Morning Buns

When it comes to baking you could say I've been around the block a few times, several laps in fact.  With decades of experience you'd think I had the right to be so arrogant.   Hardly!   It's the things I don't know that are humbling and continue to keep me coming back for more.   There's nothing better than discovering something I've never heard of or made before.

That was the case when I saw this recipe for Morning Buns on an episode of Cook's Country.   Perhaps sub-consciously I was familiar with them, but they never registered before.  Learning that they were a hybrid of a croissant and cinnamon roll definitely brought them top of mind.  

In place of laminated dough this recipe uses quick puff pastry, definitely a lot easier to make yet still achieving flaky layers.   There is some advanced preparation required but it's mainly from chilling the rolled and cut dough in the fridge.  

The buns were very easy to make by hand and baked up quite nicely.  To be honest though, quick puff pastry is not my favorite.  While the buns were buttery and flaky I still prefer a traditional croissant dough.  So the next time I make my favorite croissant dough I'll save a portion of the dough to make morning buns. 

NPR Lemon-Lime Pie

An email a while back from my sister, "Heard this lemon pie story on NPR and it sounds delicious and easy."  For those of you who may not be fluent in "big sister", allow me to translate:  "Can you make this pie for me - because I'm lazy and besides, you love to bake anyways." Luckily for her she's right, on both counts.

I was definitely intrigued by the recipe for Atlantic Beach Pie.  The filling is similar to one for key lime pie and requires basically only three ingredients: condensed milk, egg yolks and fresh lemon or lime juice.  The twist is the crust that's made with saltine crackers.  Hmmmm...salty and sweet - definitely promising.  

Could a pie this easy to make with so few ingredients be the real deal?  I had my reservations, but when I brought it to a recent family BBQ it was unanimously given the thumbs up.  Almost unheard of from such a large group of self-appointed food critics.

The tart filling wasn't as sweet as I had thought and the salty cracker crust was the perfect counter balance to it.  I think it's an ideal dessert after a heavy meal.   I'll definitely be making it again and again!  Could this be a case of "sister knows best"?  I shudder to think...lol!