Say it with Sprinkles: A baking blog filled with recipes & photos of sweet treats & savory eats.

Happy Father’s Day!

Right now, summer is making me think of one thing, and unfortunately, it’s not a vacation.  Two words:  summer school.  Two more words:  major ugh.  Naturally, all my sadness and devastation, instead of being channeled into something productive, and let’s just face it, realistic, turned into wishful thinking about a summer abroad.  And, just to be responsible about the whole thing, I threw in some sort of learning experience…mostly to justify my wild aspirations.  Study Italian…IN ITALY!  Or, study Spanish abroad!  Like, IN SPAIN!

Ya, right.  Since I’m a student, and not, well, made of money, that dream will have to keep me going through months and months of boring old summer school right here, not abroad.  Then, in a completely logical progression of thought, my mind turned to biscotti and churros.  Maybe it was already there.

It’s really not hard to understand why churros are such a popular treat.  The warm, fluffy, cinnamon-sugary Spanish answer to donuts obviously transcends cultures, not to mention the Atlantic Ocean, because I dare you to find anyone in the world who doesn’t love a churro.  Especially dipped in hot chocolate thick enough to stick a fork in.  Ya, they’re doing it all kinds of right over there in Spain.  And biscotti?  If baking a cookie twice is wrong, then you won’t ever find me being right (don’t take that one out of context, please)!  The Italians and French are no slouches when it comes to their pastries, though, so I’m guessing biscotti is in fact, all kinds of right.  In which case, then I’m always right.  Still with me?

Anyway, inspired by the potential fusion of churro cinnamon-y pillows of goodness, and the sweet cracker-crumbly-ness of biscotti, I got to thinking about a delicious hybrid: the result of Spanish Churros meeting up with Italian biscotti…for an afternoon mocha.  Because that’s like…coffee + chocolate.  Get it?  Churros are dipped in hot pudding chocolate, and biscotti is dunked in coffee…So you can see why I had to add chocolate into the mix.  As if the thick hot chocolate churro dip is mixed right in.  And here you have it, chocolate chip cinnamon-sugar churro biscotti.  Affectionately dubbed Chiscotti con Chocolate, since I’m super creative, and everything needs a cute name in my world. 🙂

Chiscotti con Chocolate
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:
* 2 cups flour
* 1 1/2 tsp saigon cinnamon
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
* 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe’s brand)

Topping:
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 tsp saigon cinnamon
* 1 egg yolk, for brushing top of biscotti

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk in a bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mixing until combined. The dough will be sticky. At this point, you can stir in the chocolate chips if you’d like, or press them into the top of the biscotti before baking, like I did.

Lightly flour a Silpat or parchment paper-lined pan. Flour your hands a bit, and shape the dough into a log on the pan. flatten the log a bit so it takes up most of the length of a regular cookie sheet, and is about 1/2″ thick. If you want slightly smaller biscotti, you can divide the dough in two, and form two flattened logs on the same baking sheet. Just leave enough room between the two, since the dough will spread and grow a little as it bakes. Press chocolate chips into the top of the dough if you did not stir them in, and then brush with the egg white. Sprinkle your sugar-cinnamon mixture generously on top.

Bake 25 minutes. Rotate the pan in the oven, and bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.
Remove the pan from the oven, but leave the oven on. Let the biscotti become just cool to the touch.

Slice the biscotti log diagonally into 1/2″ wide pieces with a serrated knife. Lay each piece cut-side down on the pan. Bake 10 minutes.
Flip the biscotti slices to the other side, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until golden brown.
Savor the yumminess with a hearty cup of hot chocolate, a mocha, or a plain ol’ cup of black coffee…whatever gets you going! Or in my case, whatever makes me temporarily forget I’m not summering abroad.  Probably going to need to make it a double.  Just saying.

The chiscotti will be gone long (long) before my dreams of a summer abroad.  Some day, Europe.  Some day!

I really need a food scale, I’ll tell you what.  I had to do wayyyy more math today than I ever thought I’d have to again after having finished calculus.  And now my head hurts. 

See, it’s not that the metric system is annoying in baking; in fact, if I could have weighed out all of my ingredients, it would actually have been much more accurate!  I’ve learned from Alton Brown that this is true in general: it’s something you don’t normally think about, but different flours, sugars, and various other ingredients differ so much in their density, mass, and volume that a cup of one flour might be very different from a cup of another type of flour…and totally throw off your recipe! 

Luckily, along with the stoichiometric skills I learned in none other than chemistry class, this recipe seemed to be very forgiving and turned out great, regardless!

Now that I’ve got that discussion out of the way, can we talk delicious chocolate and cinnamon cake?  I thought you might like that.  I found this recipe over on my new friend, Nuria’s blog, and instantly knew I had to make it!

Actually, to be honest, I instantly fell in love with every recipe, dessert or not, that I laid eyes on- and that doesn’t happen often since I tend to naturally gravitate towards all things sweet, if you know what I mean! Her photos are so vibrant, colorful, and yummy-looking, I just can’t help myself! Not to mention, Nuria is one of the sweetest people I have met in the blogging world thus far!

I adapted the recipe to fit the ingredients I had on hand, and to make it gluten and dairy free (not vegan, though, I’m afraid- I have to draw the line somewhere!)  It’s so delicious and perfectly chocolatey and cinnamony!   My version definitely turned out more like a dense quick bread than a cake or even a sponge cake, which I think is the English translation of “Bizcocho”…please forgive me if I’m a little off, I know maybe 2 words of Spanish! :) 

In any case, I’m just guessing here, but I think it would be great for dessert, breakfast, a snack, or maybe all of the above…I won’t tell!  Just make sure you enjoy it with a creamy cup of dark-roast coffee or maybe some chai tea.  You will thank me!

You can find the original recipe for Bizcocho Con Chocolate here

Bizcocho con Chocolate (gluten free, dairy free)

Ingredients:

* 1 cup Bob’s Redmill sorghum flour
* 1/2 cup white rice flour
* 1/4 cup Bob’s Redmill millet flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
* 4 oz. individual serving of applesauce + Earth Balance spread to make just shy of 3/4 cup
* 3 eggs
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
* 1 Tbsp cinnamon
* 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
* 2 Tbsp coffee liquor
* 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream together the Earth Balance, applesauce, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing between each addition.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt in a separate bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry until combined. Divide the batter in half. To one half, add the cocoa powder, coffee liquor, and half of the chocolate chips. To the other half, add the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and the rest of the chocolate chips.
Spray or line a loaf pan with parchment paper and pour in the cinnamon batter. Pour the chocolate batter on top of the cinnamon batter, and swirl the two together slightly with a knife.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven. My oven runs VERY hot, so I ended up overcooking mine a little (oops!) just make sure you check it at the 30 minute mark and keep an eye on it. Generally, gluten free flour breads require less cooking time, but make sure a toothpick comes out clean when you test it.

Muy delicioso! (I hope I just said “Very delicious!” and not something really inappropriate!) 😀

I have to admit, I didn’t wake up at 4am to tune in to the Royal Wedding like all you die-hard West Coast Will & Kate fans.  It’s not for lack of trying, though.

It’s partially because I don’t get any TV stations.  Even that’s not an excuse when you have internet, though.  Which I don’t, consistently.  So I guess I do have an excuse.

I’m one of those people who, had I not had class early this morning (and could actually find a way to watch it as something

smoother than a slide-show with my internet connection), probably would have made a spread of English-inspired baked

goods and made a party of it! I love the fairytale of it all  *sighs*
(Image Source: Google Images)

Even now, trying to watch it online, I am wondering if the constant glitching and pausing is, in fact, my lame free internet, or due to the possibility that there are a handful (lots?) of other people as sleep-deprived

as I am who are just now trying to tune-in for a replay.  Quit sucking up the internet, I need to see Prince Harry in his uniform! …I mean, the happy couple!

Anyway, in lieu of an all-nighter, I made afternoon scones in honor of the occasion.  Not just any scones, either.  Cinnamon raisin brown sugar buttermilk scones.  They may not technically be an English recipe,

but I think they look pretty fit for royalty.  And the best part?  They smelled like yummy, buttery, cinnamon toast baking in the oven!

Cinnamon Raisin Brown Sugar Buttermilk Scones
Makes about 13 scones

Ingredients:
* 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat, 1 1/4 white)
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 3/4 cup cold butter
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* extra butter for brushing the tops
* turbinado sugar

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or a fork. Add buttermilk, vanilla, raisins, and pecans. Mix until it forms a dough (it will be fairly dry, but hold together).

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and kneed a little. Flatten into a round, and with a round, floured biscuit cutter or drinking class, cut into rounds. Place on a lined baking sheet, brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and extra cinnamon.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-14 minutes.

So, if you happened to miss the festivities the first time around like I did, I suggest you whip up a batch of these and tune in for the million replays I’m sure will be going on for the rest of the day!

Can’t wait to see Kate’s dress! And did I mention Prince Harry?  Harry, if you’re reading this, there are plenty more scones where these came from! 🙂