Brunch at home 🏡

Skillet biscuits and more.

This week, I make some mochi brownies (◕‿◕)♡ and brunch at home. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.

Accidental strawberry cobbler at home

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Summer has never felt farther away — but strawberry summer cake can be close at hand, provided you have a bag of frozen berries buried somewhere in the freezer. I’m a huge fan of simple, rustic buttery cakes that let the flavor of fruit shine (see: Original Plum Torte). I used a bag of frozen Trader Joe’s strawberries, defrosted on the counter for about an hour, and substituted half the all purpose flour for finely ground almond flour, and added the zest of a lemon to brighten things up (we all need it!). The result was delicious, although much more like a lemony, almond strawberry cobbler. The frozen berries sank to the bottom and formed a sweet, jammy filling, while the cake batter rose to the top and formed a caramelized crust. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if you’re so lucky to have some lying around.t.

Lifeway chocolate truffle kefir at home

I’ve seen this in pretty much all grocery stores in the East coast.

I want to carry myself through life with the confidence of a bottle of kefir that calls itself “the champagne of dairy” on the label. Not that it isn’t delicious — I’m just saying that no one was fooled when I tried to drink it out of a flute and pretend that life is a party. But if you want a cheaper source of probiotics than kombucha, kefir is pretty tasty. It’s been a really long time since I ate dairy regularly, but I find that kefir (which also claims to be 99% lactose free on the label) doesn’t bother me one bit. The chocolate truffle flavor is my favorite — it’s not too sweet and barely chocolatey. I like to drink it with a bowl of raspberries.

Scallion cheddar drop biscuits at my breakfast table

Adapted from the Kitchn

Going out for brunch is officially canceled, but just between you and me I kind of hope it is always canceled. The only good brunch is the one that you get to eat at home, and if you disagree you can meet me in the parking lot when this all blows over. I mean, what’s cozier than pulling out (using protective mitts) a sizzling hot cast iron pan with toasty cheesy biscuits in it? Not much, that’s what I thought, too. These scallion cheddar biscuits are kind of the Western follow-up to last week’s scallion pancakes. I took this recipe from the Kitchn, substituted half of the white flour with white whole wheat, added two stalks of scallion thinly diced, a handful of shredded cheddar, and ignored the part about sugar, of course.

Small batch mochi brownies (◕‿◕)♡

Adapted from: Kirbie's Cravings

Is the biggest bane of your brownie-baking existence the slightest hint of cakey-ness? Fear not, mochi flour to the rescue! It's impossible to make these brownies anything less than moist and chewy, because there's no gluten to toughen things or make them dry out. Rice flour lets these brownies have a perfect chewy-moist texture without using an excessive amount of butter and sugar. The result is a picture-perfect brownie, with a crackly top and the chewiest of edges, and a not-overly sugary, custardy body. I halved the recipe and baked it in a loaf pan, the perfect size for two. You can get the recipe at Kirbie’s Cravings.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips at my long lost freezer

Recipe from Well Plated

On the eve of the pandemic, before my world became confined to the walls of the apartment I now sit in, I made a batch of banana oatmeal cookies and took them with me to a friend’s place for a dinner party. I left half the batch in my freezer, thinking that I would snack on them later in the week; I never returned. That was forty days ago. I did not realize that it would be the Last Supper we would all have together for a very long time. But I find small comfort in knowing that when the city thaws, there will be a bag of (probably slightly freezer burned) banana oatmeal cookies waiting on my return. Or, you know, you can make a new batch.

Cheers,

Soph