Light creamy orange in color and taste. Good with sweet orange glaze on top, or broken open and smothered in jam.

ORANGE DROP SCONES

Scones:

3 oz. unsalted butter

2.5 oz. granulated sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Egg yolk

12 oz. flour

3/4 oz. baking powder

Optional add-ins: pecans, chocolate chips, dried cranberries

Glaze:

1/2-3/4 cup powdered sugar

Juice from one tangerine (a couple of tablespoons of juice)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer with paddle attachment until light and creamy. Scrape and add zest, extract, and egg yolk. Gently mix for a couple of seconds. Add dry ingredients alternating with milk being careful not to overmix. Add in your optional add-ins at this point…right when the batter looks just about mixed. Use an ice cream scoop to drop scones onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Place into preheated oven and bake until golden brown. 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. Make the glaze if you’d like and wait until scones are cool to drizzle on top.

I can’t remember where the recipe came from, but I have been making it for a decade and it always wins.

NUTELLA FUDGE

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup Nutella

3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into manageable and meltable hunks)

coarse sea salt

Grease an 8x8 baking pan. Line with parchment saddle (this is where two ends of the parchment paper ride over two sides of the baking sheet, if you didn’t know).

Mix first 4 ingredients in a double-boiler-approved bowl. Put over a double boiler. Make sure the water is not touching said double-boiler-approved bowl. Melt over medium heat while stirring. Stir slash melt until smooth.

Turn off heat, remove bowl, and wipe the bowl bottom clear of water because water and chocolate never mix and we are not chocolate philistines. Pour mixture into the parchment saddle situation. Smooth with handmade wooden dough scraper, if you do not have a handmade wooden dough scraper, a spatula or something will do. Put into fridge. Then, lovingly check in on it like you would with a small, sleeping child or baby animal every 20 minutes. At the 3rd check in, you can sprinkle some sea salt on top. If you are very fancy and important, you will be using Himalayan pink salt. Make certain the salt is coarsely ground. Fine salt will just absorb into the fudge attempt and then this whole thing has just been pointless.

Continue to chill for 2 hours at minimum. When fully set and sparkling with coarse pink salt, pull the chocolate square from the pan using the saddle as dandy handles. Hot knife the giant square into much smaller, bite-sized fudge squares. Eat them all, pack them into ski pants, give to the neighbors, or store in an airtight container for the apocalypse.

It’s the most modular recipe I have. Use walnut or pine nut or even pecan. Use pretty much any green and get a pesto in the end.

WALNUT PESTO

1 cup toasted walnuts

2 cups tightly packed greens (arugula, kale, chard, spinach, basil…you choose)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic

salt to taste

lemon juice optional

Toast yer nuts. 300 degrees or so, flipping every now and then. Until you can smell walnut wafting.

Let walnuts cool. Gather, wash, stem and dry your greens. Add garlic cloves and some salt to Cuisinart or something like it. Add cooled walnuts. Pulse until you get a coarse meal. Add packed greens. Incorporate with nut meal. Add olive oil. Blend again. You may need to stir a little by hand to get the pesto to pull off of the sides of bowl. Taste to see if you need anymore salt. Add more oil if it seems dry. Go until really emerald. Stick in jar until ready to spread or slather on noodles.

Two things: I keep my mixer way downstairs in the basement. I am very lazy. About 10 years ago, I came across a blog called The Bojon Gourmet. The author worked as a pastry chef and has wonderful recipes. One such recipe has stayed with me for a whole decade. It’s been altered a bit (like reducing the butter and subbing almond extract for vanilla).

The thing that is great about it is that the butter is melted rather than left solid. This means that the mixing of sugar and fat can be accomplished by a spoon. Below you will find my veganized version. The thing that really suits my lazy soul with the vegan version, is that you don’t really need to fuss over how cool the melted butter is. No tempering required.

KITCHEN SINK COOKIES

6 T. melted vegan butter ( Miyoko’s and Trader Joe’s brands seem to be the best)

1 flax egg (1 T. flaxseed meal mixed in a cup with 3 T. water 5 minutes before needed)

1 t. almond extract

3/4 whole wheat flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1.5 c. oats

1 cup add-ins (dried fruit, sun drops, chocolate chips, PB chips, toffee chips, nuts, coconuts, you get it)

Mix up that flax egg because it needs to thicken up. Flax turns into a swell binder, just like its chicken egg counterpart. It takes about 5 minutes to thicken up, give it another fork stir prior to tossing in the mix. Get the butter melting on the stovetop. Keep an eye on it. Give it a few swirls. Remove from heat while you do the following:

Measure out sugar and put in a mixing bowl. Add your butter and mix with the fork you used for the flax egg. Sugar and fat need a chance to get to know one another for a couple minutes of mixing before introducing the other ingredients. Add the flax egg and the almond extract and give a couple stirs.

Add the flour, soda and oats. Fold gently with a wooden spoon. You need to be careful anytime you are making things with flax and/or whole wheat flour. Binders gonna bind and glutens gonna develop. Once it is almost incorporated, add your chosen add-ins and give final stir.

Scoop out with a vegan ice cream scoop (wink) onto parchment-lined pans and gently flatten tops of cookie balls with palm. Bake at 365 degrees until golden brown and slightly puffy ~12 minutes +/-. If you have a convection feature, crank it on for the last minute or so of baking. Once out of the oven they will flatten out again.

Do your own dishes.

A good banana bread recipe should be in every baker’s quick bread quiver. If you don’t have one, now you do.

BANANA BREAD

2 large ripe bananas

2 eggs (flax or chicken)

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter (dairy or vegan)

1/2 cup milk (dairy or vegan)

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 tablespoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup chocolate chips

If using flax egg, mix and set aside first. Next, smash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add your melted butter, brown sugar, milk and eggs (if using chicken eggs, make sure that the mixture is cool enough). Mix with wooden spoon or fork until just incorporated.

Add dry ingredients, including zest and spices, but not chocolate chips. Mix until things are just coming together. It’s important not to over mix batters with wheat flours since the gluten develops real quick. No one wants chewy bread. Keep gently folding from edge of bowl into the center while moving the bowl in circles. Add the chips by folding in this same motion.

Add to a loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and a little saddle of parchment coming over the long edges. This will make your life easier when trying to pull the good-smelling bread out because you can’t wait to just eat it.

Bonus points if you sprinkle the whole unbaked pan with cinnamon sugar prior to baking.

Bake at 365 or so for about an hour, or until tester comes out clean.

Pull out and place on cooling rack for at least a couple minutes and try to pretend that you don’t even care.

Adapted from Williams -Sonoma “Essentials of Baking”

In the middle of winter the fruit I use is either dried or frozen. These muffins are substantial and the just-right amount of sweet. Summer is not too far away…inside these little paper cups at least.

FREEZER BERRY MUFFINS

1/2 cup butter (vegan or dairy, the best vegan baking butter is Miyoko’s)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (flax or chicken)

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk (vegan or dairy)

1 to 1 1/2 cup frozen berries

Raw sugar for finishing

If using flax eggs, mix in a small cup with a fork and set aside to thicken. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy in mixer with paddle attachment. Scrape down bowl and paddle. Add eggs and mix on medium low until just incorporated. Add extract and mix briefly. Add one cup of flour and one teaspoon of baking powder and mix for a few seconds. Add half of the milk, Mix for a couple seconds. Add remaining flour and powder and mix a couple seconds. Can you guess what comes next? Add the remaining milk and briefly mix. The trick is to not overmix this batter. Too much mixing and the muffins are dense and heavy. Just enough mixing and they are light and cakey. Add your frozen fruit and fold by hand. Drop batter using ice cream scoop into paper lined cupcake tins or brioche molds if you like fancy, fluted and funneled breakfast foods. Add a pinch of raw sugar to the tops of the unbaked confections-to-be.

Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown on tops and a light spring when touched. About 15 minutes usually. But all ovens are different. If you have a convection feature crank it on during the last 3 minutes or so of baking to sort of creme brûlée that raw sugar.

Straw, huckle, elder, thimble, currant, you name the wild berry and this scone can be it.

WILD BERRY DROP SCONE

3 oz. butter (vegan or dairy)

2.5 oz. granulated sugar

Egg yolk or 1/2 T. flaxseed and 1 1/4 T. water

12 oz. flour

1.5 T. baking powder

7 oz. milk (vegan or dairy)

1/2 c. wild berries (frozen or fresh and rinsed)

Optional icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 t. milk (dairy or vegan)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If using a flax egg, prepare now by mixing flaxseed and water in a small glass and setting it aside for 5 minutes to thicken.

Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until creamy. Add the egg yolk or flax egg and blend on low until incorporated. Scrape down bowl.

Alternate dry ingredients with milk in 3 additions or so on low speed. Don’t fully blend each addition. The trick to scones (and many other pastries) is minimal work. Good for you and the gluten.

Use an ice cream scoop or two spoons to scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Light gold ridges on the tops and a firm scone is what we are looking for.

While scones are baking, mix up optional icing, if that is the option you are so choosing.

Let cool a bit and then drizzle on the optional icing. Or be sad you did not choose that option. It’s not too late.

SAGE SIMPLE SYRUP

1 c. water

1 c. sugar

A bunch of sage leaves

Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add about a dozen sage leaves and bring back to a boil for about a minute. Turn off heat and let sage steep for an hour or so. Strain leaves from mix and put in a jar to keep in fridge. Tastes great in iced tea or cocktails.

CHOCOLATE BANANA SWIRL BREAD

2 ripe bananas

2 cups flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 T. grated orange zest

2 eggs (flax or chicken)

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 T. melted butter (vegan or dairy)

1/2-3/4 cup milk (vegan or dairy)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Pre-heat oven to 365.

Mash bananas. Add eggs, sugar, melted butter and milk and mix. Add flour, powder, soda and zest and mix gently. Banana can be pesky and over-toothsome if over-mixed. Do not fully mix yet since you will be adding the chocolate to half the batter.

Split the batter roughly in half into a separate mixing bowl. Add cocoa powder and extra milk if it seems too dry. Incorporate until just mixed. There will be bumps here and there. It is banana bread.

Go back to the plain batter and finish the mix.

Lightly spray a loaf pan and then add a parchment saddle in the middle of the pan. Add the plain batter and then the chocolate batter on top. Use a butter knife or small wooden spoon to dance around in the batters and make a marbly looking mess.

Bake for an hour or so until a tester comes out clean.

Cool and then use the handy-dandy parchment flaps to lift out your confection.

A coffee cake that rides tall in the saddle. If you have a loaf pan that can accommodate a tall cake, use it. It will take longer to bake, but makes for some satisfying slices. If you do not have a tall loaf pan a normal springform or brownie pan will work.

PEAR GINGER CAKE

Cake batter:

5/8 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 c. milk

3 c. flour

3 t. baking powder

2 t. ground ginger

1 pear peeled and diced

Cinnamon sugar center:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

2 T. unsalted butter

Combine melted butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium for a minute. Add your eggs one at a time, blending after each addition.

Alternate your dry ingredients with milk blending after each addition. Scrape if it is hanging on sides of bowl.

Blend until almost smooth. Add your diced pear and fold in by hand.

Mix up the cinnamon sugar center in a small bowl with a fork or pastry blender until the butter is broken up and evenly coated with cinnamon and sugar.

Turn on oven to 350 degrees.

Add half of the batter to the prepared pan, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Add the remaining half of the batter to the pan and bake until tester comes out clean. Depending on pan, this will take 30-60 minutes.