Copycat "Cracker Barrel" Buttermilk Pancakes

Last week I made this copycat "Cracker Barrel" recipe from food.com.  These pancakes were so good!  Much like the ones from Cracker Barrel.  The whole family liked them a lot, so it is definitely going to be my go-to recipe for pancakes from now on.


"Cracker Barrel" Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt ( heaping)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
oil (for cooking) or butter ( for cooking) butter
Pancake syrup, for serving

DIRECTIONS Mix all ingredients together until incorporated, but do not over mix. Heat a griddle or non stick pan under med. - med. high heat, and grease with a little butter or oil (more if you like a crispy edge). Drop batter using a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto hot pan. Once the bottom side is golden, flip and brown remaining side. Serve with pancake syrup and butter, if desired.
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Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Long time no post, huh?  I honestly can't believe I haven't posted in over a year. Soon my daughter and oldest son will be helping me with this blog (YAY!) and so we will have more recipes to share!  It seems that blogging has lost it's way through the social media era, but to me it's more like a scrapbook of life and family, so I'll share some when possible....or when I think about it.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Adapted very slightly from original recipe found at this link:  cookingmaniac.com.

2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoon salted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut butter into cubes and add to flour, then pulse 6 or 7 times until the mixture resembles rough crumbs. (Alternatively, cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a grater, fork or a pastry cutter.) Return dough to bowl, add buttermilk and stir with a fork until it forms a rough ball (don’t worry if it is a little sticky). Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently roll it down again. Repeat 6 times. Gently roll out the dough some more, so that it forms a rectangle. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter when cutting; this will crimps the edges of the biscuit causing it not to rise. If you have scraps just reform a rectangle and cut additional biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
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The Best Homemade Flour Tortillas

While our son was home from college during his Christmas break, he helped cook a lot.  We told him he couldn't go back because he was so helpful and made such delicious food!  Cooking and baking during Christmas gets kind of hectic at times, so having him as a huge helper was wonderful.

For my husband's side of the family, we had a day where most of us were able to get together. We had Mexican food and he made homemade tortillas.  They were WONDERFUL!  He was here again over the weekend and made them for us.  

I wish he would take up his little brother's offer:  "I'll pay you $5.00 a week to stay home!"  Ha ha!  He's sure fun to have around - and helpful!  We eat better when he's around, too!  He spends more time cooking great things than I do. I seem to cook in a hurry.  He inspires me!

HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS
via seriouseats.com

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening (He uses lard.)

3/4 cups warm water (approximately 110°F)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Rub lard into flour mixture using your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add warm water and work dough with hands until completely combined and no dry flour is left in bowl.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces; roll each piece of dough into a ball. Cover dough balls with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rest an additional 15 minutes.

Preheat cast iron skillet, griddle, or comal to 500°F. Place one ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and pat down into a flat disc. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to an 8-inch round. Place dough in skillet and cook until bubbles form on top side and bottom side has brown spots, 30-60 seconds. Flip tortilla and cook until second side develops brown spots, 30-60 seconds longer. Transfer tortilla to a plate and cover with clean dish cloth. Repeat with remaining balls of dough. Serve immediately while still warm.

Special notes about the recipe can be found here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-tex-mex-soft-chewy-flour-tortillas.html

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Unleavened Bread

Sunday we woke up to snow and ice, so our worships services were canceled (In southwest Oklahoma, we're not used to much snow, so we don't have big machinery available at all times to clear the roads.)

Our family had worship together, which I love doing when we have the opportunity and need to do it.

I've made unleavened bread before, but decided to try a new one for our communion.  I found it at recipesforourdailybread.com.  This one was so good, the kids ate it later - just for a snack!

UNLEAVENED BREAD

3/4 cup scalded milk (Scalded milk is to heat it to an almost boil)
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
2 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt

Beat milk, honey, and butter together. Then add egg. Gradually add 2 cups of flour.  Roll the dough to 1/4" thickness. Flour the surface with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.  It's best to roll it out on parchment paper, so that you can transfer the dough to the pan easier.  Price the dough with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Break or cut into pieces.

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Cinnamon Roll Biscuit Bake

Sunday morning breakfast at our house used to always be about cinnamon rolls - from Pillsbury canned to homemade.  But over the years, the tradition has waned.  Obviously it's not the healthiest of breakfasts, but also because the kids grew tired of the same old, same old.....

This past Sunday, with our oldest child having just left for college, I kind of wanted the "old" back.  A special memory of Sunday mornings....in the hustle and bustle getting ready for Bible class and worship.

I flattened a can of Grands biscuits into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.  Spread tub "Move Over Butter" over the top (a couple of tablespoons), sprinkled it with a few tablespoons of sugar.....

....and topped it with cinnamon.

The biscuit dish baked for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

For a sweet glaze, I used a cup or so of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or two of milk, and a few tablespoons of real Mexican vanilla.  Always good to use that stuff :).

I poured the glaze over the biscuit bake and served it up to my hungry boys! Only one isn't a big fan of the dish, because of it's "soft" texture.  If you have a "texture" sensitive boy or girl.....maybe just bake it a little longer to toughen up the bread.  Or, do like I did and offer him cereal :).

For an impromptu dish, it was quite a hit! The rest disappeared throughout the day....as in-between snacks and dessert. 

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Banana Bread Bars

There's a recipe that's been going around Facebook for months....maybe even a year....that looks delicious!  I kept thinking I would make it some day, but haven't yet.  However, a friend did make them last week and said they were SUPER!  So, since she thought they were great, I was pretty sure I would think they were great and decided to pass it on to YOU!  You're welcome :).

I'm not sure of the original poster of this recipe, but thank you to whoever you are!!

Ingredients:

Banana Bread Bars:

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Browned Butter Frosting:

½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla for one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend for one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool slighty until warm but not hot and frost with Browned Butter Frosting (recipe below).

For the Browned Butter Frosting:

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it is boiling and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread.
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Big Buttery Biscuits

This recipe originally came from the J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits recipe I have posted on here from Allrecipes.com.  It's a great recipe.  However, every time I made it, I needed to reduce the milk in it and the last time I made them....a few days ago....I didn't have any shortening, so used butter.  We all liked them even better!  So, here is my new recipe - with less milk, butter, and also I use more sugar than he originally had.  This recipe is a double batch, so makes about 18 biscuits.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons white sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cup milk (Adjust as needed - may need a little less or a little more.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

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Biscuit Pancakes - Well, of Course!

Monday morning I decided to make my kiddos a big breakfast with homemade biscuits.  I don't make a "big" one that often, so they were really excited! Well, it became the biggest disaster!  The bottom element on my oven went out while the biscuits were in the oven, so I ended up cooking some in a little toaster oven. 

I decided to cook the rest of the biscuits like a pancake - but in butter. They were really good!  However, the gravy that I tried to make with almond milk (because I ran out of regular milk), was not!  Maybe it could be, but it sure wasn't that day!

My husband fixed the oven. It ended up not being the element, but just a problem with the wires. I can't imagine why since the oven is as old as I am!! Haha!  Anyway, a few days later I made biscuits again....and they turned out well.  Really well!  YAY!  (Recipe is on here: JP's Big Daddy Biscuits.  Or search for them on allrecipes.com.)

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Jiffy Buttermilk Cornbread

(I baked mine in a sheet cake pan, so it's thin. You may want it thicker.)

My very favorite cornbread to make is straight from the box - Jiffy.  It's sad, I know!  I would think I would prefer homemade too, but I don't....and it's soooooooo easy!

Last night I was making Jiffy (I use 4 boxes for my family of six so that we'll have leftovers for lunches).  I had some buttermilk that I had bought for something, then ended up not needing it.  I needed to use it, so decided to use it in the Jiffy - as a replacement for regular milk.  Because buttermilk is so much thicker than regular milk, I added more than was 'called for'.

For four boxes of Jiffy, I would have needed 1 1/3 cup of milk.  I added an extra 1/3 cup of buttermilk to that measurement.  The result was a slight difference, but also a smoother, less course texture of cornbread.  I think I may change to using this buttermilk method every time now - except I'll just make my own with vinegar and regular milk because I hardly ever buy it because I don't use it often enough.

So, if you're a Jiffy fan....try this buttermilk cornbread and let me know what you think! I think you'll be glad you tried it!

(*On a side note, my brother-in-law introduced us to a 'butter' made from buttermilk. It's called "Move Over Butter".  It's delicious, too!  Perfect on the buttermilk cornbread!)
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Shaped Biscuits

Yes, Valentine's Day is over, but you can show some "love" to your family by baking these shaped biscuits any day of the year.  And, of course, you could make them in any shape you want!

I made these heart-shaped biscuits for our high school basketball teams last week because both teams were playing in the Regional tournament on Valentine's Day.  (Note:  Yes, I'm aware that some of the "hearts" have an extra valve :).   I used my favorite biscuit recipe: JP's Big Daddy Biscuits.  The secret to this recipe is NOT adding the milk all at once.  I'm not very good at reading recipes, so I missed that important tidbit a few times!  It's a super recipe and adaptable to any shape.  These biscuits are really, REALLY BIG!  You can't tell it from the picture, but they are!

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Homemade Tortillas

In his Spanish class last week, my son and his classmates were having a "Fiesta" meal.  He decided to make tortillas and searched online for a recipe.  He made it once to try it out and really liked it.  So, for the Fiesta, he made them again.  They are delicious!

HERE is the recipe, from "What's Cooking America".

Thanks, Zachary, for finding this great new recipe for us!  I look forward to you making them again really soon.....for us! :)
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Country Skillet Cornbread

Posted by Lori:

I was looking for a Cracker Barrel "copycat" cornmeal muffin recipe and found this great recipe.  It's not like Cracker Barrel's, but was a great recipe for a different type of cornbread.  My family and I all really enjoyed it!

This recipe would be even better in an iron skillet, but I don't have one. (Need to get one!)  I used a 9 inch round cake pan in place of the iron skillet.

Country Skillet Cornbread

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 medium eggs (I used large eggs, but discarded some of it to make it like medium eggs)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place stick of butter in iron skillet or 9" pan.  Place pan in oven allowing the butter to melt and the pan to get heated.

In a large bowl combine the buttermilk, eggs, sugar and salt. Use a whisk to mix it up really well. Pour in the melted margarine, leaving about a tablespoon of it left in the hot pan. Be careful pouring so you don’t get burned. Beat everything up again. Finally add the cornmeal, flour and baking soda. Whisk again until the batter is mostly smooth. Turn the batter into the hot skillet or pan, on top of the little bit of margarine you saved in it. Carefully put the skillet back into the oven. 


Bake the cornbread at 400° for about 25 minutes. It will be golden brown and the edges will pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool a little while before slicing into 8 or 12 wedges.

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Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

Posted by Lori:


I'm posting this because my father-in-law was the BEST cinnamon roll maker in our family.  He passed away last Thursday and so I made these for the family.  They're not homemade and can in NO WAY compare to his, but they're a pretty good substitute.....and a lot less work, for sure.  (To read my devotional blog post about Charlie, please read HERE.)

Our traditional Sunday morning breakfast (for the kids, anyway) is cinnamon rolls. However, up until this point they've been the canned variety. It's just a quick breakfast before we head out the door for Bible class and worship. This recipe for "Yummy Cinnamon Rolls" was sent to me by Mom several months ago. She got it in an email from a friend. I forgot about the recipe until a few days ago when I was cleaning out my email inbox and found it. I decided to try them and they were great! In fact, we may say "good-bye" to canned cinnamon rolls forever!

YUMMY CINNAMON ROLLS

1 package Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls (discard icing or find another use for it...maybe just eat it - ha ha!)
1 stick of real butter
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
Nuts, if desired

Combine butter, ice cream, sugar and brown sugar in pan and bring to a boil. Let cool. Put cinnamon rolls in 9 X 13 baking pan and pour mixture over the rolls. Put in cold oven overnight and let rise. In the morning preheat oven to 325 degrees (remove rolls before preheating!) Bake for 30 minutes. Serve from pan or invert on serving tray.

I've made homemade cinnamon rolls, but only do it a few times a year. My father-in-law is the cinnamon roll expert in my family! I'm grateful for this new Sunday morning YUMMY CINNAMON ROLL recipe. It's easy and delicious!

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Sweet French Bread

Posted by Lori for Kimberly :).

Kim sent this recipe today via email.  She said it is very good!  I think probably a friend made it for them recently and she asked for the recipe so that we could share it with you.

Sound good, huh??  Any sweet yeast bread would be good in my opinion.  Yum!

SWEET FRENCH BREAD

2 ½ C. WARM WATER

2 T. SUGAR

2 T. YEAST

Combine in warm bowl.  Let yeast activate, when bubbly add:

1 T. salt

2 T. oil

3 c. flour

Stir vigorously with wooden spoon. 

Add 2 ½ - 3 c. more flour.

Stir.  Set in warm place, covered.  Let rise 10 min. Stir down.  Repeat 2 more times.  Turn on floured board.  Divide into 2 loaves. Place in greased loaf pan. Let rise 30 minutes.  Bake 20-22 minutes, 400 degrees or until inside shows 200 degrees on instant read thermometer.

Notes:   I usually substitute 1 c. whole wheat flour for regular flour.

             To make bread sticks, pat out ½ dough on counter, cut into strip, place on greased

              jelly roll pan.  Melt ¼ stick butter, pour over bread and sprinkle with garlic

              seasoning.  Bake 12-16 minutes.  Repeat with remaining dough.

If the house is too cool for rising, I place bowl or pans on heating pad.

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English Royalty Chocolate Chip Scones

Posted by Lori:

A few days ago, I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com (by Marbalet).  Since we were feeding the high school boys' and girls' basketball teams Thursday morning, I decided to make these scones for them, along with breakfast burritos, sausage biscuits and gravy, hash browns, and fruit. (By the way, it was all GONE!  They did share with some of the teachers. :)  Anyway, though most of them had never eaten a scone, many of them liked the rich, chocolatey goodies.  The original recipe didn't have an icing, but I used a powdered sugar/milk/vanilla glaze and put some on top.

The ball players were amused that they were eating as the "Royals" do!  I'll be treating them again next week.  Might make some more scones, as well!

ENGLISH ROYALTY CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons orange juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender or a large fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Mix in the orange juice to form a dough.
3. Turn out the dough on a floured surface. Pat or roll into a 9 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. With a 2 1/2 inch fluted biscuit cutter, cut out 12 scones, pushing the dough scraps together for the last few, if necessary. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Move to wire racks to cool.

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Sour Cream-Butter Muffins

Posted by Lori:

A few weeks ago I made this little muffins when ham and roasted potatoes were on the menu.  My family really liked the muffins, but I'll warn you - they are very rich tasting!  We cut some in half and placed a slice of ham in the middle, making a little sandwich.  I think that they would be great for brunches and showers.

I don't use fresh herbs much and didn't have dried chives.  I used dried parsley and it worked just fine.  I used 1 tablespoon of the dried herb, instead of 2 tablespoons of the fresh variety. You might prefer more.

Sour Cream-Butter Muffins

2 1/2 cups Bisquick mix (I used the same amount of this homemade baking mix recipe)

3/4  cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 container (8oz.) sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.  In large bowl, mix all ingredients just until moistened.  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling almost to top.  Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool 2 minutes; remove muffins from pans.  Serve warm.

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Mexican Cornbread

Posted by Donna:


I posted another Mexican Cornbread recipe with ground beef, but this one is without the meat. We had this with butter beans today for lunch. Yum----I'm getting to where I like the butter beans better than the pinto.

Mexican Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup flour
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small can cream style corn
3-4 T. chopped green chilies, or to your liking
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil, corn, chilies, and cheese. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9 inch dish.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cornbread browns on top. Mine took about 40 minutes.
It's best to let the cornbread set for about 10 - 15 minutes before cutting. This is a very moist cornbread.






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Untraditional Rolls with Roast and Gravy

One day in August I had made great supper plans:  roast, carrots, potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, gravy, and rolls.  I just use the Rhodes brand frozen rolls, but about half-way through the afternoon, I realized I had forgotten to set them out!  Thanks to our many, many days of over 100 degree weather, I figured covering the frozen bread and putting it out in the garage would have them rising up in no time.

Well, my plan did work, but the planner didn't work.  She (ME) forgot about those rolls until it was time to bake them!  (OOPS!)  And, when my son, Zachary went out to get them and take of the lid for me, he said, "Mom....I don't think you're going to be very happy!"  Well, I wasn't too happy, but figured what was done, was done, so we baked them.....or I guess I should say we baked 'IT'....since it was just one big thing of dough!

Since it wasn't traditional in shape, we did something untraditional with the serving of the bread.  We made it into an open-faced sandwich with the roast and gravy.  And, guess what?  It was deeee-licious!  Hummmm.....maybe I'll forget the rolls and let them rise too much again?  However, I can do without the over 100 degrees for many, many days for a long time (forever would be okay!).

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Broccoli Cornbread

Posted by Donna:


This cornbread recipe is definitely a crowd pleaser. I’m sure there’s someone out there that doesn’t like it; but down here in Southwest Oklahoma, it’s considered “lip-smackin” good.

Broccoli Cornbread

4 eggs
2 sticks butter, melted
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in a 9 x 13 pan at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until browned on top.

It’s very hard to type this recipe without thoughts of pinto beans and fried potatoes coming to mind. Matter of fact, I just added it to my menu for next week!
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Mini Italian Baguettes

Posted by Lori:

I saw mini baguettes at Walmart last night and decided to buy them and try something with them.  These little appetizers were a huge hit with my family!

Mini Italian Baguettes

2 mini baguettes (Walmart sells them in the bakery section....two small baguettes to a package)
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons crisp roasted garlic (or could use fresh garlic and adjust to your taste)

Cut baguettes into 1/2 inch slices.  

Combine olive oil, Italian seasoning, and garlic.  

Spoon onto baguette slices.  Broil until lightly browned.

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