I was packing up my kitchen this afternoon and I got to thinking.

I got to thinking about my box grater… which is totally weird.  

As if thinking at length about my box grater weren’t odd enough… I’m now going to shovel my box grater thoughts onto your lap.  

There’s butter.  There’s cheese.  There’s roots and veggies.  All the drama and intrigue you could want from one little box grater.  

aaaand… seriously… thanks for playing along.  I realize I’m ridiculous. 

First things first: carrots.  

These are Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting.  These are best when unwrapped and shoved into your face.  

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Spread.  Totally and completely  out of control.  

Cheese.  Just say yes.  

Homemade pizza and a movie rental with your honey… just the best night ever.  Take note. 

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.  Because biscuits are the answer to every problem.  

Grated greens and roots for Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread.  It’s the goodness.  

While we have the zucchini out.   Pancakes.  Zucchini Pancakes. 

Take frozen butter to the box grater.  It’s a wonder in pie and scone dough.  It’s a secret weapon from me to you.  

This No Roll Pie Crust recipe I came up with… it’s dang amazing!

Oatmeal Raspberry Scones with cold grated butter.  Big, scoopable yum.  Do this. 

Sometimes life feels like layers of complications.  Like taxes and traffic and cavities and getting laid off are all piled high into one smelly sandwich that you’re supposed to eat for lunch.  Really…?  Worst sandwich ever.  Do not want. 

Complicated.  Yea.  It happens to you.  It happens to me.  

Luckily there’s… bread.  And thank the holy heavens for butter.  

Bread and butter.  Yes.  A post about bread and butter.  Perhaps the most beautiful and uncomplicated thing you can put into your face.  Don’t fight me on this one.  That would only make things more complicated.  Go and eat.  Bread and butter. 

And yes… I burnt the bottom of my bread a bit.  These things happen. 

This is a pretty foolproof bread recipe.  Don’t worry.  If you’re intimidated by yeast and bread baking you might consider freeing yourself of that fear with this recipe.  Really… all you need is time… sometimes that’s the hardest ingredient to come by.  Take a lazy weekend afternoon and give this bread a try.  It’s worth the effort just to make your house smell like fresh baked bread.  Trust. 

Two Crusty Round Loaves

     I followed the recipe I found from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen

     Print this Recipe!

4 cups bread flour (the higher gluten content in important)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

Measure out 1/4 cup of bread flour and reserve a the clean counter top.  Place the remaining 3 3/4 cup bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Measure the salt and place on one side of the flour and add the yeast to the opposite side of the flour.  Pour the warm water in the middle and mix on low speed (with the paddle attachment) until the dough just comes together.  

When the dough forms a mass, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Dough should clear the sides but may stick to the bottom a bit.  If you feel like the dough is too sticky or too dry, feel free to add a touch more water or flour by the tablespoonful.  After 2 minutes, let the dough rest for five minutes.

After the five minute rest, mix the dough again for 3 minutes.   Place the dough on the counter and, using the 1/4 cup of bread flour we reserved in the beginning, hand knead the dough.  You may not need to incorporate the entire 1/4 cup.  If the dough feels firm and solid enough, just knead for a few minutes and prepare it to rest.  You should have a satiny, smooth compact ball.  

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn the dough over to coat the entire dough lightly in oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot to rest for 1 1/2 hours.  The dough should double in size.  Remove from the bowl, punch down and reform into a ball.  Return to the bowl, cover and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.

After the second short rest, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 2 pieces.  Form each piece into a smooth, round ball, tucking any haggard edges on the underside of the dough.  Leave to rest, covered with a damp cloth, on the lightly floured surface for 45 minutes to a hour.  

During the last 20 minutes of the resting period, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Place a baking rack in the lower third of the oven and leave either a baking stone or an upside down baking sheet in the oven to heat as well.  

Just before the boules are set to go in the oven, slash the top of the loaves with 2 to 4 slashes, using a sharp knife.  This will allow the bread to expand in the oven.  Remove the super hot baking sheet from the oven.  Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking sheets and return to the oven.  

Here’s some fun!  Just after you put the bread in the oven, take 1/4 cup of water, open the oven door, quickly poor the water onto the hot oven floor and immediately close the oven door.  We’re creating steam here people… it’s exciting.  Wait 2 minutes and repeat the process.  

Bake loaves for 20-25 minutes.  They’ll be golden and gorgeous.  Remove from the oven and insert a thermometer.  The temperature should be between 190 to 210 degrees F.  

Here’s the hard part:  let the bread cool completely before slicing.  

You did it!  Now where’s the butter!?

These are pretty, right?  Hot diggity dang, I think they’re precious.  

In the middle of frosting these cupcakes I looked down at my hands.  No big deal.  I was simply looking down at the cupcake in one hand, and frosting covered knife in the other.  I had to see what I was doing, right?  When I looked down at this particular moment, I saw… my grandmother’s hands.  There they were, the worn and wrinkled hands that had absolutely fascinated me as a child… only now spotted with powdered sugar and tinted with food coloring.  

When I was a kid I would hold my grandmother’s hand in my lap and study it like it like I might study my favorite picture book.  Somehow her hands weren’t at all different from reading an intricate a story.  

So there I was, frosting a cupcake with my grandmother’s hands.  The image was so strong that I even put down the cupcake and knife and bent my left index finger with my right hand.  It ached a little.  I don’t know why.  And just like that… those hands were gone from me.  

That was simultaneously perplexing and so comforting.  I had to share that with you…  I now only hope that I live long enough for my hands to be read like a story book.  

Now let’s talk cupcakes!

Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty.  Pretty… right?

I’m proud of these little gems.  I’m even more proud of the fact that it only took one stick (otherwise known as 8 tablespoons, 1/2 cup or 4 ounces) of butter to make both the cupcake aaaaaaaand the frosting.  That’s bonkers, right?  I know! Just three tablespoons of butter for the dozen cupcakes and 5 tablespoons for the buttercream. Who says you need a pound of butter for cupcakes?  

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

     adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

     makes 12 cupcakes

     Print this Recipe!

1 cup all-purpose flour

a scant 3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or use a handheld beater and beat on slow speed until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined.  Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.  

Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side or the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Continue mixing until the batter is smooth.  Just a few minutes.  Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin tins, dividing between the 12 cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

     from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

     makes enough for 12 cupcakes, double this recipe to frost an 8-inch cake

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the powdered sugar and butter together in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment on medium low speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.  Turn the mixer speed to low.  Combine the milk and the vanilla extract and slowly stream it into the butter and sugar mixture.  Once incorporated, turn the mixer to high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.  The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.  If you find that your frosting is getting to warm in the summer months, stop beating and set in the fridge for a few minutes.  Once chilled, hook the frosting back up the the mixer and beat once more until you reach the desired consistency.

Happy isn’t hard for me.  I might even take happy for granted.  I wake up in the morning and I’m genuinely stoked about the possibilities the day brings.  I have thoughts that make me smile when I’m sitting alone in my car.  I like rainbows and kittens, well… you get my point.

Today I shared a meal with a dear friend who isn’t so blessed in the happy department.  She’s been struggling in recent months.  She’s lost her happy.  After dinner, as we sat lingering in conversation, she told me that she couldn’t think of one thing that made her happy anymore.  I was totally floored.  I didn’t know what to say to her.  In vain I tried to name things and places that I knew she liked.  None of it worked, she just shook her head no.  It breaks my heart, but I know that I could recall fun things we’d done together until I was blue in the face.  Her happiness needs to come from the inside.

It got me thinking about happy.

What makes you happy?  What thoughts make you smile when no one else is around?  What makes you happy to get out of bed in the morning?  Share.  I want to know.

On my list of the many things things that make me happy:  Crispy Toasted Coconut Cookies.

If happy has been elusive lately, give these buttery and crispy cookies a spin.  Who knows, they might just be the break in the clouds.

Crispy Toasted Coconut Cookies

adapted from Big Fat Cookies

Print this recipe!

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes stirring once, until the coconut becomes evenly golden.  Watch carefully, as the coconut can darken quickly toward the end of baking.  Set aside to cool.  Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.  Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix until blended.  On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.  Use a large spoon to stir in the toasted coconut.

Divide the dough into two portions and pat into a flat rectangle.  Cut two large sheets of wax paper, and roll out the portions of dough between the wax paper into a 7 x 12-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick.  Remove the top piece of wax paper.  I used a round cookie cutter to make cookies, but you can also trim the edges of the rectangle and make rectangular cookies by cutting the dough into 9 rectangles.

Lift the cookies off the wax paper and transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet.  If you have trouble lifting the dough, place it in the fridge for a few minutes to harden and then transfer to a baking sheet.  Bake one sheet at a time until the edges and bottoms are lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy!  Find your happy!