This is a pie like none I have made before: like a gigantic chewy oatmeal cookie with a spiced crust, embodied with a refreshing zing of whiskey.
This Honey Oat Pie in a Cinnamon Pie Crust will blow your mind in the best of ways. Texture wise, it is moist and chewy without being soggy (be sure to use old-fashioned/rolled oats!).
Flavor-wise, you taste the toasted oats, a wonderful mix of warm spices, and the freshness of the whiskey. There’s only a tablespoon and a half in there but the flavor of the whiskey still comes through.
I used Jameson Irish Whiskey, in keeping with the origins of the original version of the recipe: the July/August issue of Bake from Scratch Magazine, my favorite food magazine these days.
I imagine you can omit the whiskey from the recipe without it being detrimental to the taste or texture, but I haven’t tried that myself.
This is a great pie to have for breakfast (the alcohol’s effect burns off in baking), or snack, or dessert.
This basic pie crust comes together quickly and would complement many sweet pie recipes. Mix up, chill the dough for at least an hour (or freeze for much later), and you can form the crust and go from there! This makes enough dough for ONE pie shell. Modified from Bake from Scratch Ireland Issue July/August 2020.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pie
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
food processor
pie plate
plastic wrap
Ingredients
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour
1 1/2Tablespoonswhite sugar
1teaspoonkosher salt
1 1/2teaspoonsground cinnamon
1/2cupunsalted butter 1 stick, cold, cut into chunks
3Tablespoonsice water plus more if needed
Instructions
In a large food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces. Pulse until they are almond-sized, then add the ice water. Pulse until mixture can form a ball, adding a touch more water if needed to make it cohesive.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead to shape into a disk. Tightly encase in plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for at least an hour, or up to a few days. Dough can also be frozen for up to two months.
This rich and chewy nut-free pie is like an oversize oatmeal cookie with a pleasant zing of whiskey. That’s right, whiskey. Modified from Bake from Scratch Ireland Issue July/August 2020.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American, irish
Keyword: alcohol, oats, pie
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
pie plate
parchment paper
pie weights
Ingredients
single-layer pie crust
1 1/3cupsold-fashioned oatsalso called rolled oats
2/3cupbrown sugar packed
1 1/4teaspoonskosher salt
1/4teaspoonground ginger
1/8teaspoonground nutmeg
1/2cuplight corn syrup
6Tablespoonsunsalted butter melted
1/3cuphoney
1 1/2TablespoonsIrish whiskey such as Jameson
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
4large eggs room temperature
Instructions
Preheat oven at 400-degrees
Prepare pie crust
Let pie dough soften at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough to a 12-inch circle and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Press into plate to shape, crimping edges as desired. Freeze crust until firm, about 15 minutes.
Drape a large piece of parchment paper over pie crust. Fill to the top with pie weights.
Bake crust until edges are turning golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully remove weights and parchment paper.
Bake crust an additional 10 minutes to set. Cover the edges with foil if it is getting brown too quickly. Set aside on rack to cool while the filling is assembled.
Prepare filling
Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees.
Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. Place oats in pan.
Bake them until they are lightly toasted, about 10 minutes, giving them a stir or two during. Set them aside to cool.
Lower oven temperature again, this time to 325-degrees. Move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven.
In a big bowl, mix together the brown sugar, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the corn syrup, melted butter, honey, whiskey and vanilla, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition, and end by incorporating the oats until they are coated. Pour everything into the parbaked crust.
Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 40 minutes. Check on the pie about halfway and cover the edges the foil if they are getting too brown. The done pie will register at 200-degrees if checked with an instant thermometer.
Let pie cool completely on rack before slicing in. Store covered by foil in the fridge or at room temperature. Keeps for several days.
Posted by Beth on Mar 10, 2021 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Irish Cheddar Soda Bread
If you know me at all, you know I love cheese. One of my forever favorites is Kerrygold Dubliner, which I can buy in bulk at Costco almost all the time. That makes the use of a hefty amount of Dubliner all the more affordable in this amazing Irish Cheddar Soda Bread.
Of course, you can use another kind of Irish cheddar, or cheddar from anywhere in the world. Whatever you use will be delicious and amazing in this bread.
This recipe is the first in a series of re-worked recipes from a fantastic issue of Bake from Scratch Magazine last year. The July/August issue was all about Ireland, with loads of Irish recipes, and I had a blast baking my way through and making my own versions of deliciousness.
(Truly, if you love to bake, I highly recommend Bake from Scratch. I get a lot of food magazines, and it is my favorite. I find several things I want to make in each issue, which I can’t say about any of my other subscriptions.)
This bread is perfect along with a roast or soup or stew, or all by itself with a generous pat of butter (Kerrygold being best, of course).
You might think I’m getting paid to endorse this Kerrygold stuff and Bake from Scratch. I wish! No, I’m just a total fan.
If you love bread and cheese, oh wow, is this the recipe for you. Use a good Irish cheese like Kerrygold Dubliner, and to really make it amazing, Kerrygold butter as well. Modified from Bake from Scratch Magazine July/August 2020.
Course: Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine: irish
Keyword: cheese, quick bread
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
parchment paper
instant thermometer
Ingredients
3 2/3cupall-purpose flour
1 1/2teaspoonskosher salt
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1cupIrish aged white cheddar cheese(113 grams) coarsely grated, divided
2teaspoonsdried parsley or other herbs
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
2cupsbuttermilk or substitute soured milk, see note
Instructions
Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add about 2/3 cup of cheese, herbs, and pepper. Form a well in the middle and add the buttermilk. Use a hand to mix everything, kneading and clawing everything together; note that the dough will be very sticky and clumpy.
Once it can be patted into a round, transfer it to the parchment paper. Reshape a bit if needed. Dip a knife in some flour, and slash an inch-deep X broadly across the top of the round; this is to release steam and, according to folklore, evil fairies. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of cheese on top.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400-degrees. If the round is already looking quite brown, carefully cup some foil over the top.
Bake for another 20 minutes. The bread is done when it is browned and registers 200-degrees or more on a digital thermometer. If the bottom is tapped, it should sound hollow.
Let cool for about 30 minutes before cutting in. Bread is best served warm; easily reheat slices in the oven later. Pieces can also be frozen.
OM NOM NOM!
Notes
To substitute soured milk, place a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in a large liquid measuring cup, then add milk to the 2 cup point. Let sit for 10 minutes to coagulate, then add to the dough.
Posted by Beth on Mar 3, 2021 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Cinnamon-Coffee Cookies
These Cinnamon-Coffee Cookies do it all. They are warmly-spiced with a coffee-forward flavor.
Plus, they are soft and chewy, which really is how I prefer cookies to be. Crunchy cookies are good, too, but cookies like this? Oh yeah.
My husband’s work lives on coffee. Needless to say, they adored these cookies–with coffee. Bring on the caffeine in all forms, right?
The ingredient list for this looks long, but that’s because it has lots of spices. It really comes together pretty fast. If you want to speed things along at baking time, mix together the dry ingredients the day before.
These cookies will brighten your day. Have them for breakfast. Or a dessert. Or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. The baked-in espresso (plus that sugar) will do a lot to brighten your day!
These Cinnamon-Coffee Cookies soft and chewy, and loaded with a warm mix of spices, along with a pleasant jolt of caffeine. This makes about 28 cookies using a tablespoon scoop.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coffee, cookies
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
tablespoon scoop
Ingredients
Dough
2teaspoonsespresso powder
1Tablespoonhot water
1/2cupunsalted butter 1 cube, room temperature
1/2cupshortening
3/4cupwhite sugar
3/4cupbrown sugar packed
2teaspoonsground cinnamon
1teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoonground nutmeg
1/4teaspoonbaking soda
1/4teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonground cloves
2eggs room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
2 1/4cupsall-purpose flour
Topping
1/2cupturbinado sugar or other raw, coarse sugar
1 1/2teaspoonground cinnamon
Instructions
In a small bowl, stir the espresso powder into the hot water until it is dissolved. Set aside.
In a big bowl, beat together the butter and shortening. Add both sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Follow up with the eggs, vanilla, and liquid espresso. Beat in the flour until just incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours; otherwise, the dough will be very sticky and hard to work with.
Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients.
Use a tablespoon scoop to form dough into an round ball. Roll in cinnamon-sugar. Place rounds spaced-out on cookie sheet, flattening each to a fat disc.
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet another 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Completely cool, then place in a sealed container at room temperature.
Today’s Bready or Not is a 2-for-1 deal: a recipe for fast and easy pizza dough, followed by the process I use for divvying up that dough to make small but thick cast iron pan pizzas.
The basic dough recipe is modified from the great book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. [Affiliate link] Yes, this dough really comes together in 5 minutes. It also keeps for up to 2 weeks AND can be frozen.
The method for making mini pizzas in a skillet is one I practiced a few times several years ago, then made a LOT during 2020 as my husband was working from home more often. I perfected it to the point where I had to write it down–and share here.
The pan pizza recipe is pretty much an outline to show the timing on the shaping, rise, and crust-cooking, but the ingredients are all up to you!
This makes enough pizza dough for a large pizza or 3 10-inch ‘pan’ style pizza. The dough is ready to use after only a few hours, and will keep in the fridge for as long as two weeks. Modified from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoe Francois.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: pizza, yeast bread
Author: Beth Cato
Ingredients
1 1/3cupswarm water
2Tablespoonsolive oil
1/2Tablespoonwhite sugar
3 1/4cupsall-purpose flour
3/4Tablespoonkosher salt
2teaspoonspizza seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional
2 1/4teaspoonsactive yeast or one packet store-bought active yeast
Instructions
Place the water, olive oil, and sugar in a big mixing bowl, stand mixer, or food processor. Add the flour, salt, and seasoning, if using. Start mixing together, then sprinkle in the yeast. Mix until just combined.
Keep in same bowl, if desired, or transfer to another bowl that is greased. Loosely cover top with plastic wrap or towel and let dough rise at room temperature until it flattens out on top, about two hours.
Dough can be used now but is much easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a non-airtight container and use within two weeks. Dough can also be frozen in freezer bags, for up to a month, and defrosted later in the fridge.
About a 2-pound batch of dough, such as the 5 Minute Artisan Dough recipe on Bready or Not, will make three hearty personal pan pizzas in a 10-inch cast iron pan. This process takes about 45 minutes. The remaining dough can keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: beef, cheese, pizza, pork, yeast bread
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
10-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
handful pizza dough
olive oil
desired toppings and seasonings
Instructions
Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a cast iron skillet and place the pan in the oven to heat up.
Grab a good handful of pizza dough, or as much as desired to bake today. Oil a small space of counter or table as well as hands, and gently stretch and press out the dough to a rough circle. If it tears, patch with other pieces of dough as best possible. Let dough rest for about 20 minutes.
By this time, the oven should have preheated. Use a potholder to pull out the skillet. Carefully swirl the hot oil in the pan to coat the bottom and set pan down on a safe surface. Carefully, again, place the dough in the pan.
Bake crust for 6 to 10 minutes, until it is set. Pull out of oven and add desired toppings.
Put pizza in oven for another 6 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden and toppings are cooked to desired level. Let pizza cool for about 10 minutes, then slide onto a plate or other surface to slice and eat.