This post is sponsored by While Lily.

True story: I love biscuits. I love making them. I love eating them. I have been making them for a while. But Curtis' notion of biscuits is that they are dry. He would just say they are okay.

So it was a quest for me to make a nice and fluffy and non-dry biscuit. The key is really good flour, I love the self-rising flour that White Lily makes. It's so light and it's perfect for biscuits!

The other keys are butter and buttermilk. And Linda from the test kitchens at White Lily told me that I needed more buttermilk than I was using.

The first thing I do is cut the butter into cubes…and then put the butter back into the refrigerator. Then, I turn on the oven and put my cast iron skillet into the oven to heat up.

Prep the cheese and the scallions.

Measure the flour (I use this technique to measure flour).

Using forks or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour.

That looks perfect.

Then, mix in the cheddar cheese and green onions.

Perfectly mixed.

Add buttermilk.

And you'll have a dough.

Place it on a floured surface. Then, knead it.

Flatten it out.

And use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds.

Add melted butter to the cast iron skillet.

And add the cut out biscuits.

Brush the tops with melted butter.

Amazing, right?

After they come out of the oven, they are just perfection.

See how the bottoms are crispy?

And the insides of the biscuit is soft and fluffy…and NOT dry. They are so buttery and the salt on top, makes them perfect!

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Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 10 to 12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups White Lily® Enriched Bleached Self-Rising Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes (cold)
• 2/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese cold
• 2 green onions sliced thin
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
• 4 Tablespoons salted butter melted, divided
• flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions

• Heat oven to 425°F. Add seasoned cast iron skillet to the oven while it’s heating up.
• Prep the butter, cut into cubes. Grate the cheese. Add both back to the refrigerator.
• Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or 2 forks until crumbs are the size of peas.
• Add cheddar cheese and sliced green onions. (Reserve some cheese and green onions for the tops of the biscuits, if desired).
• Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork just until flour is moistened.
• Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 5 to 6 times. Pat the dough until it’s about 3/4- to 1-inch thick. Cut out 2 1/4 inch biscuits with a cutter. Pat the dough together and flatten out again and cut biscuits until there’s no dough left, about 10 to 11 biscuits.
• Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Remove cast iron carefully from the oven and add about 1 tablespoon of melted butter, tilting the pan to distribute the butter.
• Add 5 to 6 biscuits evenly spaced and brush melted butter on top of the biscuits. Bake for about 8 to 9 minutes. Remove the cast iron skillet, brush more butter on top and add flaked sea salt. Bake for another 2 to 4 minutes. (You can bake them all at once if you can fit them in the cast iron skillet, just know that they won’t maintain their round shape. If you’re okay with that, they will course taste the same!)

Notes:

• If not using a cast iron skillet, bake them about 1/2 inch apart on a foiled lined baking sheet for the same amount of time. You can freeze them too! Just reheat in the oven and enjoy!

If you bake all of the biscuits at once, this is how they look. They aren't perfectly round but they are still perfectly delicious.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by White Lily. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that I work with, it allows me to keep doing what I love; sharing on The Little Kitchen.

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It's the holidays! It's our favorite of the year, especially Curtis'. He loves when the weather gets a little cooler and really enjoys all of the holiday decorations. In fact, he's the one who puts up our Christmas tree. We have an artificial tree and it's a process…all the branches have to be fluffed and be just right. I love how much he loves the holiday season- it makes me even more excited for it!

I'm excited to be working Hidden Valley Ranch and Glad, both companies make great products. This recipe is a recipe I have been wanting to make and share with you for a while. It's inspired by a dip I like to order at my favorite Tex Mex restaurant. It's creamy and a little bit spicy, perfect for any holiday get together with friends and family. I will definitely be making this for our holiday get together with friends this year!

I used the Original Ranch Hidden Valley Dips Mix for this recipe. I bought the mix along with everything I needed at Walmart.

Add the buttermilk and mayo to your blender first and then add the tomatillo salsa, pickled jalapenos, juice from the jar of jalapenos and the cilantro.

I added a lot of cilantro this time because I love it. The dip is a little bit more green than usual because of that. So the amount of cilantro you want to add is up to you!

Then, add the Hidden Valley Ranch Dips Mix (just one packet is all you need) and then blend.

What's lovely about this recipe is it only takes a few minutes to put together!

When I'm entertaining and throughout the year honestly, I make sure I have plenty of Glad containers- so guest can take home leftovers! These ones are deep dish size and are perfect for storing leftovers or sending leftovers home with guests.

If you like a little kick- you'll love this recipe. It's great to dip tortilla chips and veggies and is perfect for your next holiday party and even better it takes minutes to put together!

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Spicy Jalapeno Ranch Dip Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup tomatillo salsa
• 1/3 cup pickled jalapeño slices from a jar
• 3 teaspoons jalapeño juice from a jar
• 1 to 2 Tablespoons cilantro washed
• 1 1-ounce packet Hidden Valley Dips Mix, Original Ranch

Instructions

• Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until well blended. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving with chips and vegetables.

PS You can get the red mixing bowl that I used for the chips and the footed bowl at Walmart too! They are from my friend, Ree's (The Pioneer Woman) new collection!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Glad & Hidden Valley Ranch. The opinions and text are all mine. There are affiliate links in this post.

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It's funny because I wouldn't say that I'm pumpkin-obsessed at all but when I saw my friend, Gina, on QVC promoting her new cookbook: The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor and one of the recipes they tasted and talked about were these scones. I knew what I wanted to make.

And guess what? I love love love them! They are light and fluffy and packed full of flavor. I was telling friends last night, if you don't love pumpkin you'll still love these scones and if you love pumpkin, you'll love these scones. Hope that makes sense!

Gina has a wonderful blog called Skinnytaste — same name as her cookbook. She cooks amazing food that tastes great but low on calories. I love that she refuses to sacrifice flavor for being healthy. I met Gina several times through blogging but didn't get to spend much time with her until a brand trip several years ago. She is a ray of light, so positive, so genuine and so friendly and open. I just can't say enough about her, I love her to pieces. I'm so thankful to be able to call her a friend and I'm so proud of her, her blog and her cookbook. She worked so hard and it shows.

Her cookbook completely is gorgeous (photographed by Penny De Los Santos) and the recipes are so creative and accessible. There's so much that I want to make including Noodle-less Zucchini Lasagna. I LOVE zucchini…it's just genius!

By the way, I'm also giving away a copy of the Skinnytaste Cookbook!

Back to these scones. The vanilla bean glaze…seriously.

Can you believe this is the first time I cut into a vanilla bean? It's mesmerizing…like caviar for bakers.

These scones are incredibly easy to put together.

Using a whisk, mix all of the wet ingredients except the butter.

Whisk the dry ingredients.

I cut in the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender.

It should look like this.

Now, mix in the wet ingredients and you have your dough.

Knead it a few times.

Shape into a 9-inch circle.

I put it on parchment paper on a baking sheet and then cut the wedges. Bake just like this.

Make your glaze…umm I think I could have drank the glaze.

Scones! So light, fluffy, creamy and pumpkiny but not too pumpkiny. They are just perfect. I might be snacking on one right now. These are so hard to share.

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Pumpkin Obsessed Vanilla-Glazed Scones Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 41 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Scones

• cooking spray or oil mister
• 1/2 cup cold low fat 1% buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 Tablespoons canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 Tablespoons very cold butter cut into small pieces

Glaze

• 2 Tablespoons cold fat-free milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar sifted

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with oil.
• For the scones. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree and brown sugar. Using the tip of a sharp knife, cut along the length of the vanilla bean to split it open. Scrape half of the seeds into the bowl and whisk well; reserve the remaining seeds for the glaze.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk mixture and stir until just moist.
• Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead light four times with floured hands. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and shape into a 9-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Using a knife, cut the dough all the way through into 12 wedges.
• Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before glazing.
• For the glaze: Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining seeds from the vanilla bean and the milk. In another medium bowl add the powdered sugar. Using a spatula mix in the milk and combine well until it is mixed through and forms a thick glaze.
• Put the scones on parchment or wax paper and drizzle the vanilla glaze over the scones using a spoon. Alternatively you can dip the tops of the scones into the glaze, and then let them sit on the paper to harden.
• Serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in airtight containers for up to 2 days.

Notes

from The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor by Gina Homolka, Clarkson Potter 2014

Disclosure: I did receive a review copy from the publisher but I would have bought this cookbook anyways, actually I did buy a copy from Amazon! There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Pumpkin Obsessed Vanilla-Glazed Scones + Skinnytaste Cookbook appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have a confession to make, I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin. I feel like I'm the only one on the planet that feels this way. But honestly, I'm opening up more and more to it because I recently had pumpkin ravioli at a restaurant and fell in love. I'm going to try my hand at creating that recipe ASAP! As for these donuts…there is no pumpkin in them!

But they do use McCormick® pumpkin pie spice! I love spice cakes so these are pretty much like them but in a mini donut version instead.

I love these mini donut pans that I bought a couple of years ago. Spray them with baking spray before you get started.

After cutting the butter into the flour mixture, add the wet ingredients.

It will be lumpy but it will smell so good!

It's a little messy getting this batter into the mini donut pan.

And there they are. Very simple to make and full of flavor. I love the glaze…the contrast of vanilla extract and brown butter! I need to find other stuff to put this glaze on!

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Mini Buttermilk Pumpkin Pie Spice Donuts with Brown Butter Vanilla Glaze Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 30 mini donuts

Ingredients

• baking spray
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 3 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Brown Butter Vanilla Glaze

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter browned
• 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup milk

Instructions

• Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray mini donut pan with nonstick baking spray. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice and mix together with a whisk. Add butter and using a fork or pastry cutter, cut butter into the flour mixture until there are pea sizes of butter mixed in with the flour. Add sugar and mix with a rubber spatula. Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract and carefully blend with rubber spatula. Batter may be lumpy.
• Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of batter into each opening and spread using a spoon or your fingers. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cover a baking rack with parchment paper and flip donut pans onto the baking racks.

Brown Butter Vanilla Glaze

• While the donuts are baking, make the glaze. Mix glaze ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl with a fork or rubber spatula until smooth. Dip donuts in glaze while they are still warm and serve immediately.

Notes

Modified from McCormick.com

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I love working with McCormick and I'm a huge fan of the brand. All opinions are always my own. There's an affiliate link in this post.

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I don't even know where to start, I'm so excited to share Breakfast for Dinner, a new cookbook (just released this week) by my friends, Lindsay and Taylor, with you as well as this recipe for their Chicken & Biscuit Waffles.

Let's start with the cookbook…it's gorgeous. It's very gorgeous. There are beautiful pictures of beautiful food. There are over 100 recipes that are a take from breakfast for dinner but step it up a notch.

Curtis and I helped test some recipes for Lindsay and Taylor and we made these early on…Sunny-Side-Up Burgers! To die for…they include hash browns too!

I have to make this pie soon, Mocha Ice Cream Pie with Biscotti Crust.

And these Mint Chocolate Chip Pancakes!! Lindsay actually shows you how to make them in this video.

And these, we have made these sooo many times, another recipe we helped test for them. Chicken and Biscuit Waffles. Every time I tell Curtis I'm making these for dinner, he gets giddy.

I'm totally biased because Lindsay is my best friend and my web designer but this book is beautiful and it's a must have in your cookbook library. Even if I didn't know her and Taylor, I would be drooling at all of the pictures in this book.

And my advice, make this recipe…soon! You will not regret it! The savoriness of the waffles and the perfectly simple buttermilk fried chicken and the dressing for the arugula salad is a perfect balance. This recipe is pictured on the cover of Breakfast for Dinner differently than I photographed it because the first time I made these and Curtis walked into the kitchen and saw the waffles, he said I'm making this into a sandwich and that's how he eats this dish!

PS Hop on over, I'm giving away two copies of Breakfast for Dinner!

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Chicken & Biscuit Waffles Recipe

Chicken and waffles. Chicken and biscuits. Both classic (albeit offbeat) Southern dishes. Fuse the two and you get fried chicken and biscoffles, or wiscuits, if you prefer. We love to serve this indulgent combo with a bright arugula salad.

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For Chicken

• 2 large chicken breasts about 2 pounds
• salt and pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For Biscuit Waffles

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup buttermilk

Arugula Salad with Lemon-Honey Dressing

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice from 1/2 large lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups 4 ounces arugula

Instructions

• Place each chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap; pound to an even 1/2-inch thickness, then cut in half crosswise. Season generously with salt and pepper.
• Fill a heavy with oil to a depth of 1/4-inch depth. Bring to 350ºF over medium heat. Place buttermilk in a wide, shallow bowl and all-purpose flour in another wide, shallow bowl.
• Dredge chicken in buttermilk, followed by flour, shaking off excess. Add chicken to hot oil, 2 pieces at a time, and fry for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through.
• For waffles, whisk together self-rising flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl. With a pastry cutter or knife cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until just combined and no dry flour remains.
• Preheat a belgian waffle iron per manufacturer's instructions. Scoop batter into waffle iron (or as much batter as needed to fill your specific iron model) and cook until outside is golden brown and toasted. Repeat with remaining batter. Top each waffle with a piece of fried chicken and arugula salad and serve.

Arugula Salad with Lemon-Honey Dressing

• whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and honey in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over arugula and toss to coat.

Notes

From Breakfast for Dinner by Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth, 2013 Quirkbooks

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this cookbook by Lindsay and Taylor as well as by the publisher, look for the giveaway. All opinions are always my own. There are affiliate links in this post.

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