One-bowl recipe for Crumpets and Biscuits

These crumpets are delightful for breakfast or anytime with a cup of tea, are made in under 45 minutes, and use only one bowl.  I use a Pyrex 1-quart measuring cup, so I can melt the butter directly in the mixing bowl while preheating the oven.  Less mess, less cleanup!  If you don't have the Pyrex 1-qt measuring cup, use an oven-proof bowl -- glass, ceramic, or metal. 

For plain biscuits just omit the last three ingredients - those are the staple bread substitute at our house.  I often do both, adding half the indicated honey, cinnamon and currants after first dropping 8 plain biscuits on the cookie sheet.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick) or 1/3 cup ghee
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
2 1/2 cups very fine almond flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 cup currants

Directions:

1. Put the butter in a medium-size ovenproof mixing bowl and put the bowl in the oven.  Turn the oven  to 325 F to preheat. 
2. If the eggs are cold, set them in a mug of warm water to bring them to room temperature.

3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
4. When the butter is melted or almost melted (one to four minutes depending on how cold it was), remove from oven.  Do not overheat. If you're using ghee melting will take much less time.

5  Add lemon juice/vinegar (I usually use ACV) and eggs.  Mix well.

6. Add 1 cup of almond flour and mix very well.
7. Measure the remaining 1 1/2 cups almond flour into the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the flour.  Mix very well.
8.  Add the honey, cinnamon and currants, mix well, or not so well, as desired.  You might like it with streaks of honey/cinnamon!
9.  Use 2 soup spoons to drop onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Make about 18 blobs. Shape is not important.
10.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

They should still be somewhat moist when you take them out.  They will firm up as they cool.  Keep in a basket or bowl at room temperature.  Unlike grain-based breads, these don't dry out.  Though to tell the truth, they never stay long enough to tell!

Day 2 of Week Challenge

I’m going to attempt to write down everything I do to prepare food for one week.  Not what I eat, which includes munching on previously made foods and drinks.  Just the cooking.

Wednesday

1030 Look for a better ghee recipe. This one looks good.  Lots of pics and explanations.

1045 Start making ghee by putting 1 lb butter (regular unsalted, can’t afford organic) in my small 1 qt crockpot, turn on High, leave uncovered.  The recipe says to use a heavy saucepan but to watch carefully.  With an infant to take care of, watching is unpredictable so I’m giving the crockpot a try. 

1145 Mix leftover chicken livers cooked with onions and sweet peppers with some of the broth made yesterday and some of the beans cooked yesterday, for lunch.  Press and mix in a garlic clove just before serving.

1100 – 1500 Check ghee every half hour without disturbing.  Looks just like the pictures on the blog.  Great!

1500 Cut up 2 turnips, 2 carrots and half a butternut squash into tiny dice for tonight’s soup. 

1530 Ghee looks great but no brown stuff at the bottom yet. 

1600  Yes!  Brown stuff at bottom of pot, crackely foam at the top, and golden liquid in between.  Remove crock from heating element and set in a pan of cold water to cool down.  Smells wonderful!  Like butterscotch.  Next instruction is to strain it in a permanent coffee filter.  I’ll wait for it to cool down completely first.  Turn off soup.

1700 It’s a bit late to do so, but start making Lois Lang’s Luscious Loaf bread – from Breaking the vicious cycle with my additional instructions.  I make this so often (but am so forgetful) that I’ve photocopied the page and taped it to the inside of a cabinet door.  The additional instructions are, 1. Line the loaf pan with parchment paper.  2.  Put 3 eggs in a bowl of warm water to bring to room temperature so the melted butter (I’ll use ghee) doesn’t harden.  3.  Preheat oven to 350 F, etc as directed, skip the instructions to butter and flour the pan, and change “shape the loaf with wet hands” to “drop the batter onto a wet flexible cutting board, curve the board into a cylinder and roll the dough around until it has the right length for your pan, roll into the pan.”  Remainder of instructions unchanged.  Except, no need to run a knife or spatula around the edge, I just lift the loaf right out of the pan, and the paper doesn’t stick to it at all. 

1730  While the bread bakes (for 1 hour), take chicken meat cooked yesterday out of fridge.  In a small saucepan, mix about ½ cup of the chicken broth and legal “mole sauce” previously made.  Pour over chicken meat, mix, and put in oven next to bread. 

1745 Make a salad, same as Tuesday’s, except with avocado chunks and tomatoes.

1755 Check soup for seasonings, turn heat back on to warm up just enough to serve.  Pour into bowls and add 1 raw egg yolk to each bowl, mix well.  Save egg whites for next batch of crepes.  Reheat leftover vegetables as side dishes.  Should have made guacamole, terrific side for chicken with mole sauce. 

2100 Hm. Ghee has hardened.  Place crock into pan of hot water.

2130  Strain ghee through permanent coffee filter placed in 2-cup pyrex measuring cup.  Pour most of the ghee into a glass jar, because the measuring cup is too full.  Scrape everything out of the crock into the coffee filter.  looks and smells GREAT!  Thanks, Radhika!