sweet miscellany

On Wednesday evening, the low here was 38 degrees! I actually had to use my heater for the first time in several long, heat-filled months. It felt nice to put on wool socks and curl up in a nice, cozy sweater. It also made me want to have a steaming bowl of chili to eat on while watching AMC’s fear fest. I have never been much of a soup, stew, or chili person, but the colder weather brings out those cravings I suppose.

I pretty much detested chili as a kid. I’m not too sure why I had such a hatred for the state food of the place where I was born and raised, but I loathed it. The only thing I liked about chili night was when my mom would take out her cast iron skillet and make cornbread in it. Cornbread, plus the mound of grated cheddar cheese I put on my chili, got me through chili night. Now that I’m a bit older, I am beginning to warm up to chili, especially when it is made from scratch on a chilly (no pun intended) autumn evening.

This skillet spelt cornbread is wheat free, but could easily be made gluten free by subbing in another flour for the spelt flour. Also, feel free to use whatever milk you would like. If you want to omit the egg, you can use 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce in its place. I will admit that this isn’t the healthiest cornbread out there due to the entire stick of butter, but it sure beats a box of Jiffy mix.

Skillet Spelt Cornbread
If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can easily make this in an 8-inch cake pan (you don’t need to pre-heat your pan and you can melt the butter on the stove top before greasing your pan and adding it to the batter)

1 1/2 cups medium grind cornmeal
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup greek yogurt (if you don’t have yogurt, just use a total of 1 cup of milk)
1/3 cup honey
1 large free range egg
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into several pieces

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. When heated, place your 8-inch cast iron skillet in the oven for a total of 10 minutes.

While your pan is heating up, whisk together the cornmeal, spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, honey, and egg. After the skillet has been heated, carefully remove it from the oven and add the butter. Swirl it around until it is completely melted, then add about 3/4s of it to the mixture of wet ingredients. Whisk to combine the wet ingredients. Leave the remaining melted butter in the skillet. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are browned and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!

Remember that spiced pumpkin butter from the last post? The one that you may or may not be currently eating with a spoon? What, you don’t eat pumpkin butter with a spoon while standing in your kitchen? Maybe that’s just me… don’t judge.

Anywho, when I made the pumpkin butter, I also whipped up a batch of simple whole wheat biscuits to go with it. They are a cinch to make and are the perfect vehicle for the pumpkin butter to go from jar to belly. If you would like to make them gluten free, you can use any gluten free flour(s) of your choice, but you may want to add 1/4 tsp or so of xanthan gum to give them a little lift. Or, if you don’t mind your biscuits being a bit flat, omit it. These can also be made with any type of milk you want (buttermilk, whole milk, half and half, almond milk, coconut milk, etc.) but in this version, I used almond milk.

Whole Wheat Biscuits
makes 6 biscuits

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
6 tbsp almond milk (or other milk of your choice)

Pre-heat your oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the butter and cut it in with your finger or a pastry cutter until crumbly. Add the milk and stir until just moistened (don’t overmix!). Knead the dough a few times to bring it together and then shape into 6 rounds. Place the biscutis on your baking sheet and bake until golden on top and bottom, about 15-18 minutes. Enjoy!