Hot Cross Buns

Remember how I started this whole bake-from-scratch-with-yeast challenge? Well, my primary goal was to be able to bake some Hot Cross Buns in celebration of Easter. And don’t ask me why people eat Hot Cross Buns for Easter, because I honestly don’t know. Here’s what I do know: Baking from scratch with yeast is soooo time consuming! But that’s why people say baking is all about patience, because the more time you give the dough to rise, the fluffier and yummier the buns end up being!

You Will Need:
3 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 (1/4 ounce) packages)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus as needed
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup currants, plumped in the microwave and cooled
1 egg beaten, for brushing

Icing/Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon finely gated lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Let’s Get Bakin’!

1. Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan and warm over low heat until about 100 °F (but no more than 110°F). Remove from heat and sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of sugar and flour over the surface of the liquid. Set aside without stirring, until foamy and rising up the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
2. Whisk the butter, egg yolk and vanilla into the yeast mixture.
3. Whisk the flour, the remaining sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and stir in the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to make a thick, shaggy, and slightly sticky dough. Stir in currants. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 8 minutes. Shape into a ball.
4. Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Put dough in bowl, turning to coat lightly with butter. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
5. To form the rolls: Butter a 9 by 14-inch baking pan. Turn the dough out of the bowl and pat into a rectangle about 16 by 8 inches. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, about 2 ounces each, with a pizza wheel or bench scraper.
6. Tuck the edges of the dough under to make round rolls and place them seam-side down in the prepared pan, leaving a little space in between each roll. Cover the pan with buttered plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the rolls rise almost to the rim of the pan and have more than doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
8. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops of the buns with beaten egg. Bake rolls until golden brown and puffy, and an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the rolls registers 190°F, about 25 minutes.
9. For the glaze: Stir together confectioners’ sugar, milk, lemon zest and vanilla until smooth. Transfer icing to a zip bag or pastry bag, and make a small cut in the corner of the bag. Ice buns in a thick cross shape over the top of the warm buns.

Loaded Potato Quiche

I’ve always been curious about however whenever did it come to be that ham is the protein of choice at Easter. But if we’re going to have brunch AND we’re going to serve, I figured we should do it in a fun, easy and yummy way! And so I give you Loaded Potato Quiche! Just layering on all your favorite ingredients like ham, hashbrown, cheddar cheese and bacon. Oh my word, what is there not to love!!!

I will say that this is the first time I’ve tried to make a quiche crust using our Immaculate Baking Pancake & Waffle Mix, and I was pleasantly surprised at how flaky it turned out to be!

You Will Need:
Crust
2 ½ cups Immaculate Baking Co. Pancake & Waffle Mix
6 tablespoons cold butter or margarine
¼ cup boiling water

Filling
1 ½ cups chopped cooked ham
1 ½ cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 ½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (6 oz)
3 medium green onions, sliced (3 tablespoons)
5 eggs
¾ cup half-and-half
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
Sour cream, if desired
Additional sliced green onions, if desired

Let’s Get Bakin’!

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 1/2-inch glass deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray.
   Place Pancake & Waffle mix in medium bowl. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mix in opposite directions), until crumbly. Add boiling water; stir vigorously until soft dough forms. Using fingers dipped in Pancake & Waffle mix, press dough on bottom and up side of pie plate, forming edge on rim of plate.
2. Sprinkle ham, potatoes, cheese and 3 tablespoons onions in crust. In medium bowl, beat eggs, half-and-half and pepper until blended. Pour over ingredients in crust.
3. Bake 1 hour 5 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Top with bacon, sour cream and additional onions.

Double Chocolate Stout Mousse Cake

The reason I’ve never really attempted to bake a layered cake is simply because I don’t have a cake pan. I know. How silly of me. But fortunately I have great friends who ARE master bakers who DO have cake pans. Which leads us to this fabulous recipe just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!

Now this was supposed to be a scartch recipe, but fortunately for us, we can cut the prep time and ingredient list in half because we have our very own Chocolate Cake Scratch Baking Mix! A few quick modifications made to the cake mix: 1. We replaced the 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 cup chocolate stout. 2. We added in 4 oz sour cream to make sure the cake will still be moist. And let me tell you… the end results were superb! I know you’re probably drooling by this point, so let’s get started!

You Will Need:
Chocolate Stout Cake
1 box Immaculate Baking Co. chocolate cake scratch baking mix
Eggs and butter as indicated on the box (DON’T need the milk)
4 oz sour cream
¾ cup chocolate stout

Chocolate Stout Mousse
1/4 oz. package of powdered gelatin (about 2 tsp.)
2 tbsp. double chocolate stout
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chocolate stout
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped (Ghiradelli recommended)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Chocolate Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons double chocolate stout
Milk or cream, optional

Let’s Get Bakin’!
Bake the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line a 9×3-inch cake pan with parchment. Combine all cake ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.
2. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out and let cool completely on a wire rack. Level top with a serrated knife or cake leveler.

Make the Mousse!

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons stout in a small saucepan. Let stand for 1 minute. Whisk in egg yolks and sugar. Whisk in milk and 1/4 cup chocolate stout. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. Mixture will thicken after 5 minutes or so. When done, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in chopped white chocolate and blend until chocolate has melted and mixture is well combined. Let cool.
2. Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Pour into prepared spring-form pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Place in freezer for a few hours or until mousse is frozen solid.
3. When stout cake is completely cooled, remove frozen mousse from freezer and run a knife around the top edge so it will release easily. Remove spring-form collar. Turn frozen mousse out onto the top of the stout cake. Refrigerate until ready to frost.

Let the Frosting Begin!

1. Combine butter, confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons cocoa in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low until just combined, and then add chocolate stout. Beat until light and fluffy. Frosting should be a pale chocolate color.
2. Remove 1/3 portion of frosting from the bowl and coat the top of the cake. Beat additional 1/4 cup of cocoa into the remaining frosting until a consistent dark cocoa color is achieved. Beat in milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time if mixture is too thick to spread or pipe.
3. Transfer half the chocolate icing to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Frost the sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.
4. Keep cake refrigerated. Serve slices cold or at room temperature.

Lucky Spinach Quiche

So. Obviously Immaculate Baking is all about natural, wholesome, non-GMO ingredients. And our fans constantly remind us of that especially when we share recipes that uses food coloring. I think it’s important to point out that there are natural food coloring, but I know, they can be ridiculously expensive. So what could The Queen possibly make in celebration of St. Patty’s Day that will stand out in a sea of recipes with neon green food coloring?

That’s when I found this awesome Lucky Spinach Quiche recipe!

So full disclosure: I am only just realizing that I have placed the “clover petals” completely backwards (no wonder they looked kind of weird)… but regardless, it’s still a delicious appetizer, perfect for St. Patrick’s Day that does not call for a single drop of yucky green artificial stuff.

You Will Need:

• 1 Immaculate Baking Co. refrigerated pie crust
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup half-and-half (or milk or cream)
• 1/2 cup grated gruyere or cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup diced onion (white, red, or green onions)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s Get Bakin’!

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Let pie crust stand in room temperature as directed on box for about 10-15 minutes. Carefully unroll pie crust and divide into 12 squares.
2. To make clover pedals, shape a 6-cup aluminum muffin tin by pulling each cup from the center into a pointy end. Lay pie crust squares into each cup. Shape the pie crust along the cups, using a fork to press along the top edge of each crust
3. Mix the cream cheese with the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Then add the rest of the ingredients: spinach, gruyere, parmesan, and onions.
4. Divide mixture into each muffin cup. Place the aluminum tins on a baking sheet and bake the quiches for about 20 minutes. Cool for a few minutes.
5. Carefully remove the quiches from the aluminum tins, line the baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the quiches on the lined sheet. Place the quiches back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the crust sides crisp up a bit. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.

Chocolate Hazelnut Braid Bread

I figured it was about time that I graduated from baking mix and refrigerated dough baking to some hard core scratch baking where yeast and rising dough would be involved. I went recipe shopping on line and quickly came across one that caught my eye right away! What better recipe to start than one that uses A LOT of chocolate hazelnut spread! Whatever happens, at least it’ll taste good.

I will say that I think the yeast packets that I bought were duds. Because it took forever and the yeast just won’t activate!! Had it actually work properly, the braid bread would’ve risen more and been fluffier. But hey, it’s chocolate hazelnut spread on bread. It was still every bit as delicious as you would expect!

What You Will Need:

• 2 ½ cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic All-Purpose Flour
• ½ teaspoon yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ cup your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread
• 1 egg, beaten with a tablespoon of water to use as an egg wash

Let’s Get Baking!

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in ¼ cup of the water. Let sit for 10 minutes to activate.
2. Meanwhile, combine flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. After add yeast and the remaining water, mix on low with a dough hook attachment. Turn speed up to medium, and knead dough for about 7 minutes.
3. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap, and then set in a warm place. The dough is ready when doubled in size – about an hour.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to form a rectangle, roughly 12 x 15”. Spread chocolate hazelnut spread in an even layer on the surface, leaving a ½ inch border of dough.  Roll tightly and place on a parchment-lined / silicon-lined baking sheet that’s been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cut the dough down the middle with a knife, leaving one end intact. Twist ends overtop each other, making sure to turn cut side toward the top. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let sit 20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush surface of the bread with the egg wash. Bake bread for 20 minutes. Raise temperature to 425°F and bake until lightly browned on top, about 5-7 minutes more.* Remove from oven, and let cool before serving.

Sausage & Pepper Egg Bake

I’m not sure how it all started, but apparently people think Easter, and they automatically think brunch, too. Now when I think about Easter brunch house parties, I instantly think egg bakes! And we’ve got a immaculately simple egg bake recipe filled with yummy goodness to share!

What You’ll Need:

• 1 can Immaculate Baking Co. refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 1 pound of chorizo sausage
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup green bell peppers
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk

Here’s How to Get the Dough Rolling:

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Add the sausage to a medium skillet on medium high heat. Cook until no longer pink in the middle. Add in the green bell peppers.
3. Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces and place in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Add the sausage and peppers to the pan, on top of the uncooked biscuits. Sprinkle cheese on top of that.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, and milk. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the baking dish.
5. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean in the middle of the dish.

Butterscotch Cake Mix Cookies

I’ve previously shared a cake mix cookie recipe using our Chocolate Cake Mix, so naturally, it’s only fair to do another cake mix cookie recipe using our yellow cake mix. And I gotta say, I actually enjoyed this one a lot more, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am a butterscotch chip junkie. Okay. So it might have a little to do with this.

And it really doesn’t get any easier than simply mixing all of the ingredients together and plopping them in dough balls on to the baking sheet! And boy, are these addictive! Just know that you’ve been warned already

You Will Need:

• 1 box Immaculate Baking Co. Yellow Cake Scratch Baking Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1⁄2 cup butter, melted
• 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

Here’s How to Get Your Mix On:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Combine all ingredients, folding in the butterscotch chips and walnuts last
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls on ungreased non-stick cookie sheet.
4. Bake for approx. 14-16 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store covered, and feel free to microwave it for 20 seconds if you prefer your cookies soft and chewy!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

February is more than half way done, and yet the temperature shows no sign of “springing” back up (see what we did there?), but have instead taken a nose dive, plunging us back into the arctic cold, at least for those of who have the great pleasure of residing in the Midwest and on the East Coast…

But fear not, because the best way to stay warm in times like these is to turn on your oven! And The Queen is rising to the occasion (and again, see what we did there?) with a few immaculatey easy scratch baking recipes that will make everyone’s tummies warm and happy!

Now you can never go wrong with Chocolate Banana Muffins, especially with Easter right around the corner, these yummy treats are a sure way to impress and delight!

You Will Need:

• 1-2/3 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic All Purpose Flour
• 2 medium bananas (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup  milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips (bittersweet or semisweet)

Let’s Get Bakin’!

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F . In a large mixing bowl, mash the banana until only small lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg and whisk the mixture together until completely combined. Add the oil and milk and stir to combine. Add the sugars and stir again.
2. Stir in the salt and baking soda, then gently fold in the flour, until just combined.
3. Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake for 15-17 minutes,or until the muffin tops look set. Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes.

Rosemary Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake

I have an obsession for lemon yogurt.

So when one of my friends started texting me about her plans to make a lemon yogurt poppy seed pound cake, I decided that I wanted one, too.

I didn’t want to worry about hunting down poppy seeds (which I’m sure isn’t that hard if I made an effort), so instead, I decided to add a pinch of rosemary. I mean the whole point of making this, was to give me a legit excuse to buy my favorite lemon yogurt on the company’s dime

 You Will Need:

1 1⁄2 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic All-Purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain yogurt (We used Noosa Lemon Yogurt just ‘cuz!)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated (zest of 2 lemons)
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice
Pinch of rosemary

For the glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Here’s How to Get Bakin’:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.
5. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
7. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to soak.

Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake

It was brought to my attention that apparently “dump cakes” are on trend these days.

I had no idea what a dump cake was but I intended to find out. And as it turned out, it’s as easy as cake-making can possibly get! I thought I’d start with a beginner-level 3-ingredient recipe, which as it turns out, was unbelievably easy! There are no measuring cups or mixing bowls involved, which means drastically reducing the number of dishes to overfill your sink or dishwasher! No muss, no fuss is what dump cakes are all about!

And not kidding, all you need ARE in fact THREE ingredients: Immaculate Baking Chocolate Cake Scratch Baking Mix, your choice of pie filling (I picked cherry only because it pairs so well with chocolate, and seems like a winning combo for Valentine’s Day) and butter. Now honestly, how could anything that’s made with these three glorious ingredients NOT taste good?

Preheat your oven to 350°F. You don’t even have to grease your 13″x 9″ pan, just pop open your 2 cans of pie filling and dump them in evenly. Now I’ve pretty much stayed away from pie filling ever since I started baking, so you are always welcome to make your own fruit compote from scratch! Just know that the beauty of dump cake is supposed to make things easy for you!

And the dumping continues! Next step is the box of unprepared cake mix. Don’t even have to worry about any of the other ingredients as listed on the box. All you need is the mix! Okay, so I’m obviously biased, but I’d say that this is a true testament to how good the cake mix is! Because there aren’t really any extra ingredients that the cake mix can hide behind and muddle its way through. The mix has got to be good and stand on its own for this dump cake to taste fabulous. And I’m so proud to tell you that oh yeah, Immaculate Baking has got the right mix!

Finally, here’s where things get interesting. Butter makes everything taste better, and we certainly need this little ingredient to bring everything together. I used 1 stick of butter, where I cut slices of butter over the surface, spreading them out as evenly as I could. It gave the end result a nice crunchy layer, almost like a brownie. I have seen other recipes call for melted butter to drizzle over, too. Now pop the whole thing in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, and voila, your cake is ready to wow and delight!

Who knew something with so few ingredients could taste this flavorful? And now it’s your turn to the dumping, but The Queen’s hoping that this is all the dumping anyone will be doing leading up to Valentine’s Day