning to serve up these rolls for Thanksgiving, which is at our place again this year, and making and freezing as many foods as possible before the big day is a huge weight off my holiday-loving shoulders.

So really, these rolls say a lot about who I am, which also is to say that I absolutely love sweet potato bread, of any kind. It’s not only insanely easy to make and nearly foolproof (I divulge my secret love of all potato-based breads here), but it tastes delicious. Like a holiday on a roll. If that’s not enough to get you in the kitchen right away, well, you might be almost crazier than I am. Almost.

Brown Butter Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls
Adapted from Pinch My Salt

Yields: About 16 rolls

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato, slightly warm or at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 2 tbsp for browned butter
1/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt
6 to 7 cups bread flour

Directions:
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachment, whisk together sweet potato, buttermilk, egg, butter, sugar and yeast until thoroughly combined.
Replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment and stir in one cup flour with the salt. Gradually add more flour, about a cup at a time, until mixture turns into a soft dough. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for 5-6 minutes, adding more flour as necessary until dough pulls away from the sides and is slightly sticky but not tacky; and if kneading by hand, place dough on floured countertop and begin to knead, 8-10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary until dough is smooth, elastic and slightly sticky. Note: You might not use all the flour, and that’s OK.
Shape dough into a round ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down risen dough and cut in half with a knife or pizza cutter. Cut into quarters, then into 8 pieces, then into 16. Roll each piece into a ball, pulling the skin taut on the top so its smooth and round. Place rolls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or baking stone about 1 inch apart. Let rolls rise, uncovered, 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Meanwhile, brown your butter: Place 2 tbsp unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Let butter melt, stirring occasionally, until it turns a golden brown. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl.
Gently press down on the tops of the rolls to flatten them slightly. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the rolls with the browned butter. Bake rolls for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and lightly brown. Cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.
To freeze, cover rolls, connected and in tact or split into two parts, with plastic wrap, then with heavy-duty aluminum foil. They should keep well for up to 8 weeks.

Did you know there are different names for desserts depending on their toppings?

For instance, a crisp is topped with a streusel-crumb mixture, a.k.a. magic.

And a buckle is a type of crumb cake that cracks and “buckles” as it bakes. No joke.

And a betty is layered with cubed bread or breadcrumbs. Amazing.

But this? This blueberry and cherry-filled wonder? This most spectacularly delicious creation? This is definitely a cobbler.*

Cobblers are defined by their buttery, biscuity topping (yes, biscuity. New word.) and baked fruit filling. This cobbler, by its very definition, is sweet, tart, fruity and rich with a fluffy, soft, buttery/biscuity topping of… well, biscuits. Biscuits are biscuity. As if you didn’t already know that. And biscuits floating cloud-like atop a juicy fruit filling? Even better.

I know it’s roughly 387,273,154 degrees outside right now and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven, but just do it. Buckle down, betty up and be sure not to crumble or burn to a crisp before you get that cobbler in the oven. (You like that pun explosion? Took me all day. Or two minutes.) And if you make it that far and are still standing, stash the cobbler in the fridge to cool off, or top it with some vanilla bean ice cream or homemade whipped cream. Or, if you’re living dangerously, eat it warm out of the oven.

But for goodness’ sake, drink some water if you do. A girl need not suffer for cobbler.

*A note of thanks to one Miss Ashley Moore for her photographic assistance. You light up my life.

Blueberry-Cherry Cobbler
Adapted from Saveur

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups frozen sour cherries (I used sweet and decreased the sugar to 2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Add blueberries and cherries and stir occasionally until mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and almond extract. Pour filling into an 8 x 8-inch baking dish greased with 1 tbsp butter; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Work in remaining butter with fingers until mixture resembles a coarse crumble. Stir in milk to form a dough.
Place heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on top of filling. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until biscuits are a rich golden brown. Serve warm, cold or with your favorite topping.

If you’re close to me, you know that I like to pawn off most of the things I bake. I do this for three reasons — one, because I care about you and like to show it via baked goods; two, because I know if I don’t give the brownies/cookies/chocolate peanut butter quick bread/etc. away, I will eat it all. Maybe in one sitting. And three, because otherwise, my freezer will implode with the weight of too many a frozen creation. And then it will hate me. And I cannot let that happen.

But mostly, I share my baked treats with others because it’s one of the best ways to show someone you care, I think. At least, I always feel well cared for when someone takes the time to make food for me. Even if it’s microwaving a bowl of SpaghettiOs or pouring cereal. Doesn’t matter. It’s love.

On the flip side, however, there are times when I am selfish with my food. Take these lemon-thyme biscuits, for example. No one else besides me and Elliott knows what these taste like. That’s because we ate them all over the course of a few couple days hours. Or something like that. The memory is fuzzy…

In any case, it’s a testament to how delicious they are. To me, these biscuits taste like summer, with the tart, bright flavor of lemon combined with the rich, herby taste of fresh thyme. Plus, they’re biscuits — which, if you know anything about me, are a few of my favorite things in the whole wide world. In this home, biscuits cannot be denied.

We enjoyed these alongside a carrot ginger soup (from a box, sadly — I know, I KNOW) for a light dinner, but they’re equally delicious with — you guessed it — butter, or lemon curd spackled and sandwiched in the middle. And I’m sure if you bake them and want to give them away, anyone would be thrilled to take them off your hands.

Lemon-Thyme Biscuits
Adapted from Food Network Magazine

Yields: About 15 biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp flaxseed meal (I used the Bob’s Red Mill kind, but you can make this at home, too, by mincing whole flaxseeds in a food processor)
1 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, plus more for sprinkling
4 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, flaxseed meal, salt, lemon zest and thyme. Replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment and, while on low speed, slowly add butter cubes. Increase speed to medium and mix until butter is in pea-size pieces. Slowly stir in buttermilk until dough just comes together, then knead a half-dozen times in your hands or in the bowl, careful not to overwork the dough.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter (or the lip of a cup, like I do), cut out round biscuits and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Roll out scraps and cut more biscuits. Brush each biscuit with water and sprinkle with thyme and salt.
Bake biscuits about 12 to 15 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Serve warm.

Dear driver who nearly ran me over while I was walking across the designated crosswalk the other day,
Dear person who doesn’t agree with my opinions and thinks I’m a loony for thinking the way I do,
Dear construction workers who are tearing up the streets and sidewalks, literally, in front of our office building, causing my computer to rumble incessantly every day,

Happy Easter. Jesus is risen! I have no hard feelings towards you. I understand that you are human, as am I, and are just in a serious hurry/extremely passionate/doing your job. Maybe you were just having a bad day, I don’t know. Whatever the case, I’m not letting it get to me.

Also, I’ve baked these yummy sticky buns for you.

Love, Me

There are few things in life that make it very difficult for me to love everyone. One of them is road rage. Another is construction, and the consequences therein. The third is judgmental people, but I can’t say I’m totally out of that category myself, so I try very hard to work on that one. But I’m not perfect. Neither are you. But we do our best to be kind to each other, because that’s what we’re here for, anyway.

But enough about that. Let’s talk about these OMG-delicious sticky buns. I don’t know what got me thinking about sticky buns the other day, suffice it to say that once the thought did cross my mind, nothing could deter it. All I could think about was the next time I could get to work on making these sticky buns. Then I started thinking about oranges. Then, pecans. Then I was in all sorts of trouble.

Luckily, my family came to visit this weekend to celebrate Easter with us, so I knew I wouldn’t be elbow-deep in sticky, orange-pecany glaze for nothing. I decided to make the buns for breakfast, and I knew my family would be appreciative of my efforts after having them drive all the way out to the cornfields. Little did they know that I would have made these with or without them here — but with them, I was in good company and therefore distracted from eating 10 buns in one sitting.

I like this recipe for sticky buns because you let the buns rise in the refrigerator overnight, which means you don’t have to get up at 6 a.m. so that breakfast can be ready by 10 a.m. All you do is prepare them the night before, stick them in the fridge, sleep, wake up, preheat the oven, bake them and voila — cinnamon sticky buns oozing with tasty, sticky, gooey, sweet and nutty orange-pecan glaze. They’re irresistible, and taste even better when you make them for someone you love — or are trying to love.

Orange-Pecan Sticky Buns
Adapted from Simply Recipes

Yields: 15 sticky buns

Ingredients:
Dough –
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus 1 tbsp for greasing
3 large egg yolks
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Filling –
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp unsalted butter
zest from half an orange

Topping –
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup pecan halves

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Whisk to combine and let sit 5 minutes, or until yeast mixture is foamy. Add to it milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low speed with paddle attachment until just combined. Switch paddle attachment with dough hook and increase speed slightly, add the remaining 1 cup flour in increments. Once all flour has been added, increase speed to medium and knead about 5 minutes, or until dough is slightly sticky, smooth and elastic (add a little bit more flour if it’s really tacky until it’s at the right consistency). Remove dough from bowl and place in a large lightly greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours.
Once dough has risen, punch down and place on a lightly floured countertop and let rise 20 minutes.
In the meantime, make the filling — combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Melt butter and keep separate.
Roll out dough into a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle with orange zest. Starting from the long side, roll up dough into a tight cylinder. Place seam side-down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 15 equal slices.
Make the topping — in a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, orange juice and orange zest over low heat. Stir until butter and sugar are melted. Pour mixture into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan and sprinkle pecan halves on top.
Place dough slices flat side-down on top of prepared topping, crowding them so they touch. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight to rise. In the morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees F — remove buns from the refrigerator and let stand on countertop while oven preheats. Bake buns until golden brown, about 30 minutes; immediately invert pan onto a baking sheet or serving tray. Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.

Often when I’m typing these posts, I’m singing to myself. These days, it’s generally a mix of Ra Ra Riot, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Cold War Kids and Cloud Cult. Sometimes, when it’s rainy and drab outside, it’s all Bon Iver, and when it’s sunny and warm, it’s Los Campesinos. In any case, the husband likes to surprise me from behind by suddenly applauding at my stellar — read: Terrible — singing, causing me to squeak out the note stuck in my throat with a horrible, piercing sound.

I’d say it’s embarrassing, but I’d be lying. It’s not. Heck, if I didn’t think it’d annoy everyone around my desk at work, I’d do it there, too. But only a few are privy to my vocal talents.

But we’re not here to talk about my singing. We’re here to talk about these Ginger Pecan Scones — or, as I decided to call them after realizing how much they looked like cookies after baking, “scookies.” Let’s see if that catches on.

These scones are delightful because they’re incredibly soft — not crumbly, dense or dry, like most other scones. They’re buttery, and though there’s a hefty dosage of ginger in these guys, the flavor isn’t overpowering at all, and neither are the pecans. There’s an even, mellow medley of both flavors throughout the scone, so you won’t find a random punch of ginger or pecan or butter in any bite. They all work together in harmony. Unlike my singing.

If you want your scones to look a little less cookie-like, I’d suggest adding more flour to the dough until it’s just manageable enough to hold in your hands without sticking to your fingers. But add more flour and you run the risk of these scones getting tough, so the choice is yours. I figure, scookie or scone, as long as they taste good, life is beautiful.

My singing, however — well, that’s a different story.

Ginger-Pecan Scones
Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

Yields: 12 scones

Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup pecan halves, chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, salt, baking powder, ground ginger and baking soda. Add butter gradually, softening between fingers before blending into batter. Mix until a coarse meal forms. Add pecans and 1/4 cup crystallized ginger. In a separate bowl, whisk most of the buttermilk (leave about 1 tbsp aside for later), grated ginger and vanilla. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in buttermilk mixture. Mix until just combined and the dough is shaggy. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out a generous amount of dough and place on baking sheet. You should have about 12 scones once all the dough is scooped. Brush the tops of the scones with remaining buttermilk, 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp crystallized ginger; press to adhere.
Bake scones about 20 minutes, until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

I’ve had to make a lot of grownup decisions lately.

Like, deciding that I can’t eat cookies and cake and chocolate peanut butter swirl bread three times a day, every day. Well, I could, but I probably wouldn’t like it after a while.

Or deciding to watch my husband’s intramural basketball game in a gym that smelled like 100 smelly, sweaty guys (because there were about 100 smelly, sweaty guys there) watching a sport I know nothing about, when I could have been watching “The Bachelor” at home. But it was important to him to have me there, and therefore, the decision was easy to make.

I also decided to spare you the 12-minute-long video I originally made for this post. You see, I got a little overzealous — as I often do — when it came to filming my first video for this here blog. What was intended to be a classy, snappy, 5-minute-long video on how to make cheesy garlic knots became a long, drawn-out, terribly choppy episode from Food Network. Only without the fancy lighting and some lackey to clean up my dishes.

Still, I think it important to share some face time with you (and to post at least a teensy bit of my efforts!), so here’s a little snippet on how to shape these yummy garlic knots:

So, hello there. That’s me. Making knots. Wearing an apron. Trying not to laugh as my husband makes funny faces behind the camera, or remember the first take, when I said “taber salt” instead of table salt. Good times. And more of them to come (I hope!).

Now go make these rolls, will you? I have no other terms with which to describe them — they’re freaking amazing.

P.S. Yes, it’s true — Girl Versus Dough is on Facebook. DUN DUN DUN. Check it.

Cheesy Garlic Knots
Courtesy of an adapted recipe by John Fraser, What Happens When, NYC (via Tasting Table)

Yields: 20 knots

Ingredients:
3 cups bread or unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (or, as described above, “taber salt” is fine, too)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup sea salt (or table salt)
1 1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/4 tsp caraway seeds
2 1/2 cups grated Emmentaler cheese
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine bread flour, semolina flour, sea salt, sugar and yeast until combined. In a small, separate bowl, combine water and olive oil. Slowly pour water mixture into flour mixture while the mixer is on low speed. Blend until the dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and knead for about 2 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sea salt, pepper and caraway seeds.
Once dough is risen, punch down and divide into 20 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out each ball into a 3-inch log. Top each log with sea salt mixture and a sprinkling of Emmentaler cheese (you will have some of each left over). Roll out each log into a 6-inch log, tie in a loose knot and place on a lined baking sheet, each knot spaced 1 inch apart. Sprinkle a little more cheese on the top of each knot.
Cover the baking sheets with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise about 1 hour, or until the knots are 1 1/2 times their original size.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from baking sheets and bake knots for about 20 minutes, or until they’re a light golden brown, rotating halfway through. Meanwhile, melt butter and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat but keep warm.
When the knots are fully baked, remove from oven and lightly brush the tops with the garlic butter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Greetings, dear friends —

I apologize for a delay in recipe posting. I’ve been in a coma for a few days after eating my weight in bourbon bacon pancakes. You understand.

I also took a mini break from my daily obligations to visit my dear friend Ashley (see above) in her homeland. Which used to be my homeland. Which is really still only four hours away, barely far enough to consider it a “homeland,” but still far enough away that I have enough time to completely lose my voice upon arrival after all the loud, obnoxious singing I’ve just done in my car. True story.

But now, back to real life. While I have been busy baking, it hasn’t been for this here blog, but for Tablespoon, my second home. I’d thought I take this time to share with you a few things I’ve been conjuring up over there.

Doughnut holes. Any baked goods sugary and miniature warm my soul.

Whole wheat English muffins. Healthy. English. Perfect with a spot of tea after eating an entire cake.

Vegan Vanilla Maple Banana Bread. My first-ever banana bread (I’m allergic to bananas, so I don’t often make things I can’t eat. It just doesn’t make sense). My first-ever vegan bread, too. Good stuff.

Mini calzones. For the Superbowl. Or just because.

I promise to be back again soon with a new recipe for GVD, but for now, you should make these yummy breads at once. A very happy Monday to you all.

I know Thanksgiving is over, and all that remains of it is a handful of leftover dinner rolls, a broken turkey wishbone, some pie crumbs and a loosened belt.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not still thankful for so many things.

I thought I’d share them with you. And no matter how cheesy/cliche/commonplace this list may be, you know you feel thankful for so many things in your own life. Go on. Admit it. That’s right.

I am thankful for (in no particular order) –

Family.

Friends.

My husband.

Butter.

Vacations.

Holidays.

Sunshine.

My kitty.

Cake.

Beauty.

Jesus. (sorry, no picture for this one, but if I did have one, WHOA.)

A home.

Opportunity.

Flowers.

Biscuits.

Coffee.

Love.

And you.

Happy Sunday.

Who wouldn’t, though? They’re fluffy, buttery and very adept at becoming something else, like a sandwich or a jam/jelly holder. Sometimes they make great pie doughs or cobblers.

After coming home from a week-long vacation in Florida with the family, I was ready for a little R&R (you know, a vacation from vacation), some fall weather and some warm, fluffy biscuits. I found this recipe for baking powder biscuits on the back of my Rumford Baking Powder, tweaked it a bit, and the rest is history.

Debrief: Nothing much. Just as mentioned above, if you want bigger biscuits, use a wider biscuit cutter. Otherwise, this dough is a dream to work with, and very easy to adapt to whatever your biscuit craving. Herbs? Great. Cheese? Sure. Anchovies? Eh, weird, but whatever. These babies can probably handle it.

Baking Powder Biscuits
Adapted from the recipe found on the back of my Rumford Baking Powder container

Yields 8 to 12 biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Italian seasoning herbs or dried parsley, to taste (I used about 2 tsp)
6 tbsp chilled butter or shortening, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2/3 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flours, baking powder, salt and herbs. Cut in butter and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbles. Add milk and mix until dough is soft and starts to pull away from the sides. Pour out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Roll out dough, using a lightly floured rolling pin, to a 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a biscuit cutter and place on baking stone or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly brown; serve warm.