Cranberry Pecan Muffins

I found this amazing little cookbook at Borders for, get this. . . $2. Can you believe that? It is a great little book. Full of good recipes and lots of pictures (I love seeing what things are suppose to turn out like) and a really good variety of muffins, cookies, and bar cookies. So here is one that I tried that was super yummy.

Cranberry Pecan Muffins

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 c. chopped fresh cranberries (I used frozen and they were great. Let them thaw on counter for about 5 minutes then coarsely chop.)
1/3 c. chopped pecan- we skipped the nuts because of Syd
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. I used mini-muffin tins.
Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Combine milk, butter, and egg in a small bowl until blended; stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in cranberries, pecans, and lemon peel. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.
Bake 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack. These muffins are best served warm. We had them for breakfast. The muffins will keep several days if stored in an airtight container.
Makes about 36 mini muffins

Baking Powder Biscuits

Today we spent the day working outside in the yard. Pulling out the garden, weeding, trimming, mowing. When we came inside I was tired and cold. I wanted something warm and comforting. So I made baking powder biscuits and we ate then for dinner. Ummm, and that's all. I figured it was a balanced meal because we put jam on them.


Baking Powder Biscuits

4 cups flour
2 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, cold, cut into pieces
2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together flour, powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture esembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in milk. Using a spatula, fold milk into the dough, working to incorporate all crumbs, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round aobut 1 inch thick, pressing in any loose bits. Do not overwork the dough. Use a floured 2 1/4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible.
Place to biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.
Serve with butter, jam, honey, etc.

We used apple jelly, apricot-almond jam, honey from Grandpa's bees (thanks Dad), and strawberry jam.