Berry Drop Biscuits

A Blueberry Biscuit Story:

It started out with a craving. I saw a pic of some blueberry biscuits on Pinterest. And well I have been thinking of blueberry biscuits ever since. I have pinned a few of those recipes. But they just were not what I was looking for.

I decided to go back to the roots of this blog as I developed this recipe. Many of the original recipes on this blog were my attempts to use my pantry and food storage to make delicious food.

I decided to see what I could find in my food storage to make this happen. Instead of buying fresh or frozen blueberries, which are expensive right now, I decided to use some homemade blackberry jam (made this summer from my very own blackberries) and some of Trader Joe's freeze dried blueberries. They have these relatively inexpensive packs of freeze dried blueberries that hold about a half a cup of blueberries. I have been stocking up on these things.

I was in a hurry to get food on the table Saturday night after running a big event all day. I needed simple and fast. I decided to use Bisquick instead of opting for scratch. At least one box of Bisquick should be in every pantry for quick cooking solutions. I also like it because it has no butter or milk like some mixes and we have to do a lot of lactose free baking in our house.

I substituted coconut milk for the milk in this recipe for my lactose free eating girl. I prefer coconut milk (the kind in a carton, not a can) over soy milk for baking because of taste issues. You can use regular milk in this recipe.

I loved these easy and fruity biscuits. They were on the table in 15 minutes. And we ate All of them -- more than a dozen.

Berry Biscuits.

2 1/4 cups of Bisquick
2/3 Cup coconut or regular milk
1/4 cup freeze dried or fresh blueberries
2 TB of blackberry jam

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Stir Bisquick and milk until well combined. Fold in blueberries and blackberry jam.

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until top starts to get golden.

Triple Berry Muffins

I had the most prolific boysenberry and blackberry bushes this year. We made jam, syrup, pies, sorbet and we ate a ton of berries right off the bush. It was my garden's crowning achievement this year. 

But we are finally winding down. And I am not pulling these jeweled babies off by the bowl full anymore. So it was time for some muffins. A nice surprise for my kiddos (I never make breakfast in the morning.) I also had some raspberries from the roadside fruit stand. I wanted something with a little lemon twist and so I googled blackberry muffins and found this tasty recipe from Southern With A Twist. 

I made a few twists of my own. I wanted three berries in my muffins and I needed them lactose free (for the lactose intolerant kiddo). So we changed out the milk and margarine. We have discovered that muffins and cookies are often the culprit of her flare ups when we eat out or travel.

• MUFFINS:
• 1-1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c soy milk
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 1/2 c fresh blackberries, boysenberries and raspberries.
• 
  
• TOPPING:
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/3 c all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c butter, room temp (I used a lactose free margarine)
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 8 muffin cups or line with muffin liners and set aside.
2. Combine flour, sugar, salt, lemon zest and baking powder in a medium bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine vegetable oil, egg and milk, and mix with a fork. Add lemon juice. Pour into the flour mixture and mix well. Fold in blackberries. Mixture will be quite sticky, so use caution not to mash the berries when folding in. Fill muffin cups to the top.
4. To make crumb topping, mix together sugar, flour and butter (margarine). Mix with fork and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pineapple Grape Bruschetta

Pantry Recipe:

I love the word bruschetta. Mostly because it means some sweet or savory or spicy mixture all served up on a bite size piece of toast. I am especially enamored with fruit bruschetta lately. I dreamed up this recipe because 1. I just bought a case of canned pineapple (my family goes through that stuff) and 2. it just sounded so perfect for spring and Easter. I love that this fresh tasting bruschetta can rely on a pantry staple like canned pineapple.

This recipe makes good use of a stale baguette or any baguette bread and one of my favorite spice mixes: Cinnamon and Sugar. I always keep a jar of half cinnamon and half sugar mixed together on hand for those cinnamon sugar moments and this is one of them.

I really think these will be lovely on a platter for your Easter celebration for breakfast, brunch or dinner. 

Pineapple Grape Bruschetta.

1 can of pineapple in 100 % pineapple juice

1 cup of grapes sliced in 1/2

4 oz of vanilla yogurt. ( I used a Greek vanilla honey yogurt)

1 tsp of honey (you don't need this if your yogurt is honey flavored)

About 20 slices of baugette bread sliced 1 inch thick

About 1 tsp Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Butter baguettes and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place on a cookie sheet and place in oven until lightly golden.

Remove and set aside. You can leave these without topping until about 10 minutes before ready to serve to keep bread crisp.

Combine yogurt and honey.

Chop pineapples and add to sliced grapes. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon sugar. 

Top prepared toasts with a tsp of yogurt and then about a TB of fruit mixture. 

Serve.

100 % Food Storage Buttermilk Cornbread

A while ago I bought powdered eggs and powdered margarine. Today I put them to good use. I made sweet moist cornbread and everything I used was from my pantry and food storage except for the water. And no I did not use one of those gross premixed grocery cornbread mixes. Those always turn out flat and tasteless. This was completely from scratch.

Even the hubby was a little shocked that the cornbread was straight from the pantry. The kids went back for thirds and I went back for seconds. All I can say is operation make cornbread from only nonperishable food storage items was a success.

I am actually really excited about trying the dehydrated margarine and eggs in all kinds of baking now. I suggest you get them. I also suggest you stock up on dehydrated buttermilk powder. I love this stuff. I never have buttermilk on hand and I love that I can add water to buttermilk powder and have instant buttermilk.

The Recipe
1/2 Cup Margarine Powder
Scant 1/2 Cup Sugar
2 TB of Buttermilk powder
5 TB whole egg powder
1 Cup flour
1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
1 TB Baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1 1/2 Cups water plus 5 TB water


Mix all ingredients together in mixer. Pour into greased 8" square pan and bake at 375 degrees f. for about 30 minutes

Substitutions. If you want to make this with regular eggs -- substitute 2 eggs for egg powder and do not add 5 TB water.

Use real buttermilk. Add 1 cup buttermilk. Reduce water by 1 cup.