Simply Cara

I am done!!! I made it! Well, I did cheat a little. I ran out of molasses so I wasn’t able to bake the bread I had planned on baking. I will have to improvise with something else for breakfast, probably some of the left over pancakes…with sausage. Or maybe pigs-in-the blanket!

First off, pancakes!

This was my first time making them with this recipe. The batter is mostly quick oats and buttermilk, with a few more additions. They were delicious. It seemed to me that it took them a little longer to cook than regular wheat pancakes, but the end result was worth waiting.

Here is my “secret” to getting uniformed sized pancakes…a 1/4 measuring cup. The saucer is a must to catch all the little drips. I almost had enough drips on the plate to make a whole pancake by the end of the batch.

Then I moved onto making my tortillas. But this was only after we finished school and lunch—that is a pretty big gap from the pancake making time. 

I think it is so much fun to make your own tortillas, and they taste so good. The recipe I used called for butter instead of shortening, it makes a big difference taste wise. They smell so good while they are cooking that I just want to eat them all up before I even get to being done making them. Don’t worry, I practiced some self control…they are all still there…until tomorrow.

Tortilla dough rolled out to a 6 inch circle.

You know it is time to flip your tortilla when you see some air bubbles start to form.

Fisnish product! I am using these to make Chicken and Black Bean Quesedillas tomorrow for dinner.

My girls got into the mix and baked these goodies, Peppermint Crunch Chunkies, for a get together we are suppose to attend tomorrow while I was cooking the tortillas. The recipe came from the back of the Andes Peppermint baking chips bag.

They cooked up half of the batch and then we rolled the rest up to put in the freezer for another day.

And last, but certainly not least, because they are so very good, Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. I am so glad that these are going to the party too, because I am afraid to be in the house with them too long…they are that good. I know that this picture does not do justice to all the buttery goodness of these, but here it is anyway, and the recipe to follow, so you can try them too.

• 1c. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 3/4c. sugar
• 1/2t. pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4c. plus 2T. flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white)
• 1/2c. cocoa powder, the original recipe calls for Dutch-processed, I don’t have it
• 1/4 t. salt

1. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, flour, cocoa, and salt, mix until just blended.
4. Knead dough five to ten times on a lightly floured surface.
5. Roll dough out into a 1/4 inch thick square on the prepared cookie sheet. Roll over it one more time making it slightly thinner.
6. Prick the entire surface of dough with a fork.
7. Put pan in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Bake shortbread until firm, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and immediately cut the shortbread into 24 rectangles.
11. Let cool completely on pan. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
12. Enjoy!

Well, that’s it! I am done. The end.