Spiced Pecans Recipe

Whether you’re making these to snack on, add to salads, or gifting them as a Christmas hostess gift, these are my all time favorite spiced nut recipe. It’s my favorite winter holiday treat to make and the best part, it’s super quick and easy to make.

Ingredients (Makes 4 Cups):

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

• 1/2 (packed) golden brown sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

• 4 cups pecan halves (1x 1lb bag)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Using a silicone baking mat, spray with a little Pam.

3. In a large skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat.

4. Add brown sugar, 1/4 cup of water, salt, and the five-spice powder; stir until sugar dissolves.

5. Add nuts to sugar mixture and cook until syrup thickly coats nuts, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

6. Transfer nuts to prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Notes:

As a Hostess Gift: If you are preparing these for a hostess gift, I got these vintage looking glass jars at my local grocery store (Wegmans). It elevates the gift and presentation just slightly.

Snack & Salad Option: I love these as a snack; but a great combo is on salads. My go-to is a spinach salad with these spiced pecans, cucumber, apple, crumbled goat cheese, cranberries, and croutons.

Alterations: Sub pecans for walnuts or almonds if you’d like!

Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe

There’s something about a fresh flaky buttery cranberry orange scone in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. Maybe because it reminds me most of my barista days in college at Starbucks when I was first introduced to this flavor combo.

Recently I’ve been trying to make recipes that are easy and quick to grab, now that I have a newborn. This recipe is both fast and hearty, mixed with a comforting feeling.

This recipe makes 8 scones and is great for when you’re strapped for time or looking for a cozy winter pastry to start your mornings.

Ingredients (Makes 8 Scones):

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• Zest of 1 orange

• 1 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing

• 1 large egg

• Turbinado sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and work with your fingers onto pea sized crumbles, then toss in the dried cranberries and add the zest of 1 orange.

3. Add the heavy cream and eggs, then work into a dough. Transfer to a floured work surface and roll 1 inch thick. Smooth edges and slice into 8 wedges.

4. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan, then brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

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Babka Buns Recipe

Babka is like a delicious expensive treat, usually costing about $16 a loaf in NYC. I’ve usually had these at event but haven’t taken out a second mortgage to purchase a loaf myself. When the quarantine baking craving hit I found the recipe from Let’s Eat Y’all’s Instagram account and modified slightly.

These were about a 2 day process to make the dough, buns, and the key is to refrigerate overnight and bake the next day. All-in-all one of my favorite bakes this year; both sweet and pretty (very Instagram worthy). Recipes below to make your own babka buns at home. Also the play-by-play below on creating the swirly buns.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1/2 Cup of Whole Milk

• 1/2 Cup of Buttermilk

• 4tbsp Butter, Melted

• 4 Cups Bread Flour

• 1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar

• 4 Tsp Active Dry Yeast

• 1 Egg

• 1/2 tbsp Salt

Filling:

• 6 Tbsp Butter, Softened

• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

• 5 Tsp Cinnamon

• 1/2 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate, Roughly Chopped

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Instructions:

Dough:

• Warm milk, buttermilk, and butter until it’s lukewarm to the touch.

• Place flour, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and mix together.

• To the dry ingredients; add milk and the butter mixture, egg, and salt. Mix together in the bowl until the dough begins to come together.

• Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and kneed until the dough is smooth and springs back when poked.

• Form the dough into a ball and place it onto an oiled bowl lightly cover with a tea towel.

• Place bowl in a warm place and let it rise until doubled in Size (usually around 2 hours.)

• Tip: To speed this last step up, you can also heat your oven to 200 degrees for 5 minutes then turn it off and then place your cover dough into the warm oven to let it rise faster.

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Filing:

• While the dough is doubling in size, make the filling

• Combine softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon into a small bowl, mix until well combined.

• Roughly chop the semi-sweet chocolate (bars or chips) and set aside. Should be no larger than a corn kernel.

  • DO NOT mix them in with the butter mixture.

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Assembly:

• Once the dough has doubled in size, cut it into 8 equal pieces.

• Take one of the pieces and shape it into a rectangular shape.

• Spread 1/8 of the cinnamon butter filling on to the dough. Then sprinkle 1/8 of the chopped chocolate on top.

• Roll the rectangle up like a jellyroll starting from the log side so it forms a log.

• Cut the log in half lengthwise.

• Begin to cross the two halves over each other until the entirety of the log is twirled together.

• From one end, begin to roll it up into a circular shape until it forms a bun.

• Tuck the end in underneath the roll.

• Transfer the buns to a prepared baking sheet and cover.

• Leave them to rest overnight in the fridge.

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Baking:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees

• Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before baking

• Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges, rotating the tray halfway to ensure even browning

• Remove from oven, let cool for 10-15 minutes, enjoy!

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Assembly to form the buns (in photos)

Roll out to rectangle size. Then brush a layer of the cinnamon butter mixer (I used a silicone spatula) . Then sprinkle some chopped chocolate over.

Roll the rectangle up like a jellyroll starting from the log side so it forms a log.

Slice down the middle with a sharp knife

Begin to cross the two halves over each other until the entirety of the log is twirled together.

From one end, begin to roll it up into a circular shape until it forms a bun.

Tuck the end in underneath the roll.

Transfer the buns to a prepared baking sheet and cover.

Leave them to rest overnight in the fridge.